MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 145: No Mercy

"Holy shit, you actually dared to swing first!"

The four thugs surrounding Lily and Amber had been watching Marcus like hawks from the moment he arrived. They noticed his high-tier gear immediately and chose to play nice, not because they feared him, but because there was no reason to stir trouble right away. Four against one was still four against one. No matter how well-equipped he looked, he was just a lone Knight. Why would seasoned players like them be intimidated?

When Marcus finally made his move, they nearly laughed out loud. The sheer recklessness of it stunned them. One man charging four without hesitation? In their eyes, it was stupidity bordering on suicide. He was practically asking for a free trip to the respawn point.

Better yet, this was perfect.

They would crush him right here, in front of the two girls, turning his foolish heroics into a humiliating lesson. A clean, overwhelming victory. Lily and Amber would see it clearly, who held the real power here, who the real alphas were.

They made no attempt to dodge or de-escalate. Instead, they hurled insults, prodding him further, eager to turn the encounter into a full-blown PK. If this Knight wanted violence, they would make sure it was savage enough to leave a lasting impression.

The Warrior in the lead and the Knight to Marcus’s left stepped forward together, shields raised and bodies angled to absorb the first blow. They were sly enough to understand the system’s rules. Neither of them attacked. They waited, baiting Marcus into flagging himself first so they could slaughter him under the banner of justifiable self-defense. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’Smart,’ Marcus thought, eyes narrowing behind his mask. ’But just because you don’t throw the first blow doesn’t mean I won’t. I don’t wait for my turn; I make my own. And once I start, none of you are walking away.’

-2040!

The Skeleton Blade screamed through the air and slammed into the lead Warrior with a bone-crushing impact. A massive critical indicator flashed overhead, then vanished along with the man’s entire health bar.

Instant death.

The Warrior collapsed without even a chance to process what had happened. Warriors might not rival Knights in raw defense, but they were still front-line bruisers, built to endure punishment. He had the health, the armor, the experience to survive a fight. Yet he had been erased by a single swing from a class infamous for low to average output. He died never understanding how.

Ding!

"Player Stonehaven, you have initiated a PK. Party members of the target are now authorized for justifiable self-defense."

"Perfect,’ Marcus thought, his grip tightening. ’Exactly what I wanted.’ His only concern had been that they might lose their nerve and scatter after seeing their leader drop. Now, they were locked in.

Shock turned into blind fury.

The remaining three stared at the empty space where their Warrior had stood, disbelief twisting instantly into murderous rage. They had never seen anything like this. Usually, they were the ones delivering deaths, not receiving them. Too late, they realized their mistake. They should have rushed him the moment he showed up.

"I’m gonna kill you, you bastard!"

The Knight beside Marcus roared and charged, lifting his heavy blade overhead and bringing it down in a brutal arc aimed straight for Marcus’s skull.

"Die!"

At the same time, the Sorcerer and Archer in the backline unleashed their attacks, spells and arrows cutting through the air in a coordinated barrage.

They were convinced they had figured him out. A glass cannon Knight, all Strength and attack bonuses, sacrificing everything else for damage. If they could land a solid hit, they could loot whatever absurdly broken item he was using.

Three against one. Their odds were overwhelming. No lone Knight survived a coordinated assault like this.

-710! -730!

Something went horribly wrong.

The Knight’s blade was a breath away from Marcus’s shoulder when two massive damage numbers burst above the Knight’s own head instead. His health vanished instantly, and his body shattered into drifting pixels.

He had been fast, but speed was relative. Against Marcus, a one-second gap might as well have been an eternity.

The Knight class was notorious for sluggish attack animations, unless you were an anomaly.

Marcus spun and activated Double Strike, the Skeleton Blade moving so fast it left afterimages. Two precise thrusts landed before the enemy’s swing could connect. By the time the Knight understood what had happened, he was already being whisked away to the so-called bright and sunny respawn point.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Their flawless three-on-one ambush had collapsed in seconds.

-180! MISS!

"Marcus, watch out!"

"Marcus, behind you!"

As the Knight fell, the Sorcerer’s spell and the Archer’s arrow finally reached him. The spell grazed Marcus for a laughable 180 damage, while the arrow sliced through empty air as he shifted his stance.

Lily and Amber were not in Marcus’s party. They couldn’t see damage numbers or combat logs. All they saw was him being struck by magic and nearly hit by arrows, and both of them cried out in pure panic.

Marcus actually staggered.

Not from the attacks, but from their voices.

Lily’s desperate shout and Amber’s trembling warning, overflowing with fear and concern, struck him harder than any spell. For a brief moment, he was so overwhelmed by the warmth of being cared for that he almost forgot where he was.

’Note to self,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’Never let them watch me PK again. This is dangerous for my focus.’

"Amber, stay back. I’ve got this!"

He glanced over his shoulder. Lily was already running toward him, hands glowing as she prepared a healing spell, while Amber had instinctively drawn her shortbow, her jaw clenched in determination.

Amber was only Level 10. Her arrows wouldn’t even register as damage to these players, and one stray spell from the Level 20-plus Sorcerer would wipe her out instantly.

"Marcus!"

She froze when she heard the sharpness in his voice. Despite every instinct screaming at her to help, Amber lowered her bow. Worry and frustration flickered across her face, but she stayed where she was.

"I’m fine," Marcus said, flashing Lily a quick OK gesture before turning back toward the remaining two. They had crossed a line the moment they made his girls afraid.

Now they were going to pay.

MISS! -150!

The Sorcerer and Archer fired again as Marcus charged straight at them. Another pathetic 150 damage from the spell. Another arrow sailing wide.

"What the hell?!" the Sorcerer shrieked.

The first hit could have been luck. A glitch, maybe. The second erased all doubt. This Knight wasn’t fragile at all. He wasn’t a glass cannon.

He was a walking fortress.

His attack power was high enough to erase a Warrior in one blow, and his defense was so absurd their strongest spells barely scratched him.

Panic took hold.

They fired one final, desperate volley in a futile attempt to slow him down, then turned and ran for the West Gate. If they could reach the city walls, they’d be safe. Major citadels were strict no-PK zones.

Marcus watched them flee, a cold smile curling at the edges of his mouth.

’Run,’ he thought calmly. ’I don’t start fights often. But when I do, I finish them. No mercy.’