(POV - 3RD)

Krat, once a city of prosperity and grandiose whose technology and society advanced further than other civilisation within this world due to the discovery of the miraculous and mysterious substance known to its people as "Ergo". 

The pride and joy of its residents but now? A husk of its former self, now plagued with death and destruction and disorder, no less from the servants that were once loyal and mindless puppets.

Puppets, one of the key leading features of the City of Krat after Ergo was found and utilised, they were mechanical creations that served their makers without any complaints in every way possible ranging from food services, entertainments, clean-up and law enforcement.

It's no exaggeration to say they made up for almost the whole of Krat besides their former human masters whose bodies now litter through the streets that are stained in deep red and rot.

Corpses of humans, poor or rich, noble or common, old or young, they are scattered throughout the desolated shell of Krat with only their mechanical murderers wandering about, looking for more people to slaughter despite the fact that no one could be alive in this place anymore.

No one except one.

*BANG*

One that is currently smashing up the puppets with moderate ease as a singular puppet with a caved in torso slammed into another one before both of them crashed through an abandoned store, tumbling the items and dust everywhere.

It has been half an hour since (Y/N) entered this new dungeon with the goal of breaking through his newest limitation of being a [Level - 40] and so far, everything had been going smoothly enough as seen from the countless wreckage of puppets behind him.

They were quite weak so it took almost no effort for the Player to dispose of them with his newly acquired weapon after the defeat of Father Gascoigne which was a mixture of a giant stone to steel sledgehammer and a classic longsword.

Favoured by the hunters of the Healing Church within Yharnam, it makes use of its trick to rapidly shift from a swift lethal cut and stab to a brutally powerful warhammer that can pulverise flesh and bones in an instant.

Quite heavy-handed and almost rather impractical with how big of the hammer portion of the weapon when one is utilising the sword section, making hunters that uses them a quick powerhouse amongst the beasts.

And now the Kirkhammer is well within (Y/N)'s hands which is now used to smash apart the puppets that attacked him with a variety of tools from candelabra to flintlock pistols, makeshift bombs, pitchforks and knives to crudely fashioned spiked spears.

Though none of them really survived against his Kirkhammer.

"Endless pieces of scrap..!" (Y/N) muttered, smashing his Kirkhammer down onto another puppet, flattening its head into the ground along with its weapon.

He then threw a kick behind towards another puppet that was rushing at his exposed back, his high [Strength] easily bending the metal of its torso before being sent back several metres.

(Y/N) quickly leant back as he avoided a thrust from a puppet wielding a crude spear before grabbing onto the shaft of the makeshift weapon, his grip tight as he discarded the Kirkhammer and then lifted the offending weapon and its wielder altogether.

Without missing a beat, the Player swung the now crudely fashioned morning-star against the incoming horde of puppets, using the unfortunate one still latching onto its spear as a mace, slamming and breaking apart its body and the targets it landed on.

It wasn't until the fifth violent swing when the puppet finally broke off from (Y/N)'s temporary weapon and flying away into another window to which the latter dropped the now useless spear and then grabbing the handle of the Kirkhammer on the ground.

"Though for scraps, they are quite persistent, annoyingly so." (Y/N) remarked quietly, stepping on the butt of the hammer before unsheathing the blade.

[Chain Strikes has activated]

A glint of light shone in the gloomy rain before (Y/N)'s arm automatically swung at the running puppets in a furious barrage of cuts and stabs that left no room for any mishaps.

A second dropped and the puppets all scattered into countless pieces of metal, springs, gears and more scraps, all fell by (Y/N)'s weapon combined with his [Strength] and [Agility].

Endless fragments of what was once frenzied puppets now cover the streets with a density that rivalled their former masters' own red blood and corpses but (Y/N) didn't care at all, they were simply puppets, unfeeling and cold as a machine is.

Though with the amount of fictional "robots discovering their humanity / emotions" genre he'd seen, he wouldn't count out the possibility of a sentient puppet in this dungeon.

A gunfire rang out from behind (Y/N) who immediately leapt aside to dodge a bullet lodging itself into the ground where he once stood, the former looked up to see a few puppets aiming at him with firearms to which he responded with a [Shadow Shift].

The world inverted and (Y/N) found himself rapidly climbing the walls of the decrepit buildings and onto the roof where the enemies stood before bursting out from the darkness and grabbing one of the puppet's head and then smashing it into the ground.

The strength behind his grip was enough to shatter the head before (Y/N) proceeded to lift the now headless puppet up and hurl its body at the shooters on the roof with him, causing them to tumble off the building and into the ground below.

Another gunshot from his side and (Y/N) internally growled before casting [Shadow Orb] before throwing straight towards the remaining puppets standing across him on other rooftops, hearing a resonating explosion as their bodies fell down with a huge hole shaved into them.

[You Leveled Up!]

(Y/N) glanced at the notification and stats with some sliver of satisfaction, after all this is the second time he had leveled up in this dungeon despite slaying hundreds of puppets.

===================================

[Name] - (Y/N) (L/N)

[Title] - Beast Hunter

[Race] - Human

[Level] - 42

[Health Points] - 4325/4325

[Mana Points] - 5050/5050

[Fatigue] - 0%

[Currency] - 149,900

-------------------------------------

[Strength] - 57

[Endurance] - 35

[Agility] - 35

[Intelligence] - 34 (+5)

[Sense] - 45 (+5)

[Luck] - 34 (+5)

[Available Points] - 10

----------------------------------

[Player's Mind] (Passive) - MAX

[Player's Body] (Passive) - MAX

===================================

"Speed or power..." (Y/N) murmured to himself, sitting down as he dismissed the Kirkhammer back into his [Inventory] while contemplating the investment.

"Or intellect and luck..." He added, if this was back in his old world then there wouldn't be much of a difference as both strength and agility are important.

However, in this world where logic and physics are defied at a daily basis, the difference is now even more clear so it would make more sense to invest the points into [Strength] if he wants to quickly finish off an enemy during a fight.

Although he thought that, the Player idly grabbed a broken piece of brick from the ground before he began squeezing it within his palm which began cracking after a few seconds that finally shattered seconds more longer.

(Y/N) then dropped the fragments from his hand as he looked back the his stats, at this moment his [Strength] is high enough to crack apart a brick but not enough to actually break into smaller pieces as evident from the large chunks laid on the ground.

It is enough to break apart a puppet if he puts enough momentum and focus into it but the overall physical power behind his fists is still... lacking to say the least.

"..!" (Y/N) grunted as he suddenly threw a punch at the wall next to him, his fist immediately cracking apart the surface but unable to dig any deeper.

Also, his knuckles are now red and slightly sore.

"...I need more endurance then." He noted and since [Intelligence], [Sense] and [Luck] are enhanced by the [Sword Hunter Badge].

"More agility would also be useful in running around this place or through enemies, especially around bosses, big bosses particularly... forget it, I'll just split it up."

After investing five points equally into [Agility] and [Endurance], (Y/N) quickly made a move on from the area he currently resided at which he recalled was Rosa Isabelle Street Culvert, the next one connecting to this place being Estella Opera House.

The puppets that he had eliminated were all strewn across the streets but there were a collective few that leapt out from the building windows which only added to his kill counts but other than those puppets, the ones inside the buildings remained untouched.

(Y/N) kicked away another body of a puppet before making his way across the rooftop which had been his primary method of traversing Krat so it made sense for there to be little to no enemies to help him level up in the first place.

Even though there were more puppets teaming at the bottom in the streets, the previous amount of EXPs from dismantled puppets only contributed to an additional two levels so if he was to assume correctly, levelling up would require cleaning up the entire district.

Which he wasn't looking forward to.

It wasn't long until the Player found himself overlooking a long sloping street that leads up towards what appears to be a large manor or opera house, said street itself was also ablaze with flames engulfing everything in his sights with their perpetrators still burning things up.

Unsurprisingly, it was the puppets yet again, few of them were holding flamethrowers while others which he had eliminated before were hurling bombs into the buildings, causing more explosion of smoke and flames to burst out in the already chaotic street.

Normally, he would want to avoid this chaos by simply continuing his way towards the opera house, seeing how it was one of the many imposing buildings that stood out in his sight but at the same time, he needed to gather more EXPs in order to level up.

Whether it was for the best or worst, (Y/N) chose the latter decision of leaping down from his perch on the roof and right into the middle of the burning street where the puppets stood.

His presence was detected almost immediately but the first two flamethrower puppets have already suffered the fate of their heads being blown into bits as (Y/N) conjured forth a pair of [Shadow Orbs], taking away an insignificant portion in his [Mana Points].

So far, he had only spotted three of the flamethrower puppets, two which was just eliminated and the other one at the very end of the street burning up a store with debris in front of it which left the one bomber puppets stationed on each side of the street.

(Y/N) ducked down from a bomb thrown towards him before running towards the puppet with the Kirkhammer raised, the entire exchange took just a second as he instantly flattened his target into a tangled mess of metal, springs and gears.

His senses then tingled hard as his body was abuzz with caution before (Y/N) avoided another bomb thrown at him, exploding once it made contact with the wall in front of him as he ran towards the other bomber puppet on the other side of the street.

However, a sudden glow of orange and the rising heat on his left prompted him to turn only to see a huge fireball rolling towards him that forced him to quickly deploy [Shadow Shift], melting into the darkness as he just dodged the fiery ball by a second or two.

(Y/N) left the inverted world as quickly as he came into it before catching sight of the culprit behind the rolling fireball strutting down the street with a grotesque frame and face altogether.

Suffice to say, (Y/N) was not amused when he saw a puppet designed with the appearance of an atypical clown / jester one would see at a stereotypical circus fair with stripes and frills adorning its fat body while its hands made to mimic that of boxing gloves.

"...That is one fat ugly bastard." (Y/N) remarked, reeling back in slight disgust and trepidation at the clown puppet that was laughing with a immaculate face.

The moment it got (Y/N) in its sight, it began comically winding up one of its arms with its fist clenched and ready as the former got into a stance while pondering how exactly is this clown going to attack him especially from this far of a distance.

Several metres and it showed no sign of moving closer but only to wind up its arm even more quickly until he could see the air itself swirl with the wind that was being generated from the clown's action who was still seemingly laughing at his growing confusion.

Unfortunately, it was until it attacked when the Player realised why it didn't move from its spot.

"Wait, does it have springs for limbs-" Whatever words (Y/N) was about to say was cut off as a boxing glove immediately smashed into his face, sending him flying into the air.

Even more unfortunate was the fact that he had failed to activated [Shadow Aura] which meant he had taken the full brunt of the attack, face-first filled with metal and momentum that only added insult to his literal injury sustained when he smashed into the ground.

By the time (Y/N) got up, all he saw was the clown puppet laughing at him still while prancing around mockingly and that was enough to set the former over the edge as he stood up and walked towards the irritating foe he had the unfortunate luck of encountering.

And the fortunate luck to rip apart himself.

"...Should have known better..." He growled quietly before gripping the Kirkhammer tightly, seeing the attack having taken a whole 350 chunks of [HP] from him.

Is he getting too angry over a single attack? Yes, but from a literal clown? That's an insult to his seemingly non-existent pride that he had grown to not care about but it was still enough to warrant him activating [Dash] to close in the distance.

Before the fat puppet even knew what hit it, (Y/N) had raised the Kirkhammer high up into the air and then proceeded to activate [Chain Strikes] that turned the massive mace into a whirling storm of blunt force trauma that is all directed towards the clown.

(Y/N)'s attack instantaneously caved in several parts of the puppet's body, the sheer force behind his impacts was enough to send the clown flying instead and right into the wall of the gateway leading up towards the opera house.

It's no exaggeration to say that the fight was quickly over as (Y/N)'s current stats were enough to help him plow his way through this dungeon and deal with this clown of a puppet, especially with this clown of a puppet that he will see to being dismantled inch by inch.

(A/N: I died to this fucker so many times so this is very personal)

A cluttering noise distracted (Y/N) from his thoughts as he looked to see the clown puppet slowly getting up though with noticeable difficulties, particularly due to parts of its body being completely demolished by his earlier attack.

Not that he's complaining, the sooner he finished it the quicker he could get out of here.

(Y/N) reached the puppet right as it managed to stand up with its legs that were on the verge of breaking apart but only for the former to kick the clown back down onto the ground again before raising the Kirkhammer up high.

A single motion and the Player found himself making a pancake out of the clown's frame and innards, smashing the puppet into a paste as he heard the garbled screeching of metal and what used to be a joyful laughter that has descended into a metallic scream.

Music to his ears... he hated clowns anyway.

It wasn't until a minute passed when the screeches stop and (Y/N) found himself satisfyingly looking at the mangled remains of the puppet which made a fool out of him but unfortunately, turns out it still wasn't enough to make a difference in his level.

Which meant his next course of action is to gain access into the huge building right beyond that archway though he still couldn't help but wonder whether or not it was an opera building or a governmental related infrastructure.

Honestly, this dungeon is interesting but not to the point it intrigued him so much, his only focus at the moment is simply to collect more EXPs to level up and so far, it's going not as well as he wished it was though it should be expected.

(Y/N) ascended the small set of stairs before finding himself standing in front of the grand building with a large fountain adorning the pathway that leads into the equally large double doors made out of what he assumes is the finest materials.

Unfortunately for this place, he isn't here to sightseer so the Player paid no mind as he roughly pushed the door open but he had to admit, the interior of the building was even more lavish and richly coloured and decorated than the outside.

A chandelier that shone a golden light which illuminated the marble staircase going upwards and into three directions of left, right and straight ahead, the design was reminiscent of noble residencies found in Europe, most particularly the palaces in France.

The Player didn't put too many thoughts into his surroundings as he made his way towards the door on top of the staircase in the middle, he had also noticed a completely new puppet that had the appearance of a young girl with twin-tails and a chittering laugh combined with the sound of gears and strings scraping across its frame.

There were four that came at him with nothing but their bare hands but (Y/N) wager it would do more damage than he had anticipated, the clown puppet caught him off-guard once and now these new bunches won't be able to do the same.

One of them lunged and (Y/N) had already immobilised the rest of them with [Shadow Lock], allowing him to focus on one at the time which he'd easily stepped aside from an attack and retaliated with a swing of his Kirkhammer.

His [Strength] allowed the massive weapon to easily smash the puppet from head to toe into the floor, literally into a deformed figure that poorly mimicked a pancake with twitching limbs and fingers that tried to reach him only to fall silent.

(Y/N) paid it no mind as he walked up to the double door that had a form of a locking mechanism attached to it, effectively blocking his entry into the deeper sections of the building but he wasn't deterred at all.

He readjusted his grip on the Kirkhammer before planting his feet into a comfortable position and stance as he began raising the weapon up high and behind, his target being the doors itself.

*BOOM*

A thunderous crash echoed through the opera house as the foundation itself shook slightly from the impact of the giant hammer smashing full force into the wooden doors, effortlessly splintering them into pieces and breaking the entire frame off the wall.

The Player then passed by the wreckage of his handiwork, ignoring how he'd probably damaged hundreds worth of property as he saw a flaming chandelier swinging side-to-side above a singular beam that was placed across a gaping hole that led to the floor below.

Falling down from his current place wouldn't kill him but it would clearly waste more of his time which he rather not so (Y/N) dismissed the Kirkhammer, freeing as much weight from his body as he glanced back at the swinging chandelier before activating [Shadow Shift].

A second and two and he found himself passing by the swinging light and right in front of another double which he swung wide open to find himself gazing into a huge theatre filled with tables and chairs that spectated the stage above.

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything remarkable about the entire place other than the usual appearance of what an opera stage would look like except with more extravagance and size but there is the presence of immobile puppets with white bodies that simply laid there.

Furthermore, the entire stage appears to be undergoing some sort of remodelling or in the process of being adorned with props and mechanisms for a play that has yet to be finished.

Something compelled me to walk to this place but I do not know what exactly is it that I'm looking for which may help me finish this dungeon faster although I did not need to search any longer because I saw a huge shadow loom at me from above.

I leapt back just in time to feel a tremendous figure slam onto the floor, rocking my steps and the furniture around me as dust and wind picked from the sheer mass of the newcomer.

As I steadied myself, I looked at the gigantic figure in front of me which had the telltale sign of a puppet royalty or one that mimicked a king as evident from the golden crown placed on its head with a face that appeared to be perpetually grinning with its teeth completely in show.

It towered over me by several metres, I daresay between six to eight metres tall with two elongated arms jutting out from the side of its body with shoulders donning two equally gigantic pauldrons coloured in gold and chained to its cape.

The body of the giant puppet had another pair of arms that were crossed together as opposed to being used like the other two pairs but the machine showed no sign of imbalance as it slowly stood up straight to gaze at me with its glowing blue eyes.

"{So... there is still a rat running amongst the ruins.}" It's voice rumbled out in a mixture of garbles and statics yet I can hear it just fine.

"Did you just call me a rat?" I refuted back, narrowing my eyes as my hands gripped the Kirkhammer even more tightly.

"{....? How is it that you have come to possess the knowledge of our language?}"

"Your... language? I can hear you as bright and clear as the flames out in the city." (Y/N) rebuked, making a heavy emphasis on 'language' though he was thinking back to the [System]'s usages.

"Huh... so conversation between monsters and me is possible." He once again couldn't help but compare his [System] to that from Solo Leveling.

Too many coincidences but maybe it's just him being too perceptive or paranoid or both but for now, this giant puppet king... whose name is dark red and also sentient enough to refrain from attacking him outright can be conversed with.

At the same time, he hears his own voice as his own, not like the garbled speech of a puppet which is interesting considering the fact that conversation between them is even happening. Perhaps it's a NPC who can provide details to the actual boss or maybe this is just the monologue that happens at nearly every boss battles before it starts.

He's wagering on the latter.

"{Peculiar... you know our words yet you do not attack.}"

"I can say the same for you, your kin had been less than welcoming to my presence so you'll have to understand why I'm armed."

"{I may be crowned a 'king' but I have no hold or sway over those frenzied monsters outside, such is the price of the discovery of Ergo and its advancement in technology.}"

While speaking continuously in its garbled voice, (Y/N) didn't miss the fact that the massive puppet was slowly walking around him with its entirety =blocking a direct pathway towards the exit of the opera stage, openly preventing him from leaving the place quickly.

Or he's being paranoid again or this entire seemingly amicable talk is simply a facade for the storm that is about to hit this entire room, one that (Y/N) must brace for soon.

"Ergo... the blue glow I see every now and then?" The Player questioned, recalling the faint bluish light dimming from each puppet slain.

"{Ah, a foreigner to Krat? Then you have picked a bad time to come here, especially with the liars and monsters roaming the streets and buildings.}"

"{The Puppet Frenzy was not kind to neither humans or my... kin, deception and disorder grows which leaves me alone in here waiting.}"

"Waiting? Waiting for what?" (Y/N) inquired while scrutinising every single detail in the room as well as the puppet king's form.

Giant elongated arms would suggest a long reach as well as a heavy impact behind an attack, each steps could easily cross the room in a matter of seconds and there was the unknown variables of how the giant puppet would attack him.

"{Waiting for a friend, one whose heart echoes through this city, one who could end this nightmare but lacks the humanity to do so.}"

Despite the static and garbles obscuring the tone, there was an undeniable sense of... longing and melancholy beneath it, one that (Y/N) finds quite ironic in a giant machine.

"You speak as if your friend... is not a human..." He carefully spoke out which earned him a brief response from the King of Puppets.

"{I have since lost the track of time but I know and must warn Carlo of Gepetto's machinations, because it will not be me who suffers in the end.}"

"Gepetto..? The Gepetto from Pinocchio?" (Y/N) thought to himself, recognising the iconic name of the puppet maker from fairy tales.

"Why tell me this then?" He then asked, narrowing his eyes again at the puppet's seemingly nonchalance at discussing a plan towards a human.

"{I will not lie and say I do not enjoy a conversation... especially after so long without a single word omitted to one that could understand me.}"

"..." (Y/N) had no words to speak, for he was gripping onto his weapon again as his intuition started blaring at him dangerously.

"{Which is why... that is the very reason which I cannot let you leave here alive, especially when you had proven to understand our words... words that could be passed onto unsavoury audience and Gepetto himself.}"

"..." The Player sighed as he knew the outcome for this talk by now, guess it's time to put his skills and stats to another test.

"{I am sorry, but you must die.}"

"And I shouldn't be surprised at all..." (Y/N) thought to himself, sighing as a large shadow fell on top of him with the gargantuan puppet's arm slamming down onto him.

Dust and debris burst out from the place as the royal puppet looked down at where it had plunged its claw-like hand but only to feel no sensation of flesh and bone being pulverised despite its massive weight bearing upon the human.

Only to feel the abrupt and unbelievable realisation that its arm is being held back and pushed away regardless of its superior mass and size with the dust settling to reveal (Y/N) still fine and standing with his arms outstretched and gripping against the metallic claws.

"If that's the case..! Then I am sorry too!" The Player declared, gritting his teeth as he held up the huge mass of steel above his head.

(Y/N) then pushed back the steel claw with a grunt as he took out the Kirkhammer from his [Inventory] while activating [Shadow Aura], watching the giant puppet stumble just slightly from his push due to the severely unexpected turnabout.

A single tilt of its massive grimacing head was the only indication of confusion before the head completely twisted around with its previously grey coloured face turning dark with its blue glowing eyes turning a malicious bright red.

"{Interesting... but futile nevertheless.}"

"Well isn't that just eerie-!" (Y/N) wanted to think but only to raise his weapon to intercept a giant elongated arm being swung at him.

The Player soon felt himself flying across the air before smashing down into a set of chairs and table, taking the wind out of him as he brushed off the splinters and fragments just to see the Puppet King using both of its titanic arms to push itself towards him.

"...This feels familiar." Was all he commented on as he heard his opponent speak with a low rumble mixed with garbles and statics.

"{Do not make this worse for yourself, death will be swift and painless should you yield.}"

"And I am not interested in forfeiting my life so quickly, you'll have to forgive me." (Y/N) harshly rebuked as a calm was forced onto him, allowing him to focus for now.

A calm that was mirrored by the Puppet King, staring down at him with only a short line of garbled words speaking out to him, there was resignation in both the situation and what is about to transpire next for both human and puppet alike.

"{...So be it.}"

===================================

I hate writer's block, also it's about time to introduce the MC to the RWBY storyline, that has been delayed for too long now so forgive me for that.