ã€ŠLast Shelter Onlineã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Yuujin Yamaguchi, a young genius who managed to conquer various VRMMORPGs that developed at that age, was suddenly reported dead in America. The cause of his reported death remained a mystery.

    [Crazy! Yuujin Yamaguchi is reported dead!]

    [Are you serious? It¡¯s most likely fake news again.]

    [You don¡¯t believe me? Check the news!]

    [I¡¯ve read it, was it really suicide?]

    [Wow, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was actually suicide!]

    [No way! Who are you trying to fool?]

    The sudden death of the legendary professional yer shocked the virtual world. From public forums to dark websites, everyone that had been following the man¡¯s journey was talking about the news of his death.

    Losing their mainstay professional yer, Yamaguchi¡¯s agency, E-nfinity, was dealt a heavy blow as various sponsors withdrew all the facilities they provided to the agency. This included special amenities, and one of them was a luxury apartment in Tokyo which had been the residence of his younger brother, Hiro Yamaguchi.

    ¡­

    ¡°Fuck! Shit! Damn it!¡±

    A young man was ruffling his ck hair on the side of the road like a madman. Near his feet sat arge cardboard box whose lid couldn¡¯tpletely close due to therge number of contents.

    Three days after his brother¡¯s death was reported, Hiro was kicked out of the apartment he had been living in without anypensation from the agency where his brother worked before his death.

    There was no clear information about the cause of his brother¡¯s death, neither from the media nor the E-nfinity agency. Moreover, Yuujin¡¯s body was currently still under further investigation, so it would take some time if he wanted to see his brother¡¯s body.

    Three days had passed, and Hiro¡¯s life felt like hell.

    There was nothing left for him, not even Yuujin¡¯s credit card that he used to use as it had been frozen by the agency. Now, Hiro could only rely on his meager savings.

    ¡°My life really is over. It¡¯s all because of that idiot! Arghhhh! How could he just die like that!?

    ¡°If you want to die, just die on your own! Why do you have to make things difficult for me too!? Did you forget that you still have a brother?!¡±

    Thump!

    Hiro harshly kicked amppost by the roadside, causing an electric current to sting his leg.

    ¡°Ouch! That hurts, damn it!¡± he cursed as he patted his trembling leg.

    Hiro had been standing in the same ce for nearly two hours. Before he knew it, the bright sky had turned dark.

    ¡°I know you did it on purpose. You¡¯re tired of taking care of me, aren¡¯t you!? That death of yours, you must¡¯ve faked it on purpose! I know how you y, Yuujin. That¡¯s really smart of you. Cunning, even. In America, aren¡¯t many people already faking their deaths!?¡±

    He spat on the ground. ¡°Tch, if only I had enough money toe see you there.¡±

    Hiro clenched his fists, feeling angry, annoyed, and disappointed at the same time. The turbulent emotions raged within him, and after a moment, his heart felt as if it was shrouded in darkness.

    ¡°Why is my life so miserable?¡± He took a deep breath and looked up at the dark sky.

    Suddenly, a bright sh of light startled him.

    BANG!

    Lightning struck the sky he was looking at,pleting his suffering that day as heavy rain came pouring down his body.

    ¡°Fuck! Why am I so unlucky!?¡±

    The rain poured like a storm. Left with no other option, Hiro immediately rushed to find shelter after he grabbed the cardboard box filled with his belongings. Fortunately, a bus stop was nearby.

    ¡°Where am I supposed to stay tonight?¡± he muttered to himself.

    Hiro touched the ck android bracelet wrapped around his left hand, and it projected a smartphone interface on the skin of his arm. This was a technology that had be a must-have item for people living in the year 2028. Getting a little wet from the rain was fine as the technology waspletely waterproof.

    He had been hoping to see a notification from the only remaining family member he had now, Aunt Yuma, but the woman ignored all of his calls and messages these past few days.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m really alone now,¡± Hiro sighed somberly. He lowered his head, his eyes staring nkly at the screen.

    Ding!

    [Iing message has been received.]

    [Advertisement: Find afortable and inexpensive ce to stay near Kami-Itabashi Station, 1R apartments starting from 40,000 yen/month in limited quantity! Call +81 3 5xxxx to order!]

    Even though it was not the message he was expecting, seeing the dirt-cheap housing price and its location only three blocks away from his current location, Hiro desperately ran in the rain to get there.

    And after running for a while, he finally managed to find the apartment he was looking for; an old building with five floors. He shook the water off his body a little before entering. He met the owner, a fat olddy with a friendly look to her, to bargain the price. The reason for this was that Hiro only had 25,000 yen left.

    Even so, he still decided toe to this ce while hoping luck would be on his side. And fortunately, luck was indeed on his side that night.

    After some persuasion, Hiro managed to get an amazing price of 20,000 yen per month for a one-room apartment. The olddy was even kind enough to allow him to pay the rent in two installments, upfront and at the end of the month.

    Therefore, he immediately paid the first 10,000 yen using his android bracelet. The transaction was done with only a swipe, very fast and easy.

    Technology made various things in life easier.

    Afterward, Hiro swiftly rushed to his room located at the very corner of the highest floor, room number 501.

    Upon entering, he was immediately greeted by a room with an area of ??28 square metersplete with a bed, a small room for the kitchen, and an en-suite bathroom that was only separated by thin wooden partitions. It honestly made Hiro think back to his old life.

    After standing at the door for a while, he walked in and ced the cardboard box in his hand on the table beside the bed.

    ¡°Ah, damn it! Now I really have no money. Seriously, Yuujin, why didn¡¯t you give me anything for a situation like this? Haa¡­ looks like I have to find a job to survive tomorrow,¡± Hiro annoyedly muttered before checking his savings bnce.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even have enough money to pay for university enrollment. What¡¯s the point of being epted by three top universities if I can¡¯t even pay for it? Damn it! Everything I did went to waste!¡±

    Thud!

    He kicked the nearby table in anger, causing the box to fall.

    Hiro lowered his gaze and silently looked at the fallen box before a sigh escaped his lips. Regretting his actions, he immediately saved the box and re-crammed the fallen belongings scattered on the dusty floor.

    His hand suddenly stopped moving when it came into contact with a small metal box tucked between his pile of clothes. As he took it out, he found that the box was a memory cube, a device that allowed one to store pictures or photos that were usually used for an album of memories.

    He pressed the activation button on the box, and a bitter smile appeared on his face as the box projected some old, unforgettable photos.

    The first photo was a photo of Hiro when he was 6 years old. It was his first time going to school apanied by his older brother, not long from the fateful day of their parents¡¯ ident.

    The second photo was a photo of the two of them, the older brother holding the international gaming championship trophy while hugging his younger brother¡¯s shoulders tightly. Both of them looked very happy with very simr smiles on their faces.

    Hiro suddenly remembered the words his brother wrote at the bottom.

    ¡®You can do it too Hiro, believe me!¡¯

    Hiro gasped as something dripped from his eyes. Realizing what had just happened, he immediately rubbed his eyes and turned off the memory cube.

    ¡°Why is this room so dusty?¡±

    Since it had been a really tiring day, he decided not to do anything else and jump into bed early.

    ¡­

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The loud banging on the door made Hiro jolt up from his bed,pletely awakened from his deep sleep.

    Annoyed, Hiro forced himself to get off his bed andzily walked toward the door.

    m!

    Hiro almost broke the hinge of his bedroom door by violently opening it. He was ready to throw some curses at the person who had disturbed his sleep, but¡­

    No one was there.

    And it was still dark. Completely dark, in fact.

    When he nced at the clock on his android bracelet, it showed 03:00 AM.

    ¡°Fuck!!¡± he cursed while leaning out and turning his head around to check if there really wasn¡¯t anyone there.

    Thud!

    His foot identally kicked something heavy on the floor in front of him.

    Arge cardboard box was left in front of Hiro¡¯s door.

    ¡°For me?¡± Hiro checked the piece of paper stuck on top of the box. Written in Times New Roman was a short, but concise message.

    ¡®Happy Birthday, Hiro! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like my present. ¨C Your brother, Yuujin.¡¯

    Hiro stared at the piece of paper wide-eyed.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Happy birthday, my ass! My birthday wasst month!

    ¡°International couriers are really bad these days. How is it that I only received your present after you died, Yuujin?

    ¡°Besides, are you from an ancient civilization or something? Who sends birthday messages like this these days?¡±

    Hiro frowned as he studied the box once more. Looking at therge size and the expensive-looking cardboard material, Hiro¡¯s gloomy feelings gradually turned bright.

    ¡®Is this the inheritance money that he prepared for me?¡¯

    He immediately took the box into his room and brutally unsealed it, and inside it was¡­

    ¡°A set of next-generation full-dive VR machines!?¡±

    Hiro was astonished to see what he found in the box. He inspected the machine very carefully, afraid of identally scratching it. After all, this thing was expensive. Like, super expensive!

    Thetest generation of full-dive VR technology was much smaller than the previous generation¡¯s. It had a bulky appearance and felt very light, and its shape resembled a helmet withfortable padding on the inside. Furthermore, the package wasplete with a smartring that functioned as data storage and could easily be connected to an android bracelet.

    Without further ado, Hiro put the ring on his finger.

    [Ding! A smartring has been detected. Would you like to download it?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Downloading, please wait¡­]

    [Download sessful]

    [Program Name: LAST SHELTER ONLINE]

    [Type: VRMMORPG]

    [Smartring is now safe to remove.]

    ¡°Last Shelter Online?¡±

    He had heard about the game several years ago, but no further information about the game was released since then. It was as if it just disappeared and everyone started to forget.

    That is, until today when it once again rose to the surface.

    Why so suddenly, though?

    Curious about the reason, Hiro immediately opened the MetaGoozle search engine to find out more.

    [Last Shelter Online: The game¡¯s official website suddenly opened three days ago!]

    [A highly anticipated game, Last Shelter Online, shocked the world with its sudden release!]

    The entire first page of the keyword search was filled with the basically same news.

    Hiro immediately read more from the official website of LSO, a game that had been eagerly awaited since years ago produced by the world¡¯srgest gamepany, Ninecent.

    [The softunching of the LSO game is scheduled for December 8, 2028. Starting from today, thetest generation of VR machines specifically for LSO has been sold on the inte in limited quantities per day. For the first day of sale, a total of 200,000 VRs were sold out in one second!]

    There was also a release event that wouldst for a month starting from the game¡¯s release date. A total prize of 10,000LSC would be awarded to yers who manage to rank in the top 1,000 in the game.

    Meanwhile, for yers who were ranked in the top 100, an additional 50,000LSC would be awarded on the same day, with the total prize of the release event amounting to 15 million LSC.

    LSC, or Last Shelter Coin, was listed as an official cryptocurrency currently upying the number two position in the world, just below Botcoin (BTC).

    10,000LSC was currently equivalent to 10,000USD.

    ¡®This means¡­¡¯

    ¡°An opening ceremony event with a total prize money of 60,000 USD!?¡±

    ¡®I can pay for my university enrollment, tuition, apartment rent, or my life for several years with that money!¡¯

    ¡°This isn¡¯t a hoax, is it?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s spirit was rekindled after seeing the nominal value of this present. The present could save his life!

    Besides, getting a rank in the top 1,000 wasn¡¯t difficult for him. Although he had not reached the legendary extent his brother managed to, he was also a professional gamer. In order to live, he decided to target the top 100 to get that 60,000USD for himself.

    He could no longer wait and wanted to try the game andpete. And because he already had a VR machineplete with the game, he wanted to try the machine first.

    ¡®Let¡¯s try it out.¡¯

    Hiro attached the VR machine to his head. A moment after it was properly put on, the hundreds of sensitive sensors embedded in the VR machine started working to capture his brainwaves before downloading them and converting them to digital form.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

 Chapter 2

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

    [7 day(s) remaining]

    ¡°CBT, huh? What luck!¡±

    Hiro found himself in a dark room where light from the ceiling was shining on his naked body. Meanwhile, in front of him appeared a head-up disy that showed a miniature image of his body as well as a data list about the types of basic job sses that could be selected.

    [Your ¡®real¡¯ appearance has been synchronized with your in-game avatar]

    [Would you like to modify your avatar¡¯s appearance?]

    ¡°No.¡±

    [Please choose the basic job ss of your character]

    [Note: There are four levels of job sses in this game that can be unlockedter with certain requirements: Basic, Advanced, Expert, and Veteran.]

    [The description of advanced, expert, and veteran job sses will be updated when the world level reached Level 30, Level 100, and Level 200.]

    [We apologize for the incovenience]

    Hiro began checking the description of the basic job sses one at a time by simply moving his eyes towards the respective square column in the HUD and staring at them for 0.5 seconds to trigger a mini screen containing the description of each job ss to appear.

    After carefully reading each one, he quickly knew which job ss best suited his preferred ystyle.

    [(Barbarian) (Rogue) (Ranger) (Mage) (Knight) (Cleric)]

    [Barbarian, a melee DPS with powerful abilities for close-ranged duels.]

    [You are choosing Barbarian as your basic job ss.]

    [You will not be able to change your job sster. Proceed anyway?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Immediately after, a new screen appeared in ce of the previous screen. The second screen showed an artificial human heart so detailed its blood vessels could be vividly seen. The heartbeat looked unbelievably genuine, and even the heart rate was recorded at the bottom part of the screen.

    110 BPM, it stated.

    It was only after a few moments that Hiro realized it was his heartbeat that was recorded. When he felt his heart rate increase due to tension, the BPM shown on the screen also changed.

    130 BPM.

    The HUD feature embedded in the yer¡¯s eyeballs and connected to his brain is a system that projects information onto a usually transparent surface that sits directly in a yer¡¯s line of vision. The control of the head-up disy, or HUD, ispletely dependent on the yer and the in-game system.

    Hiro really liked this HUD feature. Even though he had found it in other VRMMORPGs before, the HUD feature in LSO had a smoother appearance and didn¡¯t interfere with his view.

    He then stared at the beating artificial heart for 0.5 seconds before a notification popped up along with five familiar images.

    The head of a wolf, [Beast]; the silhouette of a dragon, [Dragon]; a human-like figure with pointed ears, [Elf]; a short-legged figure, [Dwarf]; and a winged humanoid being, [Demon].

    [Please choose the core of your bloodline]

    [Note: The core of your bloodline indicates your half-blood race and will affect your physical appearance to an extent.]

    [Each bloodline has its special strengths and weaknesses.]

    [(Beast) (Dragon) (Elf) (Dwarf) (Demon)]

    Hiro tried the avable races one by one. On the HUD, he could see his profile changing in correspondence with the option he chose. Choosing [Beast] made him have furry ears that stood up. Choosing [Dragon] made the skin under his eyes scaly like a reptile. The [Elf] option made his ears slightly elongated and pointy, the [Dwarf] option made him lose about forty percent of his height, and the [Demon] option turned his eyes blood red.

    Hm?

    He could not find any information about the special strengths and weaknesses the system mentioned.

    [Information regarding strengths and weaknesses is currently unavable in this version.]

    [You are free to choose one of the cores and change itter.]

    [We apologize for the incovenience]

    After contemting for a brief moment, Hiro decided to choose the [Demon] option. Since no information about the strengths and weaknesses of each race was avable, he decided to pick the option with the least conspicuous appearance change

    He could change itter anyway.

    [Demon, possessed by evil spirits. Proceed?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [¡­]

    [You will be teleported to Story Mode.]

    The spotlight suddenly went out. Now, Hiro could see nothing but pitch-ck darkness.

    When the beam of light returned, Hiro¡¯s vision blurred for a few seconds before finally finding its focus again.

    [¡­]

    [Story Mode is currently unavable in this version]

    [We truly apologize for the incovenience]

    Immediately after, an unpleasant sensation overwhelmed him. It felt as if his body was suddenly being pulled hard from behind and stuffed into a narrow pipe. Not only was it painful, but it also made him extremely nauseous. He couldn¡¯t even breathe due to the suffocation. However, after just a second passed, Hiro found himself standing inside arge circr hall.

    The walls of therge hall appeared to be made of solid, patterned cream marble, while the floor consisted of ck and white tiles, making it look like a giant chessboard at a nce.

    He was not alone. When he looked around, Hiro found several people in the hall.

    Ding!

    [You received Two-Handed Wooden Sword (Level 1) Tier D.]

    [You received a new costume, ¡®Half-Blood Student Uniform¡¯.]

    [You received a new title, ¡®First-Year Student¡¯.]

    [Auto-Equip System (20s remaining)]

    Hiro felt a slightly ticklish sensation as his body suddenly emitted bright light.

    Just a second after, Hiro found that he was wearing a set of school uniforms consisting of a white shirt on the inside and a ck zer on the outside as well as a pair of ck trousers. The entire outfit looked very neat, and it made him feel as if he was actually getting ready to go to school.

    But all of a sudden, something heavy appeared on Hiro¡¯s back. It was so abrupt that it caused him to stumble backwards, almost tripping over.

    Arge sword with a broad silver de and a brown wooden hilt had appeared on Hiro¡¯s back, strapped tightly to his body. Hiro, whose curiosity was piqued, immediately drew the sword from behind his back and studied its details carefully.

    [Two-Handed Wooden Sword (Level 1) ¨C Tier D.]

    [Damage 68; uracy 20; Aspd 10]

    ¡®Hmmm¡­ It¡¯s not bad for a beginner¡¯s sword. At least the visual details are much more realistic than thest game I yed.¡¯

    After finishing his inspection, Hiro immediately looked for the ce¡¯s exit. Some of the yers around him were conversing with each other, but he was not interested in doing what he believed to be a waste of time. His eyes moved through therge room until he found arge dark brown wooden gate 5 meters tall. The gate had an exquisite carving in the shape of a lion¡¯s headplete with a beautiful mane, all unbelievably detailed.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro walked past the door. However, before he could go further, a robot the size of a palm flew toward him and stopped right in front of his face, blocking his view.

    The robot was shaped like a fairy butpletely made of metal. On its chest was the letter ¡®A¡¯.

    ¡°Hi, [¡­]!¡±

    Ding!

    [Let the Asdroid know your name]

    Hiro opted to use the name he always used when ying games.

    ¡°NightFall.¡±

    ¡°Hi, NightFall! Wee to Last Shelter Online! I¡¯m Nyx the Asdroid, and I¡¯ll teach you how to see your progressive status.¡± The robot fluently spoke. Its voice was akin to a little girl¡¯s, but it had a very faint hint of mechanicalness.

    ¡°You can call the system using the keyword [System Call].¡±

    [System Call]

    A screen appeared on Hiro¡¯s HUD. On it, several pieces of information were neatly orderedplete with numbers on the right side and a close-up profile photo of Hiro with a t expression was disyed on the left.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know when the photo was taken by the system, but he didn¡¯t think much of it and immediately observed the details of his progressive status.

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [First-Year Student]

    Base Level 1 (0/50) [World Level Cap 20]

    Job ss Level 1 (0/50) [Level up to 35 to unlock advance job sses]

    Health 372/372

    AP 58/58

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 100

    BR 500

    Basic Stats (Points 3)

    STR 18

    AGI 15

    INT 13

    VIT 22

    DEX 15

    LUCK 10

    Hiro frowned, surprised and somewhat confused. Unlike the games he had yed before, his basic stat numbers seemed to vary strangely.

    The basic stats for level 1 yers shouldn¡¯t be that high, and the ratio shouldn¡¯t be that random.

    ¡°What happened to my basic stats?¡±

    Nyx exined to Hiro what happened to his basic stats.

    The LSO system downloads the physical and mental state of the yer in the real world through a special new generation VR. The system then synchronizes it with the yer¡¯s in-game avatar and adds it to the provided basic stats of 10 points.

    The reason why Hiro¡¯s basic stats seemed to vary randomly was that Hiro¡¯s physical and mental state in the real world had been converted into numbers ording to the system calction in the world of LSO.

    Hiro was even more interested in listening when the Asdroid told him the basic stats bonus synchronization could be upgraded every time a yer logged in. In other words, if the real-life physical and mental state of the yers before logging in are at their prime, the basic stat bonus obtained would also be high, and vice versa.

    ¡°Interesting¡­ the offline and online mode bncing system is quite fair.¡±

    Thinking about it, from the basic stat bonus, his strength was probably on par with a level 10.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯m the strongest level 1 yer here, kekeke.¡± At the thought of his artificial superiority in imagination, Hiro could not contain his chuckle. However, his expression froze when his eyes fell on the lowermost stat.

    ¡°Shit, what the hell is that 10-point luck? Do I really not have the slightest bit of luck in the real world?¡±

    ¡®And three points of intelligence!? The top three universities in Japan are fighting over me!¡¯

    Hiro was instead busy cursing the system which he thought was a bit far-fetched for certain statuses. s, hisints fell on deaf ears.

    ¡°When you¡¯re done, you can simply say [All Set].¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be rewarded with three stat points every time you level up, and you can distribute those points to any stat you want using your mind. The system will synchronize it to your progressive status.¡±

    ¡°Please note that the system in LSO has no limitations. Job sses will only give you certain skills that can¡¯t be found in other job sses, and weapons and equipment are not bound to job sses. You are free to design your avatar and explore the way to be the strongest yer!¡±

    Ding!

    [Nyx¡¯s time is up, the Asdroid must return to its home.]

    Poof!

    The fairy-shaped robot suddenly disappeared from Hiro¡¯s sight. At the same time, his vision suddenly blurred. He only had time to look at the vast schoolyard-like ground in front of him.

    Nobody else was left.

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported to Beginner Town.]

 Chapter 3

    [Beginner Town]

    When Hiro regained his vision, the sight that weed him was a square in the center of the town with models of old buildings made of marbles.

    The buildings around the square where he was teleported were not very tall, except for one church-shaped building with two towers rising up to 50 meters above ground level.

    This time, Hiro felt very familiar with the view of a town with old building models, a sight he usually encountered in a beginner town, where an MMORPG game began.

    Hiro could see people talking to NPCs in front of buildings of various shapes. All conversations sounded normal as if they were all humans, but NPCs could be easily distinguished because there was no information regarding level, yer name, job ss, and title above their heads.

    Even though it looked very spacious, the number of users who could be seen walking around in the Beginner Town square wasn¡¯t too many. Making it look as if people were not interested in the game.

    However, when Hiro focused his eyes on the information printed above the other yer¡¯s avatar¡¯s head through his eyes, he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing.

    [Level 17. Aura. Mage. Newborn Noble]

    [Level 16. Edmund. Knight. Noble Knight]

    [Level 18. Daniel. Rogue. Fresh Money]

    ¡°Everyone is already close to the world cap level. It seems that this special CBT started a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°But at least, I still have 7 days to catch up¡±

    Hiro knew what to do to speed up leveling up in an MMORPG. However, to do so, first he needed the manual guide of the game.

    He decided to walk to find a quiet ce where he could concentrate, and the choice fell on a gap between tworge buildings.

    First, Hiro checked the time disy in his HUD system.

    The system of running time in the LSO game has the same time as real life, which is 1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds.

    However, there is a significant difference between server time and real time in Tokyo, Japan.

    Server time was 13 hours different. And right now, the sky within the LSO world was still bright.

    [02.10 PM Server Time]

    After studying the game¡¯s time system, he then summoned his own system.

    [System Call]

    Hiro could see several menus listed like a ¡®home¡¯ page on his android bracelet in the real world.

    His progressive status didn¡¯t immediately appear on the main screen like when he called the system for the first time.

    His eyes moved to a spider-shaped icon with writing underneath¡­

    [Monster Wiki]

    Something that he desperately needed right now ¨C a guide. He opened the menu.

    Immediately after, list regarding detailed information about the type of monster, the level of the monster, the element/weapon used by the monster, the race of the monster, type of drop monster, as well as the coordinates of its location appeared in front of Hiro¡¯s eyes,plete with 3D images of the monsters walking on the spot.

    ¡°Gotcha!¡±

    Hiro studied the monsters listed on the wiki in no time.

    The monster wiki only hasplete information for a few low-level monsters, while the rest is just a nk page with a question mark in the column where the monster¡¯s name should be written.

    [Unlock new monster information to obtain LSC bonus]

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    After reading through the list, Hiro¡¯s choice fell on the monster [Wild Boar Level 8].

    Even though the listed level for Hiro¡¯s avatar was still Level 1, he was very confident about his first assessment of his current basic stats.

    And he had calcted it, [Wild Boar level 8] would be the first monster to experiment with his basic stats which were currently equivalent to yer level 10.

    A newbie yer would definitely prefer to start from a level 1 monster, a slime named Reemooroo because it was equivalent to their initial level and stats.

    However, Hiro as a pro yer already knew how to speed up his level-up and catch up by targeting monsters with different level gaps.

    Good thing about this game, there was no EXP penalty. This made Hiro free to risk attempting any level monster, because defeating the monster with a high level gap would give him higher EXP points. Thus, fasten the leveling up.

    However, before he went grinding, Hiro decided to go find an NPC Merchant to buy some potions.

    He checked how much money he got from the system.

    [Bnce 25LSC]

    LSC. Even in the game they use the same currency.

    The NPC Merchant was a man in shabby clothes who kept smiling as he watched the yers walking past him.

    After thinking for a while, Hiro decided to buy 5 health potions and 3 energy potions. The former cost 3 LSC per bottle while thetter cost 2 LSC per bottle, meaning almost all the money he had was spent on potions.

    ¡°The hunting items are very expensive,¡± Hiro grumbled after leaving the NPC Merchant.

    He then ran towards the coordinates of the location listed in the Monster Wiki information with the help of the HUD which disyed a map of the city.

    Tap tap tap!

    The coordinates of the location of the first monster to be hunted.

    A vast grass field with several ces overgrown with 100 cm tall bushes with thorny stems was the ce where the coordinates of the [Wild Boar]¡¯s supposed location were, ording to the information from the Monster Wiki.

    [All Set]

    Hiro¡¯s HUD disy had disappeared from his vision, now Hiro can see his surroundings more clearly. He also squinted his eyes to look further, looking for roughly where the monster he was looking for was located.

    However, after spending some time roaming around the ce, Hiro still couldn¡¯t find his prey.

    Until suddenly, the bush behind his back moved.

    Rustle!

    A wild boar with a body covered with thick ck fur and a rough look suddenly jumped out of the bush, attacking Hiro¡¯s ass with a pair of very pointy tusks curved on either side of its snout. Caught off guard, his butt was butted by the boar.

    Bamm!

    [Health -100]

    Hiro¡¯s body was thrown and fell to the ground, his bottom hurting a lot after being hit.

    ¡°Damn, pig!¡± cursed Hiro in annoyance. He immediately rose to his feet and drew his great sword.

    Firmly, Hiro swung his greatsword with two hands. The de of the greatsword managed to hit the tusks of the [Wild boar].

    nk!

    Grook!

    The boar growled in anger as therge sword got stuck in its long tusks. The monster swiftly tried to push Hiro back with its four fat short legs. This monster has a fairly strong power due to the level gap.

    ¡°Wait till I turn you into BBQ pork!¡±

    Hiro¡¯s great sword de couldn¡¯t move as it was stuck on the boar¡¯s tusk. Now, its function was only to hold the boar from pushing Hiro¡¯s body.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to lose, he still believed in his abilities.

    But, unable to expect much from his weapon, Hiro used his long and strong legs¡­

    ¡°Eat this!¡±

    Bang!

    Hiro kicked the boar¡¯s head with his foot, just like kicking a ser ball.

    Unexpectedly, the kick was so strong that the boar was thrown from its ce, rolled on the ground two meters away from Hiro.

    [Wild Boar health -50]

    [Wild Boar health 350/400]

    It didn¡¯t kill the boar instantly.

    Hiro walked approaching the boar who was iling with his four legs kicking in the air, trying to stand up but it was helpless. Its too big size and very disproportionate ratio of body and legs didn¡¯t allow it to turn around by itself.

    Realizing that the monster couldn¡¯t stand up, Hiro chuckled at it, before shing the head of the helpless wild boar with his greatsword in one swing.

    sh!

    [Fatal Damage]

    A fatal attack sent the boar¡¯s head flying away from its body.

    ¡°Is that all?¡±

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x! (Level 2)]

    Ding!

    [Job ss Level Up 1x! (Level 2)]

    Hiro immediately checked the drop he got from the first monster he killed, all the things that automatically entered his inventory were useless trash. Drops like boar¡¯s broken fangs, wild boar¡¯s fur, and wild boar¡¯s meat.

    Free inventory avable for yers is only 50 slots. However, the drop of trash crammed into Hiro¡¯s inventory. It reduced his speed as a consequence. Thus, he had to throw it away carefully. To ensure that the items were really meaningless.

    But suddenly, a row of bushes from the direction of the wild boar appeared was moving rapidly, the sound of noisy footsteps in the bushes could be heard even more clearly.

    ¡°Oh, shit!¡±

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked Sword Combo skill (Skill points required to activate)]

 Chapter 4

    Hiro checked his progressive status after he leveled up just by defeating a wild boar. Due to the significant difference between the level of the monster and his own level, he gained a lot of EXP from defeating the monster.

    Meanwhile, the sun above the clear sky continued to stung his skin even more. Hiro had to wipe the sweat that dripped from his forehead and almost flowed through his open eyes. Makes him feel bad for a moment.

    A very real feeling, as if he was in the real world, even the natural phenomena that happened to his body when exposed to hot weather were the same in that game.

    [System Call]

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [First-Year Student]

    Base Level 2

    Job ss Level 2

    Health 410/410

    AP 60/60

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 100

    BR 570

    Basic Stats (Points 6)

    STR 18

    AGI 15

    INT 13

    VIT 22

    DEX 15

    LUCK 10

    Hiro immediately used the base points he got from leveling up earlier to be distributed to the stats ording to his current need. He would need higher physical damage on the early stage of the game, so he needed to increase STR.

    But, just as he was about to distribute the points, suddenly a new notification appeared ovepping the progressive disy.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked Sword Combo skill (Skill points required to activate)]

    [Swordbo skill is a basic swordbo attack, a stronger and longer damage increase. (Maxbo limit up to 10x if the skill level reached maximum)]

    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Hiro murmured as he read over the skill description. ¡°Great! The first basic skill I got.¡±

    Apparently, Hiro could distribute basic stat bonus points and activate Sword Combo skills using his mind.

    ording to the information he obtained from Nyx the Asdroid, he could manage bonus points with his mind that was connected to the game system. In fact, it was a very easy thing to do when he got the hang of it.

    [6 base points has been added to STR, (STR 24)]

    [3 skill points has been used]

    [Sword Combo Skill has been activated (Level 1)]

    [3 skill points has been added to Sword Combo Skill , (Level 2 )]

    Immediately as he distributed his points, Hiro could feel his greatsword bing lighter and lighter as his STR points increased.

    ¡°All set.¡±

    Hiro suddenly heard a noise from behind his back.

    Rustle!

    Not wanting to be hit by the same attack, he quickly jumped forward and then turned his body towards the back.

    A row of bushes as high as 100 cm with thorns on the green stems seemed to sway strangely. Sounds of footsteps could be heard rubbing against the leaves in the bush.

    The tip of the bush could not be seen in Hiro¡¯s eyes because it was merged as one with the forest area where it was fairly dark and was not exposed to sunlight because the trees were tall and close to each other.

    Hiro gulped, waiting with his sword drawn with the perfect stance he had learned from his Kendo skill that was on par with the level of HachiDan.

    He has always been obsessed with using a sword since childhood. And his experience of swinging a sword with HachiDan¡¯s level of kendo made him not hesitate to always choose a job ss that excels in using the sword.

    Even though in LSO, weapons were not bound to any type of job ss, still, [Barbarian] had the advantage of sword skills which was something that Hiro needed if he wanted to reach the apex of this game.

    ¡°Come to me, ugly pig!¡±

    Grook!

    Seven wild boar monsters of varying sizes suddenly jumped out of the thicket in front of Hiro. Two of the seven were enormous in size, even bigger than the first pig that Hiro had defeated.

    As if the seven wild boars that appeared were the extended family of the boar he had killed, the seven of them looked very angry. Fumes came out of their snouts, as their red eyes shed and locked onto Hiro and his sword.

    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Hiro cursed loudly as he did not expect that the monster woulde in groups.

    s, the boars did not give him time to respond, much less prepare.

    Bang!

    [Health -50]

    Hiro staggered backwards when one of thergest boars suddenly rammed him with two pointed tusks while swinging its huge head.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± cursed Hiro in annoyance.

    He dashed forward towards the boar that was attacking him, swinging his sword vigorously at the angry boar crosswise. But suddenly¡­

    Srug! Bang!

    One of the smallest boars jumped up, hitting Hiro hard in the face, while two other boars rammed Hiro¡¯s stomach. Hiro¡¯s body fell backwards and was thrown away of two meters on the ground.

    [Health -65] [Health -50] [Health -50]

    [Health points 195/410]

    Hiro groaned, his body aching all over from the unexpected attacks. His face was dirty from the soil carried by the wild boar.

    He immediately stood up, his expression turned serious.

    It turned out that losing more than 50% health points made his body ache more than before. He also got a few scratches on his face from the wild boar¡¯s ws.

    [Father Wild boar (level 10)]

    [Mother Wild boar (level 9)]

    [Wild boar (level 8)]

    Hiro frowned after reading the names of the monsters, he only realized that his guess was correct. The wild boar that had ended up in his hands had actually called its family out for revenge.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro quickly ran towards the normal wild boar. He intended to get rid of the boarlets first before turning to the parents. This time, his vignce rose to the highest level as he needed to be careful not to be hit by another unexpected attack.

    ¡°Hiyat!¡±

    Hiro jumped up high with his sword raised in the air.

    St!

    [Fatal damage]

    Another wild boar¡¯s head was separated from its body, Hiro¡¯s sword swing was sharper than before. It was all because his basic stats have increased. And it was clear that his choice of focusing on increasing STR was the right choice. He truly needed massive physical damage on the early stage.

    St!

    Hiro didn¡¯t let the other normal boars run away from him and hid behind their two parents.

    St!

    [Wild boar health 0/400]

    In no time, Hiro did not stop swinging his sword, shing and stabbing the boar with ease as if he was preparing the boars for a big banquet. The de of his sword was now stained with boar¡¯s blood dripping on the grass below.

    All the wild boars only got one hit from Hiro and died just like that.

    Hiro¡¯s relentless attacks made the wild boar mother even more furious, because her boarlets were just ughtered in front of her.

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x!]

    Hiro¡¯s health points were full again after leveling up.

    ¡°Come on you two!¡±

    Hiro¡¯s self-confidence increased even more after the level-up from the boar ughter.

    [Father Wild Boar (Level 10)] could no longer contain his anger, hot fumes continued to escape through his asymmetrical slit nose. It was obvious to see that the monster was furious.

    The father wild boar suddenly ran to attack Hiro from the front, leaping onto his head ferociously.

    Bang!

    Even though Hiro had prepared to take the attack with his strength, his body wasn¡¯t strong enough to defend, he fell backwards again.

    [Health -345]

    [Health points 100/445]

    [Wild Boar: Berserk status]

    Hiro felt his head hurt so bad, it felt like he was hit hard against a rock wall. His forehead was red like an internal bleeding was going on inside him.

    He didn¡¯t expect that the wild boar could be so angry and its attack increased so much from its berserk status. He was also caught off guard, as on the other VRMMORPG, this skill was usually only possessed by high level monsters.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes now saw everything nearby in a red filter. It was all because his health points were so low right now.

    [Warning! Your health is below 30%]

    [Your recovery will be slowdown]

    Without thinking, he took out his health potion and drank its contents. The green liquid was as bitter as traditional chinese medicine.

    [Health point recovery +100]

    Hiro quickly forced his body to stand up and dragged his greatsword back to its original position.

    The wild boar was still standing right in front of him.

    [Hold your sword for 1.3s in the attack position to trigger Sword Combo Skill, then release!]

    After reading thest notification that appeared, Hiro pointed the tip of his greatsword at the level 10 wild boar monster.

    The monster didn¡¯t stand still, it moved its front paws like it was taking steps to give Hiro the same attack.

    ¡°Hold still.¡±

    Hiro felt the sword he was carrying suddenly felt very light, at the same time, the wild boar dashed towards Hiro.

    He immediately swung his sword at the wild boar monster from all directions.

    WOOSH!

    SPLAT! [Health -100]

    SPLATT! [2x Hit Combo] [Health -200]

    SPLATT! [3x Critical Hit Combo] [Health -400]

    The wild boar¡¯s body started to tear apart due to the critical hit from Hiro¡¯s attack. His sword felt very light as if it was a feather, allowing him to sh quickly in one breath.

    Hiro currently looked like he was dancing with his sword.

    He managed to sh the boar crosswise from the top, then continued from the bottom, and finally stabbed it horizontally just as the monster opened its snout wide in pain.

    SPLAT!

    Thick blood that smelled disgustingly fishy gushed out, hitting Hiro¡¯s face and body.

    Hiro frowned, he immediately pulled his sword from the wild boar¡¯s throat and let the boar fall just like that.

    After being defeated, the pig body shattered into crystal shards and then melted in the air.

    The bar that disyed Hiro¡¯s energy was reduced when he used thatbo sword skill. While the AP points are not used for this skill.

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x! (Level 4)]

    Ding!

    [Job ss Level Up 1x! (Level 3)]

    Ding!

    [You obtained 1 Energy potion]

    Ding!

    [You obtained 125LSC]

    Ding!

    [You obtained Two-handed metal sword (Level 5)-Tier B]

    Ding!

    [You obtained Uzi Submachine Gun (Level 3) ¨C Tier D]

    Ding!

    [You obtained Fortune Charm]

    [Auto Equip System (20s remaining)]

    ¡°Hell yeah! It¡¯s a huge harvest!¡±

 Chapter 5

    [04:20 AM Tokyo Time]

    Hiro went offline after tasting the game that was being talked about a lot on the inte. He returned to the real world, where his body was lying on top of his bed.

    One of the reasons that the game suddenly went viral was because itunched a coin in cryptocurrency with a skyrocketing value in just three days. An amazing record that was sure to be etched in the annals of history.

    Hiro was very curious about the reason why LSC coin could upy the second position of cryptocurrency so suddenly, in fact, the currency only came from a gamepany.

    Even though thepany was very well known since thest few years, that alone couldn¡¯t provide a clear exnation to theet-like speed the coin appreciated. There must be a specific, good enough reason for LSC demand to skyrocket and upy second ce in less than a week.

    Beep!

    Hiro checked the storage memory on his android bracelet. He saw a new icon with a simple logo, [LSO]. The moment he pressed the icon, a 3D hologram appeared hovering above his bracelet.

    Hiro¡¯s avatar. Nightfall, 100% exactly how he looked in the game. The avatar spun on the spot.

    [Updating¡­Please Wait!]

    [Completed]

    A menu appeared on the side of the avatar, Hiro could use his finger to scroll through the menu.

    [Progressive Status]

    [Inventory]

    [LSC Bnce]

    [Friendlist]

    [¡­]

    [¡­]

    Some menus were just empty fields. It seems that they were just there intentionally reserved for the next update.

    Hiro checked the menu disys one by one. It was like ying an old MMORPG game. He found many things.

    One of the interesting things was that offline yers couldmunicate with in-game yers anytime and anywhere as if the real world and the virtual world were the same world, only the locations were different.

    In addition, the LSC bnce on Hiro¡¯s avatar could be used for transactions through the Ninecent website very easily. Because when the game was installed on his android bracelet, Hiro¡¯s ount data was already linked to the email he used to activate the android.

    Rumble!

    Hiro¡¯s stomach suddenly growled. He almost forgot thest time he ate because he was too busy learning the new game.

    He immediately rushed to put on a shirt he took from the cardboard box and left the house. He walked towards the 24-hour supermarket which he passedst night on his way to his new apartment building.

    Arriving at the supermarket, he stuffed the 7 cheapest instant noodles into his shopping cart

    Just as he was about to pay for the noodles, suddenly a loud sound came out from therge LED screen broadcast on the supermarket wall, attracting his attention¡ª

    ¡°Back again with news about Last Shelter Online!¡±

    ¡°Thetest game released by thepany Ninecent has recently be the talk of the world.¡±

    ¡°Their cryptocurrency named Last Shelter Coin sold out very quickly, beating the initial record for Botcoin.¡±

    ¡°How can the demand for that coin increase so dramatically in the one week leading up to the game¡¯s release?¡±

    ¡°The founder of the world¡¯srgest gamingpany, Dr. Jeff Johnson, just mentioned the reasons for his new game¡¯s sess in front of the media, here¡¯s a snippet of it.¡±

    ¡°This is not just a game, this is about building a second life¡±

    ¡°Is that a reasonable excuse? I can¡¯t even understand him as a news anchor, hahaha.¡±

    ¡°So, what made Dr. Jeff Johnson can convince the global elites to invest in the coin he created?¡±

    The video footage of Ninecent¡¯s founder was more like a quote with obscure meaning than a reason for its sess.

    Hiro¡¯s adrenaline was pumped after seeing how Dr. Jeff Johnson spoke one sentence with a very serious face as if he was very sure of what he said.

    Bang!

    ¡°Second life, My Ass! How can you build a second life when the VR you provide is limited. F*ckin¡¯ dreamer!¡±

    A man in his 30s who was attending the cash register suddenly cursed loudly while mming the table with his hand, startling Hiro who had just ced his shopping basket there.

    The man turned to Hiro and didn¡¯t change the annoyed expression on his face. Very unfriendly.

    ¡°Do you believe what that person said, kid?¡±

    Hiro gave no response.

    ¡°I¡¯ve stayed up more than 24 hours just to buy that VR. I know that maybe Japan¡¯s inte still sucks, even so, how can 200,000 units of VR be sold in one second!?¡±

    The man obviously made the unlucky Hiro a ce to vent. The dark circles under his eyes and the clearly exhausted skin on his face showed that he was telling the truth. Hiro just inwardly smirked while waiting for his shopping to be processed.

    ¡°Hopefully today I will get it. Pray for me, kid. Ah¨Cdo you want it too? That VR? But the price is still very expensive, how old are you now? Looks like you don¡¯t have enough money to buy it. Take it easy, kid. If I manage to snatch one of them, I¡¯ll tell you how the game will be afterunching.¡±

    Hiro frowned. He had just received constant insults from people who didn¡¯t even know his name. Even so, he refrained himself from cursing back and remained polite.

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re pitiful enough that you can only eat instant noodles,¡± muttered the man as he counted Hiro¡¯s groceries using the scanning system on his android bracelet which had been modified like a watch.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Hiro almost exploded, but he immediately cleared his throat when the man gave him an annoyed look.

    ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve never seen you around here. Are you new? What¡¯s your name, kid? My name is Kira.¡±

    ¡°Hiro, Yamaguchi Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Yamaguchi? Ah¨C your name reminds me of my dead idol, kid. It¡¯s a shame, he¡¯s still young and at the peak of his career.¡±

    Hiro clenched his fists secretly. He knew who the man was referring and he instantly became emotional, he was in no mood to hear about his recently deceased brother

    The man named Kira noticed a change in the mood of his customer and he immediately changed the subject.

    ¡°Total 896 yen.¡± A 3D hologram in the form of a barcode appeared above his hand. Hiro scanned the hologram to pay.

    He then returned to his apartment with heavy steps. His heart still ached. The death of his brother has indeed made people who like online games feel lost.

    ¡­

    After cooking the noodles, Hiro ate the noodles while doing research on the LSO game. He needed to know the reason for the sess of LSC coin in cryptocurrencies that was not mentioned in the television news.

    During his search, he finally found a strange page on the game¡¯s official website.

    [Get your in-game plots and build your dream city!]

    There are 10 servers in the LSO game that could be yed by anyone anywhere in the world.

    There were a total of 50 major cities owned by Ninecent.

    Total of 200 minor cities would be ready for sale in auction on December 7, 2028.

    A total of 1000 settlements and 1,000,000 regr plots were currently for sale.

    [Update: 301,020 regr plots has been sold]

    [Update: 293 settlements has been sold]

    [Buy tickets starting from 50,000LSC to join the auction! (500 tickets has been sold)]

    [We only ept Last Shelter Coin for payment transactions]

    ¡°This seems to be the reason why LSC demand has increased drastically. This game is really no joke!¡±

    Hiro was interested in checking out the cheapest plot details.

    Regr plotes with the Sir/Lady title, the owner of the plot could collect a percentage of the revenue generated by the area around the plot. The plot might have some potential traits including rich mineral deposit, rare monster spawn, entrance to a cave or dungeon, small NPC house, campsite. [Regr Plot price: 10,000LSC)

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He ate very quickly because the information he had just discovered instantly excited him.

    Regr plot equals 10,000 USD. Arge enough amount for starting capital. Hiro could pay the rent for his apartment with that money, or even buy it entirely.

    But¡ª

    ¡°If I can buy that regr plot, I can do many things and earn passive ie. Like building a small vige and creating rules in it, huh?¡±

    Since it was mentioned that transactions only ept LSC.

    Hiro also tried to use the transaction feature through the Ninecent website. He already knew beforehand about the LSC which could be used for transactions via the website from the LSO application.

    But to be sure, he needed to try it himself and make a transaction.

    He quickly opened the official Ninecent website and checked the avable online stores. All items sold were set as non-fungible tokens. There was only one product avable.

    Most of the store¡¯s contents were costumes sponsored by world-famous brands such as Balenciaga, Gi, Chanel, Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, Herm¨¨s, and other big brands at the same price as the real world.

    Hiro turned on the filter to sort items from lowest price. He was looking for something he could afford to buy using his current 125LSC.

    [Ordinary Hairband (Price 100LSC)]

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything cheaper? Just a normal hairband costs 100USD?¡±

    Hiro snorted. ¡°Pftt¡­ Materialistic games. Let¡¯s see what I can do for you!¡±

    Hiro shifted the screen that was showing the website to the right, then activated another application that he had developed himself for hacking online game systems, especially those rted to in-game currency.

    [CyberWarrior app]

    It has a metallic circuit board-shaped logo.

    Hiro entered the code quickly. His fingers move very nimbly on the skinscreen.

    Beep!

    [Generating information from LSO app]

    [Loading¡­Please wait!]

    ¡°100 LSC for a hairband, huh? I will make it free.¡± He smirked optimistically.

    Hiro has always managed to hack in-game currency both offline and online so far. Even though the sess rate for hacking online games was only 1%, he could break that limit if he really put his mind into it.

    But¡­

    [100LSC has been consumed]

    [Ordinary hairband has been sent to your inventory]

    [Bnce 25LSC]

    ¡°What the hell?!!¡±

 Chapter 6

    Hiro¡¯s hacking attempt failed. Moreover, who knows how, but the game¡¯s protection system managed to throw Hiro¡¯s weapon back like a boomerang, immediately withdrawing 100LSC from his bnce per the item¡¯s price.

    ¡°Damn it! What the hell! Did you seriously just rob me!?¡±

    With his teeth gritted in annoyance, Hiro quickly logged back into the game to vent his frustration. To his dismay, as soon as he sessfully logged in, a system message with the [Ordinary Hairband] popped up and the aforementioned item was automatically put on his wrist.

    ¡°My precious 100USD!¡±

    ¡­

    [4:30 PM Server Time]

    Hiro rushed back to the [Beginner Town] to carefully examine the situation in the town with no intention of missing even the smallest details. The old town seemed just as quiet as hest saw it. Apart from himself, he only encountered several other yers who were busy with their own activities. Almost none of the yers in the town were intersecting with each other.

    Then the yers who sessfully bought the new generation VR by online for this game most likely still could not log into the game yet. After all, if they actually could, the town would not be so deste.

    Again, Hiro felt that he was extremely lucky to have been able to enter the CBT.

    And after observing the yers in Beginner Town, he became sure that these yers were wealthy people. Their movements had a sense of arrogance to them and they all walked with their chins up.

    Furthermore, the title they equipped also showed their true identities.

    [Noble yer]

    [New Money]

    [Top Spender]

    [Unbeatable Bidder]

    After he ascertained this piece of information, Hiro diverted his focus back to umting as much LSC as he could so he would be able to buy a regr plot as he nned.

    He was curious about whether there were any disy differences between buying a regr plot through the website and directly through the in-game transaction, and after searching for some information regarding the matter, he found that he had to go to a store located in the town square and ask the NPC on duty about it if he wanted to know.

    Hence, Hiro headed to the town square, and after a while of walking, he finally arrived. Next to the Merchant NPC was a cylindrical building made of marble with [Marketce] written on its signboard.

    The moment he entered the building, a flying object came to greet him. It was Nyx, the Asdroid.

    [The Marketce can only be essed from 8 AM to 4 PM server time.]

    Hiro sighed.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that the store was closed at the moment, giving him no other choice but toe back another time following the Marketce¡¯s working hours.

    With the Marketce currently unavable, Hiro decided to go grinding to collect LSC from monsters and level up at the same time.

    He was already quite behind on levels, he could not afford to waste time.

    First, he tried going to various spots in the area near Beginner Town in hopes of encountering monsters whose information was not yet registered in the Wiki. Sessfully collecting the information of a previously unknown monster could give a bonus of 5LSC, which was not bad.

    Hiro was aiming to find monsters with a high amount of bonus EXP and LSC and, if possible, item drops that could be used to upgrade his progressive status. Apart from those, he also took into consideration the amount of time required for him to kill the monsters and for the monsters to respawn.

    After spending about an hour in-game to find the strategic spot, Hiro decided to go back to the west gate of Beginner Town.

    [Garden Golem (Level 10)] was currently his best option.

    Standing at around 1,5 meters in height, Garden Golems arepletely made of moss-grown rocks with a blooming purple flower on top of their heads. These golems like to gather in ces like open fields, and right now, there were more than 15 of them in the spot Hiro was eyeing.

    Garden Golems were included in the category of medium monsters, so the LSC drops that could be gained from them were almost twice the amount from other monsters. With his current progressive status, he could eliminate a Garden Golem in 5 seconds.

    Another important thing that drove him to make these golems his target was their buff Card drops that could be equipped on weapons. A Garden Golem Weapon Card could increase the user¡¯s Final Attack speed by 30%, so if he could acquire this buff card, his Sword Combo skill would be very effective.

    In LSO, every piece of equipment had a limited number of card slots, and each slot could be equipped with a card ording to the equipment type. These cards mentioned as the buff card. It gave certain buff to yers.

    As for Hiro¡¯s greatsword, it could only be equipped with two weapon cards as the weapon only had two card slots.

    The drop rate for weapon cards was only 1%. Even so, as a barbarian, he needed it to increase his attack speed.

    After briefly observing his target, he swiftly dashed to attack the nearest Garden Golem with his greatsword.

    St!

    Without sparing a moment, he continued to swing his [Two-Handed Metal Sword (Level 5) ¨C Tier B] at the golem.

    [Damage 97; uracy 25; Crit 7]

    This weapon was far more useful than his previous sword.

    He continuously shed and stabbed at the golem without mercy. Once the golem was defeated, it would break and turn into a pile of rocks and respawn at its previous location in just 3 seconds.

    ¡°Beginner Town¡¯s west gate¡­ this spot is pretty strategic.¡±

    Ding!

    [A Garden Golem Weapon Card has dropped in front of you.]

    Hiro widely smiled in satisfaction.

    His first drop card.

    ¡°At least two cards. Mybo knows no mercy,¡± he happily muttered.

    After defeating golems for three hours straight, Hiro finally managed to reach level 10 and got a total of three Garden Golem Weapon Cards. Even though the basic EXP he received per minute was considered high, he felt that leveling up in this game was quite a heavy task.

    Not that it would stop him.

    ¡°The more difficult, the more challenging,¡± he said while taking short breaths.

    He then shed at the dying golem¡¯s head to end his grinding session for the day.

    St!

    Crash!

    The rectangr head heavily fell to the ground, and the next moment, a notification appeared in Hiro¡¯s HUD.

    Ding!

    [You obtained a letter from a lost girl. (Rare Quest)]

    Upon seeing the word ¡®Rare¡¯, excitement filled his mind.

    [Dear adventurer, I am just a poor, wounded traveler. My daughter is missing in the Dark Forest. Please help me get her back.]

    [ept the quest to get the location coordinate?]

    ¡°I ept.¡±

    [Find NPC Ron to get ess to the dungeon.]

    Ding!

    [NPC Ron¡¯s location has been pinned on the map.]

    Hiro immediately ran following the pin marking NPC Ron¡¯s location. The mark brought him into a forest near the spot where he previously went on a Garden Golem killing spree. Because it was nighttime, he could only count on the moonlight from the full moon in the sky.

    [System Call]

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [First-Year Student]

    Base Level 10

    Job ss Level 7

    Health 2,510/2,510

    AP 221/221

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 100

    BR 1,100

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 40

    AGI 20

    INT 13

    VIT 25

    DEX 15

    LUCK 28

    Skill Stats (Points 0)

    Sword Combo Skill (Level 5)

    As he was running through the forest, Hiro remembered the drop weapon he got from killing the boar.

    [Uzi Submachine Gun (Level 3) ¨C Tier D]

    [An automatic special forces firearm, can be used by any job ss. (Rmended job ss: Ranger)]

    ¡®Does this mean I can activate it too?¡¯

    He triedmanding his HUD system.

    [Warning! Carrying more than one weapon at a time might reduce your movement speed. Proceed anyway?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    All of a sudden, a bright light shone on an area on Hiro¡¯s right thigh, and quickly after, a ck drop leg holster containing a firearm appeared perfectly tied to his leg.

    It was a standard Uzi SMG 25.6 inches long with its folding metal butt fully extended. The barrel was only 10 inches long, and it was loaded with a 25 or 32-round magazine of 9mm pistol ammunition.

    [Battle Rating has increased]

    ¡°This is getting interesting.¡±

 Chapter 7

    After running through the deste street for more than five minutes, Hiro arrived at the ce marked by the pin on the map.

    NPC Ron was a man in a somewhat shabby and dirty adventurer outfit. He was standing in front of a dark, eerie forest with the help of a cane to rece his bandaged left leg.

    Upon spotting the man, Hiro quickly walked toward NPC Ron, who immediately greeted him with an amiable smile.

    ¡°Here,¡± Hiro handed NPC Ron the letterplete with its envelope.

    ¡°For the quest [Lost Girl], you must be in a party of at least two yers to enter [Dungeon: The Dark Forest].¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡± he reflexively eximed in disbelief.

    ¡®Are you serious!?¡¯

    He looked around to look for another yer nearby, but as far as the eye could see, he only saw a deep forest. He did not even realize that he had arrived at the end of the forest, and even with the moonlight shining from above, he still could not see very far due to the darkness.

    There was nobody else.

    Hiro sighed in disappointment. But suddenly, a scream sounded from the dark forest behind NPC Ron.

    ¡°KYAAA!¡±

    Something swiftly flew out from the pitch-ck darkness behind the NPC. NPC Ron instantly moved aside upon hearing the scream, and¡­

    Whoosh¡ª

    Bam!

    Hiro could not even dodge in time when NPC Ron had shifted his legs to move out of the way. After taking a closer look at the ¡°thing¡± that flew out of the darkness behind the NPC, he found that it was actually a yer. A girl.

    ¡°It hurts¡ª!¡±

    The girl had just been spat out by the [Dark Forest] dungeon for trying to forcibly enter without having fulfilled the requirement set by the system, and as a result, her body got repelled, strongly thrown back, and crashed onto the unknowing Hiro.

    ¡°Ouch,¡± Hiro groaned in pain. He tried to move, but he was stuck in ce because of her body still on him.

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Health -80]

    In LSO, the HP of yers could decrease due to many things, especially those that inflict pain on the yer.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [Level 13. Liberty. Ranger. First-Year Student]

    From his position, Hiro could smell the fresh and slightly sweet fragrance of her long, tinum white hair. She was wearing a school uniform akin to Hiro¡¯s, except it had a skirt instead of trousers.

    While trying to move, he could feel something soft, furry, and warm on his right palm, prompting his hand to reflexively grasp the object.

    ¡°KYAA!¡±

    Bam!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Health -110]

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Hiro groaned in pain while covering his face.

    ¡°You perv!¡±

    The girl had punched his face with all her strength, causing Hiro¡¯s nose to bleed. It took him two minutes to finally be able to stand up again and process what just happened.

    And he almost could not believe what he found.

    The girl had the face of an angel. Even at just a nce, it was clear that she was not Japanese; she had the face, skin, and posture of a Caucasian. However, the girl¡¯s face turned red as she held something long and furry connected to the back of her body.

    ¡°A tail!?¡± Hiro eximed in disbelief.

    Not only that, but the girl also had wolf ears on her head!

    Gulp.

    Hiro swallowed his saliva. He did not expect that the physical appearance of a beast bloodline would suit her so much. His eyes were glued on the two furry ears on her head.

    They seemed so soft¡­

    ¡°What are you looking at, you perv!¡± The girl quickly covered her wolf ears and harrumphed.

    Without looking at him for another second, she turned around and hastily walked toward NPC Ron.

    However, NPC Ron spoke before she could say a word.

    ¡°I told you, you must be in a party to enter the dungeon.¡±

    ¡°I just want to save your daughter! Why are you stopping me instead, you scaredy-cat old man!?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hiro did not expect that the girl would talk to an NPC like how one would to a real person, involving emotions.

    However, the argument between the yer and NPC in front of him reminded him of his reason foring to this ce. And if the girl had the same quest, wouldn¡¯t it be the perfect time for him to pull her into his party?

    ¡°Ahem,¡± Hiro cleared his throat to attract her attention. ¡°Do you still want to save the girl?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Without speaking any further, he called his HUD system to use the party invitation feature to Liberty.

    [Party Invitation: NightFall has invited you to join his party. ept? (30s auto-reject)]

    ¡°What¡¯s this? Something appeared¡ªNightFall? Who¡¯s NightFall?¡± she surprisedly said while looking around.

    ¡°My username, ept it. If you still want to save the lost girl, you should ept my party invitation. Let¡¯s look for her together,¡± Hiro exined.

    The girl stared at him wide-eyed. ¡°With you? To that dark forest?¡±

    All of a sudden, she covered her plump chest with her arms and looked at him with displeasure. He had to admit, the girl¡¯s body shape was perfect, almost like an hourss. Though, her personality is a little¡­ unique.

    ¡°Take it or leave it. There¡¯s no second chance, Princess.¡±

    Liberty stared at him with a doubtful gaze for a few seconds. Before Hiro came, the girl had argued with NPC Ron since the afternoon. Despite the requirement stating that she had to go with another yer, she persistently asked to be permitted to enter the dungeon alone.

    In truth, she had also gotten tired of waiting for one other yer who never came. She did not want to go back empty-handed.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [Liberty has joined the party.]

    ¡°Liberty?¡± Hiro asked while looking at her.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s my name!¡± the girl responded. ¡°Now what?¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Hiro talked to NPC Ron to gain entrance ess to the dungeon in question, [Dungeon: The Dark Forest]. Now that they had met the requirement, NPC Ron moved and made way for Hiro and Liberty.

    The two immediately entered the dungeon area. Even though they had just stepped in, they quickly noticed the light in the area diminishing. And yet, even though the [Dark Forest] dungeon was very dark, their eyes could still function well as if the two¡¯s eyes were of nocturnal animals.

    After 10 meters, the types of trees surrounding them had changed to tremendously old trees that irregrly branched out in all directions. They stood over 30 meters tall on average with extremelyrge trunks.

    Hiro approached one of the trees and touched its trunk, and after a brief moment, a panel appeared in front of it.

    [Oak Tree]

    [HP 100,000]

    He had been wanting to check it ever since he went back online. On the LSO guide, he previously found out that all inanimate beings in the game had their own durability and could be destroyed. An example was this Oak Tree.

    However, this was not the case for NPCs. Certain NPCs had a special protection system. Although they could be attacked, they could not be killed.

    And after witnessing it first-hand, Hiro went back to heading deeper into the forest.

    Not long after they continued walking, thin white fog began to seemingly approach them, limiting their vision. The dark forest became eerier, causing the two to tense up.

    ¡°It¡¯s best we stay near, Libe,¡± Hiro said in a low voice before vigntly taking out his greatsword. ¡°Take out your weapon, don¡¯t you have one?¡±

    Since the first time he saw Liberty, he had not once seen any signs of what weapons she had. The girl did not seem to bring anything. As a Ranger, she should have a bow or a gun.

    However, before he could think about it any more, both of Liberty¡¯s hands emitted a bright light, forcing Hiro, who was looking her way, to squint his eyes. Not long after, the white light quickly faded, leaving only a faint yellowish light.

    [Lantern Master Staff]

    A wooden staff with a length of 150 cm had appeared in Liberty¡¯s grasped palms. The top of the staff had some kind of roots that wrapped around a few glowing orbs in various sizes. The light in those orbs seemed to vaguely glow and dim, as if living fireflies were stuck in them.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you doing with that thing?¡± Hiro frowned. He could not believe what he was seeing, and it made him doubt the girl¡¯s capability even more.

    ¡°Eh? Didn¡¯t you tell me to take out my weapon?¡± Liberty innocently asked. For some reason, he was reminded of a puppy when he looked at those eyes.

    He could not bear to disparage her.

    ¡°All right, at least the light from that staff can still be useful. Come here, don¡¯t go too far.¡±

    The white fog was getting thicker. However, just as they continued to walk through the darkness, a shadow suddenly dashed past him.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro¡¯s footsteps instantly halted. As a result, Liberty, who could not focus on one thing, harshly bumped into his back.

    ¡°Ssssh!¡±

    The girl quickly covered her mouth.

    The shadow suddenly halted, and at that moment, pairs of yellow almond-shaped eyes suddenly appeared in the fog.

    It stopped.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information]

    [Dark Wolf (Level 15)]

    [Race: Beast]

    ¡°Stay behind me, Libe.¡±

    ¡°What should I do?¡± Liberty asked while looking at him.

    ¡°What you can do? Stay alive and hit anything thates closer with that staff of yours.¡±

    Not like he could hope for anything from a ranger with a magic staff.

 Chapter 8

    The cadaverous wolf monsters with mostly bones remaining simultaneously dashed toward them from the fog. From what he could see, there seemed to be 13 of them.

    What an unlucky number.

    ¡®Can my swordbo skill be used to attack several targets at once? Or will its effect disappear if I change targets while it¡¯s active?¡¯ Hiro wondered as he looked at the iing wolf monsters.

    Only one way to find out.

    [Sword Combo Skill (Level 5) MAX]

    He pointed his greatsword at the Dark Wolf at the forefront of the pack. He held it in the position for a second, and¡­

    ¡°Release!¡±

    Whoosh!

    St!

    Hiro forcefully shed the monster¡¯s thin body, harshly throwing it 3 meters to the side. Right behind it, the second monster already had its jaws open wide to devour him.

    St!!

    [2x Hit Combo]

    Fortunately, he had a sharp sight and fast reflexes. Just after he got rid of it, another one fiercely lunged at him from a little to the side, prompting him to change his swing direction from a vertical swing to a horizontal stab to its direction.

    St!!

    [4x Critical Hit Combo]

    ¡°It worked.¡±

    Another Dark Wolf ended up killed with one strike. However, two more instantly rushed at him from two different directions.

    Stt!

    [5x Hit Combo]

    One wolf down, but¡­

    Crack!

    [Health -150]

    The other one managed to stick its sharp fangs into his arm as he swung his sword.

    [Sword Combo has stopped.]

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Whack! Whack! Whack!

    ¡°Get away, you bad doggie!¡±

    Because of the surprise attack from another person, the monster released Hiro¡¯s arm and dashed backward.

    Hiro looked at Liberty with surprise. She was actually using the magic staff as a bat!

    [Dark Wolf (Level 15)] [Health 400/1,000]

    He quickly ended the fight. In the end, he managed to eliminate the 13 Dark Wolves and collected a total of 1,500LSC.

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x (Level 13)]

    Ding!

    [Job ss Level Up 1x (Level 8)]

    Ding!

    [You obtained 3 Energy Potions.]

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing!¡± Liberty eximed, praising Hiro¡¯s capability.

    Hearing this, he turned to look at the girl. She was not of much help at all in that first attack. Not only that, but the bonus EXP, total LSC, and items dropped had to be divided by two.

    He did not know whether he should feel grateful or unlucky that he invited the girl to join his party.

    Even so, he still gave her his best smile.

    Ding!

    [You received a new title, ¡®Gorgeous Smile¡¯.]

    When he looked back at Liberty, he found that she was staring at him with a stunned expression and her face had turned red.

    ¡°What?¡±

    He was about to brush it off and keep going when suddenly, a message popped up.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked Bloodsteal (Passive). (Skill points required to activate.)]

    [Bloodsteal ¨C A basic barbarian passive skill. When damaging an enemy with a physical attack, yer will gain 5¨C10% HP. Chance to gain the maximum percentage increases with the skill level.]

    Hiro activated the skill without hesitation.

    [3 skill points used.]

    [Bloodsteal (Passive) has been activated. (Level 1)]

    Now that he had this skill, he could save potions and, in turn, save LSC since he would need to buy fewer potions or perhaps even none.

    While he was thinking about this unexpected, pleasant gain, Liberty suddenly pulled his arm somewhat roughly.

    [Holy Water]

    Ssh!

    The burning sensation on his skin made him pull his arm out of reflex.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°You might turn into a Dark Wolf like them because of the bite!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    He couldn¡¯t believe the girl brought a real-life myth into the game.

    While he was still bbergasted by her reason, a string of notifications suddenly appeared, startling him.

    [Health -50] [Health -50] [Health -50]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡±

    His HP was gradually draining, and it did not show any signs of stopping. Moreover, blisters began appearing on the area she poured the Holy Water on.

    ¡°Just what the hell???¡±

    ¡®Is it because I¡¯m a half-demon?¡¯

    Liberty panicked when she saw the blisters on his arm. Out of subconscious habit, she sshed the other bottle of [Holy Water] she had in her other hand.

    Ssh!

    ¡°Aargh!¡±

    [Health -50] [Health -50] [Health -50]

    A painful burning sensation covered his body. It felt as if he was going to melt.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Liberty realized what she had just done. ¡°Sorry! Oh my God, what have I done!?¡±

    The girl hurriedly blew his blisters repeatedly hoping it could help him.

    On the other hand, he did not say a word and let her try to blow the pain away. Even though the burn was painful, he could not bear to get angry when he saw her cute panicked expression.

    While the girl was still blowing his blisters, Hiro thought about what happened. He received the string of notifications about his depleting HP due to the effect of [Holy Water]. From this, he ascertained that the demon race had an allergy or weakness against holy water.

    Though, now appeared another problem: He did not know how to ovee it.

    [Health -10] [Health -10]

    However, luckily, after only 50% of his HP was left, the HP decrease from the [Holy Water] became lower. Now, Hiro could move his arm normally and use it to hold and swing his weapon around. His body had also considerably recovered, albeit not fully.

    He vigntly looked forward.

    ¡®There¡¯s still one more.¡¯

    In the fog in front of them, a pair of deep red eyes had been silently observing them from the distance. The moment Hiro¡¯s eyes met it, a shadow¡ªthe owner of those eyes¡ªcame out of the fog.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information]

    [Shadow Wolf (Level 18)]

    [Race: Beast/Demon]

    The monster looked at him as if it was about to tear him from limb to limb before devouring him. However, this didn¡¯t shake him up.

    Hiro tightened his grip on his greatsword¡¯s hilt.

    Suddenly, the monster swiftly dashed toward him from the side. At the same time, Hiro swung his sword to the side to parry its ws.

    nk!

    The Shadow Wolf did not have a solid body like the Dark Wolves he previously fought. Instead, its body seemed to be made of ck smoke that gathered, like an evil spirit with red eyes.

    ¡®A demon-beast mixed race, huh?¡¯ he inwardly thought while maintaining his position. Be it him or the monster in front of him, both of them were strongly pushing toward each other.

    The monster dashed back a meter, creating some distance. The next moment, the ck smoke seemingly howled and formed a ck wolf-like creature standing two meters tall. But that was not all.

    The creature was standing with two legs like a human would.

    ¡°A werewolf!?¡± Liberty eximed in surprise.

    Grrr¡­ The Shadow Wolf growled while looking down on them. Hiro stabilized his position and readied himself to fight against the creature when¡­

    Bang!

    A silver bullet was shot past him to the wolf and hit the center of the monster¡¯s chest. Unfortunately, it missed its target, the wolf¡¯s heart.

    Before Hiro knew it, Liberty had taken out a pistol and smoke wasing out of its barrel.

    Ding!

    [Enemy has been inflicted with the Burn effect from the silver bullet.]

    The [Burn] effect caused its target, the Shadow Wolf, to experience excruciating pain, especially in the spot where the silver bullet was stuck. The monster groaned and tried to w the spot where the silver bullet was in as an attempt to get it out.

    And the second bullet was shot. And the third.

    Bang! Bang!

    One of the bullets pierced the monster¡¯s left eye, and the other pierced its skull right between its two eyes.

    After a moment of silence, the monster fell andpletely stopped moving. The deep red glow in its eyes also slowly began to dim before it finally disappeared.

    ¡°What weapon did you just use?¡± Hiro turned to ask the girl behind him.

    Of course he was curious. She only used three silver bullets, yet they were enough to defeat the monster stronger than all 13 Dark Wolvesbined.

    Liberty smugly smiled, proud of her ability. To answer Hiro¡¯s question, she then held the silver pistol closer to him.

    Hiro used his HUD system to read the weapon¡¯s information.

    [Legendary Weapon: Hellsing Whisper (Pistol)]

    [Tier SSS] [Rank Upgrade 5/5]

    [Damage 190 uracy 15 Magic power 187 Aspd 5 Crit 10]

    [Refinement: Damage increased 24% (Max Level)]

    [Enchantment: Holy attribute]

    [Rank 5 Special Weapon ability: (Enhanced DEX) Increases attack by 80 % of DEX. The first 3 bullets will be critical hit with 200% critical damage]

    [Unique skill: Hellsing Whisper is a blessed weapon used by the strongest demon¡¯s hunter. Damage of the first 3 bullets increases by 200% and ignores armor if the target is demon/unholy. One of these bullets brings burning effect on target (Cooldown 3 minute) (AP Cost 1000)]

    [Can be used for all job sses.]

    [Privileged Weapon]

    [Untradable]

    [Signature: Liberty]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Was this real!?

    ¡°SSS-tier!? Privileged weapon!? Rank 5!?¡± Hiro eximed in disbelief.

    All of a sudden, he wanted to snatch the weapon from her hand.

    ¡°Are you all right?¡± Liberty pulled her weapon back and hid it from his sight when she noticed Hiro¡¯s bright eyes.

    ¡°Libe, where did you get that pistol?¡± His heart was beating fast from the excitement. Not only was it SSS-tier, but it was also a legendary weapon!

    The girl did not immediately reply. She thought hard, trying to remember where she got the pistol.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember, I think someone gave it to me. Hmm¡­ Ah, a fairy gave it to me!¡± she happily said, seeming proud for remembering. The two wolf ears on her head were even moving from the joy.

    He could not take his eyes off them. At that moment, Hiro felt something inside him push his hand to reach for Liberty¡¯s wolf ears.

    Snap!

 Chapter 9

    Because of how dark it was in the dungeon, Liberty had been keeping herself close to Hiro as the two walked further into the forest area. The distance between the trees was almost nonexistent, so the two had to walk on roots that spread to cover the ground.

    ¡°How further is it?¡± Liberty asked in a choked voice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but what I do know is there¡¯s still a boss to fight.¡±

    Hiro sighed. His head was still throbbing from Liberty¡¯s merciless punch, this time because of his unrestrained hands. He did not expect that those wolf ears were actually a part of her body and not an essory.

    Ding!

    [You are now in a safe zone.]

    [You are safe from monster attacks.]

    ¡°I want to rest,¡± Liberty expressed when she saw the notification.

    After looking around the safe zone for a bit, they soon found an area with a t surface. Coincidentally, a huge, seemingly old tree stood near the area, giving them a nice spot to lean on.

    The two sat with their backs to the tree, their shoulders touching.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep first, NightFall.¡±

    ¡°Hiro. My name¡¯s Hiro,¡± Hiro interjected. Although that was indeed his in-game name, it felt weird being called that by a girl he had been calling with her real name.

    ¡°Wait, you mean your real name?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t Liberty your name?¡±

    The girl looked at Hiro¡¯s eyes for a few moments before nodding as if she was answering with her mind, ¡°Of course that¡¯s my name, are you dumb or what?¡±

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m going to sleep now,¡± she said while adjusting her position to find the mostfortable one.

    Hiro looked at the girl with astonishment.

    ¡®Is she really going to sleep here? Why not just log out? The logout option is obviously avable in this area.¡¯

    ¡®What a strange girl.¡¯

    To his surprise, Liberty fell asleep unbelievably fast. It had been less than a minute, yet her head had leaned on his shoulder. He was startled by the sudden touch, but he did not say a word. He thought back to the two words ¡®Legendary Weapon¡¯.

    He had a lot of things he wanted to know about it. Furthermore, after seeing the girl¡¯s weapon, the desire to obtain an SSS-tier weapon grew in him. Besides, who wouldn¡¯t want an SSS-tier weapon?

    [System Call]

    While checking the avable features, Hiro found a menu for [CBT yers], something he had not checked since the first time he entered the game. And as he expected when he read the menu title, information regarding things he had been wondering about was on the page.

    [CBT yers are given a limited amount of time to find hidden, limited-time privileged items including weapons and armor before the official game is released on December 8, 2028.]

    [All privileged items will be bound to the yer¡¯s avatar.]

    As if he was exercising, Hiro¡¯s heart rate sped up to 133 BPM when he read the information. He was eager to find out more about these yers with privileges.

    Unfortunately, after reading and searching for half an hour, he only reached a dead end. There was no clear information about how yers could obtain these privileged weapons and armor in the given time.

    It seems that the detailed information is currently unavable.

    ¡°There¡¯s still enough time, I¡¯ll definitely get them!¡± Hiro muttered to cheer himself up.

    A moment after, he turned to look at Liberty¡¯s beautiful, peacefully sleeping face, and seeing her sleep sofortably, he also felt sleepy.

    Before Hiro knew it, he fell asleep.

    ¡­

    ¡°Wake up!¡±

    Liberty harshly shook Hiro¡¯s body to wake him up, and Hiro instantly opened his eyes from the shock.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hiro grumbled in annoyance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we have to hurry! Look at the remaining time!¡± Liberty panickedly said while still holding his arm.

    Hiro quickly checked as the girl asked. Upon seeing the time they had left, his sleepiness instantly vanished and his eyes widened in disbelief.

    [Time remaining toplete [Lost Girl]: 15 minutes]

    ¡°Damn it! How long was I asleep for?¡± he hastily stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry!¡±

    Hence, they hurriedly continued to head toward their destination. Even though his head was still throbbing a little from being woken up so suddenly, he did not slow down his pace.

    However, just as the two exited the safe zone, a growl entered their ears.

    Goahh¡ª

    Three human skeletons slowly walked out from the west. All three of them held a rusty short sword in their right hand and a round shield with their left. One of them had an arrow stuck in its empty eye socket to the space between its two jaws.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information]

    [Skeleton Warrior (Level 15)]

    [Race: Demon]

    Hiro could not contain his smile when he saw the level of those monsters. He was confident that he could beat them easily now that he was level 14.

    ¡°S-Skeletons!?¡± Liberty eximed and quickly jumped to hide behind Hiro¡¯s back, her legs trembling from fear.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Hiro, they¡¯re creepy! I¡¯m scared!¡± Liberty even covered her face, unwilling to look at the skeletons in front of her.

    ¡°All right then, close your eyes and wait here.¡±

    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re leaving?

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hiro pulled out his greatsword and swiftly dashed forward.

    These Skeleton Warriors¡¯ movements were very slow; he did not have any time to wait for them to approach him. However, just as he heavily swung his sword toward the skeleton, the skeleton suddenly moved its round shield in the direction of his attack.

    Nevertheless, his physical strength was far stronger.

    Stab!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [health 0/750]

    Hiro swung his greatsword again. He had begun to get used to its weight. He could even use one hand to swing now, though the strength of the swing was obviously less than when he swung with both hands.

    And with opponents this slow, wasn¡¯t this the perfect chance to experiment?

    St!

    [Health -50]

    St!!

    [Health -100]

    Using the same weapon, the damage inflicted by an attack done with one hand was half as powerful as an attack done with both hands.

    Quite a significant difference.

    ¡°Hup!¡±

    Hiro jumped about two meters into the air and swung his greatsword horizontally toward the two Skeleton Warriors standing side-by-side. His aim was to behead the two skeletons simultaneously.

    St!!

    [Fatal Damage]

    ¡°Easy.¡±

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x (Level 15)]

    Ding!

    [Job ss Level Up 1x (Level 9)]

    ¡®Not bad!¡¯

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s-¡±

    ¡°KYAAA!¡±

    A monster with wide bat-like wings had flown down from the air and grabbed Liberty¡¯s shoulders before she could dodge.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    Hiro hastily ran to catch up to the monster, but it was in vain as it had flown back into the air and went even higher to a height impossible for him to reach.

    [Unknown Creature (Level ???)]

    He looked at the information in disbelief before looking back at the unknown creature.

    ¡°Get down here, you ugly monster!¡±

    It was futile.

    Hiro reached into his holster to take out his [Uzi Submachine Gun (Level 3) Tier D].

    Ratatatatatatatatata¡ª

    The bullets rapidly fired at the flying monster with almost no space between them. Despite that, it easily dodged every 9mm ammo that came out of the firearm while carrying a person. Moreover, it was looking down on him with a mockingugh.

    ¡°Kekekeke.¡±

    Even until the firearm ran out of ammunition, Hiro could notnd a bullet on the monster.

    When the unknown creature saw that he had no more ammo, itughed at him again before flying away.

    ¡°That fucking¡­!¡±

    Hiro quickly ran after it while checking on his party status to check Liberty¡¯s condition.

    The girl¡¯s HP had gone down by about 10%.

    He kept running as fast as he could following the unidentified monster¡¯s flying direction while continuously checking his party member screen.

    He had to make sure Liberty wouldn¡¯t lose any more HP.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro felt to feel his body starting to heavily sweat whenever he jumped over a bent tree trunk or roots that spread all over the ground around.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the boss area.]

    Hiro did not waver when he saw the notification and kept running. Either way, his goal was to finish the quest in this dungeon, and if that flying creature was the boss, he was going to finish it off without mercy.

    ¡°Kekekeke.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hiro, we¡¯re here!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know how that thing did it, but Liberty¡¯s body was tied with a ck rope that seemed like a whip at first nce.

    And the girl was not alone. Near her, a little girl about 5 years old was also tied up the same way. The little girl¡¯s mouth was even tied so she couldn¡¯t make a sound.

    She was the girl Liberty wanted to save.

    The lost girl. The girl in their mission.

    The two girls were left kneeling on the ground in front of a giant old tree with ends out of their sight¡¯s reach, and the flying monster was standing with its two legs not far from the tree.

    It kept making that strangeughing sound.

    ¡°Kekekeke.¡±

    And then¡­

    A spectacr transformation urred.

    The creature¡¯s two bat-like wings shrank and were reced by a pair of dirty muscr arms with pitch-ck long, sharp nails. Its bat-like face melted and dripped to the ground, leaving an unsightly skull akin to a skinless mask. Its oral cavity was so wide it almost reached its ears, and inside was a row of dirty, sharp fangs that were visibly yellowish and uneven.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information]

    [Boss: Desmodus the Vampire Bat (Level Undefined)]

    [Race: Demon/Beast]

 Chapter 10

    Hiro dashed toward the boss monster, intending tounch a direct attack. Desmodus did the same; the monster let out a loud hiss as it dashed toward him.

    And thus, the real fight between Hiro and the [Dark Forest Dungeon] boss began.

    Whoosh!

    St!

    Hiro¡¯s de managed to sh through the monster¡¯s chest, causing a slimy green liquid to gush out from the long streak that spread to its sunken belly.

    However, as he had to advance to injure the monster, Hiro couldn¡¯t avoid the creature¡¯s sharp ws attacking his left shoulder.

    [Health -550]

    Fortunately, the pain wasn¡¯t really unbearable.

    He had no ns of giving the monster a break. Now that he had gone so far, he didn¡¯t want to waste any time.

    Hiro pointed the tip of his de at the bat monster and held it for a second while Desmodus was still groaning from the wound he received.

    ¡°Release!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Hiro swung his sword swiftly. After using the Aspd-enhancing skill card from the Garden Golems, his attack speed increased drastically, his Aspd currently standing at 69%.

    Without an ounce of mercy, Hiro shed the monster¡¯s body from every direction.

    St!

    [5x Hit Combo] [Health -1,000]

    St!

    [6x Critical Hit Combo] [Health -2,000]

    St!

    [7x Critical Hit Combo] [Health -4,000]

    He was pretty satisfied seeing the damage numbers he inflicted on the monster.

    ¡°Hyatt!!¡±

    The monster didn¡¯t move an inch. After all those, all it did was try to block Hiro¡¯s sword sh by covering its face and the front of its body with the backs of its arms. Even so, it was in vain; instead, its hands were torn apart by Hiro¡¯s shes.

    Meanwhile, Hiro saw that his HP was still full and kept blinking. The lifesteal he got from his passive skill [Bloodsteal] worked well. As long as Hiro dealt damage to the enemy, his HP would continue to increase by 5-8% of the physical damage he dealt.

    Shh!

    Hiro stopped his attack just as his Energy reached 0/100. Attacking with thebo skill drained his energy quite fast. However, Hiro didn¡¯t care anymore.

    [Energy Potion has been consumed.]

    After drinking the energy potion, Hiro¡¯s body felt refreshed and his energy became full again. The taste of the potion was easy to ept as it tasted simr to the energy drinks he would often buy in the real world.

    Desmodus was beginning to get furious. Suddenly, his arms deformed and returned to their previous form.

    However, due to the heavy injuries it sustained, the wing membranes appeared to be hollow, preventing the monster from flying properly.

    ¡°What are you doing, you brainless boss!¡± Hiro mocked andughed at Desmodus, who was flying low with difficulty.

    Whoosh!

    The monster suddenly shot toward Hiro like a rocket with its head as a weapon. Hiro, who didn¡¯t have time to dodge, could only block the attack by using his greatsword¡¯s wide de.

    Bang!

    A violent collision urred. Fortunately, Hiro was still strong enough to withstand the monster¡¯s push, his feet only having shifted slightly from their ce.

    ¡°Is that the only thing you can do, Desmodus?¡±

    nk!

    Hiro knocked the Desmodus boss down hard. After some resistance, the boss was quickly thrown back.

    Its wings had be too weak to use.

    Ding!

    [The Boss¡¯s HP has been revealed.]

    [5000/15,000]

    ¡®So, it needs to be dying first to reveal how much health point it has, huh?¡¯ he inwardlyined.

    Hiro had already jumped forward again when a new notification popped up.

    Ding!

    [The Boss is starting to charge.]

    [Prepare for the Ultimate Skill.]

    ¡°I won¡¯t let it happen!¡±

    St!!

    Hiro mercilessly shed the boss¡¯s body in its charging phase with his greatsword, shing from all directions at full speed without pause. He knew that ultimate skills could be canceled, and the best time to cancel them was now.

    St!!

    [5x Critical Hit Combo

    BOOM!

    A huge wave of air suddenly shot out from the boss¡¯s body. Hiro was thrown back together with his sword, and his ears buzzed loudly.

    When Hiro managed tond perfectly, he looked back at the dungeon boss. Desmodus¡¯ body had beenpletely torn apart by his sword.

    Ding!

    [NightFall obtained Batarang (Level 15) ¨C Tier A.]

    [Liberty obtained [Bat Wings ()].]

    When Hiro looked toward the two girls, the magic ropes that bound Liberty and the little girl by her side had disappeared.

    It seems that these things disappear after the dungeon boss is defeated.

    Hiro smiled upon seeing Liberty free. The girl also seemed happy. She immediately ran over and suddenly hugged him tightly, startling Hiro and even causing him to suffocate a little.

    ¡°Hiro! You really are a hero! You saved me!¡±

    Hiro looked at Liberty¡¯s tail wagging with joy. Again, it looked so soft and fluffy that he wanted to catch her tail and squeeze it, but Liberty suddenly let go of her hug and pushed him away.

    ¡°Ah, I forgot! The little girl!¡±

    Liberty immediately left Hiro and returned to the girl she wanted to save.

    Hiro only smiled from afar. He felt that Liberty was overreacting a little. The girl they saved was of course an NPC, but Liberty asked about the girl¡¯s condition attentively, even bending her body to match the young girl¡¯s height.

    ¡®Is she always like this when she ys games? So immersed in the game¡¯s storyline.¡¯

    Hiro walked over to Liberty and the NPC girl he had just saved. As Hiro approached, the young girl suddenly jumped into Hiro¡¯s arms while saying thank you.

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Liberty also seemed surprised by the girl¡¯s reaction. A moment after, she quickly pulled the little girl¡¯s body to let go of him and seeded.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hiro asked, confused by Liberty¡¯s sudden annoyance.

    ¡°I saved her too, and yet¡­¡±

    It seemed that she was annoyed that she didn¡¯t get a hug while he did.

    Hiro suddenly felt his heart struck when he saw Liberty pouting. His hand reflexively moved to stroke the top of Liberty¡¯s head between her pointed ears and pet her like a puppy.

    ¡°Good job, Liberty. You saved her.¡±

    Liberty¡¯s face turned red and she immediately pushed Hiro¡¯s hand away.

    ¡°Aaahh, your hands are dirty, Hiro!¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but grin while examining his really dirty hands. His blood, Desmodus¡¯ slime, and earth were mixed altogether.

    Meanwhile, with the boss defeated, light from who-knows-where shone into the forest area, dispelling the previously eerie darkness. The three of them were able to walk back to their starting ce to meet NPC Ron easily.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! NightFall¡¯s Party: NightFall, Liberty has sessfully cleared the rare quest [Lost Girl].]

    [Untradeable Item [Special GPS System] has been awarded to NightFall and Liberty.]

    The notifications didn¡¯t appear in Hiro¡¯s HUD as usual. Instead, the notification appeared in the form of billboard-like writing moving in front of Hiro, Liberty, and all other CBT yers who were in the game at that time.

    It was a global announcement, and Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to get the system to announce his name again soon.

    Hiro checked his inventory.

    [Batarang (Level 15) Tier A, a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon. Can be used by all job sses.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Not bad.¡±

    [Bnce 3,250LSC]

 Chapter 11

    Hiro¡¯s first quest was finallypleted after he sessfully brought the NPC little girl back to her father, NPC Ron. Liberty burst into tears of joy seeing NPC Ron¡¯s reaction when they brought his daughter out of the Dark Forest. As for Hiro, he was a lot more rxed as he knew that they weren¡¯t real humans.

    ¡°What a tiring day,¡± Liberty said with a sigh.

    This time, Hiro and Liberty walked together back to Beginner Town.

    [09:00 PM Server Time]

    Hiro¡¯s mind was still distracted by his discoveries about the privileged weapons and armor that yers could obtain before the game officiallyunched.

    At that moment, he realized that this was not an ordinary CBT.

    This was CBT with privileges.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°When did you start ying this game? How did you be a CBT yer?¡±

    Liberty stared at Hiro for a few seconds before blinking with a confused expression. She didn¡¯t understand what Hiro just asked her at all.

    ¡®So beautiful!¡¯

    Hiro screamed inwardly seeing Liberty¡¯s adorable confused look. He really wanted to, but restrained himself from petting her like a puppy again.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Forget it if you don¡¯t know.¡±

    A dead end. Looks like he would need to ask other yers who at least understood how to choose weapons.

    Hiro opened his HUD system to add Liberty to his friends list. As he did so, Liberty was taken aback and stopped in her tracks instantly because a notification suddenly appeared in her HUD system.

    ¡°NightFall has added you as a friend!?¡± she surprisedly eximed.

    Liberty looked at Hiro with a displeased look.

    ¡°I thought we were already friends! Hmph.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t wrap his head around why Liberty reacted like that. The girl still epted Hiro¡¯s request asking her to be friends, but she then continued walking in annoyance.

    He absolutely had no idea how her mind worked. It was just too unpredictable.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s end this here! We can y together again tomorrow!¡± Liberty suddenly jumped in front of Hiro and smiled very brightly. Hiro was still thinking about her previous reaction, so he became increasingly confused when he saw how fast her mood changed.

    ¡°All right, it was nice ying with you.¡±

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m going home now. I want to shower and sleep until tomorrow,¡± said Liberty while nodding her head.

    ¡°Huh? Do you y in an inte cafe?¡±

    ¡°Inte cafe? Where? I don¡¯t get it, I¡¯m just going home.¡±

    This confused Hiro.

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not talking about your home here, are you?¡± He looked into the girl¡¯s eyes. That can¡¯t be it, right??

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m talking about my home here. Where else would it be? Visit me anytime, Hiro. But not today. I¡¯m really tired now, so I¡¯ll be going first. See you!¡±

    Liberty had run away before Hiro could get an answer to his real question.

    He took a deep breath. He got one more new piece of information that might fall into the category of important information; he just found out that there was a housing system in the game.

    But why would some yers prefer to rest at their in-game homes and not log out and get the real rest instead?

    ¡®She¡¯s really strange.¡¯

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Hiro looked at his party information disy. It seemed that Liberty forgot to leave the party since she was rushing to go home. Her name, HP, and AP could still be seen through the party¡¯s disy.

    ¡°Should I just kick her?.¡±

    He returned to Beginner Town and walked around. Ultimately, he decided to simply ignore Liberty still in his party. Even though he was sure that Liberty didn¡¯t understand the meaning of being kicked out of the party, he still didn¡¯t have the heart to kick her out.

    Beginner Town was very quiet at night. From the looks of it, other yers should have logged out. Or¡­ did they go home like Liberty did? Hiro could only guess. At this moment, he couldn¡¯t find any yers, only NPCs filled the town.

    Hiro checked the [CBT yers] page again to see who had obtained legendary weapons or armor. Inside the special page, he found several names of yers who had managed to obtain it.

    His eyes widened when he saw that 288 privileged items already had yer signatures.

    He proceeded to read some of them.

    [Hellsing Whisper (Pistol) ¨C Liberty (Level 15)]

    [Yin Yang Harmony (Mystic Tome) ¨C Noah (Level 15)]

    [God of Light (Chakram) ¨C Natalie (Level 14)]

    ¡°Ahhh! How did they get them!? I also want one!¡±

    Opening that particr page only made him even more frustrated.

    The descriptions of the privileged items were locked by the system. Although yers could ess the list, they could only see the name, type, and owner of the items.

    There was no other information that could help him find a clue, and the more Hiro thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

    He decided to vent his frustration by continuing to grind again. His target this time was a brutal-type monster, [Common Ostrich (Level 15)].

    The experience gained from fighting an ostrich colony in the same spot, in the western area of Beginner Town, was quite abundant as the monsters kepting and attacking together.

    This posed no problem for Hiro, who already has a high Aspd. He only needed to have energy drinks with him so he would not run out of energy while using hisbo.

    However, even though he gained a lot of EXP from the ostrich monster, it was still very difficult to level up.

    He was sure that was the reason the world level was capped at 20; it seemed the in-game system was only limited to that level for the time being.

    But, he had to catch up the cap before the CBT really ended.

    And after 4 hours of grinding¡­

    [System Call]

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [Gorgeous Smile]

    Base Level 17

    Job ss Level 12

    Health 5,680/5680

    AP 508/508

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 150

    BR 3510

    Basic Stats

    STR 49

    AGI 26

    INT 13

    VIT 30

    DEX 15

    LUCK 28

    Skill Stats

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5

    Bloodsteal (Passive) Level 3

    ¡°All set.¡±

    ¡®This should be enough for now.¡¯

    [System Logout]

    He logged out of the game and removed the VR machine from his head.

    He wanted to try something.

    After he put aside his VR machine, Hiro immediately checked his android bracelet and opened Ninecent¡¯s website for the umpteenth time to the description of the sale and purchase transaction for LSO.

    After a few minutes of being immersed in the tablet screen, Hiro found two methods of buying and selling transactions that could be done for LSO.

    The first transaction method could be done directly in-game while the yers are online. Unfortunately, yer-to-yer direct trading was still unavable and was waiting for an update.

    However, there was one other way they could sell tradable items in the game. yers must own a Merchant License, which could be obtained by purchasing it through the website for 100,000USD to open a store.

    Merchant yers had the right to determine the price of goods, taxes, and transaction/service fees.

    Hiro, who only wanted to experiment with selling in-game items, automatically ignored the two methods.

    And the choice fell on transactions through a system that could be done both offline or online with an auction system.

    [Garden Golem Weapon Card 1x]

    Hiro put the skill card into the item menu that he wanted to sell on Ninecent¡¯s website.

    Sales through the system do not require a Merchant License. There is, however, a 10% sales tax imposed by the system.

    Not like he had another choice.

    [[Garden Golem Card 1x] is ced for auction.]

    [The starting price for bidding will be fixed by the system and cancetions are not allowed. Proceed anyway?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Starting price for [Garden Golem Weapon Card] is 2,000LSC]

    [¡­]

    [Waiting for bidders (6 hours remaining)]

 Chapter 12

    Uneasy waiting for his item to sell, Hiro decided to take a short nap. And because his body felt sore after spending so much time in-game, he fell asleep fast.

    ¡­

    [10:00 PM Tokyo Time]

    Gasp!

    Hiro jolted awake. He slept like a log, and his bedroom was dark since he didn¡¯t get to turn on the lights.

    ¡°Jeez, eight hours? You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡±

    Hiro hurriedly got up from his bed and turned on the light in his room. He was really annoyed with himself for sleeping too long, and he was in a bit of a daze due to it.

    He even forgot to check iing notifications regarding the item he was selling.

    After a bit, Hiro decided to go out and buy some cold coffee at a supermarket just 300 meters from where he lives. He really needed it now.

    The streets in the area where Hiro lived were very quiet at night. Even the street lights that turned on automatically every time someone passed by were out.

    The supermarket near where Hiro lived was open 24/7, and the storekeeper was still the same as thest time Hiro saw him.

    Kira, the storekeeper, was monitoring the 3D hologram disying a countdown in front of him without blinking.

    ¡°Ahem,¡± Hiro cleared his throat to get the man¡¯s attention. The canned coffee he bought was ignored by the storekeeper.

    ¡°Just a moment, young man. Let me concentrate. The second batch of VR LSO sales is opening in two minutes. I¡¯ll get it this time.¡±

    Kira flexed all the muscles in his fingers, preparing for war against the millions of people who might also be trying to get their hands on the game.

    The curious Hiro also watched the 3D hologram, waiting anxiously.

    ¡°5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    [Sold out]

    [150,000 new-generation VR equipment has been sold.]

    [Please wait for the next batch! (23 hours 59 minutes remaining)]

    ¡°WHAT THE FUCK!!¡±

    Kira exploded in anger and pounded the metal table in front of him so hard that some of the items on it fell apart.

    Hiro tried to distance himself before he became the next victim. He even managed to save his unpaid drink can.

    ¡°Damn it! Fuck connection!!¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but grin at Kira¡¯s behavior. To tell the truth, it was quiteforting. At the same time, he wondered, what would Kira say to him if he found out that Hiro already had the VR equipment and had even been ying the game all day?

    Kira finally gave the drink for free to Hiro after seeing that the expiration date of the drink was the next day. But after that, Hiro was kicked out with harsh words.

    ¡®What a weirdo.¡¯

    ¡®Well, at least I got this drink for free.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯ve really been luckytely.¡±

    Hiro enjoyed his drink while it was still cold as he leisurely walked back to the apartment. However, just as he moistened his parched throat, ady¡¯s shout suddenly sounded.

    ¡°AAAAHHH!¡±

    Without thinking twice, Hiro immediately rushed to the source of the sound. From the volume, he could tell that she wasn¡¯t too far from where he was.

    Upon arriving, he saw ady who was very unsteady because she was half-drunk surrounded by four men at once on the side of a deserted road. The only source of light came from the automaticmp next to the crowd.

    Thedy just got up from the road while pushing the body of one of theughing men nearby.

    From the darkness, Hiro could only recognize her reflection as ady because of her very prominent posture and curvaceous hips and chest.

    ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡±

    The man who had just been pushed was furious and gripped thedy¡¯s arm tightly.

    ¡°Let go of me, you ugly filth!¡±

    ¡°Ptui!¡± Thedy spat right in the man¡¯s face without fear.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro immediately rushed over. He knew what would happen next.

    ¡°Hey! Let go of her!¡± he eximed boldly.

    All eyes immediately turned to him. And of course the grown men looked down on Hiro through their eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t meddle, kid. Go home and drink your warm milk!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    Hiro did not ept the humiliation he received from the thug-faced man.

    While they were busyughing at hisrade¡¯s joke, Hiro quickly kicked the man who was tightly gripping the half-drunkdy¡¯s hands.

    Bam!

    The man fell backward after receiving Hiro¡¯s kick.

    They were all shocked by Hiro¡¯s actions. The other three men immediately threw their fists at Hiro, but Hiro was able to dodge two fists at once.

    Bam!

    The third punch hit the back of Hiro¡¯s hand as he tried to block the attack that was aimed at his face.

    Hiro did not stay silent, he immediately fought back. With his long legs as a mainstay, he jumped and double-kicked the man in front of him.

    Meanwhile, the two people behind him were ready to take out the weapons they hid, a sharp folding knife.

    ¡°What a nuisance!¡± one of the men hissed.

    ¡°Get him! Teach him a lesson!¡± one of the men who was still groaning from Hiro¡¯s kick eximed.

    ¡°Tch. Same weapons, huh? How much did you buy them for? With a buy-one-get-one-free promotion?¡± Hiro tried to provoke the three men at once. After all, those who fought emotionally would not be able to fully concentrate on the fight.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too cocky, brat!¡±

    Stt!

    Hiro¡¯s stomach was shed with a knife by the one man in front of him. The scratch wasn¡¯t deep, But his shirt was torn and blood was dripping out of it.

    ¡°You fucking¡­ you ruined my favorite shirt!¡±

    Hiro shot an uppercut fist towards the lower jaw of the man who had just ripped his clothes and struck the man¡¯s abdominal diaphragm with his knee.

    Bam!

    But suddenly, another man tackled Hiro¡¯s legs and sent him crashing backward.

    Bang!

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Hiro cursed in annoyance.

    However, before he could stand up, two men had already grabbed both of his arms, forcing him to stand while locking them.

    ¡°Let go of me, Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Let me teach him a lesson,¡± the man who managed to knock Hiro down muttered. From the neat suit he was wearing, he seemed to be the boss of the other men.

    The boss thug sharpened his fist to hit Hiro¡¯s face. However, help came right on time.

    The half-drunkdy jumped high and gave the boss a hard kick in the chest and then face.

    Bam! Bam!

    Everyone was shocked to see her action. It was like watching a WrestleMania diva.

    Blood gushed out of the nose of the man who was hit hard by thedy¡¯s thick boot.

    Hiro made good use of the diversion. With the tip of his elbow, he immediately attacked the stomachs of the two men who were holding him tightly.

    Bam!

    They stumbled backward and reflexively released him.

    As synced as a mixed tag-team match, Hiro and thedy kicked the heads of the two men in front of them so hard that they both fell to the ground and spat out blood.

    ¡°Eat that.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    Thedy suddenly grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand and asked him to run. Hiro had no other choice but to follow her will, and as he was pulled away, he nced at thedy. Although she could speak Japanese like a native, it was clear from her face that thedy was not Japanese.

    The two had managed to run quite a distance and were now standing under a streemp that automatically turned on when they came near. The two organized their messy breaths.

    Meanwhile, Hiro continued to stare at thedy¡¯s face. Her face is beautiful with long ck hair that was tied as a ponytail, and a tattoo resembling a ck thorny nt stem extended from her shoulder to her left neck.

    She seemed about 25 years old with a height of over 5¡¯7 ft. Meanwhile, her curves were truly top-notch. The girl only wore a short, ck tank top that made her cleavage stand out clearly and tight leggings that made her plump butt stand out beautifully.

    ¡®This girl, is she a gothic geisha?¡¯ Hiro thought to himself, guessing.

    The girl¡¯s breath reeked of alcohol. He wondered how many alcoholic drinks she drank this evening.

    ¡°You!¡± Thedy looked at Hiro with wide eyes.

    ¡°Leave, kid, what are you doing here?¡± thedy suddenly scolded Hiro. It felt as if she knew that he was younger than her.

    ¡°Huh? Me? I should be the one asking like that. What¡¯s a beautifuldy like you doing in a dark and secluded ce like this?¡±

    Thedy¡¯s eyes widened when she heard Hiro call her a beautifuldy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t flirt with me, kid, I have no interest in ying with a virgin boy like you.¡±

    Hiro frowned. His kindness was misinterpreted. Furthermore, did she just call him a ¡®virgin boy¡¯? She was right on that, but still¡­

    ¡°Go home, kid!¡±

    Thedy suddenly pressed her body against him, making him feel something bouncy and dense pressing against his chest.

    Hiro held his breath.

    ¡°Or¡­ could it be that you want toe home with me?¡± she teased while licking her lips.

    Hiro gulped, unmoving. He had never been in this kind of position before.

    A faint smile appeared on thedy¡¯s face.

    ¡°Gosh, you look so much like him!¡±

    ¡°Can I just kiss you?¡±

    Thedy suddenly brought her face close to Hiro¡¯s and grabbed his cheeks, causing him to freeze on the spot and forget to breathe.

    ¡°Ahahaha! I¡¯m just kidding, kid! Breathe, you¡¯re turning blue!¡±

    Thedy then let go of her hands and freed him, and Hiro quickly turned and walked away.

    ¡°See you!¡±

    He could finally breathe again. A few seconds ago, it was as if his lungs had run out of oxygen and shrunk.

    ¡°What a weirddy.¡±

    Hiro watched the strangedy¡¯s back until she turned into an alley, and after she was out of sight, he went home to clean the blood on his wound and his dirty body.

    Before he went to sleep for 8 hours, he had set his android bracelet to silent mode so that no notifications would bother him.

    And now, he intended to reactivate ring mode when an iing notification caused his eyes to widen in surprise.

    [You have 37 new messages from Liberty.]

 Chapter 13

    Hiro checked his android bracelet intending to change his mode back to ring mode, and he was surprised when he saw a pile of notifications of messages from the same sender.

    [You have 37 new messages from Liberty.]

    ¡°Huh? Just what did she do? Sending me this many messages¡­ is she in danger?¡±

    All messages sent by Liberty contained only one sentence, which made Hiro even more dumbfounded.

    [Hiro, where are you?]

    Hiro massaged his head after he finished opening all the messages Liberty sent containing the same sentence. He didn¡¯t miss anything.

    However, thest notification buried below made him leap with joy.

    [Your item, [Garden Golem Weapon Card], has been sold to Natalie.]

    [3,600LSC has been added to your bnce.]

    ¡°3,600USD in just one night? Unbelievable! What easy money!¡±

    Hiro checked his ount information to see how many LSC he currently had.

    [6,225LSC]

    ¡®I can¡¯t wait to buy a lot of stuff from Kira¡¯s supermarket. He¡¯ll probably think I won the lottery or something.¡¯

    ¡°I should be able to use it since it¡¯s listed as a legal cryptocurrency,¡± he happily muttered to himself.

    Unable to stand it anymore, Hiro tried to contact one of the online customer services on LSO¡¯s website to ask when he would be able to withdraw his LSC to a local bank ount, which was mentioned to be ing soon¡¯ on the game guide.

    However, before he could do so, a loud banging suddenly sounded on the door of his room.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    A fat woman with a friendly face was standing in front of his door. This woman was the owner of the apartment building he was living in, Aiko Nakagawa.

    ¡°Good evening, Hiro. Sorry to bother you thiste at night. Have you had dinner?¡±

    ¡°Good evening, Mrs. Nakagawa. To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± Hiro politely asked with a smile. He was already swallowing his saliva, afraid of being billed for his iplete room payment.

    The woman smiled and handed him an aluminum lunch box.

    ¡°I prepared dinner for my husband, but he called me that he¡¯ll be workingte at his office tonight. Would you like to eat it instead before it goes bad?¡±

    ¡°Ah, sure. Thank you very much. I am so lucky to have you, Mrs. Nakagawa,¡± Hiro genuinely thanked.

    He regretted suspecting the woman and thinking badly of her.

    Free food for dinner is such a blessing, especially when it looks so delicious. He hadn¡¯t eaten nutritious food in a long time.

    After the angelic-hearted apartment owner left, Hiro immediately devoured the food he had just received. It was so, so much better than eating his instant noodles.

    Ding!

    [You have a new message.]

    Liberty and the same question again. It was only when he saw the notification that he remembered he forgot to reply to the girl¡¯s message.

    However, because he was happy after receiving delicious nutritious food, he decided to reply to the girl¡¯s message this time.

    [I¡¯m having dinner in my apartment, what¡¯s up?]

    [¡­]

    [Your apartment? Where is it? I¡¯m going there]

    [I¡¯m bored]

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t understand what the girl wanted, so he simply ignored the message again and went to visit Ninecent¡¯s website one more time.

    [Online Customer Service]

    [Good evening, may I know the date for the direct transfer system update of LSC to the local bank center?]

    [Customer Service: Typing¡­]

    Hiro waited for a reply while holding his breath. He did not expect that the response from the customer service would be so fast.

    [Good evening, NightFall. Our deepest apologies, but the information you¡¯re requesting is currently unavable. Please wait for the updateter when the gameunches. However, please be at ease. We¡¯re currently working on it, and LSC will soon be a next-level cryptocurrency that everyone worldwide can ept.]

    Hiro felt relieved after reading the written closing sentence. Without thinking twice, he asked the second question, the question of what would happen to the items he already had after the gameunched.

    And the answers provided made Hiro even more excited to be a privileged item hunter.

    [All collected legendary items, all purchased items, all rare items, and LSC bnce collected during CBT will stay in the owner¡¯s inventory and can be imedter in the official server.]

    Ding!

    Another iing message from Liberty appeared.

    [Are you ignoring me? (¨Ž_¨) I just found an inessible cave, any idea how to get in?]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°A cave, huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡®It¡¯s definitely a hidden dungeon!¡¯

    ¡°Legendary weapons and armor, here Ie!¡±

    Hiro immediately put on his full-dive VR device,id down on his bed, and adjusted his body to the mostfortable position before entering the game.

    [Connection Check]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set.]

    [System linked.]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version.]

    ¡­

    The atmosphere in the town square of Beginner Town was still as quiet as thest time Hiro yed the game. There didn¡¯t seem to be any new yers even though hundreds of thousands of LSO VR equipment had been sold on the inte.

    It seemed that they couldn¡¯t ess the CBT version, unlike Hiro, and who knows how many yers had registered for the CBT version. He still couldn¡¯t find the list as if their identities were kept secret by the system on purpose.

    Hiro contacted Liberty via direct dial. It worked just like a phone in the real world, but he didn¡¯t need to take out his cellphone or anything. He could hear Liberty¡¯s voice inside his head as if he was telepathic.

    ¡°Hiro! Why did you just ignore my messages and disappear!? I thought you got eaten by a giant slime and died!¡±

    Hiro frowned. Liberty shouted in a very loud voice.

    ¡°I was busy. Besides, the giant slimes in this game are really weak, I doubt they¡¯ll be able to eat me alive.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    He felt that arguing with her was pointless. How is she so clueless?

    ¡°I¡¯m on my way to your location. Wait a bit.¡±

    ¡°Eh? But how-¡±

    Hiro cut the call unterally after realizing that Liberty¡¯s name was still in his party. Hiro had been logged out for so long because he had fallen asleep, yet the party was still there.

    [09:45 AM Server Time]

    Since she was still in the same party, Hiro could track Liberty¡¯s whereabouts by looking at the information about the girl¡¯s current location coordinates on the girl¡¯s game avatar.

    Still, the western part of Beginner Town indeed had its own strategic values ??for Hiro so far. Because of that, he decided to put that area into consideration before buying a regr plot.

    Hiro ran toward the location coordinates, entering a forest with a fairly dense canopy, like a tropical rainforest. However, just a kilometer into the forest, Hiro heard amotion from a distance further into the forest.

    From the gaps between the trees, he saw a yer in heavy-looking armor running out with a pale face while carrying a sword and shield in both hands.

    Behind him, nine grizzly bear-like monsters were running amok, chasing after the man in armor.

    ¡°Run!¡± the yer shouted from a distance.

    [Level 13. Jacob. Knight. First-Year Student]

    ¡®Another silly yer, huh? Did he identally provoke those monsters?¡¯

 Chapter 14

    The distance between the yer named Jacob, a knight, and Hiro was getting shorter. However, Hiro did not budge from where he was standing. He waited with his greatsword ready to be pointed toward the iing crowd of monsters.

    Jacob shouted repeatedly at Hiro for him to run for safety, but Hiro ignored him. On the contrary, he felt grateful to the yer for bringing nine free medium-level monsters to him.

    Finishing those monsters off as a warm-up would be perfect as well.

    [Wild Grizzly (Level 15)]

    When the remaining distance was only 10 meters, Hiro swiftly dashed towards the monsters, surprising Jacob who immediately stopped his footsteps when Hiro passed him by just like that.

    Whoosh!

    St!!

    Stt!

    [2x Hit Combo]

    Stt!

    [3x Critical Hit Combo]

    Stt!

    [4x Critical Hit Combo]

    One by one, Hiro shed the monsters using hisbo skill. His body rotated rapidly right at the perfect time to switch targets when the critical hitbo reaches its maximum.

    [Health -2,000]

    One strike, one kill. Hiro used hisbo skill incredibly well. Starting at 4x, just one sh was enough to finish off a running Wild Grizzly. The monsters didn¡¯t even have time to fight back.

    St!

    Blood gushed out, and Hiro¡¯s greatsword became covered in blood. Not only that, but Hiro¡¯s face and body were now also bathed in the blood of those grizzly bears.

    ¡°Give me more LSC, fat bears!¡± he clenched his jaw.

    4¡­ 5¡­ 8¡­

    Stt! [x10 Critical Hit Combo]

    Hiro finished thest Wild Grizzly with a horizontal stab right at the monster¡¯s face, stabbing his greatsword into the monster¡¯s body and ripping its organs from the inside.

    Hiro pulled his sword out and kicked the grizzly bear¡¯s lifeless body to the ground.

    Ding!

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    [You obtained 350LSC]

    There are no useful item drops after eliminating those 9 grizzly bear monsters. Hiro cursed annoyed by it. He only got a few junk items that made his inventory even more full.

    ¡°Wow! How did you do that, Bro?¡±

    Jacob walked over to Hiro.

    ¡°By the way, thanks for saving me. My name is Jacob.¡± Jacob grinned as he rubbed the back of his head, feeling bad.

    Hiro waved his sword in the air¡ª

    St!

    Jacob¡¯s face paled as Hiro¡¯s sword shed through the air right in front of his face, sending the blood on his sword to spurt to his face. He thought that Hiro was not a friendly person and would teach him a lesson.

    In truth, Hiro only did it to clean the blood of the grizzly bear on his sword. No other purpose.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it to save you. I¡¯m hunting for LSC, and you just happened to bring them over to me,¡± Hiro spoke in a calm tone.

    ¡°Mmm¡ªsorry, I recently got the skill [Provoke] and was trying it out at those bears. I didn¡¯t expect so many of them toe after me like that.¡±

    Hiro had expected it, so he was not surprised to hear Jacob¡¯s exnation.

    ¡°Looks like you don¡¯t know anything about that knight skill.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey! Did you have to say that?¡± Jacob looked a little offended. Even so, when Hiro looked at him with his piercing eyes, Jacob turned pale again.

    ¡°Jacob, was it? You¡¯re also a CBT yer, huh. I¡¯m NightFall.¡±

    ¡°Night¨CNightFall? Is that your real name?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t answer and silently studied Jacob¡¯s appearance from top to bottom.

    The knight has a height and posture that seemed very bnced, very suitable to be a knight. He was approximately 6¡ä2¡å and weighed 170 lbs with blond hair and ocean blue eyes.

    ¡®Another Caucasian, huh? Does this game have no Asians?¡¯

    ¡°Hello? You there?¡±

    ¡°NightFall is just my in-game username. It¡¯s not my real name. Besides, why would I use my real name in-game? Don¡¯t tell me Jacob is your real name.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Jacob. And of course it¡¯s my real name, Bro. What are you, a spy? Why would you use a code name anyway?¡±

    Hiro frowned. He just realized that Jacob didn¡¯t understand what he meant. In fact, it seemed as if Jacob didn¡¯t even know he was ying a game like him. He spoke like he was in the real world with a different system, just like Liberty.

    Ding!

    [Liberty is trying to contact you,]

    Hiro patted his forehead. He almost forgot Liberty was still waiting for him in front of a cave. He didn¡¯t have time to talk to Jacob any longer.

    ¡°I have to go!¡±

    ¡°Where? Hey! Can I go with you? I don¡¯t know where the forest¡¯s exit is. Please!¡±

    Seeing his pitiful face resembling a golden retriever, Hiro couldn¡¯t help but allow him.

    He hurriedly ran deeper and deeper into the forest. Behind him, Jacob was trying to catch up to him with difficulty because the armor he was wearing was too heavy to run in.

    Hiro activated his HUD system and the GPS system that had been integrated into his HUD system. He felt lucky that he got a GPS system from the first quest he received. Because of that, he didn¡¯t need to be afraid of getting lost like Jacob because the GPS could record his footprints without restrictions.

    It was extremely helpful for Hiro, who liked to go everywhere alone.

    After running for more than 2 kilometers through the moderately wide gaps of the forest trees, Hiro finally managed to find Liberty.

    The girl was sitting alone facing a cave, waiting for Hiro for who knows how long by now.

    Hiro stopped in his tracks and silently stared at Liberty. No one had ever waited for him in his life. Everyone went away from him.

    ¡°Ah! Hiro!¡± Liberty shouted while waving at him excitedly when she noticed he was finally here. ¡°Over here!¡±

    Liberty immediately rose to her feet to greet him, but her eyes widened when she saw an unknown person hade with him.

    ¡°A girl?¡± Jacob looked surprised and fascinated.

    ¡°What took you so long? I thought you were lost or something. And who¡¯s this?¡± Liberty had already walked over because she couldn¡¯t just wait and stay where she was.

    ¡°Hi¡ªexcuse me,dy. My name¡¯s Jacob. Your boyfriend iste because he saved me from the wrath of grizzly bears. It was my fault since I provoked them.¡± Jacob bowed politely.

    ¡°Boyfriend!?¡± Hiro and Liberty eximed in unison. They could not believe what Jacob just said about them.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Jacob was confused by the two¡¯s synced reaction.

    Hiro simply shrugged it off and walked past Liberty, approaching the cave 10 meters above ground level in height. Meanwhile, Liberty was still being shy by Jacob¡¯s words.

    As Hiro moved closer to the mouth of the cave, his body suddenly hit an invisible barrier, preventing him from going further.

    ¡°I told you the cave¡¯s inessible!¡± Liberty called out a warning.

    Even so, Hiro kept trying to go through it. He was sure that he saw a glitch in the part that was blocking him, a glitch from the system barrier. And so, he slowly touched the barrier with his right hand.

    Ding!

    [Hidden Dungeon [Underground Cave] has been revealed.]

    [Learn the skill [Heat Resistant (Level 1)] to enter the dungeon.]

 Chapter 15

    [Learn the skill [Heat Resistance (Level 1)] to enter the dungeon.]

    Hiro retracted his hand upon knowing the requirement for entering the dungeon. In the meantime, Liberty and Jacob were already walking toward him.

    Jacob, whose curiosity was piqued, imitated Hiro¡¯s actions, put his right hand on the invisible barrier, and received the same notification.

    ¡°Heat Resistance? I¡¯ve heard of that before,¡± Jacob muttered and tried to recall where he heard that term mentioned before.

    Liberty only waited in silence. Meanwhile, Hiro felt that he made the right choice by bringing Jacob with him. With his help, he would be able to save time on getting the information they needed right now.

    ¡°Where did you hear that?¡± Hiro directly asked.

    ¡°In the tavern in Beginner Town, I think someone asked about the same thing. I don¡¯t know his name, but I do remember that he brought a thick book with a cover of two dragon tails forming a ck and white circle,¡± Jacob exined, still remembering some of the out-of-the-ordinary details.

    ¡®A book? A mystic tome? The Yin Yang Harmony? Is that person the owner of that legendary weapon? He¡¯s already found this dungeon, huh? Interesting. What kind of person is he, I wonder?¡¯ Hiro silently thought.

    ¡°Does anyone in the tavern know about the Heat Resistance skill?¡±

    ¡°I think that wandererdy knows. Wanna go there?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s go meet her right now.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but what are you guys talking about?¡± Liberty raised her right hand in an attempt to get involved in the conversation.

    Hiro looked at her with a t expression for a few seconds. He wasn¡¯t interested in exining the details to the girl since he knew it was pointless.

    He doubted that Liberty would understand thoseplicated details.

    ¡°We have to learn the Heat Resistance skill to enter the cave, Liberty.¡±

    The three then left the cave and headed back to Beginner Town. There was no time to waste, so Hiro led them to run. He didn¡¯t want to only arrive when night already fell in-game.

    Jacob showed the location of the tavern he meant, the ce where he saw the wandererdy.

    The tavern was not sorge. On the contrary, it was only a small building with a wooden push-to-open door. Apart from the three of them, there were no other visitors; only an NPC, an old man with a thick beard, standing behind the tavern counter wiping an empty ss.

    The expression on the old man¡¯s face didn¡¯t change when he saw that he had visitors.

    ¡°Hey, Jack! Please bring us three sses of beer!¡± Jacob shouted from the distance and chose an empty seat. The round table had a total of three seats surrounding it, perfect for their group.

    Hiro and Liberty sat on the other seats.

    ¡°Just rx. Since you saved me, it¡¯s my treat today, Bro,¡± Jacob exined his intentions.

    Liberty stared at Hiro with confusion. However Hiro only shrugged, not knowing how to react.

    Hiro looked around. There were really no other people in the small tavern except them. Not even the person they were looking for was there.

    ¡°What are we doing here? Where¡¯s thedy you mentioned?¡±

    ¡°Chill, Bro. Thedy usuallyes at 11 AM. Just wait a bit, trust me.¡±

    Hiro decided to trust Jacob. In games, sometimes special NPCse at certain times, and it wasn¡¯t anything strange.

    Besides, there¡¯s no harm in trying the beer in-game for now. Hiro had never tried one before because of how protective Yuujin was, so he wanted to try it for once.

    Since Yuujin was gone, he felt that the prohibition no longer existed. He was just going to drink a virtual beer anyway, not in real life.

    The NPC named Jack brought the drinks they ordered, three sses of beer.

    ¡°Cheers for our new friendship!¡± Jacob eximed while raising his ss.

    Hiro and Liberty awkwardly did the same. It seemed that Liberty also had never done this before.

    He guessed that Liberty was actually a sheltered rich girl. Like a princess of some sort.

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    Clink!

    ¡°Argh!¡± Jacob really enjoyed the drink.

    As for Hiro, he only frowned when he tasted the bitter taste spread in his mouth. Liberty even reflexively coughed even though she only had a very small sip.

    She immediately put the ss back on the table, and this confused Jacob.

    ¡°Is this you guys¡¯ first time drinking beer? Ah, sorry, they don¡¯t have wine at the moment, but you gotta try them out! It tastes way better than this drink. Trust me!¡±

    At that moment, the wooden door of the tavern mmed open and a sexydy entered. Apart from therge cowboy hat on her head, thedy only had a ck bra and shabby trousers.

    Hiro subconsciously approached thedy just after she sat on the seat in the corner of the room. The NPCdy was named Abby.

    ¡°Hi there, Miss Abby. Do you know about the skill called Heat Resistance?¡±

    Abby unhappily red at Hiro before looking away.

    ¡°Get away from me, Wanderer. You are wasting my break time.¡±

    The NPCdy¡¯s reaction surprised him. Hiro didn¡¯t expect that he would be treated so coldly.

    ¡°Ahahahah!¡± Jacob walked toward him whileughing. He had his ss of beer in his right hand and hugged Hiro¡¯s shoulder with his left as if they were close friends.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re not so experienced with thedies either, Bro.¡±

    Jacob sat on the empty seat in front of Abby and pushed his ss of beer toward thedy.

    ¡°Hey there, mdy. Wanna have a drink with me?¡±

    Abby epted the drink Jacob offered and drank it all. She then returned Jacob¡¯s look with a smile.

    ¡°Depends on how much you can drink.¡±

    ¡°Until you¡¯re satisfied, of course.¡±

    NPC Abby shyly blushed. But the next moment, her expression quickly turned serious and her eyes closely stared at Jacob.

    ¡°What do you want from me, wanderer?¡±

    Hiro was dumbfounded when he witnessed what just transpired. He felt defeated by Jacob, who looked at him with a certain expression saying ¡®This is how you get thedies, Bro.¡¯ all over his face.

    ¡°Mind telling me what you know about the Heat Resistance skill? My friends and I need it.¡±

    With Jacob¡¯s ability with thedies, Abby was willing to share the information they needed. ording to her, [Heat Resistance] could be learned from Fred, an NPC always on standby in the training area.

    To learn the skill, they had to give Fred a present so he would happily share the skill with them.

    ¡°So what are we going to do now?¡± Liberty, who had been patiently waiting on her seat, asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to hunt some foxes.¡±

    ¡°Eh? We¡¯re not learning the Heat Resistance skill first?¡±

    Hiro was already walking toward the tavern door. Behind him, Liberty pouted when she realized she was being ignored. Even so, the girl hurriedly went to catch up to him without a word.

    Meanwhile, Jacob, who already felt he was part of the team, didn¡¯t want to be left behind either.

    ording to the information he got from NPC Abby, the fox monster they were after could be found in the west of Beginner Town.

    Again, the west of Beginner Town. Hiro was bing even more sure of purchasing a regr plot in that area now.

    If only he had enough money.

    The three entered the forest with quiet steps, trying their best to make no sound. This was because the monster they were after was a timid-type monster. It was difficult to find this type of monster in noisy ces.

    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± asked Liberty confused.

    Hiro vigntly looked at the strange bush three meters in front of him.

    ¡°Sssh¡­¡±

    The green bush moved, but no wind was blowing where they were. The bush moved back from a bigger bush.

    The moment the strange bush separated itself, a notification simultaneously appeared in their HUD system.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information.]

    [Fern the Mythical Fox (Level 20)]

    [Race: Beast]

    ¡°What a beautiful creature!¡±

 Chapter 16

    The monster in front of them had an unusual charm. Its form was akin to a fox the size of a Maine Coon cat with a body as gray as a rock. It had a tail shaped like a branch with a low-rank fern on it, spreading to cover the back of its body.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information.]

    [Fern the Mythical Fox (Level 20)]

    [Race: Beast]

    ¡°How beautiful!¡± Liberty eximed.

    ¡°Beautiful indeed!¡± Jacob said in agreement.

    In the meantime, Hiro, who felt that they had no time to y around, had pulled out his sword and pointed it toward the fox¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Sword Combo Skill,¡± Hiro was waiting for his skill to activate when all of a sudden, Liberty turned her head and looked at him in annoyance.

    ¡°Hiro, are you seriously going to kill this innocent creature!?¡±

    ¡°We need the four-leaf clover from the creature, we have no other choice.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t believe that Liberty and Jacob were using their bodies to protect the monster from his sword.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you, Bro.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another way, let me try it.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t understand what Liberty meant by another way. He couldn¡¯t imagine another way to get the monster¡¯s drop item aside from killing it.

    Nevertheless, he still gave Liberty a chance out of curiosity.

    Liberty crouched and crawled. Hiro didn¡¯t expect that a girl could behave like that. However, what surprised him more was when she suddenly made sounds in a strangenguage from her mouth, as if that was thenguage used by the fox and they weremunicating two-way.

    [Beast Whisperer]

    ¡°Such a thing exists?¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t believe it when the skill name appeared on his HUD.

    ¡°Interesting¡­ Do I also have a special skill like that? Demon Whisperer?¡±

    ¡°Sssh!¡± Liberty looked at Hiro with annoyance.

    What happened the next second made his jaw drop.

    Ding!

    [Your party member Liberty obtained 3x Fern Four-Leaf Clovers.]

    ¡°What the heck!?¡±

    After the epic moment, the three of them went to find the NPC who could give them the skill they needed, Fred. Nobody had to be killed, and it was thanks to Liberty the Beast Whisperer.

    And NPC Abby¡¯s words were right. After giving the Fern Four-Leaf Clover, NPC Fred gave them the Heat Resistance skill in the form of untradable scrolls, which they immediately used upon receiving.

    [You have unlocked a new skill [Heat Resistance] ¨C Level 1]

    [Heat Resistance is a protection spell for the body to be resistant against high temperature. Cost: 100 AP]

    [Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and concentrate for 1.5s to activate the skill.]

    The three tried to do it simultaneously, and Hiro seeded first. His concentration was truly unshakable.

    His heart rate increased when the skill was activated. His body gradually became warm, and when he opened his eyes, Hiro could see his body covered in a thin red aura.

    ¡°Cool, I feel like a mini Saiyan.¡±

    After repeating the process a few times, Liberty and Jacob finally seeded. The two were emitting the same aura as Hiro.

    ¡°Holy shit, my body¡¯s glowing!¡± Jacob shouted in amazement.

    ¡°I feel strange, will I be okay?¡± Liberty seemed somewhat ufortable with the aura.

    [You have sent a party invitation to Jacob.]

    [Jacob joined the party.]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the cave.¡±

    The three ran back to the [Hidden Cave] dungeon.

    As soon as they arrived in front of the dungeon, the three of them touched the invisible barrier together with the Heat Resistance skill active following Hiro¡¯s cue.

    At that moment, the barrier cracked and broke.

    Crack!

    They could now enter the dark cave.

    The moment they entered the dungeon area, they could immediately feel the air turn warm. Fortunately, the Heat Resistance skill protected their body from the extreme heat in the cave.

    None of them realized that their path was constantly heading down toward the Earth¡¯s core.

    ¡°Liberty, can you take out your magic staff?¡±

    Liberty nodded and took out her Lantern Master Staff. Hiro only needed the light from the fireflies in the magic staff.

    Despite owning a powerful legendary weapon, Liberty didn¡¯t like it very much. She exined that the sounds of explosions and beating of the weapon almost caused her heart to stop multiple times.

    Hiro had no words to say about it. The girl was indeed unique.

    The three walked while keeping their guards up, constantly looking out for surprise attacks. Jacob and Liberty were scrambling and squeezing Hiro, who was walking at the forefront.

    ¡°Ouch! Jacob, you stepped on my foot!¡± Libertyined.

    ¡°Sorry, this is just too scary.¡±

    Hiro remained focused. He felt strange. ording to the GPS system he had, the distance between the mouth of the cave and their current location was about 500 meters already, yet they still hadn¡¯t encountered any monsters so far.

    ¡®There¡¯s no way the dungeon is actually empty, right?¡¯

    Slick!

    ¡°Ew! What is that!?¡± Liberty reflexively grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand when her foot identally stepped on a thick green liquid on the ground.

    ¡°Is that monster blood? Libe, raise your magic staff higher.¡±

    As he expected, several round spider-like monster carcasses with a diameter of about half a meter were around where they were standing.

    ¡°What are those!?¡± Liberty instantly jumped onto Hiro¡¯s back and Jacob hid behind the girl.

    ¡°Someone¡¯s already gotten in.¡±

    ¡®The owner of that mystic tome¡­¡¯

    Hiro checked the monster¡¯s carcass with his HUD system and got the information about when the monster was defeated.

    [7 hours ago]

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    In LSO, monsters in dungeons will not turn into crystal shards or pixels and disappear upon being defeated if the dungeon boss has not been defeated, unlike ordinary monsters that are usually defeated to grind outside dungeons.

    Hiro stood back up and told his party members to run faster into the cave. Even though Hiro was sure that someone had already gotten there before them, the dungeon monsters hadn¡¯t been defeated yet, so he still had hope.

    ¡°Stop! Over there!¡±

    Liberty raised her magic staff toward the direction Hiro pointed, and they were surprised when they saw someone sitting alone while leaning on the cave wall. The person returned their gazes with a smirk on his face.

    ¡°An elf?¡± Liberty recognized the shape of the person¡¯s ears.

    In the meantime, Hiro hurriedly approached the yer ahead of them. From a closer distance, he could see his face clearly. He had ck hair and extremely pale skin. Even though it wasn¡¯t very apparent, Hiro was sure that the man was part Asian.

    ¡®Seems to be an Asian-Caucasian mixed-race.¡¯

    ¡°What are you doing here¡­?¡±

    [Level 19. Noah. Mage. World Bncer]

    ¡°Noah?¡±

    ¡°Some not-so-stupid people finally managed to enter this ce. I¡¯ve been waiting for you guys for over eight hours.¡±

    Hiro frowned when he heard Noah¡¯s words. What an arrogant man.

    Noah stood up to return Hiro¡¯s intimidating gaze. The smirk on his face didn¡¯t change one bit.

    ¡°NightFall, huh? What an odd name. I¡¯ll allow you to enter my party to fight the boss.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡­ what?¡± Liberty clearly didn¡¯t like the new guy¡¯s attitude.

    ¡°Ah, you brought your girlfriend? Tsk tsk tsk. You¡¯re kidding me, right?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyes looked toward Noah¡¯s waist. A legendary weapon in the form of a thick book was sitting there.

    ¡®Damn it! This guy really has it,¡¯ Hiro enviously thought.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need you,¡± Hiro said.

    ¡°Tch. I¡¯m the greatest wizard in the world. You¡¯ll regret it. Besides, you can¡¯t enter the boss area with just three people.¡±

    ¡°What? Again?¡±

    Hiro ignored the arrogant yer that seemed to be the same age as him to approach another cave not far from where he was. He then put his right hand on the mouth of the cave and a notification appeared in front of him.

    [Hidden Cave Boss, (Raid Boss), a minimum of 4 yers is required to enter.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

 Chapter 17

    After finding out that the number of yers required to enter the boss area was four, Noah asked Hiro, Liberty, and Jacob to disband their party and join him as he wanted to be the party leader.

    Of course, Hiro disagreed.

    As a veteran gamer, Hiro understood how important the position of party leader was.

    ¡°I already have three in my party, so I can just look for another yer to enter my party. As for you, good luck looking for three more.¡±

    Hiro¡¯sst sentence sessfully affected Noah¡¯s stubbornness. In the end, he finally relented and sent Hiro a request to join his party.

    [Noah joined the party.]

    Hiro sighed in relief. He managed to save time and didn¡¯t have to wait for another yer toe.

    A moment after, Hiro approached the mouth of the cave near him again and touched the invisible barrier that prevented them from entering the dungeon boss area with his right hand.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the boss area.]

    The four of them walked toward the cave. As they stepped into the cave, they quickly found that Noah could release mes onto his palms using a skill called [Fire Torch]. This made him very useful as a human torch, so he walked next to Hiro at the forefront.

    This cave was akin to a narrow hall, barely enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

    ¡°Let me get the boss loot, NightFall!¡± Noah hissed, repeating the same words for the nth time.

    ¡°Try to take it from me if you can.¡±

    Liberty and Jacob only walked in silence. Several times along the way, the two looked at each other with confusion witnessing the tension between Hiro and Noah.

    Upon finally arriving at the end of the hall, the four stumbled upon arge, spacious room. At the same time, the torches in the spacious room lit up one by one, as if celebrating their arrival. And suddenly¡­

    BANG!

    The ground they were standing on heavily shook as something enormous fell from above, causing the hall they just walked in to immediately crumble.

    Hiro and the others hurriedly ran from the hall and toward the spacious room in front of them to save themselves.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Hiro, look!¡±

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information.]

    [Boss: Minorous the Guardian (Level Undefined)]

    [Race: Beast]

    The monster stood with its tworge and muscr legs. Its head was akin to a bull with a pair ofrge horns on the sides of its head. The 5-meter-tall monster exhaled hot vapor and held a giant axe in its right hand.

    Liberty and Jacob reflexively hid behind Hiro, while Hiro took out his sword in preparation. Next to Hiro, Noah took out his mystic tome and opened it right to the middle pages. The Tome flew low in front of him, with ck and white light emitted from its two sides.

    ¡°Here Ie, cow!¡±

    Hiro swiftly dashed forward upon activating thebo skill on his greatsword.

    nk!!

    Hended his first strike on the Minorous. However, the giant axe sessfully parried his strike and instantly canceled hisbo skill.

    Hiro immediately jumped using the monster¡¯s thick hand as a support, intending to kick it and simultaneously create some distance. The push from his two legs only managed to move Minorous¡¯s legs by about 30 centimeters. And¡­

    BOOM!

    zing mes suddenly appeared from Noah¡¯s clenched right palm, causing it to seem as if he had a ming hot fist.

    ¡°Leave it to me, Newbie!¡±

    Noah punched the empty air in front of him, shooting the fire on his fist toward Minorous like a fireball and right at his furiously growling face.

    [Firebolt]

    BOOM!

    Nothing happened. The boss swung its giant axe toward the Firebolt, quickly extinguishing it into hot air as if the axe could neutralize magic.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Newbie, huh?¡± Hiro annoyedly muttered.

    ¡°Tch. Oi, knight! Do something! Pull the monster¡¯s aggro!¡± Noah shouted, suddenly takingmand.

    ¡°Eh? Me?¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t believe that he had to get involved in the battle against the boss that had been causing him to tremble since a while ago.

    ¡°Use your Provoke skill and run. Take it easy, I won¡¯t let the boss catch you,¡± Hiro exined, agreeing with Noah¡¯s idea.

    He had also thought about it. Because of how difficult Minorous¡¯s weapon made things, he agreed that the boss had to be distracted.

    Jacob had no other choice now. He trusted Hiro and walked toward the boss monster with slightly trembling legs. Meanwhile, Minorous was only silently standing in ce while growling and breathing out hot air.

    ¡°Good cow, please forgive me, Buddy.¡±

    [Provoke]

    Jacob¡¯s body suddenly emitted a thin wave of air that spread to touch anything in a radius of three meters, including Minorous¡¯s body.

    The moment the thin wave of air touched the monster¡¯s body, its two eyes suddenly glowed red.

    GROWL!

    Upon seeing Minorous furiously dash toward him, Jacob immediately ran following Hiro¡¯s instructions.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    ¡°Bro, hurry up and do something! I don¡¯t want to die young!¡±

    Hiro kept his word. During the time Minorous was chasing after Jacob, Hiro constantly attacked the monster¡¯s back with his greatsword.

    Whoosh!

    St! [2x Hit Combo]

    St!! [3x Critical Hit Combo]

    [Sword Combo has stopped.]

    Attacking a constantly moving target was not an easy feat for a melee duelist-type job ss like him. It seemed that he had to change his attack strategy.

    However, before he could find a solution, a giant fireball shot past him and powerfully hit Minorous¡¯s back, creating a great explosion and hot vapor as a result.

    BOOM!!

    [Great Fireball]

    [Health -3,500]

    Noah proudly smiled seeing the damage he inflicted on the dungeon boss. However, his smile quickly vanished when Minorous with its burned back turned and switched targets.

    GROWL!

    ¡°Stop it, you useless knight!¡±

    nk!

    Hiro dashed to stop Minorous¡¯s charge before it reached the mage. His greatsword sessfully withstand Minorous¡¯s body, angering the monster even more.

    ¡°Libe, Jacob, attack it from behind! I¡¯ll keep it busy.¡±

    Liberty had taken out a new weapon. This time, it was a shortbowplete with green metallic arrows. She was adjusting her aim toward the burn scar on Minorous¡¯s back. Jacob, who had gotten a bit of courage, had unsheathed his sword and was charging to attack.

    nk!

    St!

    [Rain of Arrows]

    The arrow shot from Liberty¡¯s shortbow suddenly multiplied into more than 10 arrows and pierced the monster¡¯s back.

    Minorous looked like a hedgehog now.

    [Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750]

    ¡°Good work, Libe.¡±

    But suddenly¡­

    Minorous fiercely roared and strangely moved its back muscles, causing the arrows stuck on its back to shoot toward every direction.

    St!

    ¡°Jacob!¡± Liberty eximed when she saw Jacob getting pierced by seven arrows at once and falling.

    Hiro quickly checked Jacob¡¯s remaining HP. Only 3% was left.

    ¡°Bring him away, Libe!¡±

    Liberty panickedly ran toward Jacob and pulled him back. Meanwhile, Hiro pulled his attention back to Minorous in front of him.

    Because there were no more attacks at its back, Minorous went berserk once more. Hiro had to strike and parry the bothersome giant axe.

    Hiro was at an advantage because of his slender body. He could jump and dodge easily as well as attack from unexpected directions. In contrast, although Minorous¡¯s attacks were heavy, they were very slow.

    ¡°Get out of the way, Newbie!¡±

    [Fireseal]

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    Out of nowhere, Hiro¡¯s foot got burned uponnding. The moment he hurriedly jumped away, a circle of raging fire suddenly surrounded Minorous, setting the boss monster aze.

    ROARRR!

    [Fireseal]

    [Burns the enemy inside the sealed fire circle for 5 seconds.]

    ¡°I will show you how terrifying the power of this world¡¯s strongest mage is!¡±

    [Health -1,250] [Miss] [Health -1,000] [Miss] [Health -1,150]

    The fire magic spell inflicted damage five times in five seconds. Even so, two of the five damages dealt failed to prate the boss monster¡¯s tough physique.

    Hiro swung his greatsword toward the boss again and managed tond a critical hit inflicting [Health -1,500]. However, he immediately felt as if his weapon was being repulsed.

    The boss¡¯s body began to emit smoke.

    Ding!

    [The Boss is starting to charge.]

    [Ultimate skill can be released at any moment.]

    [Prepare yourself!]

    ROARRR!

    Their ears suddenly rang sharply as if the sound waves from the Minorous boss had pierced their ears, almost rupturing their eardrums.

    All four of them lost their bnce and unsteadily fell to the ground.

    [Your HP is rapidly decreasing.]

    [Health -1,000]

    [Health -250] [Health -250] [Health -250] [Health -250]

    ¡®What the hell is going on here?¡¯

 Chapter 18

    Minorous suddenly mmed its giant axe onto the ground in front of it, creating a crack spanning a radius of 10 meters. Concurrently, the air waves from the axe brought forth ultrasound with it.

    There was no space to dodge. The thin white wave simultaneously struck Hiro, Jacob, Noah, and Liberty and heavily flung them to the wall.

    [Health -1,000]

    ¡°Ughh!¡±

    Hiro groaned while covering his sharply ringing ears. He was trying to stand with the help of his greatsword, but the piercing pain was causing his legs to heavily tremble.

    He looked around. Liberty and Jacob had fallen unconscious. The two¡¯s HP was already at 0%, and he didn¡¯t know what would happen when their HPpletely ran out.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Noah was only squinting at the spacious cave¡¯s ceiling. His HP had also gone down by over 70%.

    After a while, Hiro finally managed to stand properly and drank his health potion without dy until he returned to full health.

    ¡®No way I¡¯m going down here.¡¯

    [Your health is rapidly decreasing.]

    [Health -200] [Health -200] [Health -200] [Health -200]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡®What the hell is going on here?¡¯

    Hiro¡¯s HP kept going down. He turned to check Noah¡¯s condition next to him, and the same thing was happening to him.

    ¡°You better restore your HP, Newbie!¡±

    Although Noah was somewhat displeased, he still followed Hiro¡¯s suggestion. He just realized that his body was getting weaker because his HP was being drained incessantly by something. He wasn¡¯t receiving any attacks, but¡­

    ¡°Our Heat Resistance is nullified, and the boss¡¯s ultimate skill is why,¡± Hiro exined before Noah asked. He already found out why his HP was going down so fast when he checked his HUD system and saw the two small icons at the corner.

    [yer has been afflicted with the Burn effect.]

    [yer has been afflicted with the Silence effect.]

    As expected, just a whileter, they could feel the temperature in the cave instantly spike up as their protection skill was nullified by the boss¡¯s ultimate skill.

    Their only option was to finish the boss before running out of health potions. The two looked at each other in understanding and prepared themselves.

    But suddenly, a miracle urred.

    Ding!

    [Your party member: Liberty has been revived.]

    The two simultaneously turned to look at Liberty, and sure enough, the girl hade back to life. She violently coughed before looking around confused, and judging from her movements, she was also suffering from the extreme heat.

    Both Hiro and Noah looked at her full of questions. How did she revive in a dungeon? And without a cleric!?

    ¡°What happened, Hiro?¡± she asked, confused.

    ¡°The boss¡¯s ultimate skill. How did youe back to life? Weren¡¯t you¡­ Ah, can you revive Jacob?¡±

    ¡°Jacob?¡±

    Liberty crawled toward Jacob¡¯s still body. The girl then took out what seemed to be a 100ml ss bottle with light green liquid from her inventory.

    Ding!

    [Your party member: Jacob has been revived.]

    ¡®Interesting¡­ who revived Liberty? And that revive potion¡­¡¯

    Hiro remembered seeing it sold while scrolling through sold in-game items, and each one cost 5,000LSC.

    ¡®She¡¯s definitely a crazy rich girl.¡¯

    He was impressed yet again.

    ¡°NightFall, something¡¯s wrong! I can¡¯t use my magic!¡±

    Hiro looked at Noah. He seemed to be trying to cast magic spells, but nothing came out.

    Noah began to panic.

    It seemed that Minorous¡¯s ultimate skill negates all kinds of magic in its area of effect. And both Heat Resistance and Noah¡¯s abilities were magic-based.

    urrences like this were quitemon in boss areas, and this one was from the Silence effect.

    [Silence prevents the afflicted from using Magic and othermands that require speech.]

    ¡®So I¡¯m the only one left, huh.¡¯

    Hiro didn¡¯t have much time. There was no way he was going to let it end here.

    Whoosh!

    He dashed forward at the boss monster waiting for him with its axe raised.

    CLANK!

    SPLAT!

    This time, he didn¡¯t only rely on his greatsword. He used all the fighting capability he had and punched Minorous¡¯s stomach with all the strength he could muster.

    ¡°HUP!¡±

    Whoosh!

    SPLAT!

    [3x Critical Hit Combo] [Health -2000]

    Ding!

    [The Boss¡¯s HP has been revealed.]

    [HP 7,999/20,000]

    ¡®Its HP is only 5,000 points higher than Desmodus, but this one is tankier in its defense stat, huh?¡¯

    Minorous¡¯s movements were extremely slow in Hiro¡¯s eyes. Despite its immensely fatal heavy attacks, he could dodge them with ease.

    Nheless¡­

    [Energy 30/100]

    ¡°Tch!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Hiro jumped away while taking out an energy potion from his inventory.

    Hisst energy potion.

    ¡®I have to end it fast.¡¯

    [Energy Potion has been consumed.]

    SPLAT!!

    [2x Hit Combo]

    SPLATT!

    [3x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLATT!

    [4x Critical Hit Combo] [Health -4,000]

    ¡®Just a little more!¡¯

    [HP 1,249/20,000]

    But¡­

    CLANK!

    Hiro was thrown into the air. The boss monster had urately punched Hiro¡¯s stomach. Hiro managed to parry it with his greatsword in time, but his body was still thrown far.

    [Health -1,000]

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡®I really need a real armor now.¡¯

    ¡°Mine!¡±

    Noah suddenly ran toward Minorous while taking out a sharp ck dagger from his inventory.

    He was after thest hit to get the best item drop from the dungeon.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    St! St! St!

    [Health -100] [Health -100] [Miss] [Miss]

    The physical damage Noah inflicted on Minorous¡¯s body was negligible. Even so, he was persistent and also quite agile in dodging melee attacks.

    In the meantime, Hiro had justnded on his feet. With a serious gaze, he calcted Noah¡¯s damage while taking out his long-range weapon.

    [Batarang]

    Right when Minorous¡¯s HP fell to 500, Hiro swiftly threw the weapon with all his strength.

    Whoosh!

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage]

    The Batarang urately stabbed Minorous¡¯s face before Noah could swing his dagger once more.

    THUD!

    Hiro smiled. Right at thest second, he managed to aim at the Minorous¡¯s head with his Batarang.

    Noah, who didn¡¯t expect that Hiro could still attack in his condition, dumbfoundedly looked as Minorous¡¯s body heavily fall to its back with thest hitnded by Hiro.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! NightFall¡¯s Party: NightFall, Liberty, Jacob, Noah has sessfully cleared the dungeon [Hidden Cave]]

    [NightFall has obtained a Non-Fungible Quest (Locked)]

    [Liberty has obtained Skull Ne ().]

    [Jacob has obtained a jackpot of 2,500LSC.]

    [Noah has obtained Minorous¡¯s Skin (High-Quality Craft Material).]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hiro and his party members¡¯ names were broadcasted by the system and could be read by all the CBT yers on the server.

    He received a non-fungible quest, which was a special one-of-a-kind quest that could not be repeated. ording to what he had read, the kinds of quests in LSO by rarity were as follows:

    [Non-Fungible Quest]

    [Rare Quest]

    [Hidden Quest]

    [Special Quest]

    [Main Story Quest]

    [Monthly Quest]

    [Weekly Quest]

    [Daily Quest]

    Non-fungible quests were the highest-tier quests in the game.

    ¡°Hell yeah!¡±

    ¡°What the hell!? That¡¯s mine! Give it to me, NightFall!¡± Noah annoyedly ran toward Hiro with his tome open, ready to attack.

    Hiro chuckled. He had just stood up. Meanwhile, Liberty and Jacob were running toward him.

    ¡°Hiro, are you all right?¡± Liberty asked, worried.

    Hiro smiled. Even though Liberty did not help much in the battle, her presence itself motivated him.

    ¡°Good work, Libe.¡± Hiro¡¯s handnded on Liberty¡¯s head and stroked her as usual. Perhaps it was because she was part of the Beast race, but she liked it.

    ¡°Give me the NFQ!¡± Noah hissed, ignoring what was happening in front of him.

    ¡°Are you dumb? NFQs are untradeable. Go read your guide book again, Noobie!¡±

    ¡°You!¡±

    [Noah has been kicked from the party.]

    Because the number of party members no longer met the requirements, all four of them were automatically kicked out of the boss area.

    Hiro once again felt the sensation he very much hated. His body felt as if it was being pulled back hard and forced into a narrow pipe. He felt as if the insides of his stomach were going to pop out.

    Fortunately, it onlysted for a short few moments.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Jacob finally spoke after being pale from fright since a while ago.

    ¡°You¡¯re all right, Jake.¡± As if the two were already very close, Liberty already had a nickname for Jacob.

    But the girl suddenly screamed in panic.

    ¡°KYAAA!¡±

    ¡°My clothes!¡±

    The three boys¡¯ eyes widened when they saw the condition of her clothes. They were so focused on arguing that they didn¡¯t notice the beautiful sight on disy.

    The front of the uniform Liberty was wearing was torn, ruining the buttons along with it. The girl quickly pulled her shirt to cover the part they briefly saw. Furthermore, the shape of her skirt was barely recognizable.

    Hiro caught a glimpse of her underwear.

    ¡°Is your girlfriend always like this?¡± Jacob forgot how to blink.

    ¡°What is with thisdy? So hical,¡± Noah frowned ufortably.

    As for Hiro¡­

    ¡°ck¡­pink?¡±

    Liberty jolted.

    ¡°You¡­! What are you looking at, you pervert!?¡±

    BAM!

    The girl used one hand to punch him and the other to keep her shirt pulled.

    [Health -150]

 Chapter 19

    [Non-Fungible Quest (Locked)]

    Hiro couldn¡¯t ess the quest¡¯s details as his level hadn¡¯t met the requirement. When he tried to ess it, a pop-up notification about the requirement appeared.

    [The minimum level required is 20.]

    Because of this, he had no other choice but to level up if he wanted to ess it.

    After Hiro cleared the [Hidden Cave] dungeon, he remained together with the two who followed him everywhere, Liberty and Jacob. As for their former fourth member, Noah, he left in annoyance when he couldn¡¯t get what he wanted.

    In the meantime, Hiro intended to level up to level 20 like the capped world level. Even though he was a little reluctant, he couldn¡¯t refuse the two who wanted to do what he wanted to do together.

    In LSO, grinding while being in a party would cause the bonus EXP received to be divided into the number of party members. Of course, with two other party members, his goal of reaching level 20 as soon as possible would be slightly hindered.

    However, Hiro had a n.

    With three party members, he intentionally chose a grinding location with three monster spots close to one another.

    Even though the bonus EXP obtained would be divided into three, by upying three monster spots concurrently, the number of monsters they could kill per second would be more than grinding alone.

    And to optimize his n, Hiro had to find a type of monster that was not too difficult to kill but had a high amount of bonus EXP for that difficulty. Enough for him to reach level 20 without taking too long, at least.

    After going around for over two hours looking for the right monsters and simultaneously collecting new monster information, he finally found the spot he had been searching for.

    Hiro instructed Liberty and Jacob to stay at the same spot and get rid of all the monsters there, using their best weapons.

    Liberty chose to use her short bow. ording to Hiro, the [Rain of Arrows] skill was quite effective in dealing AOE damage to the monsters at the spot. Meanwhile, Jacob used the only weapon he had, a sword and a shield.

    Hiro checked Jacob¡¯s list of skills to look for an effective skill to use at the grinding spot he chose for the knight.

    And coincidentally, Jacob had a ss-exclusive skill that was very effective for grinding.

    [Earth Cross]

    [Earth Cross (Active) ¨C A powerful knight sword attack skill. When used, the knight will smash the ground with a sword to create a small-ranged earthquake, destroying enemies nearby in all four directions.]

    ¡°You can use [Provoke] to gather the monsters and use [Earth Cross] to finish them.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Chief!¡± Jacob gave Hiro a salute for teaching him how to use his skills right. Looking at it, he got a free lesson.

    Hiro smiled in satisfaction. His twopanions had quite desirable AOE skills. With this, if everything goes ording to n, he¡¯d be able to get a lot of EXP in a short period without having to think about the EXP being divided into three.

    He could trust the two.

    The monsters Hiro set as the party¡¯s grinding targets were Skeleton Crows.

    [Skeleton Crow (Level 18)].

    The monsters that very much resembled a crow¡¯s skeleton were gathered at three different spots devoid of grass. They could not fly, and the only attack they could do was peck their enemies with their sharp, curved beaks.

    Those monsters could only attack from a short distance. Moreover, they each only had 2,500 points of HP and very weak defense.

    Before he finally decided on these Skeleton Crows as their grinding target, Hiro had surveyed the types of monsters avable in the area.

    Apart from the bonus EXP, he was also hoping to get an armor set with a special full set bonus effect of [Demon Monster Damage Reduction 10%].

    Hiro positioned himself and began attacking the Skeleton Crows at his spot just as Liberty and Jacob did at theirs.

    Even though the bonus EXP they got was a lot and the three kept grinding until the day turned to night, Hiro still had not reached his target level. Not a part of the armor set he was after was dropped either.

    Liberty got exhausted first, so they stopped grinding for a few minutes. During their break, Liberty took out some food from her inventory and shared it with Hiro and Jacob. To Hiro¡¯s surprise, the sandwich and burger she gave him tasted just like the food in real life.

    Hiro once again admired how the system could affect brain waves and trante them to such urate tastes. Furthermore, Liberty and Jacob didn¡¯t notice that the food gave buffs when consumed.

    The two didn¡¯t even understand what a food buff was, and as a result, Hiro had to exin it to them one by one.

    The sandwiches Liberty brought were products of the life skill [Cooking (Level 1)] she had. The food was included as normal-quality food, so the buff it gave was not so much.

    Normal-Quality Sandwich [+150 ASPD for 30 minutes]

    Normal-Quality Burger [+100 Physical Damage Reduction for 30 minutes]

    After they finished their short break, the three of them continued grinding until it got darker and the server time showed 10:00 PM.

    Liberty and Jacob once again surprised Hiro when they told him they were going home to rest and promised to continue grinding the next morning.

    And thus, the three separated.

    ¡®Do they hate their real homes so much that they don¡¯t want to log out and chose to sleep in-game instead?¡¯

    Hiro decided to log out. Even though he wanted to continue grinding, he also needed to get some rest.

    [System Logout]

    It was already afternoon in real life when he took off his VR equipment. The time difference between the time in-game and his real-life time made him feel as if he was suffering from jeg.

    He even yawned multiple times even though it was bright outside.

    Tokyo was quite cold in early December as winter wasing, so Hiro turned on the heater in his room and decided to sleep.

    Time flew by so fast when he had fun ying the game for his future.

    For 60,000USD.

    Just imagining it gave Hiro sweet dreams that made him sleep soundly. Still, he made sure to set an rm before going to sleep so he wouldn¡¯t oversleep like he previously did.

    He still had a mission to carry out.

 Chapter 20

    After routinely grinding and spending time together for two whole days, Hiro and the others finally leveled up.

    Hiro managed to obtain the top and bottom of the Crow Warrior armor set. Meanwhile, Liberty obtained the head of the armor set, but she hated its shape that resembled a mask with the skull of a crow.

    In the end, the girl simply threw the item into her inventory with all 200 slots unlocked.

    Even Liberty herself didn¡¯t know how much LSC she had spent to open all those inventory slots, and Hiro couldn¡¯t imagine.

    But that was not all. Even Jacob had done so.

    All 200 inventory slots had been bought.

    In LSO, except for certain kinds of items with special notes like legendary weapons, most items could be traded easily.

    With that feature, Hiro felt relieved that he met Jacob. That way, he could store some of his equipments and items in Jacob¡¯s inventory as his own was almost full.

    And Jacob was more than happy to be of help to the person he considered his own teacher. Even though the items Hiro stored made his inventory feel heavier, he felt honored that Hiro wanted to rely on him.

    Hiro didn¡¯t immediately open his non-fungible quest upon leveling up. Instead, he checked the progress in his progressive status first.

    [System Call]

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [Gorgeous Smile]

    Base Level 20

    Job ss Level 18

    Health 6,110/6,110

    AP 1,280/1,280

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 981

    BR 7,593

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 58

    AGI 27

    INT 20

    VIT 33

    DEX 24

    LUCK 26

    Skill Stats (Points 6)

    Sword Combo Skill (Active) Level 5

    Bloodsteal (Passive) Level 5

    ¡°All set.¡±

    Apart from his energy stat, all his other stats increased. ording to the guide book he read, the energy stat could only be increased by finishing quests rted to the race of the yer¡¯s avatar, but so far, he had not once seen that kind of quest.

    Hence, even though his maximum-level Sword Combo Skill required quite a lot of energy, he could only be patient with his current energy stat and depend on Energy Potions.

    Fortunately, Energy Potions were a breeze to obtain from monster drops. Because of that, he didn¡¯t need to purchase them at the NPC Merchant. Grinding with his basic attacks was enough.

    While Hiro and Jacob were resting on a hill with a refreshing breeze, Liberty was very actively wandering around the ce. Hiro only watched her from afar so she wouldn¡¯t get into the forest nearby and get lost.

    ¡°Hiro! Hiro! Come here quick!¡± she called him from the distance.

    It seemed that the girl found something interesting.

    Hiro immediately stood up and walked toward Liberty, who was excitedly waving both of her hands his way. As for Jacob, he also walked following Hiro.

    ying together for days made the three¡¯s bond even closer.

    ¡°Look at those flowers!¡± Liberty pointed up.

    What piqued her interest were three blooming purple flowers at the top of a rather tall tree. They seemed like orchids at a nce, but the number of petals was too many for an orchid.

    ¡°There are three of them, just like us! Amazing, isn¡¯t it?¡± Liberty looked at Hiro with her hands joined and eyes brimming with fascination.

    ¡°Probably a coincidence.¡±

    The girl pouted her plump lips upon hearing Hiro¡¯s remark.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Hiro, I want those flowers! Can you please get them for me!?¡± Liberty excitedly pleaded with bright puppy eyes.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Hiro knew that she was a unique and unpredictable one, but asking him to take three flowers at the top of a 15-meter-tall tree was something he absolutely didn¡¯t expect, even from her.

    Under Hiro¡¯s gaze asking for help, Jacob, who didn¡¯t want to be involved in Liberty¡¯s request, had a grin on his face as he walked backward away from them.

    ¡°Please get them for me!¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t bear to refuse. Not with that expression on her face. Her beautiful ocean blue eyes were slightly glistening under the sun as they shone full of hope.

    Hiro deeply sighed before finally relenting.

    ¡°All right.¡±

    ¡°Yay!¡±

    Even though he agreed, climbing a 15-meter-tall was not an easy feat.

    Hiro took off everything that made him feel heavy before climbing the tall trunk of the tree resembling a pine tree.

    His bare hands and feet slipped several times when he tried to hold onto the weak branches with low durability, but he persisted.

    He was a man of his word.

    Meanwhile, Liberty and Jacob anxiously waited below.

    Even though his skin got scratched by the small branches numerous times, causing his HP to slowly go down, he spared no effort for Liberty and her absurd request.

    After struggling for almost half an hour, Hiro finally managed to reach the top of the tree.

    His hand moved to pick the first flower.

    Ding!

    [NightFall has obtained Mutant Flower.]

    [Hidden Quest has been obtained.]

    [Give the Mutant Flower to the Alchemist within 1 hour(s).]

    [The Mutant Flower will wilt 1 hour(s) after being picked.]

    Hiro was dumbfounded seeing the notification that appeared on his HUD one after another.

    It seems that he once again had to thank Liberty. Her absurdity brought him great luck.

    ¡°Hiro! What are you doing!? Are you okay!?¡± the girl shouted out of worry when she saw him suddenly freeze in ce like a statue.

    Hiro quickly picked the two other Mutant Flowers. The moment he touched them, the same notifications repeatedly appeared. He then hurriedly slid down from the tree, not caring that his palms were covered in scratches that actually stung quite a bit.

    He was going to use a Health Potion afternding anyway.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    Hiro gave one of the Mutant Flowers to Liberty.

    ¡°And this is for you.¡± He gave another to Jacob, who still immediately epted despite his confusion.

    ¡°We got a new quest. And we have to hurry.¡±

    Because the time remaining kept going down, Hiro exined what he found thanks to Liberty on their way to Beginner Town.

    Jacob¡¯s expression brightened when he heard it, but Liberty frowned unhappily. Hiro had to go through so much to pick them, yet they had to hand the unique flowers to someone else.

    Fortunately, although it was somewhat difficult, he managed to convince Liberty that he would find another flower to rece the ones that triggered the hidden quest.

    Finding the NPC Alchemist¡¯s location was not hard at all since the NPC¡¯s information was avable in LSO¡¯s guide book. After a while, they were finally there.

    The three arrived in front of a building with a not-so-high dome-shaped roof. On the wooden door of the building was a sign that said ¡®Nichs the Alchemist¡¯.

    Upon entering the building, an overpowering mix of different smells immediately filled the air. Hiro wanted to puke his intestines out when he inhaled the smell, but he held it in.

    Meanwhile, an NPC named Nichs looked at Hiro, Liberty, and Jacob consecutively with a glum expression, not a hint of a smile on his face. The NPC was an old gray-haired man about 60 years of age with a thick-framed pair of sses sitting on his crooked nose.

    ¡°What are you seeking here, wanderer?¡±

    His tone was just as unpleasant as the expression on his face.

    Hiro quickly showed the Mutant Flower to the NPC.

    nk!

    The two-meter irondle in the NPC¡¯s hand immediately dropped to the ground when he saw the item Hiro was offering.

    ¡°A Mutant Flower! I¡¯ve been searching for years! Are you giving it to me?¡±

 Chapter 21

    After handing the Mutant Flower to the NPC Alchemist, Hiro, Liberty, and Jacob received several new notifications in their system.

    [You obtained Swish Swish Potion Recipe.]

    [To brew a Swish Swish Potion, gather the following ingredients and follow the recipe:]

    [10 units of Void Cap]

    [5 drop(s) of Mermaid Tears]

    [3 note(s) of Druid Luby]

    [3 Ancient Sword Remnant(s)]

    [3 Fairy Blessing(s)]

    [1. Squeeze 5 drop(s) Mermaid Tears into a cauldron and add 10 unit(s) of Void Cap one by one until it turns into a smooth emulsion. Add 3 Ancient Sword Remnant(s) all at once, then take them out and put them back in.]

    [2. Fill another cauldron with water and add the mixture. Bring it to a boil as fast as you can until it changes colors before very gently adding 3 note(s) of Druid Luby.]

    [3. Rapidly heat the mixture until it¡¯s hot and mix in 3 Fairy Blessing(s). Let everything cool down to room temperature.]

    [4. Swish Swish Potion is ready. Immediately use the potion to bathe in before its color changes to brown.]

    Hiro carefully read the recipe.

    The part that interested him the most was how its effect could only work once for every avatar.

    [Swish Swish Potion ¨C Gives 5 additional permanent points to STR, AGI, INT, VIT, DEX, and LUCK.]

    ¡°Hiro, what¡¯s this? I don¡¯t get it at all,¡± Libertyined while scratching the tip of her nose.

    Only one answer crossed Hiro¡¯s mind.

    ¡°We have a new mission.¡±

    ¡­

    After exining their new mission to Liberty and Jacob, Hiro invited the two of them to hunt for more monsters. This time, they aimed to find the ingredients required in the recipe, and as always, Liberty and Jacob followed Hiro¡¯s invitation without a word of refusal.

    Though, it was mainly because they had no other things to do.

    Even though it sounded simple to Liberty and Jacob, Hiro felt that this search for ingredients would take quite a long time. After all, these ingredients were included in the category of items with a low drop rate.

    Thus, after wandering the forest area around Beginner Town for about an hour, Hiro finally found a monster with the drop he was looking for.

    [Void Cap]

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information.]

    [Void Soul (Level 21)]

    [Race: Demon]

    ¡°Gotcha!¡±

    The monster¡¯s form was a floating cloud of ck smoke with a round hat on it.

    Hiro swiftly ran and shed at the monster, but all of a sudden, it suddenly vanished and went into the ground below it. The monster was considerably weak despite being level 21, but it was the shy type; it really liked to hide underground before finally peeking out.

    Hiro, Liberty, and Jacob had to be very careful in estimating when the monster woulde back up to the surface after hiding underground for three seconds.

    BANG!

    SPLAT!

    With just an attack, the monster that just peeked out of the ground like a whack-a-mole target was defeated.

    ¡°Hahaha, this is fun!¡± Liberty happily eximed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see who can beat the most monsters!¡± Jacob¡¯s fighting spirit was ignited and his confidence was getting even higher.

    Prior to this, Hiro had helped Liberty and Jacob distribute bonus points to their basic stats per their need ording to their job sses. This helped the two be stronger, and in turn more dependable.

    And thus, their ¡°race¡± began.

    Hiro smiled in satisfaction when he received his first Void Cap. However, obtaining 10 units for all three of them was more difficult than they initially expected. Killing the Void Souls was easy as it only required one attack, but it took them about four hours of continuous hunting to finally gather a total of 30 units of Void Caps.

    Unfortunately, it took them so long to get all 30 that they stoppedpeting mid-way and just focused on killing Void Souls as fast as possible.

    After the three were finally done with the first ingredient, they rested in the forest area for a bit. In the meantime, Hiro looked for the monster that had the next drop item he was looking for.

    The next ingredient had an obvious clue in its name, [Mermaid]. From that keyword, Hiro decided to head to the only waters on the map.

    A wideke in the middle of a forest. He once went through the area, so it was already recorded in his GPS system.

    [Mermaid Tears] could be obtained by defeating a dugong-like monster, a beast-type monster with a funny-looking fat oval body.

    ¡°They¡¯re so cute!¡± Liberty eximed with bright eyes.

    Before any of them could say anything, the girl ran toward the ¡°cute¡± monsters to take a closer look. However, the girl¡¯s assessment instantly changed when the dugongs were enraged by her arrival, disturbing their habitat¡¯s peace.

    The three fought against the tens of dugong-like monsters by theke. Due to theirrge size, these monsters were ssified as high-level monsters.

    To gather a total of 15 drops of Mermaid Tears, they had to spend a little over two hours killing the aggressive dugong-like monsters.

    The fight against the dugongs made Liberty and Jacob use a lot of Health Potions. As for Hiro, he had Bloodsteal, so he was fine since he kept swinging his greatsword.

    The mission to gather the ingredients to make the Swish Swish Potions frustrated Liberty and Jacob quite easily. The fewer the number required, the more difficult it was to obtain the respective ingredients. Even after the three spent the entire day, they still had not gathered all the ingredients required.

    They were already very exhausted at this point, so they needed to rest.

    There was no way Hiro was going to force them to continue. Even he felt the fatigue. He agreed to Liberty and Jacob¡¯s request to rest and continue the hunt tomorrow.

    Hence, they parted ways and promised to gather at the west gate of Beginner the next morning at 7 AM server time.

    ¡°See you tomorrow, bro!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bete, Hiro!¡±

    After the three separated, Hiro finally had some alone time. Before he logged out, he took some time to open the non-fungible quest he hadn¡¯t touched since that morning.

    [Are you sure you want to open the Non-Fungible Quest?]

    ¡°Yes, open it!¡±

    Plop!

    A thick golden metallic envelope suddenly appeared and floated in front of Hiro. A seal in the shape of a lion head was on the envelope, reminding him of the lion head he saw at the gate of the hall when he first arrived in the game.

    [NFQ: Your bloodline information is needed to open the seal.]

    [The quest will be generated based on your race.]

    ¡°???¡±

    Hiro pricked the tip of his thumb with his de until it bled. However, he identally cut his finger too deep.

    ¡°Hiss!¡± He grimaced in pain.

    When the blood finally came out, Hiro stuck his finger to the seal on the envelope. At the same time, the blood on the seal moved into the envelope.

    It absorbed his blood.

    Hiro then patiently waited to see what would happen next.

    [Your blood race has been identified.]

    [You are a Demon half-blood.]

    All of a sudden, the gold color on the envelope became more concentrated and turned into a shiny ck color as if it got cursed. The next second, the seal shaped like a lion head cracked and the envelope opened on its own.

    Ding!

    [You obtained The Underworld Quest (NFQ).]

    [Quest Rules: Don¡¯t stop, don¡¯t surrender, and don¡¯t die!]

    [Once you have activated the quest, there is no way back.]

    [Prepare yourself to enter the cursed dungeon and defeat the boss.]

    [Alone.]

    After Hiro opened the envelope, those notifications popped up one by one. A short, but concise instruction.

    Even so, he chose not to do the quest immediately.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to fail. He only had one chance to do the quest, so he had to prepare himself properly before entering. Fortunately, there was no need to hurry as the quest had no time limit.

    ¡®I¡¯ll do it after the Swish Swish Potion.¡¯

 Chapter 22

    Hiro¡¯s sleep schedule changedpletely due to the time difference between LSO and the real world. If it was day in the real world, it was night in LSO, and vice versa.

    Because of this, his body gradually began to get used to living like a nocturnal being, active at night and sleeping in the day.

    However, due to this significant change in lifestyle, Hiro failed to realize that he had lost weight. Compared to just several days ago, he was noticeably thinner.

    Although he asionally got lucky and received free food as its expiration date was very near, the food he consumed nowadays was mostly instant noodles.

    With the help of a sequence of rms he set in his android bracelet, Hiro woke up in the evening.

    [rm: Wake Up! 19:30]

    [rm: Wake Up! 19:40]

    [rm: Wake Up! 19:50]

    [rm: Wake Up! 20:00]

    [rm: Wake Up! 20:10]

    And still, he only managed to fully wake up at thest rm.

    ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m 10 minuteste. Libe is definitely not going to spare me,¡± Hiro groggily muttered, his brows subconsciously knitted as he thought about Liberty incessantly nagging him.

    As expected, just as he put on his VR helmet without even bathing or brushing his teeth, Liberty had sent him a message.

    [Liberty: Hiro, where are you???]

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set.]

    [System linked.]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version.]

    [3 day(s) remaining]

    Hiro arrivedst, so Liberty and Jacob were already waiting for him at the meeting point.

    Upon finally meeting, the three continued to gather the ingredients required for the Swish Swish Potion.

    They only needed onest ingredient, Fairy Blessings.

    Liberty, who imed that she had yed with fairies before, already knew where they could find those little Tinker Bell-like creatures.

    And as usual, Liberty had an idea none of them expected. As soon as the three arrived at the fairies¡¯ abode, Liberty greeted a fairy NPC and talked as if they were very close old friends.

    Even though it was somewhat strange, the fairy NPC seemed to have memories of Liberty. Without much effort, the fairy gave the item they needed without asking for anything in return.

    Ding!

    [Your party member: Liberty has obtained 9 Fairy Blessing(s)]

    ¡°How did you do it?¡± Jacob looked at her with astonishment. Having witnessed what just happened, he felt useless for not having a unique ability like her.

    Liberty exined it to Jacob, but Hiro could not understand at all.

    It was something along the lines of how the fairy considered her a very close friend. The girl even gave the fairy NPC a nickname, Tinker.

    Now that they had all the ingredients they needed, the three quickly headed back to meet Nichs the Alchemist.

    However, upon arriving and reporting that they had gathered the required ingredients, the three found out that they had to buy two cauldrons priced at 1,000LSC each in order to make the potion.

    With Nichs¡¯s guidance, the three began to concoct the potion carefully.

    Bloop!

    Bloop!

    The unfinished potion had just started to boil, creating bubbles that burst and emitted hot vapor.

    ¡°Hiss¡­¡± The clumsy Liberty identally touched the extremely hot cauldron.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Hiro saw that the tip of her finger was red and tears were already flowing from the corner of her eyes. The girl tried to hold back her tears froming out due to the stinging pain, but it only seemed to make the pain feel worse.

    At that moment, Hiro put her finger into his mouth to cool the burn and ease the pain.

    His action surprised both Liberty and Jacob. They couldn¡¯t evenment.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be okay, Libe,¡± he said after letting go of her finger.

    ¡°Th¡­ thanks,¡± Liberty blushed.

    The creation process of the Swish Swish Potion required two full hours until its temperature cooled down to room temperature so the three could bathe in it.

    Ding!

    [You have learned a new basic life skill: Alchemy (Level 1)]

    [You obtained Swish Swish Potion (Rare)]

    The notifications popped up just as the potion was ready for use.

    Like the potion concoction they just did and the cooking skill Liberty had, several basic life skills in LSO could be learned by doing it first-hand.

    However, other life skills required certain scrolls or special quests to learn.

    As for the kinds of life skills in LSO, none of them were explicitly mentioned. This was because the system in the game was very flexible, imitating real life. In other words, the life skills avable in this game were truly unlimited.

    Hiro and Jacob had taken off their clothes before entering the cauldron and bathing in the potion inside. Meanwhile, Liberty deliberately prepared a sexy swimsuit for the moment.

    ¡°You¡¯re really lucky, bro,¡± Jacob whispered to Hiro when he saw Liberty change into the swimsuit.

    Hiro didn¡¯t respond.

    The three got into the potion they made on the count of three. However, just when their bodies were finally submerged, they immediately reflexively shuddered. Instead of feeling the normal temperature of the room, the liquid suddenly turned as cold as ake that had just melted after winter ended.

    Brrr!

    ¡°Back to the ice bucket challenge era, huh,¡± Jacobmented with lips blue and teeth rattling.

    After waiting for five minutes, the potion in the cauldron suddenly reacted strangely. The liquid seemed to be boiling, but it felt even colder until they could no longer feel their bodies in the icy water.

    However, the ufortable feeling did notst long.

    Three seconds passed, and all of a sudden, a notification simultaneously appeared on their HUD screen.

    Ding!

    [Booster absorption in progress]

    The liquid in the cauldron slowly lessened in volume as if their bodies were absorbing it until none was left.

    Ding!

    [Absorptionplete]

    [STR +5]

    [AGI +5]

    [INT +5]

    [VIT +5]

    [DEX +5]

    [LUCK +5]

    [System Warning: Unwanted side effects might ur.]

    Out of nowhere, Hiro felt extreme nausea fill his entire body. There was so much so suddenly that he could not hold himself back from vomiting the inside of his empty stomach to the edge of the cauldron.

    rgh!

    To his surprise, the same liquid as the one in the cauldron came out of his mouth. It was as if his entire body was now filled with it, even his digestive system.

    ¡°That was terrible.¡±

    Strangely, only Hiro experienced that side effect. Jacob and Liberty lookedpletely, no, more than fine.

    ¡°That was fun! Let¡¯s do it together again sometime!¡± Liberty eximed full of vigor.

    ¡°No way! Why am I the only one who vomited? And how long are you going to wear that, Libe?¡±

    The girl frowned when she heard Hiro¡¯s words.

    ¡°Hiro, do you not like women?¡±

    The question instantly made him feel as if he just got pped by an invisible hand.

    ¡°Huh? No no no, it¡¯s not like that. I¡¯m just worried you¡¯ll get sick, Libe.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Hearing Hiro¡¯s response, Liberty hurriedly changed back into her non-revealing outfit. It seems that the girl did it so Hiro wouldn¡¯t worry anymore.

    ¡°So, do you not like women, Hiro? You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±

    Hiro was surprised yet again. This girl was really persistent.

    He had no other choice.

    ¡°Of course I like women. Especially cute girls like you.¡±

    Hiro felt that he had said too much, but he still looked her eye-to-eye.

    His ears felt hot.

    However, his answer seemed to be working. Upon hearing his words, the scrutinizing look on Liberty¡¯s smile turned into a beautiful wide smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt your lovey-dovey time, but did we really just do all this for five extra stat points? Isn¡¯t this just a waste of time?¡± Jacob sighed.

    Even so, Hiro smoothly responded to hisint. From his experience, getting 5 extra points for every basic stat meant that when the system resets and the official version of the gameunches, they would get a total of 30 bonus points.

    Every level up gives 3 bonus stat points, which means that having 30 bonus points at the start of the game would give them basic stats 10 levels higher than other yers.

    Even though Jacob didn¡¯t quite understand Hiro¡¯s exnation, Hiro¡¯s confidence as he exined sessfully changed his opinion on the 5 extra points.

    ¡°So, what adventure are we going on next?¡±

 Chapter 23

    Hiro has decided toplete today¡¯s adventure with Liberty and Jacob.

    Liberty looked very disappointed but Hiro had to do it to focus onpleting a quest that had been waiting for him sincest night.

    They were again separated in Beginner Town.

    And Hiro was once again, alone.

    He then reopened the description of the non-fungible quest that he had received from the previous dungeon. It was stored in his inventory this whole time.

    The first step written in the quest was, Hiro had to go see an NPC Fortune Teller who lived in a cottage house in the woods, in the northern area of ??Beginner Town.

    He ran quickly to the coordinates of the location where the Fortune Teller NPC was.

    Entering the woods, he had seen tall trees in every direction creating an open canopy in that area.

    And not long after, Hiro managed to find a small cottage shaped like a cylinder in the woods. Completely made of high quality wooden board, free from termites.

    Hiro knocked on the door of the cottage and an old woman in her 70s opened the door for him. The woman almost bent 45 degrees and she stood with the help of a wooden stick with a human skull on the tip of it.

    Hiro read the name of the NPC written above her head.

    [NPC Rosemary]

    ¡°What do you want, Wanderer?¡± her voice was hoarse and unfriendly.

    ¡°Non-fungible quest, cursed underworld.¡±

    The woman named Rosemary invited Hiro into her cottage house after hearing Hiro¡¯s words. That sentence sounded like a keyword to gain ess to the quest.

    Hiro walked into the house.

    And a very strong aroma of wood filled the air of the small room inside the cottage house. The room was fully decorated by many types of mystical objects.

    Hiro could see several ss cups containing preserved pieces of human bodies, then some carpets made of monster pelt, and what caught his attention the most was a crystal ball emitting white mist inside.

    He immediately walked towards the crystal ball and he couldn¡¯t help but touch it.

    And when the tip of Hiro¡¯s index fingernded on the surface of the crystal ball, the white mist inside the ball turned red and evaporated out.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro asked frantically, immediately pulling his body away, distancing himself from the crystal ball.

    ¡°I knew it! No wonder today the crystal ball emitted the white mist without me doing something on it. And when a wanderer came and touched it, the white mist turned to the blood mist.¡±

    ¡°You! The child in the ancient prophecy 316 years ago is you! No doubt.¡±

    ¡°You came just like the prophecy said. You are the one who has been prepared for His downfall!¡±

    NPC Rosemary¡¯s eyes suddenly widened upon staring at Hiro¡¯s. This look of hers made Hiro feel awkward.

    He realized that the reaction of the NPC was already programmed by the system as a part of the storyline in the quest. But still, the graphics of the game made him think it was real for a second.

    As the storyline had just begun, Hiro was listening to the story told by the NPC with a serious expression. This is the way he chose so that he could enjoy the game like Liberty or Jacob did.

    ¡°316 years ago, the 7 strongest high priests in this world seeded to weaken the strongest evil spirit, absolute demon, the fallen angel.¡±

    ¡°This demon was very ambitious to be God himself. During his glory time, the demon managed to gather followers in this world. Human beings were forced to worship him and when they refused, he ughtered them.¡±

    ¡°But it did notst long. The 7 strongest high priests captured him, weakened him, then sealed him in the underworld.¡±

    ¡°However, the seal they created was not that strong. It was predicted to be broken after 316 years had passed and a hero rose in that year to finish the fallen angel.¡±

    ¡°All right, Granny. quite entertaining fairy tales.¡± Hiro muttered in response.

    NPC Rosemary of course ignored Hiro¡¯sints and continued the story that had been programmed into his AI brain.

    After hearing the story about the 7 high priests who had saved the world, Hiro was finally sent to the underground floor just below the room.

    Hiro walked down the weathered wooden stairs very carefully, heading underground. He was surprised to see a long dark passage under the cottage. However, he remained silent while following NPC Rosemary¡¯s steps until at the end of the passage.

    Once again, Hiro found something very pleasing to the eye.

    A giant bubble-shaped warp that kept moving slowly as if the bubble was alive. The warp had a colorful reflection of light like a rainbow, as the torch carried by the NPC was brought closer to it.

    ¡°When you enter this warp, you will be transported back to 316 years ago when the fallen angel was just weakened and sealed for the first time. He¡¯s still very weak.¡±

    ¡°You must defeat that demon and return safely.¡±

    ¡°All connection to the present will be cut off while you are in there.¡±

    ¡°Are you willing to take on the task of the hero and leave now?¡±

    ¡°Of course, Granny.¡±

    Hiro was really tired of waiting. He had been looking for the story mode skip icon so he could immediately run his quest and defeat the monster called the fallen angel.

    However, he didn¡¯t find an icon that worked to skip story mode on his HUD system.

    NPC Rosemary again warned that behind the warp it would be very dangerous and Hiro could be killed in it. If Hiro gets killed, the quest will automatically fail and will never be reproduced in the game because it was a non-fungible quest like an NFT which only has one original product.

    In the end, Hiro walked through the bubble warp confidently.

    But before he touched the bubble, NPC Rosemary stopped him.

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    Ding!

    [You received Blessed Greatsword (Level 1) ¨C Tier A]

    [Damage 102; uracy 25; Aspd 15; Crit 5]

    [Refine stats: Damage increase 12% (Level Max)]

    [Enchantment: Attack converted to holy attribute damage]

    [Unique Skill: None]

    [Can be used for all job sses.]

    [Note: Special weapon for quest only]

    The metal two-handed sword that Hiro was activating was instantly reced by a new sword that the NPC Rosemary had just given him.

    The Blessed Greatsword was much lighter than Hiro¡¯s original sword, the de was shiny silver and when Hiro touched the surface of the de, his hand burned and he reflexively pulled his hand away.

    ¡°This holy attribute is really annoying. I have to be careful to not kill myself by ident.¡± He muttered to himself.

    Hiro then continued to walk toward the bubble warp. He could feel a sudden cold sensation touch his skin until the pores on his skin were forced to shrink.

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported to 316 Years of Underworld]

    ¡°Oh, no. not teleportation again.¡±

    The sensation of being pulled and stuffed into a narrow pipe again made Hiro nauseous and ufortable. He still couldn¡¯t ept that one thing. One very excruciating second.

    Until finally, his feet were back on the ground. Hiro checked around.

    Very dark. He was in the middle of a forest where the trees had died. There were no leaves, the trunks of the trees were ckened as if they had been cursed or scorched by a big fire.

    Not far from where he was currently standing, there was arge stone altar circled by seven stone statues 3 meters high in the form of humans wearing the uniform of [Roman Cassock Coat]. The seven statues faced towards the stone altar with different hand positions.

    Hiro immediately realized that it was the high priests that NPC Rosemary spoke of. They turned into stone statues.

    He ran to the stone altar and jumped on it. In the center of the stone altar was arge stone lever that could be moved like a giantpass.

    There were 7 long lines leading to the 7 statues of the high priest, but the lines deviated slightly to the side. It was not in the correct line to signify to each of the stone statues.

    He then swept away the thick dust of the soil covering the lines to check for details that might be hidden.

    And he found it.

    Each of the lines had writing that seemed to consist of only one word.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t know what word it was and what letter he was looking at right now.

    He indeed never learned thatnguage before.

    Did thatnguage even exist in the real world?

    ¡°Riddle, huh? Interesting. It¡¯s been awhile since thest time I solved a riddle.¡±

 Chapter 24

    Hiro crouched down on the unknown letters to take a closer look at its shape. The letter was clearly included as an important part of the riddle that he had to solve before he could face the Fallen Angel as NPC Fortune Teller said.

    Ding!

    [Demon¡¯snguage has been detected]

    [Do you want to activate Demon¡¯s eyes to read thenguage? [Price 1000LSC]]

    ¡°Paid?¡± He didn¡¯t expect to be offered a paid skill by the system at a tense moment like this.

    But he has no choice.

    [1000LSC has been consumed]

    The letters suddenly looked as if they were moving and changing ces, the lines were now changing to form letters of the alphabet that Hiro could read. In a matter of seconds, he could understand the meaning of the seven words on each of the lines.

    [Pride]

    [Greed]

    [Lust]

    [Envy]

    [Gluttony]

    [Wrath]

    [Sloth]

    ¡°7 deadly sins, huh?¡±

    After finding the 7 meaningful words, Hiro was very sure that the expressions on the faces of the stone statues were different because they matched each word¡¯s meaning.

    ¡°I have to move this stone altar so that the lines are aligned with the correct statue.¡±

    Even though he knew what he was doing, it was not easy to distinguish the expressions on the stone statues and he knew that he could not afford any mistakes.

    But he has another idea¡­

    ¡°If it¡¯s clockwise, I only need to move 10 degrees. If it¡¯s counterclockwise, I have to push it 30 degrees.¡±

    He deduced that based on the current position of the seven lines on the stone altar.

    In addition, he had a hard time guessing which statue was expressing [Pride] and which statue was [Greed], because they both looked very simr at first nce.

    Hiro¡¯s ability to read people¡¯s facial expressions is not that good. Moreover, what he was trying to read this time was the expression of a stone statue.

    So in the end, he chose to gamble. He decided to use another idea before moving the lever on the stone altar.

    After thinking for a moment, Hiro firmly pulled the stone lever 10 degrees, clockwise because it was a shorter distancepared to the counterclockwise one.

    The stone lever was very heavy, but he managed to move it. Thanks to the STR points he currently had.

    Suddenly, a loud sound like a giant rock sliding under the altar where Hiro was standing reverberated. He immediately jumped down from the altar and drew his greatsword in alertness.

    Bzzz!

    Not long after, suddenly the eyes of the seven stone statues around him shed red. It made Hiro startled a bit. But he has another thing to worry about.

    Bamm!

    The seven stone statues started to move.

    Even though their movements were stiff like stone golems, it was clear that they were targeting Hiro who had woken them up. And because he was the only living being in that area.

    Thus, he realized that the choice Hiro made to solve the riddle was wrong.

    The stone statues quickly target Hiro, trying to attack him with their bare hands.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hiro kicked and hit the stone statue with his sword. Although he used the greatsword given by NPC Rosemary, the de of that sword was unable to sh the stone statue.

    He knew that the statues weren¡¯t bosses, but he felt strange while trying to attack them because the system didn¡¯t show the stone statue¡¯ names, level, HP, or any status.

    At that moment, he realized that the statues he currently fought with were included in the category of immortal objects that he could never defeat, no matter how strong he was right now.

    And thus, Hiro had a new idea.

    He ran far to lure the very slow-moving stone statues away from the altar.

    Once the statues were already 10 meters away from the altar because they were following Hiro,

    Hiro immediately dashed back to the stone altar to push the stone lever by 40 degrees counterclockwise with all his might.

    ¡°HOOAH!¡±

    All the muscles mass on his hands and whole body suddenly hardened. But he once again, managed to finish the task.

    Dang!

    Once again, there was the sound of a giant rock sliding under the altar reverberating and before the sound stopped, the stone statues who were still trying to catch Hiro suddenly stopped moving, frozen in their current spot.

    Hiro¡¯s attempt to restore the situation was sessful.

    Luckily, he didn¡¯t panic and the quest didn¡¯t fail instantly.

    ¡°Phew¡­ I almost failed.¡± He was relieved to be able to think clearly in such a situation.

    However, the stone altar under his feet suddenly shook violently as if an earthquake was happening.

    He instantly jumped down from the stone altar before anything bad happened.

    Right after he jumped, the stone altar quickly broke into two pieces.

    Beneath it, there was a gap, so wide that Hiro was pretty sure that he could pass through it to go deeper underground.

    He took a deep breath then hurriedly entered the gap that was like a hole leading to the earth¡¯s core.

    As his feet stomped on the ground at the bottom of the gap, mes suddenly appeared to ze the torches on the walls in unison, revealing a long, neat-looking cobbled passageway.

    The imperious yet imposing appearance showed that this was the path to a dungeon.

    Hiro started to move forward, walking down the hall. He wondered how the end of the hall was like now.

    And after walking for a while, Hiro finally saw a giant iron door in front of him, at the end of the hall.

    Once again, an inscription with unknown letters began to move to match Hiro¡¯snguage.

    ¡°Another demon¡¯s word.¡± He muttered to himself.

    The sentence written on the door should be read aloud as the keyword to open the door.

    [He thought He was stronger than God and challenged him.]

    [Then, He was expelled from the highest Heaven and dropped into the lowest Hell]

    Suddenly, the door shook so violently that the ceiling of the passage above Hiro¡¯s head began to crumble, sending him into a slight panic attack.

    But fortunately, the big door slowly opened, allowing Hiro to stare into the thick darkness on the other side of the door.

    Before the passagepletely copsed on him, Hiro immediately rushed into the dark room without a second thought. He knew that he had toplete the quest no matter what it took.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the boss area]

    ¡°They sent you to be my dinner? What a skinny-weak-little boy, huh?¡± murmured a mysterious voice that was heavy and hoarse, hiding in the darkness.

    Bang!

    Therge bonfire in the middle of the room suddenly lit up, instantly heating the cold and damp room where Hiro was standing right now.

    He saw a throne chair in the corner of the room in front of him. A human-like figure was sitting on the chair, drooping slightly.

    That figure was watching himzily, looking uninterested..

    It was a man with white-long hair. He had red irises withpletely ck sclera of his eyes, looking very terrifying. No smile could be seen on his face that was as pale as a corpse.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a New monster information]

    [Boss: Lucifer The Fallen Angel (Level Undefined) (Weakened)]

    [Race: Demon]

    The boss only wore ragged clothes to cover his lower body.

    Dash!

    Hiro¡¯s heart almost stopped beating when the boss suddenly disappeared. It was as if he teleported in a second then appeared right in front of him a second after.

    ¡°My precious armor. Did you bring it for me? Those seven high priests stole it from me.¡±

    Lucifer looked at Hiro with his two horrible eyes. His voice sounded very hoarse and husky. His sharp, curved fingernails moved to touch the Crow warrior armor that Hiro was wearing.

    However, Hiro jumped back before those terrifying fingernailsnded a scratch on him.

    WOOSH!

    Lucifer¡¯s thin lips curled into a smirk. At that moment, Hiro realized that the boss was floating midair. His feet did notnd on the ground, but still, he had no wings.

    ¡°Return it to me, and I¡¯ll let you live.¡±

    Hearing the words of the only boss who could speak to him made him understand the meaning of the word ¡®weakened¡¯ which was repeatedly mentioned by NPC Rosemary.

    ¡°You¡¯re the most talkative demon I¡¯ve ever met.¡± Hiro trying to keep a safe distance.

    The boss demon-type monster in front of Hiro was looking for his armor which was stripped by the high priests who had sealed him in this room.

    Hence, the boss monster¡¯s current status was [Weakened].

    Hiro felt lucky to see the weakened version of the boss. Because in MMORPGs, usually this information can be a spoiler to fight the same boss in the future, but with very different difficulties.

    At least, by fighting the weakened version, Hiro could learn several types of boss¡¯ skills.

    ¡°I will end your suffering here, Lucifer.¡±

    Hiro took out his greatsword as a deration of battle. And, he immediately swung his greatsword at Lucifer with all his might.

    However, Lucifer disappeared from the air in front of him right then and there.

    Poof!

    The boss reappeared on Hiro¡¯s right side and gave him a hard kick in the stomach that sent him flying backwards against the wall.

    Bang!

    [Health -3500]

    Hiro received a very powerful and painful attack, but he quickly got back on his feet.

    At that moment, Lucifer raised his right hand into the air and from the void, he drew out an extremely terrifying greatsword.

    The sword was almost two times the sizepared to Hiro¡¯s sword. Metallic purple and ck light radiated from the de as if there was magic contained within it.

    ¡°I will have fun with you, Boy.¡±

    Lucifer dashed forward once more, appearing in front of Hiro.

    However, this time, Hiro had quite grasped the trick and he was able to parry Lucifer¡¯s greatsword before it could rip his body apart.

    Bang!

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Lucifer said smugly.

    ¡°Bring it on!¡± retorted Hiro, preparing himself for another iing attack.

    But¡ª

    Bang!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Your HP is below 30%]

    [Your Recovery will be slow down]

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro was confused by what happened.

    How could his HP decreased even if he managed to parry Lucifer¡¯s attack?

 Chapter 25

    [HP 2,301/7,825]

    Hiro promptly downed several Health Potions to restore his HP.

    Lucifer¡¯s greatsword was truly terrifying. Even though it didn¡¯t directly touch him, it still managed to suck over 70% of his total HP.

    ¡®Damn it!¡¯ Hiro made a mental note to be more careful. If that greatsword actually struck him¡­

    ¡°My blood-craving greatsword whispered, it likes the taste of your blood.¡±

    Hiro ignored the fallen angel¡¯s remark. He knew that his opponent was only trying to crush his fighting spirit.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro continued to attack Lucifer with his greatsword. However, just a second before his de struck, the fallen angel vanished yet again.

    Seeing this, Hiro swiftly swung his greatsword in the opposite direction. As expected, at that moment, Lucifer reappeared right next to him to counterattack.

    His greatsword struck Lucifer¡¯s chest before the fallen angel could react.

    SLASH!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [HP -10,000]

    Lucifer¡¯s ck and somewhat thick blood smeared Hiro¡¯s de and sttered onto the wall. The fallen angel seemed incredulous for a moment, but he immediately vanished without attacking.

    Despite the boss not having a shred of defense due to his weakened status, the damage he could inflict was far too overwhelming. Fortunately, Hiro was ready.

    After a moment, Lucifer dashed at him to attack. He only reappeared right before he swung his greatsword, but Hiro still managed to dodge to the side on time.

    The injury on Lucifer¡¯s chest horrifyingly gaped even wider, causing thick ck blood to cover his body and his movements to slow down even more.

    ¡°It¡¯s over, buddy.¡±

    Lucifer violently coughed out ck blood from his mouth and nose.

    ¡°What¡­¡±

    ¡®What the hell is wrong with my body?¡¯

    The fallen angel was bewildered by his body¡¯s strange reaction.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dashed forward right as Lucifer was wiping the blood off his nose and mouth. The fallen angel was so disoriented by what was happening with his body that he didn¡¯t expect Hiro to advance with his greatsword aimed at his neck.

    ¡°You¡¯re just too weak, brother!¡±

    SPLAT!!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Lucifer¡¯s HP has decreased significantly.]

    [HP 0/35,000]

    Hiro chuckled after he sessfully beheaded the fallen angel. With just one strike, Lucifer¡¯s HP instantly went down to zero.

    He still couldn¡¯t believe that defeating the boss would be so easy thanks to the boss¡¯s defense being impaired by the [Weakened] status. Moreover, the bonus basic stats from the Swish Swish Potion and the greatsword blessed with the holy attribute really helped him.

    ¡°If I were a hero in a MOBA game, they definitely would¡¯ve nerfed me in the next update. Tsk tsk tsk.¡±

    But even after he waited for a while, nothing happened.

    No special notifications appeared.

    Cough! Cough!

    The violent coughs behind him made Hiro turn around to check.

    Lucifer.

    After Hiro was lulled by his temporary victory and averted his gaze, the fallen angel¡¯s severed head had reattached itself to his body. A shiny ck rune seal that previously wasn¡¯t there was now on Lucifer¡¯s neck. At a nce, it looked like a steel choker perfectly stuck on his neck, connecting the part that was previously severed by Hiro¡¯s de.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened in shock. Without waiting another moment, he hurriedly raised his greatsword once again to face the revived fallen angel.

    However, before he could do anything, Lucifer¡¯s body began to move abnormally. His entire body intensely convulsed and his eyeballs frighteningly rolled back, hiding his irises.

    Hiro vigntly took a few steps back.

    All of a sudden, the fallen angel¡¯s body exploded with a deafening sound.

    BOOM!

    Hiro shielded his face from the rain of ck blood that filled the boss room. Nothing was left of Lucifer¡¯s body, but before he could feel any relief, the sttered blood clotted, moved, and merged to form a clump of blood slime that continued to grow in size.

    As if trying to create a new form, the five-meter unknown creature kept squirming in ce. A pair of broken wings suddenly grew from the blood mud, but that was not all.

    It kept moving vertically to form a new body.

    The clump of blood evolved into a terrifying monster with a pair of broken wings on its back. Its head was shaped akin to an oval with two long curved horns on its creased forehead. Its arms were full of thick muscle mass and veins were protruding under its imperfect, seemingly premature skin.

    Lucifer¡¯s greatsword on the ground nearby slowly moved and flew toward its owner. As if it knew what happened to its master, its form also began to change, almost doubling in size.

    Ding!

    [Lucifer has transformed to its true form.]

    [Boss: Lucifer the Demon King (Level Undefined) (Weakened)]

    [Race: Absolute Demon]

    Hiro gulped when he saw the notifications that just appeared. The fight was not over.

    He underestimated the dungeon boss too much.

    In its current form, Hiro estimated that his chance of victory was no more than 50% if he were to get hit.

    ¡®I have to win no matter what.¡¯

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dashed forward to attack the absolute demon with his greatsword, but the demon didn¡¯t move. The tip of its de firmly stayed on the ground while its tworge hands rested on the end of the hilt.

    SLASH!

    One! Two! Three!

    Hiro utilized all his attack speed to sh and tear the demon¡¯s enormous body from every possible direction. However, his attacks only managed to scratch the skinless figure. Not only that, but even those meager scratches quickly healed and returned to normal.

    ¡®It¡¯s useless.¡¯

    Hiro jumped backward to think of a new strategy.

    ¡®Think, Hiro, think!¡¯

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Hiro quickly ran toward Lucifer after activating his Sword Combo Skill. Even as he obviously charged at it from the front, the demon didn¡¯t move the slightest, towering with its greatsword ready to wee him anytime.

    CLANK!

    The two greatswords shed. At that moment, Hiro jumped high and spun his body before using Lucifer¡¯s hand on the hilt as a foothold, its size making it easier.

    Thud!

    Hiro sessfully executed his n. Thanks to his light body and long legs, he managed to jump over the terrifying but slow monster and arrive behind it in one beautiful leap.

    A perfectnding.

    With all his strength, Hiro mercilessly shed his greatsword at Lucifer¡¯s back.

    SPLAT! [5x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [6x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [7x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [8x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [9x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [10x Critical Hit Combo]

    Hisst sh managed to cut the demon¡¯s two broken wings in one strike, causing thick ck blood to gush out at Hiro¡¯s face, which already had ck blood left from the previous stters.

    GROAAH!!

    The monster roared in pain and fury. The creature was incredibly slow. Furthermore, despite its intimidating body, it had absolutely no defense.

    If it weren¡¯t for the [Weakened] status, Hiro was sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat it with his current abilities.

    But thanks to those seven high priests¡­

    A chance like this doesn¡¯te twice. There was no way Hiro was going to waste it.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro jumped backward, stopping hisbo right as the demon swung his greatsword at his head.

    Perfect timing.

    When Lucifer¡¯s de failed to strike him and was still on the other side, Hiro immediately swung his greatsword at the monster¡¯s stomach with all his strength to counterattack.

    SPLAT!! [Fatal Damage]

    This time, Hiro managed to create a gaping hole in the monster¡¯s stomach.

    Its intestines disgustingly spilled out, and the monster heavily fell like a giant troll.

    The absolute demon didn¡¯t have a chance to beat him up due to the strange condition of his body.

    Having finally been defeated, the terrifying-looking creature reverted to its human form. However, before hepletely stopped moving, Lucifer said his final words.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die without my armor. This is an insult. I will find you.¡±

    Ding!

    [Congrattions: NightFall has sessfullypleted the NFQ [Cursed Underworld].]

    Ding!

    [Something unusual happens]

    [Where do we go when we die?]

    Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!

    Hiro was confused by the notifications that just popped out. Butter, a shining object emitted a bright light suprised him.

    It was the greatsword that belonged to Lucifer.

    Gradually, the light on that greatsword became more concentrated before its monstrous size was shrinking back into its initial size when Lucifer used it in his humanoid form.

    The greatsword slowly spun and flew as it approached Hiro calmly.

    At that moment, he finally realized what was going to happen.

    He stretched out his empty hands as if he was ready to receive an important award.

    And after the greatsword finally reached him, Hiro broke into a satisfied smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally my time.¡±

    Ding!

    [You received a legendary weapon, [Blood-Eater Vampire [Greatsword] (Level 10) ¨C Tier SSS].]

    But it didn¡¯t stop there¡ª

    Ding!

    [You received a jackpot of 3,500LSC.]

    Ding!

    [You received a new title, ¡®The Underworld¡¯.]

    Ding!

    [Hidden Demon Race Quest has beenpleted.]

    [Your demon appearance has been upgraded.]

 Chapter 26

    Ding!

    [Hidden Demon Race Quest has beenpleted.]

    [Your demon appearance has been upgraded.]

    Upon reading the notification, a strange sensation washed over Hiro¡¯s body. All of a sudden, his heart began to beat at a much faster rhythm than before. He could also feel the blood in his veins flow fiercer and the muscles under his skin tense up.

    In just a matter of seconds, Hiro could sense his body bing slightly more muscr. His body¡¯s muscle mass had been increased by the system.

    [Energy has increased to 250.]

    ¡­

    [Legendary Weapon: Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword)]

    [Tier SSS] [Rank Upgrade 5/5]

    [Damage 729 uracy 12 ASPD 19 Crit 21]

    [Refinement: Damage increased by 24%. (Max Level)]

    [Enchantment: None]

    [Rank 5 Weapon Special Ability: Whenbo skill is activated, increases critical rate by 100% and critical damage by 200%. Ignores opponents¡¯ armor during nighttime.]

    [Unique Skill: The Blood-Eater Vampire is a bloodthirsty greatsword. Upon direct contact, if there is more than one opponent, absorbs 55% of the target¡¯s current HP. If there is only one opponent, absorbs 75% of the target¡¯s current HP. Skill will remain active for 60 seconds after activation, and in the duration, each target can only be affected once. The HP absorbed by the sword will be converted to the yer¡¯s HP and ATK by a 50:50 ratio. (Cooldown: 3 minutes) (Cost: 1,500 AP)]

    [Can be used for all job sses.]

    [Privileged Weapon]

    [Untradable]

    [Signature: NightFall]

    Hiro was extremely satisfied when he read the description of his newly-acquired weapon.

    ¡°This is amazing!¡±

    One objective was achieved, and now onto the next one.

    Obtaining a regr plot.

    After being teleported out of the dungeon and meeting NPC Rosemary who had been waiting for him at the exit for who knows how long, Hiro could finally leave the old hut.

    [02:00 PM Server Time]

    Ding!

    [Liberty is trying to contact you]

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    ¡°Hiro! It¡¯s finally connected! What were you doing? Why were you unreachable for so long? Where are you now?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I just finished something. I¡¯m on my way to the Marketce.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Really? What a coincidence, I¡¯m actually in front of the Marketce right now! I¡¯ll be waiting for you then, see you!¡±

    Beep!

    Hiro sighed. Even after the call was cut off, he could feel his ears ringing from how loud the girl¡¯s voice was.

    ¡­

    After a few minutes of walking back to Beginner Town, Hiro and Liberty finally met in front of the Marketce building. The two went in together, but they had to be separated by Nyx the Asdroid soon after as they had different objectives.

    After greeting the two new customers, Nyx split itself into two to assist both Hiro and Liberty in shopping. Liberty came to the Marketce to buy clothes, while Hiro came to look at the plots he could buy when he had enough LSC.

    The two were then teleported to different rooms.

    [Regr Plots for Sale]

    Hiro¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw a plot avable at the west gate of Beginner Town, the location that had repeatedly attracted his attention. As for the price listed, all the regr plots avable had the same price. No matter what potential resources were in the area, they were all priced at 10,000LSC each.

    Even though no details about the potential resources in the regr plots were given, Hiro knew well which plots would be beneficial for him.

    Each regr plot was sold with the size of 20 empty slots on the in-game map, and these 20 slots could be designed and utilized freely by the owner. Several regr plots already had 3¨C4 NPCs upying a spot each, which left only 16¨C17 slots avable to build on.

    There was even a plot that had a giant natural stone that upied 6 slots at once, and some regr plots even had 10 slots upied by either mountains or cliffs, leaving only 10 free slots left.

    However, Hiro became confused when he saw 10 server options appear.

    1. North America

    2. South America

    3. EU

    4. CIS

    5. Africa

    6. Middle East

    7. China

    8. Japan

    9. SEA

    10. Australia & The Pacific

    Meanwhile, on his profile was¡­

    [NightFall¡¯s current server: CBT server]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡®A sample server before the game¡¯s release, huh? Looks like I have to choose a fixed server before the game officially releases.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    He carefully thought about it. Meanwhile, Nyx was floating in front of him, waiting for Hiro to make a decision on which avable regr plot he wanted to buy.

    ¡°yer NightFall, is there anything Nyx can help you with? If you¡¯re having difficulties choosing a server to buy a regr plot in, Nyx rmends you buy one ording to the region of your IP address.¡±

    ¡°My IP address? Tokyo? The Japan server?¡±

    A notification suddenly appeared on Hiro¡¯s HUD.

    Ding!

    [Nyx has sent your IP address region.]

    [Your current IP address is¡­]

    [Washington, District of Columbia, USA]

    [Rmended server to buy the regr plot: North America]

    ¡°???¡±

    It took him a few moments to process what it was saying. He re-read it a few times to check, but it seems that he read it right the first time after all. He turned to Nyx and asked it to re-check, but even after doing it thrice a row, he still received the same answer.

    [Washington, District of Columbia, USA]

    ¡°Just what the hell¡­?¡±

    ¡®Is my IP address bugged? I definitely logged in from Japan using the apartment¡¯s Wi-Fi. How did my region address even be America? Did my body move on its own when I logged in??¡¯

    Hiro drylyughed. ¡°No way that¡¯s true! What is this, a fantasy novel?¡±

    ¡®Yuujin¡­ did you arrange all this? Are you ying tricks on me? Just you wait, I¡¯ll get you back!¡¯

    ¡°Nyx, can you-¡±

    Ding!

    [Nyx¡¯s time is up.]

    [You will be teleported to the Marketce lobby.]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Did I just get kicked out of the store?¡±

    Before he could dwell on the matter, he suddenly had a headache. Without warning, a piece of information was forcefully crammed into his mind. Not only was it painful, but it also felt as if his head was overheating from thinking too much for too long.

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    Liberty appeared in front of him with new clothes. Unlike before, she was now wearing a long ocean blue dress perfectly fitting her beautiful body. A pair of thigh-high slits were on the dress¡¯s sides, exposing her perfect thighs.

    The girl sweetly smiled. She couldn¡¯t wait to see Hiro¡¯s reaction when he saw her new clothes.

    Meanwhile, the person in question¡¯s jaw dropped.

    ¡°What do you think, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°That looks a bit tight. Can you breathe with a dress like that?¡± Hiro tried to stay cool, but inside, he was screaming his lungs out.

    ¡®This girl, she¡¯s 100% my type! Ahhh! Is she a princess in real life or what!?¡¯

    ¡°I also have one for you.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ding!

    [Liberty has sent you a gift.]

    [You have received a new costume, ¡®Night Ocean Cloak¡¯.]

    The uniform that had been ripped and torn numerous times but would always revert to its original state slowly disappeared and was immediately reced by a knee-length robe with a blue and ck colorbination, fabric trousers, and a pair of ck high boots.

    Hiro¡¯s new costume was a couple item with the [Night Ocean Dress] Liberty was wearing. And like how a part of her thighs was exposed, a part of Hiro¡¯s chest and abdominal muscles were also exposed.

    ¡°Wow! You must be taking care of your body well, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Hiro lied.

    He inwardly rejoiced hepleted the demon quest beforeing here. Because of that, his body now looked more muscr than his original body.

    ¡°We look like a couple now!¡± Liberty looked at her dress and his cloak back and forther, her eyes brimming with excitement.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t understand why the girl was so excited because of a costume, but he still showed a charming smile.

    ¡°Is this for me? How much LSC do I have to pay?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for you, Hiro. I bought it for you, you don¡¯t need to repay me.¡±

    Hiro checked his HUD to see how much the costume cost.

    [Night Ocean Cloak (High Durability) 5,500LSC]

    [Night Ocean Dress (High Durability) 8,000LSC]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What the¡­¡±

    Hiro looked at the girl with a strange gaze. How could she buy a costume priced equivalent to 13,500USD in just one shopping trip!?

    ¡®Is she actually a princess!?¡¯

 Chapter 27

    ¡°I¡¯m still in myme apartment in Japan, so why did that android insist I was in America?¡± Hiro muttered to himself, perplexed. After parting ways with Liberty, he immediately logged off to check if his body actually got transported to America or the sort. The IP address the Asdroid detected really bothered him.

    ¡®This is definitely his doing. No doubt about it.¡¯

    The LSO VR equipment he was using was a gift from his brother, so whose doing could it be if not his?

    ¡°Just you wait, Yuujin!¡±

    But even after concluding that it was Yuujin¡¯s doing, he still couldn¡¯t get it off his mind.

    Hiro checked every inch of the VR equipment and the box that came along with it, but he couldn¡¯t find any valuable information.

    ¡®Maybe Yuujin activated the equipment while he was in America?¡¯

    With that guess in mind, Hiro decided to stop searching and directly set the IP address ording to his actual location.

    He checked the LSO app on his android bracelet. There, he found that the IP address registered for NightFall was indeed [Washington, District of Columbia, USA]. Fortunately, there was an option to [Set IP Address] on the game settings, so Hiro picked the option that corresponded to his correct location.

    However, every time Hiro changed his IP address to his current location, it would quickly revert to America just a second after.

    It was as if it was set to be unchangeable.

    ¡°What the hell? Why can¡¯t I¡­?¡± Hiro kept trying to change it. ¡°When did you learn to hack, Yuujin?¡±

    Two hours passed, but nothing worked.

    All his efforts were in vain. Despite even utilizing the help of a third-party application, the IP address set for his ount kept switching back to its initial address, [Washington, District of Columbia, USA].

    Annoyed, Hiro decided to go outside and buy a cold drink to cool his head.

    It was still early morning in Tokyo when he walked out of his apartment. As the distance to the supermarket was not that far, Hiro opted to run instead of walk.

    ¡®Might as well get a short jog while I¡¯m out.¡¯

    ¡­

    ¡°You, Yamaguchi! You didn¡¯te for so many days, I thought you moved, kid.¡±

    Kira unusually greeted Hiro as soon as he entered the supermarket.

    This man had never greeted him when he came here before and only did so when he put something on the counter to pay, so Hiro immediately felt that something was going on.

    ¡°Did something big happen?¡±

    This man was definitely hiding something.

    As if he was ready to unt something grand, Kira had a wide grin on his face.

    ¡°Are you looking for something to eat? Pick whatever you like, it¡¯s my treat today.¡±

    ¡°What? Why? Are you celebrating something?¡±

    ¡°I got my hands on Last Shelter Online¡¯s VR gear!¡± Kira happily announced. ¡°It¡¯s on its way with a super fast express courier.¡±

    So he guessed right. Hiro thought that might¡¯ve been the case considering thest thing he saw the man obsessed with was the sale for LSO¡¯s full-dive VR equipment.

    ¡°From America? Looks like it¡¯ll only arrive next month or so.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate super fast couriers nowadays, kid. Just an hour ago, I received a call saying my package is already in Tokyo.¡±

    Hiro could see that Kira was telling the truth, but that wasn¡¯t what surprised him.

    ¡®Are international couriers nowadays really that fast? If so, howe the VR equipment Yuujin sent for my birthday came sote?

    ¡®Did Yuujin not have any money and opted for the package to be sent with the cheapest option with the subsidy from the government?¡¯

    Hiro quickly brushed off the suspicions in his mind and hurried to the frozen food section to choose the food he would get for free.

    Pretty good.

    He very much loved free food.

    Hiro returned home with his hands full of food and several packs of snacks, all gotten for free.

    Even though Kira threw him a reluctant gaze when he saw Hiro basically rob his store, the man still allowed him to bring everything home free of charge.

    As soon as he arrived home, Hiro went to clean himself. He shaved the thin hair that had begun to grow below his nose before brushing his teeth and bathing until he waspletely clean.

    He felt that it had been so long since his skinst touched water.

    Even though the first snow usually fell in early January in Tokyo, winter had arrived. Well, at least his extremely cheap room had a warmer. For the electricity bill he would have to pay at the end of every month, Hiro hoped that he could liquidate the money he had in-game as soon as possible.

    After eating breakfast, he put on his full-dive VR equipment to immerse himself in the game again.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

    Evening was already beginning to fall in the game. The sun was already setting, changing the color of the sky above Beginner Town into a mesmerizing reddish shade. Even so, he still passed by people still wandering around the town.

    Today, Hiro was nning to try out the legendary weapon he obtained just a few hours ago.

    He tried his best to brush off the IP address problem and decided to think about the server selection for the regr plot he would buy when he had enough LSC.

    [Bnce 8,970 LSC]

    Just a little more.

    Through the system, Hiro took some time to check the number of yers who had obtained a legendary weapon or armor.

    Upon seeing his name on the special page, his mouth subconsciously curved into a satisfied smile.

    [Signature: NightFall]

    As of this day, a total of 351 yers had obtained legendary items. As he was reading, Hiro tried to keep in mind the names of the yers on the list in case he would have topete against them when the game¡¯s official version is finally released.

    There were over 300 yers topete against, and he had to be in the top 100 to get the 60,000 USD he had been aiming for.

    Having morepetition didn¡¯t make him cower at all. Instead, he became even more fired up from the challenge.

    ¡°Hey, Hiro! What are you doing there?¡±

    Liberty happened to be passing by the stone wall Hiro was leaning on and came to greet him.

    ¡°All set.¡±

    Hiro smiled when he saw how elegant and beautiful Liberty dressed today. The girl really paid attention to her fashion here as she probably would in real life.

    ¡°Nothing in particr, just chilling. Where were you from? You look really beautiful today.¡±

    Liberty blushed hearing Hiro¡¯s words of praise. Instantly, she changed her attire into the [Night Ocean Dress] by ordering her system so it would match the [Night Ocean Cloak] Hiro was wearing.

    ¡°I was just from the church to confess my sins and ask for God¡¯s forgiveness.¡±

    Hiro blinked after hearing her words. He didn¡¯t expect the girl to be a believer of God. So far, he never noticed any signs hinting she was a religious person.

    ¡°Your sins? What kind of sins?¡±

    He was only trying to make the conversationst longer, but to his surprise, Liberty¡¯s face suddenly reddened and her fluffy ears tensed up.

    ¡°Why should I tell you, Hiro? You¡¯re not God! I won¡¯t tell you even if you force me to! Hmph!¡±

    Liberty¡¯s flustered look always managed to make him find her even more lovable.

    One of the things that made himfortable ying LSO was this girl¡¯s unique behavior. Her reactions truly never ceased to entertain him.

    Hiro told Liberty that he was just about to try out the ability of the new greatsword he recently got near the forest. As always, even though she would only be a spectator this time, Liberty was excited to get involved in his ns.

    And with that, the two headed to the forest area west of Beginner Town.

    As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the forest, Hiro began looking for an area with dense trees, one with not enough gaps for humans to pass through.

    After finding the right one for him, Hiro touched the trees one by one to check their type and durability.

    ¡®What is he nning to do?¡¯

    Liberty couldn¡¯t wait to find out.

 Chapter 28

    [Casuarina]

    [HP 15,000]

    For the pine trees that Hiro checked at the forefront, they all had the same name and HP that ranged from 15,000 to 20,000.

    Liberty was currently sitting on a small hill behind Hiro while waiting to enjoy the show. In the meantime, Hiro took out the new greatsword he hadn¡¯t used from his inventory.

    [Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword) has been equipped.]

    [BR has increased to 14,130 (+5,000).]

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [The Underworld]

    Base Level 20

    Job ss Level 20

    Health 9,450/9,450

    AP 2,022/2,022

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 1,399

    BR 14,130

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 63

    AGI 37

    INT 28

    VIT 38

    DEX 36

    LUCK 30

    Skill Stats (Points 6)

    Sword Combo Skill (Active) Level 5 Max

    Bloodsteal (Passive) Level 5 Max

    There were a few changes to his basic stats.

    Due to the phase of physical and mental synchronization yers had to go through before being connected to the game system, basic stats could increase and decrease every time yers log into the game.

    Hiro had gotten used to it, so he always made an effort to log in in his prime condition so the change applied wouldn¡¯t be too significant that it would greatly affect his power.

    In his hand now was the Blood-Eater Vampire. As soon as it appeared, Liberty, who had never been interested in swords, immediately paid attention.

    ¡°Wow! Where did you get that?¡±

    ¡°A demon gave it to me.¡±

    Hiro was imitating Liberty¡¯s answer when he asked her where she got her Hellsing Whisper at that time.

    Liberty pouted. To her, his answer made even less sense. How close with a demon must you be for them to be willing to give such a great gift?

    She couldn¡¯t imagine it at all, and Hiro only gave an answer her unoptimized mind could easily understand.

    After seeing that the girl had no more things to say, Hiro stood five meters away from the forest and positioned himself ready to attack. He then closed his eyes and organized his respiration, manually controlling his breathing rhythm.

    He was aiming to swing as strongly as he could by counting on proper respiration to increase his sh¡¯s damage.

    He wanted to see just how powerful the SSS-tier greatsword in his hand was.

    At that moment, Hiro opened his eyes and focused on the trees he marked as his targets in the front row. He then focused all his energy on the greatsword before horizontally shing with all his might.

    Whoosh!

    The air in front of the de rapidly rushed forward and crashed onto the trees in front of it.

    CRACK!

    [HP -18,000] [HP -20,000] [HP -19,500] [HP -15,000] [HP -15,000] [HP -15,500]

    Six trees at the very front instantly cracked and broke into two following the shape of the de¡¯s sh.

    However, the result of his perfect breathing didn¡¯t stop there.

    SPLAT!

    The sh still managed to tear the five trees in the second row and dealt a significant amount of damage.

    This result fulfilled and exceeded his expectations.

    Hiro¡¯s lips curved into a satisfied smile. He couldn¡¯t wait to use the greatsword to fight actual monsters.

    ¡°Wow! How did you do that?¡± Liberty continued to ask the same question as she couldn¡¯t get an answer her logic could ept.

    ¡°I just swung it, Libe.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm ¡­ Are you sure you want to keep following me? Aren¡¯t you sleepy?¡±

    Hiro wandered around the area looking for the strongest monster along with Liberty. Even though the sky was getting darker, she still insisted on following him.

    ¡°That was amazing! Your sword is scary though, is it cursed?¡± The girl ignored his question and looked at the greatsword in his hand.

    The question that came out of Liberty¡¯s mouth made even less sense.

    He really couldn¡¯t catch up to her boundless curiosity.

    Next, Hiro spent two hours searching for a powerful enough monster as an opponent. As for Liberty, she followed him without a word ofint, so he just let her do whatever she pleased.

    He quite enjoyed her presence too.

    After looking around the ce until his legs felt sore, Hiro decided to go for a group of armored wildcat-like beast-type monsters. The monsters each had a spear and a kite shield as they stood with their two hind legs.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked.]

    [Knight Jaguar (Level 23)]

    [Race: Beast]

    ¡°Wait here.¡±

    Hiro pointed to a safe ce for Liberty to watch from so she wouldn¡¯t attract his target monster¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Okay. Do your best! And don¡¯t die, okay?¡±

    The girl was truly adorable.

    Hiro¡¯s sudden arrival amid the seven monsters at that spot prompted them to walk toward him at normal speed.

    He was waiting for them to start attacking first.

    The reason Hiro decided to go for a group of monsters withplete armor and ¡®Knight¡¯ in their names was, although he knew that the monsters¡¯ levels weren¡¯t remarkable, their defensive capabilities definitely exceeded normal monsters.

    He wanted to know if his greatsword could prate and ignore these monsters¡¯ defenses.

    Swish!

    Swish!

    CLANK!

    Hiro was met with three spear attacks at once. Fortunately, he swiftly reacted and his de wasrge enough to parry all three of them.

    Upon direct contact with opponents, Hiro¡¯s mind ordered the sword to activate its unique skill.

    And thus the greatsword was started to absorb the respective opponents¡¯ HP and convert it into bonus ATK and HP for the weapon¡¯s wielder.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro spun his body to the side before releasing the three spears and swinging his sword at the three Knight Jaguars¡¯ backs.

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Even monsters with a high defense like Knight Jaguars couldn¡¯t withstand the might of his greatsword¡¯s swing.

    Hiro¡¯s trial against the monsters went well and quite easily. It only took him one basic attack to defeat them.

    Even so, he was unsatisfied with his sh speed. Without the boost of any skills, his basic attacks felt noticeably slow. Hence, he switched up his trial session by utilizing his Sword Combo Skill, making the greatsword feel lighter and allowing him to move faster.

    Without mercy, Hiro shed the Knight Jaguars at the spot with ease. If the monsters spawned at the same ce or nearby, one sh could kill three to four of them at once.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t stop there. He continued to cut them again and again.

    Meanwhile, Liberty was starting to feel sleepy, and after doing her best to resist it, she ultimately fell asleep while hugging her knees.

    Hiro continued to dance with his de, a smile full of satisfaction stered on his face. Seeing that his LSC bnce kept stably increasing, he decided to stay there for longer.

    The more he understood the monsters¡¯ movements and attacks, the faster he could defeat them all without his HP decreasing even the slightest bit.

    The greatsword really turned him into a bloodthirsty maniac. The more monsters he killed, the more satisfaction filled his heart.

    But suddenly, a notification popped up, snapping him out of his killing spree.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a Rare Quest, [The World Tree¡¯s Challenge].]

 Chapter 29

    [Rare Quest: The World Tree¡¯s Challenge]

    [Find the World Tree and destroy it. You will find something hidden inside its giant trunk.]

    It was a quest with a simple, yet intriguing exnation.

    Even though he was sweating all over from the evening exercise, it was worth it as he was rewarded with a rare quest drop.

    Hiro walked toward Liberty, who was deeply asleep in a sitting position. He didn¡¯t know what she was dreaming about, but her brows were slightly furrowed and her lips were frowning a little.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to get wrinkles fast if you sleep like this, Princess.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help himself. She was just too adorable, even when she was sleeping.

    Seeing that Liberty wasn¡¯t showing any signs of waking up, Hiro decided to rest for a bit. Although it was her who insisted toe, he didn¡¯t have the heart to wake her up.

    Hiro then shifted her sleeping position to sleep on hisp, but the girl¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t move a bit.

    She was sleeping like a log.

    Hiro took off his cloak to cover Liberty¡¯s body so she wouldn¡¯t feel cold sleeping outside at this hour. Meanwhile, he could feel a fresh, breezy sensation as the midnight breeze blew.

    ¡°Three days until the official release, huh,¡± he muttered. ¡°Which server are you going to pick, Libe?¡±

    Hiro stroked Liberty¡¯s hair to make her sleep morefortably. Even he didn¡¯t know where he got the courage to touch her longer.

    The sky above the forest seemed bright. Millions of tiny stars were shining up there, far in space. The pollution in the real world was bing more and more severe by the years so that he could only see the beauty of the night sky through the inte or TVs.

    The more he paid attention to the details in the world of LSO, the more he loved this realistic in-game world.

    ¡­

    Before Hiro knew it, two hours had passed. Despite having his cloak on her, Liberty finally woke up due to the cold air.

    ¡°Hiro,¡± she softly called with a hoarse voice.

    Hiro responded with a gentle smile, ¡°Did I wake you up?¡±

    Liberty pulled her body to get up. Under his curious gaze, she moved to sit in front of Hiro and looked at him very closely. Too closely, in fact. She was so close that he could even smell her sweet scent.

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t contain his chuckle when he heard her ask such a question with a dazed expression. This was the first time he saw such a look on her face.

    ¡®She even forgot where she fell asleep?¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s cold.¡± The girl shivered.

    However, before he could take out the other costume he had in his inventory to warm her up, Liberty suddenly hugged him tight.

    Hiro felt strange. As soon as he realized what was happening, his entire body felt warm and his brain urged his body to increase the production of adrenaline hormones inrge quantities.

    Hiro¡¯s heartbeat rose as if he was exercising. He realizedte that his body had stiffened, but just as he was about to try rxing it, Liberty pulled away and shyly looked at him.

    ¡°Ahh, your heartbeat was so loud. Are you okay, Hiro?¡±

    Hiro gave an awkward smile and nodded. But still, he couldn¡¯t control his heartbeat.

    And, not wanting to feel that strange feeling again, he decided to stand up and invite Liberty to leave the area.

    He told her that he had one more thing to do before returning to Beginner Town. To his surprise, even though the girl was in dire need of sleep, she still insisted on following him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll walk you home and go on my own,¡± Hiro exined, trying to convince her.

    But the girl still shook her head in a spoiled manner.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go home together after you¡¯re done with your business.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°Okay¡­ but ¡­ wait a sec ¡­ Go home? You mean your home here?¡±

    He quickly brushed off the dirty thought that briefly popped into his mind and hurriedly took a deep breath to control his restless heartbeat.

    ¡°Yeah sure, where else?¡±

    ¡°Uhmm ¡­ okay.¡± Hero didn¡¯t know how to react.

    ¡°Ok, Deal. No more questions.¡± Liberty made a gesture to lock her lips in a cute way.

    After they finished conversing, Hiro continued to follow the coordinates pinned on the map to head to the World Tree, his next target.

    Fortunately, the tree¡¯s location was not too far from his current location, allowing him to save time and energy.

    With the help of the stars¡¯ illumination, the two walked in the dark night without difficulty.

    Perhaps it was because he knew that this was just a world in a game, but the dark atmosphere of the night was not so scary. Not whenpared to forests in real life where he had to worry about murderers or carnivorous wild animals, at least.

    ¡­

    After a while, the two finally arrived in front of the World Tree.

    The shape of the World Tree reminded Hiro of the number one record holder of thergest tree based on its trunk size in the world, the General Sherman tree.

    The World Tree stood at a towering height of 275 ft (83.8 m) and was over 36 ft (10.9 m) in diameter at its base. Even the higher part of its trunk was still wide. 60 ft (18.3 m) above the base, the World Tree was 17.5 ft (5.3 m) in diameter.

    ¡°Oh my God! General Sherman!?¡± Liberty eximed in shock. She couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. At that moment, The girl suddenly became wide awake and ran toward the tree before Hiro.

    ¡°Looks like she still has some spare energy,¡± Hiro muttered.

    He then approached the gigantic tree to check its durability.

    [World Tree]

    [HP 1,000,000]

    ¡°What the hell!?¡±

    ¡®A million!?¡¯

    Doubt shed in his mind.

    ¡®Is this challenge really doable?¡¯

    Hiro immediately tried shing his greatsword at the gigantic tree¡¯s trunk with all his might.

    SPLAT!

    [HP -1,000]

    If he only used his basic attacks, it would take him around a thousand shes. Moreover, he needed about five seconds of pause before he could continue with another basic attack. At this rate, it would take him over 83 hours of shing non-stop to destroy the tree.

    ¡®That won¡¯t do, I only have two days.¡¯

    Next, Hiro tried using Sword Combo Skill to beat up the trunk and estimated the amount of time required to destroy it.

    The total damage of the maximumbo of 10x ranged from 8,800 to 10,100 with a pause of three seconds before he could start the nextbo. With that much damage, he would be able to destroy the tree in around 5¨C6 hours, which was about 7¨C8 times faster than using only his basic attacks.

    However, if he wanted to use this method, he would have to use around 115 of his Energy Potion stock.

    Hiro checked his inventory.

    [120x Energy Potion(s)]

    He was really going to use up his Energy Potions toplete the challenge of destroying the gigantic tree.

    Hiro told Liberty that he had a quest to destroy the tree by attacking it.

    The girl looked at him with eyes full of doubt.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to cut it down with your sword? Hiro, that¡¯s impossible!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve calcted it, Libe. I¡¯ll need five to six hours to destroy it, do you still want to stay?¡±

    ¡°Just six hours? I¡¯m not sure you can destroy it, Hiro, but I¡¯ll give you six hours and borrow your cloak to use as a sleeping mat.¡±

    Hiro chuckled upon hearing her firm reply. He nodded and waited until Liberty found the mostfortable spot for her to wait for him, and the girl actually nned to continue her sleep.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me! I will just sleep here. Do your impossible job, Hiro!¡± she shouted from a far.

    Her behavior was really entertaining.

    Hiro properly readying and positioning himself, then he began to attack and sh the monstrous tree.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this, General!¡±

    ¡°You better give me a promising item in return!¡±

 Chapter 30

    Five hours flew by and the sun had begun to show itself in the sky above Beginner Town. Even so, Hiro was still preupied with shing the monstrous tree trunk that was slowly getting thinner.

    Just a little more. Just a little more and it would finally be chopped down.

    He was confident in his ability and kept hacking and shing the tree until morning had begun to rise.

    And¡ª

    BANG!

    Atst, the gigantic tree¡¯s trunk was broken and it fell backward onto other innocent trees behind it.

    Exhausted and drenched in sweat, Hiro also fell backward, lying on the ground with erratic breathing.

    However, just as his back touched the ground for a brief second, a strong earthquake suddenly came from the ground where the remaining trunk was still attached to.

    Hiro sat up out of surprise. The massive earthquake in the forest even woke up Liberty, who was deeply sleeping.

    However, it did notst long.

    The earthquakested for only a few seconds.

    [Congrattions: NightFall has sessfullypleted the Rare Quest [The World Tree¡¯s Challenge].]

    After a broadcasted notification appeared in front of them, moving on the air, a shining parchment scroll suddenly came out of the tree trunk connected to the ground and floated toward Hiro.

    And he quickly touched the approaching parchment to receive his reward.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the Awakening Sword Combo Skill scroll (Rare).]

    [Awakening Sword Combo Skill (Active) ¨C Utilizesbo attacks to deal a high amount of damage. The higher the skill level, the higher the maximumbo limit. (Maximumbo limit up to 27x.)]

    [Reach job ss level 35 to activate the skill.]

    Even though Hiro was impressed by the description of his newly-acquired skill, he still couldn¡¯t use it yet as his level hadn¡¯t met the requirement.

    He suddenly felt hopeless, even the world level cap didn¡¯t allow him to at least try what he got.

    At the bitter reality, he once again fell to the ground and looked up at the sky that had turned orange. The morning wasing soon.

    With the (Rare) tag on the item, he just hoped that the item would still be in his inventory when the game officiallyunches.

    If it doesn¡¯t, that would mean he practically wasted five hours of his time.

    ¡°Hiro! Are you okay!?¡±

    Hiro raised his thumb to signal that he was fine.

    The night felt so long and exhausting. He wanted to log out and get some rest, but he remembered his promise to Liberty.

    ¡®Ah, I have to walk her home. Be a gentleman, Hiro¡­¡¯

    After resting for about half an hour, he kept his word and walked Liberty home. On the way, he felt sapped of all his energy and was very hungry.

    ¡°I¡¯m so hungry,¡± Hiro muttered.

    He couldn¡¯t take it anymore. His stomach was already growling in protest.

    Liberty nced at him.

    ¡°You can eat at my house. I can cook for you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it, Libe. I have to eat, and I mean actually eat. Not eat in-game, actually eat.¡±

    ¡°Eat in what game are you talking about?¡±

    Hiro heaved a long sigh. He still hadn¡¯t gotten used to it. The girl truly thought of the world of LSO as the real world!

    He didn¡¯t know how or where she got the thought from, but it was definitely troubling him a little.

    After being with Liberty for days, Hiro was sure that the girl was the extreme type of yer who also cosyed in the real world.

    ¡°Are you okay, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just hungry.¡±

    In truth, he was really curious about the ce she considered home.

    ¡®How real are the houses in this game, for those two to think of them as their real houses?¡¯

    Hiro was thinking about Liberty and Jacob.

    He looked at Liberty, who had been stealing nces at him for a while now. When the two¡¯s eyes met, the girl hurriedly looked away, her face red.

    ¡®Isn¡¯t she overreacting a little?¡¯

    Despite how much was on his mind, he didn¡¯t voice any of them and continued to walk in silence.

    Hiro was surprised upon arriving. It turned out that in Beginner Town, there was an area akin to a housing estate with houses that all looked the same. None of the buildings were too big or too small.

    Liberty opened the door to her house, a building made of stone. It had no paint nor decorations, and even the door was only an ordinary wooden door.

    Hiro entered the house following her and bowed to greet, causing the girl to look at him with confusion.

    He couldn¡¯t get rid of his habit.

    ¡°I¡¯ll change for a bit then cook you something. Wait here, okay?¡±

    She then quickly left.

    Hiro chose to sit on a sofa in the first room, the room he assumed to be the guest room, and waited there.

    From the outside, the house Liberty was living in didn¡¯t seem any different from the other houses around, but its interior was full of furniture,plete with anything one would possibly need in a house.

    Despite the minimalistic concept, thebination of grayish ck from the building¡¯s stone material gave the house a luxurious impression.

    In the room Hiro was in were several sofas and a firece with a small fire keeping the room warm and cozy.

    The luminous yellow light from themps above made the atmosphere in the room veryfortable. He even yawned from the sleepiness andfort of the ce.

    If he hadn¡¯t remembered that he was still in-game, he probably would¡¯ve slept in this house right this instant.

    ¡°Hiro, I forgot I¡¯m out of cooking ingredients. I only have this at the moment, I hope you¡¯re okay with it.¡±

    Liberty came out with a bowl of boiled potatoes. However, that wasn¡¯t what took him aback.

    The girl had changed her costume into a thin, semi-transparent white silk sleepwear. He could even see her light pink underwear underneath.

    ¡°Here, dig in!¡±

    He blinked a few times before receiving the bowl of boiled potatoes from Liberty¡¯s hands. Out of reflex, he put a potato into his mouth and ate it while trying to clear his mind.

    ¡®This is bad, I can¡¯t stay here for too long!¡¯ Hiro thought while trying to keep his head down and sight away.

    However, Liberty pulled a wooden chair in front of him and sat there with her chin on her hand, peeking at Hiro who was trying his best not to look at her.

    ¡°Are you okay, Hiro? Does it taste that bad?¡±

    Hiro raised his head to look at Liberty. She now had a sad expression on her face.

    It looks like his actions made her misunderstand.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it! The boiled potatoes are tasty! It tastes just right, a little sweet¡­¡±

    His eyes subconsciously moved to the girl¡¯s plump chest.

    ¡°Soft¡­ solid¡­ round¡­ beautiful¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Hiro snapped out of his daze and shook his head. His review for the boiled potatoes strayed too far!

    He looked at Liberty¡¯s confused expression.

    ¡°So you like it?¡± the girl doubtfully asked. It seems that she didn¡¯t realize what he reviewed was something different.

    ¡°Of course I like it. I wonder, how would holding it feel like¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I-I mean nting it.¡±

    ¡°Huh? nting it? Hiro, you¡¯re going too off-topic. Looks like you¡¯re just that sleepy, so why not sleep here?¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t realize just how messy his mind had be because of her enticing appearance.

    ¡°Sleep here?¡± Hiro¡¯s face turned red, and it wasn¡¯t because of the warm boiled potatoes.

    ¡°I m-mean you can sleep on the sofa and I¡¯ll sleep in my bedroom! Don¡¯t think of anything strange, you pervert!¡±

    Liberty stood up from her seat and walked away. She brought him a ss of mineral water and left it on the guest room table before walking backward to another room.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for apanying me. Get some rest.¡±

    Liberty¡¯s face reddened. Hiro¡¯s genuine words surprised her, making her not know how to act.

    ¡°Mmhm. You too, Hiro.¡±

 Chapter 31

    [07:00 PM Tokyo Time]

    Hiro took off his VR equipment and stretched his sore muscles. After feeling a little better, he headed straight to the kitchen to heat the frozen food he got from the supermarket owner, Kira, free of charge.

    After just 15 minutes, the delicious-looking shrimp dim sum was piping hot with thin hot vapor, ready to eat.

    Hiro put the te of dim sum on the table and, without waiting for a second longer, began to happily enjoy the hot dim sum.

    ¡®Rx, Hiro, you¡¯re going to be rich soon. Just wait a little more, buddy.¡¯

    ¡­

    After finishing his food, Hiro walked toward his hard bed and lied down.

    This time, he intended to observe LSO¡¯s VR sales, and coincidentally, the fifth sale batch was tonight.

    However, his sleepiness got the best of him. Before the online sale of LSO¡¯s VR equipment was opened, he had slipped into dreand.

    ¡­

    Hiro was asleep on his bed with his skinscreen still active, disying a 3D hologram near his android bracelet.

    Ding!

    [Liberty is trying to contact you]

    A notification appeared and his android bracelet vibrated, waking him up.

    With his eyelids heavy, he moved to check the notification.

    [Liberty: Where are you? Did you leave? At what time? Why didn¡¯t you tell me?]

    Hiro deeply sighed. It seems that she wasn¡¯t going to let him live peacefully.

    ¡®What a possessive girl.¡¯

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    He just remembered that he logged out while he was still at her house.

    ¡®No wonder she¡¯s looking for me.¡¯

    [You: I¡¯m still at your house, I just logged out]

    Ding!

    [Liberty: ???]

    [Liberty: Do you think I¡¯m stupid? What do you take me for? I¡¯ve searched for you everywhere and you¡¯re not here]

    [Liberty: Don¡¯t lie to me, Hiro]

    Reading Liberty¡¯s displeased messages instantly snatched away Hiro¡¯s sleepiness. He looked at her messages for a second, dumbfounded.

    He felt that it would be better to exin what he did directly, because it seems that the girl didn¡¯t understand a certain piece of basic information.

    It made Hiro¡¯s throat itch to exin.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

    Hiro returned as NightFall. At that moment, his avatar quickly reappeared at the same spot he was at before he logged out, sitting on one of the sofas in Liberty¡¯s guest room.

    When his eyes could optimally work and focus again, the first thing he saw was a girl with only a white towel covering her beautiful body.

    Liberty was shocked to see him suddenly appear out of thin air.

    ¡°KYAAA!!!¡±

    A flip-flop slipper flew at Hiro, who was frozen in ce upon seeing her smooth and wless skin.

    Smack!

    [HP -90]

    To his surprise, the slipper actually hit his face quite hard.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you doing? How did you turn invisible?¡± Liberty looked at him with wide eyes. ¡°Did you do it on purpose to peek at me? You pervert!¡±

    She hurriedly ran to another room with her face bright red from embarrassment. She didn¡¯t expect that her appearance right after she took a bath would be seen like that.

    ¡®So embarrassing!¡¯ The girl felt like crying.

    It took Hiro a moment before he finally snapped out of it.

    ¡°Libe,e back! I didn¡¯t peek, you¡¯re misunderstanding! I just logged in!¡± He stroked his aching nose.

    The flying slipper hurt quite a bit. The timing of his arrival was simply terrible¡­ or was it terrific?

    He didn¡¯t know what to do. On one hand, he felt lucky he got to see something he shouldn¡¯t have, but on the other, he couldn¡¯t ept her usation.

    ¡®I should¡¯ve logged in earlier¡­¡¯

    ck!

    The door to the other room opened and Liberty returned with a normal appearance. She was now wearing a cream-colored casual dress with a puffy lower part covering just a quarter of her thighs.

    Even without any wind blowing, Hiro could smell the sweet scent of her perfume despite being three meters apart.

    ¡°Listen, I didn¡¯t see anything, and I didn¡¯t peek either, okay? I just logged in. How could I have peeked if I hadn¡¯t logged in?¡±

    Hiro regretted not logging in sooner even more now. If he had logged in sooner, perhaps he might¡¯ve got to see more.

    ¡°What do you mean? Don¡¯t lie to me!¡±

    ¡°Libe¡­ log in, log out, do you not know what they mean?¡±

    ¡°Log in? Log out? You mean like email ounts?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s for game ounts. I logged in and logged out of my game ount. NightFall is my avatar. It doesn¡¯t go anywhere when I log out, it just disappears. You can¡¯t see it when I¡¯m logged out, but now that I¡¯m logged in, you can see it again. Do you understand?¡±

    The girl tilted her head. She understood what he was telling her, but she didn¡¯t expect that something like that was possible in the world she had been living in all this time.

    ¡°It would probably be easier to understand if I show you.¡±

    Hiro called his HUD system and set it to screen sharing mode. At that moment, a semi-transparent blue screen appeared in front of him, disying a copy of the HUD page he was seeing.

    However, it was visible to Liberty.

    Liberty walked toward him to look more closely at the screen that just appeared.

    On the main menu, Hiro pointed at a circle with the symbol of a door and an arrow pointing out; the logout button.

    The girl looked at the button and then at him. She knew the function of the button.

    Under Liberty¡¯s confused gaze, Hiro touched the button.

    [yer has logged out]

    [System off]

    Poof!

    Liberty was taken aback when Hiro suddenly disappeared in front of her. At the same time, the screen he was showing her also vanished.

    However, before she could exhale her held breath, Hiro reappeared out of thin air in the same spot.

    ¡°Like that. Is that clear enough? I didn¡¯t peek, I logged out of the game.¡±

    ¡°How did you get out? What did you do?¡±

    Hiro heaved a long sigh. The girl was now staring at him with prying eyes.

    It seems that she was so confused that something went wrong in her brain.

    ¡®Just what¡­? Has she never logged out before? How long has she been here without logging out? Is that even possible?¡¯ Hiro¡¯s mind was also a mess.

    None of this made sense. The only thing that would make it make sense was that Liberty was only pretending not to know anything right now.

    However, the girl instantly broke his theory.

    ¡°That¡¯s strange, I¡¯ve never seen anyone disappear and reappear at the same ce like you before, Hiro. Usually, people disappear in one ce and reappear in another, like teleportation. I know some people here, they¡¯re definitely going to be surprised when they find out about your ability to disappear.¡±

    Because there was no progress, Hiro asked Liberty to share her HUD screen.

    Surprisingly, it had no logout button.

    He also asked her to check the other menus one by one, but there were no signs of a logout button.

    He gave up.

    Liberty and the other CBT yers probably experienced the same thing. They don¡¯t log out.

    But that was not all. Even though Liberty didn¡¯t remember where she was from and how she got a house, she believed that she was born in the world of LSO.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Hiro. Your theory is making my head hurt.¡±

    Hiro stopped trying to exin. He couldn¡¯t force her. It was as if she didn¡¯t care about the information he just shared. Despite not being able to log out, she didn¡¯t care.

    Instead, she called him strange for having an ability that allowed him to disappear.

    No matter how much he tried to look for a reason, he still couldn¡¯t wrap his head around what was going on.

    He furrowed his brows.

    But still¡­

    ¡®Why can¡¯t she log out? Is she actually an NPC?¡¯ Hiro stared at her. ¡®There¡¯s no way¡­ An NPC can¡¯t be as expressive and lively as she is.¡¯

    ¡­Right?

 Chapter 32

    Hiro logged out of the game again to find out more about the information muddling his train of thought.

    The night was getting darker. The cold air in the early December of Tokyo seeped into his room as he swiped his skinscreen to check Ninecent¡¯s site for information about the CBT.

    However, even after an hour of searching every page of the site, he didn¡¯t find any information. There wasn¡¯t even any mention of the CBT version.

    It was as if it didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡®Am I hallucinating? No way¡­ Don¡¯t be stupid, Hiro!¡¯

    ¡°CBT yers¡­¡±

    ¡®Who are they, actually? Why don¡¯t they have the option to log out? There¡¯s no way they¡¯re NPCs, they¡¯re too¡­ human. And Liberty, she¡¯s clearly a real girl!¡¯

    ¡°Hashhh!¡± Hiro ruffled his hair and sat up. His head was throbbing due tock of sleep and reading while lying down on the hard bed.

    He checked the inte. Numerous websites were talking about the sudden release of Last Shelter Online, but most of the articles were talking about the value of LSC in legal cryptocurrency and the drastic increase in its demand.

    No information regarding the game¡¯s CBT version could be found anywhere.

    Hiro decided to try changing his search engine, but before that, he first turned on his VPN.

    It was only when he felt safe enough that he entered the special browser, The Onion Router.

    [Wee back, CyberWarrior]

    The page on his phone turned dark and a moving text greeted him. It had been a while since hest opened the dark web.

    [Need assistance? Input your personal information here!]

    Hiro red at the screen in displeasure.

    ¡®Personal information, my ass. You think I¡¯m a newbie?¡¯

    This wasn¡¯t his first time using the browser, of course he could differentiate which sites are dangerous scams and which might have the information he needed.

    He input the keyword in the search bar.

    [Last Shelter Online]

    [1 site has been found for ¡®Last Shelter Online¡¯]

    ¡°Just one? You¡¯ve got to be kidding me!¡±

    The result disappointed him a little, but he still had hope as he opened the site.

    However, his hope was immediately crushed the moment he tried to open it.

    [The site is under maintenance]

    ¡°What the hell!?¡±

    Not even this browser had any information, where else was he supposed to look?

    But to his surprise, just after he returned to TOR¡¯s search page, a new notification appeared.

    [Hot topic discussion in the game world]

    [Headline: Conspiracy Theory?]

    ¡°?¡±

    Even though he felt his head getting heavier, the headline sessfully piqued his curiosity. Hence after thinking about it for a moment, he decided to open it to check.

    The moment he tapped on it, the page on the skinscreen turned into an empty page with a ck background. A moment after, texts that seemed to be messages appeared on the ck background.

    A post from an ount named Anonymous got thousands ofments and more dislikes than likes.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the title of the topic Anonymous was talking about.

    [Do you guys believe in the legendary WynterRain¡¯s death?]

    WynterRain was the signature username of Hiro¡¯s brother, Yuujin Yamaguchi.

    Everyone in the world of MMORPGs knew of the name. Moreover, numerous gamers of all ages used that username for themselves with different variations because of how much of a fan they were.

    Yuujin was very clever when it came to ying games. Bing a peak master in games didn¡¯t require an academic degree, and Yuujin proved it. Despite being an orphan with a difficult life, he inspired many with the hard work that brought him sess.

    WynterRain. That name had probably been regarded as a hero in the MMORPG world.

    [Anonymous]

    [WynterRain was a really careful, clever, and responsible person. Suspected to havemitted suicide? What kind of bullshit is that? He still has a brother that has to go to university, too. Don¡¯t be fooled by the authorities and media. Someone clearly murdered him.]

    [Dark_Horse: Wake up, man. WynterRain is clever, I agree with that, but Yuujin isn¡¯t that clever. Did you forget how he almost got himself in an ident for drunk driving? Stop treating him like a god who¡¯s always right.]

    [Ponytailsuck: Just let Yuujin rest in peace]

    [devilsnaret: Do you have any proof? If you can prove it, I¡¯ll be your follower. But if it¡¯s the opposite, I¡¯ll find you and kill you myself.]

    [dovoodoo: Right? It¡¯s too weird. And that investigation, what did they do to Yuujin¡¯s body, actually? With the technology we have nowadays, why did it take so long? I¡¯ll never ept this.]

    [Anonymous replied to dovooodoo: They¡¯re in cahoots, those authorities. Someone with power bribed them. If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t believe the investigation results even if it hasn¡¯te out.]

    Chills ran down Hiro¡¯s spine as he read the discussion about his brother¡¯s death. So far, he thought that his brother only faked his death or ran away from him. He never expected that another person would have a crazier theory.

    ¡°M-Murder¡­?¡±

    His finger hovering above the skinscreen suddenly felt ice cold. The thought made him feel somewhat nauseous and suffocated, but he continued to scroll.

    [ForeverRain: I agree! This is my first visit to the dark web. Something¡¯s definitely wrong with WynterRain¡¯s death. I¡¯m d I found your post. I¡¯m not alone. My life has been messy ever since WynterRain was announced dead. Tell me, how can I help you bring the truth to light?]

    [Anonymous replied to ForeverRain: I¡¯m doing something spicy, pray for me.]

    Hiro heaved a long sigh. He never imagined that the life of a stranger out there could be a mess because of his brother¡¯s death. Now that he found one, he was sure that there were more out there.

    Still, he didn¡¯t expect that so many were unable to get over the bitter reality as well.

    ¡®Yuujin, just what did you do?¡¯

    The mere thought of his brother breaking a rule was already unbelievable to him. Except for that one time he almost got into an ident because he was drunk driving, Yuujin was practically clean. He really couldn¡¯t think of anything his brother could¡¯ve done to cause him to lose his life.

    He wanted to fly to America right this instant.

    Hiro¡¯s finger moved to thement box and began typing.

    [CyberWarrior: Delete the discussion thread if you have no proof.]

    Hemented on purpose. His feelings were now messed up, and it was because of this post.

    Full of annoyance, he decided to quickly log out of his ount and deactivate his android bracelet.

    He lied back down. His head was throbbing so hard he felt as if it was going to explode any second now. Lack of sleep, no information regarding LSO¡¯s CBT, and the conspiracy theory of his brother¡¯s death. These three exhausted his mental energy.

    He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

    ¡­

    ¡°Hiro¡­ Hiro¡­ Wake up, you sloth!¡±

    Hiro sat up and opened his heavy eyes with difficulty. It took him several seconds to focus his sight to see who had just woken him up.

    However, as soon as he caught sight of his visitor, his entire body froze. His eyes widened and his hands visibly shook as he harshly pped himself. The person in front of him looked exactly the same as hest saw him.

    Hiro¡¯s voice trembled.

    ¡°Yu¡­ Yuujin?¡±

 Chapter 33

    Yuujin was standing in front of Hiro near the corner of his bed. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and knee-length shortsbeled Adidas, flexing his perfectly proportioned body. For as long as Hiro knew him, Yuujin¡¯s daily wear at home had always been like this.

    However, he was now in Hiro¡¯s apartment. No matter how many times Hiro looked around, this was definitely his cheap apartment room, the same room where he previously fell asleep. Even his android bracelet was in the same condition he left it, deactivated.

    ¡°Wait a minute, what are you doing here? Did youe back from the dead??¡± Hiro dumbfoundedly looked at his brother.

    Yuujin chuckled when he heard his brother¡¯s confused words.

    Hiro still couldn¡¯t understand. None of the things going on were making any sense.

    ¡®How did he get into my room? And so suddenly?¡¯

    ¡°Did you miss me, Hiro?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s look of confusion turned into annoyance.

    ¡°Damn it! So you really did fake your death! I knew it! But what the hell, Yuujin? Are you dumb or something? They¡¯ve confiscated all your belongings, so you¡¯re basically homeless now. Meanwhile, look at me! And don¡¯t even think of living with me here. Like hell I¡¯d let you.¡±

    Yuujin once again chuckled when he saw his brother¡¯s lively reaction. It looks like his brother was still as energetic as ever.

    ¡°Do you like it? Your present life,¡± Yuujin asked without answering any of Hiro¡¯s questions.

    ¡°Like my present life? Why don¡¯t you try sleeping on a bed this hard?¡± Hiro sarcastically responded.

    Yuujin¡¯s smile froze and faded from his face. Hiro felt a little guilty now.

    ¡®Was I too harsh?¡¯

    Before their separation, no matter the stupid things he said, Yuujin would always have an understanding, gentle smile on his face, knowing that his little brother didn¡¯t mean most of the mean words he said.

    Because of this, seeing Yuujin without his usual smile made him feel that he went a little overboard with his words.

    In truth, he just didn¡¯t know how to react. Yuujin¡¯s appearance was nothing short of a miracle to him, and he didn¡¯t want the air around them to be mncholic.

    It wasn¡¯t like him at all.

    ¡°Hiro, listen to me. I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Hiro still couldn¡¯t understand the sudden change in atmosphere. Yuujin walked forward and sat in front of him, on the single bed that was already too small for Hiro alone to sleep on.

    It seems as if Yuujin was responding to Hiro telling him to feel how hard his current bed was. His eyes fixated on Hiro¡¯s were filled with seriousness, causing Hiro to unconsciously gulp. His throat suddenly felt dry, and the things he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

    Yuujin¡¯s warm handnded on Hiro¡¯s head and pulled his face closer.

    ¡°I believe you¡¯ll be able to live well without me. Definitely.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve grown really well, Hiro. I¡¯m proud of you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re no longer the little brother of mine who would cry at every turn. You¡¯ve grown into a proper adult, Hiro.¡±

    Hiro froze when he heard his brother¡¯s words. It was only then he realized that, from the bottom of his heart, he really missed his brother¡¯s voice.

    ¡®When was thest time we talked face-to-face like this?¡¯

    Yuujin pulled Hiro and hugged him tight while patting his back. After so long, he once again felt the touch of his brother whom he dearly missed.

    The person who was always there for him. The person who worked his hardest to give him everything he ever needed. The person who, since childhood, allowed him to act spoiled and gave him all the best he could despite their condition.

    His dearest brother.

    Tears unconsciously rolled down Hiro¡¯s cheeks. He felt that it was a bit embarrassing for him to cry when they were finally seeing each other after so long, but he let his tears flow as he hugged his brother back.

    Before this, even though Hiro and Yuujin lived on different continents, the two were still connected to each other. Although it wasn¡¯t very often, they stillmunicated through text messages and asional calls.

    However, ever since his brother was announced dead, Hiro felt that an important chunk of his life had suddenly gone missing.

    It was indeed true; people only realize the importance of something once they¡¯ve lost it.

    Now that he finally saw his brother again, all the sorrow and emotional fatigue in his heart were instantly washed away.

    He wanted to stay like this for a while longer.

    ¡°I missed you.¡±

    ¡°I missed you too.¡± Yuujin stroked his back. ¡°But, Hiro¡­ you have to know one thing.¡±

    Hiro suddenly smelled a thick smell of blood. At that moment, Yuujin pulled his body back, revealing a face covered in fresh blood dripping onto Hiro¡¯sp, staining the nket he was using.

    ¡°I¡¯m already dead.¡±

    Hiro felt something suffocating him. Moreover, no matter how much he tried, he couldn¡¯t move his body.

    ¡°I was killed.¡±

    ¡°I was killed.¡±

    ¡°I was killed.¡±

    Yuujin kept repeating the same sentence while tightly gripping Hiro¡¯s shoulders. The hands gripping his shoulders were now ice cold, no longer having the warmth they had when the two hugged.

    The gentle expression Yuujin had was nowhere to be seen. His eyes looking straight at Hiro¡¯s were devoid of any emotion.

    ¡°No¡­ no¡­ let me go¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop¡­ please don¡¯t do this to me.¡±

    ¡°Brother, please¡­¡±

    Hiro begged. He kept struggling to move, but it was as if his body was held in ce by an unknown force. The fresh blood that continued to drip onto hisp felt like shackles pulling his legs, and the cold piercing through his shoulders seemed to be draining him of his energy.

    He was slowly feeling more and more suffocated. His face was ghastly pale not only from fear, but also fromck of oxygen. His body was trembling heavily, but his two eyes were locked onto his brother¡¯s now horrifying face.

    ¡°LET ME GO!!!¡±

 Chapter 34

    Hiro jolted awake from his sleep.

    It was a nightmare.

    His body was drenched in cold sweat. His heart was beating fast and his throat was dry.

    Hiro immediately took a sip of mineral water which was always ready on the wooden table near his bed before immediately checking his android bracelet.

    From the window in the room, the sunlight was back.

    9 AM.

    ¡°A nightmare.¡± Hiro pulled his hair to ensure that he was fully awake from that scary yet weird dream.

    He was trying his best to control his breath after waking up like a madman.

    He felt really bad. His feelings were chaotic, the image of Yuujin with his face covered in blood kept haunting him.

    At that moment, Hiro thought about one thing that might help him free from the nightmare.

    And without further ado, he stuffed his head into his VR helmet.

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online ¨C Closed Beta Test Version]

    Hiro¡¯s avatar spawned inside Liberty¡¯s house, still sitting on the same couch as before he logged out of the game.

    He still couldn¡¯t think clearly. It felt like Yuujin¡¯s shadow was still trying to reach over him even though he moved to another world.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes stared nkly at the room inside Liberty¡¯s house.

    The light in the room had been extinguished, assuming that the girl had fallen asleep.

    At a nce, Hiro thought of knocking on the girl¡¯s bedroom space to wake her up.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the only option he had.

    BANG!

    Hiro mmed the door of Liberty¡¯s house hard enough to make a noise.

    He ran out with a feeling he couldn¡¯t even understand.

    The housing area for the CBT yers was already dark. There were no yers walking around.

    Hiro decided to run away towards the nearest gate from the Beginner Town area. He ran with a confused mind. Ignoring the confused looks of the NPCs who saw him.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    At night, in a certain spot, some monsters turned into night creatures.

    In the morning, the monsters Hiro could encounter were mostly beast-type.

    Meanwhile, when night falls, the monsters that roam outside the Beginner Town area are dominated by them, the night creatures. The unholy, the devil. They were strong. Their strength was doubled in the night time.

    KIYEK!

    [Death Branchman (Level 24)]

    A monster resembling a leafless tree with ckened branches had gathered in the grass area right in front of the exit gate of Beginner Town towards the South. The cursed trees were moving and attacking each other.

    They have eyes, nose slits, and a wide mouth cavity that emitted light resembling a zing fire.

    Hiro dashed towards the monsters, his sword already raised and ready to sh.

    His pointed eyes shed with anger. He will use the monsters as an object to release his stress.

    WING!!

    SPLAT!!

    SPLAT!!

    He continued to sh the monsters that were scrambling to reach him with their long-spreading branches.

    Even though his heart was in turmoil and his mind distracted, Hiro could still focus on eliminating the monsters with his greatsword.

    SPLAT!!

    The sticky slime from the tree monster had stained Hiro¡¯s body and his sword. However, Hiro still didn¡¯t stop. His heart still ached. He still couldn¡¯t understand the nightmare he had just had.

    SPLAT!

    KIYEEK!

    His jaw clenched, his eyes shed intimidatingly, his gaze looked like an assassin.

    ¡°Hiro!¡± someone was trying to call him by his name.

    But his hearing system seemed to not work at that moment. Even though his body continued to move, ughtering tree monsters that spawned in just 0.5 seconds every time it got killed.

    It was Liberty who was trying to call him.

    She saw Hiro from a distance. She was reorganizing her gasping breath as she leaned back on her knees.

    The sound of the door mming by Hiro had awakened the girl from her deep sleep.

    She had been shouting for Hiro all along, ordering him to stop. However, Hiro didn¡¯t hear her and instead ran faster, making it difficult for Liberty to reach him.

    Liberty didn¡¯t even have time to change her pajama dress before running out after Hiro.

    SPLAT!

    ¡°Hiro!!¡±

    Liberty ran back to Hiro because he didn¡¯t hear her call at all.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes looked like someone who was being possessed by a demon. It kept shing non-stop.

    The tree monsters can be defeated with a single sh of Hiro¡¯s greatsword.

    ¡°Hiro,¡± Liberty lowered her voice, feeling sorry for Hiro. She felt that the man in front of her was not Hiro, she remembered.

    ¡°Hiro, what happened?¡± Liberty tried to dodge the monster slime that was gushing at her, she was standing right behind Hiro¡¯s back, only a meter away from him. But still, Hiro couldn¡¯t feel her presence.

    His body might be going raged and ughtering [Death Branchman], but his soul and brain weren¡¯t there.

    ¡°Why?¡± Hiro muttered to himself, his body covered in sweat.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Liberty was silent when suddenly Hiro mumbled unclearly. She was increasingly worried about Hiro¡¯s current condition.

    ¡°What the hell is really going on with you, Yuujin!?¡±

    Suddenly Hiro turned his body backwards while swinging his greatsword with all his might. He thought behind him was a [Death Branchman] preparing an ambush.

    He didn¡¯t know that behind him was Liberty standing, waiting for him to turn his back.

    And¡ª

    BANG!

    Both Hiro and Liberty were shocked.

    An invisible barrier suddenly appeared in front of Liberty as Hiro¡¯s greatsword swung at her.

    [Combo has been stopped]

    ¡°L¡ªLibe?¡±

    He fell to his knees in front of Liberty.

    His unstable conditions really almost hurted Liberty.

    Shrug!

    Liberty rushed forward, embracing Hiro¡¯s body. Catched him and hugged him tight.

    ¡°Warm¡­¡± Hiro had a hard time catching his breath.

    Even so, the sweet smell of Liberty, her soft and warm skin¡¯s touch calmed him a bit.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Before answering Hiro¡¯s question, Liberty took out a crystal from her inventory.

    And before the [Death Branchman] came swarming him for revenge, Liberty activated the crystal.

    [Portkey Crystal]

    POOF!

    The two of them instantly vanished, leaving behind a strong gust of air in just one second.

    Hiro no longer cared about the strange sensation every time he teleported in the game.

    What kept him still in his current conscious state was the sound of her heart beating right in his ears.

    Liberty¡¯s heartbeat was hypnotizing him like a beautiful instrument.

    [Portkey Crystal] is a magic crystal. When activated by its owner, it will take the person who activated it and other people in contact to teleport somewhere.

    [Note: The choice of destination must be clearly stated by the person who activates [Portkey Crystal], otherwise they will be teleported to nowhere.]

    Thud!

    All Liberty had in mind was her room.

    The two of themnded intact on Liberty¡¯s bedroom, which was warm and smelled of soothingvender.

    ¡°Hiro, did something happen to you?¡± Liberty stroked Hiro¡¯s hair which was wet with his sweat. The pure girl knew very well how to calm someone who looked in despair.

    ¡°Libe¡­ what if they were right¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What if it¡¯s true? Someone has killed my brother.¡±

 Chapter 35

    After Hiro announced it, silence reigned between them. Even though Liberty has no idea where he came from, the word ¡®murder¡¯ attached to the name of a rtive certainly sounds dark,

    ¡°Yuujin, did someone really try to kill you?¡±

    Meanwhile, Hiro was conflicted, and his mind was in chaos. He could not believe it, he refused to believe it. However, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, the evidence points to the fact that the murder of his sibling really did happen.

    He saw how Yuujin became such a frightening, saddening presence in his dream. It was so scary that even his skin prickled at the thought. That dream was scary enough to carve itself as a trauma in his mind.

    His body trembled, and cold sweat ran down all over his face and body. His eyes were as wide as saucers, but there was no spark of light in his eyes.

    Liberty could not do anything except hug him and try to soothe him in a warm hug.

    ¡°Hiro, what happened? Are you okay?¡±

    Hiro snapped out of it and heard the question, but he gave no answer. He was mping on his bottom lip while trembling. It was clear that he was shaken.

    Once again, he imagined someone out there, walking freely with no care in the world even after doing something as heinous as murdering Yuujin. There was no way Hiro could stay silent and ept it.

    There was no proof, but this nightmare felt more like a sign.

    ¡°Yuujin¡­¡± Hiro spoke softly, as if he had lost control of his own voice.

    Liberty lifted Hiro¡¯s face and tried to check out his condition. However, all Liberty could see was Hiro¡¯s despondent gaze. His lips kept muttering the name ¡®Yuujin¡¯ in despair.

    ¡°Hey, Hiro, I cannot say I understand what happened to you, but I am here for you. You can tell me anything you want, okay?¡±

    Hiro stared at Liberty¡¯s beautiful ocean eyes for a moment, and his lips stopped trembling.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Seeing that Hiro hade to his senses, Liberty shed him a sweet smile. The problem hasn¡¯t been solved yet, but at least Hiro realized that he was not alone.

    ¡°Hiro, look at me. I am here for you.¡±

    Liberty was close, so close, so that he could bask in her perfection. When she smiled, Hiro felt as if he had won the lottery twice a day.

    ¡°I am here.¡±

    All of a sudden, Liberty touched the back of his head and kissed him with her plump, pink lips.

    A heated dance ured between them. She hoped that a warm touch would help soothe his pain.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes shot open in shock, but he did not budge. Hiro had never kissed a girl before, especially one as beautiful as Liberty. In reflex, he pulled on her nightgown and dragged her closer.

    Everything felt like a dream, while the previous one was a nightmare, this one was a truly fantastic dream.

    Comfort wrapped all over his body in a warm embrace, and he could feel butterflies all over his stomach.

    The sudden, tender, and loving kiss from Liberty pulled Hiro back to his senses, and now he has sort of regained his footing. The terror of the nightmare has been dispelled, all disappearing under Liberty¡¯s beautiful face.

    A red blush made her look even more radiant, and she sighed in contentment with closed eyes.

    ¡°So warm¡­ ¡± Hiro thought. He was getting calmer and calmer.

    After a few moments, Liberty separated herself from Hiro. With half-lidded eyes, she met Hiro¡¯s sharp gaze and smiled. She was truly beautiful, like an angel descended from up above.

    Hiro¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t work like normal. It was instantly frozen because of a surprised kiss from the beautiful figure in front of him.

    He blinked many times because he still could not believe that was even real.

    It felt like he was just daydreaming.

    ¡®Did this beautiful princess just kiss me?¡¯

    Hiro¡¯s fingers moved to his own lips, trying to feel the traces of a kiss from Liberty¡¯s lips which were soft and warm. His face had turned red like a ripe tomato. It was the first kiss for Hiro. And he never expected that his first kiss would be stolen by a beautiful girl like this.

    He didn¡¯t regret it a bit. I mean, why should he regret it? He just won a kiss from Liberty!

    Even though Hiro got a meaningful kiss in the virtual world, the high-quality sensitivity level in the VRMMORPG of Last Shelter Online felt real because every single touch the yer got in the game would directly send virtual signals that are transmitted to the nerves of his brain.

    So every kind of touch he got felt real.

    Seeing Hiro¡¯s reaction and his face still stunned from the kiss she gave, Liberty couldn¡¯t help but chuckle in amusement.

    She was very adorable.

    Hiro had regained his senses and looked at Liberty in front of him.

    The girl¡¯s face had turned bright red. The surprising kiss that had just happened suddenly turned out to also make her blush.

    That unforgettable moment made Liberty¡¯s pretty face look even more like a beautiful living doll.

    Hiro moved his hands to touch Liberty¡¯s face. His action surprised Liberty a bit, but the girl ced her palms on the back of Hiro¡¯s hands that were touching her cheeks.

    ¡°It¡¯s so warm,¡± said Hiro, reflexively giving ament. He could feel his heartbeat speeding up until he could hear the heartbeat through his own ears.

    While Hiro was grabbing her face with his bare hands, Liberty suddenly closed her beautiful eyes. And her pink-plump lips curved into a smile. Very sweet one.

    Hiro was suddenly addicted to that smile.

    ¡®She really is a princess.¡¯

    Hiro pulled Liberty¡¯s face closer due to the overwhelming urge in his heart.

    Liberty had kissed him first, so it wouldn¡¯t be wrong if he returned the kiss with a second one, right?

    As the girl¡¯s face got very close to his, Hiro could feel Liberty holding her breath.

    ¡®Is she as nervous as I am?¡¯

    Realizing this only made Hiro even more furious and his heart raced. It was like his heart would jump out of his body pretty soon.

    The scent ofvender in the room and the sweet scent of Liberty¡¯s natural smell, both blended and kept inviting him.

    ¡°You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, Libe.¡±

    ¡°Eh¡ª?¡± Liberty reflexively opened her eyes when she heard Hiro¡¯s praise in a whisper.

    Just as the girl opened her beautiful eyes, Hiro pulled Liberty¡¯s face and kissed her gently.

    And now, Liberty was the one who received a surprising kiss.

 Chapter 36

    Even though this was the second kiss, Hiro¡¯s heart still screamed from within his chest. He really couldn¡¯t control his increasing heart rate and he was sure that the sound of his heartbeat could now be heard by Liberty who was closing her eyes tightly when he kissed her.

    Ignoring that, Hiro focused both his eyes on admiring Liberty¡¯s wless beauty. Her skin was so beautiful, it didn¡¯t have the slightest w as if the girl wasn¡¯t human.

    Still kissing her with tightly pursed lips, Hiro suddenly wanted to nibble Liberty¡¯s soft plump lips. He really wanted to try that kind of kiss with the only girl he had ever kissed until he was 18 years old.

    And Hiro did that.

    He bit Liberty¡¯s lower lip very carefully, afraid of hurting her. At a nce, Liberty¡¯s long eyebrows seemed to be furrowed at Hiro¡¯s actions. But the girl didn¡¯t pull her face away, instead she enjoyed every bite Hiro gave her.

    By the time flies, Hiro can feel various kinds of feelings now mixed together in his body. His breath began to feel hoarse and he now closed his eyes, enjoying every touch of love he could feel from his lips that intertwined with Liberty¡¯s.

    Hiro could feel Liberty¡¯s hands moving, wrapping around his neck. His hands were warm and slightly wet.

    Liberty¡¯s breathing rhythm had turned heavy. Hit the skin of Hiro¡¯s cheek and he felt a bit tickled.

    At that moment, Liberty suddenly pulled her face and bowed her head. Making Hiro¡¯s lips now able to kiss his forehead easily. And without thinking twice, he kissed her forehead softly.

    ¡°Hiro¡­¡±

    ¡°Mmm?¡±

    ¡°I¡ªfor only tonight, I will let you stay with me here in my room.¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t dare to stare into Hiro¡¯s eyes as she whispered a sentence that instantly made Hiro¡¯s heart seem to skip a beat for a second.

    He really didn¡¯t think that Liberty would have the courage to say such a thing. After all, all this time Liberty was an innocent girl who was very adorable and hard to catch an exnation.

    However, hearing her timid voice, Hiro could feel his face instantly getting hotter.

    And even though Liberty wasn¡¯t staring at him, Hiro nodded.

    ¡°Sure. Thank you for letting me stay for tonight, Libe.¡±

    Hiro could feel his throat go dry as he said that. He wasn¡¯t sure if what he just said was the right thing to do.

    He had never felt this awkward when dealing with anyone before.

    However, hearing Hiro¡¯s answer, Liberty suddenly raised her face again, a very fast and unpredictable movement. Making her head hit Hiro¡¯s nose hard.

    Bang!

    ¡°Ouch¡­¡± Hiro reflexively gripped the bridge of his nose.

    ¡°Ehhhh¡ª I am so sorry,¡± Liberty¡¯s face suddenly turned worried.

    Hiro chuckled, ¡®she¡¯s the only girl who looks even cuter when she¡¯s careless.¡¯

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, Libe. I¡¯m just overreacting.¡± He lied.

    Liberty looked at Hiro with pleading brows like a dog that had just received punishment from its master. His wolf ears curled limply downwards.

    At that moment, Hiro immediately rubbed the top of Liberty¡¯s head gently to make her happy again.

    ¡°But Hiro¡­¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never done that before.¡± Liberty looked shy while ying with her index fingers. Make another cute gesture.

    ¡°Do what?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t understand what Liberty¡¯s question meant.

    However, when Liberty looked back at him with a surprised look, Hiro suddenly realized what the girl had just talked about.

    ¡°W¨Cwait a second. Libe, did you just talk about ¡­ ?!¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t even finish his words.

    Liberty blinked at Hiro with a jaw drop. Meanwhile, Hiro¡¯s face instantly felt very hot and his body too.

    ¡°Ah¡ªHiro, haven¡¯t you done that either?¡±

    Again the girl asked with a t expression as if her question was really a verymon thing to talk about in a normal conversation.

    However, knowing where the conversation was going, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to tell Liberty an honest answer. There¡¯s nothing wrong with speaking the truth about that one thing.

    Hiro hoped that Liberty wasn¡¯t a girl who would be disappointed if she heard that her partner wasn¡¯t experienced enough.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never done that before.¡±

    Hearing that, Liberty¡¯s beautiful eyes instantly widened and the girl suddenly threw her body to hug Hiro so passionately that the shocked Hiro fell backwards.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Hiro. Be my first and I¡¯ll be your first, too.¡±

    ¡°Ehh??!¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t have a chance to respond because Liberty had kissed him again to shut his mouth.

    But the third kiss that night was different. When Liberty started to pull off the cloak that Hiro was wearing.

    With neither of them having any experience, Hiro gave a very gentle touch even though his hands were shaking. And their bodies were trembling.

    They began to start sharing pains, air, moaning, love, and joy.

    That night, their song of love filled the room as their bodies united.

    An unforgettable memory of a lifetime. And thus, he temporarily forgot about that weird yet scary dream.

    All thanks to Liberty.

    ¡­

    Hiro woke up from his restful slumber.

    As he opened his eyes, he saw Liberty was asleep right next to him. Her sleeping expression was quite unique, as usual.

    If it were anyone else, they would have thought that she was angry. Her brows were knitted together.

    Hiro stroked her hair, and decided to wake up early, careful not to disturb her. He moved as slowly as possible, to let her rest at least a bit longer.

    [System: Logout]

    He was back to his apartment, the cold air from winter in Tokyo biting his skin.

    Falling asleep in the LSO world slowed down the brain work system thus the production of brain waves that can be caught by the VR machine was not much.

    In other words, sleeping in the game could be tranted by the VR machine as sleeping in the real world too.

    Hiro took a ss of water from the tap and drank it. Right now, the tap water quality in Japan is safe enough to drink.

    While he was drinking, his bracelet rang out.

    Ding!

    The notification indicated a new message.

    But when he saw the sender¡¯s name, he coughed, as his shocked gasp made him choke.

    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±

    [You have received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: Yo CyberWarrior!]

    ¡°Is this the Anonymous from that theory? How did he get my number?¡± Hiro thought.

    He was pretty sure that his personal information was locked before diving into the dark web at that time.

    It was really impossible for his personal information to be leaked.

    How could this happen? Hiro started to worry.

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: I couldn¡¯t find any evidence rted to WynterRain¡¯s death theory for now. But, I have something interesting to show you]

 Chapter 37

    Hiro decided to walk back to his bed and sit in the corner after receiving a mysterious message from Anonymous directly to his android bracelet. Suddenly, he became anxious and started to wonder how Anonymous could get his contact number.

    ¡°Did he hack my number?¡±

    Very cautiously, he reactivated the VPN and then logged into TOR to check the page on the conspiracy theory of his brother¡¯s death one more time.

    He read thements he had left there, but it was still left unanswered.

    For a moment, he doubted whether Anonymous on the site was the same person who was contacting him.

    However, from the content of the message, it was clear that it was a response to thement Hiro had left.

    Anonymous didn¡¯t reply to hisments on the page, instead, he tried to contact Hiro directly?

    Hiro was frustrated after knowing this, he immediately deleted hisment on Anonymous¡¯s thread and then re-secured his android bracelet.

    Hiro had guessed that someone out there might be smart enough to hack his data in today¡¯s modern technology. He didn¡¯t want that to happen.

    After cleaning his android bracelet with his CyberWarrior program, he felt a little relieved.

    ¡°Damn it. Who is he really?¡±

    Hiro tried to identify the IP address of the person who sent the message. It took him some time to createplex coding using CyberWarrior and he spent another 45 minutes before he was finally able to download the code and use it in messages sent by Anonymous.

    [Finding Anonymous¡­]

    [¡­]

    He waited anxiously. He now felt insecure even though his android bracelet was clean.

    [Beep]

    [IP address has been found]

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    [Beep]

    [Restarting the program]

    ¡°What?¡±

    [Beep]

    [IP address has been found]

    [193.148.16.251]

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Hiro immediately copied the number and searched for it using the CyberWarrior app.

    [Beep]

    [40¡ã 24¡ä 55,404¡± N]

    [141¡ã 19¡ä 19,236¡± E]

    [Kami-Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.]

    ¡°Hang on¡­ something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±

    Hiro checked his IP address listed on the profile page on his android bracelet.

    [193.148.16.251]

    ¡°What the heck?!¡±

    ¡°Did you just attack me with my own weapon?¡±

    After getting a direct bacsh from someone out there who turned out to have higher system hacking abilities than Hiro, he decided to surrender.

    ¡°I¡¯ll prepare moreplicated coding that you can¡¯t tinker with, just you wait!¡±

    Setting up moreplex coding with the same working principle will take quite a long time. However, Hiro insisted on doing it anyway.

    Another hour passed.

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: What¡¯s up, Bro!?]

    ¡°What the heck. Again?¡±

    Hiro immediately opened CyberWarrior and checked the status of the mostplicated coding he had managed to make.

    The coding arrangement has been neatly packaged into a file that can be camouged to enter someone else¡¯s android bracelet and steal their data.

    Once again, Hiro sent the file to Anonymous in reply. When the file is sent, it can work without having to be downloaded first by the recipient.

    Hiro barely blinked and forgot to breathe after seeing the [Message sent] notification.

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: Are you trying to mess around with me?]

    A sly smile spread across Hiro¡¯s face. The man had fallen into his trap. The file sent by Hiro consisted of two files at once with the same contents. However, one file was in hidden status, while the other one was in normal status so that the recipient could see it.

    Commonly, people prefered to only focus on seeing the files that were visible for the first time and never think twice about the other files that have been sent together, especially when it was in hidden status.

    That was Hiro¡¯s old trick when he still liked to scam gamepanies through the file attachment feature when contacting customer service.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that this method was still quite effective, tsk tsk tsk.¡±

    [CyberWarrior: Downloading the information from the host]

    [¡­]

    Hiro tapped the back of his hand with his fingertips, nervously. He waited impatiently.

    [Downloadpleted]

    [IP address has been found]

    [193.148.16.267]

    ¡°Gotcha!¡±

    [Please Wait!]

    [Beep]

    [40¡ã 24¡ä 55,404¡± N]

    [141¡ã 19¡ä 19,236¡± E]

    [193.148.16.251]

    [Kami-Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.]

    ¡°Did it turn back to that one again!?¡±

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message]

    [Anonymous: Nice try, Kid! Better upgrade your bracelet first before challenging me! LoL]

    In a sh, the disy of the numerical data on the skinscreen had a glitch and the message from Anonymous suddenly split into many.

    Within just a minute, hundreds of messages scammed the screen as if he had just shown the next level of hacking ability to Hiro.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    Hiro was frustrated again. He became more aware that Anonymous was not someone to be underestimated.

    Hiro immediately activated triple protection for his android bracelet so Anonymous couldn¡¯t tamper with the data stored in it. Even though, so far, the unknown person had not done any harm to him. But Hiro didn¡¯t want to wait until something bad happened.

    But for one more time,

    ¡°193.148.16.267¡±

    He memorized the number of IP addresses that Anonymous had deleted.

    Even though Anonymous was more skilled at infiltrating other people¡¯s digital data, Hiro¡¯s brain¡¯s memory capacity was still reliable. And it was very easy to memorize numbers.

    [Searching IP Address in Database: 193.148.16.267]

    [1 information has been found]

    [¡­]

    [No data found]

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    Due to the stress of facing Anonymous, Hiro decided to cook a meal in the kitchen and turned his android bracelet on silent mode.

    He didn¡¯t want to be bothered.

    RUMBLE!

    Hiro¡¯s stomach was growling again. He stroked his belly which was getting more t that it now looked slightly sunken.

    Meanwhile, the instant noodles that he had soaked in hot water were finally ready to eat.

    As usual, Hiro was looking for a spectacle to watch while he was eating. Today he was curious about the daily news channel.

    ¡°Open the Games Daily Updates Youtube channel!¡± He spoke into his android bracelet which instantly disyed a 3D hologram in the shape of a mini news anchor in Hiro¡¯s hand.

    ¡°The world can¡¯t wait for the Premium Auction that Ninecent is holding to sell the cities in their virtual world.¡±

    ¡°Tickets to participate in the auction have now sold as many as 2,780 tickets and are predicted to increase sharply ahead of the Auction which will be held in a few hours.¡±

    Hiro suddenly remembered that today was thest day the CBT version could be yed. And Hiro hadn¡¯t bought the regr plot as he had originally nned.

    He still couldn¡¯t choose the server he would use to y the gameter.

    Hiro ate his hot instant noodles voraciously, his tongue got burned asionally and he had to drink the mineral water next to his food to cool it down.

    ¡°Update: LSC demand in the world has increased significantly. Botcoin owners are now flocking to invest in LSC as well because of the prediction from Satoshi Nakamoto that the Botcoin era might end soon.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªis this going to happen? Entering the game era, huh?¡±

 Chapter 38

    RING!

    For the first time since the heartbreaking incident 10 days ago, Aunt Yuma finally called.

    ¡°Hiro, where are you? Are you no longer living in Yuujin¡¯s apartment?¡±

    Hiro wasn¡¯t surprised at all if his aunt didn¡¯t know that he had been kicked out from Yuujin¡¯s apartment.

    ¡°I have moved out.¡± He lied.

    ¡°You moved out? Why didn¡¯t you tell me, you stubborn brat!¡±

    ¡°Why do you call, Aunt Yuma? It¡¯s unusual for you to contact me.¡±

    ¡°The security¡¯s apartment called me, he said there was a package sent for you. You have to take it now before they throw it away. Do you get it? Go get the package! I don¡¯t want to get calls from that person again.¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡ª don¡¯t forget to give me some if it¡¯s inheritance money!¡±

    Beep!

    She didn¡¯t even ask how Hiro was doing or whether he was still alive or not. In fact, it looks like she didn¡¯t even care where he lived now.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath after hearing his aunt¡¯s words.

    Even so, he managed to be curious about the information shared by his aunt.

    ¡®Another package for me, huh? Who sent it?¡¯

    Luckily, the location of Yuujin¡¯s old apartment with Hiro¡¯s new residence wasn¡¯t so far away that he could rush off that night instead of having to be curious and anxious about the mysterious package.

    Hiro immediately took his jacket and walked out of his room.

    Outside, it was already dark but it was notte yet that he passed a few people as he walked down the sidewalk.

    It was so cold outside that Hiro immediately felt the need to buy a new warmer jacket, if only he had enough money for it.

    And after walking for almost half an hour, Hiro finally arrived at the main road leading to Yuujin¡¯s apartment. He paused for a moment to stare at the apartment from a distance.

    A fairly high building with fifty floors, but Hiro¡¯s eyes were fixed on the 30th floor, he remembered very well the window he used to spend enjoying the night view of Tokyo.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been a week, but it feels like it¡¯s been a long time. You¡¯ll nevere back right, Yuujin?¡±

    Hiro continued walking toward the apartment and immediately headed to the main lobby. There, he met a well-dressed woman who was sitting in front of an acrylic table.

    He passed several long sofas that were neatly arranged in the lobby of the apartment and three people in ck suitsplete with sunsses were sitting there.

    Hiro felt ufortable as the three of them seemed to be watching him behind the sunsses.

    Were they an idol¡¯s bodyguards or what? Their costumes are too shy to wear in a casual apartment lobby like this.

    ¡°Good evening, is there anything we can help you with?¡± The receptionist greeted Hiro with a smile.

    He didn¡¯t know her. Thedy was the new receptionist at the ce.

    ¡°Ah¡ªI¡¯m Yamaguchi Hiro. I heard there¡¯s a package for me. I want to take it.¡± Hiro answered shortly.

    ¡°Wait a minute, let me check it.¡±

    Hiro leaned against the high desk of the receptionist while looking at the lobby which used to be a view he often saw every single day. The lobby had not changed much since thest time he saw it.

    His eyes returned to the three men dressed like bodyguards and they were sitting still, staring at Hiro through their sses.

    Made Hiro instantly turn around and feel even more strange.

    ¡°What are they doing here? Why do they keep staring at me?¡±

    Hiro found a stainless cup where some stationery was kept on the table in front of him.

    Deliberately, he shifted the position of the stainless cup so that he could peek at the three mysterious men through the reflection on its surface.

    Even though Hiro wasn¡¯t looking at the three of them, it was clear that the three of them were still staring at his back. It was as if they were watching him in silence.

    ¡°Shit¡­what the hell are they doing, really?¡±

    ¡°Mister Yamaguchi,¡± the woman reappeared from another room behind him, carrying cardboard the size of an adult male shoe box and then handing over the box to Hiro.

    Her sudden appearance surprised Hiro a little.

    ¡°Here¡¯s a package for you. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡±

    Hiro checked the box in front of him and saw that there was a police stamp on the cover of the box and apart from that, he didn¡¯t find any other information.

    ¡°Do you know who sent this package?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t on my shift when the package arrived, but there was a sticky note on it saying that there is an important letter in the box.¡±

    Hiro raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but the woman was telling the truth.

    He had no other choice but to check it himselfter at home.

    He walked outside while carrying the box, leaving the lobby and the three strange men.

    Even though Hiro didn¡¯t look at the three mysterious men anymore, he could feel their eyes were still fixated on him until he left the ce.

    Hiro quickly walked to go home, but as he passed a car parked on the side of the road, he nced through the car and he could see that someone was following him behind. It was obvious seeing the shadows reflected from the car¡¯s body.

    However, when Hiro suddenly looked back, he didn¡¯t see anyone behind him. It was just that there was the sound of a gust of wind indicating that someone had just moved before he caught him.

    Hiro walked back cautiously, asionally he deliberately looked back to check on the person who was following him. But he didn¡¯t find anything. It seemed that this person was quite experienced in stalking.

    He walked even faster, then started to run. At that moment, Hiro jumped while turning his body backward and caught the stalker.

    Tap!

    And thus, Hiro just knew that it was the three men and not just a person.

    The three mysterious men in suits were caught getting ready to jump somewhere else to hide.

    Hiro was surprised to see that the three men in the lobby had been following him all along. No wonder he felt even strange after he left the apartment.

    After gulping his own saliva, Hiro decided to run.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    ¡°Wait, you! Stop right there!¡±

    Hiro elerated his run when one of them shouted at him, telling him to stop. His heart was already beating very fast because the three men were still chasing him.

    ¡°Damn it! Why are they following me?¡±

    ¡°What do they want from me?!¡±

    ¡°Good Lord! What if they want to kill me?!¡±

    He deliberately turned towards another alley that was not the one leading to his house to buy time. There was no point in running and hiding at home because he lived alone and there was no police station to turn to for help.

    Tap!

    Tap!

    Tap!

    The three mysterious men were still chasing him. Not only did their bodies look muscr, but they could also run very fast, almost reaching Hiro.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    BRUUUM!

    A sports motorbike suddenly appeared from an alley right near Hiro, it almost hit him.

    A slim rider in a tight ck leather jacket was riding the bike. It was a woman.

    Her face was hidden behind a ck sports helmet.

    ¡°Come! Now!¡±

    Hiro was sure he had heard that woman¡¯s voice before.

    ¡°Quick!¡±

    Without thinking, Hiro got on the motorbike seat and the woman immediately hit the gas just as the three mysterious men almost grabbed Hiro¡¯s back from behind.

    BRUUUM!

 Chapter 39

    Hiro patted the back of the woman who had just saved him repeatedly because she was driving her motorbike farther away from where Hiro lived.

    ¡°Hey, what are you doing?!¡± He started shouting so that she could hear him since the sound of the motorbike exhaust was too loud.

    ¡°I¡¯m buying us time. Let¡¯s wait until they leave your area before returning to your ce.¡± The woman answered without reducing the speed of her bike.

    It was a bad idea to go back home now, what if the three of them were still there and found out where Hiro lived? What if they actually killed Yuujin and now want to kill him too?

    ¡°Good grief!¡± Hiro just realized that.

    What if they were the ones who killed Yuujin? Other than that, Hiro could not find any reason why those men were following him.

    Hiro rarely socialized, so it was unlikely that there were people who felt ufortable with his presence. He was even rarely noticed by anyone around him.

    ¡°Hey, kid. Hold on! ¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t hear the woman¡¯s voice.

    But the woman suddenly elerated the speed of her motorbike.

    BRUMMM!

    Hiro reflexively wrapped his arms around the woman¡¯s slender waist as the front tire of the motorcycle lifted upwards for a few seconds.

    ¡°Aargghhhh! What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°Hahahahaha. You¡¯re so cute!¡±

    Hiro only hoped that he coulde back alive after being bullied by a motorcycle rider, someone he didn¡¯t even know yet.

    After wandering aimlessly for half an hour, the woman finally drove Hiro back to his apartment.

    And what made Hiro feel strange was that the woman didn¡¯t ask for his address at first.

    ¡°Thank you for helping me,¡± said Hiro suspiciously.

    However, the woman drove her motorbike away without showing her identity to him or even saying anything.

    All Hiro remembered was that there was a tattoo resembling a chain on the woman¡¯s left wrist, which he had seen earlier on his free ride.

    ¡°Haahhhh¡­ such a tiring day.¡±

    Hiroy down on the bed for a few seconds before finally checking the contents of the box he had brought with him earlier.

    ording to the information he received from the female receptionist, there was a letter in the box.

    It was from the police saying that the contents of the box were some of Yuujin¡¯s belongings. And for now, it all belongs to Hiro, because his brother, Yuujin, had passed away.

    After the investigation wasplete, the goods were sent to the deceased¡¯s rtives who were still alive. However, because the police didn¡¯t know Hiro¡¯s new address after being kicked out of his old apartment, they just sent it to his old apartment address.

    The contents inside the box weren¡¯t anything suspicious. They were all normal to Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    There were Yuujin¡¯s belongings such as a handkerchief, three of Yuujin¡¯s favorite film cameras, Yuujin¡¯s android bracelet, Yuujin¡¯s identity card as an E-nfinity member, andstly two memory cubes.

    Hiro was immediately interested in examining the first memory cube and seeing what photos were so important to Yuujin that they were stored in that inexpensive object.

    Beep!

    A screen appeared showing multiple screen images at once. Not pictures of humans, but pictures of test scores per subject with near-perfect grades, on top of which the name of the owner of that grade was written.

    ¡®Yamaguchi Hiro¡¯

    Hiro could feel his chest a bit ache after seeing it.

    Just why Yuujin kept his brother¡¯s test scores as if they were very important to his life?

    Hiro again scrolled down the imageyer stored in the cube.

    And he also found photos of body parts.

    Hands clenched into fists.

    A foot covered with dirt.

    A clump of ck hair from a haircut activity, scattered on the floor.

    And thest was the pose of pointing the middle finger at the camera.

    Since Yuujin was very busy and rarely contacted Hiro because he was working on a big project, Hiro often sent these absurd photos to his brother to vent his frustration and loneliness.

    And Yuujin had stored those photos inside an expensive object like a memory cube. It was as if the absurd photos were precious things to Yuujin.

    ¡°Was he just obsessed with me?¡±

    Hiro could feel his body instantly turning cold and shivering, he was unable to see the photos in the cube any further and decided to move to the second cube.

    Strange, in the second memory cube, there were only three photos stored.

    The first photo was a photo of the E-nfinity logo which looked like a number 8 in a sleeping position.

    The second photo was another obscure photo taken by Yuujin, a room that was simr to a hospital room, but its contents were not beds for patients but dozens of sleeping capsules that Hiro had never seen before.

    And the third photo was a photo of the E-nfinity members, there were ten people including Yuujin who sat in the middle as the leader. He wore a paper crown that said ¡®FOR LIFE¡¯.

    Hiro found it strange with the second cube because normally the memory cube was filled with images from digital cameras. However, the three photos in the memory cube were photos from a film camera that had been converted into digital form so that they could be stored in the object.

    Since when did Yuujin save photos from his films to digital form?

    Hiro again stuffed Yuujin¡¯s relics into the box and theny back on the bed while staring at the ceiling of his room.

    His mind wandered.

    Hiro started to think that Yuujin¡¯s death was bing more and more strange.

    Besides, who were the people chasing him just now? What did they want?

    But before he couldn¡¯t predict any answer, his android bracelet ring.

    Ding!

    [You have a new message from Anonymous]

    Hiro took a deep breath when he saw the name reappear on his android bracelet. Reluctantly, he opened the message from Anonymous.

    [Anonymous: want to see something interesting? Download the link I sent you and see what I find]

    ¡°You think I¡¯d be fooled by that cheap trick?¡± Hiro let out a longzy breath,

    A few secondster, Anonymous sent him a new message containing a download link.

    Hiro stared at the name of linked file [1000]

    The name made him suspect it was a scam. Hiro just stared at it nonchntly, he wasn¡¯t interested in downloading the file.

    But¡ª

    One secondter, the android bracelet seemed to move by itself.

    [Downloading in progress]

    ¡°What?!¡± Hiro immediately got up from his bed and pressed the [Cancel] button listed below the download progress.

    But it didn¡¯t work, as if his android bracelet had been controlled by someone else now.

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    [Downloadpleted]

    [Scanning for viruses before auto open the file]

    ¡°You are so pushy, huh.¡±

    Because the file finally passed the inspection of three antiviruses installed by Hiro in his android bracelet, he finally became curious about the contents of the file.

    Ding!

    [[1000] is ready]

    [Opening the file in progress]

    Hiro waited with bated breath.

    And not long after, the file finally opened sessfully.

    The file resembled a pdf format that had beenid out with arge text at the top which immediately caught Hiro¡¯s attention.

    Last Shelter Online?

    The identity of 1000 yers registered in Closed Beta Test.

 Chapter 40

    [System Linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

    [Remaining time: 24 hours]

    Hiro was back above Liberty¡¯s bedroom when he logged in to the game. He didn¡¯t wear any clothes to cover his body.

    When his eyes returned to functioning properly, Hiro was surprised by what he was seeing.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Liberty was still asleep without changing her position in the slightest. However, what made Hiro suddenly worried was that he was starting to feel the difference in her body temperature.

    Her body had turned very hot as if the girl had a fever.

    Hiro immediately stood up and equipped his costum back before finally deciding to find a way to make the girl wake up from her long sleep together with lowering her body¡¯s temp..

    He took a cloth that was near Liberty¡¯s bed and wet it with water that coulde out normally like in the real world from a water faucet located in the kitchen room of Liberty¡¯s house.

    Very gently, Hiro touched the girl¡¯s skin using a cloth that had been dampened in an attempt to wake her up, but to no avail. The girl remained motionless.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He once again touched her skin, and her body¡¯s temp was very hot. He was sure that her body¡¯s temp now was around 38 or 39 degree celcius.

    Panicked, Hiro decided to contact Jacob who might be able to help him in a way that worked in the virtual world.

    ¡°Hello, Jacob, can you find a doctor or something in this world?¡±

    ¡°What happened!?¡±

    ¡°Liberty got a fever. I couldn¡¯t even wake her up.¡±

    ¡°Your girlfriend got fever? Oh my goodness, alright, I will bring a doctor to check her. I¡¯ll be right there soon. But first, send me Liberty¡¯s home address.¡±

    It was very easy to share the address in the virtual world. Hiro just shared the coordinate location of where he stayed now.

    Hiro sat beside Liberty and corrected the girl¡¯s sleeping position so that she wouldn¡¯t sleep tilted her head. If she did so, she would wake up in horrible pain on her neck.

    He hoped Liberty would wake up soon.

    Once again, Hiropressed Liberty¡¯s forehead using cold tap water. He didn¡¯t know what to do to wake her up. So he was trying to lower her body¡¯s temp by the normal way like people did in the real world.

    From her HP bar, the girl looked fine and had no particr effect. Even her health points were still full.

    Hiro was getting more and more nervous, not to mention that the CBT version of the game will close soon and he hadn¡¯t even had time to officially ask Liberty on a date.

    And finally, after waiting, Jacob came with a female NPC who kept smiling, NPC Doctor.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know that NPCs like that existed.

    When he let the NPC doctor examine Liberty¡¯s body, the result was¡­ nothing.

    ¡°She¡¯s fine, yer Liberty was just asleep.¡±

    The answer then left after Jacob paid the NPC some LSC.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Jacob was confused by what happened to Liberty.

    It was clear that the girl¡¯s body felt very hot but the NPC doctor could not detect the illness that the girl was experiencing.

    Hiro realized that something was wrong with that.

    Did Liberty fevere from the original world so that the NPC doctor couldn¡¯t detect the disease?

    Hiro could only assume, but his assumption didn¡¯t wake Liberty up.

    And he didn¡¯t want to burden Jacob¡¯s mind if he told him that the doctor was just an NPC who might be programmed on a limited basis. Unlike real doctors in the real world.

    After waiting for more than an hour in silence, Jacob finally left and Hiro returned alone.

    He was still waiting while looking at Liberty who never woke up from her sleep. Her fever didn¡¯t go down, as if she was severely ill.

    An hour passed.

    Two hours passed.

    Hiro just spent his time restlessly while he continued to look at the clock in his HUD system. Counting down until the beta test version of the game waspletely over and will be reced with the official version.

    He didn¡¯t know how to tell Liberty to y on the same server as him, to at least keep in touch and he could get to know her further.

    ¡®Just why does it happen now? Should I trust that [1000] file?¡¯ Hiro talked to himself.

    But suddenly a broadcast notification appeared to inform all CBT yers.

    Ding!

    [The auction for selling the minor cities in the LSO game will be started in 15 minutes]

    [Everyone can still buy the ticket to join the auction]

    [Current participants is 4500]

    Hiro had almost forgotten his n to buy a regr plot if only the notification hadn¡¯t reminded him.

    His mind was in turmoil because it was filled with various strange information at once.

    ¡®50,000LSC to buy a ticket, huh? I won¡¯t be able to buy it for now.¡¯

    [Bnce 14,570 LSC]

    Hiro had prepared enough LSC to buy a regr plot and he already knew which plot area to buy.

    ¡°About the server¡­¡±

    ¡®Should I choose that server?¡¯

    Ding!

    [The auction will be broadcasted live]

    [Watch the auction LIVE in HUD System]

    [Watch the auction LIVE at the Beginner Town square]

    Hiro had already decided to head to the Marketce before the shop closed. He will buy the regr plot he was after.

    He had to hurry and move fast because he didn¡¯t want to leave Liberty too long.

    As he passed through the town square area, several people seemed to have already gathered there and were looking at a giant translucent screen showing the live streaming of the mini-cities auction for the game.

    Several people seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

    ¡°I will buy two cities.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy a lot.¡±

    ¡°I will put my name on the name of the city I bought.¡±

    ¡°I have prepared 50 million USD for this auction.¡±

    Hiro only frowned at the rich yers¡¯ conversation.

    After checking their identities one by one, Hiro realized that he was the only one on a different social levelpared to other yers who got the CBT version.

    Although initially, he was very distrustful of the information contained in the [1000] file, as time went on, he also felt that the file contained only the truth.

    Meanwhile, Hiro nced back at the screen and the camera was showing the auction ticket owners.

    Those who came to the auction were people in expensive clothes who were required to cover their faces with a mask of various animal shapes that also looked expensive, made of real animal skins.

    Hiro continued walking until he arrived in front of the [Marketce] building and went inside.

    Even though the big auction was about to take ce, [Marketce] was still functioning and selling regr plots as usual.

    Nyx had appeared to wee Hiro and immediately took him to the regr plot selection room which was still avable for sale.

    Hiro was relieved after seeing that plot area number W2801 in the western Beginner Town area was still avable.

    The plot area has 19 empty plots and 1 plot was used for a hidden NPC that could be marked as a Resurrection Point so that those who got killed while grinding in that area will be resurrected at that NPC point, without the need to return to the town square.

    [You are choosing to buy regr plot area number W2801]

    [This number is currently avable for all servers]

    [Please choose the server that you want to buy]

    Hiro took a deep breath, ¡°North America.¡±

 Chapter 41

    ¡®North America (NA) Server¡¯.

    Hiro had made his decision after seeing the contents of the [1000] file from Anonymous.

    In the description of the LSO game, the virtual server clock was the same as the real-world clock.

    Meanwhile, Hiro had been ying the game with a different time difference of exactly 13 hours slower than Tokyo Time.

    The reason was that the server hours in the CBT version of LSO did not match the Tokyo Time, but the location detected by the IP address in his VR, Washington, DC

    [You are choosing to buy regr plot area number W2801 in North America (NA) server]

    [10,000 LSC will be consumed, proceed anyway?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Transaction in progress, please wait]

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! You are now an owner of regr plot W2801 in the NA server]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained W2801 (NA) regr plot certificate]

    Ding!

    [You have received a new title ¡®Sir¡¯]

    [Fame increased]

    [Bnce 4,570LSC]

    Hiro¡¯s regr plot purchase process had been sessful and it did not require a long process.

    He still couldn¡¯t believe that now he was the owner of thend that can be used to get passive ie starting tomorrow after the game¡¯s release.

    Although thend that Hiro managed to buy was only limited to being in the virtual world. But still, he felt proud of his achievement.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to tell Liberty and show the girl hisnd title. If only she had woken up soon.

    He came back out of the [Marketce] after shopping.

    The people gathered in the square were getting crowded. And everyone seemed very excited to watch the auction LIVE.

    Hiro wanted to hurry back to Liberty¡¯s house to see if Liberty had woken up from her long sleep or not.

    However, the loud sound from inside the giant screen startled him and his reflex made him stop instantly.

    [City number 77 sold to Jaguar for 35 million LSC]

    ¡¯35 million USD? For a city inside the virtual world?¡¯

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t believe the price that he just heard. The people around him started pping after the bidder with the codename Jaguar managed to get the city.

    ¡®Are the rich people in the world that crazy to spend money?¡¯

    Hiro decided to watch the auction a little longer than he had nned.

    Although he did not have the money to participate in activities that only global elites could participate in, it turned out that watching an auction was not boring at all.

    No wonder more and more people were interested in watching the auction in the square area.

    What surprised Hiro was that the bidders continued to increase their bidding prices at an insane rate without first considering how the features offered in the city area were being offered for auction.

    Hiro believed that none of them were professional gamers, but whatever Ninecent has to offer, it made sure the global elites invest in their city. So they came in hard to fight for a total of 200 avable cities.

    That was right, a total of 200 cities with 20 cities each on 10 existing servers. While the number of bidders who joined was up to thousands.

    Even so, Hiro apuded the rules that Ninecent made in the auction.

    Each bidder was only allowed to buy a maximum of 2 minor cities on the condition that the city couldn¡¯t be on the same server. So that way, even though there are only 200 minor cities avable, the ownership was spread out and not monopolized by one or two people.

    Whoever proposed the rule, Hiro was sure that he or she was a genius who thought about maintaining the stability of the LSO game.

    Hiro decided to stay there, watching the auction until it was over.

    The auction took ce very quickly because the bidders seemed very eager to make bid increments with a twofold increase so that even the highest price could be obtained in one minute.

    The auction process was carried out by a sophisticated technology system.

    And every time the system offered a city, bidders were invited to bid incrementally within 20 seconds before the top 3 bidders with the highest bidding value were shown.

    The next 20 seconds was the opportunity for the top 3 bidders to do bidding wars before the lot won by the highest bid.

    [Lot: Minor City (EU) Number 129]

    [1st bidder: Sabertooth 45,000,000 LSC]

    [2nd bidder: Ko 30,000,000 LSC]

    [3rd bidder: Anaconda 27,000,000 LSC]

    [Bidding wars for the 20s]

    [Ko increased the bid to 47,000,000 LSC]

    [Sabertooth increased the bid to 48,000,000 LSC]

    [Ko increased the bid to 49,000,000 LSC]

    ¡­

    [5s remaining]

    [Anaconda increased the bid to 55,000,000 LSC]

    [City number 12 sold to Anaconda for 55 million LSC]

    Again, those who were being carried away by the tense spectacle apuded loudly.

    Hiro was still amazed by the seriousness of the bidders who dared to release 55 million USD for just a city in a virtual world. He felt that he should learn how to invest in games now, even though he only had enough LSC bnce to buy ordinary vacant lots.

    Due to the speed of the auction procession, the auction was finally finished after 2.5 hours.

    However, when the auction process was no longer disyed, a countdown starting from the number 10 suddenly appeared on the giant screen at the Beginner Town square.

    [10]

    [9]

    Instantly the people who had nned to leave the square were stunned and staring back at the screen.

    Hiro did the same, he wondered what the screen would disy next.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Is there an important announcement today?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the countdown for?¡±

    ¡°Are there any other auctions?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Hiro heard people whispering nearby. But all of them have no clue, just like him.

    Everyone was wondering.

    So¡­

    What really happened?

    [3]

    [2]

    [1]

    [Get Ready!]

    Hiro could feel his heart suddenly beating very fast. No one spoke again in the square, the atmosphere turned to silence.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! 1 month trial in the CBT version of Last Shelter Online has been finished]

    Hiro¡¯s guess was correct, they had been ying for a long time, up to one month. No wonder when he joined the CBTst week, the other yers already had high levels.

    However, with his expertise in ying VRMMORPG, Hiro was able to catch up quickly.

    Ding!

    [Here is the Top 100 yer rank based on the current Battle rating]

    [Top 3. Noah. Mage. BR 11,401]

    [Top 2. Natalie. Rogue. BR 12,890]

    [Top 1. NightFall. Barbarian. BR 14,130]

    ¡°Eh¡ª?¡±

    Ding!

    [You have received a new title ¡®CBT King¡¯]

    Hiro felt nauseous when suddenly all eyes in the square were on him because above his head had appeared a new title in the form of a golden king¡¯s crown with the words ¡®CBT King¡¯ written on the side.

    ¡°He¡¯s Nightfall!!¡±

    ¡°14,130 Battle Rating? How could that be?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s cheating!¡±

    ¡°His body looks average!¡±

    ¡°He looks so weak!¡±

    ¡°I believe I¡¯m stronger than him.¡±

    Hiro was ufortable with the whispers that sounded clear in his ears as if those people were deliberately turning up the volume.

    But suddenly¡ª

    Someone shouted from afar.

    ¡°Look!!!¡±

    The person pointed at the screen and all eyes immediately returned to the giant screen, ignoring Hiro.

    [Glitching]

    [Glitching]

    [Glitching]

    ¡°What is happening?¡±

    ¡°Is it broken?¡±

    [Glitching]

    Hiro knew something was wrong with the screen. He recognized a glitch that urred on the screen, the glitch indicated a system error.

    It could be due to a hack or intruder.

    Right at thest glitch,

    The top rank disy shifted the name of NightFall to second ce.

    Meanwhile, the first top rank 1 has been reced with another username.

    But¡ª

    [Top 1. WynterRain. Archmage. BR 901,459]

 Chapter 42

    [Top 1. WynterRain. Archmage. BR 901,459]

    [Top 2. NightFall. Barbarian. BR 14,130]

    [Top 3. Natalie. Rogue. BR 12,890]

    ¡°WynterRain?¡±

    ¡°WynterRain?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s he?¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard of him?¡±

    ¡°Did you just say WynterRain?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a professional gamer! How could you don¡¯t know?¡±

    ¡°BR 901,459? What the hell?¡±

    Hiro could feel his body suddenly reacting strangely. His muscles tensed up and he couldn¡¯t move. His body started producing an excessive amount of sweat all of a sudden.

    ¡®How could that be? WynterRain? is that Yuujin?¡¯

    ¡®No¨C¡¯

    ¡®No¡ª¡¯

    ¡®There must be someone else using his username for fun.¡¯

    ¡®But, how could he reach 901,459 BR within a month? Is he a masochist? No way, it¡¯s impossible to do that even if he was a masochist. World level cap won¡¯t let any yer surpass that BR at this moment.¡¯

    Hiro couldn¡¯t move his neck, he kept staring at the giant screen and his eyes were fixed on the first row on the leaderboard.

    Even so, the title that had been given to him as the Top 1 CBT yer was still embedded in his avatar.

    [Glitching]

    The Top 100 yers disy on the screen disappeared again after experiencing a glitch.

    The others wondered again while Hiro was still staring at the nk screen with the same feeling.

    [Glitching]

    [We apologize for the inconvenience]

    After disying an apology message, the top 100 yers leaderboard returned to normal and NightFall took the first ce again.

    ¡°What just happened?¡±

    ¡°Where did WynterRain go?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he win the top 1 rank?¡±

    ¡°Is he a cheater?¡±

    ¡°Yeah right, he must be a cheater!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sure, he¡¯s a cheater!¡±

    Hiro closed his eyes after hearing the various usations directed at a username he knew all too well.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t sure that the username was used by his brother, still, hearing people refer to the his brother¡¯s signature username as a cheater was a huge insult.

    ¡°SILENCE!¡±

    Hiro suddenly shouted in a loud voice and managed to stop all the whispers that made the atmosphere in the Beginner Town square area turn very noisy.

    All eyes turned back to Hiro with displeased looks, some even frowned in front of Hiro before finally deciding to leave the ce.

    ¡°What a freak.¡±

    ¡°For someone with only 14 thousand battle ratings, he is too arrogant.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d better go home and sleep.¡±

    ¡°Disappointing.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for the square to return to its normal silence.

    However, Hiro was still standing alone at his ce. At the same spot, not moving an inch.

    His mind was still stuck at the moment when his brother¡¯s username, WynterRain, rose to the top of the rankings, surpassing his own, NightFall.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know why it bothered him so much. He tried to push the thought out of his head.

    But he couldn¡¯t, he was reminded of the list of 1000 CBT yers that Anonymous had sent to him before he decided to log in to the game.

    From the 1000 yer names, he remembered very well that all yers used real names instead of usernames like his.

    And from the 1000 identities he had known, Hiro also knew that Yamaguchi Yuujin¡¯s name was not listed there.

    He then remembered that there was another leaderboard disy he had encountered in his HUD system. Right on the icon of the leaderboard menu.

    He immediately checked it.

    This time, the menu disyed theplete names of yers, sorted by the yer¡¯s battle rating.

    Hiro quickly scrolled down and saw how many numbers were listed on the leaderboard.

    As he expected, the total number of CBT yers was 1001.

    1001.

    The additional 1 yer was him.

    After he realized that somehow he managed to join the mysterious CBT version without doing any registration the first time he attempted to try the VR machine, Hiro got goosebumps.

    It looked like someone had prepared all of this.

    But what for?

    For helping Hiro harvesting LSC? No¨Cway, it couldn¡¯t be that simple, is it?

    As for the other 1000 yers, all of their username looked familiar to Hiro because he had read them before,

    in the [1000] file sent by Anonymous.

    Somehow, the 1000 names listed in the file very urately disyed the same 1000 names as the yers listed on the leaderboard inside the game.

    Whoever Anonymous was, Hiro was sure, Anonymous knew something that he didn¡¯t know until this moment.

    And once again, he checked carefully the usernames on the leaderboard list, but still, Hiro was sure that WynterRain didn¡¯t exist in the list.

    With his mind already filled with various kinds of questions, Hiro finally decided to return to Liberty¡¯s house. Liberty was probably waiting for him now because he had been away for too long.

    Hiro¡¯s legs felt weak and he walked like an unsteady person, he didn¡¯t care even though some people looked at him with a strange gaze.

    Hiro continued to walk like a soulless undead.

    He was really confused now.

    Some strange events seemed to keep trying to trap him, making his brain feel overheated.

    Finally, after walking very slowly, Hiro arrived in front of Liberty¡¯s house which still looked the same.

    It didn¡¯t change a bit.

    He then entered the house, the door was unlocked, hoping that Liberty was waiting in the living room to greet him and congratte him on his sess as the top yer in the CBT version.

    But, when he entered the house, the living room looked just as empty as before he left.

    However, when Hiro directly walked to open the door of Liberty¡¯s bedroom, his knees suddenly limp, seeing the beautiful figure in front of him.

    Liberty was sitting while looking out the window, ignoring his arrival.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t believe what he saw. Even the voice that just came out from his mouth sounded weird.

    But, he ran and hugged Liberty¡¯s body tightly from her back.

    He was so happy to see the girl finally woke up.

    Hiro could smell Liberty¡¯s sweet scent, her body temperature had returned to normal. The fever has gone.

    And Hiro almost forgot that he wanted to tell the girl about all of his achievements.

    His first achievement in buying a regr plot that would help him provide passive ie for living expenses in the real world.

    His second achievement in getting first ce in the CBT version of the game that further made him more confident to be able to pursue the LSO opening game prize of 60,000 USD by bing a top 100 yer within one month.

    Hiro was very happy with those two things, even though no one realized it and no one would appreciate his achievements.

    But he believed that Liberty would be as happy as him after he told everything.

    And now, after Liberty has woken up to hear a very long story from him, he didn¡¯t realize at all that Liberty was very shocked by his surprising hug.

    Liberty did not return his hug and the girl just froze like a statue without a soul.

    After a minute of a warm moment, he finally found something that didn¡¯t feel right.

    Hiro immediately let go of the girl and then stared at her awkwardly.

    Liberty¡¯s two-round eyes stared back at Hiro, but it felt empty.

    She tilted her head as if her mind was now full of questions.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Do I know you?¡±

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    ¡°What am I doing here?¡±

    ¡°What is this ce?¡±

    ¡°Am I already dead?¡±

    ¡°Are you a friend of my brother?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how to react after hearing numerous questions that came out of Liberty¡¯s sweet yet beautiful lips.

    His mouth seemed to have been shut tightly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but, what is your name? How do you know my name?¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t answer, he was speechless and his throat suddenly felt very dry.

    And before he said anything, suddenly a notification popped out.

    Ding!

    [An unexpected error urred]

    [The game server will be temporarily offline for urgent maintenance]

    [Forced to Logout Warning!!! (10s left)]

    .

    .

    ¡°Wait, What?!¡±

    [Disconnecting from the server]

    .

    .

    [Disconnected]

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C

    *author special appreciation speech*

    Dear Last Shelter Online Readers,

    I will introduce myself once again in a short sentence. I am a girl, I have a lil brother with 7 gap years. (If you need more information, read at the review section).

    It was a little funny to reveal this, but actually my brother and I couldmunicate very well only during ying an online game. Distance doesn¡¯t matter. But, when we grew up, it¡¯s very hard to see each other like in the old days. But I believe, without any wordsing out from our lips, we missed each other a lot.

    So, one fine day, I suddenly missed him due to the separation we got from COVID-19 lockdown. We haven¡¯t seen each other in person for more than 3 years. The longest yet hardest time ever in my life. At this moment, I suddenly want to write something that resembles the bond between siblings. And thus, Hiro was born and so was his brother, Yuujin.

    But ¡®Last Shelter Online¡¯ was more than that.

    I hope that everyone will enjoy the story of LSO. This is the first time for me to write a novel like this. But I promise, I will do my best.

    I made this because the next chapters will be premium.

    Once again, thank you very much for reading Last Shelter Online.

    I hope that you will always support Last Shelter Online until we reach the final line together.

    All Love, Sabet.

 Chapter 43

    Everything turned dark. Hiro was sure that his eyes were open, but he couldn¡¯t see anything apart from pitch-ck darkness.

    This was the first time he experienced getting kicked out of the game for sudden urgent maintenance. The presence of an unexpected error was mentioned, but he personally didn¡¯t know what the error was.

    Hiro took the VR equipment off his head and stared at the ceiling of his room with an empty gaze.

    The image of Liberty looking at him like they were strangers hurt him. He felt as if his chest had shrunk, making it difficult for his heart to beat normally.

    Liberty¡¯s words kept echoing in his ears, repeating on and on like a broken record.

    ¡®What just happened?¡¯

    The username WynterRain that disappeared as suddenly as it appeared,

    And Liberty¡¯s hurtful words and expressions,

    Hiro couldn¡¯tprehend what just happened on that day.

    He checked the time on his android bracelet. If he calcted right, he should have at least eight hours to stay in the CBT version as what popped up in the system when he logged in.

    However, when he checked LSO¡¯s icon on his android bracelet, the app¡¯s color had be dark gray.

    No matter how many times he tried to open it, the app couldn¡¯t be essed.

    A dead end. He didn¡¯t know what to do but wait.

    Hiro let his skinscreen stay active and began doing minor activities to buy time. He took a bath, brushed his teeth, washed his face, cooked, and even ate despite not having any appetite.

    And yet, after so long, no changes appeared on the app.

    ¡°Come on! What happened to you!?¡±

    Hiro checked LSO¡¯s official website to find out about what actually happened in the CBT version, but it was futile. Only disappointment awaited him.

    No information regarding the game¡¯s CBT version itself was avable, much less information regarding what happened to it.

    Frustrated, he once again lied down on the cold floor. He couldn¡¯t care less about the winter cold, his skin was numb this time.

    One hour.

    Two hours.

    Hiro continued to stare at the screen on his skin while restlessly biting his thumb. He had never waited this long before.

    ¡®What happened to Liberty and the others? Were they also forcefully kicked out of the game?¡¯

    Who knows what he was fearing. He didn¡¯t even know why he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what happened to these other people.

    Even though he had never been this way.

    ¡°Hasshh!¡±

    Hiro ruffled his hair and stood back up.

    Staying in his room waiting would only drive him crazy faster. After taking a deep breath, he decided to step out and get some fresh air on the balcony. The sun had risen in Tokyo, and people were already going out of their houses to start their day.

    Hiro silently looked at the people walking on the sidewalk from his balcony on the fifth floor.

    ¡®They look so small from here, like dwarves,¡¯ he thought, trying to amuse himself.

    Looking around, he spotted the apartment ownerdy walking her son to the front of the alley. Judging from the boy¡¯s attire, he seemed to be on his way to school.

    Seeing the mother wave her hand with a sunny smile on her face made him feel lonely.

    ¡®How lucky.¡¯

    He had never received such parental warmth.

    Hiro turned his body and leaned on the metal handle of the balcony. He raised his head to look up at the sky only for the winter breeze to blow his neck, instantly causing him to shiver.

    He then raised his left hand still with his skinscreen disyed and looked at it in the same position.

    ¡°Open file [1000],¡± he instructed his android bracelet.

    Ding!

    He forgot to close the file thest time he opened it, so the file was actually still open. Following his order, it disyed thest page he was reading.

    A smile formed on Hiro¡¯s face when a photo of a beautiful girl popped up on his screen.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    The blonde girl had eyes as beautiful as the ocean. The features on her face were the exact same as the in-game avatar Hiro knew, just without the furry ears and tail. Even so, the absence of the fluffy features didn¡¯t diminish her charm one bit.

    Who knows who took the photo and when, but the girl was definitely not ready to have her photo taken as she had a surprised expression on her face and her lips were slightly open.

    ¡®She¡¯s as adorable as ever.¡¯

    And under the photo was information that had been bothering him since the beginning.

    [Name: Liberty Johnson]

    [Sex: Female]

    [Age: 17]

    [Source: Johnson Hope Hospital, Washington D.C.]

    ¡°You¡¯re really younger than me, huh.¡±

    Hiro chuckled at the same thing, but his tone was bitter this time.

    He had just turned 18st month.

    ¡®At least I didn¡¯t do it with an underaged kid, tsk tsk tsk.¡¯ He turned his standing position again.

    He couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the beautiful girl on the screen.

    The girl was truly too beautiful for him to take his eyes off. Hiro just didn¡¯t understand what actually happened.

    The information about the [source] and Liberty¡¯s identity made him uneasy. Why did Anonymous get the data from a hospital? Hiro had looked up the hospital name on the inte and found it, but of course, the list of patients there was confidential.

    Hiro guessed that Anonymous got the information by hacking the patient data in that hospital, so he tried hacking into it himself. And he seeded. However, he didn¡¯t find Liberty¡¯s name in the stored data.

    Perhaps the girl was no longer in need of treatment or moved to another hospital.

    His frustration was starting to get to him. Hiro wanted to directly ask Liberty, but his n couldn¡¯t be executed as the girl was still sound asleep.

    ¡°Damn it! Why is everything rted to America? What is happening there?¡±

    He felt that his life was getting more connected to that major country. As if the matter with Yuujin that still remained a mystery was not enough, there was also Liberty¡¯s matter.

    It was as if the major country was constantly trying to call him there.

    But what could he do? Afterall, He had no money.

    The only thing he could do now was explore America through the game server, so he decided to y on the North America server in hopes of meeting Liberty and unveiling the mystery of his brother¡¯s death.

    In the future, when he finally umted enough money, he would definitelye to the country himself.

    Riiing!

    As Hiro was thinking about the matter with America, his android bracelet rang.

    [Iing call: Aunt Yuma]

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Hiro, so how was it? What was in the package? Was it inheritance money? Why didn¡¯t you say anything about it? Don¡¯t tell me you spent everything on your own. Share some to your one and only aunt, will you?¡±

 Chapter 44

    ¡°Huh!? Never mind inheritance money, it was only filled with Yuujin¡¯s junk!¡± Hiro responded with displeasure. When he heard the woman¡¯s voice, he lost all control of himself.

    At least he could let his annoyance out.

    ¡°This unreasonable child. Who taught you to talk like that to your aunt? Where are you living now anyway?¡±

    Aunt Yuma had always been like this. She used to have a harmonious family with a wealthy husband and a handsome son, but after her husband¡¯s act of infidelity, she was divorced and was denied child custody for not having a permanent job.

    Now, she only worked as a factoryborer and became a drunkard in her everyday life.

    When Yuujin was still alive and Hiro hadn¡¯t been of age to manage his finances yet, Yuujin sent money for him through Aunt Yuma. Even though this resulted in a huge loss as he only received 50% of his rightful amount, he felt bad seeing his aunt¡¯s pitiful condition and decided not to tell Yuujin about it.

    In truth, Hiro deeply cared about the people around him. It was just that he never openly showed it as he didn¡¯t like tantly expressing it for people to see.

    Yet despite his ¡°attitude¡± of only caring about himself, his brother noticed and became the only one, and this made the two brothers¡¯ bond special and unique.

    ¡°Aunt Yuma, are you still drinking alcohol these days?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? Are you poking your nose in my business now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting older, Aunt Yuma, you should stop drinking alcohol before it¡¯s toote. Don¡¯t you want to see your son grow up?¡±

    Beep!

    The woman hung up when Hiro mentioned the taboo word she didn¡¯t want to hear.

    Hiro sighed before checking the LSO app on his android bracelet. Still nothing.

    The air outside was getting colder, and he couldn¡¯t endure it any longer. Hiro went back into his room and locked the door.

    He then lied down on the bed and stared at the skinscreen on his left again, waiting.

    Time felt so slow, and he hated it.

    Ding!

    [You received a new message from Anonymous]

    This time, he was more than interested in Anonymous¡¯s message. He even sat up to read its content.

    [Anonymous: Hey! Bored waiting? I have free time at the moment, so how about telling me something interesting about the game?]

    Hiro still couldn¡¯t tell how Anonymous knew he could ess LSO¡¯s CBT version. It was as if several CCTVs were installed in his room without his knowledge and Anonymous was behind it.

    He felt observed and unsafe. Nevertheless, through the file Anonymous sent, he managed to obtain new information that answered his question regarding the CBT yers¡¯ identities, albeit only a little.

    They were real yers and not NPCs.

    Moreover, Hiro was sure that Anonymous was very clever. This man could bring him harm from the beginning if he truly wanted to, yet he did nothing bad apart from bothering him with absurd messages.

    Ding!

    [You received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: I almost forgot you can¡¯t directly reply to me, lol. Why not download this app and tell me interesting things about the game there? ^^]

    Of course, Hiro didn¡¯t immediately download the app Anonymous sent through the message. He still felt suspicious and wary of this unknown man and his motives, after all.

    However, the same thing happened again. As if it had a will of its own, his android bracelet downloaded the app and installed it without his instruction.

    ¡®I can¡¯t beat this one.¡¯

    He yielded with a sigh. At least the app smoothly went through the three antivirusyers installed on his android bracelet.

    [New application has been installed sessfully]

    [Program Name: Love Room]

    [Type: Online Dating]

    ¡°Is he crazy?¡± Hiro blurted out before stiffening at a thought.

    ¡®¡­Could he actually be a she?¡¯

    He felt as if he just got a hard p on the face after reading the name and type of the program Anonymous sent.

    Upon opening the app, let alone finding an option to sign up, he was immediately logged into an ount he never made. Despite that, the ount had the same profile picture as his email, along with some details usually present in online dating apps.

    [Yamaguchi Hiro, 18+]

    [Male]

    [Single, looking for a casual rtionship.]

    [I prefer a blonde girl with big boobies for a romantic dinner date.]

    ¡°Damn it! Again!?¡±

    He felt as if he was being toyed with, repeatedly, by the same person.

    Ding!

    [A new match!]

    Hiro received a notification before he even did a thing on the strange app. He looked at the other party¡¯s profile picture to see who he just got matched to, only to be disappointed right after.

    The ount had no profile picture, just the default silhouette of a person without hair.

    [Anonymous: OK, we¡¯re safe here!]

    [Anonymous: So, is there anything you want to tell me, handsome?]

    [You: FUCK YOU]

    Hiro irritatedly typed without hesitation.

    [Anonymous: Aww!]

    [Anonymous: That¡¯s an unusual way to express love, but fuck you too!]

    Hiro silently red at the message before lying back down and staring at the ceiling.

    He didn¡¯t want to deal with this person.

    [Anonymous: Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?]

    [Anonymous: I don¡¯t have much time, you know]

    [Anonymous: Are you sure?]

    [Anonymous: Nothing at all??]

    His android bracelet was set to vibrate every time a message came in, so the iing notifications really annoyed him.

    However, just as he moved his hand to silence his notifications, Anonymous¡¯sst message made him nk out and forget.

    [Nothing about WynterRain?]

    WynterRain.

    Hiro almost forgot again.

    He had been staring at Liberty¡¯s stunning photo for so long that he forgot he still had an extremely important matter to keep in mind.

    ¡®Does he know something? Does he know that the name appeared and disappeared in-game?¡¯

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to waste time asking himself.

    [You: Did you know that WynterRain ys that game?]

    Anonymous is typing¡­

    He subconsciously moved his thumb to bite but ultimately stopped his hand mid-way when a reply came.

    [Anonymous: No]

    [Anonymous: How are you so sure he¡¯s the real one?]

    Hiro fell into thought for a moment. It was true that the name wasmonly widespread in the world of games and many copied it, but he had a feeling this one was the real WynterRain.

    The WynterRain he knew, Yuujin.

    [You: I think he¡¯s the real one, I saw his name on the leaderboard]

    [Anonymous: Do you have a reason?]

    Hiro thought about it. A reason? He didn¡¯t want to say it was just based on his intuition and bebeled as a fool, so he needed a strong reason.

    At that moment, he remembered a detail.

    901,459.

    [You: His battle rating was crazy! No doubt, it was him!]

    Hiro quickly typed before pausing.

    [You: But he¡¯s supposedly dead]

    Anonymous is typing¡­

    [Anonymous: Great, so you believe it¡¯s actually him too!]

    [Anonymous: BTW, I have a job for you!]

    ¡®A job?¡¯

    Hiro waited for Anonymous to continue.

    [Anonymous: You¡¯ve read my post on the dark web, right? I¡¯m investigating your brother¡¯s strange death, and you¡¯ll be helping me with a few things]

    He was shocked to read this unknown person¡¯s message.

    ¡°How does he know I¡¯m WynterRain¡¯s brother?¡± Hiro muttered in confusion and disbelief.

    [Anonymous: Of course I know, you can¡¯t fool me]

    [Anonymous: I can even see that stupid look on your face right now lol]

    Hiro suspected the camera on his android bracelet and immediately covered it with his hand.

    [Anonymous: Nice try, you covered my vision]

    [Anonymous: But I¡¯m serious. I need you to uncover the truth behind WynterRain¡¯s death.]

    Hiro was still covering the camera while thinking. If the WynterRain in LSO was indeed his brother as Anonymous suspected¡­

    But wasn¡¯t his brother dead? And his nightmare of Yuujin telling him he was killed¡­

    Chills ran down his spine as he remembered the scene quite vividly.

    ¡®What does it mean?¡¯

    He suddenly felt his body heat up and his heart beating rapidly. Now that he thought about it, the game was unusual from the start. Its sudden release with its own cryptocurrency, the CBT version with no information avable anywhere, the CBT yers¡¯ strange behaviors¡­

    And his deceased brother¡¯s appearance?!

    Ding!

    Hiro snapped out of his thoughts.

    [You received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Downloading in progress]

    Hiro stared at his skinscreen changing under Anonymous¡¯s control.

    [Downloadpleted]

    [New application has been installed sessfully]

    [Program Name: LAST SHELTER ONLINE]

    [Initial Release Date: December 8, 2028]

    [Developer: Ninecent Holdings Ltd.]

    [Engine: Real Engine 10 ¨C New Generation Full-Dive VR Gen. 10]

    [Publishers: Ninecent Games, Famous Virtual Limited, Global Interaction Entertainment]

    [Genres: Action, Adventure, Multiyer, Role-ying, Simtion]

    [tform: Virtual Reality]

 Chapter 45

    Hiro was surprised to see the name of the app and quickly checked the CBT version app in his android bracelet.

    It was still there.

    ¡®Are they separate? How did he get the app faster than the official website?¡¯

    [You: You¡¯re telling me to use an illegal app? Are you out of your mind?]

    [Anonymous: Illegal? I bought it for $100!]

    ¡°Bought it for $100? Through what?¡± Hiro muttered with a hint of displeasure.

    [Anonymous: Just kidding, I stole it lol]

    [Anonymous: But it¡¯s not illegal. You need to pay $100 to download the game, so I¡¯m actually helping you save money]

    [Anonymous: You¡¯re wee]

    Hiro frowned when he read Anonymous¡¯s texts in the Love Room app. Like hell he would believe someone he met on the dark web just like that. Even though he was getting more suspicious of the game itself, he still decided to investigate in his own way without the interference of other people.

    He ignored Anonymous once again and opened LSO¡¯s official website. A new announcement with arge headline was on the first page.

    [Countdown for the official release of LAST SHELTER ONLINE: 05:45:55]

    [Prepare your New Generation Full-Dive VR Gen. 10!]

    Nothing on the page said that yers would need to prepare $100, it was clear that Anonymous was making things up. What¡¯s more, the official version wasn¡¯t even avable yet, so how did Anonymous get his hands on it? Is it possible to steal or hack?

    He had to wait once again to enter the virtual world, this time for almost six hours. There was nothing he could do to pass time but force himself to sleep.

    ¡­

    Even though Hiro managed to fall asleep, he woke up only half an hourter due to his nervousness.

    He felt as if time was going really slow when he had to wait.

    Tick, tock, tick, tock.

    Hiro continued to stare at the 3D hologram clock¡¯s second hand projected from his android bracelet.

    Time kept moving, and the time Hiro and others withpatible VR equipment had been waiting for finally arrived.

    Ding!

    [1 application requesting for update]

    The app requesting an update was not the first LSO app Hiro installed from the smartring, but the app that Anonymous sent him.

    [Update in progress]

    [Updatepleted]

    Hiro checked the LSO app on his android bracelet again. He now had two versions with the exact same icon, but the one Anonymous sent had brighter colors and an [LSO] title more inviting to y.

    He was tempted to quickly open the official version and y, but he held himself back and opened the CBT version instead.

    [Request timed out]

    [Request timed out]

    [Request timed out]

    Hiro sighed after receiving the same consecutive results.

    Ding!

    [You received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: You need a new smartring if you don¡¯t want to use the app I sent. Gosh, why is it so hard to get you to cooperate?]

    Smartring?

    It was true that the smartring first came with the VR equipment he received as a birthday gift from Yuujin. And he used it. A smartring could only be used once, and if what Anonymous told him was true, he wouldn¡¯t be able to y LSO without the smartring as it was a set with the VR equipment.

    Hiro could try running to Kira¡¯s supermarket to ask if he had a smartring, but he didn¡¯t want Kira to be suspicious of him while he couldn¡¯t wait to dive into the game.

    At that moment, Hiro froze as a thought came to him.

    ¡®¡­How did he know I don¡¯t have an official smartring? And why did he only send the game software without the VR gear?¡¯

    It was as if he knew Hiro already had one.

    ¡­

    ¡­

    Hiro suddenly felt like an idiot. That VR equipment, did Yuujin really send it?

    All this time, he was under that assumption because of the letter that came with it, but the message came printed in Times New Roman as if its real sender wanted to show their identity.

    And the fact that even the local police didn¡¯t know that he moved to a new address when he got another package sent to Yuujin¡¯s old apartment. How could a delivery man know his new address?

    Hiro patted his forehead when he realized that he was being fooled all this time. He med his consciousness at that time because he was very tired and someone banged on his door to wake him up at 3 AM.

    And so far, the only one he knew could trick him that cleverly was only one person, Anonymous. He was sure that only Anonymous was suspected at this moment.

    [You: It was you who sent the VR gear and pretended to be Yuujin, wasn¡¯t it?]

    He didn¡¯t show it through the text, but anger was boiling in his chest.

    [Anonymous: Whoops, busted!]

    Hiro frowned. He felt even more stupid. How did he even consider that gift from his brother without the slightest doubt? Was he unable to believe his brother¡¯s death so much that he was willing to ept anything with Yuujin¡¯s name on it?

    ¡®So pathetic.¡¯

    [You: What do you really want?]

    [Anonymous: As I said, I need your cooperation. Do you really not want to know what happened to your brother?]

    Anonymous¡¯s question was like a p to Hiro¡¯s face. Of course he wanted to know what happened to his brother! Wasn¡¯t this a provocation!?

    He intentionally ignored Anonymous and directly went to put on the VR equipment before activating the app Anonymous gave him. Moreover, as if he was permitting Anonymous to watch, he no longer blocked the camera on his android bracelet.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    Dark.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t see anything. He could feel that he was standing, but only pitch ck filled his vision.

    It was only a few momentster that a panel screen popped up in front of him. A notification.

    [The system detected that the yer already has an ount.]

    [Nickname: NightFall]

    [Job ss: Barbarian (Basic)]

    [Update: At level 35, basic job sses can be upgraded to one of the 15 advanced job sses thatbine the abilities of two basic sses.]

    [If the special requirements are met, ess to 18 unique expert job sses will be granted at Level 100.]

    [To ess veteran job sses, yers mustplete all main story quests and bloodline-rted quests and obtain a special item known as the ¡®Veteran¡¯s Badge¡¯.]

    Information regarding the job sses was now avable.

    [Bloodline: Demon]

    [Bloodline will not only affect the character¡¯s preference, but also the story building by the system. It also has a special city and quest that can be useful to enhance your power.]

    [Each bloodline has its own strengths and weaknesses.]

    [Demon]

    [Strength: Possesses the ability to steal the blood of opponents and be immortal.]

    [Weakness: Holy attribute]

    [Beast]

    [Strength: Possesses a special Raging status that increases attack speed.]

    [Weakness: Fire attribute]

    [Dragon]

    [Strength: Possesses a body as strong as steel and the ability to be immortal.]

    [Weakness: Electricity attribute]

    [Dwarf]

    [Strength: Forging and enchanting sess rate are greatly increased.]

    [Weakness: Water attribute]

    [Elf]

    [Strength: Possesses 3x higher mana or AP points than other bloodlines.]

    [Weakness: Metal attribute]

    [Please choose your bloodline]

 Chapter 46

    Hiro fell into thought when he saw the previously absent additional information. With his now unchangeable job ss, the bloodlines that suited him would probably be Demon and Beast. The Dragon bloodline would be more suited for knights, the Dwarf bloodline was proficient in weapon crafting matters, and the Elf bloodline was definitely most suited for mages.

    He thought twice. If he were to choose Beast, the special Raging status would increase the speed of hisbo. However, that was only if the Raging status was active. Furthermore, attacking in a barrage would require quite a lot of Health Potions and hisbo would end if he stopped to consume a potion.

    But he wouldn¡¯t need to think about such a problem if he chose Demon. With the lifesteal ability, he wouldn¡¯t need a lot of, if any, Health Potions. As for his attack speed, he could just collect buff cards.

    His legendary weapon was also from the Demon bloodline quest, and it would be a great waste if he couldn¡¯t use it because of bloodline ipatibility or the sort.

    [You chose Demon as your bloodline.]

    [Downloading avatar data, please wait¡­]

    [Downloadpleted]

    [CBT yer ID: 1001]

    [Personal data information (Unavable)]

    [Please input your real age for a suitable storyline selection.]

    [System-estimated age: 20¨C30]

    ¡°I¡¯m 18, you stupid system!¡±

    [Noted]

    [Thank you]

    [Please select a server.]

    ¡°North America.¡±

    [You have chosen North America as your starting server. Confirm?]

    [Note: Cross-server will be avable in the next patch update.]

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    [Choose an option based on your preference.]

    [Hardcore (Free)] [Casual (Subscription required: 10,000 LSC/month)]

    ¡°Do you always rob yers like this? Hardcore, of course.¡±

    [You have chosen Hardcore. Confirm?]

    ¡°Yes. Come on!¡±

    The panel screen disappeared, and a moment after, Hiro felt the sensation he hated the most in this game. Still, being able to feel it once again also relieved him.

    Teleportation.

    It was indistinct, but after a few moments, the sounds of amotion with people screaming slowly became clearer.

    ¡°Help!¡±

    Crack¡ª

    CRASH!

    Before he even opened his eyes, a burning sensation overwhelmed his throat.

    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±

    ¡®What is going on?¡¯

    Upon opening his eyes, Hiro found himself on an iron bunk bed in a room simr to a dorm room. ck smoke had filled the ce.

    He immediately stood up, and the first thing he noticed apart from the mess was the presence of other iron bunk beds in the room.

    [HP -9] [HP -9] [HP -9]

    [You have been afflicted with the Burning effect]

    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡±

    ¡®Why am I in a ce like this!?¡¯

    A newbie would most likely panic when they¡¯re suddenly teleported to a building on fire, but Hiro was only fazed by the game¡¯s main story mode for about three seconds.

    The unbelievably realistic visuals could really make people panic. If he didn¡¯t remember that he was in a game, he definitely would¡¯ve panicked as well.

    Hiro broke the wooden door open and ran outside. On the way, he saw around a dozen frightened children and several sisters, all NPCs.

    ¡®So it¡¯s an orphanage.¡¯

    At the same time, he just realized that he had been running with only shorts. No shirt and nothing in his hands, just shorts.

    ¡®Looks like my task for now is to get out of this mess.¡¯

    Hiro then continued to run following the direction the NPCs were running to. The NPCs looked at him somewhat strangely, but he ignored them and kept running.

    However, just when he ran past them toward the exit gate, the ceiling above suddenly crumbled down.

    CRASH!

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Hiro jumped back just in time and looked around for another exit.

    The moment he saw a wooden door to another room nearby, he broke it down without a second thought.

    BANG!

    The door came off its hinge.

    Hiro quickly took it to get rid of the rubble in front of him. Without hesitation, he then ran out and broke the main door with a kick.

    Bang!

    He was ready to greet the end of the story mode, but he halted when he saw the sight in front of him.

    ¡°What¡­¡±

    An enormous monster with a pair of broken wings on its back was standing amid the chaos and destruction, looking down at the screaming vigers with joy.

    It was Lucifer, the same Lucifer Hiro defeated in the quest [The Underworld]. However, the demon was not only in his absolute demon form, but he was also 10xrger than before.

    One by one, lines of words appeared in front of him and moved like an advertisement board.

    [One day, Demon King Lucifer escaped from the Underworld and destroyed a vige in Eternity Kingdom with his terrifying strength.]

    [You are an orphan who lives in the orphanage. When all the vigers ran and cowered in fear due to the destruction, you were the only one brave enough to go against the demon king.]

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡®Without a weapon or armor??¡¯

    After the words disappeared, the absolute demon¡¯s pair of shiny ck eyes suddenly locked onto Hiro.

    ¡®Looks like it¡¯s like that after all.¡¯

    At least he already knew about some of Lucifer¡¯s skills. He even defeated the absolute demon once, albeit the [Weakened] version of him.

    ¡°Hup!¡± The absolute demon¡¯s ws suddenly came at Hiro, but he swiftly jumped and rolled to evade.

    Hiro was thinking about his next course of action when all of a sudden, a woman¡¯s scream sounded from behind where he previously was.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    The woman was one of the orphanage sisters. Because Hiro evaded, Lucifer¡¯s ws grabbed the person who was behind him instead.

    Ding!

    [Save thedy and defeat the demon king!]

    [10]

    [9]

    [8]

    [7]

    Seeing the countdown frustrated him. Was he really supposed to save her without any equipment?

    Hiro hurriedly looked around. He didn¡¯t have much time, so he grabbed a nearby stick with a sharp end to use as a weapon.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    SPLAT! [HP -50]

    He used the stick like he would use a spear and stabbed one of the absolute demon¡¯s feet with full force.

    ¡°GROAHH!!¡± the absolute demon roared in pain and reflexively let go of the sister in his hand.

    At that moment, Hiro immediately jumped to catch the light body beforending on the ground with a loud thud.

    ¡°You saved me!¡± the NPC looked at Hiro with tears. Her body was trembling.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,dy, I got this,¡± he reassured the terrified sister.

    ¡®I¡¯ve defeated him before anyway.¡¯

    Hiro intentionally put the sister down far from Lucifer before running toward the absolute demon without anything in his hands.

    Punch! [HP -10]

    The damage he inflicted didn¡¯t do much to Lucifer.

    Even so, he wasn¡¯t done. After he took a step back, Hiro took the pieces of wood scattered around and used them as his weapon.

    Bang! [HP -50]

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Having run out of wood pieces to use, Hiro began to pick up therge stones he could find nearby and threw them at the absolute demon. But once again, his efforts were futile.

    Whoosh!

    Lucifer¡¯s deadly ws once again came at him. Fortunately, Hiro sessfully dodged thanks to his fast reflexes.

    ¡°What are we going to do now, NightFall?¡± Hiro forced his brain to think the way out.

    There was nothing else around him he could use to injure the absolute demon. Out of things to use as a weapon, Hiro decided to keep running to avoid Lucifer¡¯s attacks.

    BOOM!

    KABOOM!

    The small buildings around the orphanage were destroyed as a result of the absolute demon trying tond a hit on Hiro, who kept on running.

    ¡®Isn¡¯t this impossible? What¡¯s the point of this anyway?¡¯

    BOOM!

    ¡®What am I supposed to do to finish this scene!?¡¯

    Hop!

    Hiro quickly jumped when Lucifer¡¯s tail swept him from the ground.

    He almost got struck, causing his heart to beat even more rapidly.

    He felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his chest.

    ¡°Ah.¡±

    The close call gave him an idea.

    All of a sudden, Hiro stopped at the same time the absolute demon swung hisrge ws at him. His body tensed up a little, but he silently looked at the iing ws without moving.

    ¡®Don¡¯t hurt too much,¡¯ he secretly hoped.

    SPLAT!

    When Lucifer¡¯s sharp ws pierced his body and into his vital organs, Hiro felt an excruciating pain he had never felt before. Blood sttered and flowed out as the absolute demon pulled out his ws, dropping him to the dirty ground like a rag doll.

    His vision was beginning to faintly blur and darken. Through his ringing ears, he heard the muffled sounds of a ruckus in the air above.

    Although his sight had blurred quite a bit, he could still see what seemed to be seven priests in the air, circling the raging demon.

    [The best high priests from Eternity Kingdom came, but the brave young man¡¯s life was already hanging by a thread after receiving the raging demon¡¯s fatal attack.]

    [When the high priests came to seal the demon, the unholy soul slipped away and darted toward the nearest dying body to hide.]

    [The invasion of the unholy soul saved the brave young man, but his body became possessed as a result.]

    Just as Hiro finished reading thest line, his sightpletely blurred before falling into pitch-ck darkness.

 Chapter 47

    [The best high priests from Eternity Kingdom came, but the brave young man¡¯s life was already hanging by a thread after receiving the raging demon¡¯s fatal attack.]

    [When the high priests came to seal the demon, the unholy soul slipped away and darted toward the nearest dying body to hide.]

    [The invasion of the unholy soul saved the brave young man, but his body became possessed as a result.]

    ¡­

    Just five seconds after Hiro seemingly cked out from the life-threatening injury, light and rity slowly returned to his sight. Not only did his body feel normal, but he even felt somewhat refreshed.

    It was as if all the pain he just experienced was nothing more than an illusion.

    When his vision waspletely restored, he found himself in a familiar ce; a hall with a giant chessboard-like floor.

    Ding!

    [The Headmistress is trying to connect to you]

    After briefly looking at the notification with curiosity, Hiro allowed ess to the iing call. The moment he agreed to answer, something popped up in front of him.

    A mini 3D hologram of a woman. Her formal, tidy suit seemed to be a little tight on herrge chest.

    [Wee to Half-Blood Academy, NightFall. I am Headmistress Eva.]

    [You can find your student ID in your inventory.]

    [If you are wondering how you ended up here, you can find the Head of Demon House, Miss Lucile.]

    Poof!

    After the headmistress finished speaking, her 3D hologram immediately disappeared. He was a bit confused as to why the headmistress would personally contact a student just to say that, but before he could think more about it, a barrage of notifications quickly popped up one by one.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Two-Handed Wooden Sword (Level 1) Tier D]

    [You have obtained a new costume ¡®Half-Blood Student Uniform¡¯]

    [You have obtained a new title, ¡®First-Year Student¡¯]

    [You have obtained Student ID (Demon House Club)]

    Apart from the student ID, the items he received were the same as those he received in the CBT version.

    Hiro observed his surroundings.

    The hall was filled with a sea of people in the same uniform. Although he couldn¡¯t really tell where they were each from, he could see that these yers were of different races from all across the world.

    ¡°This is so damn cool!¡±

    ¡°Look! I have cat ears!¡±

    ¡°You look stunning,dy.¡±

    ¡°Anyone wanna y with me?¡±

    So many people were speaking at the same time that Hiro¡¯s head started to ache, so he decided to walk toward the hall¡¯s main entrance for a more quiet space. Upon checking his HUD system, he could see the name of the hall on the map.

    [Half-Blood Student Hall of Fame]

    There was a staircase leading to an upper floor and more than five floors in total, but he wasn¡¯t interested in checking the hall. Not for the time being, at least.

    He was more interested in what was outside.

    Just a moment after he stepped out, Nyx the Asdroid appeared right in front of him.

    ¡°Hi, Nyx!¡± Hiro was a little surprised by its sudden appearance, but he still greeted it with a smile.

    ¡°Hello again, NightFall!¡±

    To his surprise, the AI robot still had the data information of his avatar.

    ¡°I guess you already know how to y.¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°But I have some new information for you.¡±

    Nyx began to exin.

    In the official version of LSO, the yer kill feature has been activated. This means that yers can be killed anytime and anywhere, even in big cities.

    The penalty level varies depending on the location. If a yer is killed in a city or a town, the killed yer¡¯s EXP will be reduced by 100%. This means that the yer¡¯s level will go down by one.

    Meanwhile, if a yer is killed outside a city or a town, the killed yer¡¯s EXP will be reduced by 100% and the avatar will be unyable for seven days. This penalty time can be cut by purchasing the [Life Expense] item through the game¡¯s official website.

    The penalties mentioned are not limited to deaths caused by PKs or monsters.

    ¡°But what penalties do the yer killers get? Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯re allowed to freely get away with it.¡±

    In response to his question, the Asdroid disyed a screen panel containing the penalty information.

    [Murder is an unforgivable act. Killing another yer will cause the name bar and HP of the yer killer to turn red. Whoever eliminates yers with red names will receive bonus LSC from the system.]

    [Note: The bonus LSC given will depend on the difficulty level of eliminating the yer killer.]

    Hiro smiled when he saw the penalty for yer killers. He liked it.

    ¡®Everyone can be an executor.¡¯

    ¡°By the way, Nyx¡­ where are my items from the CBT ver-¡±

    [Nyx¡¯s time is up. The Asdroid must return to its home.]

    Poof!

    The Asdroid disappeared before he could even finish his question.

    Unlike before, Hiro didn¡¯t get teleported to Beginner Town as soon as Nyx ran out of time. Furthermore, ording to Nyx, he could either use a teleportation item or service through the NPC at every spot on the map in order to get to Beginner Town.

    But he didn¡¯t n on immediately heading out. Instead, he first opened his progressive stats.

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [First-Year Student]

    Base Level 1 (0/50)

    Job ss Level 1 (0/50)

    Health 370/370

    AP 65/65

    Energy 100/100

    Fame 100

    BR 250

    Basic Stats (Points 3)

    STR 19

    AGI 16

    INT 15

    VIT 21

    DEX 16

    LUCK 13

    All the stats had been reset, and the basic stat points saved were from the first bonus of reaching level 1.

    Hiro quickly used the three points for STR, the stat that would benefit him the most as a berserker.

    He checked his stats after the STR increase and found something odd.

    ¡®Where¡¯s the Swish Swish Potion¡¯s effect?¡¯

    Hiro closed the progressive stats screen to check his inventory.

    With the effect of the Swish Swish Potion he made in the CBT version, the basic stats he had should be more than this. ording to the information the customer service provided, it should have been transferred to his ount after the official release as it was a rare item.

    However, he couldn¡¯t find anything in his inventory apart from the items he just received.

 Chapter 48

    Hiro frowned. He didn¡¯t think that the customer service lied or gave him false information. His LSC bnce showed that he still had the amount he had in the CBT version.

    [Bnce 3,925 LSC]

    ¡®It¡¯s probably still being transferred. After all, they have to transfer the data of a thousand yers.¡¯

    He tried to stay positive and put the matter off his mind for the time being.

    ¡­

    Hiro checked the other menus avable in his system and found a lot of new things. There were icons for the Main Story, Daily Quests, and Weekly Quests. However, Daily Quests could only be essed after the yer reached base level 20 while Weekly Quests could only be essed after level 30.

    Meanwhile, main story quests were the only ones avable at the moment. The main story had a high amount of bonus experience and bonus LSC. The system also mentioned that if a yer got lucky, they could receive certain gifts from the NPCs rted to the story.

    Hiro already knew that it would be like this. Upon starting an MMORPG, main story quests tend to greatly aid the level-up process. This was because through the quests, yers could get to know the game more.

    Like an indirect tutorial.

    One of the new icons that attracted his attention was the golden cup. The icon contained information about LSO¡¯s Leaderboard, both of the same server and all the servers. Even so, the data was still empty. The daily rankings would be updated every day, the weekly rankings every week, and the monthly rankings every month.

    Ding!

    [You have a new message]

    [Congrattions, yer NightFall! You have sessfully joined us in Last Shelter online, the game that will take over the global game world. As of today, the total of yers registered worldwide is 1,001,001, and you are lucky to be one of them!]

    [In addition, as we announced worldwide, the month-long opening event has started. The top 1,000 yers will be rewarded with 10,000 LSC and the top 100 yers will be rewarded with an additional 50,000 LSC. You can update your rank in the Leaderboard to see your progress.]

    [As long as the main opening event is still ongoing, there will be other events announced with various rewards. Stay tuned! -Nyx]

    In other words, Hiro needed to be in the top 100 to obtain the reward of 60,000 USD.

    ¡®With the CBT version, this should be easier than before.¡¯

    Before Hiro closed his HUD system, his eyes moved to the Friend List.

    ¡®Are they still here?¡¯ He immediately checked the icon with hope.

    [Friend List]

    [Jacob] [Level 1] [Online]

    [Liberty] [Level 1] [Online]

    ¡®They¡¯re still here!¡¯

    Hiro almost screamed in joy. He quickly pressed Liberty¡¯s name to start a call like he usually did, but¡­

    [You have to request to add the yer as a friend to connect]

    Without hesitation, Hiro sent a friend request to Liberty and Jacob and immediately tried to reconnect with the girl he missed again.

    But¡­

    [Your friend request has not been epted by the yer]

    [You can only connect to yers who have be your friend]

    ¡°Damn it! She IS in my friend list, you f***ing system!¡±

    ¡®Huh?¡¯

    His voice was censored.

    ¡°Oh, so you have that red code now, huh!? Are you that scared of being cursed by yers, you f***king system!?¡±

    Hiro took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, neutralizing his emotions. Getting mad at the system wouldn¡¯t do him any good.

    In this game, the system was akin to a god. It could control everything.

    ¡°All set.¡±

    Hiro looked around the area of Halfblood Academy, the ce where the main story for his avatar began. The map for the academy area was immensely wide as it also had various outdoor facilities, but he wasn¡¯t interested in them.

    He decided to do the main story quests first before grinding and leveling up by beating up monsters.

    Either way, the fastest and easiest method to level up was none other than doing the main story quests until it required you to level up further to continue.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to waste it.

    First, he had to find the Head of Demon House, Lucille. The NPCdy was on standby in front of the training area building.

    Thedy had knee-length blonde hair. Her eyes were red like any other demon half-blood, and she had a horn on her forehead.

    Lucille exined that a dormant demonic power resided in Hiro¡¯s body, and so that great power wouldn¡¯t be misused, he was brought to the Halfblood Academy by the high priests of Eternity Kingdom to be trained to be heroes with other special people.

    ording to Lucille, every student had their own special origin. For half-demon students, they were all possessed by unholy souls of demon kings.

    Apart from that, Lucille didn¡¯t give any other information. And the main story continued.

    He was instructed to head to [Beginner Town] using the teleportation NPC¡¯s service. It originally had a price, but it was free of charge this time as it was mandatory for the quest.

    [You will be teleported to Beginner Town]

    Hiro held his breath in an attempt to reduce the difort from the teleportation, but it was futile. He was sucked back and forced into an invisible narrow pipe once again. His chest felt tight, and when he opened his eyes, a view of a town he very much missed greeted his sight.

    Beginner Town.

    The buildings looked exactly as he remembered. The only difference was the number of people present.

    The first ce he thought of visiting was Liberty¡¯s house. However, when he ran to the housing estate, he found that the ce no longer functioned for yers. There were only NPCs going around with their activities in the area as if it was meant for them.

    ¡®Great, just great. Now I have no way of connecting to Libe.¡¯

    ¡°I hope she¡¯s all right,¡± he muttered with worry.

    In the end, Hiro focused back on the main quest and went to talk to the NPC involved.

    He had toplete the main story quest concerning how to use weapons and kill opponents with them. It didn¡¯t really matter to him since he already knew how, but he still did it for the EXP.

    Ding!

    [Base level up x2]

    [Job ss level up x2]

    [Sword Combo Skill has been unlocked, skill points required to activate]

    Hiro quickly activated his favorite skill.

    Next, he was introduced to the cksmith NPCs.

    [Master Gararic: cksmith for weapons]

    [Master Burchard: cksmith for armor]

    [Master Grace: cksmith for essories]

    ording to the information he received, weapons, armor, and other equipment had eight tiers from E to SSS. Equipment obtained from monster drops could only be tier A at most, while tier S, SS, and SSS equipment could only be obtained through crafting.

    A-tier equipment and above could obtain additional statuses through refining, which could be done a maximum of 12 times (+12). To upgrade equipment to tier S, SS, and SSS, the equipment must be at least A-tier with maximum refinement (+12) and the yer must own a tier upgrade blueprint.

    Hiro obtained the information from the updated newbie guide book avable in his HUD system.

    Ding!

    [Base level up x2]

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    After talking to all three cksmith NPCs, Hiro was instructed to learn how to refine weapons. But before that, he had to own a level 1 mining and smelting skills, and he had to level up to level 20 in order to learn those two skills.

    In truth, the materials required to refine weapons could be obtained by purchasing mining or smelting items through the Marketce. However, no yers were currently selling those items as they were still busy with their own activities. Besides, Hiro had to do his main quests in order.

    And he almost forgot something important.

    ¡°My regr plot!¡±

 Chapter 49

    Hiro almost forgot the thing he bought for 10,000 SD, the most expensive thing he purchased in his life.

    He could find neither the ownership certificate nor the sir/madam title he received in the CBT version.

    ording to the customer service he contacted, regr plots and settlements could be imed in the tax office in every city. Because of this, he once again opened the map to find the location of the mentioned tax office. However, it turned out that the previously empty buildings at the town square had been put to use, and one of them was for the tax office.

    Hiro headed to the tax office in Beginner Town. Fortunately, the office was in working hours despite it being 6 AM on the server when he arrived.

    There was already a somewhat long queue inside, so he had to get to the rearmost of the queue outside the main entrance. He couldn¡¯t help but think of how long it would take as he looked at the length of the queue, and he wasn¡¯t the only one.

    ¡°So annoying.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t spend $10,000 just to wait in line.¡±

    ¡°Why do I have to be stuck here? I want to y the game, damn it.¡±

    Numerous yers with the same fate wereining. Hiro also felt that the long line was inconvenient, but unlike them, he decided to read the newly-updated newbie guide book to pass time.

    To his surprise, they actually added quite a lot of new information.

    Under the ownership of Ninecent were five major cities representing the five races in the game: beast, dragon, dwarf, elf, and demon. In order to get there, yers could use the teleportation NPCs¡¯ services at the price of 100¨C500 LSC depending on the distance.

    yers could get there free of charge bypleting the main quest. However, this only applied to the city representing the yer¡¯s bloodline. yers with a student ID could receive a discount, but they still had to pay if they wanted to go to the other four major cities.

    Hiro smiled upon reading the description. The game developers really wanted to use the system in real life for the system in-game. There was even a special discount for students.

    Every yer¡¯s main story differed depending on the yer¡¯s age range, it¡¯s safe for all ages to y.

    Hiro was in awe. This was a clever innovation as other MMORPGs only had one main story for all yers, which would make it not very suitable for yers outside their main age range target.

    The [CBT yers] page in the HUD system home menu had been reced by the [Leaderboards] page. The Leaderboards had four parts: yer rankings based on bloodline power and yer rankings based on BR, each category divided into yers on their own server and global servers.

    Bloodline power is measured based on the yer¡¯s body stage level. Afterpleting the bloodline-rted quest, the yer¡¯s stage level would increase like a normal level up. An example is how beast half-bloods only had pointy ears at first but would grow a tail upon reaching stage 2.

    The number of yers with an ount on the NA server could be considered quiterge with a total of 350,000 yers, over a third of the number of VR equipment sold for the game¡¯s softunch. Hiro felt relieved. Servers with a lot of yers had their advantages, and one of the major advantages was item transactions by yers for a smooth cash flow.

    The queue to the counter to im thend certificate had begun to lessen. Hiro was already very close to the counter, so he closed his HUD system to stand by.

    ¡°Your name, sir?¡±

    ¡°NightFall.¡±

    Ding!

    [W2801 (NA) regr plot certificate has been imed]

    [New title ¡®Sir¡¯ has been obtained]

    [Fame has increased]

    Hiro walked out of the noisy building while checking the details in the rule book for plot owners. It contained some exnation about the rules, the reason he had to take hisnd certificate at the tax office was that as andowner, he had to pay a certain amount of tax every month.

    Thend tax calction was quite simple; 3% of the ie from putting the plot ofnd to use.

    Even though it was only 3%, he didn¡¯t want to incur losses after paying 10,000 USD to buy the plot. He was determined to make the plot he bought popr so the ie he received could return the amount he paid for the plot.

    However, his goal would not be easy to achieve. When he arrived at his regr plot, nobody was present apart from himself.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡±

    ¡®There are so many resources here, but nobody came? Are they stupid?¡¯

    Hiro felt that he had to do something to publicize his regr plot. If he failed to do so, all his effort so far would¡¯ve been in vain.

    The rule was, every yer who stayed in the regr plot area to grind monsters or mine resources would have to pay a tax to the plot owner as much as the owner demanded. If a yer wanted to build in the regr plot, the tax they would have to pay included the initial development impact tax to purchase how much of the plot would be used and pay a monthly tax decided by the plot owner.

    Furthermore, if a yer was killed while grinding in the regr plot area, the yer would have to pay a fixed tax of 15% of their total LSC bnce.

    To make his ordinary-looking regr plot popr, Hiro had to decide on reasonable tax prices. Besides, he could change them anytime.

    [Grinding and mining tax: 10 LSC per minute.]

    [Property tax: 1,000 LSC per slot]

    [Monthly property tax: Calcted based on the building size]

    After setting the tax matter, Hiro thought about how to promote hisnd. He had to prove to the yers that his regr plot was a strategic ce for various activities.

    And to prove it, the first thing he had to do was level up until he reached a higher level than the others.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

 Chapter 50

    Hiro had decided to start grinding at his regr plot area. The first monster that became his opponent this time was a baby wolf type that, ording to the manual book, had a rather bnced base EXP and job ss EXP that would allow him to level both of them up at once.

    In LSO, basic job sses could be changed to the next stage when the yer reached level 35 job ss. Because level caps no longer existed for the time being, Hiro decided to strive to bnce his base level and job ss level.

    He only had his Basic Sword Combo Skill, so by being able to change his job ss to the next stage, he would have more and varying job ss default skills.

    There were two levels on the progressive stats of LSO yers: base level and job ss level. Base level was crucial as a quest, event, and equipment requirement, while job sses affected quests and skills rted to job sses.

    Hiro had purchased several HP Potions and Energy Potions as capital for his non-stop grind.

    And he was also nning to use the reward weapon from the previous main story quest.

    [Beginner Metal Two-Handed Greatsword (Level 5) ¨C Tier A]

    [Damage 101; uracy 25; Crit 9]

    For his n¡¯s sess.

    The hunting spots for the baby wolves filled one slot of Hiro¡¯s regr plot. In that one slot was an area of over 20 meters with a total of 17 baby wolves roaming. The monster was no taller than Hiro¡¯s knee and its slim body was covered in rough and untidy orange fur.

    Apart from having bnced EXP, there was also a chance of the monster dropping a [Defensive Damage Bonus +1%] armor card. Grinding there was not a bad idea at all.

    [Baby Wolf (Level 7)]

    [Race: Beast]

    ¡°Come on, little monsters!¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro pulled out his greatsword and dashed forward. In front of him were seven baby wolves ying on a field of grass.

    SPLAT!

    Woorf!

    SPLAT! [2x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [3x Critical Hit Combo]

    Oowah!

    With two shes, three baby wolves became specks of pixels and disappeared with the wind.

    The size of Hiro¡¯s current de was enough to sh three baby wolves at once with a surprise attack. However, after his act of disturbing the monsters, 10 baby wolves around simultaneously began to approach him.

    Hiro was expecting and even hoping for it. He didn¡¯t want to have to approach the monsters one by one, so brutal-type monsters like these baby wolves were his favorite.

    SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

    The time he had to stop swinging his greatsword for a moment was almost nonexistent as the baby wolves he killed would immediately respawn and continue to attack him.

    SPLAT!

    Hiro didn¡¯t let down his guard one bit. He was extremely careful not to let the baby wolves bite him from every direction. The moment they got too close to his position, his greatsword would sh them away or dead.

    After he began shing his greatsword, he enjoyed it so much that he forgot all his problems for a bit.

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    Despite having leveled up, the EXP he received from the baby wolves was still the same. However, the amount of EXP required to advance to the next level increased. Still, he decided to stay longer as he hadn¡¯t gotten the card he was after.

    However¡­

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    Even after an hour of grinding and another level up, no signs of the drop card he was aiming for appeared.

    Ding!

    [You obtained Rusty Greatsword (Level 5) Tier E]

    ¡°¡­Ha.¡±

    ¡®Are you messing with me?¡¯

    Hiro gave up. Even though he hadn¡¯t gotten the drop card he was aiming for, he decided to change his target monster. The EXP required to level up was increasing even more, so it was time to leave the baby wolves and their impossible drop card.

    Still, he couldn¡¯t help but be a little annoyed thinking about it.

    ¡®How much is the drop rate anyway? 1%? 0.00001%??¡¯

    Hiro headed to the spot where the main choice for his grind in the CBT version, Garden Golems, was.

    ¡°We meet again, old pals! Are you going to give me a card?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyes met the Garden Golem walking back and forth, but the monster ignored him and continued doing its own thing. Garden Golems were indeed non-brutal.

    The reason he came here again was that he wasn¡¯t sure if the [ASPD +30%] weapon card was included in the items that would be transferred from the CBT version. Just in case, he decided to grind while hoping to get the weapon card again.

    He wouldn¡¯t be troubled if the item wasn¡¯t transferable from the CBT version, and he could put it up for auction if it was as he knew the card would attract a lot of yers¡¯ interest.

    Apart from that, his main goal for the time being was to level up as fast as he could. Garden Golems had a higher amount of base EXP than job ss EXP with a 2:1 ratio, so his other goal of reaching level 20 to continue the main quest would be reached faster.

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT!

    Hiro stood in the middle of five Garden Golems walking back and forth and attacked them with a long horizontal sh. His goal was to provoke the monsters into approaching him so he would be able to damage four of them at once.

    SPLAT! [5x Critical Hit Combo] [HP -1,000]

    Ding!

    [Garden Golem Weapon Card has dropped in front of you]

    ¡°Ahhh, we really are meant to be!¡± Hiro eximed with joy and immediately checked the item details.

    However¡­

    ¡®Only 5%?¡¯

    It seems that there was a change he missed. The system had considerably nerfed his favorite card from +30% ASPD to +5% ASPD for one card type.

    ¡°Tch.¡± He felt tricked.

    Even so, he still hoped to get his old card. A used card would be bound and subsequently be untradable, so he didn¡¯t immediately use the new card.

    He wasn¡¯t in a rush anyway.

    Hiro continued to beat the golems up without fatigue until the sun fully rose in the blue sky of LSO.

    ¡­

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    Four hours had passed, yet Hiro only leveled up twice since he started with the Garden Golems.

    From today¡¯s grinding session, he noticed two important differences between the CBT version and the official version. One, the EXP gained from monsters of the same kind had been reduced by 10%, and two, if he calcted right, the LSC gained from monsters had been reduced by about 15%.

    Even though the system nerfs were quite significant, Hiro didn¡¯t feel that it was a loss for him. On the contrary, he realized that the developers were very careful in keeping the bnce in the game. In less than a day, they managed to change all those things without a bug?!

    Ding!

    [You have a new message]

    [Dear yer NightFall, thank you for participating in the Closed Beta Test of Last Shelter Online.]

    [Here is your reward.]

    Ding!

    [You obtained a special package from Game Master John]

 Chapter 51

    ¡°The long-waited one had now finally arrived.¡±

    [Ding! You have obtained a special package]

    ¡°Open it.¡±

    [Ding! You have obtained an ordinary hairband]

    [Ding! You have obtained Batarang (Level 15), Tier A]

    [Ding! You have obtained GPS System]

    [Ding! You have obtained Swish Swish potion]

    [Ding! You have obtained the legendary weapon Blood-eater Vampire Greatsword (Level 10) ¨C Tier SSS]

    [Ding! Demon quest has beenpleted]

    [Energy increased to 250]

    [Ding! You have received a new costume ¡®Night Ocean Cloak¡¯]

    [Ding! You have obtained Awakening Sword Combo Skill scroll]

    [Ding! You have received a new title ¡®Gorgeous Smile¡¯]

    [Ding! You have received a new title ¡®The Underworld¡¯]

    [Ding! You have received a new title ¡®CBT King¡¯]

    ¡°Well, not bad.¡±

    Most of the items that had been obtained from the CBT version had finally been well received by Hiro.

    Items that he didn¡¯t receive were a set of armor, a drop from a monster in the shape of a crow¡¯s skull, a LUCK-enhancing , and the garden golem cards. He felt at a disadvantage now, especially when he didn¡¯t receive the garden golem cards back.

    Even so, at least the weapons that had been promised were given for free.

    However, when he opened the description of the weapon, Hiro was again surprised to see the details.

    [Legendary Weapon: Blood-eater Vampire (Greatsword)]

    [Tier SSS] [Rank Upgrade 0/5]

    [Damage 729; uracy 12; Aspd 19; Crit 21]

    [Rank 0 Weapon Special Ability: None]

    [Unique skill: The blood-eater vampire is a blood-craving Greatsword that can absorb 55% of any object with HP in contact with the de. This skill will remain active for 60 seconds and can only be used for one time in every object (in the crowd). However, when targeting only one object, this sword can absorb 75% of the single target¡¯s HP. The HP absorbed by the sword will be converted to yer HP and ATK simultaneously by a 50:50 ratio (Cooldown 15 minutes) (AP Cost 500)]

    [Refinement : None]

    [Enchantment: None]

    [Can be used for all job sses. ]

    [Privileged Weapon]

    [Untradable]

    [Signature: NightFall]

    The rank upgrade which was a full 5/5 is now 0. Rank 0 didn¡¯t give any weapon special abilities. And the previously refined level max had also been reset to 0, so there was no additional damage increase for now. Not to mention that the cooldown for unique skills had increased to 15 minutes.

    Hiro pulled his own hair in annoyance after seeing his weapon status being reset from the start.

    He had to rank and refine his weapons to get the same status as before.

    ¡°Hufft.¡± Hiro let out a long disappointed sigh.

    Unlike other types of weapons, legendary weapons provided additional new statuses called rank upgrades which were depicted in the form of stars.

    The maximum rank upgrade was 5 stars. To upgrade a legendary weapon, yers mustplete main quests rted to the origin of the legendary weapon.

    Even though many of the sword¡¯s abilities were still locked, the basic power of the sword was still overpoweredpared to other weapons of the same level.

    However, Hiro¡¯s current base-level was still level 8 and it needed to go up 2 more levels to be able to use the weapon. But still, his enthusiasm was now not as great as before because he realized that reaching the top 1,000 required even harder work.

    The next item that Hiro had been waiting for was the Swish Swish Potion which gave a total bonus of 30 basic stat points which he could freely distribute to any stat.

    With an additional 30 bonus points, Hiro¡¯s strength was equivalent to 10 times leveling up.

    [Swish Swish Potion had been consumed]

    [30 basic stats bonus obtained]

    .

    .

    [21 basic stats points have been added to STR (55)]

    [9 basic stats points have been added to AGI (25)]

    [¡®CBT King¡¯ has been equipped]

    [Fame increased]

    [Bonus All stat +3 has been obtained ]

    [BR increased]

    [Night Ocean Cloak has been equipped]

    [Fame increased]

    [BR increased]

    ¡°System Call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

    Base Level 8

    Job ss Level 6

    Health 2320/2320

    AP 625/625

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 2150

    BR 5890

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 58

    AGI 28

    INT 18

    VIT 24

    DEX 19

    LUCK 16

    Skill Stats (Points 0)

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5

    Hiro smiled with satisfaction seeing his current progressive status.

    ¡°All sets.¡±

    Even without a weapon, Hiro was sure he could beat the garden golem in front of him with his bare hands this time. The total damage he currently had was almost double his previous status due to STR.

    Curious to give it a try, Hiro put his greatsword back into its strap and he used his fists to smack the garden golem in front of him.

    Punch! [Health -250]

    Punch! [Health -450]

    Punch! [Health -300]

    ¡°Hahaha. This is fun!¡±

    Kick! Bang!

    Punch! Punch! Side Kick! Double Kick!

    [Ding! Hidden basic skill has been obtained]

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    [Martial Combo Arts has been unlocked]

    [Martial Combo Arts allows you tobo attack by using your fists. Faster attack speed + Increased Damage]

    Hiro didn¡¯t know if he should feel so lucky orugh first because his curiosity to try to attack the golem with his bare hands managed to trigger a hidden skill.

    Martialbo skills could be used to usebos without the help of any weapons and their function was the same as using weapons.

    Because it was automatically activated and rose to level 1, Hiro immediately tried to use a martialbo skill to beat the golem in front of him to see the difference from the previous attack.

    Punch! [Health -350]

    Punch! [2x Hit Combo]

    Punch! [3x Hit Combo]

    [Combo has stopped]

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hiro tried to use the same method and hisbo kept stalling for the third hit. It managed to make him curious and opened the description of the skill more.

    [Martialbo Arts is a hidden basic skill that requires certain moves for thebo to work]

    [Unlocked movement: Punch! Punch! Side Kick! Double Kick!]

    After reading the description, Hiro understood one thing. Thisbo had a certain movement that was set by the system. And if he didn¡¯t use the right movement when using hisbo, it would stop.

    In other words, for martialbo skills to work very well, Hiro had to learn more movements that he wasn¡¯t sure where he would get them from.

    Like a martial technique, there were special moves that must be done to get the perfect result. And that knowledge was adopted by the LSO system and used in Martialbo skills.

    Hiro once yed an offline game with such a mode, and to get a movement in that game he had to learn from an NPC martial arts teacher or look for a scroll containing the movement.

    And although the method was not easy, Martialbo skills would be very useful if sessfully mastered. That way, when in a cornered state during the time the weapon was disarmed, he could still fight with his bare hands.

    Hiro¡¯stest discovery made him even more excited to master the game.

    And because he didn¡¯t have time to y around anymore, Hiro pulled out his sword again and beat the Garden Golem in front of him until he got the next drop card. Although it now only added a 5% ASPD buff, Hiro had already epted it. Better getting a 5% increase than nothing at all.

 Chapter 52

    [Ding! Garden Golem Weapon Card 1x dropped in front of you]

    After 5 hours of grinding at the same spot, the second card had finally been obtained and Hiro finally reached level 13. One by one, the skills he had mastered before were returned.

    [Bloodsteal] helped Hiro save health potions.

    A very hard struggle but worth his time.

    Hiroy down on the grassy field to regain his breath, which was panting from exhaustion.

    ¡°This is insane, it wasn¡¯t this hard to get 3 cards back then.¡±

    This time, his level was enough to equip his legendary weapon.

    [Blood-eater Vampire has been equipped]

    [BR has increased]

    The greatsword once again appeared before Hiro beautifully.

    Seeing the visual of the sword made Hiro amazed by the graphic features.

    With the legendary weapon sword back in his hands, Hiro could speed up his grinding agenda to level up to 20.

    And he already knew where the most strategic monster spots were to reach that level quickly.

    Previously, it took him 3 days to level up to 20 in the CBT version, this time he was very confident not to stop grinding before level 20 was reached in one-day maximum.

    ¡°Let the hunt begin!¡±

    Hiro grinding on monster spots that could give him a drop set of armor which was quite helpful to add defense to his current avatar.

    [Metal Mothra (Level 17)]

    [Race: Beast]

    The monster was in the form of moths that surrounded two trees at once. They were about the size of a grown man¡¯s arm and they had a pair of broad wings that kept pping and making noise. The body was made of metal. They attacked with three pairs of sharp legs and a stinger on the tail like a bee.

    Even though the weapon looked promising, the damage from the monster was not that big because the monster was a defensive type and not an offensive type.

    And although there were 15 of them in each tree, Hiro purposely stayed between two trees at once so he could easily attract the monsters to approach him without him having to move.

    Buzz! Buzz!

    Hiro wished there was a setting to turn off sound effects for a while because the monster¡¯s voice bothered him a lot. However, he could only be disappointed because such a feature was not avable.

    .

    .

    He had been beating those monsters for over five hours and during that time, he had managed to obtain

    [Metal Stinger Head (Level 18) ¨C Tier A]

    [Def 14; Aspd 12; Eva 5]

    [Metal Stinger Top (Level 19) ¨C Tier A]

    [Def 48; Eva 5]

    [Metal Stinger Bottom (Level 17) ¨C Tier A]

    [Def 32]

    Meanwhile, Hiro had leveled up to level 19 so far. One more level and his target was fulfilled.

    Even so, he hoped to get Metal Stinger Shoes so that he got a bonus set effect from Metal Stinger which was quite promising. It was called Defensive Damage Increased 1%. An effect that could be useful until the avatar reached a high level.

    SPLAT!

    With a single sh of its legendary sword, the monster instantly turned into crystal shards that melted into the air before finally respawning back again.

    In that way, Hiro could level up quickly because every second he could kill an average of 30 monsters at once.

    Grinding at the beginning did seem easierpared to when the level was higher. And grinding at the beginning of the level should be done independently because it would be more effective since there was no EXP distribution.

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    Ding!

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Metal Stinger Shoes (Level 16) ¨C Tier A]

    [Def 7; Aspd 5]

    SPLAT!

    Hiro shed once more at the monsters that had surrounded him until they were destroyed before deciding to move away from the spot until those monsters could no longer follow him.

    ¡°Finally!¡±

    [Metal Stinger Shoes has been equipped]

    [Full set bonus has been obtained]

    [Damage 15; Def 10; Aspd;10; DDI 1%]

    Hiro smiled with satisfaction seeing the additional status he received.

    Ding!

    [A new message has been obtained]

    [System: Congrattions! Your current level has reached the minimum limit to be able to ess the daily quest. Check the daily quest menu to find more about it. Good Luck, yer NightFall!]

    However, what happened next managed to make Hiro more interested.

    [Jacob has epted your friend request]

    ¡°Jacob?¡±

    Without thinking twice, he contacted the yer who had apanied him since one week ago. And became his closestpanion just like Liberty.

    It was getting dark in the LSO world, and the server time was 7 PM.

    [Contacting Jacob! ¡­]

    ¡°Hi, Bro!¡± Jacob shouted from the other side.

    ¡°Jacob!¡± Never before had Hiro felt this happy hearing Jacob¡±s voice, thus he shouted like a baby.

    ¡°Wow! Chill, Bro! What happened? Did you finally date that girl?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s heart suddenly sank when he heard Jacob¡¯s question, his mood immediately changed, and so did his voice.

    ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t happen.¡± He felt weak now and it managed to make Jacob worry about him while being somewhere out there.

    ¡°What happened, Bro? Has she dumped you? Well, women are the same everywhere. You should move on now, she¡¯s not the one for you. I have many, if you want, I can spare some.¡±

    ¡°No¡­no. That¡¯s not what I meant. But, Jacob, can we meet up? Tavern, maybe?¡± Hiro preferred to talk to him face to face and asked a lot of questions that Jacob may know and he didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Sure, we can. But, which Tavern anyway? We have many Taverns right now.¡±

    Hiro knew that every city had a Tavern nowadays. And Jacob seemed to know about it as well. He was indeed very fast in social matters as if he was the one who created a map of the city and all its contents.

    ¡°Thest Tavern that we talked to that time.¡±

    ¡°Ahh¨CBeginner Town? Ok, gotta go there in 10 minutes. See y¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Cool! See you!¡±

    Beeps!

    [Disconnected.]

    Hiro breathed a sigh of relief, at least he knew that Jacob was fine and his friend seemed to be very rxed as if nothing big had just happened.

    Despite that, he immediately rushed towards Beginner Town. After drinking the energy drink and his energy was full again, Hiro¡¯s tiredness instantly disappeared.

 Chapter 53

    Beginner Town had changed. Previously, the number of yers at nightfall was decreasing, but now it was the opposite.

    Hiro even saw that several yers were already in pairs like people on a date walking casually on the street. There were also people gathering in other corners to just chat and share their reviews of the new game.

    The atmosphere in Beginner Town seemed a lot more lively now and Hiro felt a little strange about it. Even though it looked like a good sign because the LSO game could make yers stay and y until the night.

    Even so, the other thing that differed was their level. Hiro checked his HUD system to see the current World level.

    World level is the average yer level that had been estimated by the system after the server was officially opened.

    [Current World Level: 10]

    Now it was Hiro who had more than doubled the world level and he felt both proud and satisfied with his achievements this time.

    ¡°This is how it should be.¡± He muttered and then hid his overly conspicuous greatsword that managed to grab a lot of people¡¯s attention at once.

    Finally, he had arrived in front of a Tavern that hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest, especially its size.

    Only this time, the table inside the Tavern was almost full, and Hiro was lucky to find an empty table at the far end of the room.

    ¡°This is fun!¡± Shouted an angelic-faced elven woman with long straight hair that almost touched the floor as she sat down.

    ¡°Is your avatar your real face?¡± asked the man sitting in front of her.

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in beautiful avatars in this game because there is a visual appearance selling feature on the Marketce.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I saw it! There¡¯s even a Trans-gender feature for 10,000 LSC!¡±

    ¡°So you think I bought this face?!¡± The girl looked displeased.

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t trust you 100%, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    ¡°You! Don¡¯t be overly confident! I know your arm muscles are fake too! You bought it on the Marketce to customize your bulky appearance, didn¡¯t you?! What price did you pay? 1000 LSC? Hmph. Cheap.¡± The offended woman then left the Tavern while tossing her hair.

    Hiro, who had been listening in the corner silently, wasn¡¯t even aware that such a feature existed now.

    ¡°Really?¡± He didn¡¯t know whether to cringe or feel relieved after hearing that.

    The long-waited one had now finally arrived.

    Jacob still looked the same as his previous appearance. He waved at Hiro as enthusiastically.

    As usual, he also greeted Jack, the NPC owner of the Tavern before approaching Hiro¡¯s table and sitting with him.

    [Level 15. Jacob. Knights. First-year Student]

    At least this time there was something different about him, an improvement to see Jacob has a higher level than the world level. Hiro was a little proud because he was the one who helped Jacob how to y correctly when they were grinding together at that time with Liberty.

    ¡°Hiro! It¡¯s good to see you again, Bro. I thought you disappeared or something.¡±

    ¡°Jack, two sses of wine please!¡±

    Hiro had been sitting for fifteen minutes and he didn¡¯t order anything because he didn¡¯t know what to try at the Tavern.

    ¡°What happens when a system has an error? Were you forced to log out?¡± Hiro immediately asked a question that was difficult for Jacob to answer so his eyebrows knit together. He looked as if he was deep in thought.

    ¡°What do you mean, Bro?¡±

    Hiro was silent and busy giving his spections in his head.

    ¡®Didn¡¯t he get forced to log out like me? How could that be? He¡¯s also a yer like me.¡¯

    ¡°Hey, Bro. You¡¯re always dumbfounded. What happened to you? Is it because you were dumped by Liberty?¡±

    Hiro shook his head in response.

    ¡®Wait¨Cthat didn¡¯t happen, did it? Liberty didn¡¯t dump me, did she?¡¯

    Hiro reopened his HUD system and checked the friendlist. Liberty was still online but he still hadn¡¯t received the approval of the friend request he had sent since he first logged into the game.

    He took a deep breath.

    It looked like Jacob was right, He had been dumped by her.

    ¡°I told you! Rx, my friend. I have many beautifuldies that I can spare with you.¡± Jacob looked at Hiro with pity.

    ¡°No need. I don¡¯t need it. I¡¯m d to see you again after the system bug, Jacob.¡± This time he spoke sincerely, for the first time, Hiro was talking softly to Jacob and it took Jacob by surprise.

    ¡°Hiro, is it you? You look like someone else, man. You give me goosebumps, you didn¡¯t turn gay and fall in love with me, did you?¡±

    Hiro frowned. He regretted telling Jacob what was in his heart.

    ¡°Forget it.¡±

    ¡°So where do you live now?¡± Hiro deliberately asked this question because he was still curious about CBT yers who couldn¡¯t log out of the game even though the system had errors. No one knew what happened.

    Even though it was clear that they were real humans. Hiro already knew their true identities, especially Jacob.

    [Name: Jacob Smith]

    [Sex: Male]

    [Age: 18 Years old]

    [Source: NewYork-Presburg Hospital, New York]

    And for whatever reason, Anonymous found their identities from hospital data sources.

    All from hospitals and all from world-ss hospitals whose quality has been recognized by the World.

    One thing Hiro deduced from that information was the fact that 1000 CBT yers were rich people. However, why was the data taken from the hospital? Were they sick? Were they hospital employees? No¨Cway, please ignore the second thought.

    ¡°My parents bought 2 settlements to take care of. I have to stay in the town of Vul Faldur, the City of Dwarven.¡± Jacobined a little.

    ¡®Parents? If Jacob can¡¯t log out of the game, how can he stay in touch with his parents? Or¨C¡¯

    Hiro closed his eyes to recall the names in the [1000] file that Anonymous gave him. He tried to find the same surname as Jacob which was ¡®Smith¡¯ and he remembered there were yers who roughly bear the status of Jacob¡¯s parents in the game.

    And as far as he remembered, no Jacob¡¯s parents were in the file. Not registered as a CBT yer. Although some of the names share the same surname, their ages were mostly inappropriate for Jacob¡¯s parents as they were in their 20s.

    So it was very clear that there was no way Jacob¡¯s parents were CBT yers. But, how did he get connected?

    ¡®Ahh¨C¡¯

    Hiro almost forgot one important thing. Liberty had contacted him many times via direct message when he was offline. Maybe Jacob¡¯s parents did the same.

 Chapter 54

    What happened to the 1000 CBT yers was still a mystery to Hiro to this day.

    ¡°Could you take me to where you live?¡± Hiro immediately asked a question that sounded like apulsion. But Jacob didn¡¯t mind that at all.

    ¡°Of course, my friend. You can visit as you please.¡±

    At that moment, Jack came to bring two sses of wine ordered by Jacob.

    ¡°Thank you, Jack!¡±

    CLINK!

    Jacob invited Hiro to taste the beverages and Hiro had no other choice but to ept it as a tribute. At least the ss was smaller than thest beer he had tasted.

    Hiro¡¯s throat immediately felt refreshed as he gulped the red wine¡¯s fermented liquid. His eyes widened in disbelief when he felt the sweet and bitter vors blend into one in bnce. He did not lower his ss and drank the entire contents at once.

    Jacob smiled lopsidedly when he saw Hiro¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°I told you. Wine is the best!¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t agree more about that.

    After finishing the alcoholic drink, Jacob and Hiro walked out of the Tavern. They searched for the nearest Teleportation NPC.

    They were looking for a teleportation NPC named Willie. A man dressed like a cowboy was standing near the exit gate of Beginner Town. Next to it was a stone statue in the shape of a horse.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to Vul Faldur,¡± Jacob said to NPC Willie.

    ¡°My apologies, yer Jacob, but your friend has not opened the city yet.¡±

    ¡°Eh¨C what do you mean?¡±

    Hiro understood what NPC Willie meant even though Jacob didn¡¯t.

    He hadn¡¯t continued the main quest to open all cities and it seems that only people who have a plot or settlement certificate in that city coulde to the city without having toplete the main quest first.

    If Hiro was the only one who already had level 20, but the main quest could still be continued, it meant that the city mentioned by Jacob was still filled with NPCs and there were only a few plot owners in that city.

    After All, it was not surprising if Jacob didn¡¯t realize it, he was the same as Liberty who thought that NPCs were real people.

    ¡°Jacob, you can go back first. I¡¯ll catch up with you after taking care of something.¡± Hiro interrupted Jacob who was arguing with NPC Willie.

    ¡°Eh¡ªwhy?¡±

    ¡°I have to finish the main quest first until all cities are open and I can only get ess to go to Vul Faldur City. Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t be that long.¡± Hiro exined confidently.

    And of course, Jacob simply believed it.

    ¡°Okay. But you promised to visit my ce, right? Don¡¯t disappear again.¡±

    ¡°Disappear?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­you disappeared for a day, Bro. I can¡¯t reach you.¡±

    Hiro believed that was when he was kicked out of the CBT server and had to wait for the official version before he could y again. He didn¡¯t think that Jacob would look for him at that time.

    ¡°You can trust me.¡±

    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll see you again!¡±

    ¡°Well, bye!¡±

    Hiro waited until Jacob disappeared after being teleported to the other city.

    Between continuing the main quest and doing the daily quest, Hiro decided to choose the daily quest first because the daily quest would be reset every 23:59 PM server time and could be essed again after 00:01 AM.

    Meanwhile, the server time was already at 10 PM.

    The daily quest list that Hiro could ess for his current level included three different types of quests.

    Bypleting daily quests, yers would get some additional bonuses, but the most important thing was stamina. Stamina points were different from energy.

    Energy in the LSO system was required for certain active skills that did not cost AP. While stamina was needed to perform life skills which were limited every day, only 100 points could be obtained.

    Quest daily dungeon (Level 20-30) (1x attempt)

    [2500 EXP bonus, chance to get special item drops, 40 stamina if clear dungeon]

    Quest battle arena (3x attempts)

    [100 EXP bonus and 10 stamina per win]

    Quest minigame (3x attempts)

    [100 EXP bonus and 10 stamina per win]

    After reading the details of the daily quests he could do, for now, Hiro decided toplete them sequentially starting with the daily dungeon.

    It felt like it had been a long time since Hiro hadst entered the dungeon in that game.

    Daily dungeon quests (Level 20-30) could only be essed by yers with levels in the range of 20-30.

    Dungeons could be essed solo or with a party without any distribution of bonus EXP and stamina.

    However, by being in a party, the drop rate for special items got a buff of +50% if the party consisted of 3 people and a +100% buff if the party was full, consisting of 5 people.

    Even though the drop rate was 100%, the yer who would get the drop would be randomly selected.

    Although Hiro was certainly tempted by the 100% drop rate guarantee, he was again faced with the problems he often had to deal with when he was in the CBT version.

    Currently, no yers who reached level 20 were registered on the server. The highest level that exceeded the world level ranges from 13 to 17. And because of that, Hiro had no other choice but to enter the dungeon solo for today.

    At least, he would be the first to ess the daily dungeon on the NA server.

    Hiro returned to the Beginner Town square to look for the daily dungeon guard NPC named Noble Knight Ramune. An adult man wearing a set of shiny silver armorplete with a helmet so Hiro could only see a pair of bright green eyes from the gap in the helmet.

    ¡°Greetings, yer Nightfall. What can I do for you?¡±

    [Choose the dungeon to enter] (1x attempt left)

    [Bandit¡¯s Lair Dungeon (Level 20-30)]

    [(Locked)The Gloomy Tunnels (Level 31-40)]

    [(Locked)The Moaning Caverns (Level 41-50)]

    ¡°Bandit¡¯s Lair.¡±

    [yers would have a chance to revive in the dungeon 2x if they die. More than that, the yer will fail to clear the dungeon and will only be able to try again after the reset]

    ¡°Are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 55

    Hiro had read the details of the daily dungeon rules in the newbie guide book and he had prepared everything, including the health and energy potions he had to carry.

    With the Metal Stinger armor set and a legendary weapon, clearing the early-stage daily dungeon solo was a piece of cake.

    After agreeing to Hiro¡¯s request, NPC Ramune moved his hands to his sides and created a warp in the form of a bubble as tall as his body. The water bubble slowly turned pitch ck.

    ¡°Off you go!¡±

    Hiro understood what the guard NPC meant and walked inside the constantly moving bubble. Luckily, this time he didn¡¯t feel the painful sensation of teleportation.

    He felt as if his skin wasing into contact with cold water as it entered the bubble.

    [Bandit¡¯s Lair Dungeon]

    [Time: 15 minutes]

    Hiro stood in a long, slightly dark alley with walls lined with bricks and earth made of hardened dry earth.

    The light source from the hallway was on torches attached to the wall and ced five meters apart.

    He then walked warily into the darkness in the tunnel of the bandit¡¯sir.

    The air in the passageway was very humid as if it was underground. Despite that, Hiro remained wary.

    ¡°Look! Intruder!¡±

    Five bandits armed with machetes caught Hiro¡¯s uninvited arrival at the end of a passage that looked like the main gate to theirir.

    Hiro drew his sword and ran over to the five bandits who were also running toward him with raised machetes.

    [Bandits Crew (Level 23)]

    [Race: Human]

    SPLAT! [Health -1250] [Health -1250] [Health -1250] [Health -1250]

    ¡°Uwaah!¡±

    The five bandits were instantly killed in one long sh of Hiro¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Piece of cake!¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro continued to run towards another room in front of him, after ying the bandits in one hit, he grew more confident in clearing the dungeon quickly.

    The next room looked like a gathering room for bandits. There were 10 Bandits Crew in that ce and Hiro immediately ughtered them in seconds.

    SPLAT!

    ¡°Uwaah!¡±

    The dead bandits didn¡¯t immediately turn into pixels. Blood scattered everywhere.

    After the 10 bandits in that ce were defeated, the door at the end of the room burst open and a new enemy appeared.

    [Bandit¡¯s Secretary (Level 25)]

    [Race: Human]

    A heavily scarred male bandit armed with a pair of daggers growled at him upon seeing Hiro ughter his people.

    ¡°Miniboss, huh?¡±

    ¡°Taste my sword!¡±

    Hiro shot forward with a swing of his greatsword.

    CRASH!

    This one bandit managed to dodge quickly and Hiro¡¯s sword shattered the door of the room made of wood behind the bandit.

    ¡°Oh¨Cnot bad.¡±

    Although the movement speed of the secretary bandit was greater than the bandit crews, he made a mistake when it shed its dagger at Hiro.

    Hiro managed to block it with the de of his sword.

    [Health -1800]

    The unique skill of Hiro¡¯s sword activated and started to absorb the enemy¡¯s HP.

    When Hiro returned the bandit¡¯s attack, the damage increased even more.

    SPLAT!

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Bandit¡¯s headband ()]

    Hiro then walked towards the room with the door he had broken down earlier because that room looked kinda suspicious.

    Ding!

    [You entered the boss area]

    [Bandit¡¯s Chief (Level 30)]

    The bandit leader was an old man with a thick beard, he wore an eyepatch on his left, and his pupils were a sinister white. And he had already pulled out two ck 9mm Uzi SMGs from the holsters on his waist.

    ¡°Well, the weapons are a bit of a hassle.¡±

    DRATAATATATA!

    Hiro jumped to dodge the sudden attack of fire directed at him. He hid and tried to protect himself behind an iron table which he managed to overturn to form a barricade at the right time.

    SPLAT!

    [Health ¨C 550]

    One 9 mm ammo managed to prate Hiro¡¯s left shoulder and the wound brought out a very real pain and heat sensation when the hot object scratched his skin.

    DRTATATAT!

    Grimacing, Hiro held back his barricade which was pushed back by the gunfire aimed at him.

    Thankfully, the table was strong and thick enough that a 9mm bullet couldn¡¯t prate it.

    Well, the problem with using that weapon was theg time for reloading to rece the magazine when it ran out of ammo in it. And Hiro knew that all too well because he had tried that type of weapon before in his first dungeon in LSO.

    Just when no more shots came and the sound of solid objects being dropped onto the ground, Hiro kicked the metal table in front of him vigorously forward.

    WUNG!

    BANG!

    ¡°Uwaah!¡±

    [Health ¨C 275]

    Hiro then jumped with his hands resting on the edge of the table to attack the dungeon boss with his sword.

    Even though he had been hit hard by the iron table, the boss bandit didn¡¯t copse on the ground.

    Hiro predicted that it might be because the boss still had a lot of HP which gave him enough strength to defend himself.

    Even so, the boss¡¯s two hands were sessfully upied by holding the iron table so as not to hit the vital parts of his body. After all, the iron table was very heavy, and Hiro was able to push it with ease due to the impact of his high STR points.

    SPLAT!

    THUD!

    Hiro managed to sh one of the boss¡¯s hands while he was trying to raise one of his rifles aiming at Hiro when he was jumping.

    A fatal strike cut off the boss¡¯s wrist and it fell to the ground along with the weapon he was carrying.

    ¡°Damn you, intruder!¡± The boss was raging furiously with his left hand already filled with blood that was pouring out profusely.

    Hiro ignored it, instead, he swung his sword back brutally before the boss shot him.

    The fatal encounter between Hiro¡¯s great sword and the skin of the previous boss¡¯s hand, even though it was only in a matter of seconds, had seeded in activating the unique skill of the sword and Hiro got HP recovery. It increased physical damage when continuing his attacks.

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT!

    Hiro¡¯s merciless sword sh made the bandit boss unable to move and finally copsed on the ground behind him.

    [Boss HP 1350/12000]

    Hiro jumped on top of the boss¡¯s body and then plunged the tip of his sword into the bandit boss¡¯s open chest without a second thought.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    SPLAT!

    Ding

    [Congrattions: yer NightFall bes the first yer to finish the Bandit¡¯s Lair dungeon in this server with a time of 3 minutes 30 seconds]

    [Additional Information: The time toplete each daily dungeon will be recorded by the system and ranked]

    [Highest rank or fastest yer in Clearing the dungeon will get a random drop item with the lowest drop rate from the dungeon including SMG Uzi 9 mm (Tier S), SMG Uzi 9 mm (Tier A), Bandit  Card (Stealth +1000), ck One-eye patch (). All tradable items]

    A broadcast notification appeared in front of Hiro, hovering and being read by hundreds of thousands of people on the server.

    Ding!

    [A leather pouch dropped in front of you]

    Hiro took the leather pouch and opened its contents.

    Suddenly the gold coins with the letter ¡®L¡¯ in the middle are shaped like ¡®$¡¯ were flying out.

    [You have obtained jackpot 2500 LSC]

    [You have obtained 2500 EXP and 40 Stamina]

 Chapter 56

    Hiro was teleported out of the dungeon forcibly after he finished getting the drop.

    After re-checking his inventory, at least he still had one item that could be sold. That was the bandit¡¯s hairband. He immediately installed the object in the auction sales system through the HUD without having to log out first.

    [Waiting for bidders (6 hours remaining)]

    Hiro still hoped to get the main rarest drop from the bandit dungeon before he was level 31 and couldn¡¯t ess the dungeon again.

    At least it could be sold at a high price.

    The next daily quest was the battle arena. And this quest could be taken by talking to the standby NPC in the training area on each map.

    For the Beginner Town map, Hiro had met the NPC before, NPC Fred who gave him a heat resistance skill. He rushed to the NPC Fred ce without depending on the GPS system because he already remembered where the coordinate location of the NPC is.

    When he is already close to the NPC Fred, the man who stayed in the training area of Beginner town, Hiro still has time to re-check the friend request status that he sent to Liberty.

    But¡ª

    ¡°Libe, she still hasn¡¯t epted my friend request.¡± Hiro closed his friend list again with disappointment clearly shown on his face.

    He was starting to worry now, what if he couldn¡¯t see that girl again and he would never be able to confess his feelings for her?

    ¡°Huft¡­why didn¡¯t I just say it that night!¡± Hiro felt sorry for himself. But he tried to vent his frustration in the battle arena.

    ¡°Hello, yer NightFall. What can I do for you?¡± NPC Fred greeted Hiro¡¯s presence.

    A notification suddenly popped out in front of Hiro. It has two options.

    [Entering battle arena (3x attempts remaining)]

    [Just Say, Hi!]

    Hiro chose the first option and once again, NPC Fred told the details of the rules in the battle arena.

    Even though Hiro had read it before, he couldn¡¯t skip NPC Fred¡¯s exnation and had to hear it.

    In the daily quest of battle arena, Hiro could choose enemies to fight. The enemy was a clone of the yer who was on the same server with him.

    The clone has the exact same power as the real one. However, they were moved by artificial intelligence and not by real humans. So, normally people imed these clones as bots.

    Some information about the bots can be seen by the yer before they choose the enemy for a battle. The information included:

    [yer name]

    [yer level]

    [Job ss]

    [Title]

    [Battle Rating]

    The rest were kept secret.

    But, if the yer chooses an enemy with the higher Battle rating, the points that the yer would obtain after winning the battle would be high too.

    Simr to daily dungeons, battle arenas also required a lot of points to get the top 3 of the battle arena server records that will be reset every week. The rewards were:

    [Top 1 (Special Title ¡®Duke¡¯ for 7 days) (+3,000 LSC)]

    [Top 2 (Special Title ¡®Marquess¡¯ for 7 days) (+1,500 LSC)]

    [Top 3 (Special Title ¡®Earl¡¯ for 7 days) (+1,000 LSC)]

    There were only 3 attempts to challenge clone yers in battle arenas controlled by the system or called as VS AI.

    If you lose, the points would be deducted at the same amount that you would get if you win. So, if you never win in this battle arena, it could be possible to get minus points after it reset next week.

    Finally, NPC Fred has finished the exnation of battle arena rules.

    At that moment, NPC Fred snapped his fingers and poof¨C

    Hiro was teleported to a training area which was a mini-stadium with emptynd the size of an international futsal field with a diameter of 40 meters x 20 meters.

    He didn¡¯t have time to examine the whole mini-stadium where he stood right now because suddenly, a transparent panel appeared in front of him.

    On the first page, there were 5 choices of clone yers that could be fought in the battle. But, if you don¡¯t want to fight with one of them, there was a special refresh button to change the list.

    The yer should pay at least 100 LSC to refresh the page, but the price will be increasing when the yer continuously hits the refresh button..

    At that time, Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the names of the yers along with the profile photos from their ounts on the first page of the panel in front of him.

    [Level 17. Liberty. Ranger. Queen of The North]

    [Battle rating 6,870]

    [Defeat to get 100 battle points]

    Hiro forgot to blink his eyes for a few seconds after seeing the first number of enemy information on the first page of the battle arena quest.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    What made Hiro unable to believe that the girl in the panel page was the same as the girl he was looking for, was her current level. It was obviously higher than 90% of the list yers on the server.

    How could an innocent girl who didn¡¯t even know what weapons she could use suddenly turn into an above-average yer? Had she been just acting like a newbie in front of Hiro all this time?

    Ah¡ª there¡¯s no way she would do that to him, Liberty wasn¡¯t that kind of girl. Her soul was very pure and Hiro believed what he saw in her.

    However, with the information on Liberty¡¯s clone avatar provided by the battle arena, Hiro knew that something had happened to her. And maybe because the girl was busy raising the level and battle rating, she didn¡¯t even have time to ept Hiro¡¯s friend request.

    To be honest, it was all Hiro¡¯s assumption to amuse himself. In fact, he was still confused by Liberty¡¯sst reaction since awakening from his long slumber that time.

    Under Liberty¡¯s avatar, there was only the identity of other yers Hiro had never seen before. And they were still at levels 13-15.

    Defeating them only gave battle points of 50-70 points.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to fight Liberty at this moment, but he still needed to get the highest battle points. So, he decided to refresh the page using his 100 LSC.

    [100 LSC has been consumed]

    On the next page, he didn¡¯t see Liberty¡¯s avatar anymore. He was a little grateful for that.

    There were two yers with the level of 17 on the second page, defeating both of them could give Hiro 200 battle points in total.

    And yes, he found worthy enemies.

 Chapter 57

    [Level 17. Duran. Rogue. Young Master]

    Ding!

    At a distance of 10 meters, a pale-faced man with very light blond hair appeared in front of Hiro.

    His eyshes were long, straight, and light blonde too. He was a yer with a bloodline beast, Hiro could see it from the pair of pointed ears sticking out above his head.

    Even so, what made his opponent¡¯s appearance look unique was the weapon he used.

    Carrying arge scythe with a metallic ck color made his appearance look like a half-demon and half-angel.

    [Battle will start]

    [Defeat your enemy within 3 minutes to win the duel]

    3..

    2..

    1..

    [Start!]

    Woosh!

    Hiro dashed forward approaching the enemy in front of him very quickly after activating hisbo skill.

    CLANK!

    Hiro¡¯s great sword hit the scythe carried by the opponent. But it made Hiro¡¯s sword absorb the opponent¡¯s HP and convert it into additional damage for the next attack.

    SWISH!

    SPLAT!

    [Health -4500]

    It was obvious that the opponent didn¡¯t have the slightest bit of defensive power and Hiro¡¯s great sword shed his arm and dealt true damage.

    [Enemy¡¯s HP 350/4800]

    Job ss Rogue did have its drawbacks of defensive problems.

    Seeing the few numbers of HP remaining, Hiro gave a strong sidekick towards the opponent¡¯s open neck.

    BANG!

    [Congrattions!]

    [You Win!]

    [You obtained 100 battle points]

    Along with the disappearance of the opponent¡¯s body that didn¡¯t move at all against Hiro, the panel showing the choices of other avatars to challenge reappears.

    Still on the same page, only this time there were 4 avatars left.

    Hiro immediately beat up another yer who could give him 100 points. His opponent this time was a barbarian who was the same as him.

    And, Hiro didn¡¯t know whether to feel lucky or not because his opponent¡¯s clone avatar this time seemed to be on a whim.

    That was why he used an ordinary Tier E wooden sword as a weapon, and his body wasn¡¯t wearing any armor at all.

    ¡°Wait a second? No way, how could his Battle Rating be high with this kind of gear?¡±

    In no time, Hiro could beat his opponent easily. This time, with only one sh.

    Honestly, he felt a bit disappointed from this battle.

    Clone avatars were controlled by the AI ??system in the real-time battle arena.

    The system recorded the highest Battle rating of all yers in the server and used it to build the clone avatar to be the enemy in the battle arena quest.

    But, because it is the real-time clone, when the owner of the avatar changed their equipment, the clone also will copy-paste the real-time equipment of the yers but not reduce the battle rating even if the equipment that provided a high battle rating point was not equipped at that moment.

    Normally, BR should decrease when the yer removes his weapon or armor. However, the battle arena didn¡¯t take that into ount as if the system didn¡¯t care about it. The highest recorded BR that avatar had achieved will remain used by their A.I clones.

    Knowing this important information, Hiro felt he had to be careful not to take off his armor and weapons too often.

    Ding!

    [You obtained 100 battle points]

    Once again, Hiro had to refresh the page of his opponent¡¯s selection because he didn¡¯t want to fight an enemy that could only give him battle points lower than 100.

    [200 LSC has been consumed]

    Unfortunately, this time he only saw one avatar with 100 battle points.

    But¡ª it was that girl again.

    Liberty.

    ¡°Really? Again?!¡±

    And when he was willing to sacrifice 300 LSC to refresh to the next page, the attempt for the refresh was run out for today. So the refresh button has stopped working.

    Hiro took a deep breath.

    There seemed to be no other choice but to choose Liberty because the second line of avatar on that page would only give him 50 battle points. Very low.

    What an unfortunate fate.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Libe. I will make it fast. I promise.¡± Hiro muttered with a pang of guilt eating him from inside as he pressed the [Challenge for duel] column next to the beautiful girl¡¯s avatar.

    Ding!

    Hiro focused on looking at the emptynd in front of him after a ¡°Ding!¡± was heard.

    He didn¡¯t want to skip the appearance of a girl he had missed so much. Just waiting for the AI ??version of the clone made his heart flutter.

    Liberty appeared in front of Hiro.

    She had a beautiful and distinctive face, long thick hair that flowed down her back and a pair of wolf ears that stood on top of her head. Hiro truly missed seeing that girl.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    The thing that touched Hiro¡¯s heart was the fact that the girl was wearing the [Night Ocean Dress] costume to cover the armor she was wearing underneath.

    The NFT costume was a couple¡¯s costume with [Night ocean Cloak], the one Hiro was wearing at this moment.

    [Battle will start]

    [Defeat your enemy within 3 minutes to win the duel]

    3..

    2..

    1..

    Attacking the enemy with the appearance of the girl he loved was not an easy thing for Hiro.

    So he nned to make it a super fast win.

    Hiro immediately dashed forward to Liberty, his eyes lil bit closed because this will be the hardest thing for him to do such a barbaric action to the girl he loved.

    WOOSH!

    Liberty¡¯s avatar suddenly dashed forward at the same time as Hiro. Her beautiful face didn¡¯t show any emotions at that moment because it was only a cloned avatar that was fully controlled by the A.I system.

    When they were 5 meters away from each other before impact, Liberty suddenly took out a metallic silver pistol from the holster on her waist and aimed it straight at Hiro¡¯s chest.

    [Hellsing Whisper]

    [Silver Bullet ¨C Holy attribute]

    Seeing a sudden movement of her made Hiro¡¯s eyes widened opened.

    And before he managed to dodge, the sound of explosions echoed through the battle arena.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

 Chapter 58

    Following thew arranged by the system in the virtual world of LSO, members of the demon race like Hiro were weak to the holy attribute. If a weapon or attack had that attribute, those with demon blood would be afflicted with the Burning effect. Furthermore, the damage they received from attacks with the attribute would be doubled.

    Liberty shot three silver bullets at once, and all three of them pierced his chest before he knew it.

    The sharp burning pain reminded him of the unique skill of Liberty¡¯s weapon.

    [If the target is demonic or unholy, ignores armor and increases the damage of the first three bullets by 200%. One of these bullets inflicts Burning.]

    Even if the rank of her weapon was also downgraded like his, it would only affect the cooldown and AP cost of the unique skill. The damage increase against demonic or unholy targets was still high.

    ¡­

    Hiro¡¯s first loss was against an AI, and he lost without even being able to do anything. A record that pped his face as a pro gamer extremely hard.

    [You lost!]

    [-100 Battle Points]

    ¡®She¡¯s really too dangerous as an opponent.¡¯

    Hiro was quickly teleported out of the battle arena.

    Now standing in front of NPC Fred, he had the same expression of shock from suffering defeat because of his own mistake.

    [You obtained 200 EXP and 20 Stamina]

    ¡°Is this how it feels to have a crush that can kill you? Looks like I have to be careful of Libe now,¡± he muttered to himself.

    He never even thought of going against Liberty before, so he just realized she had a weapon effective against his bloodline all along.

    ¡°You cane back tomorrow, NightFall,¡± NPC Fred said to encourage Hiro, who had already walked away with slumped shoulders.

    Hiro walked away dejectedly without responding to NPC Fred.

    ¡®I¡¯ve only managed to get 100 points today¡­ Get yourself together, damn it!¡¯

    It was only after staying quiet for 10 minutes that he was finally able to ept his defeat. Besides, he still had a daily quest he had to do today.

    Hisst daily quest was a minigame quest that could be done in a certain tavern. It just so happened that the tavern on the list was the only tavern he had visited, and twice at that.

    Beginner Town¡¯s tavern.

    Theter it got, the higher the number of yers visiting the tavern was.

    Hiro walked in and observed his surroundings. The strong smell of alcohol in the air and the loud atmosphere really made him want toplete his quest and leave the tavern as soon as possible.

    ¡°Jack!¡± he greeted the NPC.

    ¡°yer NightFall, wee! What can I do for you?¡±

    Again, a new panel popped out in front of him.

    [Buy Drinks]

    [Minigame: Arm Wrestle]

    ¡®Arm wrestle? Seriously?¡¯

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but look at the minigame option for a moment before choosing it.

    [Challenge anyone in the tavern to arm wrestle and win 3 rounds to receive 30 stamina.]

    Two more options then popped up on the transparent panel in front of him.

    [Find an opponent and challenge them]

    [Random: Challenge everyone in the bar!]

    ¡°Challenge everyone.¡±

    After he stated his decision, NPC Jack tapped the ss he was wiping with a teaspoon.

    Clink! Clink!

    The sound wasn¡¯t very loud, but it was enough to attract all the yers in the noisy tavern.

    ¡°This young man wants to challenge three of you to arm wrestle!¡±

    The people in the tavern looked at each other with confusion.

    NPC Jack¡¯s actions surprised Hiro. He didn¡¯t expect that the preparation for the seemingly simple daily quest would involve so many yers.

    ¡°Is he out of his mind?¡±

    ¡°That kid is challenging us?¡±

    ¡°He must not want his arm anymore.¡±

    ¡°This is a joke, right?¡±

    The corners of Hiro¡¯s eyes twitched as he listened to the berating whispers. Most of the yers in the tavern hadrger builds than him and none looked Asian since he chose the NA server, but were they seriously judging him from his physical appearance? In a game?

    While the strength yers had from their body size also affected their STR stat to an extent, this would only help them at the beginning of the game.

    But then again, how were they supposed to know that his STR stat was almost 3x theirs?

    Hiro didn¡¯t lower his chin at all.

    ¡°You won¡¯t sue me if I break your wrist, right, kid?¡± a bald man as muscr as a professional wrestler shouted from the other side of the room.

    The people in the tavern burst intoughter.

    ¡°No one will be sued here. Instead, I¡¯ll give anyone who can beat me 5,000 LSC.¡±

    Everyone instantly fell silent for a moment. The people in the tavern were doubting him, but Hiro seemed confident.

    Of course he was. When he checked the level of the yer who just shouted, he did not doubt that he would be able to win.

    Hiro¡¯s smug look quickly made the muscr bald man boil with anger and annoyance.

    ¡°5,000 LSC? That¡¯s a lot of money, boss!¡± a more slender man next to the baldie whispered with amazement. $5,000 for an arm wrestle!

    ¡°I ept your challenge.¡±

    ¡­

    NPC Jack prepared a clean table in the middle of the room for the arm wrestle between Hiro and the man twice his size.

    [Level 14. BigShow. Knight. Licensed Traveler]

    Hiro sat on the round wooden seat in front of his opponent. BigShow had already sat and rxed his muscr arms.

    Still with the smug look on his face, Hiro put his right arm on the table area NPC Jack marked with chalk.

    ¡°Are you ready? Best of three.¡±

    When NPC Jack stated the rules, BigShow had already gripped Hiro¡¯s right hand. However, Hiro didn¡¯t move one bit. In fact, he didn¡¯t even feel any pain or the sort.

    The crowd surrounded the table. Some yers had even started betting. 90% of the bets went to BigShow, while the yers who had been carefully observing in silence decided to bet on NightFall¡¯s victory.

    ¡°On the count of three. One¡­ two¡­

    ¡°Three.¡±

    BigShow¡¯s arm muscles perfectly tensed up as the man began to use all his strength to bring Hiro¡¯s hand down.

    But Hiro¡¯s hand didn¡¯t budge.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Beat him, boss!¡±

    Intentionally stalling for time, Hiro couldn¡¯t even feel his opponent¡¯s physical power. On the contrary, he seemed so rxed it seemed as if he wasn¡¯t the one arm wrestling against the muscr man.

    ¡°Bring him down!¡±

    ¡°Break his bone, boss!¡±

    Meanwhile, sweat started to form and trickle down BigShow¡¯s temples. The man had used up all his strength to push Hiro¡¯s hand down and was even intending to break his wrist, but he couldn¡¯t even move the other party¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What is going on!?¡±

    ¡°Tired already?¡± Hiro challenged with the same smug look on his face. His arrogance silenced the crowd before causing an uproar in the tavern.

    Meanwhile, BigShow didn¡¯t answer. His jaws were clenched as he was still trying to push Hiro¡¯s hand down for an easy $5,000.

    ¡°Ahh, should I end it now?¡± Hiro once again arrogantly said, angering his opponent even more. BigShow¡¯s face had turned crimson, but he still couldn¡¯t move Hiro¡¯s hand.

    ¡°All right, time¡¯s up! Do better next time, big guy!¡±

    BANG!

    CRASH!

    Hiro used his physical strength to return the pressure from BigShow¡¯s arm in the other direction.

    With just one push, he brought down the giant hand until a painful crack sounded throughout the room.

    ¡°Arrgghhh!¡± BigShow screamed in pain and immediately pulled his hand from the table.

    ¡°Looks like he won¡¯t be able to continue to the next round.¡±

    For a moment, no sound apart from BigShow¡¯s scream could be heard.

    ¡°NightFall won!¡± NPC Jack announced.

    [You obtained 100 EXP and 10 Stamina]

    The yers in the tavern immediately fell into a mor of disbelief.

    ¡°No way!¡±

    ¡°This is impossible!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be, right!?¡±

    The look of surprise and disbelief of the people who previously looked down on him brought a satisfied smile onto Hiro¡¯s face.

    ¡°So who¡¯s next?¡±

 Chapter 59

    ¡°NightFall!!!¡±

    The arm wrestle spectators in Jack¡¯s tavern had switched to Hiro¡¯s side. After he defeated two other muscr men, the crowd began cheering for him.

    They were more than entertained as they watched Hiro bring them one surprise after another. No matter how strong the opponent seemed, he always managed to defeat them all with ease.

    It was as if he had a special cheat for it.

    ¡°What¡¯s your secret, pal?¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon, tell us! We also wanna be strong like you!¡±

    ¡°Please make me your disciple!¡±

    Hiro was still sitting on his wooden seat when several people began scrambling to talk to him, quickly draining the oxygen around.

    Even though it was only a virtual world, the system created was very much like the real world. Because of this, Hiro quickly felt the temperature around him rise and he began to sweat.

    A confident smirk was on his face. Hearing the questions thrown at him, he thought of something that could bring him a lot of profit.

    ¡°My secret is thend I bought.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡± The crowd looked at each other with confusion. Among them were the three men he defeated to the point their arms seemed broken and required a cleric¡¯s aid.

    Some of them quickly voiced their disbelief and used him of making things up because he didn¡¯t want to tell them, but Hiro didn¡¯t respond to them.

    ¡°Regr plot area number W2801. There are a ton of monsters that can help you train and be strong like me.¡± He did grind there, so he wasn¡¯tpletely lying.

    The crowd once again became noisy.

    ¡°W2801? Have you seen it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve walked past it before, but it looked really empty.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Really empty.¡± The man speaking emphasized the word ¡®really¡¯.

    ¡°Can the monsters there really make us strong fast though?¡±

    Hiro still had the same confident look.

    ¡°Of course. I can guarantee it. You can grind there to get a lot of EXP and level up fast like me. With a level above the average, you guys will be far stronger than most people. You can even get useful drop items.¡±

    ¡°Like this.¡±

    Ding!

    [Garden Golem Weapon Card has been shared]

    The yers who truly wanted to be strong like him had bowed a little to check the card Hiro was showing with the transparent panel in front of him.

    ¡°Whoa! +5% attack speed!?¡±

    ¡°My job ss is rogue, I need that card!¡± a tall and slender man in the crowd eximed with bright eyes when he saw the card description

    ¡°Garden Golems. There are a ton of them in W2801. Not only that, but there are also other monsters with useful drops there.¡±

    ¡°Thanks a lot, pal!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going there right now!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you guys wanna party up?¡±

    ¡°Great idea!¡±

    ¡°Hey, NightFall, can I add you as a friend?¡±

    ¡°Me too!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I want to have a strong guy like you as a friend.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t expect that the people who previously berated him would suddenly curry favor with him. Before he could even say a word of response, his HUD system rang several times.

    Ding!

    Ding!

    Ding!

    ¡­

    [You have 11 friend requests]

    He wasn¡¯t interested in having many people on his friend list at this moment.

    So far, he had mostly chosen to be his brother¡¯s right hand every time he yed games and had even been a little antisocial.

    In most cases, his brother would create a guild or a squad and he would be invited to join.

    Like his brother, he had always been able to conquer games. However, unlike Yuujin who was used to being in the spotlight, Hiro wasn¡¯t.

    Now that his brother who had always shone much brighter than him was no longer here, it seemed that the time for him to be in the spotlight and shine on his own hade.

    Perhaps it was indeed time for him to be independent and build his own power.

    ¡°Confirm.¡±

    Hiro was still sitting on his wooden seat when most of the yers in the tavern had begun to scramble out to find the location of the plot he mentioned. They couldn¡¯t wait to be strong.

    Ding!

    [You received a new message from Nyx]

    [Nyx: Dear Adventurer! We are happy to announce that within 2 days, there will be a special big event that everyone level 20 and above can join. Please be online and ready at 9 PM server time. Don¡¯t miss it!]

    [Set a reminder for ¡®Special Big Event¡¯?]

    Hiro read the content of the message to read more about the kind of event Nyx globally announced.

    ¡®The Haunted Maze¡¯.

    The event was quite a major one. As if it was intentionally made to seem mysterious, the event rules weren¡¯t exined at all, and Hiro didn¡¯tment on it either. It was indeed more interesting if it was exined only when it started.

    Moreover, the event was held as an opening for a new feature that would be activated upon reaching world level 20.

    The ¡®Pet¡¯ feature.

    And with the opening of the feature, the main reward of the event was a legendary pet, [Juvenile Flying ck Dragon].

    The only reward so far that was able to instantly tempt Hiro so much that he wouldn¡¯t allow himself to miss the event.

    Just its name was already cool. It definitely had promising additional stats, and he had to get it no matter what.

    The in-game clock showed that it was already 23:45 PM server time. 15 minutes left until today¡¯s daily quest would end and be inessible until the next hour.

    Hiro felt that he had to stop gaming for a bit and log out to check his real body¡¯s condition before something that could ruin his well-arranged n happened.

    [System Logout]

    It was already afternoon outside. Despite it not snowing yet, the sun still didn¡¯t seem very bright this winter.

    Ding!

    [New chat from Love Room]

    [Anonymous: So, did you find any information about WynterRain?]

    Hiro frowned when he opened the iing message. Anonymous was always on standby to keep tabs on him through his android bracelet¡¯s camera. He even knew that Hiro had logged out of the game, right on time.

    He was toozy to raise his head from the pillow, so he used the text-to-speech feature in his android bracelet.

    [You: Not yet, it¡¯s still the first day. I was busy with my progressive stats.]

    [Anonymous: What for? Didn¡¯t I tell you to look for information about WynterRain??]

    [You: Are you stupid or what? If he were really the real WynterRain, I need to be stronger than the rest on the server to attract his attention. If he¡¯s real, he¡¯lle to me on his own. He¡¯s always been interested in strong yers.]

    Hiro suddenly felt extremely sleepy and tired.

    [Anonymous: All right then. As long as you don¡¯t forget your goal by ying that game.]

    [You: My goal is to make as much money as I can to stay alive, pay my rent, eat good food, and go to university.]

    There was no response for a while.

    [Anonymous: Your main goal is WynterRain. Do you not care about your brother¡¯s fate at all? What an ungrateful little brother.]

    Hiro ignored Anonymous¡¯sst message. Hisst sentence stabbed his chest and suffocated him.

    Was that truly the case? Was he really an ungrateful little brother? Did he really not care about Yuujin¡¯s fate at all?

    Hiro looked up at the ceiling of his empty room while raising his right hand.

    ¡°Yuujin, I don¡¯t think I know anything about you now.¡±

    ¡°Am I a bad brother?¡±

 Chapter 60

    Hiro woke up after three hours of sleep with anxiety because of his stomach¡¯s unusually loud protest.

    So hungry. Winter made him feel hungry faster than usual.

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡®Why can¡¯t humans hibernate like bears so we don¡¯t need to eat in winter?¡¯ Hiro rubbed his empty stomach.

    He headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He then decided to get out of his apartment for some fresh air before heading to Kira¡¯s supermarket to buy something to eat.

    ¡°Yo!¡± a gothic geishady greeted Hiro with a smile. Thedy seemed to be enjoying a bowl of hot ramen on one of the tables in front of Kira¡¯s supermarket. She was wearing a set of ck sportswear with a headset on her neck today.

    ¡°We meet again,¡± Hiro muttered, not knowing how to react. He was too hungry, and it impeded his brain¡¯s ability to work properly.

    ¡°Are you going to eat? Buy something and eat with me here.¡±

    Hiro frowned.

    ¡®Why would I eat with you?¡¯

    ¡°My treat. Take it as repayment for what happened that night.¡±

    Of course he¡¯d ept.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go pick my food then.¡±

    Hiro walked into the supermarket, but Kira wasn¡¯t behind the counter. Instead, in his ce was a robot who greeted him as he walked in

    A Merchant Autobot. A lot of supermarkets nowadays used this robot as a cashier in ce of humanbor. The robot was very clever and was equipped with a secret weapon underneath its iron hands shaped akin to tongs.

    Robbing a supermarket guarded by a Merchant Autobot was equal tomitting suicide.

    ¡°Here.¡± Hiro pushed the most expensive bowl of instant ramen to the robot in front of him. ¡°Thatdy will pay. Give the bill to her.¡±

    The robot understood and sent the payment barcode to the gothic geishady¡¯s android bracelet and waited for the payment to bepleted.

    Next, Hiro poured some hot water into his bowl of ramen and walked out of the supermarket to keep his promise to eat with thedy he helped that night.

    ¡°You like ramen too?¡± thedymented with a chuckle when she saw Hiro walk out with the same bowl she had in front of her.

    He still needed to wait five minutes for the ramen to cook and be ready to eat, so he had no choice but to look at the attractivedy in front of him while he waited.

    ¡°I just finished jogging. You have to exercise sometime, kid.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but frown a little in confusion.

    ¡®Does someone who eats instant ramen after jogging actually exist?¡¯

    ¡°Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I¡¯m Alice. I live around here with my parents. In case you¡¯re wondering, my mom is American and my dad is Japanese, so I can speak both English and Japanese fluently.¡±

    Thedy supported her chin with her left hand on the table.

    Hiro was surprised when he saw a familiar tattoo on thedy¡¯s wrist. When he finally realized where he saw it, he reflexively tapped his forehead feeling silly.

    ¡°You¡¯re that motorcycledy! What a coincidence.¡± He felt stupid for only realizing what happened a few days ago now.

    ¡°Ah? I thought you knew!¡± Alice was also surprised by Hiro¡¯ste reaction.

    ¡°Thank you for saving me back then, miss.¡±

    ¡°Just call me Alice.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Alice. You really helped me back then, Alice. I didn¡¯t even know who the people after me were and what they wanted. They looked like they wanted to kill me.¡±

    Alice leaned her back on the chair¡¯s backrest and seemed to fall into thought as her slender fingers stroked her own chin.

    ¡°Rx, you¡¯re safe here for now,¡± she muttered.

    Hiro was quickly suspicious of her words.

    ¡®Safe here?¡¯

    How would she, ady whom he had only recently learned the name of, be so sure of that?

    ¡°By the way, do you live alone? Where¡¯s your family?¡±

    The question that came out of Alice¡¯s lips felt like a direct attack that struck his chest.

    Hiro didn¡¯t answer immediately. Instead, he opened the paper lid of his instant ramen bowl and began eating before it became soggy like the skan Bull Worm.

    After a few minutes in silence, Alice once again asked a question.

    ¡°So you don¡¯t have a family. Even though you¡¯re still this young?¡±

    His silence was an affirmation to her.

    ¡°How about I be your family? I happen to be an only child, and I¡¯m lonely too. I can be your older sister!¡± Alice energetically snapped her fingers.

    BANG!

    Thedy looked at him surprised. Hiro hit the table so hard that some of his ramen spilled out. Alice¡¯s empty ss even fell from the table.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need it. I already have an older brother, and nobody in the world can rece him.¡±

    His mood was quickly ruined, and he no longer had any appetite.

    Despite being treated so harshly, Alice still had a beautiful smile on her face. Her usually serious gaze even softened.

    ¡°You¡¯re really like him, even when you¡¯re mad.¡± she muttered to herself.

    However, Hiro no longer cared about her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going now. I have work to do.¡± Hiro had stood up from his seat and walked away when Alice suddenly shouted at him from behind.

    ¡°You can do it!¡±

    ¡­

    Hiro¡¯s body felt hot due to the sudden change in emotion, so he decided to cool down with a cold bath.

    Intentionally or not, he couldn¡¯t understand how a stranger could be so brazen as to try to get involved in someone else¡¯s life like that. He hoped to never meet thatdy again, even coincidentally.

    He was still disappointed by Alice¡¯s words of wanting to rece his older brother¡¯s position. If she had said to be his younger sister instead, he wouldn¡¯t have reacted that way.

    And after cleaning himself, Hiro put on his VR gear and logged in.

    [System Linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    ¡­

    Hiro once again spawned in front of Jack¡¯s tavern. Upon logging in, he received a notification.

    [1,750 LSC has been added to your bnce]

    The LSC was from the yers grinding in his regr plot, W2801.

    His efforts to make the ce popr worked. He was sure that in just a while, his plot would be visited by many and he would profit a lot from it.

    The easiest way to convince people was indeed with strength.

    The daily quests had reset. Even though the server time showed that the next day had arrived here, Hiro decided to continue doing the main quest first.

    He headed to a low-level mining area located on Beginner Town¡¯s map to get the minerals the quest required.

    Ding!

    [You have learned a new life skill, Mining (Level 1)]

    He immediately opened the Smelting menu tobine the minerals he got following the quest¡¯s instructions.

    Ding!

    [You have learned a new life skill, Smelting (Level 1)]

    [Go back to the cksmith and show them what you can do!]

 Chapter 61

    [Bandit¡¯s Hairband has been sold to RedKnight]

    [585 LSC has been added to your bnce]

    Hiro had just finished his main quest when he got a notification that the item he put for sale had just been sold.

    At the same time, he got new information from the ongoing main quest.

    After giving mining and smelting items to three different cksmith NPCs, Hiro has learned how to craft weapons, armors, and essories.

    Non-dwarf bloodline yers couldn¡¯t craft equipment without the help of a cksmith NPC or bloodline dwarf yer who had raised their Crafting life skill level to level 5.

    For crafting weapons, armors, or essories, yers must have blueprint items from objects they wanted to make along with the items needed as the main ingredients for Crafting.

    In Hiro¡¯s opinion, this one was quiteplicated because the blueprint was not avable in the marketce by Ninecent.

    Blueprints could be obtained frompleting quests or drops from defeating monsters, or even from certain special events. Some blueprints could be sold and some couldn¡¯t.

    Getting blueprints for weapons, armor, and essories was also not an easy task. Hiro was pretty sure that not many yers would choose to craft their equipment because of this rarity.

    There were 8 Tier types of equipment in the LSO game. The lowest tier was Tier E. Most of the equipment could be obtained from monster drops. However, equipment with Tier S, SS, and SSS could only be obtained through crafting with special requirements or materials.

    For legendary weapons and armor Tier SSS that Hiro and other CBT yers managed to get through a drop boss in the CBT version was an exception before the official version of LSO was released.

    In fact, just by owning one of them had made Hiro¡¯s strength higher than 99.99% of current LSO yers.

    Hiro continued the ongoing main quest.

    This time he got information about three different things, namely upgrading, enchanting, and refining equipment.

    Upgrading equipment could be used to increase the Tier of equipment. Upgrade materials could be obtained from mining, smelting, or fishing. While the mandatory material was a blueprint. The most important thing to note was that equipment could only be upgraded if the refinement of the equipment was full or it reached the max level (+12).

    Refining equipment was the same thing as upgrading, this would give yers a huge increase in stats. However, only equipment with tier A, S, SS, and SSS that could be refined 12x to increase the percentage of refined stats. The increase in the percentage of stats was different in each tier. The higher the Tier of equipment, the higher the increase of the stats.

    For example, Hiro¡¯s legendary weapon refined level max gave a damage increase of 24% while still being in the CBT version. But for now, the refinement stat was dropped back to zero, so there is no additional damage increase at this moment.

    The next one was enchanting equipment. yers could add effects to their equipment by enchanting features. Each piece of equipment had five slots for additional effects from enchanting results.

    For example, additional holy attributes such as the blessed greatsword Hiro had obtained for a special quest he got during the CBT version.

    However, having equipment with a title of ¡®Legendary equipment¡¯ was special.

    Equipment with legendary status had a unique and varied back story. The difference with non-legendary equipment was that there was an additional status in the form of ¡®Rank Upgrade¡¯.

    The rank of the equipment could be increased by 5x bypleting the main story quest of the legendary equipment. There were three types of equipment that had legendary status including the weapon, armor, or even essories. This status granted activation to a special ability of the equipment.

    In other words, ¡®Legendary equipment¡¯ power could be increased through refinement or enchantment as well as rank upgrades.

    Hiro studied all of that seriously because all three pieces of information were very important to increase the power of his gear and his progressive stats.

    Upgrading, refining, and enchanting equipment could be done at three different NPCs.

    After understanding how to increase the power of his equipment, Hiro continued to the next main quest.

    [Go to the NPC Willie and ask him to show you around]

    Hiro walked over to NPC Willie ording to the directions he received.

    And this time, he would be taken on a tour to the five big cities belonging to Ninecent that Hiro had read about when he was trying to buy a regr plot.

    The five major cities provided by Ninecent include the hometown of each bloodline yer in the game.

    The first city was the city for the bloodline of the elves, Asvesera City. A beautiful city with breathtaking views.

    The NPCs who lived in that ce seemed to have perfect visuals for both boys and girls. This stunning ce had a river flowing throughout the city. The city of Asvesera was located on a teau.

    There was an Asvesera Castle located at the very peak of the city¡¯s hignds, like a beautiful hill with a beautiful pce along with aqua green as the predominance the color of the precious stones used to build the pce.

    Even only by watching from a distance, Hiro immediately fell in love with the city.

    Several small waterfalls were created naturally from the flow of the river, the water was clear everywhere he looked.

    ¡°The house of the beautiful elves.¡± Exined NPC Willie before finally inviting Hiro to teleport back to the next city.

    Vul Faldur City. The city of Dwarves.

    In stark contrast to the beauty of the city of the elves, the city of the dwarves was located in a desert close to the sea and it had countless ports on each side of it.

    The shape of the buildings in the Dwarven City was much simpler than in the elven city, in which many buildings there were very luxurious. In the Dwarven City, the houses were made of stone and y which looked very sturdy and of high quality.

    After all, the dwarves had expertise in crafting as well as trading. It seemed their skills were perfected with the strategic location of the city of Vul Faldur. It was located in the middle of the LSO world map that could be connected to the other five major cities.

    ¡°Vul Faldur Kingdom, their king is very unfriendly.¡± NPC Williemented before bringing Hiro back to teleport to the next city.

    Phantomburg City. The city for Dragon bloodline. Hiro didn¡¯t know what to say when he saw the very dry solid ground decorated with giant bones that reminded him of dinosaur bones in a museum.

    The bones stick out from the solid underground and form buildings that were upied by NPCs who had veryrge and sturdy bodies. Even the shape of their jaws looked as if they were the same.

    ¡°They¡¯re so rude,¡± whispered NPC Willie while lowering his voice as he told Hiro.

    Hiro had guessed it, and he didn¡¯t regret not choosing the dragon bloodline.

    ¡°Next city, please.¡±

    Woosh!

    Hiro¡¯s body immediately shivered as cold air suddenly blew past him after NPC Willie had him teleported to the next city.

    The next city was located on a continent where thend was covered by a thickyer of snow. It was very cold and the sky looked very dark.

    This city was surrounded by a giant rectangr iron wall.

    It was called Moonspire City. The city of beasts.

    ¡°No wonder they¡¯re all furry. It¡¯s very cold here.¡± Hiro shivered even more and couldn¡¯t stand the cold wind and the snow.

    Even though it looked beautiful at first nce with the uniquely shaped blue-gray buildings, Hiro couldn¡¯t stand being there for too long.

    ¡°Beasts are very warm.¡± NPC Williemented as usual.

    ¡°Now I will take you to the city where you belong.¡±

    Thest city was the city of Hiro¡¯s bloodline, the demon.

    And ording to his prediction, that city was much worse than the others.

    Underworld City was located deep under the ground, it was very close to the virtual¡¯s core.

    The city looked like a very luxurious hell with various giant buildings on it. The area of ??Underworld City was muchrger than the other four cities.

    While other cities always had a huge, majestic pce at their center, Underworld City had a gigantic tower in the center of the city.

    ording to NPC Willie, that gigantic tower was where the leaders of the Underworld empire lived.

    ¡°Humans like me are strictly prohibited from entering this city. The only city that will not easily ept people who don¡¯t belong to their race.¡±

    NPC Willie looked horrified and didn¡¯t want to get closer to the giant gate located between several underground rock mountains with sharp edges.

    ¡°How about the Eternity Kingdom?¡± Hiro remembered the main story he got when he first returned to the game.

    The Eternity Kingdom was one of thergest neutral cities. The inside was dominated by the human race.

    Most of the minor cities that had been purchased by the global elite through an auction were located within the Eternity Kingdom area. So, the biggest kingdom in the LSO world was the Eternity Kingdom. A kingdom that united all races.

    Ding!

    [Your main quest with NPC Willie has beenpleted]

    [ess to 5 Major Cities has been granted]

    [Next main quest: Create or join a guild]

 Chapter 62

    [Next main quest: Create or join a guild]

    Hiro opened the description of the main quest he had just received.

    ¡®Create or join a guild?¡¯

    Of course, he was very excited to finally get the quest he had been waiting for.

    Just like in online games, the formation of a guild could be based on the vision and mission of the guild leader. A guild could be a casual type guild or a hardcore type guild.

    ording to the vision and mission of the leader who formed a guild, the members in the guild must work hard to be the strongest guild through hardcore ying or members in the guild could y casually in the game and the guild continued to develop with slower progress.

    Hiro, who always had high ambitions to be the strongest in a game like his older brother, his role model all this time, wanted to create a guild that would let any yer who heard its name know the strength of the guild.

    However, to achieve that goal, Hiro also knew that he would have to sacrifice a lot of time and energy. Especially when recruiting guild members because he couldn¡¯t just let anyone in.

    In LSO games, guild formation started from scratch. All new guilds formed will start from level 1 with a member capacity of 20 people. The creation of a guild needed a fairlyrge fee that was charged to the leader, which was 5,000 LSC.

    After paying enough LSC, a leader would receive a guild certificate, title, and guild base level 1 which required a vacant plot ofnd as much as 1 slot and could be ced wherever the leader wished.

    The advantage of having a guild was that there were additional guild quests that could be used to farm EXP, special drops, mysterious items, and also LSC.

    However, the guild system in the LSO game was unique because guild quests were determined based on the fame level of the guild.

    The higher the fame of the guild, the more interesting quests the guild will receive, and the rewards were much greater.

    But, the way to gain fame for a guild was not easy.

    It stated that the fame would be given by the system every time a guild member sessfullypleted a dungeon either solo or in a party for the first time. Thus, their name and guild name would be broadcasted by the system.

    However, that was not all.

    Not only clearing dungeons would give the guild fame, but also events and other achievements that were worth being broadcasted by the system to global servers. Yes, all servers. Not just the server where a yer was ying at that moment.

    Simply put, more broadcasted achievements of guild members would be directly tranted into guild fame.

    That meant poprity mattered in this game.

    [Find NPC Guild Administrator to create a guild]

    Hiro had marked the location of the NPC Guild Administrator through his special GPS system.

    NPC Willie had already left him alone in front of the entrance gate of Underworld City. And the GPS on his HUD system directed him to enter the city of the demon bloodline.

    Hiro then walked following the directions from the GPS to reach his destination. A line of half-demon warriors guarding the gates of Underworld City nced at him, but they didn¡¯t stop Hiro in his tracks.

    ¡°They will just let me in?¡± Muttered Hiro, who was slightly anxious as he passed the strong-looking guard NPCs.

    Their bodies were enormous, over two meters tall with prominent muscles. They had red eyes just like Hiro and they had horns on top of their heads that vary in shape.

    ¡°Will my appearance also be like that if I upgradeter?¡±

    The atmosphere within the Underworld City was deste. Indeed, no yers were roaming the city yet because their level was not yet qualified toplete the main quest to be like Hiro. Even the yers who owned the plot or settlement were not there at that moment.

    The physical appearances of the Underworld City resident NPCs looked quite intimidating. Thus, Hiro preferred to see the appearance of NPC Asvesera, which was a paradise for the elves, rather than staying at his bloodline¡¯s city.

    The ground within the Underworld city was red as if it wasnd from hell.

    Even so, Hiro didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit of hot temperature in the city. It was very different from the cold that bothered him so much when he visited Moonspire City.

    The buildings in the city were made of shiny ck stone. The shape of the buildings had the same design, they were towering and had several floors. They were different from Beginner Town which had a building with a first floor but a wide area.

    Even though the volume was very low, Hiro could hear the background song from Underworld City which sounded like sad and gripping death music. The sound of the death bell, giving the final ¡®rest in peace¡¯ message. It gave him goosebumps.

    He indeed felt a bit unlucky because the main city of his bloodline was not as beautiful as other cities.

    After walking for a while, Hiro reached the town square, very close to the giant tower that was in the center of the city. He finally saw the NPC he was looking for.

    An NPC Guild Administrator stood in front of arge building that had an inscription on the stone wall, ¡®Training Area.¡¯

    Hiro approached a male two meters tall NPC with a pair of long curved horns sticking out on either side of his head. His red eyes immediately looked at Hiro scornfully, slightly startling him.

    ¡°What are you looking for, Wanderer?¡± His voice was heavy and hoarse.

    And a transparent panel suddenly appeared in front of Hiro after the NPC spoke to him.

    [Create a guild]

    [Join a guild]

    [Guild Level Upgrade]

    [Guild Rank Information]

    [None, just browsing]

    ¡°Create a guild.¡±

    The NPC Guild Administrator told Hiro the same information he had read from the previous create/join a guild quest description.

    Information about the benefits of having a guild, how to increase the guild rank, and so on.

    Hiro just listened in silence, and there was no information that had not been conveyed in the description he read.

    After all, everything he heard from the NPC Guild Administrator was the same information he got before. There was no new information. Except for one thing.

    [Current number of guilds in the global server: None]

    A new panel appeared before Hiro again.

    [5,000 LSC is required to sign up a new guild]

    [Bnce 7,250 LSC]

    [Are you going to proceed with the transaction?]

    ¡°Yes. Please proceed.¡±

    Hiro knew that 5,000 USD was a huge amount of money for him. However, a sacrifice should be made to achieve his goals. And he was certain of his choice.

    Indeed, from the beginning, Hiro¡¯s target in the game was to be the strongest.

    However, since connecting with Anonymous, he had another goal in ying the game, which was to investigate the username ¡®WynterRain¡¯ that appeared during the CBT version. The yer they suspected was his older brother who had mysteriously died, because that username had been Yuujin¡¯s signature for years.

    His new goal made him even more convinced that he had to be the strongest yer in the game, no matter what. He would sacrifice anything to reach his goals.

    [5,000 LSC has been consumed]

    [Bnce 2,250]

    [A Guild has been sessfully signed]

    [Guild Number: 1]

    [Please input a name for your Guild]

    [¡­]

 Chapter 63

    [A Guild has been sessfully signed]

    [Guild Number: 1]

    [Please input a name for your Guild]

    Hiro hadn¡¯t found any suitable guild names yet. He wanted a name that sounded casual but felt hardcore when read. Fortunately, the system allowed guild names to be set at ater time.

    [You obtained 1x Guild Certificate (Contract Number 1)]

    [Guild name can be set after the guildmaster sessfully recruited 10 yers as guild members.]

    [Only with a minimum of 10 members will a guild be considered active by the system.]

    Hiro let out a sigh of relief when he read the additional notifications that just appeared. At least he still had time to decide on a fitting guild name. Besides, he was currently the only yer who had unlocked the Guild feature in the game.

    Even so, Hiro couldn¡¯t continue his main story quest before his newly-created guild was considered active by the system. Because of this, he decided to go back to grinding and farming for EXP to increase his level before other yers caught up.

    At a time like this, he really hoped he could find a hidden dungeon.

    Hiro looked for NPC Willie to teleport back to Beginner Town, which was still his spawn checkpoint.

    [You will be teleported to Beginner Town]

    Just as he was teleported, he was immediately greeted by a ruckus at the town square.

    A crowd of yers was loudly shouting as they gathered around.

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    ¡°Take him down!¡±

    In the middle of the seemingly angered crowd was a person, and in front of him was a pile of immobile yer avatars with blood sttered on the town ground.

    yers killed in the town area.

    In the pile were five male avatars. Per the penalty Nyx had informed Hiro about, yers who were killed in a town would lose a level and be unable to y for seven days. Interestingly, the avatars of the yers killed would remain in the town before medic NPCs moved their bodies.

    Hiro managed to slip into the crowd to see the person responsible for the cruel murders.

    [Level 15. ytoKill. Rogue. First-Year Student]

    The owner of the yer information in dark red was a thug-like man with an arrogant smirk on his blood-sttered face. At first nce, the word ¡®psychopath¡¯ immediately appeared in Hiro¡¯s mind.

    The man licked the blood mixed with his own sweat on his right arm.

    Hiro silently observed the people around him. All of them had unpleasant expressions on their faces, mostly of displeasure and irritation. Despite that, none of them was willing to step forward and go against the yer killer together.

    If he guessed right, they must¡¯ve tried going against the yer killer only to fail, which acted as an example for the others and made them lose their courage in fear of meeting the same fate.

    Everyone shouted mostly the same words, but no one dared to cross the line.

    ¡°Somebody kill him!¡±

    ¡°Kill that psychopath!¡±

    Just when Hiro was about to challenge the yer killer to a duel, a group of yers noticed his presence.

    It was BigShow and the people he met at the tavern.

    ¡°Boss! Give that bastard a lesson!¡± BigShow loudly called from the crowd while raising his hand to openly point at Hiro, causing the entire crowd to turn toward him with varying expressions.

    A mix of doubt, curiosity, and hope.

    ¡®Boss? Since when did they call me that?¡¯ Hiro was a little surprised by the words BigShow shouted, but he didn¡¯t respond.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t like he was going to refuse. He had nned on beating the yer killer from the beginning anyway.

    ¡®How much LSC can I get from this guy?¡¯ He couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    Hiro stepped forward, leaving the crowd of yers who were only brave enough to watch. When the yer killer turned to look at him, his lips formed an arrogant smile that didn¡¯t lose to the one on the yer killer¡¯s face.

    ¡®Should I kill him with one sh?¡¯

    His confidence rose when he saw the gear the yer killer had on.

    In LSO, yers could check the equipment other yers were wearing through their HUD¡¯s scanning system. This included weapons, armor, essories, and cards. An option to hide their own equipment was also avable in the settings menu, but the yer killer in front of him didn¡¯t enable the feature.

    ¡®Does he really think his gear is amazing, or is he just stupid?

    [ytoKill] [Rogue] [First-Year Student]

    Base Level 15

    Job ss Level 10

    HP 2530/2530

    AP 308/308

    Weapon: [shers (Dagger) (Level 15) ¨C Tier A]

    [Damage 57; MP 30; ASPD 30; CRIT 5]

    Armor: Beginner Top ¨C Tier D Beginner Bottom ¨C Tier C Beginner Shoes ¨C Tier B

    : None

    Special Card Buff(s): None

    ¡®He¡¯s too reckless if he thinks he can start a career as a yer killer with just a decent weapon,¡¯ Hiro thought as he took out his legendary weapon.

    ¡°You must be joking. Is there really no yer stronger than me on this server?¡± the yer killer mocked.

    ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± the yer killer explosivelyughed after scrutinizing Hiro from top to bottom. The sight of an adolescent boy holding arge sword with both hands greatly amused him.

    ¡°Was this kid seriously challenging him?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t move. He wasn¡¯t scared, he just felt that the yer killer¡¯s words of mockery weren¡¯t true at all, since Hiro was currently the strongest yer on the server.

    Hiro calmly met the yer killer¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Are you ready to take a one-week break?¡±

    ¡°Are you asking yourself?¡± The yer killer sneered.

    At that moment, Hiro could no longer wait. Without waiting for the yer killer to make the first move, he swiftly dashed forward and swung his greatsword with all his strength.

    SPLAT!

    One horizontal sh tore apart the yer killer¡¯s chest along with his Halfblood Student Uniform, and blood instantly gushed out.

    Due to the immensely realistic pain detection in the game, the yer killer could also feel the agonizing pain of the de cutting his body into two.

    He couldn¡¯t even scream due to the pain.

    [HP -2,530]

    The yer killer fell backward. His pupils trembled in fear before he finally stopped moving.

    Ding!

    [yer NightFall has eliminated a yer killer in Beginner Town]

    [1,500 LSC has been rewarded for his heroic action.]

    An announcement was broadcasted globally. The yers who were present as he defeated the yer killer with just one strike had dropped their jaws in disbelief and amazement.

    ¡°Yeah, finally!¡±

    ¡°Take that! I hope your VR gear explodes for being left unused for a week!¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha!¡±

    The atmosphere suddenly became warm. The yers began to shout in satisfaction before they scrambled to surround Hiro and barrage him with questions.

    ¡°That was amazing! How did you do that?¡±

    ¡°CBT King? So you were a beta tester!¡±

    ¡°He is!¡±

    ¡°That title! Does that mean you¡¯re the best among them?¡±

    But the moment didn¡¯tst long. Just as Hiro opened his mouth to speak, a semi-transparent red panel suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

    [Attention!]

    [ording to the game news that went viral on social media three hours ago, Last Shelter Online is suspected to be rted to the famous gamer¡¯s death.]

    [Yuujin Yamaguchi (Male, Japanese, 28), in-game-name WynterRain]

    [Starting today, an emergency investigation of thepany Ninecent will be done, especially the section of Last Shelter Online.]

 Chapter 64

    [Attention!]

    [ording to the game news that went viral on social media three hours ago, Last Shelter Online is suspected to be rted to the famous gamer¡¯s death.]

    [Yuujin Yamaguchi (Male, Japanese, 28), in-game-name WynterRain]

    [Starting today, an emergency investigation of thepany Ninecent will be done, especially the section of Last Shelter Online.]

    [yers may encounter special guests, detectives, and special agents.]

    [We hope yers can cooperate well during the investigation. A specialpensation will be distributed after the investigation ends.]

    [We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.]

    The semi-transparent red panel then disappeared from all the yers in the world of LSO.

    Most of the yers that got their hands on the game¡¯s VR gear at its first sale were people who were always updated when it came to the gaming world. It was a given that they knew who WynterRain was.

    ¡°WynterRain?¡±

    ¡°WynterRain is involved in this game?¡±

    ¡°Could it be that he was a beta tester?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, was he killed when he was a beta tester?¡±

    ¡°No way. This game isn¡¯t WynterRain¡¯s grave, is it?¡±

    ¡°If this game is really involved in WynterRain¡¯s death, I¡¯ll regret buying this game my entire life.¡±

    ¡°I got shivers. What viral news appeared three hours ago? I¡¯ve been ying this game the entire day and saw no updates.¡±

    Among all the ruckus, panic, sadness, grief, and regret began to resurface in the hearts of the yers who idolized the legend. Most of them chose to remain silent and immediately log out, while some of them made a discussion forum to share theories of how LSO was connected to the legendary gamer¡¯s sudden and mysterious death.

    However, none of them was as shocked as Hiro. He had frozen in ce the moment he saw the mention of his brother¡¯s death, and these people¡¯s discussions weren¡¯t making it any better.

    The voices of the people around him suddenly felt distant, as if he was getting left behind on a wide, empty field.

    ¡®What is going on?¡¯

    His entire body began to tremble as his heartbeat rapidly elerated. Cold sweat started to form on his realistic avatar, and he felt as if cold, invisible hands were tightly choking him, sending chills down his spine and forcefully pulling his soul out of his body.

    The world around him began to blur and spin. But all of a sudden, he felt something slightly warm and heavy fall onto his shoulder.

    Startled, he reflexively pped it away and took a step back.

    ¡°Boss, are you okay?¡± BigShow awkwardly pulled his pped hand.

    After most of the crowd had logged out, he and the others from the tavern approached Hiro. From a distance, the muscr man felt that he was acting a little strange and became worried, so he hurried to check.

    He had a panic attack.

    Hiro didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he turned to walk away in a daze.

    Only one thing was on his mind.

    Log out.

    ¡­

    [Disconnecting from the server¡­]

    Hiro took off his VR helmet anxiously. His real body was so drenched in sweat that it even dampened his bedcover a bit. His breaths still felt somewhat suffocated, as if he just survived after drowning.

    Still a little light-headed, he checked his android bracelet.

    [Missed calls: Aunt Yuma (11)]

    [Love Room: 30 new messages from Anonymous]

    The two must¡¯ve tried to contact him when the news he hadn¡¯t read went viral. While he was busy having fun gaming, he found outte about the news pertaining to his brother¡¯s death.

    He didn¡¯t know why, but his cheeks were a little damp.

    Ring!!!

    [Iing call: Aunt Yuma]

    Beep!

    ¡°Hiro! What the hell are you up to!? Why are you ignoring my calls!?¡± Aunt Yuma shouted from the other end.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t say anything. His lips moved, but no words came out.

    ¡°Did you read the news?¡±

    Ring!!!

    A ringing sound came from Aunt Yuma¡¯s side.

    ¡°Oh my goodness! How many people does that make? Can¡¯t you let me talk to my living nephew first!?¡± Aunt Yuma frustratedly shouted on the other end.

    ¡°Hiro, Listen. I don¡¯t know what Yuujin was up to, but I¡¯m pretty sure that new game has something to do with his death. So, please, don¡¯t get involved with that game. Just let the FBI do their fucking job, all right!?¡±

    For the first time in his life, he finally found proof that his only remaining family member cared about him.

    Aunt Yuma¡¯s warning made his chest feel a little tight. His vision blurred, and cool tears flowed down his warm cheeks.

    ¡°Hiro, are you crying?¡±

    Aunt Yuma could hear his sobs through the connected call. She was genuinely surprised.

    She had never seen this nephew of hers cry.

    ¡°Hiro, I just don¡¯t want to lose my nephew again. I don¡¯t want to lose you. So please, can you stay away from that game for your useless aunt?¡± She spoke more gently and lowered her tone.

    Hiro was touched by her words. However, this didn¡¯t mean that he was going to do as she wanted.

    As if he was trying to recollect his energy, Hiro¡¯s body violently shook. He clenched his fists so tight that his sharp nails left more than just a mark.

    To him, the rightest thing to do now was to find the truth about his brother¡¯s death. Because of this, he only had a few words to say before disconnecting the call with his aunt.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Aunt, but losing Yuujin this way means that my life will never be at peace.¡±

    Beep!

    Hiro slowly loosened his grip and took a deep breath. After he had calmed down a little, his eyes moved toward his android bracelet as he thought of his main reason for logging out.

    The viral news.

    However, just as he moved his hand to look it up, he changed his mind. He wanted to investigate Yuujin¡¯s death on his own, and for that, he needed a proper emergency n.

    After a moment of hesitation, his finger moved to contact his one and only partner in the matter.

    Anonymous.

 Chapter 65

    [Anonymous: I TOLD YOU ALREADY! HE WAS MURDERED!]

    [Anonymous: Did you check the news?!]

    [Anonymous: Gosh! My thread suddenly got more than thousands ofments. This is Crazy!]

    [Anonymous: Where are you? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re still diving in the game!]

    [Anonymous: Shit! Get out of there! They¡¯ve announced your brother¡¯s autopsy result. Is the woman with the initials ¡®Y¡¯ your aunt?]

    [Anonymous: I like that woman already. She published everything! She¡¯s right, everyone has to know the truth!]

    [Anonymous: Well said. Her speech went viral. We got many supporters. I¡¯m pretty sure the detective and FBI will do something fast.]

    [Anonymous: Yep! They will! I knew it. Ninecent should prepare their coffin faster! Come on, Bro get out! We have a lot of work to do.]

    Hiro just finished reading all the chat messages on the Love Room App sent by Anonymous. He frowned and gritted his teeth as he read from top to bottom.

    Without revealing the original news, he already knew the gist of what was discussed in the viral news after reading the Anonymous chat, in which they all looked very excited after finding the news.

    The news came from a reporter who was immediately contacted by Aunt Yuma right after someone from the investigation on Yuujin¡¯s death case received the autopsy results from the hospital.

    Report that carried the final results. That person immediately informed Aunt Yuma as the responsible family to tell one important fact.

    The autopsy results on Yuujin¡¯s body.

    Yamaguchi, Yuujin was found dead in the White Oak Canyon area by a climber. Two provisional allegations of the cause of Yuujin¡¯s death were suicide by jumping or identally slipping from a height in a rocky area near one of the waterfalls.

    However, due to the request of Aunt Yuma as the responsible family member and millions of Yuujin fans from all over the world, the two allegations of Yuujin¡¯s death couldn¡¯t be taken for granted and used to make the final decision.

    Moreover, there was no letter or message left behind by someone who choose to end his life bymitting suicide. Something didn¡¯t feel right as leaving a final message was usually the sign of a suicide case.

    When he heard the news for the first time, Hiro was desperate to check the condition of Yuujin¡¯s body himself because he didn¡¯t believe anything that was reported by the media. Unfortunately, he had no money to realize that wish of his.

    Aunt Yuma¡¯s choice to perform an autopsy on Yuujin¡¯s body finally paid off as it helped to find out what happened.

    The result was finally out today.

    Although Yuujin¡¯s body was found with many injuries which were confirmed to be injuries from falling and hitting the giant rocks in the waterfall area until his face was almost unrecognizable, it turned out that there were some oddities found on his body.

    In Yuujin¡¯s body, a small amount of sinylcholine was found, a drug that was included in the neuromuscr blocking agent along with the acute gastritis medication that Yuujin often took when his gastritis re-up.

    The doctor confirmed that these medicines were consumed at the same time as his death, which was very strange.

    The suspicion was that why did Yuujin take his acute gastritis reliever if he wanted to kill himself?

    In addition, if he chose tomit suicide by jumping from a high rocky area, why didn¡¯t he jump right away? Why did he have to take his medicines before jumping?

    Moving to the second allegation that he died due to identally slipping and falling, what was the neuromuscr blocking agent for?

    As the name implies, the function of the drug was to block the nerves in the brain thatmand muscr movement. Simply put, this medicine could cause temporary paralysis. It could be said that Yuujin would not be able to move his own body as a result of consuming this medicine.

    The doctors pointed out one thing, after calcting the estimated time of consumption of the two types of medicines before dissolving in Yuujin¡¯s body, they suspected that Yuujin¡¯s body was paralyzed first by the drug before he fell.

    From the information provided by the doctor, the team that worked to handle Yuujin¡¯s case changed the status of suspected suicide to suspected premeditated murder.

    And the reason why Nincent ¨C LSO was suspected of being involved in Yuujin¡¯s death was because of Yuujin¡¯s employment contract with Ninecent ¨C LSO had been approved by the agency where Yuujin worked, E-nfinity.

    And before he died, Yuujin worked for Ninecent under E-nfinity agency. Even his contract is still on-going.

    Ninecent, especially the department of Last Shelter Online, was suspected of being involved in Yuujin¡¯s death because Yuujin has no rtives in America. The only reason why he lived in America was because of his job as a professional gamer.

    Although he has many fans around the world, everyone knew that Yuujin didn¡¯t have many friends. And he didn¡¯t like to socialize in real life, thus making him unreachable. He rarely has contact with strangers. So, if there was someone out there in America nning to kill him, it must be someone that was able to reach him in real life too.

    Hiro got goosebumps after reading the conclusion of the viral news.

    It turned out that Yuujin¡¯s arrival in his nightmare at that time gave him a significant clue, as if his brother had told him beforehand so he would know faster than anyone.

    But, instead of joining Anonymous to investigate more about his death, Hiro just yed around in the game that was suspected to corrte with Yuujin¡¯s death.

    Hiro immediately regretted his actions.

    He clenched his fists tightly. With a gaze full of determination, he set a new top priority goal.

    ¡°I will find your killer and destroy him with my own hands, Brother.¡±

    Hiro rushed to type a message for Anonymous.

    [You: I¡¯m joining your investigation club.]

    [Anonymous: I knew you would, sooner orter.]

    [Anonymous: So, your first task is ¡­ go back to the game, be strong, and you must win the uing event !]

    Hiro nodded in agreement. However, he didn¡¯t immediately return to the game. He wanted to do something he knew would help him win an event, something he hadn¡¯t known the details of.

    But at least, he knew that would be very helpful for him.

    Hiro left his apartment to go to the nearest pharmacy. He met with a pharmacist for consultation.

    ording to the pharmacist, Hiro was deficient in several types of vitamins, minerals, and especially iron. The pharmacist rmended Hiro take a Bplex supplement because it was clear that Hiro seemed to be under a lot of stress and his brain had been working too hardtely.

    The pharmacist suspected that Hiro¡¯s brain had been used excessively, but the pharmacists never imagined what kind of work had made Hiro overworked himself like that.

    Even so, Hiro bought the highest quality Bplex supplement at the pharmacy. He was willing to spend a little more money to smoothly run every mission in the game.

    Hiro returned to his apartment with a little jog and stopped at the supermarket. This time, he bought nutritious food such as fresh sushi.

    And still, he hadn¡¯t seen Kira go back to work, he missed the man a little bit now.

    After that, Hiro immediately ate his food along with the Bplex supplement when he got home. He then drank a lot of mineral water until his stomach felt like it was going to explode.

    ording to the pharmacist, Hiro didn¡¯t drink enough water so he looked moderately dehydrated.

    [Anonymous: What are you doing!!??]

    Anonymous could indeed see what Hiro was doing by hacking the camera on the surface of the android bracelet that Hiro wears. That was why Anonymous knew what Hiro was doing earlier, instead of directly doing the task he had given to Hiro.

    ¡°I prepared myself for a war.¡±

    Hiro reassembled his VR machine and positioned himself on the bed. He chose the mostfortable position before diving into the game.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

 Chapter 66

    Hiro reappeared in the Beginner Town square. He was immediately surprised when he saw how crowded Beginner Town was when he just logged in.

    Everyone who already had a VR LSO machine seemed to be logging in right now, that was why the Beginner Town was packed with yers.

    From the crowd of yers, Hiro could see some strange-looking yers wearing ck robes.

    The ck-robed yers were followed by an object that looked like a fly at first nce. The object had the size of an index finger with the ability to fly around.

    When Hiro narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the flying object, he finally knew what it was.

    A device that could record. And those suspicious yers were none other than the investigators who handled Yujin¡¯s death case. They were interviewing several yers in Beginner Town.

    Meanwhile, Hiro immediately walked away. He tried to hide behind the gap between the two buildings, looking for a shady ce.

    ording to what Anonymous said, he shouldn¡¯t be involved in the investigation carried out by the authorities.

    The reason was that Hiro was Yujin¡¯s brother.

    If it was true that Last Shelter Online had something to do with Yuujin¡¯s death, and that the results of the investigation revealed that Yuujin had a younger brother who was ying in their game, they could also n evil things to get rid of Hiro.

    It was better to avoid any bad possibilities for now.

    Even Aunt Yuma didn¡¯t publish to the public that Yuujin had a younger brother who was also a game freak like him. It was as if Aunt Yuma had a hunch that Hiro¡¯s identity should be kept a secret for the sake of his safety.

    The more he thought about it, the more Hiro got angry. It seemed that someone had been after him from the start, and maybe that person already knew about him being Yuujin¡¯s younger brother.

    And if such a person did exist, then there was no mistaking it. The leader was from the agency where Yuujin worked, because they had been working together for a long time, it was likely that Yuujin had told his colleagues about his brother.

    Hiro understood now why the man in the ck suit was trying to catch him that night in Yuujin¡¯s old apartment. They must have something to do with Yuujin¡¯s death.

    Remembering that, Hiro regretted it again. At that time he should have tried his best to beat them, even though he was alone.

    ¡°System Call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

    Base Level 24

    Job ss Level 22

    Health 14160/14160

    AP 2120/2120

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 5510

    BR 14120

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 83

    AGI 42

    INT 22

    VIT 44

    DEX 26

    LUCK 22

    Skill Stats (Points 0)

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5 Max

    Bloodsteal (passive) Level 5 Max

    Martial Combo Art Level 5 Max

    Hiro smirked seeing his basic stat increase from thest time he checked it before logging out. His decision to take a short jog, eat nutritious food, drink lots of mineral water, and take Bplex supplements managed to increase the bonus points on his basic stats. Looked like he made a good decision to prepare himself for the game.

    ¡°Supplement Bplex extends your lifespan is indeed an urate slogan.¡±

    Hiro still had time to finish his daily quest before tonight¡¯s event started.

    He already knew what kind of event needed to be yed tonight. And no matter what would happen tonight, he must win the event.

    Even when Hiro didn¡¯t know who Anonymous was to be asking to work together to investigate Yuujin¡¯s death, he didn¡¯t care about the Anonymous identity anymore.

    Something was clear that Anonymous knew a lot about LSO games. He even knew what event would appear tonight and how to win it. For the rest, it depended on how Hiro would execute it.

    Anonymous¡¯ knowledge of LSO made Hiro think that this person was one of the game¡¯s creators. Although it was very unlikely that the suspicion was true.

    Hiro rushed to finish his daily quest first. Starting from The Bandit¡¯s Lair dungeon which was just a repeat quest.

    Because he already knew what to do in the dungeon, Hiro also managed to finish the same dungeon in a faster time.

    Today¡¯s record was clearing the dungeon within 1 minute.

    And even though many yers had already reached level 20 and could ess the same daily dungeon, none of them could reach Hiro¡¯s dungeon clearing speed.

    Meanwhile, in the world chat discussion forum, many of them were talking about Hiro.

    [GreatMage: NightFall who defeated the PK was one of the 1000 CBT yers]

    [LordGrim: His title is CBT King! He must be the best of the CBT yers!]

    [Lost_Queen: I¡¯ve seen the person firsthand. He is so cute! I want to make him mine! ,]

    [LilRainbow: Right! He¡¯s so cute. Cute Asian boy!]

    [PinkBell: But he¡¯s so strong! Does he have a partner?]

    [Leonard91: I want to make him my partner!]

    [Lost_Queen: Wait a minute @Leonard91, aren¡¯t you a boy? -_-]

    [CutePie: Goodbye all of you! I¡¯m already friends with @NightFall]

    Ding!

    Hiro got a notification because someone tagged him in the world chat. This surely annoyed him.

    [PinkBell: @NightFall I want to be your friend too!]

    [FavBitch: @NightFall, lemme suck your cute d**k! :*]

    ¡°What on earth are they doing? Stop tagging me geez. This is really annoying¡± Hiro muttered to himself. And type a single emoji.

    [You: -_-]

    [Lost_Queen: OMG! It¡¯s really him!]

    [LilRainbow: OMG!! MY CUTIE!]

    [PinkBell: OMG! It¡¯s him!]

    [NightFall01: Hello Ladies! Let¡¯s hook up]

    [Nightfalll02: Come and suck my cute d**k @FavBitch]

    ¡­

    Hiro massaged his head which instantly felt pain after reading themotion going on in the world chat. Even some yers had changed their nicknames to imitate him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t they have better things to do?¡±

    Hiro decided to turn off world chat notifications and at the same time prohibit anyone from tagging his name in world chat.

    He had to focus on the game now.

    Those who were making noise in the world chat were amateurs, people who were just looking for attention. Or they might be ying just for the sake of entertaining themselves while trying to find a partner.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t interested in those things at all. Usually, yers like that only survive ying the game for a matter of months before retiring and moving on to y other new games.

    Afterpleting the daily dungeon, Hiro againpleted the battle arena quest, and this time he was serious about choosing his enemy.

    Although Liberty reappeared as an opponent¡¯s choice once again, he decided to ignore it because he knew that Liberty had a weapon that was a counterattack to kill him.

    Finally, Hiro got full points with three wins in the battle arena.

    He then went to the tavern in Beginner Town to take part in the minigame.

    However, just as he entered the tavern, his eyes met with the investigators who turned out to have made the Tavern a ce of investigation as well.

    Hiro immediately turned around, but one of them held him back.

    ¡°Wait, yer NightFall!¡±

 Chapter 67 - Luck

    Perhaps it was because of how sudden Hiro turned around, but the investigators who were very much used to observing such things found it suspicious. In the end, he was forced to halt his steps when one of them called his in-game username.

    ¡®Damn it.¡¯

    He didn¡¯t immediately turn around to look at the person who called him and thought hard. In a situation like this, what could he do?

    No matter what, he couldn¡¯t afford to get his true identity exposed.

    ¡®The old way it is,¡¯ he thought before turning around with a smile.

    As expected, a bald man in a ck cloak walked toward him. Above his head was an ¡®Investigator¡¯bel.

    [Level 1. Investigator0120. Mage. None]

    They even gave him an avatar to carry out the investigation.

    The man stopped right in front of Hiro and observed him from top to bottom.

    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen an Asian on the server. Great, I¡¯ll make you one of my witnesses. Can you answer some questions for a bit?¡±

    The man talked amiably, but his every word made Hiro¡¯s heart beat faster.

    Hiro didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Are you listening?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­ S-sorry, mister police. Ma-my English bat,¡± he spoke with nervous stutters and mispronunciations.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    Hiro continued to smile to make his act convincing.

    ¡°Where are you from? Do you not live in America?¡± the man spoke more slowly.

    ¡®Gotcha.¡¯ From the investigator¡¯s reaction, Hiro was sure that it was working. He just needed to continue his act.

    ¡°Uhm¡­ where from?¡± he repeated with doubt. ¡°South Korea¡­¡±

    No way he could say he was from Japan, right?

    ¡°Can I ask you some simple questions? This is very important.¡±

    Still not working. Hiro managed to fool the investigator about his origin, but the bald man was still questioning him.

    He had to change his strategy.

    However, before Hiro could think of another way, a shout came from the bar table.

    ¡°Sung Ji Woo!¡±

    Jacob had run past the investigator to put his hand around Hiro¡¯s shoulder energetically.

    Sung Ji Woo? Who?

    ¡°Ahh, I¡¯m so sorry, sir. This is my close friend, Ji Woo. His English is pretty bad. Rather than getting inurate information because of thenguage barrier, why not let me answer instead? I¡¯ve also yed the game longer than him,¡± Jacob seriously said.

    If Hiro hadn¡¯t known that what Jacob said wasn¡¯t true, he would¡¯ve believed him.

    ¡°Right, Ji Woo?¡± Jacob added in Korean while smiling and giving a strange gesture at Hiro. Like a code.

    Hiro instantly understood the code, even though he never learned the Koreannguage. At the same time, he didn¡¯t know if he should feel lucky or shocked by Jacob¡¯s sudden appearance.

    ¡°Ah, y-yes,¡± Hiro answered with a stammer.

    ¡°All right. If you¡¯ve really yed the game longer and he¡¯s your close friend, I can ask you the questions instead. We do need urate information anyway, and I don¡¯t want any misinterpretations to happen because of thenguage barrier.¡±

    ¡°Can we talk for 10 minutes?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    The investigator walked into the tavern to find an empty table to talk at. Jacob, however, didn¡¯t immediately follow him.

    After the investigator walked a distance away, Jacob looked at Hiro and whispered in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re nning, but I¡¯m here if you need backup. Just call me, bro.¡±

    He then walked away.

    ¡®I really owe him this time,¡¯ Hiro let out a long sigh of relief and quickly left the tavern. He didn¡¯t want to be stopped by another investigator.

    For the safety of his identity, he decided to get out of Beginner Town, away from yers. As for his daily minigame, he could only do it after the investigators left the tavern.

    Hiro headed toward his regr plot area to continue grinding and farming for EXP to boost his level. There, he saw several familiar faces grinding, beating up Garden Golems.

    It was quite a consoling sight for him. His efforts to get yers to make use of the resources in his regr plot area had borne fruit. Thend was no longer devoid of other yers.

    Even so, Hiro chose a somewhat secluded location deep in the forest to find a monster with a level above his. And his pick went to a group of 10 goblin-type monsters in a spot. Among them was a [Boss Goblin] three times the size of the other goblins around it.

    He had checked. In LSO, some monsters had a boss with them that, if defeated, might drop an item of high value. After being defeated, it would take 45 minutes for a boss monster to respawn.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the boss.¡±

    Hiro pulled out his greatsword and ran toward the group of goblins.

    [Forest Goblin (Level 27)]

    [Boss: Forest Goblin (Level 31)]

    Hiro leaped toward the normal goblins with a kick andnded above them, using them as his footing before leaping to sh at the boss with all his strength.

    SPLAT!

    The unexpected surprise attack gave no time for the Boss Goblin to dodge, allowing Hiro¡¯s de to stab into its shoulder.

    Groaaa!!

    The goblin¡¯s blood heavily sprayed out. However, before the blood could reach the ground, Hiro¡¯s greatsword absorbed it and faintly glowed purple.

    SPLAT! BAM!

    Hiro attacked with a cross sh right at the Boss Goblin¡¯s wide chest before powerfully kicking it.

    Double kick!

    The boss heavily fell with a seizure and stopped moving.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained 1x Forest Goblin¡¯s Amulet]

    [Forest Goblin¡¯s Amulet has been equipped]

    [Luck has increased (+10)]

    Ding!

    [Base ss level up 1x]

    Hiro ignored the notifications and continued to dance with his greatsword to wipe out the normal goblins that were already enraged for being made his footing.

    BAM! BAM!

    Hiro sessfully evaded all forms of fatal physical attacks from the goblins¡¯ pickaxes. Moreover, the scratch that ripped his skin didn¡¯t matter much when the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s unique skill reactivated, restoring his HP.

    Strength was important at a time like this, so while waiting for the night to fall, Hiro spent some time increasing his avatar¡¯s strength.

    He currently had two main goals:

    1. Find the truth behind his brother¡¯s death.

    2. Win the first month game event and obtain the $60,000 reward.

    With him repeatedly grinding and farming for EXP, time flew by very fast.

    Ding!

    [Global Reminder]

    [The special event will begin in 1 hour. Please gather at the nearest town square and wait for the special warp to appear to participate in the event.]

 Chapter 68 - Dragon

    Hiro decided to end his grinding session. He didn¡¯t want to bete to participate in the game¡¯s very first event. Even though he already knew from Anonymous what kind of games would be held in the event, his victory would still rely on himpletely.

    As he expected, Beginner Town was already full of other yers when he arrived. After all, who would want to be left out of such a big event?

    Hiro looked around. Fortunately, no investigators were present. It seemed that they were only allowed to investigate at certain hours.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªNightFall!¡± a girl who came with a group of other sexy elves suddenly squealed when she noticed Hiro looking around.

    Hearing the girl¡¯s squeal, countless pairs of eyes instantly looked toward her before shifting his way. Most of them were in awe, but not few were displeased and even envious.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know how to respond to the five elf girls approaching him together. Two of them had even begun scrambling to hold his hands, making him feel a little stuffy and warm.

    ¡°So cute!¡± a tall girl with only a long leaf circling her chest to cover it had leaned forward to Hiro¡¯s face.

    Hiro was helpless. The town square was already filled with yers, and he had no chance of running.

    ¡°Is he the rumored CBT yer?¡±

    ¡°The real one?¡±

    ¡°Looks weak.¡±

    ¡°My body is better.¡±

    ¡°Is he underage?¡±

    ¡°How old is he?¡±

    Hiro could feel his eyelids beat upon hearing the whispers. He genuinely didn¡¯t know what to do.

    A CBT yer. Were CBT yers so popr on the server for them to be so amazed?

    After talking about him for a bit, most of the crowd¡¯s attention quickly shifted to another direction before they began talking again.

    ¡°Wow look at them!¡±

    ¡°Do theye from the royal family or something?¡±

    This piqued Hiro¡¯s curiosity, prompting him to peek from the gaps in the dense crowd.

    His pupils instantly contracted when he saw who they were talking about.

    Libe?

    Liberty was walking with four other yers. All of them had different auraspared to other yers, and it was apparent from how expensive and high-quality the costumes they wore were.

    A party?

    As if she wanted to avoid all the gazes on her, Liberty walked with her face down. On her waist was a faintly gleaming white holster where the Hellsing Whisper was.

    At the same time, a tall ck-haired man was hugging her shoulder as he walked by her side, forcing other yers to make way for the five of them to cut in line until they arrived at the very front of the line at the town square.

    ¡®Who is that?¡¯ Hiro couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s face.

    [Level 23. Ace. Barbarian. Beast of Gevaudan]

    Seeing another person hugging Liberty¡¯s shoulder like that, Hiro could feel his chest tighten and his temperature rise.

    ¡°They¡¯re so cool!¡±

    ¡°They must be rich!¡±

    The shouted of the yers around him made Hiro think of forcibly breaking through the line and stopping them to greet Liberty, who had been ignoring his friend request as if the week he went through with her and that intimate night meant nothing to her at all.

    However, before Hiro could recklessly execute what went against his ns, a loud sound stopped him in his tracks.

    Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!

    The church bell in Beginner Town tolled for the first time, its sound instantly attracting the yers to look toward the church. Under everyone¡¯s gaze, a ray of bright light flew out of the church bell and stopped mid-air above thousands of curious yers.

    However, the light didn¡¯t change into a recognizable form.

    ¡°Attention! My name is Juno, the Goddess of Light. I am one of 10 Game Masters.¡±

    A woman¡¯s soft, yet charismatic voice resounded.

    ¡°Tonight, I will be the Game Master responsible for this first event. Before I open the special warp, I will exin the basic rules.¡±

    Everyone paid attention without saying a word. Some of the yers even seemed tense.

    ¡°This event is to wee the release of the new ¡®Pet¡¯ feature essible from base level 30. The list of rewards will be disyed in front of you.¡±

    Beep!

    Beep!

    A semi-transparent panel appeared in front of the yer that gathered at the town square.

    Hiro read the list of rewards on the panel. The rewards were plentiful, but they were categorized into five different tiers.

    The tier 1 reward. Given to the yer with the highest game points, the prizes were the legendary pet ¡®Baby Flying ck Dragon¡¯plete with 12 high-quality Philippine eagle hearts for pet food, which would normally be priced at 5,000 LSC each (Untradable).

    The tier 2 reward. Given to the yer with the second-highest game points, the prizes were a golden pet egg and five high-quality Philippine eagle hearts (Untradable).

    The tier 3 reward. Given to the yer with the third-highest game points, the prize was a golden pet egg (Untradable).

    The tier 4 reward. Given to all the yers in the winning team, the prize was a high-quality Philippine eagle heart (Untradable).

    Andst, the tier 5 reward. Given to all the participants of the event, the prizes were three mysterious boxes.

    After reading the details of the rewards for this event, the yers went into an uproar and began discussing. But suddenly¡­

    BOOM!

    The floating light exploded, silencing the yers below.

    Hiro was also startled by the clear explosion. The light had blown up into specks of light that filled the air and gradually came together and grow in size, almost filling the town square area.

    After that, a spectacr transformation urred.

    The light formed a silhouette akin to an enormous dragon with a pair of wide wings. The dragon made of light then began to p its wings, flying above the yers that couldn¡¯t stop themselves from voicing their awe of the dragon¡¯s beauty.

    The high and realistic graphics made them feel as if they were in a real dragon¡¯s presence.

    ¡°It will not be this light, but this is the final evolution form of the Flying ck Dragon.¡±

 Chapter 69 - Survivor or Hunter ?

    The atmosphere in Beginner Town grew tense.

    There would be one yer only out of the thousands of yers who could own such an amazing-legendary pet.

    Their adrenaline spiked, their throats felt dry, and their necks started to feel sore from having to look up at the sky.

    ¡°I will definitely be the winner,¡± Hiro muttered while clenching his fists. He secretly stole a nce at where Liberty was standing in the front row.

    The girl was seen staring at the silhouette of a dragon in the sky of Beginner Town with apletely unexpected expression.

    Her gaze was empty and she seemed disinterested.

    What happened to her?

    ¡°The warp will be out within a minute. Before that, you are all free to form a party. But, if you couldn¡¯t find your party here, don¡¯t worry. You still have time to create the partyter after being teleported to the special venue for the game.¡±

    Game master Juno had just finished her exnation for now.

    At the same time, an extremely dazzling light appeared from another direction. It appeared right at the center of the Beginner Town square.

    A warp resembling a giant glowing gate had also appeared at that point.

    Its surface was abination of silver and white. It didn¡¯t give any clues to yers who were getting more curious to peek at what was behind it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s just a normal gate. Go on and walk through it.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyes returned to focus on the front row. The five of them seemed to have formed a party even before the event started.

    Liberty and the yer named Ace walked first, stepping into the light gate without the slightest hesitation. Then, in a matter of seconds, they both disappeared.

    The others began to line up in an orderly manner to enter the gate of light. Meanwhile, an elf girl who had been talking to Hiro had turned around to whisper something to him.

    ¡°Sorry, Cutie. We already have five girls here, we can¡¯t adopt you at our party. So, see you there!¡± The girl blinked her beautiful rounded eyes before walking along with the party she was referring to.

    Hiro let out a long breath, feeling relieved. At least he didn¡¯t have to think about how to refuse if the girl actually asked him to join their party.

    After all, Hiro already knew what kind of game to yter. And it was true that ying in a party will be more helpful than ying solo in the game.

    Even so, strong party members were required to increase the win percentage.

    Hiro would decide who could join his partyter, at the venue that had been prepared for the first major event in the LSO.

    He walked into the giant light gate that was in front of him. He kept staring at the light steadily. Hiro had no other choice but to be victorious.

    The light from elsewhere behind the gate was too dazzling. Hiro couldn¡¯t keep his eyes open.

    He walked away with his eyes closed.

    This time, he didn¡¯t get that very annoying feeling, the feeling of being teleported to unknown ces. Instead, he could feel the warmth.

    Sadly, that feeling onlysted for three seconds.

    Right after that, an extremely cold air greeted him.

    Fwoosh!

    And suddenly, his body felt very light.

    [The Haunted White House]

    The first thing Hiro noticed was that his body felt like it had no weight at all.

    And when he touched his back, the greatsword was not there anymore.

    Even so, he remained calm.

    ¡°Damn¡ªsurvivors, huh? Bad luck.¡±

    Hiro looked around. He and the thousands of yers who had passed through the gate of light before were now standing in the open courtyard, in front of an imitation building of The White House, but this time it was a version of the building usually found in horror movies.

    The light source in that ce was from a giant bonfire in the middle of the courtyard which had been covered by a thickyer of snow, causing Hiro¡¯s boots to sink slightly in it.

    ¡°That Anonymous was right. Everything I¡¯m seeing right now was exactly like he told me. Who the hell is he? Ninecent¡¯s employee?¡±

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    Jacob turned out to be in the same ce. He immediately surprised Hiro with his ever-inspired greeting. Embracing Hiro¡¯s shoulder who was busy guessing Anonymous¡¯ true identity in his head.

    ¡°Jacob, are you on the survivor team too?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡ª?¡±

    ¡°Ahem¡­I mean, I¡¯m d to see you here.¡± Hiro almost forgot that he was the only one who knew the leaked information about the event, while Jacob didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Can I join your party, Bro? Everyone seems to have their party already.¡±

    Jacob grinned expectantly.

    ¡®Should I let Jacob in? Indeed, when I first met him, he was terrible at fighting andpletely unreliable. But now, since I taught him the basics of how to y, he has progressed a lot. Even his current level was above the average of the other yers.

    He¡¯s very easy to manage, and one positive thing about him that I can¡¯t beat is¡­ his ability to convince other people. That skill is very important for this event, especially since I have to be on a survivor team like this.¡¯

    [You have sent a party invitation to Jacob]

    [Jacob joined the party]

    ¡°Thank you, Bro. I promise I won¡¯t be a burden to you this time. You can count on me, teehee.¡±

    Jacob looked pleased and he couldn¡¯t hide his excitement after Hiro invited him to the party. Meanwhile, Hiro just smiled at that.

    ¡®Jacob was stillcking in many things. I have to recruit other reliable yers for the sake of victory. But¨C who?¡¯

    Hiro didn¡¯t see Liberty and the four unfamiliar male yers around the ce. They should have arrived earlier because they were the first to pass through the gate of light.

    At that moment, Hiro suddenly realized the reason why they weren¡¯t there.

    In fact, they had already been gathered elsewhere, in the forest.

    Hiro nced at the very dark forest far in front of The White House. He couldn¡¯t see anything in the forest. Even though the trees had no leaves as they withered due to the map¡¯s winter setting, still, only darkness remained in the forest.

    ¡°They¡¯re on the hunter team,¡± Hiro muttered to himself.

    Jacob somehow could hear it.

    ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°Jacob, we have to find another yer to join our party. Just three other people. Would you like to help me find a suitable person?¡±

    ¡°You should look for the strongest yers. Maybe one rogue will be great, they are very fast. Do you understand?¡±

    Jacob looked at Hiro with a confused expression. But he then nodded.

    ¡°We only have five minutes. We¡¯ll meet here again.¡± Hiro gave themand clearly.

    ¡°Aye, Sir!¡±

    Jacob immediately rushed off, running towards the people who had just arrived. Meanwhile, Hiro remained standing where he was and looked around. He could search for potential people more quickly by checking the levels listed above their heads.

    But before he could find one, suddenly someone approached him from behind.

    ¡°Yo, Nightfall! It¡¯s been a while.¡±

 Chapter 70 - Hide and Seek

    Jacob had been running around to find people he could invite to join Hiro¡¯s party ording to the criteria that had been given.

    He was trying so hard this time, looking forpetent yers.

    Meanwhile, Hiro had just turned his back after hearing someone say his name.

    The one who had just called him was a man who imed to be the strongest mage in the world, Noah.

    His annoying face and expression hadn¡¯t changed at all since thest time Hiro kicked him from his party after defeating Minorous back then.

    Even so, no one knew what the mad wizard was thinking, he didn¡¯t even wear a single piece of cloth to cover his body.

    Noah only wore a pair of ck cloth pants that slightly puffed up his thighs, it pointed at his calves for some reason. Despite that, he was wearing a pair of tall boots which were very useful for walking on snow piles like this.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nightfall. I¡¯ve mastered the Cold Resistance Skill. I don¡¯t shiver one bit.¡± Noah said as if he could read what was inside Hiro¡¯s head.

    Hiro only frowned, but inwardly he felt a little defeated with Noah¡¯s new achievement.

    ¡®Damn¨C I should have done that too.¡¯ Hiro thought to himself.

    ¡°I heard your conversation with your beloved noobie knight, you need a strong yer to join your party, right? So, here I am.¡±

    Hiro understood what Noah meant, but he didn¡¯t answer his arrogance right away. Instead, he was diving to his thoughts.

    [Level 24. Noah. Mage. World Bncer]

    It was true that his fighting ability was more reliable than Jacob¡¯s.

    Moreover, he was a mage. A mage who was also a legendary weapon owner. If what Hiro needed right now was purely the strongest yer, Noah would have easily passed that criteria.

    But, what if he acted up? What if he messed up because he wanted revenge? Hiro couldn¡¯t believe him for sure after what happened between them back then.

    However, before Hiro made up his mind, the gigantic bonfire in that ce was suddenly extinguished. Out of nowhere, panicked voices began toe out.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°What should we do here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s getting colder.¡±

    ¡°Where the hell is my stuff?¡±

    Before the panic was even more chaotic, a very bright and warm light suddenly appeared above the charred wood pile, where the previous bonfire had been.

    ¡°Game master is back,¡± Noah spoke beside Hiro while looking up at the floating light.

    ¡°Dear yers, all participants in this event have been moved to a special venue. You may be wondering a lot of things right now. So, before you guess, let me exin first about what¡¯s happening.¡±

    Game Master Juno began to speak again with her characteristic and pleasant voice, like a professional storyteller.

    The yers in the courtyard gathered around the light to warm themselves.

    Jacob had returned to Hiro before the darkness hit him. He came alone, and his expression looked very displeased when he saw Noah next to Hiro, while Noah returned his gaze with a slight smirk on his face.

    ¡°Hello again, Noobie Knight.¡± Said Noah, being sarcastic.

    ¡°Wee to the Hide and Seek game event!¡± Game Master Juno¡¯s voice echoed in the ce.

    ¡°Hide and seek?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°What does this mean?¡±

    ¡°Yes! The Hide and Seek game you all know.¡±

    ¡°What does he mean by ¡®Hide and Seek¡¯? What a boring thing!¡± Noah muttered, he looked so disappointed right now.

    ¡°That will be fun.¡± Jacob thought otherwise.

    ¡°Please, listen up!¡±

    Game Master Juno started to exin the rules in the Hide and Seek game he was referring to.

    While listening to the details, everyone fell silent again.

    The game did sound like a simple Hide and Seek, but with different and more challenging rules.

    All the yers participating in the event had been divided into tworge teams.

    The Survivor Team and the Hunter Team.

    The two teams had different ways to get game points.

    The highest game points in the winning team would be the game-winners, recipients of Tier 1 prizes, and get a legendary pet.

    The hunter group must capture the survivors at all costs.

    After sessfully capturing them, the hunters must tie the survivors to a special pole resembling a rocket in the game area.

    But not only ended there, they had to guard them for 3 minutes until the rocket was active and the survivor would be flown out of the game area. Meaning that the yer would get eliminated right away.

    15 points for a hunter who managed to eliminate 1 survivor.

    Meanwhile, the survivor¡¯s task was to survive so as not to be caught.

    There were several ways to get points on the survivor team. First, the survivor should turn on the fire torch hidden in the game area so that it could provide sufficient lighting for the area. By doing that, other survivors could know if hunters wereing after them.

    5 points for a survivor who managed to light a fire torch.

    And second, survivors could save other survivors caught by hunters as long as they hadn¡¯t been eliminated from the game area.

    10 points for a survivor who managed to free a captured survivor.

    All of the game points obtained by individual yers will be umted and counted as the game point of the Hunter team and or the Survivor team.

    The team with the highest total game points would win. And the yer with the highest game points in the winning team would get the first Tier prize.

    ¡°Solo or party? You know which one is better.¡± Said Game Master Juno who was in the form of a shapeless light.

    The time provided by the system for this game was three hours.

    [Starts counting Survivor and Hunter poption]

    [Counting in progress¡­ please wait!]

    [Participants: 285,120 yers]

    [Survivor: 190,080 yers]

    [Hunter: 95.040 yers]

    ¡°More survivors.¡±

    ¡°Survivors will easily win the game!¡±

    ¡°Just hiding in crowds will definitely seed as a survivor.¡±

    The atmosphere was noisy again after the numbers appeared.

    ¡°All the yers in this ce are survivors.¡± Obviously, GM Juno finally told them everything.

    ¡°Yeah! You heard that! We will win easily!¡±

    ¡°Please cooperate!¡±

    ¡°I will get the Tier 1 reward.¡±

    ¡°No¨Cit must be me!¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding? Of course, it¡¯s me. I¡¯m stronger than you!¡±

    Everyone started to shout against each other.

    While the others could be heard sighing in relief at Juno¡¯s information, Hiro was quite the opposite.

    He felt unlucky for being a survivor. Because he knew what the other survivors didn¡¯t know.

    .

    .

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t let you win that easily.¡±

    ¡°You must be aware that your current inventory is gone.¡±

    ¡°The weapons, armor, , and special items you already had are now gone.¡±

    ¡°Because you can¡¯t wear it during this event.¡±

    ¡°However, on the other hand, hunters are still allowed to use their full gear in this game.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry, this game won¡¯t be fun if the strengths of each side are not equal. So, I¡¯ve prepared hidden chests in the game arena. You can get anything from there, which you never imagined.¡±

    Once again, the survivors breathed a sigh of relief after hearing it. Their feelings were like being yed around by the GM in charge.

    [Preparing fire torch and eliminator rockets]

    [Fire torch: 200,000]

    [Eliminator rockets: 190,080]

    ¡°Wait a sec¡­even if we light all the torch, the total game point of the survivors will still be lower than the hunter if they manage to eliminate 50% of us. GM, I think you miscalcted the point!¡± Someone who might be a math olympiad champion, as well as a gamer, protested loudly.

    But in response, GM Juno actually chuckled at the man¡¯s protest.

    ¡°You are a genius. But sadly, there¡¯s nothing wrong with that. If you only focus on lighting the torch, your probability to win the game will be 50:50.¡±

    ¡°And before we start, let me tell you something.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, they might have another strategy to eliminate you all in a matter of minutes.¡±

 Chapter 71 - Start!

    Right after hearing an exnation of how to y in the first event game in the LSO world, the participants were teleported back to the event arena.

    Hiro felt his feet as if they were floating, his weight was so light just like a goose¡¯s feathers. He tried to reach for the ground beneath him but to no avail.

    There was nothing underneath, and he now had lost his sight. Everything suddenly turned very dark.

    However, all of that onlysted for three seconds.

    He suddenly could feel his body as if it was dropped from a good height so the speed of his fall was very fast. And he could feel the wind rumbling in his ears.

    Whoosh!

    Bang!

    Hironded on the ground within seconds. His knees managed to support the weight of his body. He didn¡¯t fall like most other yers. All of that was thanks to his STR points.

    He quickly regained his sight and when he looked around, all he could see was a collection of green nts that grew very tight without gaps and they were intertwined to form a giant wall in which its ends couldn¡¯t be seen with his eyes.

    [The Haunted Maze]

    Hiro read the name of the ce in his HUD system which was still working normally.

    It was a dark maze with no sign of light at all. The visible distance was only two meters ahead, the rest was pure darkness. And he was alone there.

    Hiro¡¯s heart suddenly felt like it was beating faster than before.

    Even though Anonymous had told him about this event, still, he didn¡¯t expect that the maze that had to be a hide and seek yground would be this terrible.

    He couldn¡¯t see anything beyond his current line of sight. Under these circumstances, being a hunter would be much easier than being a survivor. Especially when they had been equipped with weapons from the start.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t do anything about his fate.

    Even so, Hiro tried to catch his breath. He tried his best to stay calm so that all of his senses can work optimally.

    Ding!

    [Jacob joined the party]

    Hiro checked his HUD system and now Jacob¡¯s name appeared there along with information about full HP and AP. However, when he tried to use the yer location-finding feature, it couldn¡¯t work.

    ¡°Of course, Hiro. You¡¯ll have to find Jacob yourself.¡± Hiro spoke to himself.

    He lowered his voice and spoke carefully like a whispering, he didn¡¯t want to make a loud sound because it could lure hunters toe to him.

    It seemed like Jacob had justnded in one of the gaps in the maze because the party they had formed suddenly gave a re-notification.

    Before Hiro walked away, he tried to activate the GPS system he had frompleting the mission with Liberty at that time.

    And¡­

    [Mapping in progress]

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    He felt lucky to have that item. Since the GPS was in the form of a system when being activated, it would be embedded in Hiro¡¯s HUD system. Thus, it would not be considered an item to be disarmed by GM when preparing for the hide and seek game.

    Having a GPS system in a maze was a blessing. That way, Hiro could create a maze map without the need for paper and pencil or manually remembering it in his memory. All of that was thanks to the GPS system that had given him a cheat indirectly.

    Hiro was still wearing normal traveler boots at this time, it doesn¡¯t have any special attributes.

    However, to reduce the sound of footsteps, he purposely took off his two boots and left them on hisnding spot. That was a smart trick of his.

    The ground inside the maze where Hironded didn¡¯t have ayer of snow like the previous ce.

    Instead, the ground Hiro stepped on right now was ordinary y that had hardened and felt a bit cold when it touched the skin of his feet.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start moving for now.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t move immediately. He closed his eyes and sharpened his ears, trying to catch the slightest movement that might be audible.

    Crack!

    He made it.

    The voice came from behind his back. It seemed that someone was very careless and swiped at the nts that became the walls of the maze.

    It looked like someone desperately wanted to be found.

    Although survivors and hunters had to be very careful when moving, there was no way a survivor would be so careless and purposely swipe the nts to lure people in.

    In other words, Hiro¡¯s prediction of the voice was¡­

    ¡°A hunter.¡±

    A hunter could be arrogant in this case and it would make him act recklessly at the beginning of the game, after all, they were the only ones with weapons while survivors didn¡¯t have anything on hand.

    Hiro also decided to run towards the front to increase the distance between himself and the hunter who was having fun behind him.

    As he ran, a notification popped up in his HUD system.

    [Survivor: Noah has lit a fire torch]

    [Noah gained 5 game points]

    ¡°That damn magician!¡±

    Even though he wasn¡¯t the first survivor to be included in the system notification, Hiro wasn¡¯t upset in the slightest. In fact, he was a bit amazed.

    After all, this game was about winning in a team at first, and he would use Noah to help him earn points for survivors. Meanwhile, Hiro had chosen a way to get bigger points for himself.

    ¡°Aaarrrggghhh!¡± A woman suddenly screamed out of nowhere. Her voice was high-pitched and the location of the voice was so close to where Hiro was.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    Hiro clenched his fists, his brain now felt torn.

    He did n to farm game points by rescuing captured survivors, but it was too early for him to do so. He hadn¡¯t even found a single hidden chest within the arena.

    ¡®What should I do now?¡¯ Hiro thought to himself.

    ¡°Help me! Help!!¡±

    The voice of the same woman was now asking for help. She kept screaming loudly and desperately.

    ¡°Argh, no wonder she was caught.¡± Hiro rolled his eyes.

    In front of him were two branching paths leading to two different directions.

    If he ran to the right, he would get closer to the source of the girl¡¯s voice.

    And if he ran to the left, he would be farther away from the girl of course.

    Even so, those two directions¡­ neither of them guaranteed him to get a hidden chest he was looking for right now.

    ¡°Help me! Somebody help me!¡±

    [Survivors: 1 survivor has been tied to the eliminator rocket]

    [1 survivor will be eliminated in 3 minutes]

    [Save her!]

    ¡°Arghh¡­¡± Reading the notification that just appeared made Hiro frustrated.

    ¡°Should I save her first?¡± He muttered to himself once again, contemting what he should do.

 Chapter 72 - Eliminator Rocket

    Hiro decided to take the right path even though he knew he might regret itter.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    While time was running, Hiro ran as fast as he could.

    He tried his best to drown out the sound of his footsteps.

    ¡°Help me!¡± The woman continued to scream until her voice turned hoarse. It sounded as if she was crying out of frustration.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t sure what exactly made the woman scream in fear. If she was captured by a yer ying the role of a hunter, she shouldn¡¯t be in that much fear. He thought.

    Rustle!

    Hiro stopped his footsteps when he found the right position.

    In front of him, as far as three meters, he could see a woman who was tied to a pole-shaped rocket that had been ignited.

    ¡°Help! Get me out of here!¡± The woman noticed Hiro¡¯s appearance in front of her.

    When the countdown of the waiting time was up, the eliminator rocket would fly up to take the woman out of the haunted maze and automatically eliminate her.

    But¡ª

    ¡°Where did the hunter go?¡±

    Before Hiro could search any further,

    suddenly a dagger flew towards his face from the gap in the nt giant wall.

    SLASH!

    [HP -250]

    Hiro jumped backward and wiped the blood from his bleeding cheek due to the the sudden attack. He didn¡¯t notice when it came to him.

    Then, he got ready and drew his sword from his back.

    But, it was indeed a wrong move. He grabbed an empty air instead.

    Hiro forgot that the legendary weapon was no longer there because it was gone since he was teleported to the survivor¡¯s special venue.

    He had nothing other than his fighting skills for now, something he might not even realize yet.

    Meanwhile, the hunter who attacked him had finallye out of his hiding ce.

    He hid in the gaps in the nts, blending into the wall.

    Even Hiro didn¡¯t think something like that was even possible to do.

    The first hunter that Hiro encountered was a tall African-American man. He wore a mask that reminded Hiro of an old movie called ¡®Scream.¡¯

    At that moment, Hiro finally understand why the woman survivor who got caught by him was so scared.

    ¡°Dammit.¡±

    SLASH!

    Hiro managed to dodge in time. The man was a dagger-wielding ranger. Even so, he was very keen on finding openings to attack.

    ¡°Help me!¡±

    Hiro ignored the woman and focused to dodge the attacks aimed at him.

    Jumping backward for many times until his back finally hit the wall. Trapped.

    He couldn¡¯t move or even properly defend himself because he didn¡¯t have anything on his hands.

    SPLAT!

    [HP -350]

    ¡°Arghh¡­¡±

    For one more time, a dagger shed him. This time was targeting his front body.

    Hiro managed to bend down but was slightly slower than the attacking toward him.

    The de, however, managed to cut his shoulder and soon it started to bleed.

    In a threatened position like this, Hiro finally realized that one of his skills didn¡¯t require weapons.

    At this time, not depended to any weapon that he didn¡¯t even have is a wise choice.

    ¡°Martial Arts.¡±

    Without further ado, Hiro started throwing his fists toward the opponent¡¯s stomach.

    BANG!

    ¡°Punch! Punch!¡±

    ¡°Sidekick!¡±

    ¡°Double Kick!¡±

    BANG! BANG!

    [Health -1500]

    Hiro shouted his movement while punching and kicking the tall man in front of him. Because one mistake could stop the special arts that he only have at that moment.

    Finally, he managed to knock the tall man in front of him, lying on the ground after receiving a hard double kick.

    His nonstop attacks didn¡¯t kill the hunter, but the total damage he dealt managed to make the hunter get a red filter in his vision because his HP was drained.

    Hiro rushed to run towards the woman survivor to release the ropes that tied her with the rocket and he seeded.

    At that time, it was only one minute left before the woman got eliminated.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Hiro asked right away.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Answered the woman.

    She hugged Hiro so tightly as if she had been saved from a cruel kidnapper. The real one.

    [Survivor: NightFall has saved a survivor]

    [NightFall gained 10 game points]

    But in sudden¡ª

    ¡°Give me back my prey!¡±

    The hunter had managed to get back up and grabbed the woman¡¯s body roughly and then punched Hiro in the face with his big hand.

    Bang!

    [Fatal damage]

    [Health -750]

    Hiro fell to the ground. His head ached so badly after getting a direct physical attack like that. Blood drippes out of his nostrils. He got a nosebleed, something normal in the real world when someone just got punched on the face that hard.

    ¡°Ouch..¡± Hiro struggled to stand up because his head felt so heavy. He swayed slightly to the side as he tried to get back up on his feet.

    However, before he regained his bnce, the hunter had tied the woman back to the rocket pole beside her. And the fire that burned the rocket¡¯s wick was ignited back.

    Right at that time, an unexpected thing happened.

    ¡­

    The burning wick seemed to be rapidly depleting. Very different from before, as if the time¡¯s left was only seconds.

    It wasn¡¯t only Hiro who couldn¡¯t believe it, even the hunter was just as confused as him while watching the burning wick.

    However, before they even moved from where they were standing, another notification popped up.

    [Time¡¯s up]

    Whoosh!!

    ¡°Nooo!¡± The woman screamed in a loud voice as the rocket suddenly flew her body away from the arena.

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    From that incident, Hiro realized one thing that GM Juno didn¡¯t exin.

    After he saved a survivor and seeded, if the saved survivor was again caught by a hunter and tied to a rocket, then the 3 minutes countdown was no longer valid. Survivor would be eliminated right away.

    That was the only thing that could answer the question in Hiro¡¯s mind right now after seeing the survivor he just saved get eliminated just like that.

    ¡°Tee¡­hee¡­I got the point.¡± said the hunter whileughing happily after sessfully eliminating one yer.

    Hiro gulped. Now it was just him and the hunter.

    The difference was that Hiro didn¡¯t have any weapons, putting himself at a huge disadvantage.

    And to use martial artsbos once again seemed impossible because the hunter already knew the tricks of his movement. Hiro felt unlucky this time.

    ¡°Look! She¡¯s falling!¡± Hiro shouted while pointing his index finger at the sky where the eliminator rocket had disappeared.

    The hunter who was surprised to hear that immediately looked up and that was when he realized that Hiro had just tricked him with a very ssic children¡¯s trick.

    ¡°I got you! Bye!¡±

    Hiro quickly ran away from the ce into the darkness. This time, he didn¡¯t care if his footsteps could be heard or not. He only focused on running fast to get further away from the hunter who must be hunting him right now.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    As he ran farther, the ground that Hiro stepped on suddenly changed.

    It was previously made of hard y only, but now he stepped on the ground covered by ayer of snow, thick enough to drown his ankles.

    ¡°Cold¡­.¡± Hiro regretted leaving his boots out there. But he continued to run through theyers of snow that made the nerves in the soles of his feet feel frozen.

    But before he went further into the snowy area, he stepped on something and made a sound.

    DANG!

 Chapter 73 - Escape!

    The game was still ongoing. Hiro managed to escape from the hunter after him, and in turn, entered an area in thebyrinth covered in a thickyer of snow. The cold air blowing on his skin made him instantly shiver.

    It was even colder than the winters he had gotten used to in Tokyo.

    ¡°This damn weather¡­¡± Hiro muttered in displeasure. He really hated the cold.

    As he continued to move forward with his feet slowly sinking into the snow, he suddenly felt something solid under his feet. It even made a ¡®ng¡¯ when he stepped on it.

    Hiro quickly crouched to check what he just stepped on. After digging with his bare hands until his fingers felt numb from the cold, he found an iron box hidden under a square concave area of soil.

    The game master must¡¯ve hidden the iron chest there on purpose, where the naked eyes couldn¡¯t see.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Snow Daggers (Level 15) ¨C Tier A (Time-limited item)]

    [You have obtained a buff.]

    [Movement speed is increased by 200% for 30 minutes.]

    ¡°All right!¡±

    [Snow Daggers have been equipped]

    [Damage 73 AP 41 ASPD 30 CRIT 5]

    Hiro immediately activated the new weapon he obtained as a backup. At the same time the equipping notification popped up, a pair of twin daggers appeared in his hands, each with a white de and silver hilt.

    ¡°Not bad.¡±

    Time to hunt those rockets.

    After walking forward for a little longer, Hiro decided to turn around. He was unwilling to go too deep into the snowy area.

    Fortunately, it was easy for him to find which way he had gone and which way he hadn¡¯t thanks to the GPS.

    For the entire duration he ran from the hunter who was after him, notifications about survivors who got caught and survivors who obtained game points from lighting up torches continued to pop up in his HUD. However, he remained calm.

    So far, nobody had obtained points from rescuing survivors like he did.

    ¡­

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro ran while focusing on his hearing for any suspicious movements. He was running with confidence due to the movement speed buff when suddenly, an arrow flew past him, scratching his left ear from behind.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro tensed up and swiftly turned around to face the direction the arrow came from. There, he saw two yers standing about 10 meters away from him, both wielding shortbows.

    ¡°I found one!¡± a muscr woman with wide shoulders then shouted. Almost immediately after, the sound of numerous people¡¯s footsteps came from all around him.

    At a time like this, escaping before it¡¯s toote was the best course of action for Hiro, who was a survivor. Hence, he began running without a second thought.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Whoosh!

    St! [HP -100]

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Hiro pulled out the arrow that pierced his left arm. At the same time, he took a sharp turn to make those attacking him from afar lose sight of him.

    However, not long after he made the turn, seven hunters appeared in the dark three-way junction in front of him. They all had their weapons ready, pointed right at him.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    It was already toote for him to run the other way. With no other choice, he readily held the twin daggers¡¯ hilts in his hands.

    Hiro had taken the assassin ss several times in other games, so he didn¡¯t doubt his skills with the daggers. Besides, he could also imagine them as lite-version swords.

    Trr-tak! Trr-tak! Trr-tak!

    The SMG firearm argest man of the seven brought shot a few bullets from his front. Fortunately, he was able to evade the hot bullets with the movement speed buff he got.

    However, in front of him now was a dead end.

    The seven hunters blocked his path. Six of them had short-range weapons, but as if they didn¡¯t have the courage, none of them moved forward to stop him. They only waited for him to make the first move.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how it¡¯s done!¡±

    Whoosh!

    SPLAT! SPLAT!

    BAM!

    One by one, Hiro swiftly shed them all using the twin daggers.

    ¡°Ughh!¡±

    Blood sttered out. The man whose face was shed quickly fell to his knees from the sharp, excruciating pain. The close, almost nonexistent distance between them made it easy for Hiro to give them fatal strikes.

    As the first man fell to his knees, Hiro swiftly jumped and used the man¡¯s shoulder as a footing to jump higher and dash past them all.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro sessfully passed the seventh hunter that blocked his path like a thug in one try.

    In this event, there was no merit in taking down or defeating a hunter as a survivor. On the contrary, beating the seven hunters up would only waste his time at the early game.

    After all, the most important thing to do as a survivor was to collect as many points as possible to win.

    ¡®I have to score a lot right now.¡¯

    Hiro looked at the two torches that hadn¡¯t been lit up. Both of them were somewhat hidden in the tendril-covered maze wall.

    Lighting the torches was easy; he only needed to touch them empty-handed until a panel appeared.

    [Lighting the torch (10s)]

    After roughly 20 seconds, Hiro finally finished lighting up the two torches he found. Not bad. It increased his slightly fallen-behind points.

    Ever since the beginning of the event, the yer name that constantly appeared in the notifications was Noah.

    It seems that he searched for these torches and lit them up very seriously.

    Hiro held his breath and attempted to focus on his hearing again. Just a momentter, he faintly heard sounds of friction. Slowly, the sounds became clearer and louder.

    The source of those sounds was very near.

    As he moved in the sounds¡¯ direction, he found a crack in the wall enough for an adult to pass through.

    Right after he slipped in, he found a rocket pole hidden in the crack. While he was observing the rocket pole, he almost forgot about the source of the friction sounds.

    Hiro felt a little nervous. Should he destroy the rocket pole, or should he approach the source of those suspicious sounds?

    The sounds became clearer. As Hiro listened to it, he became sure that the sounds came from a caught survivor who was trying to break free. And judging from how it was slowly bing clearer, he was also sure that it was moving his way.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t immediately hide. Instead, he approached the rocket pole in front of him and started kicking it, hitting it, and striking it with his twin daggers. It was slightly more durable than he thought, but not to the point he had a difficult time with it.

    After a while, his actions sessfully destroyed the rocket pole until its overall form became somewhat unevenly bent.

    His lips formed a satisfied smile when a notification popped up in front of him.

    [Eliminator Rocket has been broken]

 Chapter 74 - Fantom

    Hiro decided to hide behind the broken rocket pole, slipping his body into the tendrils on thebyrinth wall. At the same time, arge figure entered through the crack.

    A man over two meters tall was carrying a girl struggling to get off. The girl kept kicking and hitting the man, but the man¡¯s hold didn¡¯t loosen at all.

    A hunter and a caught survivor.

    Hiro gulped while holding his breath so he wouldn¡¯t be found.

    ¡°Let me go, you ugly giant!¡± the girl hissed. Unlike the first girl he met, she truly didn¡¯t want to shout despite having been caught. It was as if she didn¡¯t want anyone to rescue her.

    When the hunter approached the rocket pole, a rocket activation panel appeared. After a moment, the rocket¡¯s restraining rope moved on its own to pull the stored survivor.

    Hiro continued to hold his breath. His heart had already begun to elerate.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you outside the arenater!¡± the girl vengefully hissed.

    Hiro silently looked at her from behind. The girl had short hair thatid her neck and nape bare; a slim tomboy with an all-ck tank top and jogger pants. She has a beast bloodline. A pair of ck cat ears pointed straight above her head.

    Even though the girl had been tied to the rocket pole, she still struggled and kicked around. Looking at the way she was reacting to her situation, Hiro was sure that she was different from other girls who would be terrified.

    ¡°The more you move, the faster you¡¯ll be eliminated,¡± the man lied. It was clear that he was annoyed.

    However, he didn¡¯t know that Hiro had broken the rocket pole. He only realized something was off when the rocket wick didn¡¯t start burning even after a survivor had been tied properly.

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with this shit? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s bugged!¡±

    The man walked to the back of the rocket to check its condition, and at that moment¡­

    SPLAT!

    Hiro dashed out of his hiding ce and shed the man face from the darkness.

    [Fatal Damage]

    [HP -750]

    As a knight, the man had a decent defense stat. Still, blood trickled down his face. What¡¯s more, because he reflexively tried to wipe the blood out of confusion, his vision was now blurred.

    When the hunter was trying to control his body, Hiro immediately used the dagger in his hand to cut the rocket¡¯s restraining rope and freed the short-haired girl.

    [Survivor: NightFall has rescued a survivor]

    [NightFall has obtained 10 game points]

    Even though the eliminator rocket was broken, his action still counted as a rescue, gaining him 10 additional points.

    However, instead of a thank you, he instead had one of his daggers forcefully snatched by the girl he rescued.

    And at the same time, she then harshly pushed Hiro¡¯s shoulder to get him out of the way before standing in front of the hunter who caught her with a perfect stance ready to attack.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hiro observed the position of her feet, her straight posture, and the way she held the stolen dagger. He was sure that she had mastered a martial art of some sort, but¡­

    ¡®What martial art is that?¡¯

    ¡°I told you I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Realizing that his position was currently threatened, the man with bloodied face took out a weapon from thin air; a low-tier silver sword Hiro also had before the event started.

    Swish!

    nk! nk!

    The inevitable sh urred. Hiro was dumbfounded as he witnessed how agile the girl was in the physical fight as she evaded the shes and fatal attacks from the man almost double her size.

    Not only that, but the girl even managed to sh the dagger at the perfect time when the man showed an opening.

    The man couldn¡¯t parry nor dodge.

    SPLAT!

    The girl shed at the man¡¯s neck and cut right at the man¡¯s arteries, causing blood to squirt out heavily. Hiro even had to cover his face, causing the man¡¯s blood to spray onto his hands instead.

    The man dropped his weapon and fell kneeling in pain. But the girl didn¡¯t stop there. With the thick boots on her feet, she kicked the man¡¯s head with all her strength.

    BANG!

    The man¡¯s body was flung away before it fell to the ground, motionless.

    ¡°I saw survivors here!¡±

    Hiro heard a shout from a distance, prompting him to look at the girl covered in blood.

    Once a survivor who had previously been tied to the rocket pole got caught again, they would immediately be eliminated. Because of this, Hiro swiftly grabbed the girl¡¯s hand and pulled her to run.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Even though the girl was surprised by his sudden action, she didn¡¯t attack him with the dagger she stole. On the contrary, she moved her legs to match Hiro¡¯s speed.

    ¡°The ce isn¡¯t safe.¡± Hiro rechecked his GPS to find a route he had never been through to map the maze while he was there.

    ¡­

    After running quite far without any suspicious noises behind them, Hiro decided to stop and take a breather.

    ¡°Okay, haa¡­ listen to me.¡±

    The girl¡¯s face seemed pale and her breathing was a mess. In the meantime, Hiro checked her yer information. More interesting things were happening back there that he actually forgot to check her identity.

    [Level 21. MyPhantom. Rogue. First-Year Student]

    ¡®A rogue. No wonder she can match my speed. And from her fighting speed¡­ she¡¯s definitely a critical speed-type rogue.¡¯

    At that moment, the two¡¯s eyes met.

    ¡°What? Do you want me to thank you? Are you the type who¡¯s greedy for people¡¯s thanks? Isn¡¯t getting 10 points enough to rece my thanks?¡±

    Hiro blinked. Did those words seriouslye out of the person he just saved?

    He truly didn¡¯t expect such a reaction.

    ¡®Well well, looks like she¡¯s really not like other girls.¡¯

    Which was not necessarily a good thing.

    Hiro took a few more stable breaths. ¡°If you get caught by a hunter after you¡¯ve been tied to the rocket, you¡¯ll immediately be eliminated from the event arena.¡±

    As for her previous unpleasant question, he decided to ignore it. Not like it mattered anyway.

    Even though the girl seemed to doubt him previously, she quickly believed him when he told her the information Game Master Juno didn¡¯t share when the event started.

    ¡°All right then, I¡¯lle with you,¡± she decided, taking Hiro aback once again.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°If I go alone, I¡¯ll probably get caught with no one to help me. If Ie with you, at least there¡¯ll be someone else. And if you get caught, I can save you for 10 points.¡±

    Hiro frowned. It seemed that he just met a calctive person.

    How realistic.

 Chapter 75 - Save The Survivors!

    [MyPhantom has joined the party]

    30 minutes had gone by since the hide-and-seek event began, and too many notifications of survivors eliminated had appeared in Hiro¡¯s HUD system.

    Even without checking, it was clear that the hunter team had collected more points than the survivor team.

    Meanwhile, Hiro had just gotten a newpanion that kept following him like a duckling. The girl even took one of his daggers to use as a weapon.

    Hiro didn¡¯t mind that, though. After all, the girl was clearly proficient in wielding a dagger as a rogue. What he did mind, however, was the game points he lost as a result.

    Every time he found an unlit torch, he had to share it with her, cutting the points he could obtain from them by half.

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    ¡®Damn it¡­ I¡¯ll lose at this rate.¡¯ Hiro kicked the tendril-covered wall in annoyance.

    At this moment, a scream sounded from afar.

    ¡°Kyaaa!¡±

    Without much thought, Hiro swiftly dashed toward the source of the scream. MyPhantom immediately followed, matching his speed right behind him.

    Despite their speed, their steps made no sound as if their feet didn¡¯t touch the ground.

    After running about 100 meters in the scream¡¯s direction, Hiro caught sight of a strange figure in the darkness.

    He immediately stopped the rogue behind him and made a gesture for her to keep quiet.

    By taking a closer look, he found that the strange figure was arge man carrying two girls on his shoulders like a heavyweight wrestler.

    ¡°Let me go!¡±

    ¡°Let me go!¡±

    The roguedy next to him growled in displeasure and harshly pushed the hand blocking her way to attack the man.

    ¡°Wait, MyPhantom.¡± Hiro still insisted on blocking her.

    ¡°I am not your phantom. My name is Cara,¡± the girl hissed in response for the first time.

    Cara.

    Hiro just realized that he hadn¡¯t asked her name. To him, using their username was the right way to call someone in a game. However, it was true that some usernames were a little strange to use as a way to call someone.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it like that,¡± Hiro quickly exined. He didn¡¯t want to bebeled as a person overly affectionate to everyone.

    His eyes then moved to check their surroundings and monitor the hunter¡¯s next moves.

    Even though therge man was able to carry two powerlessly struggling girls at once, from how slow his steps were, he seemed to be having a bit of a hard time.

    This gave Hiro some time to think.

    His current goal was to umte as many points as possible while sacrificing as little as possible, maybe even none if he could.

    If he waited until the two girls were tied to the rocket pole before saving them, he would be able to gain 20 points immediately.

    It was quite a significant number.

    However, if the two girls turned out to be very weak and got caught for the second time, the survivor team as a whole would be disadvantaged. After all, if a survivor got caught for the second time, they would be eliminated upon being tied to an elimination rocket.

    But he wasn¡¯t alone. And he always had a way.

    ¡°Cara, can you take care of those two?¡±

    ¡°Me? Of course. I would never let a woman be treated like that by a man.¡± Cara disdainfully red at the man a distance away from them.

    Hiro inwardly smirked.

    ¡®So she¡¯s a feminist.¡¯

    Women support women. He could take advantage of that.

    ¡°I¡¯ll free them. If you want to stay safe, you have to wait here. Wait for my signal, got it?¡±

    Even though she was reluctant, she had no other choice. She couldn¡¯t afford to get caught for the second time.

    ¡°All right.¡±

    Hiro had caught a glimpse of the thin and tall shadows on the ground in front of him. He was sure that those shadows were of the rocket poles the hunter was going for.

    He carefully walked toward the two poles. However, upon noticing the huntering closer, Hiro sped up his steps while making sure not to make any noise.

    Although the distance between him and the poles was far less than the man and the hidden poles, there was not enough time for Hiro to destroy the rockets. Not to mention, the noises would alert the hunter.

    He then decided to crouch in a corner of the tendril-covered wall. After making sure that the dark shadow was covering him, he even held his breath and began counting.

    1¡­

    2¡­

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    3¡­

    4¡­

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    5¡­

    The man Hiro was after finally arrived in front of the two unupied rocket poles and let out a long sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting that dragon,¡± he muttered full of confidence.

    [Level 20. Darkhell. Knight. Licensed Traveler]

    ¡°I said let me go!¡± one of the girls shouted and continued to struggle. s, she was too weak to free herself.

    Hiro waited until the two girls were tied onto the rocket pole in front of him. He only had three minutes to free the two and fight the knight with only a dagger in his hand, but this was a game; he had to take risks.

    Hiro gulped as he estimated his possibility of sessfully executing the two tasks.

    As usual, he peeked at the equipment the hunter was wearing to guess his opponent¡¯s strength.

    Fully geared, with a level 15 tier B greatsword.

    [Great Iron Sword]

    [Damage 94 uracy 10]

    Hiro sighed in relief. At least his opponent didn¡¯t have an OP weapon.

    A second after the man finished tying up the two girls to the rocket pole, the wick began to burn and the rocket started operating.

    At the same time, Hiro dashed out of the shadow and crashed onto the knight who had turned around to look out for other survivors.

    Bang!

    Hiro¡¯s base stats were higher than the man and his STR was above average. With his physical strength, he managed to make the man kiss the ground.

    ¡°What¡ª¡±

    SPLAT!

    Hiro used his dagger to sh the man¡¯s wide back until he screamed in pain.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    SPLAT!

    With two shes, blood started to spray and flow out of the man¡¯s back. He then rolled his body to the side due to the pain he got on his back.

    Meanwhile, making use of the opportunity as the man rolled on the ground, Hiro quickly stood up to free the two girls shouting for him to rescue them.

    ¡°Help me!¡±

    ¡°Please save me!¡±

    [Survivor: NightFall has saved 2 survivors]

    [NightFall has obtained 20 points]

    ¡°Go that way, you¡¯ll be safe.¡±

    Hiro pointed to the direction where Cara was waiting, and without a word, the two girls nodded and ran in the direction he pointed to.

    Hiro found it a little worrying that they trusted him so easily, but he didn¡¯t dwell on the thought.

    ¡°You! The fucking audacity to steal my prey!¡± The man had unsheathed his greatsword and pointed it to Hiro, who was standing between the two eliminator rockets, waiting.

    ¡°So? Are you going to kill me? Do it if you can!¡± Hiro provoked.

    He intentionally didn¡¯t take out his dagger to anger the hunter.

    As expected, the man furiously swung his greatsword toward Hiro at full force.

    ¡°You, piece of shit!¡±

 Chapter 76 - Jackpot!

    Hiro ducked just before the greatsword reached his head, and¡­

    SLAM!

    [Eliminator Rocket has been broken]

    The knight was quite strong. With just one swing of his greatsword, one of the rocket poles was cut into two.

    After dodging at the perfect moment, Hiro pulled himself back up with a smirk to irritate the hunter even more.

    As expected, the man became even more furious.

    ¡°You! I won¡¯t let you go even if you beg for forgiveness!¡±

    SLAM!

    [Eliminator Rocket has been broken]

    Hiro swiftly ducked. Another swing to the other way destroyed the other rocket pole.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want it, but thanks for helping me break these things!¡± He gave a mocking smile and pointed to the rocket pole behind him.

    Now that his goal was fulfilled, he finally took out his dagger and shed the hunter¡¯s stomach.

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Blood sttered out. His sh tore the man¡¯s skin deep, causing the man dropped his greatsword before his body heavily fell.

    ¡°You can wait here until the event game ends.¡±

    Seeing that his opponent was powerless, Hiro returned to where Cara and the two girls were waiting.

    ¡°You were amazing!¡± one of the two girls eximed in admiration.

    Meanwhile, the other girl stared at his face a bit longer before her eyes widened in realization.

    ¡°You, you¡¯re that famous pretty boy, NightFall, aren¡¯t you!? The CBT King!¡±

    ¡°Sssh¡­ Please lower your voice, we¡¯re still in the middle of the game.¡±

    Being with these girls might not be a good idea after all. However, he already had something for them to do, and Cara was going to be theirmander.

    As the three were in danger of getting immediately eliminated, Hiro told them to look for rocket poles and destroy them so they wouldn¡¯t be usable to eliminate survivors.

    Meanwhile, Cara¡¯s task was somewhat different. As the leader of thedies¡¯ team, she had to make sure that they stay close and shout if they were in danger.

    After exining the n one more time, Hiro gave the dagger in his hand to Cara.

    ¡°Tell her when you find the rockets,¡± he said to the two new girls.

    ¡°How about you? Do you have another weapon?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll find one. Just destroy all the rockets you see.¡±

    ¡°When you finish, go to the south! I¡¯ll see you again.¡±

    After entrusting everything to Cara, Hiro left the three girls. He could keep an eye on Cara¡¯s condition through the party status anyway, so he wasn¡¯t worried.

    While he had his party status on, he also checked Jacob¡¯s status. It seemed that he was safe for now.

    Not only that, but his name even appeared several times for lighting up torches.

    Now that Hiro was back to having no weapons, he had to be careful. He couldn¡¯t afford to let his guard down. If only the chat feature worked,municating would¡¯ve been a breeze.

    Hiro checked the points he umted through the event-specific status panel.

    [Remaining time: 02h 25m 30s]

    [1st. Survivors]

    [Total game points: 286,510]

    [2nd. Hunters]

    [Total game points: 85,536]

    Almost 30% of the fire torches spread throughout the maze area had been lit up by the survivors. Furthermore, his name was still on the first page of the survivor rankings.

    Fifth ce, to be exact.

    The top-rank survivor was Noah. However, what surprised him a little and made him proud at the same time was that Jacob was in seventh ce.

    ¡°Not bad, bro.¡±

    ¡­

    Hiro was back to being on his own. He had to focus.

    He had given the task of getting as many survivors as possible to destroy the Eliminator Rockets to the three girls he saved. That way, the hunters¡¯ victory would be hampered.

    And so far, the secret n hadn¡¯t been discovered by the hunters; they who were still ying by the rules Game Master Juno stated.

    He just hoped they wouldn¡¯t realize the method that would be much easier than relying on Eliminator Rockets.

    Time kept moving, and Hiro went back to looking for the hidden chest behind the nt wall.

    It was really hidden well. Despite having stretched his body as much as he could, he still couldn¡¯t reach it.

    ¡®This is frustrating.¡¯

    Hiro looked around with annoyance. When his gazended on the ground a distance away from him, he saw the shadow of a rocket pole that almost blended with the shadow of the maze¡¯s giant nt.

    He quickly rushed to the rocket pole that caught his eye with restrained steps.

    ¡®Oh?¡¯

    It seemed that luck was on his side. On the rocket pole, a Latino man was tied with his mouth gagged with a tree branch to prevent him from shouting for help.

    As if the hunter who caught him was sure that he hid his prey with only 60 seconds remaining well, they didn¡¯t guard the ce and left the survivor alone.

    Hiro immediately ran and untied the restraining rope from the survivor. It was tied tightly, yet he had to use his bare hands to free him.

    ¡°Urgh¡­!¡±

    He was lucky that the man was gagged. At least he wouldn¡¯t be bothered while trying to get the rope off.

    Hiro¡¯s hands reddened. Some parts of his hands were even scratched by the rope¡¯s rough surface so much that he bled.

    He silently greeted his teeth to endure the pain and continued loosening the rope.

    Ding!

    [Survivor: NightFall has saved a survivor]

    [NightFall has obtained 10 game points]

    ¡°You! Why didn¡¯t you release this damn trunk first!?¡±

    Hiro frowned. This was the second time he got scolded by a survivor he rescued.

    ¡°Shut your mouth. The hunter wille back when they realize their points aren¡¯t increasing.¡±

    He ignored the annoyed look of the survivor he just rescued and began kicking the rocket pole in front of him. After a while, it finally broke into two, albeit unevenly.

    He took the broken-off pole.

    ¡°What are you going to do with that thing?¡±

    ¡°Sssh.¡±

    Hiro ignored him and walked to leave the hidden crack. He didn¡¯t want to fight a hunter again at the moment, not when he had no weapons.

    The survivor curiously followed him. He didn¡¯t continue to run his mouth, so Hiro let him. He had to work together with the other survivors to get the tier 1 reward anyway.

    ¡®Gotcha!¡¯

    Hiro finally managed to push out the chest hidden in the nt wall with the rocket pole.

    The chest fell with a loud thud.

    Unwilling to waste time, Hiro quickly opened the chest with both hands.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions, you have found your hidden equipment!]

    [Please select one from the list below.]

    [Batarang]

    [Beginner Metal Sword]

    [Blood-Eater Vampire]

    ¡­

    ¡°Jackpot!¡±

 Chapter 77 - Survivor Who Hunts

    Being a survivor in the game¡¯s ¡®Pet¡¯ feature release hide-and-seek event wasn¡¯t easy. If they didn¡¯t have a well-thought-out n, their chance of winning against the hunters who were immediately equipped with all their equipment was minuscule.

    Still, the event wouldn¡¯t be fun if the survivors had no chance of winning. One of the ways the game master facilitated them was by hiding chests with useful items like buffs, weapons, armor, or even the survivor¡¯s own equipment.

    Even special weapons and armor with high stats were hidden in the maze.

    Hiro felt extremely lucky for getting the chest with his own equipment inside. He had to put in quite the effort for it, but the result didn¡¯t disappoint.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Blood-Eater Vampire]

    Light suddenly shone on Hiro¡¯s back before it solidified into a greatsword with a faint purplish glow.

    He quickly pulled it out and swung it a few times. Even though it had only been several minutes since Hiro and his greatsword were separated, it felt like forever.

    His lips formed a victorious smile as his eyes reflected the de¡¯s light.

    ¡°Let¡¯s end this game!¡± Hiro whispered to the Blood-Eater Vampire. Now that the legendary weapon was in his hands, his confidence skyrocketed to 100%.

    ¡°Whoa! That¡¯s really something you found!¡± The man Hiro saved walked closer to admire the greatsword with him. Even though the glow had disappeared, it still retained its majestic appearance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s gather with the others. I need everyone to be together if I want to save them.¡± Hiro continued with the second strategy.

    ¡°Huh? You want to gather everyone in one ce?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be easier for me to protect them that way.¡±

    The man knitted his brows. ¡°Are you serious? This isn¡¯t the time to be ying hero. If we gather in one ce, it¡¯ll be easier for the hunter to catch us.¡±

    While it was true that Hiro sessfully rescued him, protecting everyone was an entirely different thing.

    Hiro ignored the man.

    It might be safe for them to be spread out now, but if the hunters find out about the method they could use to win fast, everything would¡¯ve been toote.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Hiro ran without a word. Now that he had his weapon on his back, he no longer needed to run from the hunters.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    The notifications of survivors lighting up the fire torches continued to pop up in his HUD system, but so did those of eliminated survivors.

    Hiro freed all the survivors he found for his other objective of beating the first-ce holder in the survivor team, Noah.

    After an hour, the top position was still upied by the survivor team. They had already lit up 55% of the torches hidden in the maze, while the hunters had only eliminated 10% of the total survivors.

    Judging from the statistics, Hiro was sure that the hunters were still ying by the game master¡¯s rules.

    At least this meant that he still had about two hours to gather all the remaining survivors.

    ¡­

    As time passed by, Hiro managed to rescue over 20 survivors within one hour. For all the survivors he saved, he asked them to continue following him at a safe distance and destroy all the Eliminator Rockets they saw.

    Of course, they also lit up unlit fire torches on the way.

    The more fire torches lit, the brighter the giant maze became. The tense atmosphere lessened as there were fewer ambush spots for the hunters, but the light wasn¡¯t only advantageous for survivors.

    ¡°Gotcha!¡±

    Five hunters suddenly appeared, blocking Hiro and the others who were running toward a three-way junction in the maze. Because of these hunters¡¯ appearance, they had no other way to go.

    The five hunters smirked with confidence when they saw Hiro and the other survivors behind him. Hiro also had a confident look on his face, but the female survivors behind him shrieked in panic.

    Some of the survivors even ran away because they didn¡¯t trust Hiro¡¯s abilities.

    [Firebolt]

    A fireball suddenly shot out from one of the hunters¡¯ staff. However, unlike Noah¡¯s fireball, thisdy¡¯s fireball was easy to avoid due to its small size.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro spun his body in the air while pulling out his greatsword. He would no longer just jump past them this time.

    SPLAT!

    ¡°Arghh!¡±

    Two of the hunters were flung backward, while the three who weren¡¯t hit by Hiro¡¯s sh had swung their weapons at him altogether.

    A pickaxe, a sword, and arge hammer.

    nk!

    Swish!

    BANG!

    Hiro managed to parry the sword and therge hammer with his long greatsword. Meanwhile, the pickaxe wielder received a hard kick on his stomach before his weapon hit Hiro¡¯s foot as he jumped.

    [Sword Combo Skill is ready]

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT! [2x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [3x Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [4x Critical Hit Combo]

    Hiro didn¡¯t stop shing until his opponents¡¯ backs touched the tendril-coveredbyrinth wall behind him.

    ¡°Have you ever seen a survivor who hunts hunters?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s lips curved. His sharp eyes looked straight at the hammer wielder who was shaking in fear.

    SPLAT! [6x Critical Hit Combo]

    [Fatal Damage]

    [1 hunter can no longer hunt]

    [1 hunter has been eliminated from the game]

    The four other hunters were filled with disbelief when they saw their fellow hunter¡¯s body turn into light shards and disappear.

    ¡°A survivor hunting? That¡¯s against the rules!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re cheating!¡±

    They protested against Hiro¡¯s actions with shaky voices. However, when Hiro walked closer to them with his greatsword on his shoulder, they immediately shut their mouths.

    After being flung until their bones felt broken and their HP was almost at zero, the four hunters could only crawl on the ground.

    ¡°Am I?¡± Hiro asked with a smile. ¡°Maybe, you can say that again.¡±

    The hunters¡¯ eyes lit up when they heard that, but it was quickly reced with fear once again.

    ¡°Let me try again then. If the system eliminates me, then you guys are right.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t contain his chuckle as he looked at the powerless look of the hunters in front of him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll send you off fast so it won¡¯t hurt.¡±

    ¡°N-No, wait!¡±

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [4 hunters can no longer hunt]

    [4 hunters have been eliminated from the game]

 Chapter 78 - To Gather Everyone

    [Remaining time: 01h 29m 55s]

    Hiro was still able to run to gather the survivors that could still be rescued and destroy all the Eliminator Rockets he could find along the way. He had thought about doing them even before the game started.

    He had to win no matter what. He didn¡¯t know what Anonymous was nning next, but his first task was to do a private investigation outside the legal investigations and win the event.

    What does the legendary pet have to do with Yuujin¡¯s death? He didn¡¯t know, but he only needed to focus on winning for the time being.

    Time quickly flew by, and several hunters who were unlucky enough to meet Hiro were swiftly eliminated.

    Hiro was relieved whenever he checked his opponents¡¯ equipment and found that none of them owned legendary weapons or armor. None of those he met so far did, at least.

    Even so, he couldn¡¯t let his guard down.

    After witnessing Hiro eliminate the hunters, the survivors who had been following him trusted him even more and even felt more confident in themselves.

    With the simple tasks he gave like lighting up torches and destroying the Eliminator Rockets, most of them were very cooperative.

    Still, some didn¡¯t care even though Hiro had rescued them and wanted to go after the first ce instead.

    It would also be hard for him to bring so many people anyway, so he let those who didn¡¯t care leave.

    Tap tap tap!

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    From afar, a figure could be seen waving with his back facing a lit torch. Hiro recognized that silhouette.

    Jacob.

    Jacob quickly ran forward with a wide smile after realizing who he was looking at. However, that smile quickly disappeared when he saw the sheer number of survivors behind him.

    ¡°Was it you?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the eliminated hunters. It was you, right?¡± Jacob knew well that Hiro was the type to have such out-of-the-box ideas.

    Hiro nodded.

    ¡°Do you have anything that can be used to fight?¡±

    Jacob took out a greatsword with a ck metallic de, and Hiro immediately checked the weapon details with his HUD system.

    [Nightmare Greatsword (Level 20) ¨C Tier S]

    [Damage 280 uracy 18 ASPD 18 CRIT 12]

    [Special game event weapon]

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened in amazement.

    ¡°Great! You can fight with me!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know how Jacob could be so lucky. It seemed that he found one of the jackpots the game master prepared.

    ¡°Always, my friend.¡±

    The total of lit fire torches as of now was already over 70%. There were still over one and a half hours left, yet they only had 30% of the torches left to light up.

    For the early game, the survivor team was indeed at an advantage as they only needed to light up torches. Even though it required a minute, it was still far easier than catching yers, tying them to the Eliminator Rockets, and making sure they stay tied for three minutes.

    A lot of things could happen in three minutes, and Hiro proved it with his rescues.

    [1st. Survivors]

    [Total game points: 701,010]

    [2nd. Hunters]

    [Total game points: 427,680]

    The hunter team had now eliminated approximately 15% of the total survivors in the game.

    Still quite low. There were still 85% of them left.

    ¡®Looks like they haven¡¯t realized it,¡¯ Hiro thought as he looked at the number of points umted.

    As of now, he had managed to reach second ce, right below Noah.

    [Survivor: 1. Noah]

    [Game points: 210,303]

    [Contribution to the survivors¡¯ total points: 30%]

    [Survivor: 2. NightFall]

    [Game points: 175,252]

    [Contribution to the survivors¡¯ total points: 25%]

    [Survivor: 3. MyPhantom]

    [Game points: 63,090]

    [Contribution to the survivors¡¯ total points: 10%]

    ¡°Tsk.¡±

    Hiro was unwilling to lose. He still needed a lot of points to catch up, and if he only eliminated hunters, he wouldn¡¯t get anything in return.

    ¡°Jacob, can you do me a favor?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Lead the survivors south. You¡¯ll find an area covered in snow. I haven¡¯t seen many hunters there because of how freaking cold it is, so I think you guys can hide there for a while.¡±

    ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll save more survivors and send them there.¡±

    Hiro looked at the survivors waiting behind him and nodded before telling them to follow Jacob.

    It was unusual for Hiro to entrust something so important to someone else, but he couldn¡¯t do everything on his own this time.

    ¡°All right.¡±

    ¡°But how can I know you¡¯re still in the maze?¡± Jacob asked a very basic question.

    Hiro smiled helplessly.

    ¡°We¡¯re in the same party, Jacob. If my name in the party status has no HP or changed colors, it means that I¡¯m out.¡±

    Jacob fell silent with his mouth open for a moment, his eyes focused on Hiro. But then he was checking his HUD system to check what Hiro just told him about.

    ¡°I found it.¡±

    ¡°Nice. I¡¯ll be back soon!¡±

    Tap tap tap!

    Hiro continued looking for caught survivors and rescuing them. Finding ces where the survivors were caught was not that difficult as most of them shouted for help, and he prioritized rescuing the survivors nearest to him.

    ¡­

    Time quickly passed, and Hiro once again saved tens of survivors.

    With the number of unlit fire torches that continued to decrease, Noah¡¯s umted points became stagnant as he had been focusing on getting points from lighting up torches.

    Hiro directly told the survivors he saved to head south. Despite the countless turns in the maze, he was sure that they would end up in the same ce if they kept heading that way.

    However, not few of them protested.

    ¡°Take it or leave it! If you get caught, you¡¯ll be eliminated!¡± Hiro hissed. This time, he was a little more strict.

    The more time passed, the more pressure he felt. He was still left behind, and by quite a lot of points at that.

    ¡°Just go!¡±

    The survivors hummed unhappily, but they still reluctantly did what Hiro ordered them to. It seemed that they still had theirpetitive spirit, and he was d because of it.

    He observed the crowd of survivors running south until he could no longer hear their footsteps. However, before he could move to leave, he heard what seemed to be a serious discussion.

    Hiro hurriedly hid himself behind the giant tendrils covering the maze walls and his eyes moved to observe the direction of the voices. After a short while, the shadow of people walking entered his sight.

    ¡°They destroyed the eliminators.¡±

    ¡°Someone even eliminated the hunters. How crazy is that!¡±

    ¡°I think it is time for n B.¡±

    ¡°Come on, man, I¡¯m tired of waiting. Why didn¡¯t we start with n B from the beginning?¡±

    ¡°My sister doesn¡¯t like it.¡±

 Chapter 79 - Hunterâ€™s Party

    Those five people walked closer and closer to Hiro¡¯s hideout. When they arrived in front of the wall where Hiro was holding his breath, they stopped an inch away near Hiro and had a very serious conversation.

    Hiro¡¯s focus on eavesdropping on their conversation was distracted when he realized that one of them had a blinding light amidst the night.

    Liberty was standing in the back row with a grim expression on her face. Her beautiful eyes had turned slightly red and watery. She yawned with a bored face repeatedly.

    ¡°So, can we start with n B?¡± one of them, a man who hid his face on a hood, asked.

    [Level 23. Dimitri. Rogue. The Maniac]

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s time,¡± said the one who acted like the leader of the party, Ace. Hiro remembered his appearance very well.

    ¡°Great! Let me kill them all. Tsk Tsk Tsk.¡±

    ¡°Dimitri, be a little friendly. You¡¯re getting more and more like a real demon.¡± It was the mage whomented, an african-american man who held a magical staff in his right hand.

    [Level 23. ric. Mage. Top Spender]

    ¡°Shut up, ric! Do you want to taste my poisonous katra?¡±

    ¡°Come on, boys. Stop fighting!¡±

    [Level 23. Nius. Knights. Noble Knight]

    Hiro absorbed their conversation in his mind, and he realized that the time hade.

    As Anonymous said, the hunters would start to kill the survivors instead when they realized that there was no rule prohibiting them to do that.

    In fact, when they killed the survivors, the survivor who had died would be assumed as eliminated from the game. Thus, more kills, more points for hunters.

    And now was the time. Hiro knew that this would happen soon. That was why he gathered the survivors before it was toote.

    He was lucky to find how it would begin.

    But¡ªhis mind suddenly froze when the beautiful girl he missed so much yawned cutely out of the blue.

    ¡°Libe, are you okay?¡±

    Ace, the leader of the party in front of Hiro, turned his back to talk to Liberty, who remained silent since their arrival.

    But wait¡ª

    Did he just call her by ¡®Libe¡¯ just like me?

    ¡°I just want this to end soon. I am really bored.¡± murmured Liberty in her distinctive, soft voice.

    Hiro gulped his own saliva reflexively hearing Liberty¡¯s voice for the first time since he was separated from her in a way he would never forget.

    But¨Chis gulping voice was heard by Ace, who suddenly twisted his neck towards the giant nt wall where Hiro was hiding.

    However, he wasn¡¯t the only one who immediately became suspicious of the voice from the wall.

    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Dimitri narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nius, a knight with his back covered by a shiny silver two-engrailed top shield, seemed not aware of the sound Hiro made.

    ¡°Shh!¡± Ace pressed his own index finger against his lips to tell the others to be quiet.

    Hiro could feel cold sweat suddenly dripping down his body. He tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword he was carrying.

    Damn it! This is bad.

    Ace walked over to the wall where Hiro was hiding. His brows arched in alert. The man beast¡¯s ears seemed to twitch, trying to catch the slightest sound around that area.

    Hiropletely stopped breathing. His face had started to turn a little blue from theck of oxygen. His very existence was in jeopardy right now.

    And if his guess was right, the five of them were party closed-beta test yers. Although Hiro was a CBT King, still¡­ fighting against their party alone would be a tough battle. Plus, he still couldn¡¯t counter Liberty and her Hellsing Whisper aside from just dodging it.

    At that moment, when Hiro had resigned himself to the situation, his eyes shifted to look for Liberty, who was looking at him. Straight into his eyes.

    Even though it was only a glimpse, Hiro was certain the girls¡¯ pupils widened as if they reacted in surprise to see him hiding within the nt wall.

    And suddenly¡­

    ¡°Ace! Looks like I dropped my precious thing on the spot earlier. I have to get it before someone else finds it!¡±

    Liberty shouted with a loud voice while patting Ace¡¯s shoulder. Making Ace startled, and turned his head towards her, ignoring the wall of nts in front of him that was only inches away.

    ¡°What? Again, Libe?¡±

    ¡°I am so sorry, Brother. You know I am clumsy sometimes.¡± Liberty raised her eyebrows like a pitiful Pomeranian dog.

    Hiro¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he stared at her adorable facial expression.

    But¨C

    Wait a second,

    Did she just call him brother?

    Hiro could feel his chest, which had been stuffy before, felt lighter.

    No¨Cway, did I get jealous? With her own brother? Crap! Hiro frowned at what had just happened to him for the first time in his life.

    Ace tilted his head while looking at Liberty with a suspicious expression.

    ¡°Are you really okay? You act weird, Libe.¡±

    If it was true that Ace was Liberty¡¯s brother, he indeed had such a contrasting personalitypared to his sibling.

    ¡°Okay, I can go alone. I will find it by myself.¡± Liberty crossed her arms in annoyance. Pouted her lips.

    Ace sighed. It looked like he was tired of her behavior. In the end, as a big brother, he needed to throw away his suspicions.

    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s not just sometimes, but you¡¯re always clumsy, Libe!¡±

    ¡°Humph.¡± Liberty looked away after being ridiculed by her brother.

    ¡°Well, if you said so, I¡¯ll go with you. Dad will cut my credit card limit if he watches me let you go alone.¡± Ace had no choice.

    And thus, Liberty¡¯s plump lips curved into a beautiful smile.

    ¡°Deal! Let¡¯s go, Hurry!¡±

    Hiro observed how the girl pulled her brother¡¯s big hand to quickly get away from where Hiro was hiding.

    Did she just save me? Did she get back her memory?

    In the end, the five of them went together, heading the same path as before.

    Hiro waited while hoping for the girl to turn back to look at him one more time. But she never did.

    As the five of them drifted away from where they were, Hiro was finally able to refill his shrinking lungs with fresh air.

    ¡°Pyuuh. It was really close!¡±

    He patted his chest, feeling relieved.

    However, there was no longer time for him to rest. If he really wanted to win this game, Hiro had to move faster than before.

    At that time, 90% of fire torches had been lit up. Even so, Noah¡¯s game points did not increase significantly. It was still safe to be under Hiro¡¯s point.

    It looked like the survivors had arrived at the maze covered by snow and found the fire torches were untouched in that very cold part.

 Chapter 80 - Mass Elimination

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hiro kept running even though his legs felt terribly sore, and he had sudden cramps multiple times until he had to run by jumping.

    No one was chasing him behind other than the time.

    Although he managed to save a few survivors and immediately sent them away to the south, Hiro alone was not enough to save the tens of thousands of survivors scattered in the giant maze.

    With the HUD system continuing to disy the notifications of survivors that had been eliminated without pause, Hiro was sure of one thing.

    The elimination operation by killing survivors in the maze had been started by hunters.

    They went crazy.

    Given the real weapons from the start, Hunters could easily kill every survivor they met around the corner.

    The massacre was underway, and the number of survivors was decreasing drastically.

    On the other hand, the game points of the hunters were increasing rapidly. This was what Hiro was worried about.

    The chance of winning the game had be lower by now.

    [Survivor: 5 survivors have been eliminated]

    ¡°What? 5 survivors at once?¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how the information among the hunters could be spread very fast just like that. It seemed that there was a special chat room in the game for hunters so that they could start the ughtering n.

    ¡°Arrrgh!¡±

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    It was toote¡­ every scream he heard was followed by the elimination notification.

    Hiro was already covered by sweat all over his body.

    ¡°Save me!¡±

    Hiro halted his footsteps when he found a man tied to a rocket mast all alone, with a body covered in sweat and blood.

    The hunter was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    Hiro, of course, saved the man and earned additional points from his actions. However, after sessfully releasing him, suddenly five hunters appeared,ughing with satisfaction.

    ¡°Hahahaha.¡±

    ¡°I knew we could use him as bait.¡±

    ¡°Now we got a small fish ready to grill.¡±

    Three of them were Caucasian men with huge bodies equipped with weapons such as a spear, a scythe, and also a ymore sword.

    Two of them were mages with weapons in the form of low-tier normal magical staff.

    ¡°I am so sorry,¡± the man Hiro just saved apologized.

    Hiro didn¡¯t me the man in the slightest, after all, he had prepared for unexpected things like this.

    ¡°Can you fight with me?¡± Hiro asked in a whisper.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. I am in pain. I don¡¯t even have any weapons.¡± The man was feeling guilty. He felt useless.

    ¡°Alright, just stay alive. Don¡¯t get killed. Stay behind me.¡±

    Hiro had no choice.

    He sheathed out his greatsword and got into a position to fight against the five hunters in front of him.

    Seeing Hiro positioned himself to fight them, theyughed louder and louder in mocking tones.

    ¡°Hahahaha. Look! The tiny fish¡¯s trying to fight us!¡±

    While they wereughing over him, Hiro quickly scanned their equipment using his HUD system.

    Hiro smirked after checking their gears one by one.

    Not only were their levels far behind him, which were between 20 to 22, but their gears were also very mediocre. They didn¡¯t even wear any armor. Only their physical appearance looked intimidating and fearsome.

    In the real world, it might be a power.

    But here, in the virtual reality, it didn¡¯t matter how bulk your body was, if you didn¡¯t care about the progressive stats, you could be weaker than the heroic NPCs.

    ¡°Fight me with all you have!¡± Hiro challenged them at once.

    Hearing how Hiro¡¯s voice sounded like a mocking one, they growled like giant monsters, then dashed forward together to attack Hiro.

    CLANK!

    SWISH!

    Hiro managed to stop all the three and returned their weapons back like nothing.

    With only a hand, Hiro could toss the three men away until they were thrown back and hit the wall.

    Not only the hunters but also the man he saved was shocked and disbelieving of what their eyes just saw.

    ¡°My turn.¡±

    Hiro shot forward while holding his sword high in the air before swinging it with full force at the three hunters, who were still wincing in pain as their backs hit the hard vines.

    The first time the enemy¡¯s weapons hit the blood-eater vampire, the unique skill of the sword was directly used by Hiro to absorb their HP altogether. Left them dying.

    This time, he returned their HP in the form of increased damage before the effect was gone.

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage!]

    [3 hunters could no longer hunt]

    [3 hunters have been eliminated from the game]

    Tarrrr!

    Their blood was covering the de of a blood-eater vampire greatsword. Their bodies turned into crystal pixels, then disappeared.

    After a second, his legendary greatsword absorbed the blood like a living thing until no single drop was left behind.

    ¡°So, what am I going to do with you two?¡±

    Hiro turned to look at the two mage girls, who looked terrified after seeing that their three mighty-lookingrades could be defeated with a single attack.

    ¡°N-Nightfall. The first PK executor!¡± one of them recognized Hiro. Her voice was shaking. Her face turned pale.

    ¡°Ar¨Care you going to kill us?¡±

    Hiro sighed. If he killed them, he would not get any extra points. Still, he believed they would spread bad fake news about him to the town after the game finished. And Hiro didn¡¯t want it.

    After all, they were justdies. It was still tough for Hiro when it came to fighting female yers, especially those whose strength was very low, like the two mages in front of him right now.

    ¡°If you stop hunting till the game finishes, I will let you live.¡±

    After hearing that, the two female hunters nodded and immediately ran away without turning back.

    ¡°Man, you are very strong!¡±

    ¡°How could you do that?¡±

    The confidence of the man Hiro saved had returned after seeing that he had a very strong and reliable survivor partner for now. He could even stand normally, no longer with trembling legs.

    [Survivors: All fire torches have been lit up]

    [Remaining time: 00h 55m 20s]

    [1st. Survivor (1,150,450 Total Game Points)]

    [2nd. Hunter (Total Game Points 1,054,944)]

    [Remaining survivors poption 119,750 (63%)]

 Chapter 81 - Get Back

    81 Get Back!

    The remaining time was still too long for Hiro.

    He knew that in a minute, the hunters could finish off many survivors at once and quickly caught up with their trailing points until time ran out.

    However, Hiro would not let that happen.

    He had to win this game no matter what.

    And to achieve that, he needed a team. A strong, reliable team.

    Still, there was no more time. Hiro had to return to where he was before, heading south to where the survivors had been gathered. If he left them for too long and there was a hunter who found out where they were hiding, the n could fail right away.

    ¡­

    "You Ugly B*tch! Leave me alone! I will burn you alive!"

    Only halfway to the south, Hiro heard the voice of someone he knew.

    SPLAT!

    "Ugh!"

    Blood scattered on the ground towards a narrow space hidden in the maze.

    Noah was seen pressing his bleeding stomach. His body was covered in cold sweat and next to him flew his legendary weapon with a faint glow, the Mystic Tome.

    In front of Noah was a girl with a body proportioned like a skilled, agile fighter.

    Both hands carried a pair of chakram-shaped weapons that were wide and sharp at the edges.

    [Level 23. Natalie. Rogue. Night yer]

    She was indeed a CBT yer. Hiro could tell from the first time he saw the girl''s appearance, especially the weapon she was carrying.

    The girl looked back to see Hiro, who was gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

    However, before Hiro had time to do anything, the girl suddenly shot swiftly into the shadow of darkness created by the wall of vines.

    Woosh!

    [Void Phantom]

    [Turn into a shadow, receiving a stealth effect thatsts for 5s, during which time increases the dodge rate by 30% and movement speed by 50%. (CD 10s)]

    CLANK!

    Hiro could feel a powerful gust of wind suddenly hit his cheeks as he raised his sword to deflect a chakram that was aimed at his chest.

    Either because he was very sensitive to the various types of movements that were nearby or because he was very lucky, Hiro managed to stop the attacks that appeared from the darkness until the attacker showed herself again due to the limit of her skill.

    Snap!

    The girl jumped back like a gymnast with her highly stic body.

    "Defeat that girl before she disappears again!" shouted Noah, who now had time to use one of the basic healing spells possessed by a mage.

    His right hand, which had been suppressing the bleeding in his stomach, was emitting a bright white light and the light seemed to expand to cover the wound on Noah''s stomach.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro moved like zes while swinging a sh forward after holding it until hisbo skill was activated. Even so, attacking someone with a slender and agile body wasn''t easy for a barbarian wielding a heavy greatsword like Hiro.

    CLANK!

    Natalie dodged by turning sideways, but she didn''t just dodge. She purposely mmed one of the ck chakrams she was carrying at Hiro''s sword, but it didn''t manage to make Hiro budge from his ce because of the difference in STR points they had.

    Unable to win with a direct physical attack, Natalie threw her bright white weapon at Hiro so that Hiro had no other choice but to bend down.

    Bang!

    Although he managed to dodge the chakram that was now stuck in the maze''s walls, Hiro wasn''t fast enough to dodge Natalie''s boots that flew right in his face while bending down.

    "Dammit!"

    Hiro was being thrown backward. Blood dripped from his nose and he quickly wiped it with the back of his hand.

    Natalie wore an exquisite gold vian mask, hiding her nose and eyes. While her thin lips formed a satisfied smile after sessfullynding her first attack on Hiro.

    Hiro tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. His eyebrows knit together and looked at the opponent in front of him with a serious look.

    He then dashed forward while shing Natalie at full tilt, but before his sh touched the girl''s body, Natalie had disappeared again from his sight.

    ''Come on, Hiro!''

    He tried to recollect his memories of how to fight enemies who repeatedly disappeared when they attacked or when he wanted to give them a huge blow. After all, he managed to defeat one of the boss monsters that had the same power as her. Lucifer The Fallen Angel.

    Hiro took a deep, long breath to increase his concentration, and a notification appeared in front of him.

    [Demon''s eyes ready]

    [Activating Demon''s eyes skill]

    Hiro opened his eyes and suddenly the dim light that had previously made his eyes ustomed to his surroundings was changed as if the contrast of the light caught by his eyes was increasing and what was previously only a shadow of darkness, had turned into millions of dark-coloured dots that coalesce to be one in a corner.

    His eyes were now emitting a bright red light.

    He looked around and he found thousands ck dots gathered in one ce and formed a shape like a human near the wall to his left.

    The dots seemed to move in an orderly fashion, but their movements were extremely fast.

    Suddenly, when those dots dashed towards him, in thest second before the impact urred, Hiro pulled half his body back while swinging his sword horizontally with all his might towards those dots.

    SPLAT!

    Blood spurted out profusely, raining down on Hiro''s bare feet. But it wasn''t his.

    Natalie vomited lots of blood from her mouth. Her eyes quivered as she looked up. Her hand gripped Hiro''s wrist tightly, but as time went on, her grip loosened.

    Hiro''s greatsword was still stuck in the girl''s waist.

    [1 hunter can''t no longer hunt]

    [1 hunter has been eliminated]

    Hiro gulped down his own saliva as he watched how Natalie''s body shattered into crystal shards before disappearing from his sight.

    "I really have nothing to say at this moment." murmured Noah, who couldn''t stop being astonished to see a fairly sadistic murder in front of him.

    "Can you fight?" Hiro asked, ignoring hisment.

    "Of course, I already have this in my hands." Noah raised his Mystic Tome.

    [You have sent a party invitation to Noah]

    [Noah has joined the party]

    "Follow me."

    ¡­

    ¡­

    [Remaining time: 00h 35m 10s]

    [1st. Survivor (Total Game Points 1,155,215)]

    [2nd. Hunter (Total Game Points 1,140,480)]

    [Remaining survivors poption 114,048 (60%)]

    Rustle!

    The hunters, who were already tired of searching, realized that the survivors were getting harder to find.

    "They broke the eliminator rockets."

    "Where are they now?"

    "I think it''s getting harder and harder to find them."

    "Are they hiding somewhere?"

    A figure came to join them. He was running fast as if he brought a high-price piece of information.

    "Haaa¡­ All of you quicklye with me."

    "What?! What for?"

    "Those elite yers know where the survivors are hiding."

 Chapter 82 - Immortal Knights

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro rushed back to run towards the path to the south.

    This time he put all his strength into running and again relied on his GPS system, which had recorded all the paths of the maze that he had passed before.

    Behind him was Noah who was also running, trying to catch his speed with some difficulty.

    The two of them ran with no longer care about the sound of their footsteps.

    .

    .

    Within minutes, Hiro and Noah made it to the south of the maze. No one followed them behind and no hunter seemed to know where the survivors were hiding at that moment.

    From a distance, Hiro could see a group of survivors who were also running towards the south.

    Most of them were women. And for that reason, Hiro could guess who directed them all.

    Hiro and Noah outrun the female yers in front of them so the two of them could catch up quickly.

    Hearing the footsteps of the two, the group of survivors looked back to make sure that it wasn¡¯t the hunters who hade.

    But suddenly¨C

    A figure jumped from the vanguard in a zigzag before pointing a dagger right at Hiro¡¯s neck, which hastily made him stop.

    ¡°Yo! It¡¯s me!¡± Hiro raised his hands in the air in surrender. If he moved just a little, his throat would be slit apart.

    The figure that stopped Hiro was Cara, the rogue. His guess was right.

    Cara immediately pulled back the dagger she was pointing at after realizing who¡¯sing.

    Hiro didn¡¯t me the girl, instead he was more impressed by her. Her speed was indeed praiseworthy.

    ¡°We stuck to the n. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Hiro passed Cara and then ran to the front to lead the line of survivors who were rescued by Cara or identally encountered her.

    Noah dashed past Cara and the others, trying to stay ahead of Hiro.

    They ran again without saying any words.

    While a bit far from where they were, there were hunters who had also gathered troops. Together moving towards the survivor¡¯s hideout, they suspected.

    .

    .

    Hiro arrived at a ce that extended as wide as a field with the ground covered in thick snow. Even the snow kept falling from the sky in that ce.

    However, that wasn¡¯t what surprised him. Because there were already tens of thousands of survivors gathered and some sticking their bodies together, trying to share warmth.

    A huge, bulky man came up to Hiro, BigShow. He was a survivor.

    ¡°I thought this must be your n, Boss.¡±

    He brought along four thug-faced male yers who were carrying machete-shaped weapons in their hands. Hiro remembered them as BigShow¡¯s subordinates who were often seen with him.

    ¡°Hiro, you came!¡± This one was Jacob, who ran towards Hiro from a distance.

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect that there would be so many survivors here.¡± Hiro ignored the two of them. Meanwhile, the survivors who had been sitting rose to their feet.

    Most of them did not have any weapons.

    ¡°BigShow, do you and your team have more weapons?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we managed to find a lot of hidden chests. Some contained a dozen kitchen knives.¡±

    ¡°Give it to me.¡±

    BigShow already considered Hiro his master, and he gave Hiro the loot he had got with his party, without expecting anything in return.

    ¡°Jacob, how many of them?¡±

    ¡°103,080, I guess.¡±

    Hiro was really surprised to hear such arge number. However, he immediately shouted in a loud voice. Order those who had weapons or were able to fight empty-handed to get out of line and came forward.

    At that moment, some of them started to move ording to Hiro¡¯s orders.

    And those who moved forward were no more than a thousand yers. While others seemed to show objections if they had to fight along with the others.

    ¡°Boss, what happened?¡± BigShow was bewildered to see Hiro looking restless after seeing such a small number ofbat survivors they had.

    Hiro sighed. But then he could sense some figuresing.

    Five people came from the corner that Hiro and the others had just passed.

    A survivor party.

    They consisted of fiverge men of the same height. In the front row was a man with a shield and a gigantic sword whose size were able to protect two or three people at once.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw that person¡¯s face.

    [Level 25. LostSoul. Knights. The Defender]

    This yer was a very famous professional gamer from America.

    He was known as a knight legend because he had always been a knight in all the MMORPG games he had yed.

    Not only that, he was a party leader who was very strong and loyal to the point of having a special name for their party.

    [Immortal Knights]

    Behind him was none other than a barbarian who also wielded a greatsword with a shiny golden de. The armor he was wearing was pitch ck metal.

    [Level 24. King_Val. Barbarian. The Barbarian]

    Next is a wizard wearing thick armor who did not keep his feet on the ground, his body floating in the air with a pair of turbo mes zing out from under the boots he was wearing.

    [Level 25. RemusDrac. Mage. Dark Magician]

    The one who¡¯s steps couldn¡¯t be sensed was walking beside the barbarian.

    He was a rogue who wore a long cloak and put on a mask to cover his true face. A mask resembling a Japanese demon. Looks scary but kinda cool.

    [Level 25. The Ninja. Rogue. Killing Spree]

    Thest one of Immortal Knights was a cleric who walked right beside the leader.

    He was a bespectacled man with the friendliest face. He carried a shield in his left hand and a magic staff in his right.

    [Level 23. TheWitchDoctor. Cleric. The Alchemist]

    Seeing their arrival with full armor and weapons created a great hope in the minds of the survivors.

    Most of them knew who the five of them were. What they didn¡¯t know and only just realized was the fact that the five of them had yed with them in the event as the members of survivors.

    The legendary ¡®Immortal Knights¡¯.

    Only yers who didn¡¯t really follow the development trend of the MMORPG world didn¡¯t know who they were.

    ¡°Holy shit! We got the Immortal Knights.¡± Hiro immediately ran towards them.

    He couldn¡¯t hide his admiration for the five of them.

    ¡°Hello, Kid. Did you n all of this?¡± the leader of the Immortal Knights spoke to Hiro, who immediately nodded nervously.

    Hiro even knew the real identity of the five of them. He even had a poster of them ying another MMORPG posted in his room, at Yuujin¡¯s apartment.

    This party was very famous even though they built the party without any sponsor. They are independent, and thus make them different from most professional gamers.

    ¡°I am a big fan, Wow! I can¡¯t believe this. Where were you guys? I didn¡¯t realize that we have such a professional gamers party in our team. Are you going to fight with me¡­ I mean with us?¡± Hiro felt his head go nk for a moment.

    The man in front of him chuckled.

    ¡°Yeah, we were busy looting. One dragon as a reward would not be enough for my party. So, all this time, we only aimed to win the survivor team and received the same reward.¡± The leader exined the reason why they seemed to be invincible.

    ¡°But not only that.¡±

    Hiro arched an eyebrow in surprise because suddenly the leader turned around to make way for the mage to advance forward.

    ¡°Draco, your turn.¡±

    The mage walked by floating out of line, nodding at Hiro before raising his right hand to do something.

    An exceedingly bright silvery light emerged from the mage¡¯s palm.

    Clink!

    The light suddenly turned dazzling and blinded all eyes in that ce.

    However, after three seconds had passed, their eyes could adapt again.

    The light had vanished, while a pile of weapons of various shapes suddenly appeared on the vacant ground in the snow before them.

    ¡°We bring a gift.¡± continued the leader of Immortal Knights.

 Chapter 83 - Theyre Coming

    The arrival of a powerful and reliable party reignited the survivors¡¯ fighting spirit.

    Without waiting for anyone¡¯s cue, the survivors who had their hands empty immediately rushed to grab a weapon from the hundreds that just appeared in front of them.

    Their enthusiasm in preparing to battle against the hunters to remain as the winning team relieved Hiro. With their current situation, the possibility of winning against the hunters who were already fewer in number since the beginning increased.

    Even now, the number of survivors who were gathered there was more than the total active hunters in the entire maze.

    ¡°How did you think of something like this, kid?¡± The leader of Immortal Knights, who was standing next to him, watched the survivors scramble to get weapons that suited them.

    ¡°I just thought that hiding in a ce like this would make things hard for the hunters. I don¡¯t think they¡¯d expect that we would stay in a ce as cold as this for long, especially when we don¡¯t have any warm clothes,¡± Hiro exined without taking his eyes off the other survivors.

    At that moment, King_Val came and stood next to Hiro on his other side.

    ¡°Nice sword, kid,¡± Valplimented and patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder after observing the greatsword on Hiro¡¯s back.

    ¡°Thanks. So is yours, Val.¡±

    Being a fan of Immortal Knights himself, Hiro knew the real name of the five members as well as their current ages. These veteran gamers were around 34¨C36 years of age, so it wasn¡¯t strange that they thought of him as a kid. They were almost double his age.

    Val looked at him with a smile when he heard that, but all of a sudden, a subtle scrutinizing look appeared on his face.

    Even though Hiro wasn¡¯t directly looking at him, it was hard to miss when someone looked at you longer than normal.

    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Val paused and stroked his chin. ¡°It might just be me, but your face reminds me of someone.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but pause for a brief moment. Could it be that he saw the resemnce between him and his brother?

    ¡°Is this your first time meeting an Asian here? A lot of westerners say that we Asians look almost the same.¡± He quickly brushed off the question.

    ¡°I¡¯m with you, Val. He reminds me of WynterRain.¡± n, also known as The WitchDoctor in-game, suddenly joined the conversation.

    ¡°Right, WynterRain! West yed with him a year ago in Another World Online, didn¡¯t we? I didn¡¯t expect him to leave us so suddenly¡­¡± Val put his hand on his own head.

    Meanwhile, the leader with the real name Dominic suddenly looked into Hiro¡¯s eyes. His eyes moved as if he was scanning Hiro¡¯s face.

    ¡°Are you blood-rted to WynterRain, by any chance? You really look like him,¡± the man added.

    Hiro sighed before smiling.

    ¡°I wish. We¡¯re not blood-rted, but we are from the same country, haha,¡± he awkwardlyughed and tried to divert the topic.

    The members of Immortal Knights looked at him strangely. His somewhat unnatural reaction made them suspect him even more, but the survivors saved him.

    The other survivors had finished picking up the weapons they could use until none remained. Even though the weapons weren¡¯t enough for a hundred thousand people, the gift Immortal Knights brought and the help from BigShow¡¯s party increased the number of survivors who could fight from a thousand to over two thousand.

    Still, none of them would be gathered there without him, so Hiro remained as the survivor team¡¯s leader.

    In a rather short time, he had prepared a strategy to defeat the hunters. The survivors who had no weapons and were unwilling to join the battle would gather at the rear, far enough for magic attacks to be unable to reach them.

    However, this didn¡¯t mean that they were just going to sit idly. While it was true they would be able to avoid magic attacks with the turns to the hiding spot and enough distance, rangers with bows or firearms would still be able to reach them.

    Because of that, the survivors who wouldn¡¯t be participating in the battle were busy creating a fort made of snow and snowballs to throw as ranged attacks.

    Three parties stood at the forefront; Hiro¡¯s party, Immortal Knights, and BigShow¡¯s party. Right behind them were the survivors who could fight, both those who had weapons and those who decided to fight empty-handed.

    After getting into position, they could only patiently wait for their opponents. As they did, it wasn¡¯t just once or twice that they looked at the remaining time of the game.

    [Remaining time: 00h 27m 45s]

    The atmosphere became tense, causing the air to feel even colder. They truly felt as if they were going to freeze anytime soon.

    ¡­

    With the silence that filled the air, it was easy to hear the faint noises from afar. The more time passed, the louder those noises became.

    Not only were there vigorous shouts, but also heavy, irregr footsteps of numerous people.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    They ran at full speed. Just from the sounds of it, they seemed to have brought a mass of thousands.

    When the hunters began closing in, the ground they were standing on shook.

    An earthquake? No, it was the sound of hunters enthusiastically marching to wipe them out and achieve a quick and easy victory.

    ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± Hiro pulled out his greatsword from his back and braced himself. His eyes were looking straight at thest turn the hunters would need to go through before seeing the survivor team.

    In a matter of seconds, rows of hunters with their weapons up in the air began appearing from that direction.

    Four people were at the very front. As Hiro expected, they were the leaders of the hunter team.

    ¡°Hiro, is that Liberty?¡± Jacob squinted his eyes with doubt. She seemed a little¡­ different.

    Was his eyes deceiving him?

    Hiro only nced at him for a brief moment before looking back at the opposing team. At the front of the hunters were Ace, Liberty, ric, and Nius.

    ¡®Hm?¡¯

    Hiro scanned people in the front row again. Their number didn¡¯t seem quite right.

    Their rogue wasn¡¯t there.

    [Demon¡¯s Eyes]

    Right at that moment, he saw a humanoid clump of dots dash to his side.

    CLANK!

    Hiro swung his greatsword toward Noah, who was standing next to him with his eyes on the rows of hunters.

    ¡°What the hell, NightFall!?¡± Noah, whose heart almost jumped out of his chest, exploded with anger.

    Was he nning to cut his neck!?

    Before Hiro could respond, the figure that was previously hidden in the shadows with [Void Phantom] appeared with a smirk on his face.

    The person was none other than the rogue of the hunter team¡¯s esteemed party, Dimitri.

    His w-shaped katars were stuck on the edge of Hiro¡¯s de. A slightly thick, almost unnoticeable clear liquid was slowly dripping from the edges of those long and sharp katars.

    ¡°So close,¡± Dimitri hissed with an amused grin. His sharp gaze was akin to an actual murderer¡¯s.

    Shrug!

    Hiro swiftly flung Dimitri¡¯s hand with all his strength, causing the rogue to jump backward, creating distance.

    ¡°Going after my mage? You won¡¯t have a second chance.¡± Hiro checked the clear liquid on his de. The Blood-Eater Vampire couldn¡¯t absorb it.

    Upon touching it, its name was quickly disyed to him.

    Ding!

    [Ophiophagus Venom]

    ¡°That bastard.¡± Noah clenched his fists in irritation. His anger was now directed at Dimitri.

    If Hiro hadn¡¯t swung his greatsword in time, he would¡¯ve died without knowing how. Especially with a deadly venom covering the opponent¡¯s weapon.

    ¡°You can¡¯t even do that, Dimitri? Lame.¡± While Hiro¡¯s attention was on the rogue, Ace and the others had arrived in front of him.

    The two teams were currently only 15 meters apart. However, unlike what Val and Dominic predicted, the hunters didn¡¯t immediately attack. Instead, they stood still in an orderly manner as if they were waiting for orders from those at the front.

    ¡°Liberty, long time no see!¡± Jacob, who Hiro previously ignored, suddenly waved his hand to Liberty.

    The girl instantly stiffened up. Not a response came from her, as if the person Jacob was greeting wasn¡¯t her.

    Ace raised his brow and looked at his sister. Noticing her brother¡¯s gaze, Liberty shook her head.

    Hiro silently observed the interaction.

    Does she also not remember Jacob?

    In truth, Hiro also wanted to do what Jacob did. He wanted to call her name, ask how she was doing, and show her just how much he missed her.

    However, everything he wanted to say was stuck to the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed it all back down in one gulp.

    Under the survivors¡¯ wary gaze, Ace smiled and began speaking in a loud and clear voice.

    ¡°Listen up, survivors! My fellow hunters and I will eliminate all of you in 10 minutes!¡±

    As Ace¡¯s voice resounded in the maze, the hunters present all cheered.

    ¡°But¡­¡± the hunter team leader continued, ¡°Since we still have 20 minutes left, why don¡¯t we have a duel? yer vs. yer, 1v1. Whoever can defeat Dimitri, ric, and me in two minutes can step forward.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s enjoy this game before it ends.¡±

 Chapter 84 - Duel Preparation

    The duel offer given by Ace made the hunters shout their disapproval.

    The remaining time to flip the current situation over was not over than 23 minutes, but the leader of the hunters was actually interested in ying around. Wasting the precious time of 10 minutes to hold a sudden duel.

    ¡°Boo!¡±

    Although they were booed in displeasure, Ace¡¯s party members, especially Dimitri were hissing at them with a deadly stare.

    ¡°Silence!¡± Dimitri growled in annoyance, seeding in bringing silence to that ce.

    ¡°Dimitri, calm down. Let them be. It¡¯s no fun without the audience here.¡± Ace warned his partner to calm down.

    The aura of the strongest party of the hunter team really felt different. With the threats that the five of them gave, the hunters decided to re-lock their mouths and surrender to those ahead of them.

    Although the survivors got the benefits from the offer given by Ace, because it meant they still had a little extra time before being ughtered by the thousands of hunters who had just arrived, Hiro as the leader of the survivor team was not quite satisfied with that.

    In a short time, he tried to provide some conditions that made the duel much more challenging, and it was certain for an arrogant elite yer like Ace¡¯s party to have the prestige of turning it down.

    ¡°I will ept your challenge, only with one condition.¡± Hiro spoke word by word slowly. Speaking in a calm tone, showing that he didn¡¯t feel threatened at all by the arrival of the hunters in front of him.

    He stole a nce at Liberty. The girl was staring at him, but then turned away. Even if it was just a nce, her face seemed to have turned pinkish.

    ¡°Say it.¡± Ace lifted his chin a little higher. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle. He had ocean blue eyes that were exactly the same as Liberty. After all, they were indeed siblings.

    ¡°What if we bet the three of you and the three of us fight in a one-on-one battle as the team representatives? If the hunter team gets two wins, we will all surrender. You are free to eliminate us. However, if it is the opposite¡­¡±

    As if Ace had already guessed where the conversation would continue, he cut Hiro¡¯s words with a sentence that had appeared in his head,

    ¡°We let the survivors win this game.¡±

    .

    .

    ¡°Wait¨CWhat?!¡±

    ¡°No way!¡±

    ¡°No, I would never bet my victory on anyone.¡±

    ¡°Seriously? What kind of bet is that?¡±

    Instantly, they were back in amotion. The hunters shouted to Ace, very loud and noisy.

    However, this was not a democracy. And Hiro managed to get Ace interested in the bet he proposed.

    Actually, he didn¡¯t have high expectations for the duel. However, even if they don¡¯t agree on the conditions, that must be foolproof for those who were arrogant. At least Hiro and the other survivors were ready to fight right now.

    Though, Hiro has predicted that the percentage of survivors to win against hunters was currently no more than 45%.

    ¡°Okay. Deal!¡± Ace ignored all the mess he created, he didn¡¯t even care if someone jumped from his back to attack him right now. After all, he felt that he himself and his CBT party would be enough to ughter the survivors.

    At that moment, the hunters immediately became mad and cursed Ace and hispanion. Even so, none of them was brave enough to challenge them.

    ¡°Silence!¡± Dimitri¡¯s re made them stop again.

    A smirk spread across Hiro¡¯s face after hearing Ace had agreed to his condition and everything got back to normal.

    Just as he had expected, the elites who were arrogant and extremely confident in their abilities would never turn down an offer like that.

    But now, the problem was.

    Who would fight the three of them?

    ¡°This duel, we hunters, will gain absolute victory. 3-0!¡± Nius, a Knight who stood beside Ace was the one who spoke.

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Teach them a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Make them suffer!¡±

    The hunters shouted loudly. They pointed their weapons in the air to cheer for the three people who would fight as their representative in a duel. Their minds have changed very fast.

    Ace took a step forward, followed by Dimitri and ric by his side.

    ¡°Gentlemen?¡±

    Hiro nced at Liberty as if that way could give him an idea of ??choosing three survivors to fight the three of them.

    He really couldn¡¯t choose recklessly.

    He nced at his left, to where the members of the Immortal Knights were.

    ¡®Should I tell them to step in?¡¯

    He believed the immortal knights were very strong, but Hiro had hardly heard of their record of fighting in one-on-one duels.

    They were very strong when fighting in parties, but not individually because their excellent and coordinated teamwork skills could only be applied when they fought together. Even so, one of them, the rogue, had some pretty reliable solo yer vs yer achievements.

    And with that knowledge base, Hiro decided to involve the rogue, The Ninja.

    Even though next to Hiro, Cara was already more than ready to fight, Hiro felt that the experience was much more important here. Besides, the armor and weapons of the rogue from the immortal knights were very advantageous for the duel right now.

    ¡°Dave, can youe forward to defeat Dimitri?¡± Hiro knew job ss rogues were the most reliable in a duel battle like this, thus to stop them, at least one of the same job ss with greater strength is needed.

    Dave, The Ninja, walked forward to separate himself from the line and waited. This man was very quiet.

    Hiro continued to choose one yer to defeat the mage, ric.

    At this point, it was very difficult to analyze a mage¡¯s strength because they had various skills based on elements.

    But before Hiro decided on a thing, Noah suggested himself.

    ¡°I will fight the mage, and show how terrible my power is to that haughty rogue.¡±

    His body trembled with emotion and resentment. Hiro arched an eyebrow, not immediately responding.

    He really didn¡¯t know much about the magic power that Noah had mastered until now. Although he knew Noah could fight well enough and was reliable enough to be a representative.

    On top of that, his arrogant and aloof nature had made him always struggle alone as a solo yer. So, Hiro also believed that giving Noah a chance to fight and showing his strength was the right thing.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you if you lose,¡± Hiro agreed.

    Noah nodded then stepped forward. His eyes looked straight at ric, who had a disdainful smile on his face, as if he was saying to himself, ¡®Seriously? My opponent is just a lil brat like this?¡¯

    Last but not least, it was Hiro who walked forward to duel against their leader, Ace.

    But at that time, suddenly a woman from the survivor line shouted in a loud voice,

    ¡°Let Dominic fight their leader!!¡±

    Her words managed to stop Hiro¡¯s footsteps.

    ¡°Yes! Let Dominic fight!¡±

    ¡°I support Dominic!¡±

    ¡°Go Dominic!¡±

    ¡°Take his ce!¡±

 Chapter 85 - Mage Vs Mage

    Hiro felt a bit shocked. He didn¡¯t think that the survivors would shout a name as thest representative for the duel. They didn¡¯t say anything when he was choosing The Ninja and also Noah before. But now, when he was about to walk forward, they stopped him.

    They started to suggest Dominic to rece Hiro¡¯s ce in the duel as if what Hiro had done for them so far was not enough to show them that he was a strong yer. Meanwhile, Dominic, the leader of Immortal Knights, was indeed far more popr than him.

    ¡°Just Let Dominic beat them!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Dominic!¡±

    At that moment, suddenly the loud protest stopped when Dominic raised his right hand in the air, giving a signal to all of them to be quiet.

    ¡°He is the one who managed to gather all of you here. Pay respect to him. He is our leader, give him a chance. You¡¯ll never know how strong someone is if you never give them a chance to prove themself.¡± Dominic stated a sentence that instantly made the survivors feel as if they had been pped in the face.

    His words were truly charismatic, but that alone wasn¡¯t enough to make a hundred thousand survivors let Hiro fight.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in that mage! It¡¯s enough to just add one weak yer. Don¡¯t make the risk of the defeat even higher!¡± a man in a blue cloak has pointed his index finger to Noah while talking.

    ¡°Right! I don¡¯t want to waste my 3 hours!¡±

    ¡°Yes! This is nonsense!¡±

    To deal with those who were still shouting of refusal, Dominic spoke again with a sentence that in the end made them be pped once more.

    ¡°Did you forget? NightFall and Noah currently upy the 1st and 2nd top scorers in the Survivor team. One more step to getting Tier 1 and Tier 2 rewards. Do you think they will lose easily after struggling to umte that points?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Draco, the mage from Immortal Knights, added and made the other survivors shut their mouths.

    Dominic¡¯s statement was correct. At that moment, Dominic let Hiro continue his walk forward and challenge the opponent who had been waiting for him all this time.

    [Remaining time: 00h 20m 30s]

    ¡­

    After the three representatives from each team came forward. Next, they chose who would fight first.

    Ace, without much consideration of anything, decided to order one of his teammates to walk in the space that had been marked as a duel area.

    And thus, the first duel will be a magic duel.

    Noah Vs ric.

    None of both teams objected to that decision.

    .

    .

    Duel started¡­

    Noah and ric walked forward. The distance that separated the two of them at this time was only 3 meters.

    Without waiting for unnecessary cues, ric instantly flexed his fingers, doing a channeling to activate one of his strongest magic skills.

    At that moment, suddenly a shining blue-circle appeared on the ground, encircling ric¡¯s body.

    At the same time, Noah casted a pair of mes zing above his palms, aiming to shoot the enemy with the fire on his hands while the Mystic Tome flew low in front of him, with ck and white light emitted from its two sides

    ¡°You are a fire magician, huh? I am sorry, but you will never win against me.¡± ric talked to Noah with a high level of confidence.

    Tch.

    Noah clicked his tongue at the arrogant words that came out of his opponent.

    ¡®Who the fuck he just called a fire magician? I am the strongest magician in the world,¡¯ he taught himself while turning the page on his mystic tome by waving his right hand over the flying book in front of him.

    Noah had a pretty good basic knowledge of ying games. Mage was a job ss that he always chose every time he yed a game because of his obsession to be the strongest magician in the world.

    Seeing that the opponent was a magician with a magical staff type weapon, Noah¡¯s confidence in being able to defeat his opponent did not decrease in the slightest.

    Noah had previously studied the types of weapons rmended by magicians and researched the differences as well.

    In the LSO world, tome or spellbook type weapons had advantages in terms of casting time speed and cooldown, which tended to be faster so they could have spam skills. Meanwhile the magical wand or staff type had the advantage of increasing magic pration.

    To create a wizard character that was a little tanky so that it was safe when dueling against wizard-hunters such as assassins or rogues, a mage should choose a magical wand or staff. Some types of wand and staff were light enough that they could be wielded using only one hand. So that he could also carry a shield on the other hand to increase their HP and defense.

    Wizard character builds like this were very suitable for yer vs yer battles, especially in battle squads.

    Meanwhile, using a tome or spellbook as a weapon was actually superior when it was used for grinding, especially solo-grinding. However, in terms of yer vs yer battles, this weapon was no less effective, especially when the battle that would take ce was a battle between yers of the semi or full ranged-duel type. As Noah would experience at this time, a duel between mages.

    ric was pretty sure that Noah was a fire magician because of his first movement.

    And after channeling for more than 15 seconds, ric¡¯s most powerful water magic skill was shot.

    [Water Neb ¨C Level 1]

    Although the level of the skill was still very low, the power stored in the skill was so powerful that it could be categorized as an ultimate skill because to activate the skill, a basic water element level max skill was required.

    Ssh!

    From both of ric¡¯s palms suddenly came out a very strong shot of water. Within one meter, the two water shots seemed to rotate around each other and form a water helix that shot very fast toward Noah.

    But before a violent collision urred, a smirk appeared on Noah¡¯s face.

    He had expected that his enemy would attack him with water-type magic after guessing he was a fire mage. His enemy taught that his weakness would be the water.

    In just three seconds, Noah had activated a counter magic for the water neb¡¯s attack on him.

    And the magic skill Noah cast was indeed surprising his enemy and made ric drop his jaw.

    [Draining Roots]

    Crack!

    Suddenly, the ground covered with snow where Noah was standing shook and cracked for about one meter in front of him.

    Dozens of nt roots appeared to extend unnaturally from the cracked underground and they could flutter in the air before coiling around each other to form a sturdy rectangr shield right in front of Noah¡¯s body.

    SPLASH!

    All the water neb shot was drained very fast, absorbed by the shield made of nt roots.

    ¡°What the hell is that thing?!¡± ric was shocked because his most powerful magic spell had failed to defeat the enemy. It didn¡¯t even touch him.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡± Noah couldn¡¯t hold hisughter any longer. Seeing the look of surprise and confusion clearly etched on ric¡¯s face really made him burst intoughter.

    ¡°I am the strongest magician in the world. I am not just a typical fire magician, you dumb!¡±

    Noah didn¡¯t give ric the opportunity to steal channeling time once again because this time he was increasingly convinced that he was much stronger and ric was not an opponentparable to him.

    Without waiting for the second attack, Noah immediately cast an attack magic with almost no casting time.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the actual water magic power!¡±

    [Water cyclone]

    Noah formed a circr torrent of water in front of his hands and used the cyclone of water to attack ric.

    Whoosh!

    The water cyclone was too powerful for ric. The cyclone continued to move, sweeping ric away and pushing him further back, dragging more than ten hunters at once behind him.

    Their bodies were drowned in the massive amount of water that came out of Noah¡¯s hands. They couldn¡¯t breathe, and the HP of them was fastly drained too.

    [11 hunters could no longer hunt]

    [11 hunters have been eliminated from the game]

    When they were eliminated from being killed in the game, their bodies shattered and turned into shards of crystal pixels.

    The water cyclone was then stopped. The water dripped to the surface of the snow and made theyer of snow under their feet of the hunters felt even more slippery.

    The duel between Noah Vs ric had ended in no more than a minute.

    ¡°I won. You¡¯ll be next, Coward!¡± Noah deliberately threw an annoyed look at Dimitri, who was wide-eyed at Noah¡¯s actions just now. He really didn¡¯t think that ric would just be eliminated by a fellow mage.

    Next would be The Ninja Vs Dimitri.

    The duel must be very fast and normal eyes might have difficulty watching their movements.

 Chapter 86 - Last Duel

    The duel between survivors and hunters continued. After the short battle between Noah and ric, it was finally time for the battle between rogues.

    The two yers walked forward to close the distance as done in the previous battle.

    Dave, The Ninja from Immortal Knights, gave Dimitri a death stare through his mask. Dimitri, on the other hand, had a contemptuous look on his face.

    In Dave¡¯s hands were a pair of jet-ck daggers slightly longer than normal daggers. But they weren¡¯t all he had. All sorts of other sharp weapons were hidden in his costume.

    From the way he positioned himself and his weapons in front of Dimitri, it was clear that this man in his 30s was a true assassin.

    Whoosh!

    Dimitri dashed forward and swung his two katars to form an X sh toward his opponent.

    CLANK!

    The two rogues¡¯ weapons shed. Due to the way Dave positioned his daggers to parry, the long and sharp w-shaped katars were stuck on the ck daggers.

    Dimitri¡¯s arm muscles tensed up.

    Bang!

    Taking the opportunity when his opponent¡¯s hands were locked in the air, Dave harshly mmed his shoulders to Dimitri¡¯s chest, sending him flying onto the maze wall behind him.

    Cough! Cough!

    The previously-arrogant rogue roughly coughed. His chest hurt, and he even began to find it hard to breathe properly due to the sudden attack.

    But The Ninja¡¯s attack didn¡¯t stop there. Just a few seconds after he was flung, Dave continued to dash toward him at full speed and shed his daggers right at Dimitri¡¯s chest.

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT!

    Before Dimitri had a chance to recover, Dave spun his body,nded with one leg, and swiftly used the other to throw a strong front kick, once again targeting his opponent¡¯s chest.

    Bang!

    This time, his attack managed to knock Dimitri down to the ground and into the coldyer of snow below him.

    Blood poured out of the two tear wounds on Dimitri¡¯s chest, staining the pure white snow around him. He struggled to get up, but he couldn¡¯t muster his strength.

    He still found it difficult to breathe even through his gaping mouth, and it wasn¡¯t hard to see that he was in severe pain.

    Dave stopped his brutal attacks to wipe the blood that got to his face for a moment. Even though it only stained his mask and not the skin of his face, it still disgusted him.

    His gaze didn¡¯t soften the slightest. Unlike the young man on the ground, he remained calm and could control his breathing rhythm very well.

    Dimitri wasn¡¯t the type to easily ept that he lost. Thus, making use of the brief pause, he secretly grabbed a handful of snow and quickly threw it to his opponent¡¯s face.

    Puck!

    sh!

    Despite his severe wounds, his uracy was still surprisingly good. The moment the snow hit Dave¡¯s face, Dimitri swiftly moved to sh The Ninja¡¯s legs.

    Right as he felt the stinging pain, Dave immediately jumped back with a hiss. His boots were cleanly torn and blood had started dripping onto the white snow, trailing backward following his movement.

    Suddenly, his legs felt burning hot.

    ¡°Tsk¡­ you¡¯ve lost!¡± Ignoring the blood heavily flowing out of his chest, Dimitri forced himself to stand back up.

    Dave always paid attention to Dimitri¡¯s weapons as he already knew that they were covered in a strong poison, but he didn¡¯t think that the rogue would still be able to move with those wide-open wounds.

    His legs quickly felt numb. However, the mere thought of being defeated by this young man in front of him was uneptable to him.

    On the other side, Dimitri chuckled after he sessfully stood up on his feet. He knew well just how lethal the poison on his katars was, and he was confident that no one would be able to move after getting affected.

    Even justing into contact with it would allow the poison to seep through the pores, much less getting wounded by something with it. Because of this, he lowered his hands and simply waited for the poison to do the rest.

    He didn¡¯t know that his opponent wasn¡¯t the type to easily give up, even under immense pressure. Even though he had to strain all his muscles like a madman, Dave still forced his body to move.

    Using [Void Phantom], he dashed forward while taking out a spearhead twice his daggers¡¯ size to rip his opponent¡¯s throat.

    SPLAT!

    Blood heavily rushed out of Dimitri¡¯s severed neck, and¡­

    Crash!

    The two of them fell to the white ground stained with red.

    Dave had already used up all of his strength. He couldn¡¯t even lift his head to face away from Dimitri¡¯s blood-covered chest, but he had a satisfied look on his face.

    ¡°If I¡¯m going to lose, I¡¯m taking you with me,¡± the man muttered. This was the first time that he spoke.

    Crash!

    After their HP reached below zero, the two rogues¡¯ avatars finally shattered and turned into crystal fragments that slowly vanished into thin air.

    [Survivor: 1 survivor has been eliminated]

    [1 hunter can no longer hunt]

    [1 hunter has been eliminated from the game]

    The current score was one victory for the survivors and zero for the hunters.

    Thest duel would decide whether the survivors would emerge victorious or not.

    Despite being on the verge of losing, the calm expression on Ace¡¯s face didn¡¯t change. The hunters behind him let out hums and growls of anger as their victory was on the line, but he ignored them all.

    ¡°A draw. I didn¡¯t expect you guys to be able to beat my teammates.¡± Ace walked forward for thest duel.

    In front of him, Hiro had done the same. His eyes looked straight at the other party as he checked the equipment Ace had on.

    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t hide the status of his equipment, allowing him to know his opponent¡¯s build.

    ¡°Brother, do you really have to do this?¡± Liberty ran up to Ace and asked in a soft voice.

    On the other side, Hiro quietly paid attention to her.

    ¡®Does she not want to see her brother and her boyfriend fight?¡¯ he couldn¡¯t help thinking. However, right after the thought crossed his mind, his body stiffened up a little.

    ¡®Boyfriend?¡¯

    Hiro quickly shook his head to get rid of the distracted thoughts that appeared every time he saw Liberty.

    This time, he had to focus on the duel. Not just for him, but also for the hundred thousand survivors that had their hopes on him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, Liberty. Stand back, okay? I don¡¯t want you to get hurt.¡± Ace patted his little sister¡¯s head, treating her like a child. Liberty frowned, but she still went back next to Nius, who was the only remaining party member aside from Ace.

    ¡°ording to the score right now, if I win the duel, us hunters will get nothing,¡± Ace began speaking.

    Hiro had guessed that Ace wouldn¡¯t start the duel without a word. The duel¡¯s initial rule had to be revised.

    Besides, he also couldn¡¯t think of a solution if this duel ended in a draw like Dave and Dimitri¡¯s battle.

    He waited for Ace to finish speaking.

    ¡°So how about we make this duel decide which team wins?¡±

    Hiro subconsciously frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°If I win, victory goes to the hunter team. What do you say?¡±

 Chapter 87 - Someoneâ€™s coming

    It was indeed true, the rule had to be revised. If they went by the same rule, the survivor team would win if their leader won.

    However, this didn¡¯t apply to the opposing team. Even if Ace won, the score would be 1:1. If they wanted to decide on the final winner, they would require another duel.

    The problem was, there wasn¡¯t enough time for them to have another duel round, and Ace didn¡¯t want to fight to gain nothing.

    Hiro thought about it for a moment. He also didn¡¯t want to make a loss, so he had to decide carefully.

    He once again focused on Ace¡¯s equipment.

    Ace was a barbarian with the beast bloodline. Because of this, he would probably utilize the special Raging status in the duel, allowing him to drastically increase his attack speed.

    That wouldn¡¯t be good for him.

    Still, seeing how Ace¡¯s maximum HP was about 10% lower than Hiro¡¯s, it seemed that the beast barbarian type he was going for was focused on inflicting arge amount of damage.

    Not only his HP, but his DEF stat could be considered low as his armor only had additional stats that increased his movement and attack speed.

    Light armor usually doesn¡¯t have high DEF.

    Another thing that made Hiro confident that he had an over 70% chance of winning was the weapon Ace was using.

    [Legendary Weapon: Twin Lost Souls (Zweihander)]

    [Tier SSS] [Rank Upgrade 0/5]

    [Damage 729 uracy 12 ASPD 24 CRIT 16]

    [Refinement: None]

    [Enchantment: None]

    [Rank 0 Weapon Special Ability: None]

    [Unique skill: The Twin Lost Souls are twin Zweih?ndera that can be wielded together because they are very light. When the twins unite, a CRIT will be guaranteed for the first hit and all basic attributes will be increased by 10% for 10 seconds. (CD 3m) (AP Cost 1,500)]

    [Can be used for all job sses.]

    [Privileged Weapon]

    [Untradable]

    [Signature: Ace]

    ¡®70% should be enough,¡¯ Hiro thought to himself. Either way, the victory of the survivor team was in his hands. He could feel the tremendous pressure on his shoulders as he widened the distance between his feet and tightened his grip on the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s hilt.

    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s start!¡±

    The one-sided decision that came out of Hiro¡¯s mouth caused the yers behind him to fall into amotion. The survivors who felt yed found it uneptable and began whispering among each other, but Hiro ignored them and kept his attention on the opponent in front of him.

    ¡°d their leader¡¯s dumb,¡± Ace heard one of the hunters behind him whisper.

    Not few of them thought that Hiro¡¯s decision was stupid. As someone from the survivor team, he could¡¯ve opted for an additional duel round for a tie-breaker, yet he chose to ept the new rule Ace proposed.

    But Ace didn¡¯t share the same thought. On the contrary, his impression of Hiro became better when he saw that his opponent had enough courage. Moreover, he felt that the decision must¡¯ve been made after several considerations, especially of the victory chance he believed he had.

    Ace smiled in satisfaction. A bright light then appeared on Ace¡¯s back, and within seconds, two Zweih?nders appeared in an X position.

    Ace pulled his two swords out. The two identical Zweih?nders¡¯ des were longer than Hiro¡¯s greatsword, but they weren¡¯t as wide and seemed very light as he used them to sh the empty air.

    Such beautiful twin swords. The swords¡¯ hilts were white as snow, and their des were shining silver.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Ace dashed forward at an incredible speed, leaving a breeze powerful enough to move the clothes of the hunters a distance behind him.

    nk!

    Hiro parried Ace¡¯s two swords aimed at him just in time. Even so, he really didn¡¯t expect that Ace would be able to dash at such a speed.

    He didn¡¯t even have the time to activate his Sword Combo Skill.

    nk!

    Hiro pushed Ace¡¯s swords back before jumping back about two meters himself. With the distance, he now had just enough time to activate his most dependable skill.

    [Sword Combo Skill]

    Dash!

    ¡°Hyat!¡±

    Hiro leaped up andnded sword-first toward Ace, who had also moved to do the same.

    He gave almost absolutely no time for Hiro to breathe.

    CLANK!

    Swish! Swish!

    A sh urred. The two were now swinging their swords to bring the other down.

    Hiro¡¯s speed had increased quite noticeably with hisbo skill¡¯s activation. Still, it was barely enough to inflict damage on Ace¡¯s HP as the greatsword didn¡¯t directly injure him.

    This dissatisfied Hiro. Seeing that the duel wouldn¡¯t go anywhere if this persisted, he quickly decided to use his greatsword¡¯s unique skill.

    Clink!

    All of a sudden, the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s de began emitting a ck and purple glow.

    [Absorbing 75% of opponent¡¯s HP]

    Before Ace knew it, his knees had rapidly begun to weaken and his hands no longer had the strength to bear the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s weight.

    SPLAT!

    The moment he noticed that his HP had been drained, Hiro¡¯s greatsword tore Ace¡¯s chest, causing blood to rapidly gush out.

    As Hiro previously expected, Ace¡¯s armor didn¡¯t have enough defense to reduce his greatsword¡¯s pration damage.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡± Ace screamed in pain. His sight began to blur as red painted it along with the white surrounding him. He wobbled and almost fell backward, but he still managed to remain standing.

    Hiro swiftly dashed forward at Ace, his brows furrowed.

    Ace gritted his teeth in annoyance. Immediately after, he also dashed forward to attack.

    ¡°Eat this!¡±

    He quickly connected the two ends of his swords¡¯ hilts, and¡­

    Tuck!

    A blinding light brightly shone from the spot where the two swords were connected.

    When the twins were united, their forms were no longer swords, but a spear with two spearheads as long as the Zweih?nders¡¯ des.

    St!

    [Critical Hit]

    [HP -5999]

    St!

    St!

    Ace¡¯s counterattacks were merciless. Hiro reflexively dashed backward, but it was futile. He couldn¡¯t evade properly due to the previous blinding light, and in just a few seconds, the legendary weapon shed Hiro so many times he couldn¡¯t count.

    With the 10% boost to all his basic attributes, Ace¡¯s attacks now felt considerably different from before.

    St!

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t match Ace¡¯s speed.

    St!

    ¡°Ack!¡±

    Blood sttered and flowed out of the wounds all over his body. At the same time, loud cheers could be heard from one side.

    ¡°Kill that arrogant brat!¡±

    ¡°Kill that arrogant brat!¡±

    Most of the hunters there were excited as they witnessed Ace mercilessly hack and sh at Hiro¡¯s body. Seeing the leader of the opposing team at this state greatly boosted their spirit.

    Hiro wobbled again and again, but Ace didn¡¯t let him fall. His face was now covered in his own blood, and he could no longer see clearly due to the blood covering his eyes.

    At this moment, Hiro once again checked his HP bar while muttering a countdown.

    ¡°3.¡±

    ¡°2.¡±

    ¡°1.¡±

    Ace stopped attacking. His weapon had reverted to its initial form, and his breaths were so all over the ce that Hiro could clearly hear them.

    Hiro wobbled once again, but he managed to hold onto the greatsword he had stabbed to the ground early on.

    His HP was still slightly higher than Ace¡¯s, and he was sure that he would be able to eliminate his opponent if he swung his greatsword.

    However, before he could execute his ending move, a powerful gust of wind burst between them, sending both Ace and Hiro flying in opposite directions.

    The wind continued to spin at an unbelievable speed, so fast that even the thickyer of snow mixed with blood was pulled into it.

    Before any of them could react, a giant hand suddenly came out of the spinning tornado, facing the rows of survivors.

 Chapter 88 - Uninvited Guest

    [Divine Tornado]

    A mobile, destructive vortex of violently rotating winds having the appearance of a funnel-shaped cloud and advancing beneath arge storm system has suddenly appeared from out of nowhere.

    The powerful tornado created arge gap between the front row of hunters and survivors who¡¯s still in the middle of ast duel.

    Hiro was pushed away, flying before dropping very hard, right in front of Jacob who¡¯s trying to hold his cloak hard.

    From the violent vortex of the tornado in front of them, a giant hand appeared.

    As the hand moved slowly, a powerful gust of wind emerged in the shape of a cannon from its palm, shooting towards over a hundred thousand survivors that lined up on the ground.

    Whoosh!

    Boom!

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    ¡°Argggh!¡±

    The wind cannon shot was so powerful that the survivors who were hit by it were lifted from the snow-covered ground with a strong force. And when they were floating in the air, instead of being thrown back by the force of the wind cannon, their bodies were sucked into the powerful tornado in front of them.

    However, due to their extremely low HP, their bodies had turned into crystal shards in the air before sucking into that gigantic vortex.

    [Survivor: 9,999 survivors have been eliminated]

    ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡±

    It seemed that the tornado was onlying for the survivors. Eliminate them, like it was nothing.

    Meanwhile, on the other side, the hunters had a hard time seeing what was happening in front of their eyes because the wind was so fierce that it sucked theyers of snow and the tendrils of the maze nts in the wall from all directions.

    Even so, none of them had their HP drained. As if they were protected by a mysterious energy.

    [Divine Tornado]

    A simr attack. This time, two giant hands appeared and fired a very powerful wind cannon. The size was doubled.

    Whoosh!

    Boom! Kaboom!

    [Survivor: 39,000 survivors have been eliminated]

    ¡°What happened?!¡±

    The remaining survivors finally realized that they were the only target of this powerful, mysterious attack.

    ¡°Who is that?¡±

    ¡°Is there really such a strong hunter?¡±

    Hiro, who was still covered in blood, tried to stand up, using his sword as a crutch. Even so, he couldn¡¯t do anything but watch. The powerful storm in front of him was on another level.

    At that moment, the two giant hands started to make movements like pping their hands three times.

    p! p! p!

    And suddenly, the sky above the maze turned into a rumbling roar with a terrifying sound, removing all forms of light and recing them with shes of thunder.

    [Thundershowers]

    Krakk-Boom!

    ¡°Arrrghhhhh!¡±

    When a very powerful thunder struck the survivors that was above the ground, the pain experienced by the survivors was the actual pain.

    They screamed till their voices turned hoarse.

    Shining objects were falling from the sky. It was so bright that their eyes were blinded by it. However, its form was neither rainwater nor the soft snowfall.

    Hundreds of thunders simultaneously struck the tens of thousands of remaining survivors, not letting anyone survive. There was no exception. Even the survivors who were still lost in the maze and hiding independently without knowing anything about the duel were hit by it.

    Krakk-Boom!

    Even so, an interesting thing happened.

    At the ce where ast duel had just been forcibly stopped, the thunderstorm only targeted those survivors who lined at the back.

    It eliminated them with an excruciating pain that they would never forget. Thus, those people would have a hard time to continue ying the game again after feeling that extreme pain.

    [Survivor: 54,077 survivors have been eliminated]

    All that was only controlled by the two giant hands.

    For now, the only survivors left were those in the front row.

    NightFall¡¯s Party, BigShow¡¯s Party, and Immortal knights.

    None of them has any idea of what is going on.

    At that moment, suddenly the giant tornado disappeared,

    Poof!

    and at the same time, a figure-like human hiding his face in a hooded ck robe stepped out from the vortex with light steps. His head was hanging low.

    He walked out casually after bringing a disaster and messing everything up.

    ¡°Who the hell is he?!¡±

    ¡°Damn! He steals our points!¡±

    When the others who felt robbed by him started to curse him, Liberty shouted to her brother from afar.

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    The girl was indeed fearless. She ran to help her brother who had fallen on the ground due to being hit by the tornado when it suddenly appeared.

    Ace¡¯s position was very close to the figure who had just finished off the survivors in seconds.

    Liberty¡¯s movement caught the figure¡¯s attention, and he turned to look at her through his hood.

    ¡°Libe, No. Stay away from my sister!¡± Ace shouted to the mysterious figure.

    His action made the figure in front of him tilted his head,

    ¡°Siblings, huh? What do you think you can do to protect your sister?¡± a deep male voice came out from those thin lips, between a whisper and a hiss.

    Ace used his remaining energy to swing his sword at the figure. To protect his sister.

    But¡ª

    nk!

    Although Ace was sure that the swing of his sword wasn¡¯t that weak, the figure could hold the de of the sword with his bare hands and pulled it out of Ace¡¯s hand before throwing it some distance away until it hit the ground.

    Ace, who didn¡¯t know what to do, decided to protect his sister by hugging her tightly.

    ¡°Stay away! Not my sister!¡±

    Seeing Ace¡¯s efforts to protect his sister, even though he had nothing to use as a shield, managed to make the mysterious figure lower his hands back.

    ¡°Protect your sibling at all costs, someone might steal it.¡± he muttered in a voice that could not be heard clearly because the rumbling above the sky was deafening, as if the sky was raging in a fierce battle.

    At that moment, Dominic shouted at the figure in an earsplitting voice.

    ¡°You! Who are you, really? What kind of power is that?! You¡¯re not a yer, are you?!¡±

    Dominic and the remaining Immortal Knights were ready to draw out their weapons to attack the mysterious figure.

    Dominic¡¯s voice managed to draw the attention of the mysterious figure. Ignoring the pair of siblings who were protecting each other in front of him.

    When the figure turned around, he raised his right hand in the air. Pointing his palm towards the Immortal Knights who were ready to attack him with all their power.

    [Blood Magic]

    His lips muttered a spell, like a whispering to nothing.

 Chapter 89 - Elimimated

    [Human Puppet]

    ¡°Arghhhh!¡±

    The four Immortal Knights suddenly felt their bodies held captive by an invisible hand before being lifted in the air as if they were extremely light.

    From the five fingers of the mysterious figure¡¯s right hand, drops of blood dripped down. However, before falling onto the snow below, the blood suddenly turned lengthwise into a thread of blood which swiftly flew towards the Immortal Knights and pierced through their skin.

    St!

    St!

    St!

    St!

    ¡°Not a yer, huh?¡± The figure walked towards the survivors, who were in a defensive position with only one row left.

    ¡°Then, I wonder what I am.¡± Once again, he tilted his head, made a slight movement on his hood.

    And at that moment, for the first time, Hiro could peek at the silhouette of the face hidden in the hood after the figure stopped right beside him.

    Seeing the shape of his silhoutte made Hiro instantly froze in his ce.

    He felt his body was being strongly attached to the ground, unable to move even though he wasn¡¯t being attacked.

    His body trembled violently and his pupils quivered in disbelief at what his eyes had just caught.

    Hiro could feel his throat suddenly feeling drought.

    When he moved his lips to say something, not a single word came out as if he had turned mute after he saw who that figure was.

    ¡°Ah¡ªyou saw me, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    The mysterious figure used his left hand to create a gust of wind just enough to toss his hood and show all of them, especially Hiro, his hidden identity.

    Poosh!

    ¡°No, it is impossible. You are¡­ ?!¡±

    ¡°Good grief! You¡­¡±

    ¡°What exactly happened?¡±

    ¡°No¡ªisn¡¯t he dead?¡±

    ¡°Wynter¨CRain?!¡±

    The figure who had just wiped out the survivors with a powerful storm of magic was the same figure who hade to Hiro through a nightmare.

    The figure chuckled at the confused reaction of the people who had just seen his face. They didn¡¯t even realize their jaws were hanging dropped at his appearance.

    ¡°Yo! Long time no see, Immortal Knights!¡± He lifted his free hand to say hi like he saw someone in a very normal timing.

    ¡°Impossible. You¡¯re definitely not the real one!¡± Draco, the mage of the Immortal Knights, still couldn¡¯t believe the figure in front of him was WynterRain.

    ¡°Sorry, old friend. But I really have to do this.¡±

    At that moment, WynterRain clenched his hand that was oozing blood threads into a fist.

    Just as his hand were tightly clenched, suddenly the four people floating in the air exploded.

    Boom!

    Stt!

    Their blood sttered and rained down on the surrounding snow.

    [Survivor: 4 survivors have been eliminated]

    He crushed BigShow¡¯s party with the same magic spell, very fast so none of them were even noticed.

    Sttt! Altogether.

    [Survivor: 5 survivors have been eliminated]

    ¡°Hey! What the hell are you doing?!¡± The hunters, who still couldn¡¯t ept the loss of his prey, shouted in anger.

    The people who died would never know who the figure that had just appeared was. While most of them who still managed to survive this far were already shaking on the spot when they found out who was hiding behind the hooded robe.

    Even so, WynterRain had absolutely no interest in turning around and responding. This time, he looked at the most confused person in that ce.

    ¡°You.¡±

    Hiro swallowed his saliva with difficulty when the figure he firmly believed to be his older brother was standing in front of him. Hiro finally could see him directly.

    But before Hiro moved his stiff body, Jacob came and used his body as a shield to protect him.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t make him suffer more. You¡¯ve won. Isn¡¯t that the most important thing right now?¡±

    Jacob didn¡¯t know who the yer he just snapped was because Jacob wasn¡¯t a gamer from the start.

    Hence, seeing Jacob¡¯s bold appearance made WynterRain arched his brow. He was surprised and also amazed to see Jacob¡¯s bravery.

    ¡°You make a friend?¡± WynterRainmented in an amazed tone while looking straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    Hearing what had just been said from the figure in front of him made Jacob arched an eyebrow in confusion. The way he spoke showed that WynterRain and Hiro had known each other for a long time.

    ¡°Who the hell are you?!¡±

    ¡°What kind of crazy power is that?!¡±

    ¡°You must be a cheater! Fuck Cheaters!¡± Noah couldn¡¯t ept what had just happened. An absolute defeat for the survivors. Although they had 3 minutes left, there was no longer any hope of him to win.

    WynterRain tilted his head as he looked at Noah who already reopened his Mystic Tome to attack the figure who had just ruined all his ns.

    ¡°Yin-Yang Harmony? such a lucky brat.¡± WynterRain didn¡¯t budge at all after seeing Noah was ready to attack him. Instead, hemented on the weapon used by the young man.

    ¡°A brat mage, a woman rogue, and a brave knight. Is that all you can get this far?¡±

    WynterRain spoke again to Hiro. This time, there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

    At that moment, before Hiro opened his mouth to speak, WynterRain suddenly waved his hands in the air.

    [Wind sh]

    St!

    St!

    St!

    Hiro was stunned.

    The HP bars of his party members were suddenly depleted when their bodies were cut into pieces by a very sharp wind shaped like sword des from WynterRain¡¯s quick and unexpected movement.

    [Survivor: 3 survivors have been eliminated]

    After doing a killing spree, and ughtered all the survivors in that ce, WynterRain brought his face closer to Hiro. His jaw clenched tightly.

    ¡°Leave, Hiro. You don¡¯t belong here!¡±

    ¡°You are too weak. You will never defeat me!¡±

    WynterRain¡¯s words made Hiro even more certain that he was talking to his brother. Not only his face and his body, but also his voice when he talked to him were all the same.

    WynterRain¡¯s lips curved into a faint smile. He raised his right hand, formed a gun with his fingers and pressed the tip of the gun to Hiro¡¯s forehead. But still, Hiro didn¡¯t budge an inch.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get in my way!¡±

    ¡°Bang!¡±

    When suddenly his view became blurry and the image of his brother¡¯s face in front of him became hazy, Hiro was toote to realize that every movement that WynterRain created brought destruction.

    And an electric current that was so painful stung his brain directly.

    [You have been eliminated by WynterRain]

    At that moment, finally, a hoarse voice came out from Hiro¡¯ lips,

    ¡°Y¡ªYuujin.¡±

    Dang!

    [Wipe Out!]

 Chapter 90 - Something Doesnt Feel Right

    An electric current that was strong enough seemed to hit straight into Hiro¡¯s brain, causing an immediate shock, and it made all his senses stop functioning for a few seconds.

    When his eyes could no longer see the figure who was smiling at him but giving him an excruciating pain, Hiro could feel his body being pulled backwards with great force and crammed into a very narrow pipe.

    He couldn¡¯t breathe. However, in a matter of seconds, he was back standing together with the other survivors in the ce where they had been gathered. In front of a building resembling The White House, which has been abandoned and looked a bit scary. On his side, there was an overly strong source of warmth. The bonfire.

    ¡°Hiro, we lost.¡± Jacob patted Hiro¡¯s hand and his action snapped Hiro¡¯s to the present.

    Even so, he did not respond immediately. He was still trying to process what Jacob had just said, as if he had lost consciousness all along and had missed a lot of important things. He lost track.

    The appearance of the powerful WynterRain¡¯s as well as his act of showing his true identity in front of tens of thousands of people made Hiro greatly confused. How could that be?

    From the way he spoke and did things, it was clear that WynterRain was not only his brother¡¯s avatar, but was also being controlled by his brother. Hiro was over one hundred percent certain that it was his brother.

    However, a big question popped into Hiro¡¯s mind.

    How could Yuujin y WynterRain if he was already dead? Was the corpse he found not his brother¡¯s?

    Cold sweats dripped down all over Hiro¡¯s body when suddenly a dazzling sh of light appeared from the direction of the zing bonfire.

    As usual, when the light appeared above the surface, the warm fire was extinguished in an instant.

    ¡°Thank you everyone for your participation in this special event.¡± GM Juno reappeared without revealing her true form. Her voice didn¡¯t sound as lively and cheerful as before. Her voice sounded like she was exhausted.

    Not only was Hiro aware of this, but some survivors who were already confused realized the same thing. They began whispering with each other. After all, the sudden absolute defeat they had just experienced could never be predicted.

    ¡°The Game is Over.¡±

    ¡°The Hunters have won the game. Please check the final point on the panel in front of you.¡±

    At the same time,

    The sound of beeps suddenly echoed throughout the ce. And after that sound came out simultaneously, a transparent panel appeared in front of the yers, showing the game points and the names of the yers who scored the highest game points from the winning team.

    [1st. Hunters (Total Game Points 2,851,200)] ¨C The Winner

    [2nd. Survivors (Total Game Points 1,140,480)] ¨C The Loser

    [1st. Top Scorer in Winning Team. WynterRain. Game Points 1,546,260 (54.23%)]

    [2nd. Top Scorer in Winning Team. Ace. Game Points 256,608 (9%)]

    [3rd. Top Scorer in Winning Team. Dimitri. Game Points 128,304 (4.5%)]

    It wasn¡¯t only Hiro who was surprised after seeing the results of the calctions made by the system. WynterRain really came out as a yer from the hunter team and he managed to take the percentage points of contributing over 50% in just mere minutes of his appearance.

    It was really impossible to be done by a yer who had the same time to start the game. All kinds of voices started buzzing behind Hiro.

    ¡°What the hell? Isn¡¯t it obvious that he¡¯s a cheater?¡±

    ¡°Why did the GM consider him as a winner? Is he even a real yer?¡±

    ¡°That is impossible. He¡¯s too powerful.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s WynterRain! Of course, he¡¯s powerful, but how could he y the game when he already died?¡±

    ¡°No way. He must be a cheater who made fun of the legend¡¯s death.¡±

    When the whispers had turned into shouts that broke out among the line of survivors, GM Juno let out a chime of bells to get their attention back.

    Dang!

    ¡°You may wonder how the system calctes the game points after the sudden appearance of a yer named WynterRain.¡±

    GM Juno exined that she and her team had carried out an emergency check when they detected a very powerful energy urring in the Haunted Maze. The power that made them find it a bit difficult to control the entire system they had created as the weather in that ce.

    However, when they found out that the reason for the weather chaos in that ce was due to a yer¡¯s magic power, they checked again whether the yer had a bug or was a cheater by tracking the timing history of the yer.

    And the results showed that WynterRain¡¯s name had miraculously entered the hunter team¡¯s yer list from the start before they were all teleported simultaneously into The Haunted Maze.

    The yer just hid in the maze, doing nothing before finally appearing at thest minute when the survivors were gathering in one area and brutally massacred them all without much effort.

    The LSO system did not detect the WynterRain yer as a cheater. And count all the points he got with a fair calction.

    Therefore, GM Juno and her team couldn¡¯t do anything but entrust the oue of the game to the system¡¯s calctions.

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair. Are you sure he¡¯s not cheating?!¡±

    ¡°His power is on another different level, you dumb GM!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, open your eyes, GM!¡±

    ¡°Are you blind, GM?!¡±

    The survivors were getting aggrieved at the final result and did not want to tolerate any excuses given by the GM. Even so, the GM did nothing, as if there really wasn¡¯t anything else they could do. For now.

    ¡°The reward will be sent to you via message.¡±

    ¡°And all of your items will be back to you after you leave this venue through the warp.¡±

    ¡°Thank you and see you at the next event!¡±

    At that moment, all the survivors in that ce were booed over the GM.

    The light of GM Juno moved down again to merge into the bonfire, to light it back.

    Not long after, the mes of the bonfire moved to form a shape resembling a giant gate with a transparent bubble popping in the center.

    Everyone started walking into the warp with faces full of disappointment.

    Hiro watched them exited through the wrap until all that was left in the venue was him, Jacob, Noah, and Cara who somehow appeared and joined them.

    ¡°That guy sucks. I will definitely defeat himter when I meet him again.¡± Noah still couldn¡¯t ept the defeat he never had imagined. Meeting a mage who possessed a unique skill and still couldn¡¯t predict his true strength made him eager to increase his strength even further.

    Noah spoke to Hiro, but Hiro ignored him. None of them knew that the mysterious yet powerful mage they were speaking about was his brother. If they knew, Hiro was sure that he would be the ce to curse at right now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t stay here forever.¡± Jacob led the three of them to leave the venue quickly, and he was the first to walk towards the warp among them.

    Noah, who was still grumbling in annoyance, came in second.

    Meanwhile, when Hiro and Cara were left in the venue, the girl seemed to notice one thing that the others didn¡¯t.

    She observed Hiro¡¯s face from the side. It seemed that she was noticing how the look in Hiro¡¯s eyes had changed from thest time she saw him in the maze.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± she asked in a voice that surprised Hiro.

    Hiro could hear the worried tone in the girl¡¯s voice. But he still kept silent.

    ¡°Here, in case you need someone to talk to.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have received a new friend request from MyPhantom]

    Hiro knitted his brows in confusion. A notification just entered through his HUD system. A friend request from Cara who suddenly turned into a big-hearted person, no longer the calctive person like Hiro remembered.

    He looked at the girl next to him with a tilted head. And that¡¯s when he got a warm pat on the back from Cara.

    ¡°I think those old geezers from Immortal Knights are right. You really look a lot like ¡®that guy¡¯,¡± Cara said in a mumble without the slightest interest in meeting Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t immediately grasp what the words that came from Cara¡¯s lips meant. However, when the girl finally disappeared after going through the warp before his eyes, Hiro¡¯s eyes suddenly widened.

    He was about to run and catch the girl before she announced to the public about the thing Hiro¡¯s need to hide this whole time in the LSO world, but suddenly he could feel a very ufortable feeling welling up in his body.

    His chest felt so tight, he couldn¡¯t breathe normally even though no one was there attacking him silently.

    Hiro fell and coughed violently right in front of the exit warp. His saliva was dripping down on the ground. His chest felt like he was being tied up with a very strong thread. The pain was intolerable.

    Both his eyes bulged out while his white skin seemed to turn blue, as if the oxygen supply in his body was at a dangerous point.

    And before he knew what was really going on, Hiro had fainted with his face kissing the ground.

 Chapter 91 - Memory?

    [Menu]

    [Social]

    [Friend List]

    [Friend Request]

    [You have a new friend request from NightFall]

    It was already midnight when she opened her Friend Request menu to see the friend request that had been there for several days.

    She opened NightFall¡¯s avatar profile, activated 3D mode, and had the mini avatar disyed in front of her.

    The girl couldn¡¯t help but let out a long sigh as she let the 3D mini avatar continue to walk in ce. She had been doing this for a few days now; when night fell, she would activate the 3D mode for Nightfall¡¯s avatar and stare at it until she fell asleep.

    Even so, she felt different today. Unlike the previous nights, she finally met the owner of that avatar face-to-face. She felt a little regretful for not being able to say anything to that avatar¡¯s owner, and that regret made her chest feel stuffy, keeping her up nervous longer than the previous nights.

    Knock knock!

    Someone suddenly knocked on the bedroom door from the outside. However, instead of responding to it, the girl turned around with her back facing the door and pretended as if she was already sound asleep.

    A few momentster, the door was quietly opened. A young man with simr features to her, especially his eyes, looked inside the room from the door.

    ¡°Are you asleep, Libe?¡± he asked in a soft voice.

    No response.

    ¡°Good night, I love you.¡±

    When the man went back out and closed the door, the girl inside opened her eyes and disyed NightFall¡¯s 3D avatar once again.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± she muttered, asking herself.

    ¡°If only this was real¡­ If only you and I were real.¡±

    Her blue eyes were glistening. The girl¡¯s vision blurred for a few moments before tears finally flowed from the corners of her eyes.

    ¡°Good night, Hiro.¡±

    ¡­

    Outside the bedroom.

    The older brother didn¡¯t immediately sleep that night. His mind was filled with annoyance and curiosity mixed all together.

    With careful steps, he quietly walked toward a secret underground room while warily looking around, making sure that nobody was following him.

    The house the two were living in was quiterge. Even so, there were no signs of other people apart from them living there.

    After walking down the staircase made of natural stone bricks, Ace arrived in front of an iron door approximately four meters tall and put his right hand on it.

    [Scanning in progress]

    [ess granted]

    The iron door automatically opened upward, opening a path toward a dark room. As Ace stepped in, the lights in the room automatically turned on.

    In the room, five giant monitors were stuck onto the room wall, forming a semi-circle. In the center of those monitors were a control panel with three keyboards, a row of colorful buttons, and several levers with various functions.

    A seeminglyfortable office chair was in front of the controller.

    When the iron door closed back down to iste the room, Ace had already sat in the chair and inputted a certain code to disy an image on the five monitors in front of him.

    [Searching¡­]

    [yer ID: WynterRain¡­]

    [Username: WynterRain]

    [Job ss: Archmage]

    [Bloodline: Dark Elf]

    [Current Level (Locked)]

    [Battle Rating (Locked)]

    [Personal Data Information (Locked)]

    [Current Location (Locked)]

    [Status: Online]

    [Joined since January 2027]

    His eyes paused at thest line.

    ¡°¡­2027?¡±

    [Finding Recording Files of WynterRain¡­]

    [None.]

    Ace let out a long sigh and leaned on the back of the chair. With his eyes on the giant monitor in front of him, he carefully read the avable information on WynterRain¡¯s profile.

    Just a bunch of text, with no images whatsoever. Even the avatar¡¯s profile picture was just the default yer profile picture, a picture of an NPC.

    Who knew what WynterRain did to lock the information about his avatar this way. Even LSO¡¯s data copy device couldn¡¯t ess it.

    This piqued Ace¡¯s curiosity even more and prompted him to activate the other screens to find more information. But¡­

    Where was he supposed to begin searching? He had absolutely no clues whatsoever.

    While he was thinking, he decided to activate the other screens to find information about another yer that had also been bugging his mind for a while now.

    [Searching¡­]

    [yer ID: NightFall¡­]

    [Username: NightFall]

    [Job ss: Barbarian]

    [Bloodline: Demon]

    [Current Level (Level 29)]

    [Battle Rating (Locked)]

    [Personal Data Information (Age: 18)]

    [Current Location (Event Venue)]

    [Status: Offline]

    [Joined since December 2028]

    [Finding Recording Files of NightFall¡­]

    [5 files have been found]

    [Sources: yer Liberty¡¯s Data storage]

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    One of Ace¡¯s brows rose when he saw the source data of the recording files that the system found with the keyword ¡®NightFall¡¯. The five files avable in the system came from none other than his little sister¡¯s private data storage.

    Recording files were files of recordings done by yers in-game, like screenshots or video recordings that could be done by everyone in the game.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Libe.¡±

    [Copying 5 recording files from Liberty¡¯s Data Storage]

    [Open all files]

    The five monitors in the room instantly disyed five different screen recordings. The recordings were from Liberty¡¯s point of view, and they made him forget to breathe.

    Ace¡¯s chest suddenly felt tight. He couldn¡¯t get a word out of his mouth. His temperature had rapidly risen, and his body reflexively shook as the monitors yed the recording files.

    [Deleting the recording files from Liberty¡¯s Data Storage]

    [Files have been deleted]

    Ace closed his eyes to calm himself down. After he felt considerably calmer, he turned off everything in the room before hurrying back upstairs.

    With heavy steps, he re-entered Liberty¡¯s room. The sight inside surprised him.

    Liberty was still awake.

    The girl was sitting facing the bedroom door when Ace opened the door without knocking.

    ¡°Liberty?¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t have time to hide what she was doing.

    NightFall¡¯s 3D model was still walking in ce facing forward in front of her. Meanwhile, the girl¡¯s eyes were swollen and her face was reddish and slightly moist.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Ace quickly rushed to hug Liberty. He couldn¡¯t bear to see his sister on the verge of breaking down like that.

    ¡°Brother¡­ I did something bad.¡±

    Liberty instantly broke down in her brother¡¯s arms. Despite Ace¡¯s tight embrace, Liberty was still trembling quite heavily.

    ¡°No, Libe. You didn¡¯t do anything wrong. You did the right thing.¡±

    Sob. Sob.

    Ace patted his little sister¡¯s shaking back. Seeing his sister in this state, he felt as if his heart was being pierced by something invisible.

    ¡°Do I still deserve to be loved?¡± she asked in a whisper, her voice trembling. Her arms hugged her brother¡¯s back extremely tightly.

    ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t say that. Everyone loves you, Libe. You¡¯re an angel.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ But, Brother¡­ sob¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡±

    ¡°Shhh. You will always be loved. Just trust me. Okay?¡±

    ¡­

 Chapter 92 - Intruders

    m!

    ¡°Damn it! I¡¯mte!¡±

    A young woman mmed the bedroom door of another person¡¯s apartment open. The day was still bright, yet she was already breaking into another person¡¯s living space.

    The woman found it difficult to control her breathing from all the running she had to do to arrive at the ce; an empty apartment left unlocked.

    Without hesitation, the woman entered the room without taking off her sneakers and closely checked the inside of the room.

    On the single bed in the room was a VR gear with its LED on, indicating that it was still active.

    From the rather long nail marks on the rubber band, the ck android bracelet beside the VR gear seemed to have been taken off forcefully.

    The woman picked up the android bracelet to check its owner¡¯s condition data before it was taken off.

    After finding the sudden fluctuations in the heart rate history, she could tell that the bracelet owner fell unconscious after approximately two minutes.

    ¡°Ketamine,¡± the woman muttered to herself, certain of her prediction.

    She was very sure that the uninvited guest had injected more than 150 mg of ketamine into the owner of the android bracelet when he was diving in the game.

    There were no signs of resistance from the android bracelet owner, and one to two minutes after the injection, the victim lost consciousness.

    The woman looked around. The room was a mess. Even if the room owner wasn¡¯t a very disorderly person, which she doubted, she didn¡¯t think that it would be to this extent. It seemed more as if the intruder tried to find something in the room before finally abducting the room owner.

    ¡°Who the hell is this shameless intruder?¡±

    She was disappointed that she wasn¡¯t able to find any clues.

    The woman sat on the bed and exhaled a long sigh, observing the simple room with an empty gaze.

    ¡®How am I supposed to track him down? I have to bring him back before something bad happens to him.¡¯

    Thedy sighed once again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Yuujin.¡±

    She felt guilty for letting someone get caught and fall into danger.

    Beep!

    The android bracelet that was not owned by her was still active in her hand. That thing has suddenly made a sound, startling her out of her thoughts and prompting her to quickly check the cause.

    [CyberWarrior App has detected a suspicious activity.]

    [Open to see the recording file?]

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    The woman¡¯s curiosity was piqued. She raised one of her brows as she looked at the semi-transparent notification screen from the android bracelet. When she chose to open the file, a new column appeared.

    [Input password]

    ¡°A password? In an emergency like this? That kid!¡± she couldn¡¯t help but voice out in frustration and disbelief. Still, she attempted to guess the password the android bracelet owner set.

    She only had three chances of inputting the password. If she got it wrong on all three tries, the android bracelet would deactivate itself as programmed.

    She knew she couldn¡¯t be reckless.

    ¡®His crush¡¯s name?¡¯

    She typed in [Liberty].

    Beep!

    [Wrong password]

    [2 attempts left]

    ¡°Shit.¡±

    ¡®His birthdate?¡¯

    [08122020]

    Beep!

    [Wrong password]

    ¡°No way, Alice. That¡¯s not even his birthdate!¡±

    [1 attempt left]

    [Emergency situation (Only if I¡¯m dead)]

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    [iming emergency situation]

    ¡­

    [Emergency question has been granted]

    [What¡¯s the name of the person I loved the most?]

    ¡°What a childish question. Of course it¡¯s thedy you met in the game!¡±

    Thedy was about to type in Liberty¡¯s nameplete with her surname when she felt something strike her brain.

    ¡®No, it can¡¯t be her. This app has been working before he even met her.¡¯

    She typed in another name.

    [Yamaguchi Yuujin]

    ¡­

    Beep!

    [ess granted]

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°That tsundere boy!¡±

    A transparent screen appeared on the surface of the ck android bracelet. Without requiring anything else, the screen suddenly disyed a video recording that was taken with the only camera on the android bracelet.

    The owner of the android bracelet had set a special security system to have the camera automatically function without his order, and it automatically recorded like a CCTV.

    The advanced technology allowed the small camera to not only record high-resolution videos, but also clear audio. Its sensitivity was very high, so even the smallest sounds nearby could be heard.

    ¡°Boss told us to wait.¡±

    ¡°What? What if he suddenly wakes up?¡±

    ¡°There are three of us here and only one of him, what are you worried about?¡±

    Three men were in the room. They didn¡¯t bother to cover their faces, allowing themselves to be exposed to the camera. One of them seemed anxious, while the two others were calm. They seemed to be waiting for something.

    The time of the recording continued to move, but the three hadn¡¯t done anything but wait.

    Five minutes passed, and they were still waiting near the bed without doing anything else.

    ¡°Can we do it now?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. Boss will contact us again when it¡¯s time.¡±

    ¡°Why is it taking so long? What if someone catches us?¡±

    ¡°Stop worrying so much, will you? This kid is all alone. No one wille here for him.¡±

    ¡°Sigh¡­ what does Boss even want with him anyway? He¡¯s just a kid.¡±

    ¡°Right. He¡¯s just a kid, but this kid is a hindrance to Boss¡¯s big n.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve checked his track history. He hasn¡¯t even gone to America before. Isn¡¯t Boss getting the wrong person?¡±

    ¡°You two better be quiet. We¡¯re only here to do what we¡¯re told. What happens next is Boss¡¯s business.¡±

    An argumentsted as they waited for quite a long time. The recording had yed over half an hour of footage, yet the intruders still hadn¡¯t done anything.

    In the meantime, the woman watching the footage had activated her android bracelet to copy the video in case it was not made to be reyable.

    Ringg!

    At the 50-minute mark, one of the three men received an iing call. Right after picking it up, the man put the call on speaker for the other two to hear.

    ¡°It¡¯s time. Do your task.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    The man who was sitting closest to the camera with a pair of sunsses suddenly took out a wooden box from his pocket. The wooden box seemed like a sses case at first nce, but inside was a 1-mL syringe with a transparent fluid inside.

    He looked at the other two for affirmation before finally injecting the transparent fluid into their target¡¯s body.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sess. Two minutes left until the final execution.¡±

    ¡°Take that android bracelet off his hand. Just leave it here.¡±

    The recording ended when one of them manually deactivated the android bracelet after forcefully taking it off its owner¡¯s hand.

 Chapter 93 - Confusion

    After he fainted and not knowing what had just happened to his actual body, Hiro finally regained his senses bit by bit.

    His whole body ached, especially in his stomach. He groaned as he tried to move his hands to press on the abdominal area that hurt like hell. It felt like he had been hit very hard by a metal board or something.

    Hiro managed to open both his eyes, but his gaze couldn¡¯t fully focus. It was still blurry, and from what his eyes caught, he was in a warehouse-like room with minimal lighting.

    He coughed, so much dust was inhaled through his respiratory tract.

    ¡°He hase to his senses.¡±

    Hiro heard the voice of a man he didn¡¯t recognize. He turned his neck to look for the source of the voice and found a man walking towards him.

    The man hid his face in a ck mask.

    ¡°Uhuk¡­ Who are you?¡± Hiro¡¯s throat felt parched as he tried to speak to the man.

    Hence, he didn¡¯t get the answer he wanted.

    Instead, the man pulled his hair roughly until he could see the dusty ceiling. Hiro felt her neck was twisted, and suddenly the man turned on a shlight and the light went straight to Hiro¡¯s eyeballs. The man was checking on his condition.

    Hiro grimaced. His eyes felt like they were burning by the light.

    Cough! Cough!

    The man released his hand from Hiro¡¯s head and let him cough with his body still tied on a wooden chair. Hiro couldn¡¯t move an inch.

    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± he asked with a hoarse voice.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t hold the urge to vomit and spit out what was in his stomach which only contained digested liquid.

    argh!

    ¡°Disgusting.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s body felt weaker after vomiting like that. He leaned his head in a position facing the ceiling of the strange room while opening his mouth wide.

    ¡°What should we do next?¡±

    ¡°Will he be okay if we left him like that?¡±

    ¡°Boss will contact us soon. Looks like there are other things to take care of. For now, we just have to wait.¡±

    Hiro heard their conversation, and he figured out that those men were just underlings. From the difference in the voices he heard, there were more or less three unknown men around him. They were nning something that Hiro didn¡¯t know what it was.

    ¡°Let me go. You caught the wrong person.¡± Hiro tried to defend himself with a weak voice.

    ¡°What if he dies before the boss contacts us?¡± a manmented in an anxious voice, totally ignoring him.

    He seemed to be the most amateur of the two.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Even though he was very curious about what had happened to him, Hiro didn¡¯t have the energy to ask more. Even just straightening his neck was hard enough.

    He decided to stay still and not move an inch to save as well as gather back his energy.

    ¡®Just what the hell is going on right now?¡¯

    The room was eerily silent. No one else spoke.

    What Hiro could hear was the sound of dripping water that seemed to being from a leaking pipe.

    Time passed until a ringing sound echoed throughout the room, making Hiro who almost fell asleep, startled.

    After waiting in silence for a long time. Finally, the boss they mentioned earlier contacted them.

    Hiro heard their conversation. Even so, he did not recognize the voice of the man whom the three of them referred to as boss.

    ¡°Let me talk to him.¡±

    Upon hearing that, the three unknown men came closer to Hiro. One of them roughly positioned Hiro¡¯s head to face a transparent screen that appeared above the android bracelet belonging to the man who got a call from his boss.

    ¡°Hello, Young Yamaguchi.¡±

    A man was seen sitting in an office that had a lot of monitors in the room. The man raised his legs on the table while leaning against the back of a luxurious office chair.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t see his face because he was wearing a Vendetta mask. A mask that had be symbolic for cybercrime activists.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Hiro knitted his brows together.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t receive any questions. I don¡¯t have much time. I am an old friend of your brother.¡±

    Hiro swallowed his saliva with some difficulty. His nerve system was still not functioning normally.

    ¡°You may be wondering why I caught you. So, let me tell you something. All of this was his n.¡±

    ¡°Yuujin¡¯s death wish.¡±

    Hiro could feel the hairs all over his body stiffen at thest sentence spoken by the unknown man.

    However, after meeting his brother in the game some time ago, Hiro¡¯s assumptions about his brother¡¯s death grew stronger. He was 99% sure that his brother wasn¡¯t really dead and only faked his death so far. Even so, he still didn¡¯t know what his brother¡¯s n was. He didn¡¯t know for now, but he had been determined to find out about it.

    ¡°He is still alive!¡± Hiro hissed in annoyance. His head was throbbing violently as he did that.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    The masked manughed hard. The sound of hisughter managed to make Hiro feel nauseous and wanted to vomit again.

    ¡°Did you just say that he¡¯s still alive? You think the FBI has lied to the world?¡±

    ¡°What a pity!¡±

    ¡°What if youe here and see your brother¡¯s corpse with your own eyes?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened at the offer made by the unknown man.

    What did it mean?

    Was he the one who had ess to see Yuujin¡¯s corpse?

    A Flood of doubt hit him again. Hearing an offer that sounded like a challenge to his ears made him wonder again about Yuujin¡¯s true status.

    Was he really dead?

    It is impossible, right? How could the deadmunicate through an online game like he had just done with his brother a while ago?

    Using his brain to think too hard gave him unbearable pain. Hiro grimaced in pain. He knitted his brows several times, hoping it could reduce the intense throbbing inside his head.

    ¡°So what do you say? I have prepared a special trip for you.¡±

    ¡°Argghhh.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t answer. The pain in his head was getting worse. He wanted to scream, but his mouth seemed to feel sore and his tongue wouldn¡¯t move ording to his orders.

    ¡°Just kidding. I don¡¯t need your agreement.¡±

    ¡°Enjoy your trip to America!¡±

    Beep!

    The call was suddenly cut off and the transparent screen disappeared from Hiro¡¯s sight.

    Before Hiro said anything, a very hard fist hit his face.

    And that was thest scene Hiro could remember before everything turned dark again.

 Chapter 94 - Welcome to America

    Hiro could feel someone shaking his body violently. Then, he regained his consciousness which had been lost some time ago due to a painful fist.

    Hiro slowly tried to open his eyes. While doing so, his whole body felt excruciating pain as if he had just received a heinous persecution.

    Hiro looked around and found himself already in a different location. At the same time, his ears were ringing painfully and he couldn¡¯t hear anything, as if he had lost his sense of hearing.

    A man whose face he recognized as one of the men who had caught him was looking at him with moving lips, saying something, but Hiro still couldn¡¯t hear it.

    The man sat across from him. A seat belt was wrapped around his waist. He smiled sarcastically after seeing Hiro was in pain.

    At that moment, Hiro realized that his hands and feet were free. Not tied by anything like before. He moved to rub the sides of his head, trying to get rid of the ufortable buzzing in his ears.

    Buzzzz!

    Tap! Tap!

    Hiro hadn¡¯t realized. His ears reacted like that because the private jet he was on was currently in the process ofnding. Descending from a height that was high enough to disturb Hiro¡¯s bnce system, which was not in a good condition. After all, he was still in a disoriented state.

    Ding! Dong!

    ¡°Flight attendants, prepare fornding.¡±

    Hiro was confused by the announcement. At that moment, he realized he was on a flight. Though he did not know where the mysterious men were going to take him.

    ¡°Where am I now?¡±

    ¡°Wee to Washington DC.¡± The answer of the man in front of Hiro managed to make Hiro couldn¡¯t believe what he was going through.

    A moment ago, he remembered he was still in a ce that resembled an abandoned warehouse. But now, he has flown to America?

    Wasn¡¯t there a Japanese government airport officer who stopped the man to save him who was clearly unconscious at the time?

    Hiro waspletely clueless. The three men who took him forcibly worked for a fairlyrgepany with a widework. He really didn¡¯t know that he was already in such great danger.

    The private jet managed tond safely. A smoothnding. Even so, Hiro really still couldn¡¯t believe that he had been brought to America.

    ¡°Call the nurse,¡± the man opposite Hiro spoke to two other men who turned out to be sitting on a long,fortable sofa near them.

    The man unbuckled his seat belt, and Hiro was about to do the same. However, when he tried to unbuckle the seat belt, a mini LED screen on the belt locker disyed a warning.

    [ess denied]

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Hiro was about to scream at the man, who just chuckled when he saw Hiro¡¯s annoyance. However, before he grasped the reason, a sexy and curvy woman in nursing clothes walked closer to him.

    The woman was chewing gum and from the expression on her face, Hiro was one hundred percent sure that the woman wasn¡¯t an actual nurse, but just doing a cosy in a nurse¡¯s uniform or something.

    She checked Hiro¡¯s heart rate directly by cing her left ear against Hiro¡¯s chest. Meanwhile, the stethoscope that the woman was carrying was like a useless essory that couldn¡¯t be used.

    Hiro held his breath as something densely round and extremely soft pressed on his chest.

    ¡°He¡¯s fine.¡± The sexy nurse spoke to the men who kidnapped Hiro.

    Then, she released the seat belt that was trapping Hiro by using her fingerprints.

    [ess granted]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Cutie. Follow me.¡±

    Although he was sure that the three mysterious men also knew that the woman was a fake nurse, they didn¡¯t seem to mind it at all.

    Hiro had no other choice. If he really had arrived in America, he couldn¡¯t have dared to run away or did what he usually does at times like this, especially when his android bracelet was not in his hands.

    p!

    ¡°p my ass again and I¡¯ll tear your balls into pieces!¡± The nurse woman hissed at the man she had just passed and purposely pped her plump ass.

    ¡°Ahaaa!¡±

    The other man pped their hands, enjoying the show.

    Meanwhile, Hiro immediately ran after the nurse, and the three men just let them go.

    ¡°Let me change my clothes first, Cutie.¡±

    Hiro walked behind the woman, following her into the room containing the luxurious sleeping capsule. The ce where the nurse seemed to have rested before.

    And without giving any warning to Hiro, the woman stripped her clothes off. She got naked in front of Hiro and changed the nurse¡¯s outfit into a morous ck dress.

    Hiro swallowed his own saliva. Her movement was so fast when changing clothes, but Hiro got a glimpse of the beautiful curves of the woman¡¯s body.

    ¡°Are you okay? You look pale, Cutie?!¡±

    Now, the woman bent her back and lifted one of her legs on the sleeping capsule to tie the strap of the high boots she was wearing.

    Hiro identally looked at her beautiful thighs, which were very perfect. Her tan skin looked exotic.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done.¡± The woman turned back and caught Hiro, who was staring at the wide slit of her dress, revealing her sensual back.

    ¡°Look at you¡­ did I just turn you on?¡± The woman teased Hiro when she saw how his pale skin turned red, especially on the tip of his earlobes and cheeks.

    ¡°I thought that you¡¯re gay, but it seemed that you¡¯re not.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t mind it all. Let¡¯s go, we don¡¯t have much time.¡± The woman walked past Hiro, then brought her face, which had been polished by bold make-up with red lipstick, to whisper into Hiro¡¯s ear. It was really a tempting chance.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you see it more. Don¡¯t worry, Cutie.¡± She grabbed Hiro¡¯s wrist roughly, and Hiro could feel an electric shock suddenly sting him.

    When he checked his right hand, a new android bracelet in tinum color was attached to his wrist. This new android bracelet used a strong maic technology to wear on. That was why Hiro felt a bit stung when the maic technology worked.

    The woman grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand and asked him to leave the private jet with the three stranger men.

    Even though he didn¡¯t know what kind of future he would face, Hiro did what they told him.

    He was at an international airport. Just like a normal arrival, Hiro was taken by the mysterious woman to the visa clearance check point. However, instead of being taken to a foreign visa, Hiro was pulled to the US citizen visa section, and an immigration worker robot was waiting for him.

    The robot asked Hiro to show his android bracelet to be scanned. Hiro held his breath, his heart beating faster. He had never gone abroad before.

    The robot started scanning Hiro¡¯s android bracelet, then turned to take Hiro¡¯s photo. Surprised him by a sh that suddenly blinded his eyes for a few seconds.

    [Name: Yamaguchi Hiro]

    [Sex: Male]

    [Age: 18 years old]

    [Nationality: United States of America]

    Ding!

    [Washington Dulles International Airport]

    [Admitted]

    [12 ¨C 12 ¨C 2028]

 Chapter 95 - Preserved

    Hiro walked forward, following the woman who had transformed from a nurse to a nightdy.

    There were only five of them now.

    The woman led the way while the three men who had changed into new ck suits walked behind Hiro as if to build a wall so that Hiro could not escape.

    The atmosphere at the airport looked not much different from the international airport in Tokyo when Hiro apanied his older brother to Americast time.

    After walking quite a distance at a brisk pace, they arrived at the exit. A ck van was waiting for them.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you bring anything?¡± Hiro asked them before getting into the van. It was strange. Though the four people who were nking him didn¡¯t carry anything in their hands.

    ¡°Hurry, I told you that we don¡¯t have much time,¡± the woman replied while forcibly pushing Hiro¡¯s body into the back seat.

    Hiro nced at the driver. The man in a ck suit and sunsses seemed not interested to look back in the slightest. He was busy chewing gum. Hiro didn¡¯t know him, of course.

    ¡°Johnson Hope Hospital. Hurry!¡± the woman ordered the driver, and the driver nodded. He immediately stepped on the gas.

    Hiro¡¯s ears were tingling when he heard what the woman had just said. He had heard the name of the hospital somewhere.

    After repeatedly being hit in the face, Hiro had a hard time remembering things that had been recorded in his brain.

    ¡°I am Cath. Nice to meet you.¡± The woman sat next to Hiro in an ufortable position. She took out a lipstick that had been tucked into one of her high boots and retouched her lips to make them look even redder and bold.

    ¡°Hospital?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know why he had to go to that ce.

    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s Johnson Hope Hospital.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that hospital? It¡¯s a private hospital, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Cath rolled her eyes at hearing Hiro¡¯s ignorance.

    The woman finally finished retouching her lips, then she looked at Hiro with her light brown eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s a private hospital built by the Johnson family for generations. Of course, it¡¯s a special private hospital. They are very famous for always giving birth to crazy doctors¡­ ahem¡­ I mean brilliant doctors.¡±

    Hiro looked at Cath, who was trying to exin the information about the hospital. One of his eyebrows arched, trying to understand Cath¡¯s exnation. Still, he couldn¡¯t find anything special about it.

    ¡®Wait, I think I¡¯ve really heard the name of that hospital, but where?¡¯

    Hiro was lost in his mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s Jeff Johnson Family Hospital. Do you still not know anything?!¡± Cath snapped slightly in annoyance. She was annoyed because she failed to make Hiro understand her intention in exining about the hospital. So he couldn¡¯t get how excited she was about it.

    Hearing that person¡¯s name, Hiro¡¯s eyes widened.

    Now he remembered. Jeff Johnson. The founder of thergest gamingpany, Ninecent.

    So, that man also owns a big private hospital?

    Hiro shook his head slightly. No, it might be just a coincidence. There was no way a very sessful gaming activist is also a hereditary doctor and owns a big hospital in Washington DC, right?

    Cath was about to tell Hiro something more, but the van has stopped and they need to get out.

    Hiro and the others arrived at a giant and majestic skyscraper. If there weren¡¯t the giant ¡®Johnson Hope Hospital¡¯ written on the front ss-wall of the building, people wouldn¡¯t believe it was a hospital.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Cath grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand again and forced him to enter the building.

    The view inside the building was like a typical hospital. Many nurses in neat uniforms walked back and forth. Some of them were walking with doctors in different uniforms.

    Not wanting to draw attention from others, Hiro obediently followed Cath and a man in a suit who had fixed his hair so that he looked like a true gentleman. People wouldn¡¯t think that he had kidnapped someone.

    They went to the elevator to go up to the 77th floor. Hiro nced at Cath as she took out a card from inside her cleavage.

    ¡°This is illegal, but this is going to be fun.¡±

    Ding!

    Cath pulled Hiro to walk out from the elevator. They walk quite a distance from where the elevator was.

    Within that floor were countless monotone rooms with iron doors that were tightly shut. It didn¡¯t look like rooms for patients and not even like hotel rooms. The rooms on that floor were a bit weird.

    In front of the iron door, there was a silver board with the patient¡¯s name on it. All have the same font and set.

    Hiro read each of the names, and no matter how hard he racked his brain out, he didn¡¯t know any of them.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    Cath stopped in front of an iron door at the very end of the hallway.

    And when Hiro saw the name written on the silver board, he had goosebumps all over his body. His body froze on the spot.

    [Yamaguchi Yuujin]

    ¡°You stay on guard outside.¡± Cath ordered the man in the ck suit. She stuck out the mysterious card she was carrying on the surface of the iron door.

    Click!

    Hiro could hear the clicking sound from inside the iron door.

    The door moved slightly, letting out a puff of freezing air through the gaps.

    At that time, a digital number appeared on the iron door, and it increased significantly.

    [-58 F ¡­ 14 F]

    [Morgue Room is ready]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Cath pushed Hiro into the mysterious room. The air in the room was extremely cold and the light from the ceiling suddenly shed as Hiro entered, surprising him, who still hadn¡¯t grasped everything.

    The room was not very spacious, only about 5 cubic meters. Even so, it was quiterge for one person to use as a Morgue room.

    Hiro swallowed hard as his eyes moved to a capsule box in the middle of the room. He walked closer with trembling legs, approaching the capsule slowly. His breath hitched as a puff of air escaped through his nose and mouth.

    The capsule box was made of pure silver. A material that was known in the medical world to prevent microbial activity. The top of the 1.5 meter capsule was made of thick ss.

    It was made of transparent ss so people could see what was inside the capsule.

    Hiro took a deep and long breath, preparing himself to see what was inside the capsule.

    And when he peeked into it. His knees suddenly felt very weak.

    ¡°Yuujin.¡±

    A naked and motionless body was seen submerged in a transparent solution within the capsule.

 Chapter 96 - Escaped

    Flush!

    Hiro washed his face with cold water after throwing up everything in his stomach. He had cleared out his digestive tract, leaving only transparent liquid behind.

    He stared at the reflection of his face in the mirror. He looked sickly pale, as if his blood was drained at once.

    Hiro nced at the man in suit who watched him at the exit door silently, treating him like the most dangerous criminal.

    ¡°He died. But, can ghosts y games?¡±

    Hiro pped his cheeks so hard that his skin turned red. He was still in shock at the sight he had just seen. It was so shocking that he couldn¡¯t even feel the slightest sadness in his heart.

    Seeing his brother¡¯s body, with various stitches left from the autopsy, he almost couldn¡¯t believe it was his brother. It was hard to recognize him as Yuujin even though what was written on the door was indeed his name.

    Hiro didn¡¯t feel sad, either because his feelings of sadness had been buried deep in his heart since the day of Yuujin¡¯s death or because he was still in denial, feeling that Yuujin was still alive and only faked his death.

    Just as he was going through such a crisis, the android bracelet that was wrapped around his wrist suddenly vibrated. And the screen moved on its own even though he didn¡¯t do anything.

    Hiro knew this. He tilted the screen of his android bracelet so that the man who was waiting for him could not see it until he finished calming himself down.

    [Opening a notepad¡­]

    [Hiro¡­ this is me. I¡¯ll help you escape. Just do what I say.]

    Hiro gulped. He was getting tense to see that the android bracelet could open the machine¡¯s built-in notepad application and wrote something in it.

    There was only one person Hiro knew who could do something like this.

    Anonymous.

    ¡°Are you done?! Hurry up, don¡¯t waste the time!¡±

    The man in the suit was getting annoyed with his duty of babysitting Hiro. However, Hiro ignored him and deliberately bought time by acting like he was still shaken by the sight of his brother¡¯s body.

    ¡°Yuujin¡­ I never thought that you would leave so fast.¡±

    Sob¡­ sob¡­

    ¡°If I had known that you were going to die, I definitely¡­¡±

    The man in the suit frowned at the words that came out of Hiro¡¯s lips. He seemed disgusted by it.

    In fact, not only him who felt that, even Hiro, the one who said that word, wanted to burrow himself out of embarrassment. He hoped no one saw him except that man.

    [Done¡­ go now!]

    [You only have 1 minutes to escape]

    Hiro washed his face onest time and then walked back to the man in the suit. A subtle smile that spread from the corners of his cheeks made the man in the suit feel suspicious.

    Bang!

    Hiro suddenly mmed his knee against the man in the suit, right at his balls so hard that the man copsed on the floor without making any voice.

    ¡°That¡¯s for this bruise.¡± Hiro pointed to the bruise on the corner of his lips from a forceful blow the man gave before.

    He then rushed out of the toilet.

    And fortunately, it looked like Cath went into the women¡¯s toilet because no one was guarding in the front.

    Hiro dashed towards the elevator under the guidance of what Anonymous had written for him.

    Right now the android bracelet only disyed a 1 minute countdown, and the time was running while Hiro bolted towards the elevator.

    ¡°Hey, you!¡± Hiro could hear Cath¡¯s shrill voice from behind his back. It made him run even faster.

    Ding!

    The elevator opened by itself as Hiro got very close to it.

    There was no one in front of the elevator, and Hiro entered the cylindrical object right away.

    Cath appeared as the elevator doors began to close automatically without Hiro pressing any buttons.

    ¡°Sorry, Bye!¡±

    Cath was not fast enough to catch up with the speed of the machine that was already under Anonymous¡¯s control.

    ¡°No, wait!¡±

    The elevator moved down without even stopping at any floor, as if no one was using it except him.

    Hiro held on to the elevator wall. He could feel a slight shock from the elevator¡¯s movement because the speed wasn¡¯t normal.

    Ding!

    The elevator doors burst open on the ground floor.

    Hiro immediately ran from the spacious hospital lobby to a ce where the car could pick him up when he left the building. Many eyes were staring at him but he didn¡¯t care.

    [30 seconds remaining]

    His eyes wandered, trying to find a driverless automatic taxi car with the license te and the features that Anonymous had previously given him.

    And he found it. The car was behind a new release white Mercedes. It looked so luxurious that even at once nce, Hiro got his focus distracted..

    The Mercedes stopped in front of Hiro, and a driver walked out to open the passenger door.

    ¡°Hey, you!¡±

    It seemed that another man in a suit standing on guard in the parking lot was told that Hiro had run away, and finally he managed to find him.

    The man¡¯s shouted made other people in that ce take a nce towards him. Including a young man who just got out of the Mercedes car in front of Hiro.

    ¡°That damn kidnapper!¡± Hiro cursed, while rushing to get into the taxi. Passing a man who was stunned to see Hiro¡¯s presence.

    As Hiro passed by, he could hear a very faint voice.

    ¡°Nightfall¡­?¡±

    m!

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Hiro mmed the taxi door hard. The car moved automatically to the location that had been marked in the GPS machine right away.

    Hiro managed to get away from the man who was chasing him, and he looked back at the man he had passed. He was sure the man had called him NightFall.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw who he was. It was so easy to recognize him, even though the man didn¡¯t have a pair of animal ears that stood upright on the top of his head.

    ¡°Libe¡¯s brother?!¡±

    The person who looked like Ace had the same confused expression as Hiro had. He tried to see through the dark windshield of the taxi just to make sure what he saw was indeed NightFall.

    ¡°What is he doing in this hospital?¡±

    ¡°Wait¡ª Johnson Hope Hospital¡­ I remember it now.¡±

    ¡°[1000] file. Liberty¡¯s data information, the source is Johnson Hope Hospital.¡±

    ¡°Wait a second.¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t pay attention to the road at all because his brain was deep in thought.

    He was trying to draw up every piece of information he had.

    ¡°Johnson¡¯s Private Hospital.¡±

    ¡°Liberty Johnson.¡±

    ¡°Jeff Johnson¡­¡±

    ¡°No way¡ªit couldn¡¯t be, right?!¡±

    ¡°This must be just a coincidence.¡±

    If only Hiro still had his old android bracelet, he would open the file again to confirm his suspicions because he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure of it.

    Especially about Ace¡­Ace¡­

    He was trying to remember Ace¡¯s surname in the file.

    But he failed. He never thought that two of the names in those files were from the same family. And Ace never appeared on the broadcast system as if he didn¡¯t join the CBT.

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message from Anonymous]

    [Anonymous: I¡¯ll see you soon.]

 Chapter 97 - Is She Really

    Hiro racked his brain out on the way to an unknown ce. He no longer cared about his own fate and entrusted everything to the person who had arranged it all.

    His mind still lingered at Johnson Hope Hospital.

    After sessfully recollecting the memory shards where he first read the name of the hospital, Hiro regretted not staying there longer. Who knows? He might meet Liberty by chance. In the real world. Not just a virtual reality.

    However, remembering that Liberty had forgotten about him, Hiro clenched his fists again. He pped his face once to wake him up from his reverie. He should not get distracted right now.

    ¡°No, I have to focus. I have to get back to ying the game and get stronger.¡± Hiro spoke to himself confidently.

    Hisst meeting with Yuujin was a sign that he really had to overpower everyone in the LSO, especially his own brother who didn¡¯t hesitate to kill him with an invisible weapon.

    Hiro growled in annoyance remembering that event. How could he be defeated so easily?

    ¡°Just you wait, Yujin. I will definitely beat you up.¡±

    In Hiro¡¯s mind, he needed to defeat his brother because it was Yuujin who challenged him first.

    However, in order to defeat an Archmage who carried the power of a disaster, he needed to work harder. Hiro knew it might take him a very long time to defeat Yuujin. But at least, he needs to try.

    ¡°Arghhh. Why is he always more superior than me?¡±

    Hiro leaned back in the soft andfortable car seat.

    His destination was quite far away, and Hiro hoped that there were no tracking devices on his body so the kidnappers wouldn¡¯t find him. After all, the big city was very crowded and looked busy at night.

    ¡­

    After thirty minutes had passed, the car finally gave an AI voice signal that they were about to arrive at their destination.

    Hearing the voice, Hiro immediately straightened his back and peeked through the car window, looking at the destination that Anonymous had arranged for him.

    His heart pounded even more when he saw on the GPS screen. He would soon arrive at the marked location.

    ¡°Anonymous, huh? Don¡¯t tell me he was Yuujin.¡±

    He¡¯s starting to guess and assume Anonymous¡¯ identity. Again.

    At that time, Hiro still couldn¡¯t believe that Yuujin was dead, even though he had seen Yuujin¡¯s body with his own two eyes.

    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived. Take off your seatbelt, check your belongings, and see youter. Thank you for using the automated taxi service from T-Company.¡±

    The sound of the machine made Hiro do exactly what it ordered. Even though Hiro didn¡¯t bring anything with him.

    ¡°No need to pay, right?¡± This was Hiro¡¯s first time using the service, and he was confused because the taxi didn¡¯t ask him to pay. Is it really free?

    Hiro walked out of the car and the machine still didn¡¯t ask him to pay until the taxi left.

    It was then Hiro realized he had been taken to a location far from the main highway.

    The sound of music boomed loudly in the air greeted Hiro. In front of him, women in sexy dresses lingering around the street. They gave him a disinterested look, as if he wasn¡¯t worth their attention in the slightest.

    Hiro swallowed hard. It seemed like Anonymous had just pranked him.

    ¡°Damn it. What the hell? Why does it have to be in a ce like this?¡±

    ¡°Hello, Cutie¡­ What¡¯s up?! Do you need a friend for tonight?¡± Hiro was surprised when a drag queen dressed in all pink clung to his arm.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªI¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m lost. But, thank you. I don¡¯t need a friend for tonight. I am okay.¡± Hiro gently let go of the drag queen¡¯s hand from his arm, which was bigger than him. He didn¡¯t want to offend him.

    ¡°Yeah, what a pity. I¡¯m already here for you though.¡± he replied in a disappointed tone.

    ¡°He¡¯s with me, Queen! Go away! He is mine.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s body stiffened when he heard a familiar voice. The voice came from behind him.

    He quickly looked back to make sure he wasn¡¯t mistaken.

    ¡°Yo! Hiro!¡±

    Alice stood behind him, wearing only a ck tank top and oversized ck jogger pants. She was enjoying her cigarette. A puff of smoke came out of her luscious lips when she locked her gaze on Hiro.

    The tattoos on her bodypletely proved that it was indeed Alice who was standing there, calling out to Hiro.

    ¡°How did you get here?¡± It was really unexpected. Hiro couldn¡¯t think straight after seeing something so shocking like this.

    ¡°Home sweet home, Baby.¡± Alice threw away the remaining stump of her cigarette on the ground. She didn¡¯t seem to care, even though Hiro showed that he was greatly confused by her appearance.

    Alice¡¯s hand moved to snap Hiro¡¯s android bracelet and then crushed it by stepping on it using her thick-soled boots.

    Cracks!

    ¡°You don¡¯t need this anymore.¡±

    Hiro was dumbfounded, and he could not say anything. He wanted to protest, but all the words stuck in his throat. What¡¯s more, the android bracelet had been destroyed, and it was toote to save it.

    Now he was a person with no identity and wandering alone in a very big country.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Hiro still hadn¡¯t grasped the point. He thought that he identally met the girl.

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re dumb. But, how could be so dumb like this?¡±

    ¡°Come on. Follow me.¡±

    Alice grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand to go after her.

    The two of them walked through narrow alleys that were dirty and damp.

    Hiro repeatedly saw vomit that was still fresh or dried on the pavement. Still, he didn¡¯t say anything or utter any protest. At least he was with people he knew. That was what he thought.

    They arrived in front of an old building that looked a little scary with minimalist lights.

    Alice led Hiro into the building that looked like a haunted house at first nce.

    The building was an old apartment. Even the rats inhabiting the building looked old and had lost some of their skin and fur.

    Hiro had never been to a ce like this before.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Hiro asked, starting to feel ufortable with his surroundings.

    ¡°Our temporary home.¡± Alice¡¯s answer made Hiro even more restless.

    Does anyone live in a haunted house like that?

    The house has five floors and Alice led Hiro to the top floor.

    They were using old stairs that squeaked whenever they stepped on it.

    Hiro saw several rooms with tightly closed doors on each floor. He was not sure if each room had upants.

    And finally, they arrived at the room that Alice called their temporary home.

    Alice took out a key and opened the door with some difficulty, as thetch was very hard and slightly rusty.

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    Entering the room behind the door, Hiro was amazed.

    The room inside was quite clean, although the air felt very humid.

    ¡°This was the one and only cleanest room avable when I came.¡± Alice clearly noticed the sparkle in Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    Hiro went deeper into the room and found a long sofa facing the closed window. At that moment, his eyes widened when he saw a familiar object on the sofa.

    ¡°VR new gen?¡±

    ¡°Are you also a yer?¡± Hiro immediately ran to check the VR. He still couldn¡¯t figure out what was really going on.

    And Alice rolled her eyes. She thought she must speak it frankly.

    ¡°Nope. I am not a yer. Or maybe an Ex-yer.¡±

    Alice¡¯s answer made Hiro twist his neck and looked at her in confusion.

    ¡°You are really dumb, aren¡¯t you? That VR is yours. I brought it from Tokyo. And¡­ don¡¯t tell me you still don¡¯t recognize me?!¡±

    ¡°No way¡­ Is this really mine? What do you mean by not recognizing you? You¡¯re Alice. I know who you are.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point. You don¡¯t know anything, what a useless boy!¡±

    ¡°I am Alice, but I also have one more name.¡± Alice has reached her limit.

    Hiro arched an eyebrow in confusion and waited for more information toe.

    ¡°I am Anonymous.¡±

    Blurrpp!

    Hiro let out augh at Alice¡¯s exmation.

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±

    Of course, he didn¡¯t believe it.

    The Anonymous figure in his mind was a mysterious man who was extremely genius and at least wore thick sses. Not a tattooed thug girl like Alice.

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha no way!¡±

    Alice rolled her eyes at Hiro¡¯s disappointing reaction. She didn¡¯tugh at all.

    ¡°Wait¡ªyou¡¯re kidding, right?!¡±

 Chapter 98 - Mysterious Boxes

    Hiro found it hard to believe that the girl who was standing in front of him, the girl he had often passed by in Tokyo, was Anonymous. The one who had irritated him so many times.

    Even though Hiro kept trying not to ept the fact, Alice exined everything to him. About her identity as Anonymous and what her purpose was in doing so. She spoke so quickly, like an AI trantor machine.

    Hiro still denied the fact, though. He didn¡¯t know whether to feel disappointed or happy after knowing the true identity of the person who had nned everything for him so he could get into the LSO game.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your rtionship with Yuujin?¡± Hiro asked after hearing her exnation. Alice said she did all this just to uncover the mysterious death of Hiro¡¯s brother. He wouldn¡¯t believe it if the girl gave him an answer that he was just Yuujin¡¯s fan because her efforts so far were excessive.

    ¡°A big fan.¡± Hiro knew Alice was lying. However, he didn¡¯t want to interrogate her any further because he was sure that the girl was just not ready to tell him yet.

    There was still a lot of information about Anonymous¡¯s goals and ns that he hadn¡¯t got until now. Hiro wanted to hear it directly from her.

    Broadly speaking, Alice only told Hiro that she had prepared everything to investigate Yuujin¡¯s death. And in order to do that, she needed someone she could rely on in the game world.

    Alice was 99% sure that the LSO game had a very strong connection with Yuujin¡¯s death.

    But still, Hiro didn¡¯t even know how Alice could find him, finding a fairly reliable gamer who was also blood rted to Yuujin. How could she know that? Yuujin never talked about his brother in front of the camera.

    Funnily enough that the Anonymous, who had been in his shadow all this time, was a thug-looking girl in front of him.

    ¡°So, give me an update about Yuujin in that game.¡± asked the girl, lighting a new cigarette.

    ¡°Wait¨Cyou didn¡¯t know that? It should be a big news!¡± Hiro thought that he might have missed many updates from the inte about the return of the king. But¡ªit seemed that no media was talking about that when he¡¯s kidnapped.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Finally Hiro exined his encounter with WynterRain. He told her how WynterRain appeared and wiped out the survivors from The Haunted Maze until there was no one left and made Hiro fail in the first mission given by Anonymous to win the event.

    Alice listened with a serious face. She really didn¡¯t have the look or impression of an intelligent person in the slightest.

    ¡°I knew that something like this would happen. He is an attention seeker.¡± Alice chuckled, imagining herself being in Hiro¡¯s position, watching Yuujin¡¯s nerve-wracking appearance, which was fascinating.

    ¡°But still, what the hell is with the media? How could they keep silent in such a big moment like this?¡± she¡¯s getting mad all of a sudden. Hiro has the same thoughts. It was too big to hide in fact.

    Even so, the girl changed the topic like she knew already that the media would do this.

    ¡°He¡¯s aiming for that dragon, huh?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t give anyments. He waited for the girl to give her opinion on the information he had provided. However, Alice didn¡¯t say anything at all. She didn¡¯t even look the least bit annoyed right now.

    ¡°Alright, it has been two days since thest time you yed the game. Your power must be left behind for now. Do you think you can catch up with others?¡± Alice walked over to Hiro and sat on the wooden chair in front of him.

    Two days, huh?

    Hiro recalled WynterRain¡¯s words before the man eliminated him from the game.

    That night, he talked about Hiro¡¯s party members. When Hiro thought thoroughly about that, it felt like WynterRain gave them an evaluation rather than mockery.

    Then, he talked about Hiro¡¯s power, which would be impossible to catch up with him at that time.

    Hiro felt something was off with those sentences. It was as if his brother was trying to convey a message that wouldn¡¯t be understood by the others who might watch him right now?

    A powerful party?

    A powerful avatar?

    Did that mean WynterRain was telling him to get stronger?

    Hiro was certain there was a secret message from WynterRain¡¯s words. Hiro knew his brother was very smart in using words. And he was sure, one hundred percent sure, that Yuujin couldn¡¯t possibly tell him to stop ying the game.

    Because, if Yuujin really asked Hiro to stop ying the game¡­ then this would be the first game that Yuujin forbade Hiro to y.

    But¡ªabout the party? What¡¯s wrong with his party members?

    Click!

    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear what I said at all, did you?¡± Alice snapped her fingers in front of Hiro¡¯s face. That snap managed to startle Hiro, who was deep in thought.

    ¡°Did you say something?¡±

    He really heard nothing.

    Alice took a deep breath. ¡°Here, take this and get back to the game.¡±

    Hiro got his android bracelet back from Alice¡¯s hand. Nothing had changed about that thing.

    ¡°You really broke into my house, huh,¡± Hiro grumbled as he put the android bracelet back on his wrist.

    ¡°Did you forget that I¡¯m an expert at it?¡±

    Alice helped Hiro to prepare the VR set. The girl really forced Hiro to return to y the game as soon as possible.

    ¡°Get a pet soon.¡±

    Was that the reason Alice pushed him to win the haunted maze event?

    Hiro took a deep breath after putting the VR helmet on his head. Even though it had only been 2 days, he really missed the device now.

    [Checking the connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    Hiro opened his eyes, and he found himself on a very dark map, as if he was in a ck box.

    He was kissing the ground. He couldn¡¯t remember how he ended up in that position.

    As he stood on his feet, he saw a warp in front of him.

    ¡°Am I still at the event venue?! Did the kidnappers knock me out while I was walking towards the warp? That¡¯s weird.¡±

    ¡­

    [Beginner Town]

    Hiro had been teleported back to the beginner town square, which was very lively, even though it was already night.

    ¡°Ah¡ªI almost forgot that my actual body is in America now. The time has no difference with the game time.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have a new message from GM Juno]

    [Thank you for participating in The Haunted Maze event]

    [Here is your participation reward]

    [You have obtained 3 Mysterious Boxes]

    ¡°Only a participation reward, what a waste.¡±

    Hiro checked his avatar¡¯s level and his avatar power was left far behind the other.

    ¡°System Calls.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

    Base Level 29

    Job ss Level 27

    Health 16570/16570

    AP 2550/2550

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 6190

    BR 16110

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 90

    AGI 51

    INT 22

    VIT 42

    DEX 24

    LUCK 22

    Skill Stats (Points 15)

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5 Max

    Bloodsteal (passive) Level 5 Max

    Martial Combo Art Level 5 Max

    [Current World Level 30]

    [ World rank based on Level¡­ Rank 251]

    [Word rank based on battle rating¡­ Rank 175]

    ¡°Alright, not too far behind. I can still catch up. It looks like the others get additional BR from the pet feature that is unlocked at level 30.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t ask anyone. Even though it was clear what he had just experienced made him left behind.

    But¡ªif he had never experienced it. He would never see his brother¡¯s body in person and at the same time find some information that connected to each other.

    Ding!

    [Dear NightFall, you have been offline for more than 24 hours. This is the longest time for LSO yers to stay offline. I hope that you are okay. Here is a gift for you ¨C Nyx]

    [+2500 EXP]

    [+2500 EXP]

    [+2500 EXP]

    Ding!

    [Base Level Up 1x]

    ¡°Only 2 days and they thought I had died or got a severe disease?¡±

    Hiro was bbergasted that he got a huge EXP reward just for breaking the longest offline record in the game.

    At that moment, he was interested in opening the mysterious boxes he received from the event because he didn¡¯t want to keep it in his inventory for too long.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained 1 pack of sunflower seeds]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a broken sword]

    ¡°Can they give me something worthy?¡±

    Hiro held his breath prior to opening thest mysterious box with his hands.

    Pop!

    A bright light came out from the box and blinded him suddenly.

    Hiro felt something solid and a bit heavy on his hands. When he opened his eyes, he could see an egg as big as the ball from American football.

    Before he could read the name of the egg in his hands, a server broadcast popped out in front of him.

 Chapter 99 - Lucky Player

    [Congrattions! yer NightFall has opened a Mysterious Box and found a Silver Dragon Egg (Legendary Pet) inside. How lucky! Please congratte him in the world chat!]

    An announcement akin to an advertisement in the form of a moving text appeared in front of every yer on the NA server.

    While other yers were grumbling in envy of the announced yer¡¯s luck, Hiro was still standing in the same spot, frozen in ce. On his hands was arge metallic silver egg the size of an American football.

    The blinding light that suddenly appeared with the item when he opened thest box startled him.

    Meanwhile, in the world chat.

    [GreatMage: What the hell?!]

    [LilRainbow: F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!]

    [PinkBell: Cutie NightFall again? How could he be so lucky??]

    [FavBitch: Come on, baby, can you share your luck with me?]

    [Leonard91: He¡¯s so scary]

    [LordGrim: My mysterious boxes are only filled with trash. GM, please, I hate you!]

    Hiro ignored the world chat that was once again filled with his name. He still couldn¡¯t believe that the somewhat heavy item was actually on his hands right now.

    He didn¡¯t know why, but Alice told him to get a pet in-game as soon as possible. Moreover, he also didn¡¯t expect that he would obtain a pet this soon.

    ¡°A legendary pet¡­ My luck for the next five years must¡¯ve been used up for this little thing,¡± he muttered in disbelief.

    Hiro walked toward a gap between the buildings in Beginner Town to hide. He wanted to check the pet feature that he hadn¡¯t known much about.

    Most of the pets that were currently obtainable started at the egg phase. In order to hatch the egg, the owner had to collect several materials and head to a pet tamer.

    After the egg phase, the obtained pet would move to the baby phase. In this phase, although pets still could not aid in battle, they could still give certain buffs to their owners.

    Hiro quickly read the general exnation about the pet feature before checking the remaining time. 10 PM.

    There was still time until the daily quests reset time.

    He then decided to learn more about the needs of pets after catching up by at least doing the daily quests before they reset.

    Not only did he manage to finish the three daily quest types he had mastered in less than one hour, but he also leveled up again after finishing them.

    ¡­

    After inviting three random yers to arm wrestle with, Hiro decided to rest in Jack¡¯s tavern for a while. Despite meeting three opponents with the same level as him, he still won all three rounds of the minigame with ease.

    Next, he focused back on his pet, which was still in egg form. When Hiro took out the dragon egg and put it on the table, the attention of the yers in the tavern was immediately drawn.

    In less than half a minute, the yers around had gathered to look more closely.

    ¡°Whoa, so cool!¡±

    ¡°Did you really get it from a mysterious box?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so lucky!¡±

    ¡°Hurry and hatch it, I want to see what it looks like.¡±

    Five excited yers Hiro didn¡¯t recognize stood in front of him, forming a barricade.

    In the meantime, Hiro focused back on finding out about the materials he had to prepare to hatch the egg as soon as he could.

    There was a new pet-specific feature where yers could input a pet¡¯s name to find information about it. After Hiro inputted his pet¡¯s name, his HUD system disyed a new window filled with information about the materials required to hatch it.

    [1 Ancient Gold Statue]

    [1 Cursed Dragon¡¯s Heart]

    [7 Blessings of the Seven Dwarves]

    Hiro didn¡¯t know if he should feel fortunate or unfortunate. The three items he needed could be obtained from the same source.

    [A Dragon and the Seven Dwarves], a special dungeon quest.

    ording to the information shown in his HUD system, the quest could be obtained by talking to one of the tribal chiefs in Vul Faldur City. However, in order to trigger the quest, he had to earn the trust of the tribal chief by submitting a certain item.

    There was one problem, though. The system didn¡¯t mention what the item was.

    Hiro let out a long sigh and put the dragon egg back into his inventory.

    ¡°What happened, man?¡± One of the yers in front of him seemed disappointed when he saw Hiro¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°Not today, I need to find a way to impress a dwarven chief.¡± He really had no idea how he was supposed to do that.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just directly ask the person? Or at least¡­ ask the residents of Vul Faldur.¡±

    The response from the gloomy-faced woman in front of him made Hiro feel as if he just received enlightenment.

    ¡°You¡¯re right! What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Hiro read the text above the yer¡¯s head.

    [Level 29. LittlePony. Cleric. Licensed Traveler]

    ¡°Thank you, LittlePony.¡±

    After getting a bright idea, Hiro hurried to leave his seat. He then quickly opened his friend list to contact the name that crossed his mind.

    Ring!

    ¡°Hey, Jacob, I¡¯m going to keep my promise.¡± A victorious smile was on Hiro¡¯s face when he heard Jacob¡¯s tired voice.

    ¡°Hiro!? Is this really you!? Oh man, where have you been? You disappeared again!¡± Jacob became even more excited when he found out that the person contacting him was Hiro.

    ¡°Send me your address, I¡¯ll go there now.¡±

    After just several seconds, Hiro sessfully got the location coordinates of Jacob¡¯s house and rushed to find NPC Willie. Even though the night was gettingte, Hiro didn¡¯t feel sleepy at all.

    ¡­

    [Vul Faldur City]

    Jacob was one of the residents of the dwarves¡¯ city. Even though he didn¡¯t have the dwarf bloodline, he still had a plot he had to manage there.

    Hiro was teleported right to the city square of the desert city. Despite already having his full costume set and armor on, the breeze that blew his body was so cold it felt as if he had to immediately learn the [Cold Resistance] skill Noah previously received.

    He swiftly walked following the direction of the marked location. This time, the atmosphere of the dwarves¡¯ city was more crowded than when Hirost came.

    The tallest dwarf NPCs in the city reached Hiro¡¯s chest at most, but on average, their height only reached Hiro¡¯s hip. Not excluding the female dwarves, their faces were extremely unfriendly and most of them had thick facial hair.

    For the yers with dwarf bloodline, he was a little confused as most of those he saw had Asian faces. It was as if the Asian yers on the server dominated the dwarf race.

    ¡®They definitely y to trade.¡¯

    It was no secret that Asians liked to look for profits in online games. And by choosing to be dwarves, they could create equipment with the special crafting skill which would allow them to be millionaires in the game.

    Hiro was sure that that was the reason most of the dwarves were Asian.

    ¡­

    Before arriving at his destination, Hiro overheard a bunch of dwarf yers noisily talking while sitting on wooden barrels on the roadside of the main street.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this too weird? Why is there no news about WynterRain¡¯s appearance at that time at all?¡±

    ¡°Are they hiding it on purpose?¡±

    ¡°Right, I thought that too. It¡¯s just too weird.¡±

    ¡°Do you think the game really has something to do with WynterRain¡¯s death?¡±

    ¡°Should we bet?¡±

 Chapter 100 - Mysterious PK?

    The ongoing conversation suddenly became whispers. The dwarf yers¡¯ whispers to each other made Hiro, who happened to be passing by, slow down his footsteps.

    Why were they whispering? Were they talking about something they shouldn¡¯t?

    ¡°Do you remember the yer with the nickname Meliodas? A yer killer suddenly killed him outside the safe zone right after heined about the survivor team¡¯s unexpected defeat in the world chat after the ongoing event.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know if it was because of his demon ears or if the whispers were still within the limit of his hearing, but he could clearly hear what those dwarf yers were discussing.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just Meliodas. More than seven yers were also killed outside the safe zone. From what I heard, they were talking about WynterRain¡¯s appearance and how powerful he was before he was killed.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, keep your voice low! I don¡¯t want that mysterious yer killer toe. My business will go bankrupt if I have to go offline for a whole week.¡±

    For a piece of new information, Hiro was able to get it at no cost. No wonder no one was excited about WynterRain¡¯s appearance when he logged back in. It was as if no one had seen his grand appearance.

    Was someone intentionally hiding the information?

    Hiro was already curious about the investigators and how they would react if one of the people they interviewed actually shared some information about WynterRain¡¯s appearance. It would surely be a significant clue about Yuujin¡¯s death for them.

    Unfortunately, the night had fallen, and none of the investigators worked at night. Hiro didn¡¯t know if they were still investigating in-game or just in the developers¡¯ officetely.

    Hiro continued to walk quickly after one of the dwarf yers found him eavesdropping and looked at him with a cynical look. Upon spotting him, the dwarf yer¡¯s forehead wrinkled in an unfriendly manner and his thick beard curled down.

    After walking for about a hundred meters, Hiro finally arrived at the location he had marked on his GPS map. Before him now stood a seemingly firm two-story building made of natural stone bricks.

    The size of that building was too big to be called a house. Moreover, Hiro saw a wooden card with ¡°Smith¡¯s Weapon Shop¡± written on it and a board that showed ¡°Closed¡± just below the card.

    Hiro was standing in front of the only wooden door at the front of the building when all of a sudden, the door opened with a bang.

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    Jacob pulled Hiro¡¯s body into his arms and patted him three times. Before Hiro could react apart from being surprised, Jacob had already pulled him into the building.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Jacob¡¯s overreaction piqued his curiosity.

    The two now stood inside a decentlyrge room. In the corner of the room was a fireceplete with a fire burning a pile of dry wood, while on the other side was a set of waiting tables and chairs.

    But Hiro didn¡¯t see any weapons on sale as a weapon shop would normally have. The room was empty.

    ¡°There¡¯s only a purchase through order service for the time being,¡± Jacob mumbled as if he understood the questioning look on Hiro¡¯s face.

    ¡°Here, take a seat. I¡¯ll bring out the wine I just bought.¡±

    Hiro sat in one of the waiting chairs, leaving a round wooden table and one other chair in front of him.

    After a short while, Jacob came back with a bottle of wine and two wine sses. After putting them on the table, he poured the wine into the sses and gave one to Hiro, who felt that he still needed to adapt to Jacob¡¯s drinking habit.

    ¡°Where were you, Hiro? I thought you were one of the rumored PK victims.¡± Jacob drank his wine with sparkles in his eyes. It seemed that he really enjoyed his drink.

    ¡°This is the best virtual wine ever. Try it!¡±

    Hiro had no choice but to try the drink.

    Although he didn¡¯t hate the taste of the alcoholic drink, Hiro knew that he wasn¡¯t a heavy drinker. Remembering how real the effects in the world of LSO were, Hiro was sure that he could also get drunk if he drank too much.

    ¡°What do you mean by the rumored PK?¡±

    Jacob put his wine ss on the table. While staring straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes, he took a deep breath before he began to talk.

    After the ¡®The Haunted Maze¡¯ event ended with an unexpected result, numerous yers who participated in the eventined to the game masters, mainly through the world chat. yers from both the hunter team and the survivor team demandedpensation for the unexpected result.

    Nevertheless, they were sure that the yer who appeared at thest moment was a cheater. Some even called that yer a ghost yer who used cheats that allowed him to be overpowered and wipe out all the survivors.

    They immediately searched the search system for the yer called WynterRain, but they found no yer with that name.

    It was as if that yer was never in the system.

    Another theory besides WynterRain being a ghost yer was that he was a game master¡¯s avatar who was disguised as another yer and got involved in the event. It would make more sense for an avatar that strong to belong to a game master rather than a new yer who had only yed for three days at that time.

    However, the game masters didn¡¯t say anything. They clearly wrote WynterRain as the winner of the tier 1 reward, yet they didn¡¯t know who the person the system considered the event winner was.

    What were the game masters doing when everyone protested? GM Juno was the only one who responded, and that was only with a word of apology and the useless information that yer WynterRain might have changed his username.

    But, it didn¡¯t just end there.

    When everything fell into more turmoil, several usernames suddenly appeared in the world chat and confessed to being WynterRain¡¯s fanatic fans, iming that they would do anything to anyone who dared to insult their idol in public.

    ¡°Those yers who united and called themselves WynterRain¡¯s fans are really strong. They seriously annihted anyone who talked bad about him.¡± Jacob let out a long sigh after passionately telling that story.

    Hiro gulped as he tried to digest all the detailed information from Jacob.

    Were those people the yer killers he previously heard about from the dwarves¡¯ conversation? WynterRain¡¯s fanatic fans? His brother¡¯s fanatic fans?

    Hiro didn¡¯t know whether he should support the PK now or do the opposite.

    His fists under the table were clenched. He was also upset when he heard the baseless usations against his brother¡¯s avatar. Still, he tried to remain calm in front of Jacob.

    ¡°Since then, no one dared to talk about that yer. Besides, who is he, actually? Do you know him, Hiro?¡± Jacob refilled the wine in Hiro¡¯s ss, which had only lessened a little.

    Hiro shook his head.

    He lied. He just wasn¡¯t ready to trust anyone about this matter.

    He was about to ask Jacob, who knew how to impress people, how to attract a dwarf NPC¡¯s attention when Jacob suddenly snapped his fingers as if he remembered something.

    ¡°Ah! I met Liberty this morning, and she was looking for you. Have you met her?¡±

    Hiro instantly forgot the question that was stuck at the tip of his tongue.

 Chapter 101 - Night Monsters

    Jacob¡¯s mention of Liberty caused Hiro to immediately open his friend list full of hope, but that hope only turned into disappointment when he saw that the friend list he sent her still hadn¡¯t been epted.

    Hiro let out a long sigh and looked back at Jacob.

    ¡°What do you mean she was looking for me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she didn¡¯t tell me. It looked like she was worried about you like I was, bro,¡± Jacob said very rxedly.

    ¡°Did you fight that badly for you two to avoid each other like this?¡±

    Jacob was a little curious this time, but Hiro shook his head. They never fought to begin with, so he didn¡¯t correct Jacob.

    Hiro forced himself to focus back on his target. He already promised himself to be stronger.

    If possible, he wanted to have be immensely powerful when his brother appeared in another unusual way most wouldn¡¯t expect. He believed that WynterRain, who was called a ghost yer, a cheater, a game master, and other nonsensical names, would definitely show himself sooner orter.

    Hiro then told Jacob about his other reason foring to his house; he asked him how to gain the trust and attention of a dwarf tribal chief to trigger the quest he greatly needed at the moment.

    However, ording to Jacob, the dwarf tribal chief Hiro mentioned was very fierce and unwilling to ept guests at night. Moreover, Jacob wasn¡¯t sure where he could meet the dwarf after day had turned into night.

    Hiro had no other choice. Jacob asked him to rest in his house for the night and said that he would apany him to look for the tribal chief the next morning.

    Hiro had no reason to refuse, so he nodded in agreement. Next, he was led to one of the rooms in the building. To his surprise, the building was actually more spacious than he thought. On the corners of the house were numerous partitioned rooms akin to an inn.

    When Hiro mentioned the number of rooms as the two walked, Jacob exined that he was indeed intending to also open an inn in the same building to gain more profits.

    Hiro was allowed to sleep there free of charge for the night and was even given the freedom to choose which room he wanted, so he just chose whichever.

    Like the inns Hiro often found in the world of games, the room he just entered on his own only consisted of a wooden table and a single bed, as well as a pillow and a tidily folded nket on it.

    The only light source in the room that wasn¡¯t more than three square meters was an antique kerosenemp hung in front of a tightly shut wooden window frame, and above it was venttion that allowed air to normally enter and exit.

    ¡®Not bad. Guess I¡¯ll let my avatar rest while I log off.¡¯

    [System Off]

    [Logout]

    As soon as Hiropletely logged out, a delicious fragrance immediately greeted his sense of smell. Without a second thought, he quickly took off his VR helmet to find the source of the smell that kept calling him.

    His legs had moved toward where the delicious fragrance wasing from; a kitchen without a door separating it from the other rooms in the apartment Alice rented for the two.

    ¡°I knew you¡¯de back soon. You must be starving.¡± Alice put down arge pan of who-knows-how-many portions of cooked instant noodles onto a rectangr wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. The thick cloud of warm smoke continued to gather above the pan.

    Rumble¡ª

    Hiro couldn¡¯t control the volume of his stomach¡¯s growl when his eyes were already locked onto the food.

    ¡°Sorry, this is all I have at the moment. Let¡¯s eat.¡±

    The two immediately ate the delicious instant noodle without a word. The next seconds were just filled with the sounds of chopsticks and spoons asionally touching the small bowl as well as some slurping as they ate.

    In just five minutes, the pan quickly became empty without any leftovers. Meanwhile, a satisfied expression was on both Alice and Hiro¡¯s faces.

    ¡°Thank you, Alice,¡± Hiro genuinely expressed while gulping the ss of mineral water Alice gave him.

    ¡°You do the dishes. Also, it¡¯ll be your turn to cook tomorrow.¡±

    At that moment, Hiro regretted thanking Alice who had quickly stood up and left the dining table to walk toward the long sofa Hiro previously used to game.

    He judged thedy too quickly.

    Even so, Hiro still did the house chores he was assigned without aint.

    ¡­

    After everything was cleaned up, Hiro no longer wasted his time. Even though the old clock on the wall showed that it was already 1 AM, he didn¡¯t immediately go to sleep.

    He was determined to grind when everyone was asleep to catch up on his level and aim for the top 10 of the game¡¯s opening event in the first month.

    He still hadn¡¯t given up on the prize money.

    [Checking the connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    Hiro¡¯s senses were returned to his avatar, which was lying on the bed in Jacob¡¯s house. Moving sneakily like a thief, he left the building while making as little noise as he could.

    The streets of Vul Faldur City were very quiet at this hour. Furthermore, despite it not snowing at all, the air was extremely cold.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to return to Beginner Town just to grind. The transportation fee was considerably expensive, and he didn¡¯t want to pay that amount again for just one trip.

    He checked Monster Wiki with his HUD system to obtain information about the monsters he could fight in the areas near the ce. And it worked. Information of level 30+ monsters had been registered on Monster Wiki.

    It seemed that numerous yers had contributed to gathering various monster information.

    Hiro hurriedly headed to the location he had marked on the map. ording to Monster Wiki, he would meet over 20 of the monsters called [Flying Bats] at that spot.

    They were very active and brutal when it came to attacking. However, the EXP that could be gained from defeating these monsters was also quite significant, so Hiro would most likely be able to reach his target of 3¨C5 level-ups before the morning came.

    However, when Hiro arrived at the location he correctly marked, the monsters he saw seemed different.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [Level 37. Zombie Flying Bat.]

    [Race: Demon/Undead/Unholy/Beast]

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡®I forgot some of them change at night.¡¯

    The name bar of the flying monsters in front of him was red. This signified that they were too strong for him to fight at his current level.

    Even so, Hiro still wanted to defeat those monsters other yers hadn¡¯t encountered.

    The monsters were in the form of ck bats, and they were each the size of a golden-crowned flying fox of the megabat species famous in the Philippines. They all had destroyed, messy faces covered in blood, emitting a sharp smell.

    There were only five of them there, but Hiro was sure that just those five were at least equal to 20 normal [Flying Bat] strength-wise.

    ¡°Let¡¯s show those monsters what the real vampiric power looks like,¡± Hiro spoke to his greatsword.

    As if it was responding to his words, the Blood-Eater Vampire gleamed.

    Hiro then readily positioned himself while pointing his de at one of the nearest zombie Flying Bats to activate his Sword Combo skill.

    Whoosh!

    St! [Critical Hit]

    St! [2x Critical Hit]

    .

    .

    St! [7x Critical Hit]

    Hiro¡¯sbo waspletely uninterrupted once he swung from one target to another. With his damage continuing to multiply following thebo, he was able to defeat one monster with three shes at the beginning.

    And when hisbo reached 5x, he was able to defeat each one of them with just a sh.

    Hiro also received bites and scratches, which brought more sharp stinging pain to his bleeding arms than he thought. Fortunately, perhaps it was because the monsters he was going against were normal-type monsters, but he didn¡¯t have to worry about turning into a zombie even after getting scratched and bitten.

    St! [10x Hit Combo]

    Hiro¡¯sbo had to stop and restart every time he reached the 10x threshold, and this dissatisfied him a little. He really couldn¡¯t wait to activate the Sword Combo Skill awakening he obtained from the CBT version.

    Hiro continued to swing his greatsword without a word. When the 10xbo was once again reached, he intentionally swung his de horizontally, simultaneously shing five bats and killing them all at once.

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    Hiro managed to eliminate five of them at once for the first time. He was preparing himself for them to respawn one by one like they previously did when all of a sudden, a unique phenomenon urred.

    Hiro reflexively used the back of his hand to cover his face when an exceedingly bright light suddenly shone in front of him. It took a brief moment for the light to dim, but it still didn¡¯tpletely disappear.

    Ding!

    [New monster has been unlocked]

    [Level 45. Chiropteran Behemoth (Boss)]

    [Race: Demon]

    A zombie bat-like creature with torn white membrane as its skin and wings covered in cuts had appeared on the ground in front of Hiro. The monster was enormous for a bat, its size approximately equal to an adult elephant with a slimmer body.

    Its entire body was white, and the creature had a ttened head filled with rows of sharp teething out of its jaws.

    Screeech!

 Chapter 102

    Hiro was surprised to see a monster that suddenly appeared in front of him. Because the difference in power between Hiro and the monster was quiterge, the HP bar of the monster was dark red in Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    The zombie-bat like creature monster continued to hiss at him. It emitted sound waves that made Hiro¡¯s ears hurt, like they were being stabbed by two sharp objects.

    Hiro had no time to think. Even if he had to run away, the direction back to the safezone of Vul Faldur city was behind the boss monster¡¯s back. With both its wings outstretched, Hiro¡¯s escape route was closed.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Hiro tightened his grip on the hilt of the blood-eater vampire sword that didn¡¯t budge a bit.

    Luckily, the unique sword skill wasn¡¯t on cooldown because Hiro didn¡¯t use it against the previous monsters. Even so, he didn¡¯t expect to get a surprise attack like this.

    ¡°There seems to be no other choice.¡±

    Hiro positioned his legs to attack the monster that kept emitting strange sound waves that made his ears buzzing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, blood-eater.¡± Hiro was ready to activate his unique sword skill as he swung his greatsword at the body of the monster slithering in front of him.

    Bang!

    A sh urred, and Hiro¡¯s de instantly gave off a purplish metallic glow when his unique skill was activated. However, Hiro didn¡¯t see the blood oozing out of the monster¡¯s body and instead, the next second, Hiro was being thrown back violently.

    Bang!

    [Health -1050]

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Hiro fell to the ground. His wrist was sprained. But, he must get up soon or he will be killed outside the safe zone.

    [Unique skill missed]

    ¡°Shit!¡± Hiro had just read the notification that popped up on his HUD system when suddenly the monster¡¯s hand that had wing membranes flew towards him like a sh.

    Crash!

    Hiro managed to stop the attack by using the back of his sword. However, despite looking very weak with broken wings, the monster possessed a physical strength that made Hiro¡¯s knees bend to the ground.

    Realizing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to attack back, Hiro jumped even further backwards before the hand managed to rip his body apart.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro¡¯s unique sword skill was still on cooldown while the HP of the monster in front of him was still full. Hiro thought of a way tost for three minutes until his unique skill could be used again. And he had to survive, no matter what.

    The monster walked by slithering using its arms, which were three timesrger than its feet. It moved in high-speed even though its movements looked strange, like a wall-climber newbie who was on his first day.

    Screech!

    The monster screeched before swinging its hand once again at Hiro, and Hiro jumped to the side at the right time.

    Buta€¡°what happened next seeded in making Hiro¡¯s feet stick to the ground.

    [Bat Sonar]

    An extremely painful sound echoed from the muzzle of the monster in front of Hiro. It was very loud and terrifying. In addition, there was a wave of air that emerged like waves hitting Hiro¡¯s body.

    The airwaves didn¡¯t have the slightest driving force, but it got sucked into Hiro¡¯s body and made him unable to move.

    The monster suddenly shot up by swinging its arms like a booster rocket, then mmed its pointed head to Hiro¡¯s stomach.

    Bang!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Health -4200]

    Hiro couldn¡¯t dodge the attack. A fatal damage made him being pushed backwards. His stomach was bleeding like he had been stabbed by a greatsword.

    ¡°Damn, that hurts!¡± Hiro realized that the boss monster was too strong for him.

    Screech!

    Hiro tried to force his aching body to stand up. His stomach was no longer bleeding, and he checked the status of his sword¡¯s unique skill before making a move.

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Hiro realized that just dodging it wouldn¡¯t help him win or buy time, and that monster knew how to lock his movement. So, he decided to change his strategy by dashing forward with an active swordbo skill.

    St!

    St! [2x critical hitbo] [Health -750]

    The monster¡¯s head moved to aim for Hiro¡¯s body as Hiro shed it, looking for a point where he could hit the monster without being thrown backwards, for one more time.

    St! [6x Hitbo] [Health -3100]

    The boss¡¯s HP still hadn¡¯t been revealed. And that meant only one. The HP still remains a lot, even though Hiro had shed it mercilessly.

    Screech!

    Crash!

    Its teeth bit Hiro¡¯s left arm very hard.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    The spiky-headed monster¡¯s jaws were extremely strong, its sharp, saw-like teeth had pierced Hiro¡¯s arm until blood was pouring out from his arm.

    [Health -2500]

    Bang!

    Hiro kicked the monster¡¯s neck, and the monster released the grip of its jaw from Hiro¡¯s hand.

    ¡°This bat!¡± Hiro hissed. He had never been injured this badly while grinding.

    [Unique Skill ready]

    Without waiting any longer, Hiro shed the body of the giant bat-shaped monster in front of him using a swordbo skill. He repeated it from the beginning until he managed to stack thebo.

    St! [5x Critical hitbo] [Health -2700]

    Attacking non-stop in a very fast movement made the monster couldn¡¯t dodge blood-eater vampire greatsword in the slightest.

    A fairly thick red liquid gushed out every time the sword shed its body.

    At the sixthbo sh, Hiro activated his weapon¡¯s unique skill right away.

    St! [6x Hitbo]

    Ding!

    [Boss HP has been revealed]

    [HP 8,075/40,250]

    Hiro¡¯s n worked, and the monster¡¯s HP had reduced. At the same time, Hiro¡¯s HP was regenerated back.

    ¡°Eat this, you bad bat!¡±

    He continued his swordbo skill to finish the monster off with the buff he got from the sword

    St! St!

    Screech!

    Two final shes were enough, and the monster was thrown backwards, copsing on its back. Its body was covered in blood, so was Hiro, who was trying to catch his breath.

    [Boss defeated]

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    [You have obtained Lost ]

    [You have obtained 1,000 LSC]

    [You have obtained bat ears () (tradeable)]

    Hiro arched an eyebrow curiously at one of the items he got from defeating the boss monster that appeared out of nowhere.

    The item called Lost  was a parchment made of leather and contained inscriptions and sketches that Hiro couldn¡¯t read with his human eye.

    [Demon¡¯s eyes]

    Hiro¡¯s eyes gave off a bright red light that moved like a shlight to scan the inscriptions and sketches on the parchment.

    [Dear Lucifer, the love of my life. I hope this letter reaches you. I did my best to hide your precious Sigil from all human beings who crave for it more than their own life. Follow this map with the assistance of the full moon and you will get it back.]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the Lost Sigil Map]

 Chapter 103

    Hiro continued grinding after defeating a boss monster that suddenly appeared in front of him. He still had energy left to catch up with other yers who had higher level than him, and he was determined not to stop until the sun appeared in the virtual world.

    While swinging his sword non-stop to finish off the normal zombie-bat-shaped monsters that re-spawned in the same location, Hiro could still use his brain to think about other things.

    After getting a special quest that could only be done during a full moon in that world, Hiro had to look for information about the moon cycle he couldn¡¯t find anywhere so far. For the time being, Hiro only relied on the moon in the sky.

    The moon had entered a cycle known as the gibbous waxing phase. Which meant it could be predicted that a full moon woulde in the next few days. Hiro had to make sure that he did not miss it. Because if he missed it, Hiro would have to wait another month to execute the special quest.

    St!

    Ding!

    [Base level up 1x]

    The sky at the end of the horizon began to turn reddish, a sign that in the next few minutes, the sun would rise. Hiro walked away from the zombie bat spot until the monsters stopped chasing him.

    ¡°Not bad, level 34. Now I¡¯m going back to Jacob¡¯s house before he gets flustered seeing my room empty.¡±

    Hiro felt lucky because the cold air in the desert area automatically cooled his hot body from constantly grinding. He had walked back to the house where Jacob lived and by the time he arrived, he was no longer sweating.

    And he was safe.

    Hiro sneaked back in andid down for a moment on the bed while staring at the ceiling of the room with a dreamy gaze.

    ¡°Strange, is Libe really looking for me? But for what? Has her memory really returned?¡±

    ¡°But why didn¡¯t she ept my friend¡¯s request?¡±

    Knock! Knock!

    Jacob had returned and checked the room where Hiro was resting. He put on a relieved face after finding Hiro was still in the room.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you sleep in that cramped room?¡±

    Hiro stood up again and shook his head.

    ¡°I slept well. Thank you. Shall we go now?¡±

    Jacob, of course, refused. He forced Hiro to clean his body first by using the public bathroom facilities, and Jacob had also prepared breakfast for the two of them.

    Hiro just obeyed. Although he found it strange to have to do things that were normally only done in the real world, he still obeyed Jacob¡¯s request.

    Ding!

    [Freshened Mood]

    [All basic attributes have been increased by 1% for 6h]

    For the first time, Hiro just found out there was a buff mood like that. After finishing bathing using a simple shower, he got an additional buff, which was quite useful for 6 hours.

    ¡°Wow, this is unique.¡±

    Hiro came to the dining room to have breakfast with Jacob. He was grateful that he didn¡¯t see a bottle of wine or beer on the dining table. Just toast and a ss of warm milk. Hiro didn¡¯t know that Jacob had a kid¡¯s appetite for breakfast.

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go to the Vul Faldur castle.¡±

    The two of them went to Vul Faldur castle to find a tribal chief named NPC Gruzzal. The tribal chief of the seven dwarf tribes who settled and built the kingdom of Vul Faldur together.

    On the way to the castle, the two of them had to pass through a traditional market that was very busy with visitors, both NPC visitors and real yers. Hiro just realized that there were quite a lot of yers with bloodline dwarves who were already actively trading in the market.

    Jacob said they didn¡¯t need to have a trading license if they wanted to sell in that market. So, it was only natural that the market was very crowded because it didn¡¯t charge any pennies.

    ¡°Buff potion, buff potion!¡±

    ¡°I have a very strong steel sword with very high endurance. Please drop by!¡±

    ¡°I sell antiques for collection. You can bid!¡±

    Hiro saw the yers who kept shouting their sales to get the attention of potential buyers.

    Uniquely, not only yers could buy goods sold by fellow yers, but it turned out that NPCs could also stop by the store to buy something they needed.

    Another method to earn money besides grinding was selling in the Vul Faldur market.

    Before entering a giant wall that led to the castle, Jacob pulled Hiro¡¯s hand to turn and entered a tavern right near the giant wall.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro was surprised by Jacob¡¯s sudden reaction.

    ¡°Searching for information. Don¡¯t you need to get the chief¡¯s attention?¡±

    Hiro thought that Jacob already knew the answer and invited him directly to meet the NPC he was looking for. However, it turned out that he still didn¡¯t know how to gain the trust of NPC Gruzzal.

    Even so, Hiro gave Jacob a chance to solve it himself. He still believed that Jacob was very good at this.

    Meanwhile, inside the Vul Faldur city tavern that the two of them visited was already crowded with yers and NPCs. But most of them were NPCs, and they all came from bloodline dwarves, so the arrival of Hiro and Jacob really managed to attract attention.

    ¡°What are a demon and a dragon doing here?¡±

    Hiro had already heard the hostile voices of the dwarf NPCs whispering. They whispered using Hiro and Jacob of being ridiculous in a voice loud enough that Hiro could hear it.

    ¡°Stay close to me, bro.¡±

    Hiro clung to Jacob and believed in him.

    ¡°Hey, Jake!¡±

    The shouts of a group of female NPCs from the bloodline dwarves who were sitting in the corner of the room really took Hiro by surprise. Their voices were very high-pitched and excited. Making other people turn to look at them with annoyed expressions.

    ¡°Ladies!¡± Jacob walked closer to the group of dwarf women and Hiro followed him. Ignoring all the ill-natured gazes on them.

    ¡°Hi, Jake. It¡¯s been awhile. You look very hot as usual!¡± Dororen said. A female Dwarf who wore a royal princess-style dress in bright yellow. She tied her hair in a bun and put on a blunt needle essory that gleamed under the light because it had ruby-like stones.

    ¡°I miss you guys.¡± Hiro just watched how Jacob carried out his mission. One thing he could never do alone.

    ¡°This is my friend, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°Aww¨Cwhat a cutie!¡±

    Having a baby face makes Hiro always get called cute rather than a handsome or hot guy.

    ¡°Hi, Dororen. Do you know Mr. Gruzzal?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. We all know Gruzzal.¡± The expressions on the Dwarven women¡¯s faces turned grim, as if they had an unresolved grudge against the person they were talking about.

    ¡°Do you know what he really likes?¡± Jacob put on his na?ve face that always managed to make other people feel sorry for him.

    ¡°Women. Give her a beautifuldy and she will give you anything you want in exchange.¡±

    Both Hiro and Jacob were surprised at the answer they had just heard.

    ¡°Women? Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Anything else that we can give as a present?¡±

    Dororen and the others shook their heads firmly.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be kicked out before you arrive if you don¡¯t bring a beautiful woman there.¡±

    Jacob looked at Hiro with a grin on his face.

    ¡°I have a lot of female friends, but I have never traded women for anything, Bro. What should we do now?¡±

 Chapter 104

    The first thing Hiro had to do toplete his first mission, getting the heart of the dwarf chief, already gave him a rather difficult time. He and Jacob had tried to ask a dwarf NPC and a dwarf yer in the tavern to help them with something in return, but they didn¡¯t seed. The female dwarf NPC directly refused despite Jacob¡¯s maximum flirting.

    They truly hated NPC Gruzzal.

    After a little over thirty minutes, Hiro finally remembered he had a female yer on his friend list at the moment.

    Without much thought, he immediately called the yer to ask for help. Howevera€|

    ¡°Are you out of your mind? You want to trade me for a dwarven chief¡¯s quest?¡± A loud, slightly deep female voice came from the other end of the voice call, startling Hiro.

    He felt as if his ears were ringing because of Cara¡¯s shout.

    ¡°Please, I¡¯m begging you. I¡¯ll do anything for you in return.¡± Hiro had no other choice. By hatching his pet egg, he was confident that his battle rating would drastically increase and his avatar rank would go back up. Just one more step to achieve it.

    Cara fell silent. She seemed to be considering his request.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what she would say, but he wasn¡¯t going to give up easily.

    ¡°Please, Cara,¡± he once again pleaded, putting aside his pride to catch up due to the unexpected kidnapping.

    ¡°¡­Fine.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Hiro reflexively eximed with a jump. ¡°Thank you so much, Cara!¡±

    Jacob, who couldn¡¯t hear the conversation in the call, also joyfully eximed when he saw Hiro¡¯s victorious reaction.

    Hiro asked Cara to hurry to Vul Faldur City to meet up.

    ¡°Did you get her?¡± Jacob tried to make sure that he didn¡¯t misunderstand.

    ¡°I got her.¡±

    At this moment, Hiro really couldn¡¯t care less about what the girl would ask him to do after his n went smoothly.

    And they waited until Cara arrived in front of the tavern that became their meeting point.

    ¡°Hi!¡± Jacob raised his right hand to greet Cara, but the girl only briefly looked at him without interest. The expression on her face sessfully made Jacob, who had never been rejected by a woman he took the initiative to interact with, feel pped on the face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡±

    From the exnation of the dwarf Jacob and Hiro met in the tavern,dies who were to be given to NPC Gruzzal had to be dressed as femininely as possible as the dwarven chief was crazy over femininedies.

    And because of that, the three went to the market to find a dress to temporarily hide Cara¡¯s tomboy impression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡±

    It was difficult to get Cara to wear a dress. Even so, after once again wasting thirty minutes to find the right dress, they finally found a dress she was willing to wear.

    A resplendent long ck dress.

    Cara looked exceptionally elegant in the dress, and she was willing to wear it as it was the only dress that didn¡¯t have a flower pattern on it so far.

    A dress was all they needed. Hiro didn¡¯t want to waste any more time just to get Cara to have a make-up and hairdo makeover, so he let Cara¡¯s already attractive face stay natural. Even so, Jacob still got Cara to tie her short hair to look more elegant.

    And finally, they left for Vul Faldur Castle.

    a€|

    After easily going through the giant wall without attracting suspicion, Hiro and Jacob already knew which way to go.

    They didn¡¯t go to the castle. Instead, they went to the elongated building on the side of the castle. It was akin to a housing estate, but the stones used had a beautiful, shining golden color due to the sunlight.

    Hiro, Jacob, and Cara arrived in front of a building taller than the neighboring buildings. When two male dwarves in armor saw the three, they immediately had a sour expression on their faces.

    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± one of them asked. The dwarf clearly asked in a cynical tone, but Hiro was struggling to suppress his urge tough. The thick beard on the dwarf¡¯s face made him seem funny as he spoke, especially since he couldn¡¯t see the dwarf¡¯s mouth under that beard.

    ¡°Chief Gruzzal,¡± Jacob mentioned their reason foring. ¡°We brought a gift.¡±

    The two dwarves scrutinized Cara from top to bottom as if they were assessing whether this was a worthy gift for their boss.

    Cara was extremely displeased by their gazes. The girl had raised the skirt of her dress intending to kick one of the brazen dwarves¡¯ faces, but Hiro pulled her back a little forcefully.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Hiro threw a relieved gaze to Jacob, who also did the same.

    The three then walked into the stone building. The inside of the building was only about 1.7 meters in height, so Hiro and Jacob had to bend down to the point of almost bowing when they entered.

    They went through an unexpectedly crowded long hall. Dwarves, both male and female, were walking about in the area. And it wasn¡¯t just NPCs; some of them were yers.

    ¡®What are they doing here?¡¯ Hiro couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    After walking about another 10 meters, a female dwarf suddenly eximed with excitement when she saw one of the guests.

    ¡°Cara! Oh my gosh, look at you! I almost didn¡¯t recognize you! You look so beautiful!¡±

    The dwarf was a yer.

    [Level 28. Wheelie. Cleric. Licensed Traveler]

    Cara wasn¡¯t any less excited when she saw someone she knew. She ran to the dwarf so hurriedly that the top of her head hit the ceiling of the building hard.

    Bang!

    ¡°Ouchhh!¡±

    ¡°Cara, are you all right?¡± Wheelie approached Cara, who reflexively crouched while rubbing the top of her head.

    ¡°Tee-hee. Wheelie, what are you doing here? I haven¡¯t seen you in so long.¡±

    Hiro let out a long sigh when he saw the reunion in front of him. He could only wait.

    Jacob, who still hadn¡¯t known that this was how Cara would act whenever she saw a woman, could only watch with astonishment.

    Cara told her friend about her reason foring to this ce. And of course, Wheelie was surprised and threw a displeased nce full of usations at Jacob and Hiro.

    ¡°Gruzzal is crazy. I¡¯ll go with you, Cara.¡± Wheelie decided to join in, and Hiro and Jacob simply allowed.

    As long as their n continued.

    After Hiro felt as if his back was about to snap into two for having to bend down for so long, they finally arrived in another room with normal height.

    In the room was a throne, and sitting on it was a seemingly old male dwarf with a bulky body surrounded by five female dwarves.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I brought you a gift, dwarven chief.¡± This time, it was Hiro who spoke.

    Cara and Wheelie entered the room after Hiro¡¯s signal.

    Seeing this, Gruzzal¡¯s eyes opened wide and shone as if he had just fallen in love at first sight. He jumped down from his throne and ran to his gift.

    ¡°For the founding ancestors of Vul Faldur, you are stunning,dy!¡±

    Buta€| it seemed that Gruzzal misunderstood. Instead of approaching Cara, he ran toward Wheelie and pulled her hands beforeplimenting her full of sincerity.

 Chapter 105

    They truly didn¡¯t expect the result, and Hiro was dumbfounded seeing how it didn¡¯t go as nned. Even so, Cara¡¯s friend didn¡¯t seem to mind recing Cara¡¯s position.

    After NPC Gruzzal showered Wheelie with various ridiculouspliments, the old man finally turned to approach Hiro with a sunny expression. He was grinning so wide his face began to look a little odd.

    ¡°Thank you for giving me such a wonderful gift. I love it very much,¡± the old dwarf said while patting Hiro¡¯s hand like a close friend.

    Cara and Jacob looked at him questioningly, but Hiro only nodded.

    ¡°I would usually give anything the wanderer asks for in return, but since the gift I received today is so wonderful, I will give you my most treasured item.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a fairytale book: A Dragon and the Seven Dwarves]

    NPC Gruzzal gave him a thick book, and Hiro kept the book in the bag shaped like a sack on his back.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    After finally getting what he needed, Hiro rushed out to leave the building. He nned to open the book after getting some fresh airter.

    Cara and Jacob followed Hiro. The three didn¡¯t immediately get out of the castle area.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in this book.¡±

    Hiro looked for a ce secluded enough from the main street to avoid disturbing passersby. The sunlight didn¡¯t reach the gap between the two buildings they chose, so the three could stay there with no worries of getting sunburnt.

    While Hiro started to open a page of the book, Cara changed back into her initial costume. She really didn¡¯t care about getting changed in front of two boys looking at her stunned.

    ¡°What?¡± Cara tied theces of her high boots.

    ¡°Never mind.¡±

    ¡­

    Long ago, a princess from the human kingdom called Eternity Kingdom was walking in the forest around the castle. She was walking with her seven dwarven friends.

    One sunny day, they happily walked while humming with the birds in the forest. But as they were walking, they didn¡¯t realize that they had walked too far into the forest, into the dark side they should never set foot on.

    Full of curiosity she was, the princess wanted to see what was there. Thus, she ignored the warnings from her seven friends and decided to check the dark side of the forest for just a little while.

    But in the scary forest, the princess found something very beautiful. A pair of lovers was embracing each other full of love. They seemed so bright it was like the sun was with them.

    The arrival of the princess disturbed the pair of lovers, and something none of them wanted happened. The man of the pair looked at the princess with his shining red eyes, and before he realized it, he had fallen in love with the princess right in front of his lover.

    The princess didn¡¯t know that the lovers she met were actually very scary demons. Angered, the woman of the pair immediately used her powers to curse the princess to be a stone statue.

    But¡­

    Just before the curse reached her, the seven loyal dwarves shielded the princess to protect her, and they became stone statues. At the same time, the man of the pair gave the princess another curse to protect her from his lover.

    He transformed her into a scary dragon because he knew that only dragons couldn¡¯t be turned into stone.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a special quest: A Dragon and the Seven Dwarves]

    [With a kiss from a charming knight, the dragon will turn back into a beautiful princess. However, the forest has been sealed by the high priest. To break the seal, blood from all the races in the world must be offered.]

    [Requirement: A party with all different bloodlines]

    ¡°I can kiss the princess if you mind, bro.¡± Jacob patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder after he read the contents of the book and the quest he just received.

    Hiro knew that the road to obtaining the materials to evolve his pet was still long, but he didn¡¯t expect that he would need to get help from others to achieve it.

    ¡°We have a demon, a dragon, and a beast. Only an elf and a dwarf are left.¡±

    Hiro thought for a bit. He had to get an elf and a dwarf toplete the quest.

    ¡°I can ask Wheelie if you want,¡± Cara suggested.

    ¡°Can you?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Just wait here.¡±

    Cara ran back into the building where she got separated from her friend. In the meantime, Hiro and Jacob continued to think about how to find an elf.

    ¡°I have a lot of elf friends, but they¡¯re all girls.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with them being girls?¡±

    ¡°It means only you and I can be the charming knight. What if it doesn¡¯t work?¡±

    Jacob was right. Hiro also thought about it. He even thought of creating a party with five male yers including himself, but he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to achieve at the moment.

    Hiro could ask BigShow and his friends, but if they weren¡¯t powerful enough to finish the quest? Because it didn¡¯t seem easy at all.

    As Hiro was thinking hard, a scream full of despair could suddenly be heard from outside the main gate.

    ¡°No! Help!¡±

    ¡°Please stop! I didn¡¯t do anything!¡±

    Hiro immediately hurried toward the source of the sound with Jacob, who quickly ran after him. In a matter of seconds, he could see a crowd of dwarves standing at the side of the market.

    In front of them were three yers in robes standing in front of a dwarven yer Hiro recognized as an antique seller in that market.

    The three robed yers each wore a mask that covered their face and had arge scythe almost their height. Made them look like grim reapers.

    When Hiro tried to read the three yers¡¯ names, he only saw a username without a level, job, or even title. And their usernames were dark red.

    yer killers, and they were using a special item to hide their identities.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you already know the rule?¡± one of the three mysterious yers approached the dwarven yer who was now crawling with his legs covered in blood.

    ¡°I¡­ I really didn¡¯t do it¡­¡± the dwarven yer said in a very small voice.

    St!

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    Hiro almost jumped in to save the dying yer, but Jacob held him back.

    ¡°No. Don¡¯t get involved. He¡¯s already dead,¡± Jacob whispered, warning.

    Hiro looked back at the dwarven yer once again. His body had been shed into two. The scythe¡¯s sharp giant de tore his stomach, causing the dwarf¡¯s organs to scatter out.

    But before the dwarven yer died, the killer grabbed his shoulder and the two disappeared.

    Poof!

    ¡°Where did they go?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Out of the city. He brought him out in that condition, and the system would count it as getting killed outside the safe zone.¡±

    Hearing about the cunning act angered Hiro. He looked at the two other yer killers who only smiled under their robes before disappearing, leaving a smoke bomb that made the people around cough.

    Poof!

    ¡°What the hell. Who are they?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the yer killers I mentioned yesterday, the people who call themselves WynterRain¡¯s fans.¡±

 Chapter 106

    For the first time, Hiro witnessed how the yer killers people were secretly talking about worked first-hand. He truly didn¡¯t expect that they would not only kill yers outside the safe zone, but also kill yers in the safe zone and manipte the system by bringing them outside the arena just before they died.

    A cruel action he never imagined would be done in a game world.

    ¡°We have to go back before Cara looks for us.¡± Jacob pulled Hiro to get away from the dwarf crowd. Looking at his behavior, Jacob seemed to be ufortable with the sight he just saw. His face had turned pale.

    ¡°You all right?¡± Hiro asked to make sure.

    ¡°You bet, bro. This isn¡¯t the first time I saw them execute someone.¡± Jacob looked nauseous.

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to continue the conversation that made his friend ufortable. Even though he had more things he wanted to say, he remained silent and kept them all to himself. He still couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Besides, why were there no other yers who tried to be an executor of those fanatic yer killers? It was as if no one was more powerful than them.

    What about the Immortal Knights and the members of elite guilds like Exalted? Did they choose to stay quiet?

    Hiro wanted to investigate the matter further, but he had to focus on his first n for the time being.

    At the previous ce, Cara and Wheelie were waiting for them with a frown.

    ¡°Where¡¯ve you two been?¡± Cara was clearly unhappy.

    ¡°A PK happened, those yer killers,¡± Jacob answered in whispers.

    Hiro nced at Cara and Wheelie. The two deeply sighed when they heard Jacob¡¯s words, but they chose not to discuss it any further.

    This made Hiro feel stranger. Cara and Wheelie seemed to know about the matter well, but why were they avoiding getting involved andmenting on it?

    [Jacob has joined the party]

    [Cara has joined the party]

    [Wheelie has joined the party]

    ¡°All right, now we just need an elf.¡± Hiro thought about it for a bit, but he still didn¡¯t know who to invite.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you invite your boyfriend?¡± Cara nonchntly asked.

    Cara¡¯s abruptment caught Hiro and Jacob off-guard. Hiro¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at her, and Jacob quickly looked at Hiro with wide eyes.

    ¡°B-Boyfriend?¡± Hiro repeated. He looked at Cara to confirm, but the girl still had the same calm expression on her face.

    ¡ª¡ªHe heard wrong, right?

    ¡°Bro, you have a boyfriend? So you¡¯ve been bi this whole time?¡± Jacob easily believed Cara¡¯s words.

    ¡°Wait, huh? No, are you kidding me!?¡±

    Cara tilted her head and let out a long sigh.

    ¡°Ahh, I thought he was your boyfriend. I¡¯m usually right when ites to guessing people¡¯s thoughts. You know, when he looks at you, I felt something different,¡± Cara exined her theory about Hiro¡¯s ¡®boyfriend¡¯.

    But it only confused Hiro and Jacob even more.

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    Just what is in this girl¡¯s head??

    ¡°Hm? That powerful magician, Noah, of course.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The atmosphere became even stranger.

    ¡°Huh!? That damn magician is not his boyfriend. Never, I will never let him date my bro!¡± Jacob vigorously denied, emphasizing the word ¡®never¡¯.

    Even Jacob, who previously believed her, instantly brushed off the thought of Hiro secretly having a boyfriend when he heard who it was.

    ¡°What a possessive friend,¡± Cara indistinctly mumbled.

    ¡°Ahem, let¡¯s get back on topic. I think you¡¯re right, Cara. I¡¯ll try to ask him.¡±

    Hiro regretted only remembering about Noah now. After witnessing how he defeated the magician from Ace¡¯s party at that time, Hiro truly felt that he had to pull Noah to his side.

    He called Noah through a direct call, and it connected almost immediately. The mage picked up his call really fast.

    ¡­

    Hiro exined what he needed and what he could offer in return, doing the same thing he did to get Cara to agree. However, Noah proved to be much, much more difficult to getpared to the rogue.

    It was only after arguing in the call for over 10 minutes that Hiro finally got him to agree. But before that, he had to make an oath.

    ¡­

    Hiro and the others headed to the location coordinates marked on the map following the quest he received. The coordinates brought the four to Eternity Kingdom far south. In the area was a very vast forest with only narrow gaps between the trees, but this wasn¡¯t the main forest mentioned in the tale.

    Noah finally arrived. This time, he was wearing a very promising robe, a robe with metal armor on vital parts.

    ¡°Since when are you interested in bright colors?¡± Jacob¡¯s brows furrowed when he saw Noah¡¯s new look.

    He looked like a sacred white magician in that new robe.

    ¡°Don¡¯tment on my fashion when you¡¯re only wearing that ugly armor, noobie knight.¡±

    Hiro knew that this would happen. The two seriously couldn¡¯t get along.

    ¡°All right, we¡¯re all here now,¡± he tried to mediate.

    Noah looked at Cara and Wheelie through the sharp corner of his eyes before snorting in disinterest. Wheelie, who was meeting him for the first time, seemed bashful as she hid behind Cara.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that handsome prince?¡± the dwarfdy couldn¡¯t hide her interest.

    ¡°He¡¯s gay. Trust me,¡± Cara whispered.

    She only intended to tell her friend, but everyone heard it, including Noah.

    ¡°Hey! What the hell are you talking about, gothic girl!?¡±

    ¡°Stop it, all of you. Let¡¯s not waste time.¡±

    Fortunately, Hiro prevented the fight that was about to ur between the mage and the rogue.

    ¡°My request first, NightFall.¡± Noah stretched out his right hand to Hiro.

    In the previous call, Noah said something about a magic spell he recently bought from someone in the marketce, a magic spell categorized as lost magic.

    [Bloodchain Vow].

    Hiro stretched out his right hand and held Noah¡¯s right hand, and Noah also did the same.

    ¡°¡±What are you doing?¡±¡± Cara and Jacob simultaneously asked.

    The three only stood as spectators this time.

    ¡°I, Noah, swear to help NightFall toplete the special quest [A Dragon and the Seven Dwarves]. Your turn, NightFall.¡±

    ¡°I, NightFall, swear to give Noah a rare item he wants if the rare item drops from the special quest [A Dragon and the Seven Dwarves].¡± Hiro imitated Noah.

    The next second, a smile formed on Noah¡¯s face. His jaws hardened and his lips began moving to chant a spell.

    ¡°Bloodchain, I call you to be the witness of this vow.¡±

    Crack!

    Scritch!

    Chains covered in fresh, dripping blood suddenly came out of Noah¡¯s right hand. The chains continued to be longer as they moved to coil themselves around the two hands connected by the oath before drilling into Hiro¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Ack!¡± Hiro winced. It was excruciatingly painful. He almost let go of his hand, but the chains didn¡¯t allow it.

    Hiro nced at Noah, who was also grimacing while enduring the pain.

    Ding!

    [You have been bound to the lost magic Bloodchain]

    [If you break your vow, you will be a prisoner of the darkness.]

 Chapter 107

    [Noah has joined the party]

    Hiro led the way. The five were now walking into the forest without arguing with each other.

    Hiro hoped that they would continue to get along, at least until they cleared the special quest. He seriously felt that this was the most important thing at the moment.

    He looked back on how he felt when the bond of the [Bloodchain Vow] was finally made. The lost magic really piqued his curiosity and interest in having one as well. If only he were a mage.

    If the oath was vited, the vitor would receive a punishment. When Hiro first found out about it, he couldn¡¯t believe the severity.

    Bing a [prisoner of the darkness] was only a term for receiving an extended punishment.

    A yer who vited the Bloodchain Vow would receive the punishment of being sent to prison, but not the real one. If dying outside a safe zone prompted a punishment of a 100% EXP reduction and a seven-day ban from logging in, a vitor of the Bloodchain Vow would receive a punishment of being confined to the game for seven days. In other words, they wouldn¡¯t be able to log out.

    But that wasn¡¯t all. In the seven-day punishment period, the vitor would be bound to a ve contract. The yer whose contract they vited would be their master, and a 100% EXP reduction would be applied to the vitor each day without the chance of gaining additional EXP.

    Hiro got goosebumps when he imagined it happening to him. He intended to fulfill his oath.

    ¡­

    The five walked into the forest, toward the location coordinates of the main forest. On the way, Hiro saw various new monster types and collected their information without having to stop to defeat one of them.

    He wanted to focus on finishing one thing this time.

    After walking for about fifteen minutes, they finally arrived in front of a ck wooden fence.

    Hiro had an ominous feeling as he looked at it.

    Behind the wooden fence was an extremely dark forest, as if it was always night there. Moreover, despite the chilling wind from that direction, there was also a thick fog that made that side of the forest seem even eerier.

    ¡°Are you all ready?¡±

    Because of the tense atmosphere, they only nodded in response without making a sound. The clearest sound they could hear apart from the howling wind was the trembling of Wheelie¡¯s body.

    Hiro stretched out his hand and touched the ckened wooden fence in front of him. However, instead of having an item information window pop up in front of him, his skin immediately burned and emitted smoke.

    [HP -1000]

    ¡°Ouch.¡± Hiro reflexively pulled his hand and blew it. The surface of his skin had melted and his HP had instantly gone down.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Jacob was confused when he saw what just happened to Hiro.

    Hiro had an idea as to what it might be, but he needed to confirm.

    ¡°Jacob, try touching that fence.¡±

    Looking at Hiro¡¯s hand that became severely blistered after touching the fence, Jacob quickly lost his will to move in fear of experiencing the same thing. The expression on his face looked as if it was saying, ¡®Are you out of your mind? You¡¯re telling me to burn my finger like you?¡¯

    ¡°Calm down, you¡¯ll be fine. Trust me.¡±

    Hiro tried to persuade Jacob softly, but Noah suddenly pushed Jacob¡¯s hand to the wooden fence from behind.

    Crash!

    ¡°What the hell are you doing!?¡± Jacob reflexively pulled back his hand and cursed at Noah.

    ¡°He¡¯s right, your hand is fine. I guess that thing is covered in the holy attribute.¡± Noah shrugged. He didn¡¯t show a hint of remorse.

    Jacob, who also realized this, once again touched the wooden fence slowly to make sure his hand wouldn¡¯t be burnt.

    ¡°This is weird,¡± he mumbled with a perplexed look.

    At the same time, Noah, Cara, and Wheelie had also stuck their hands onto the surface of the wooden fence. Nothing painful happened to them.

    Hiro¡¯s guess was right. It seemed that that wooden fence was the high priest¡¯s seal mentioned in the quest. Only the holy attribute would be used to seal a product of demons like that dragon.

    ¡°Now what?¡± Noah couldn¡¯t wait.

    Hiro took out his Batarang from his inventory and made a shallow cut on his palm until it bled. After that, he passed the Batarang to the others one by one for them to do the same.

    ¡°Blood sacrifice.¡±

    They didn¡¯tment. They believed that Hiro did the right thing.

    After painfully injuring their own hands, they dripped the blood onto the wooden fence¡¯s surface together.

    Ding!

    [Demon blood]

    [Dragon blood]

    [Beast blood]

    [Elf blood]

    [Dwarf blood]

    [Blood sacrifice has been made]

    [Removing the holy seal]

    Crack!

    Crack!

    Crash!

    The wooden fence that extended to who-knew-where suddenly cracked and broke into shards of shining crystal.

    Ding!

    [Seal has been removed]

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Hiro continued to walk toward the dark area. He then nced at Noah, sending a signal that the mage immediately understood.

    Noah walked next to Hiro and ignited a fire on both of his palms.

    [Fire Torches]

    Now that they were ready, they finally entered the dark side of the forest. However, just after walking 10 steps, hundreds of bats suddenly came at them from every direction.

    Screech!

    St! [HP -100]

    St! [HP -100]

    St! [HP -100]

    ¡°Put out the fire, it¡¯s attracting their attention.¡± Cara pulled Noah¡¯s arm from behind, instantly causing the fire torches on his palms to disappear and plunging them back into darkness.

    The atmosphere became quiet once again, and the bats no longer attacked them with their wind sh-like ws.

    Hiro activated his [Demon¡¯s Eyes] to see what normal eyes couldn¡¯t. The moment he did, he immediately saw a strange trail of blood on the ground.

    The blood trail went deeper into the forest.

    With his Demon¡¯s Eyes, the blood trail that he previously couldn¡¯t see now faintly emitted light, like a glow-in-the-dark that was left there to show them the way.

    ¡°Stick together and follow me.¡±

    Hiro continued to walk with his red eyes glowing. The others moved closer as they walked, afraid of being separated.

    Cara held Wheelie¡¯s hand like a mother holding her daughter¡¯s hand. Meanwhile, Jacob held on to Hiro¡¯s Night Ocean Cloak.

    The deeper they went into the forest, the more difficult Hiro found it to breathe. It was as if the oxygen in the area was dwindling despite the numerous giant trees there.

    At that moment, the group heard a loud snore.

    Zzzzzz¡ª

    A little tense, Hiro sped up his pace to head toward the source of the sound.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [Level 51. (Boss) Hell Dragon]

    [Race: Demon/Dragon]

    Even though the name of the peacefully sleeping dragon gave a terrible impression, the sleeping dragon¡¯s form sessfully hypnotized everyone in the party.

    Like a light in the terrifying dark forest, the dragon was beautiful with its pearly white skin. Even the way it slept was elegant, folding its legs in front of it as a pillow with its two giant wings tightly closed.

    ¡°She¡¯s really a princess.¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t hide his sparkling eyes. At this moment, he looked just like someone who fell in love at first sight.

 Chapter 108

    The dragon was fully sound asleep, but the loud breaths from its nose blew an almost freezing cold air that sent shivers down everyone¡¯s spine.

    ¡°Is she an ice dragon?¡± Noah whispered, trying to guess the sleeping dragon¡¯s identity.

    In the meantime, Hiro very carefully approached the dragon to have a closer look at it. He wanted to check in a more detailed manner before the dragon woke up and they all had to fight it.

    At a noticeably close distance, Hiro could see that the dragon¡¯s wings were hiding something underneath them; something akin to mini elongated stone statues.

    Hiro recognized them. Those stone statues were shaped like several small people he recognized as members of the dwarf bloodline.

    This dragon was indeed the one mentioned in the fairytale book he read.

    Even so, Hiro doubted that he would be able to defeat it. Not only was the gap between their levels toorge, but his opponent was an enormous dragon. Even if Hiro united with his friends, they would only be the size of the dragon¡¯s sole.

    He continued to think. If he failed to think of a way to fight it, he would cause the four people willing to help him to get killed outside the safe zone, something that greatly burdened him at the moment.

    ¡°What are you looking for? Why don¡¯t we just do it?¡± Noah was already prepared with his Mystic Tome floating low in front of him. He was more than confident.

    But he was right. They couldn¡¯t afford to wait for the dragon to sleep forever.

    ¡°Prepare your weapons.¡± Hiro began to arrange a strategy.

    Wheelie was the weakest among them, so she had to maintain a safe distance to avoid getting hit by the dragon¡¯s attacks. But aside from that, a cleric¡¯s all attribute buff wasrgely necessary here, especially DEF, ATK, ASPD, and ACC buffs.

    A cleric also had to know how to cast healing spells at the right time, but for this one, Noah could also do it for the party.

    Hiro didn¡¯t worry about healing as two of his party members had the skill. What he worried about most was the unknown skills of the dragon in front of him. If it had an instant skill, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save anyone, not even himself.

    ¡°Cleric, do you have the Holy Expansion skill?¡±

    Noah¡¯s question made Hiro curious. Holy Expansion? Was there a skill like that for clerics?

    ¡°Uma€| I¡¯m sorry, Holy Expansion is too expensive. 3,500 LSC, I really have no money to buy it.¡± Wheelie looked down and averted her gaze to the side. She felt guilty.

    ¡°Tch. Useless. NightFall, why do you always choose useless people?¡± Noah grumbled.

    Yet despite his words, he flipped the page of his Mystic Tome and did something for them before they truly begin their attack.

    ¡°The greatest high priest, lend me your power to banish the darkness.¡±

    [Holy Spirit]

    Zzziing!

    Five bright orbs of lights suddenly appeared from the Mystic Tome page. The five orbs then darted toward Hiro and the others so swiftly that they didn¡¯t have time to react.

    When the light entered their bodies, Hiro was the only one who felt a side effect of difort, causing him to reflexively bend his body down a little. He felt as if his body was being burned by fervent, yet invisible mes.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± Jacob became worried when he saw Hiro stagger until he kneeled on the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Jacob. He did what had to be done.¡±

    Hiro understood. The magic spell Noah just cast was a spell used to change the damage attribute of their party into the holy attribute, an element crucial to use against demonic creatures like the dragon in front of them.

    ¡°If we had used Holy Expansion instead, he wouldn¡¯t be in pain,¡± Noah indifferently exined.

    After getting used to the burning heat, Hiro forced himself to stand back up and take out his greatsword.

    ¡°Jacob and I will attack from the front. Cara, attack from behind. Noah, keep your safe distance. Wheelie, don¡¯t lose focus. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Roger that!¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jacob!¡±

    Hiro and Jacob ran toward the sleeping dragon¡¯s head at the same rhythm and began to attack. As the tank of the party, Jacobnded the first blow to attract the dragon¡¯s attention to make himself the target of its attacks.

    nk!

    Jacob¡¯s de was deflected when he shed at the dragon¡¯s hard muzzle. It didn¡¯t manage to inflict any damage, but it sessfully caused the dragon¡¯s sapphire blue eyes to open.

    Roarrr!

    The dragon instantly opened its mouth to spray cold air that could freeze anything in front of it.

    Jacob and Hiro dodged at the perfect time just before they got hit by the freezing air.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    St!

    Hiro jumped and shed at full speed. The speed buff from the cleric increased his speed a little.

    His target was the front-right side of the dragon.

    Meanwhile, the dragon¡¯s head was facing Jacob, who just used his Provoke skill at it. Jacob had improved very farpared to when they first met. He no longer stood with shaking legs.

    Whoosh!

    Sshhh!

    Noah shot a water bomb. The moment it hit the dragon¡¯s body, the water bomb exploded with boiling water.

    ¡°Watch your spells, Noah!¡± Jacob, who also got sshed with the hot water a little, felt bothered.

    Even so, Noah didn¡¯t pay him any mind and continued to shoot the same spell.

    In the meantime at the lower side of the dragon¡¯s left wing, Cara was moving exceptionally swiftly with two daggers in her hands, inflicting painful wounds on that side.

    Despite having done the same thing for over 10 minutes now, her speed hadn¡¯t diminished at all.

    Hiro observed the dragon¡¯s movements. It could use its tail and two front feet to deal physical damage to him and Jacob, who continued to attempt to deal significant damage to the dragon.

    Wheelie¡¯s uracy buff greatly helped them not miss their attacks even though the level gap between them and the dragon was truly significant.

    After a pause of thirty seconds, the dragon would spray a breath of cold air that would turn anything it touched into ice. Jacob, who was in front of it, had almost be frozen several times in a row now. His hands and legs were even frozen a few times, but Noah immediately shot hot water bombs until the ice melted.

    Their party was very synced. Moreover, Hiro didn¡¯t expect that Noah would pay attention to the others¡¯ conditions so much. It wasn¡¯t just Jacob who changed to be stronger and braver, but Noah also became more caring.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Blood Eater!¡±

    Right when the dragon opened its mouth to spray cold air, Hiro¡¯s de emitted a purple metallic light following his will to use the greatsword¡¯s unique skill. He had to time the skill properly so it wouldn¡¯t miss.

    St!

    [Absorbing opponent¡¯s HP]

    Ding!

    [Boss HP has been revealed]

    Hiro smiled when he saw the iing notification. His n worked.

    However, before he could see the number of HP the boss had, the dragon suddenly pped its wings very rapidly and powerfully, sending the three who were attacking at a very close distance flying backward.

    And that wasn¡¯t all. Before they could stand back up, tens of ice spears came out from under the dragon¡¯s wing membrane.

    St!

    St!

    St!

 Chapter 109

    Hiro and the others were flung backward quite far and extremely forcefully. Hiro couldn¡¯t even see where the attack came from when he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his right chest. Moreover, he also found it hard to move his arms.

    It was only after he opened his eyes, which felt heavy because of the slightly thick liquid that was sprayed onto his face, that he finally understood what just happened to him and the others.

    Hiro immediately checked the current most important thing using his HUD system. Even though he felt pain all over his body, Hiro was relieved when he saw that all his party members were still alive.

    The yer with the lowest HP among them was Noah. His HP bar had turned red, and it could only mean one thing: He was dying.

    Hiro tried kicking around to free himself. Not only were his feet unable to touch the ground, but his body was stuck on a considerablyrge tree trunk and a spear the size of his arm was stabbed in his right chest.

    He used all his remaining strength to pull the thing out.

    ¡°Arggggh.¡±

    nk!

    Hiro seeded and fell kneeling on the ground. He was just as fatally injured as Noah, but the additional HP from the Blood-Eater Vampire saved him at thest moment.

    Hiro quickly drank a Health Potion to restore his HP.

    In front of him, Jacob managed to resist the abrupt attack with his shield protecting him, but his shield was split into two and destroyed into shards of crystal as a result.

    ¡°Damn it, what was that?¡± Jacob, who no longer had a shield, hurriedly used his Provoke skill to attract the furious dragon¡¯s attention again.

    The two sapphire blue eyes turned into a terrifying shade of blood red.

    ¡°Jacob, be careful.¡±

    Hiro ran toward Noah, who had copsed on his back a distance away from him. With almost every part of his body stabbed with icy spears, he looked like a giant hedgehog.

    Behind Noah was Wheelie, who was trembling while hugging her knees. Fortunately, she was fine.

    It seemed that Noah had made himself into a human shield to protect her at thest second.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re okay, hurry back up and let¡¯s continue fighting.¡± Hiro took the Blood-Eater Vampire, which was also flung away when he received the fatal attacks, and jumped back to his initial position.

    ¡°Fill up your HP with as many Health Potions as you need, we don¡¯t know when she¡¯ll use her ultimate skill again.¡±

    Everyone immediately did as Hiro instructed. In a matter of seconds, the situation had reverted to normal and they began to continue fulfilling their respective roles.

    The ceaseless attacks from Hiro and Jacob¡¯s shes and Cara¡¯s dagger swings sessfully inflicted a wide-open wound on the dragon¡¯s body. Meanwhile, Noah, who had been aiming for the dragon¡¯s vital parts, sessfully scalded the hard body and even caused it to melt a little.

    Three minutes passed, and the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s special skill was finally back. Hiro leaped and flew low toward the dragon¡¯s chest which was covered with thick, armor-like scales. He was aiming for the dragon¡¯s heart when all of a sudden, the dragon¡¯s head turned to look at him and opened her jaws.

    ¡°Shit!¡± Hiro turned his body in the air to push himself to arrive at his target position faster. However, it didn¡¯t seem to be enough.

    At that moment, Noah noticed that Hiro wouldn¡¯t be able to reach it in time.

    [Wind Dash]

    From the distance, Noah swiftly aimed at Hiro¡¯s body and instantly threw the empty air in front of him with both hands, pushing Hiro out of the icy breath¡¯s area.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro, who suddenly received a full speed buff, immediately turned his greatsword toward the dragon¡¯s chest.

    Sttt!

    The Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s de once again emitted a purple metallic light when it heavily struck the dragon¡¯s chest. Hiro had tond his two feet vertically on the dragon¡¯s body to push the greatsword with his physical strength.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t enough.

    Roaaaarrr!

    The dragon roared and stretched its giant ws toward Hiro, but Jacob and Cara didn¡¯t allow that. And again, Noah cast a wind-controlling spell to help Hiro stab his greatsword deeper to reach the dragon¡¯s heart.

    St!

    It worked.

    Roaaar!

    Ding!

    [Hell Dragon is dying. If the legend is true, the princess can be saved before the dragon dies.]

    ¡°Jacob, kiss the dragon now!¡± Hiro had pulled out his greatsword. The Blood-Eater Vampire seemed satisfied with the meal it just got. It didn¡¯t leave a drop of blood on its wide de.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    Hiro nodded, and Jacob seemed to change his mind a little.

    ¡°I thought I¡¯m gonna kiss the princess?¡±

    The dragon unsteadily moved before falling and kissing the ground. Its breath had be irregr, and the blood from its stabbed heart had formed a blood swamp on the ground around it.

    Jacob had to go through the blood swamp with difficulty. Furthermore, he really had to stick his lips to the dragon¡¯s muzzle.

    But nothing happened.

    ¡°Kiss the dragon right, Jacob!¡± Hiro felt that Jacob wasn¡¯t doing it seriously.

    Jacob, who hadnded lots of kisses on every side of the dragon¡¯s face, was already beginning to feel annoyed.

    ¡°Maybe you should do it, Hiro! Come on, try it!¡±

    Hiro frowned. He really minded it. Kissing a dying dragon covered in blood? He never expected that he would have to do such a thing.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take a photo and send it to Liberty,¡± Jacob muttered when Hiro walked toward him ready to kiss the dragon.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first.¡±

    A kiss was given, but the dragon was still dying. Nothing happened.

    Hiro and Jacob simultaneously turned their heads toward theirst hope.

    ¡°No! No! I am not doing that!¡± Noah directly refused.

    ¡°Come on, Noah, just pretend you¡¯re kissing Hiro!¡± Cara, who was already feeling impatient, made ament that attracted Hiro and Noah¡¯s res.

    ¡°¡±Hey!¡±¡±

    ¡°Come on, Noah. You¡¯re the only hope we have left.¡± Hiro truly felt that he no longer had any pride when he had to rely on other people so much.

    But who would¡¯ve thought, Hiro¡¯s words actually persuaded Noah to agree to kiss the dragon.

    Ding!

    [The charming knight has arrived. A kiss from the charming knight broke the curse.]

    Zzzing!

    A blinding light suddenly shone from the dragon¡¯s body. Hiro and the others even had to quickly close their eyes due to the burning sensation.

    In three seconds, the light shrank with the dragon body it enveloped. The figure of ady standing with elegance in a beautiful white dress had reced the dragon¡¯s existence. Her skin was glowing white, with not a speck of blood staining her body.

    She had everything they defined as beautiful.

    ¡°You saved me!¡± Even her voice was especially melodic and soothing.

    Hiro and his four party members were truly hypnotized by the princess¡¯s beauty. They couldn¡¯t stop themselves from staring at the princess¡¯s eyes without blinking.

    Ding!

    [All party members have obtained 1 Cursed Dragon¡¯s Heart]

    The princess seemed confused as she seemed to be looking for something. It didn¡¯t take long for her to squeal with shock when she saw the seven stone statues she recognized to be her poor friends.

    The princess suddenly cried. Her tears dripped to the stone statues, anda€|

    A miracle happened.

    Clink!

    A bright light once again appeared. This time, the light enveloped the seven stone statues and broke the female demon¡¯s curse.

    ¡°Princess!?¡± The seven dwarves seemed overjoyed when they saw that the princess was fine, and the eight of them cried as they tightly hugged.

    Ding!

    [All party members have obtained 7 Blessings of the Seven Dwarves]

    Finally, the princess looked back toward Hiro and the others after reuniting with her best friends.

    ¡°Which one of you is the leader?¡±

    Hiro walked toward the princess and subconsciously bowed in front of her.

    The princess smiled at him.

    ¡°I owe you my life. Please ept my special masterpiece in return.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have obtained 1 Ancient Gold Statue]

 Chapter 110

    [You havepleted the special quest: A Dragon and The Seven Dwarves]

    [You have obtained a jackpot! (3,500 LSC)]

    [Party: Jacob has obtained Dragon Scale (Rare Crafting Material)]

    [Party: Cara has obtained Dragon Scale (Rare Crafting Material)]

    [Party: Wheelie has obtained Dragon ws (Gloves) ¨C Tier A]

    [Party: Noah has obtained Cursed Dragon¡¯s Eye (Ne) ¨C Tier A]

    ¡°Hehe, my time has finallye.¡± With a satisfied smile on his face, Noah checked the status of the essory he just obtained frompleting the special quest.

    ¡°Thank you, all of you. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this without you all.¡± Hiro bowed his head to show his gratitude from the bottom of his heart.

    His action surprised the four standing in front of him and amazed them a little. They were unused to this respectful way of thanking.

    Was this part of Japan¡¯s culture?

    Afterpleting the quest, Hiro decided to go somewhere on his own, leaving the others after separating in Eternity Kingdom. He immediately went to find the position of the pet tamer NPC to hatch his first pet to increase his battle rating.

    Eternity Kingdom was filled with both NPCs and yers from different bloodlines interacting with each other. The area of Eternity Kingdom was truly the only big city visited by waves of yers from every bloodline.

    Even though his surroundings were filled with people in a merry mood, Hiro was feeling extremely dejected. He was disappointed in himself.

    He felt that his current strength could no longer be relied on. When he remembered the reality that he needed Noah¡¯s wind spell to help him defeat the dragon, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little annoyed.

    ¡°I¡¯m really left behind, damn it.¡±

    ¡®This is all that crazy kidnapper¡¯s fault.¡¯

    Hiro realized that he really needed to increase his strength drastically. And he needed to work hard for it.

    Leveling up was no longer enough. Be it from weapons, armor, essories, or buff cards. He needed more strength. It was time to upgrade his equipment, and what was already in front of him was hatching his pet egg.

    Hiro passed by a residential area at the south end of Eternity Kingdom. The vige wasn¡¯t veryrge, but it was filled with house-like buildings. The lively music even reached Hiro, who was only observing from afar.

    He could see both yers and NPCs wearing bright costumes happily dancing and singing. It seemed that there was a local festival.

    After going through the crowd, Hiro arrived in front of a simple wooden building. At first nce, it looked like a barn from the front.

    He entered the building, and inside were three odd-looking cows standing with two legs upying a partition that seemed to be a general wooden divider for cows.

    ¡°Wee, traveler,¡± a man greeted Hiro with a wide smile. When Hiro looked at the man, he was immediately reminded of the figure of ¡®Old MacDonald had a farm¡¯.

    The man was standing in front of one of those odd cows. Two bird-like creatures that also looked odd were perching on his shoulders.

    [NPC Pet Tamer ¨C Pete]

    His appearance was like Old MacDonald, but his name was like one of the yable characters in the famous game Harvest Moon.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to hatch an egg.¡±

    ¡°Great! Do you have the required materials? If you don¡¯t know about the materials, you can open the information menu on your pet egg status.¡±

    The old man spoke very amiably. His smile never left his face.

    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared everything.¡±

    Ding!

    A semi-transparent panel appeared in front of Hiro. He had to move the pet egg to a hatching slot andplete the other slots with the materials he gathered.

    [Silver Dragon Egg has been added]

    [1 Ancient Gold Statue has been added]

    [1 Cursed Dragon¡¯s Heart has been added]

    [7 Blessings of Seven Dwarves]

    [Hatch the pet egg now?]

    Ding!

    [Price: 2,000 LSC]

    [Silver Dragon Egg can be hatched randomly as Silver Dragon (Normal Pet ¨C Chance Rate 55%); Metallic Dragon (Special Pet ¨C chance rate 35%); Silverback Dragon (Rare Pet ¨C Chance Rate 9.5%); Night Fury Dragon (Legendary Pet ¨C Chance Rate 0.5%)]

    ¡°God of Eternity Kingdom, please let me get the Night Fury.¡± Hiro pped his hands three times while saying his prayers before pressing the [Hatch] button.

    Ding!

    [Sess Rate: 100%]

    [Hatching in progress]

    ¡°Come on¡­¡±

    ¡°Come on¡­¡±

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! You have hatched a pet egg for the first time.]

    [im your reward in your inbox]

    Clink!

    A blinding light appeared from the semi-transparent panel, causing Hiro to reflexively block his face with the back of his hand.

    ¡­

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Night Fury Baby Dragon (Legendary Pet)]

    A shiny ck dragon norger than his palm appeared in front of Hiro. It seemed to be having a little difficulty as it flew with its small wings. It tilted its head as its pair of greenish-yellow eyes stared at Hiro with curiosity.

    ¡°Holy shit!¡± Hiro almost screamed in joy as his hands subconsciously moved to hold the baby dragon in front of him.

    He lifted the baby dragon like it was a toddler and danced with it at the same spot. Although he prayed for it, he didn¡¯t expect that he would actually get what he wished for. It was as if the goddess of fortune was supporting him.

    The baby dragon was very expressive. It stuck out its tongue when Hiro spun it in the air, like a dog enjoying the air from a moving car.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this.¡±

    Hiro looked at his HUD system and found a new icon on the home page, an icon used to check the status of the pets he owned. He couldn¡¯t wait to see his baby dragon¡¯s status.

    [Pet Name: [No Name]]

    [Breed: Legendary Pet ¨C Baby Night Fury (Dragon)]

    [Gender: Male]

    [Mood Level (Anxious)]

    [Level (+0)]

    [Starvation (100%)]

    [BR 1,000]

    [Basic Stats]

    [Attack Power 90 Magic Power 80 DEF 120 CRIT Rate 10 uracy 5]

    [When the pet¡¯s mood level is Great, 80 % of the pet¡¯s basic stats can be converted into yer stats during battle.]

    Hiro¡¯s eyes sparkled when he saw the new information he had just received. The conversion of pet basic stats during battle would aid him significantly.

    He was so ted that he forgot the dejection that had been bothering his mood.

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    The dragon also seemed happy with him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make you the strongest pet in the world,¡± Hiro dered his promise.

    As if it understood what he just said, the dragon nodded its head.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a Pet Adoption Certificate]

    [Please name your pet to register it on the Pet System Leaderboard]

    Hiro believed that a name was a very important thing as it contained the hopes the one who gave the name had for the named.

    Like the username WynterRain.

    Nobody knew that Hiro was the one who gave the name WynterRain for his brother to use when he was eight, when Yuujin decided to start a serious career in the gaming world.

    It was winter at that time, and a winter rain was urring where they were.

    For the first time since the death of their parents, Hiro could feel peace when he saw the winter rain. The numbing cold in the air and the pitter-patter of the rain washed away all the emotions that burdened him for so long.

    And ever since that day, looking at winter rains became something special for him.

    Thus, WynterRain was born. Because he believed that the winter rain brought him the miracle of tranquility he never thought he¡¯d feel at that time.

    Yuujin liked the name since it first came out of his brother¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯ll always be the miracle you believe, Hiro.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t realize that he was smiling as he reminisced about how Yuujin reacted when he gave him that name.

    But¡­

    Boom!

    Kaboom!

    All of a sudden, a loud explosion could be heard from outside the building.

    ================================================================

    Dear Readers,

    Thank you very much for your support. No words can describe my gratitude :¡¯).

    I will add more chapters for you to enjoy in privilege.

    I hope that you will continue supporting Hiro and friends in the next month.

    I¡¯ll be back soon ??

 Chapter 111

    The air outside the building Hiro had just run out of had turned dark. The strong smell of gunpowder caused the people who were shocked by the explosion to cough violently.

    Giant clouds of ck smoke covered thest residential area Hiro just passed by just a few minutes ago.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on!?¡±

    ¡°Attack! It¡¯s an attack!¡±

    ¡°Terrorists! Run, save yourselves!¡±

    Dozens of yers were running away from the residential area. They were full of fear and despair, as if they had just seen something terrifying.

    Hiro stopped a dwarven yer who was running very slowly among the others.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked with a serious look on his face.

    The dwarf was surprised and trembling. His clothes were already burnt, while some parts of his skin were blistered and had even turned ck.

    ¡°Get out of here, hurry! This game isn¡¯t safe anymore! Terrorists! Terrorists!¡±

    That dwarf struggled to free himself from Hiro¡¯s grip.

    While the others were scattering to get away from the source of the explosion, Hiro was running in the opposite direction.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro covered his nose with the back of his hand as he ran toward the area where a festival was previously held.

    Screams and cries of pain and despair could be heard all over the ce. The tidy buildings in the residential area had beenpletely razed into rubbles on the same level as the ground, and the thick stench of blood and gunpowder in the air became even stronger as he ran deeper into the center of the chaos.

    Right, left, above, below; everywhere his eyes fell, he could see scattered body partsplete with burnt fresh blood.

    NPCs and yers, Hiro couldn¡¯t differentiate who the owners of those body parts were.

    His feet continued to run, jumping here and there while using the rubbles all over the ground as his foothold. His intuition told him that the source of all this chaos was in the center of the residential area; the city square.

    [Demon¡¯s Eyes]

    The clouds of smoke from the explosion were so ck they greatly hindered his sight, so Hiro decided to activate his Demon¡¯s Eyes in case anything dangerous was hidden. He had to stay cautious.

    When Hiro faintly heard voices not far in front of him, he carefully slowed down his steps.

    ¡°We¡¯re the first.¡±

    ¡°Will this n work?¡±

    ¡°Of course it will. Are you questioning Boss¡¯s n?¡±

    ¡°Tch. I can¡¯t wait to see their reaction.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    Seven people were standing in the middle of the residential area square. They were conversing normally, as if the filthy air wasn¡¯t a problem for them.

    Those seven people wore matching ck robes that hid their equipment information and their faces.

    There was one thing Hiro got from his effort of running this far. Those seven were yer killers, and that robe was an identity of where they were from.

    ¡®WynterRain fanatics? What do they want?¡¯

    Before Hiro could find the answer to the question inside his head, he suddenly heard a much more powerful explosion from the west of the area.

    Booom! Kabooom!

    ¡°Hahaha. They¡¯ve already done it..¡±

    ¡°Three more spots.¡±

    The seven mysterious people then disappeared with the smog. They teleported just after Hiro managed to overhear a piece of information that piqued his suspicion even more.

    ¡°Three more spots?¡±

    ¡®Are they nning to destroy this city!?¡¯

    Hiro hurriedly ran back toward the source of the second explosion, to the west of Eternity Kingdom¡¯s area. However, just when he could see the other residential area that was blown up from a distance, the sound of another explosion once again appeared.

    Booom! Kabooom!

    This time, the source of the explosion came from the north of Eternity Kingdom.

    Three points in Eternity Kingdom had just been blown up, and now, the magnificent capital city was covered in ck smoke and the smell of gunpowder.

    The yers in the city panicked and became even more terrified. They hurriedly looked for NPC Willie to teleport to another city before they became one of the victims of those explosions and instantly die.

    ¡°Two left.¡± He remembered the words he overheard.

    This time, Hiro didn¡¯t immediately run north. Instead, he began to estimate the possibilities of what would happen.

    ¡®Two spots left. If that was an explosion target, one of them must be in the east.¡¯

    ¡°Then thest one?¡±

    Rather than running in the direction of a ce that was already blown up, Hiro decided to head toward the ce that was still safe up to this point. His purpose was to find out who was behind those crazy explosions.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro ran toward the city square of Eternity Kingdom. At the center of the city was a gorgeous castle inhabited by human royalty.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Hiro to reach that spot, but he had to stay cautious. After all, the risk of this investigation was his own life.

    Hiro didn¡¯t enter the city square. On the contrary, he chose a spot with the furthest distance from the outer border of Eternity Kingdom¡¯s city square and stood on the tallest building in the area.

    Meanwhile, in the world chat.

    [Leonard91: Eternity Kingdom is under attack!]

    [NightmareNM: What the hell is going on in EK?]

    [WolfKnight: F*ck, I almost died!]

    [CutePie: Damn, my level droppeda€| That damn bomb was so scary T_T]

    Hiro closed the world chat to focus. He looked toward the east of Eternity Kingdom, trying not to blink.

    At that moment. He could see a speck of light swiftly moving above the sky and falling to the east of Eternity Kingdom.

    Boom! Kaboom!

    The explosion Hiro predicted finally urred. He just needed to patiently observe the city square in front of him.

    He believed that it would also be blown up in a few minutes.

    Hiro continued to check for suspicious moves, but all he saw were yers and NPCs running in fear. There were too many of them that some could be seen falling and getting trampled by the others until they stopped screaming and moving.

    The air turned hot. Hiro could feel his sweat dripping from his temples.

    Whoosh!

    Whoosh!

    Seven people in ck robes suddenlynded above the giant fountain in the middle of the city square. Hiro saw how they could fly and finallynded there.

    Out of nowhere, one of the seven lifted a skull-shaped magic staffplete with its sternum. Hiro couldn¡¯t see what the person was doing until all of a sudden, a light that looked exactly like the one he previously saw swiftly dashed like a meteor.

    Swapppp!

    Bommm! Kabooom!

    Cough cough!

    Hiro violently coughed. The explosion made him breathe in dust and stone grains. Furthermore, his ears rang so loudly that he couldn¡¯t hear anything apart from that ringing sound. His head had even hit the stone wall behind him hard.

    If this were the real world, he probably would¡¯ve fallen unconscious.

    Fortunately, the building Hiro chose wasn¡¯t destroyed as well. However, before Hiro could check those seven mysterious yers once again, the air pressure in the area abruptly changed.

    A giant tornado rapidly formed in the sky of the city square. The tornado sucked everything beneath it, from clouds of ck smoke, dust, stones, and gravel to the remains of the destroyed buildings.

    It was as if a natural disaster had befallen the city.

    A figure suddenly appeared in front of that tornado. Unlike the surrounding objects, the figure was not only stably flying there, but he also wasn¡¯t being sucked into it.

    The figure¡¯s long robe fluttered in the air. Meanwhile, on his left seemed to be a dark-colored dragon the size of a dog pping its wings.

    Hiro was too focused on that figure that he didn¡¯t realize the seven mysterious yers had already left their previous spots.

    He didn¡¯t realize that he was in danger.

 Chapter 112

    The tornado was swiftly getting bigger. In just several seconds, its diameter now covered almost half of thergest city in the world of LSO. The suction force of that tornado continued to increase so much that it rapidly destroyed and sucked in the small buildings that still remained.

    The NPCs that couldn¡¯t find something to properly hold on to experienced the same fate. Meanwhile, the yers who were in that city were struggling with all their strength to hold on to anything firm with a foundation attached to the ground.

    At that moment, almost all the yers who were stuck in that location thought of taking the easiest way out and opened their HUD system before something horrible befell them.

    They didn¡¯t doubt that being sucked and torn inside that tornado would be painful.

    [ess denied]

    [ess denied]

    [ess denied]

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I log out?¡±

    ¡°My logout button isn¡¯t working!¡±

    [ess denied]

    With the system bug that caused their logout button to stop working, the yers stuck in the city of Eternity Kingdom quickly got more desperate and hysterical.

    It was as if they were locked inside that world.

    ¡°Please stop this!¡±

    ¡°Who are you!?¡± a female yer who could no longer hold on to a building wall shouted at the figure looking at the chaos under him with a neutral expression.

    This disaster¡­ he brought it.

    Even after the yer was sucked into the tornado, the figure didn¡¯t respond. It was as if in his eyes, the yer was no different from the rubble the tornado sucked in.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± the figure mumbled under the full-face Vian mask.

    His body heavily shook as he tried to control the disastrous energy. This was the first time he used a lost magic spell with such great disastrous energy.

    Every lost magic in this world required something to be sacrificed in exchange, and for this one, he had to sacrifice his life.

    [ck Hole]

    The true power of that magic spell wasn¡¯t apparent yet. However, without forcing himself to break his limit, he would never witness the true power of that lost magic.

    ¡°Give me more.¡±

    [Absorbing Dragon¡¯s Power]

    The adolescent flying ck dragon beside him emitted a very bright blue sapphire light from its spiky backbones, and after a few seconds, the blue light came out in the form of a light orb that immediately darted toward its master.

    ¡°Thanks, Alice. It¡¯s time.¡±

    He smiled under his mask before lifting his right hand toward the sky.

    ¡°This server will be enough for now.¡±

    Krakkk¡ªBooom!

    [Divine Thunderbolt]

    From the surface of the man¡¯s right palm, lighting abruptly came out and struck up the sky. It was extremely fast and its sh of light was almost blinding.

    In the next second, a painfully loud sound of a lightning strike filled the air.

    At that moment, as if the lighting directed towards the sky was a weapon to attack the system directly, all the yers who were online in the world of LSO simultaneously received a semi-transparent panel. Even the investigators who were usingpany-provided ounts were no exception.

    [Warning!]

    [Warning!]

    [Warning!]

    ¡°What¡¯s happening!?¡±

    ¡°Come on. Whoever is joking, please stop.¡±

    ¡°This is scary.¡±

    ¡°I just wanna log out.¡±

    The terror didn¡¯t allow those who were in another city outside Eternity Kingdom to remain calm either.

    Those who managed to escape by teleporting before the tornado appeared indeed saved themselves from the disaster in the Eternity Kingdom. However, this didn¡¯t mean that they were safe from the terror. Their logout button also wasn¡¯t working.

    While the yers on the NA server were filled with panic and fear, the semi-transparent screen in front of them suddenly glitched.

    In the next second, a masked face appeared.

    ¡°Hahahaha. Scared yet?¡±

    He was the one who caused all this chaos. None of the yers there knew how, but the figure was speaking to all the yers online through that screen.

    Wasn¡¯t he an ordinary yer as well?

    ¡°Go! Log out and nevere back!¡±

    The voice that echoed all over the city terrified those who heard it even more. As if their mouths werepletely shut, none of them dared to say a word when he spoke.

    ¡°You can¡¯t, can you?¡±

    ¡°This is not just a game, this is about building a second life?¡± he imitated the famous quote of Ninecent¡¯s founder. ¡°Tell me, who among you wants a second life filled with terrors of death?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    The figure was trulyughing at the fear of the desperate people below. They tried to cover their ears to block the man¡¯s threatening words, but they could still hear his voice from everywhere.

    Those who still hadn¡¯t given up still attempted to log out from the unsafe game again and again, but it was all in vain. None of them could do it.

    ¡°Go! Quit this broken game system! Don¡¯t ever think abouting back. Because when you do, you¡¯ll forever be trapped between life and death. Like me.¡±

    Crash!

    The hand of the figure who was broadcasting live in the game slowly moved to take off the mask he was wearing. In the meantime, the tornado above the sky was still rumbling terrifyingly.

    As the man was taking off his mask, the semi-transparent panel glitched once again. It was as if someone was interfering with the signal from the live broadcast that was forcing every yer online to watch it.

    Despite that, the external interference failed to stop the broadcast.

    When the figure on the screen finally revealed his face in front of the invisible camera, he could hear screams all over the ce.

    Screams of surprise? Screams of disbelief at what they had just witnessed? Screams of joy?

    That figure was none other than WynterRain.

    His face, his body, and his voice werepletely the same as the Yamaguchi Yuujin who was immensely famous in the gaming world as a genius professional gamer with all kinds of achievements all over the world before his death.

    ¡°No, this can¡¯t be real!¡±

    ¡°Yuujin is still alive!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s him! It¡¯s WynterRain! He¡¯s alive!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this. Yuujin!? It¡¯s Yuujin! Gosh, what is actually going on!?¡±

    WynterRain didn¡¯t say a word, but his gaze was full of determination.

    He clenched his fists. His body was heavily trembling.

    After several months of temporarily stopping his game-streaming activities, for the first time¡­ he could once again look at everyone through a tiny camera lens.

    The feeling ofing back excited him so much that he could hear his own heartbeat.

    However, he still needed to confirm his true identity.

    ¡°I am WynterRain. I am a dead yer.¡±

 Chapter 113

    Hiro had expected it.

    His intuition was very strong. The figure flying in the sky near him was Yuujin with his terrifying disastrous magic. Everything happened so fast, and he still had to tightly hold on to something so he wouldn¡¯t be pulled into the tornado his brother created.

    For a few seconds, Hiropletely forgot to breathe when he witnessed Yuujin¡¯s confession in front of the semi-transparent screen that was now floating in front of him.

    Even Yuujin admitted that he was dead.

    ¡®A dead yer? What does that mean?¡¯

    Hiro was about to shout out the question in his mind when a figure suddenly flew toward him, causing him to roll down the stairs outside the building.

    Thud! Thud!

    ¡°Ouch.¡±

    Before he could react any more, a hand quickly moved to cover his mouth. It felt very soft and was even very slightly¡­ fragrant?

    ¡®A girl?¡¯

    He turned his head a little to check who it was, and¡­

    ¡°Libe!?¡± Hiro¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief.

    ¡°Ssshhh!¡±

    He truly didn¡¯t expect the girl¡¯s identity. Liberty appeared out of nowhere, pushed him until he rolled down, and covered his mouth while locking his body to the corner of the wall.

    Hiro froze in ce. He blinked several times to make sure that the person who just pushed him down was Liberty, and¡­

    His eyes weren¡¯t deceiving him. It was indeed Liberty.

    ¡°Look!¡± the girl whispered and pointed at the spot where Hiro was previously watching his brother in the sky from.

    Seven ck-robed people he recognized were now upying the ce. Although it wasn¡¯t very apparent, Hiro could see that they were arguing about something.

    After just several seconds, they finally leaped away.

    Hiro gulped. Even though he wasn¡¯t scared of going against them, ambushes were still one of the worst things to deal with.

    He probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to even dodge had Liberty not rescued him.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what to prioritize, shouting toward his brother who was finally in front of him, or interrogating Liberty about how she suddenly appeared and saved him as if she had been watching him since the beginning.

    ¡°You¡­e with me.¡± Hiro grabbed Liberty¡¯s left hand and forcefully pulled her back to the upper floor of the building.

    This time, he could do both.

    ¡°Yuujin!!¡± Hiro shouted so loudly that his throat trembled. His action even surprised Liberty and caused her to reflexively cover her ears.

    His voice managed to split the tornado¡¯s loud rumbling and reach the person it was meant for.

    While everyone else was still filled with panic, confusion, and joy seeing their idol¡¯s indirect return, Yuujin turned his head to look for the person who was so bold to call him directly like that.

    When he saw the person who just called him from the roof of a tall and sturdy building, Yuujin tilted his head.

    ¡°Come on, Yuujin! What happened to you!? Are you really the Yuujin I know!?¡± Hiro shouted all his emotions out.

    But¡­

    Instead of giving him an answer, Yuujin simply snapped his fingers.

    The frenzied rumbling from the tornado instantly disappeared without a trace in the sky.

    ¡°Hiro.¡±

    After saying the word nobody but himself could hear, Yuujin vanished.

    With his departure, the sky slowly became bright again like the sky after the rain. The semi-transparent screen that appeared to warn and broadcast Yuujin¡¯s message live in front of hundreds of thousands of yers disappeared at that very moment, and the logout button once again worked.

    The storm was over.

    ¡­

    This time, WynterRain¡¯s appearance in-game was believed by everyone on the server. Those who were happy, those who were afraid, and those who were in between immediately spread the news of WynterRain¡¯s return to the whole world.

    Those who logged out raced to post the news update about WynterRain¡¯s appearance on all their social media tforms, and those who decided to stay in the game had filled the world chat with a full discussion of WynterRain.

    Thus, news about WynterRain¡¯s appearance in LSO spread worldwide in a matter of seconds. News portals all over the country even included it as a breaking news special with the topic:

    `The return of the legend,ing back as a powerful dead yer in Last Shelter Online.¡¯

    WynterRain¡¯s appearance this time shook the world for bringing the name Last Shelter Online, which was now in the spotlight for its skyrocketing cryptocurrency price.

    ¡°Is this a marketing strategy from Ninecent?¡±

    Various theories continued to pop up. A theory rejected the reality that Yuujin was dead and believed his body was hidden somewhere so he would focus on ying Last Shelter Online and appear at the moment arranged by the game developers.

    Another theory believed that this WynterRain was a fake controlled by someone pretending to be Yamaguchi Yuujin, and the theory about the craziest marketing strategy by a gamepany even caused the FBI to get involved in investigations.

    Even though a lot of theories were quickly spread without knowing who first brought them up, most VRMMORPG yers in the world were thrilled with the news of their idol¡¯s return.

    The sales request for Last Shelter Online¡¯s VR helmets drastically increased minutes after the news world was filled with the information about the legend¡¯s return, and the game¡¯s marketing department was flooded with calls offering sponsors and cooperation.

    Meanwhile, the investigators from the FBI were disoriented by all the contradicting information.

    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. This is definitely a marketing strategy used to increase Last Shelter Online¡¯s sales.¡±

    ¡­

    Meanwhile, in the game that became the topic of conversation all over the world.

    Hiro stared at the two beautiful ocean blue eyes he missed. He changed his hands¡¯ position to hold Liberty¡¯s soft and warm hands, the same feeling hest remembered when he did it.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    He still couldn¡¯t believe that she was truly standing in front of him, looking into his eyes with glistening eyes.

    The girl didn¡¯t say a word. Who knew what was in her mind, but Hiro couldn¡¯t read it.

    ¡°Hi!¡± Hiro really didn¡¯t know what to say. He felt as if his tongue shrank, and his mind went nk.

    ¡°Hi!¡± Liberty replied with the same greeting. It was like the two were strangers that just happened to meet.

    In his heart, Hiro wished that Liberty¡¯s return also came with the memories she lost.

    ¡°Libe, do you remember me? What¡¯s my name? You remember me, right!?¡±

    Hiro reflexively pulled her and hugged her tight.

    Liberty stiffened for a moment. She returned the hug, but her hands were slightly shaking as she began to sob.

    ¡°I, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

 Chapter 114

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what to do. The girl in his arms was sobbing and trembling, but he didn¡¯t know what to say to calm her down.

    His feelings for Liberty were still the same. After all, she had a special ce.

    But what actually happened to her? Hiro had no clue at all.

    ¡°Libe, what happened? Are you okay?¡± Hiro was a little flustered. He felt as if he went back in time to when he had just met that girl. He couldn¡¯t understand her at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you have to leave the game now.¡±

    The words she said stunned him. Was that so? Did Liberty already know that this world was just a game?

    ¡°What? Why? Stop apologizing, I don¡¯t even know what you¡¯re apologizing for.¡±

    Confused, he pulled Liberty¡¯s body away to look at her eye-to-eye.

    The girl was a little startled when Hiro grabbed both of her hands a bit roughly.

    Hiro didn¡¯t have the heart. When he looked at that beautiful face turn red and swollen, his chest felt tight.

    Was he the one who made her cry like that?

    ¡°Everything we¡¯ve been through, none of them are real. You and me, we aren¡¯t real.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Hiro¡¯s chest felt even tighter. It wasn¡¯t because of that swollen face this time, but the words that came out of the girl¡¯s lips.

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡±

    Liberty silently bit her lower lip until it reddened. Her eyes didn¡¯t blink as she looked straight back at the look of waiting for an exnation in Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t exin.¡±

    The girl¡¯s voice became smaller and smaller. Hiro almost couldn¡¯t hear her.

    In an attempt to break the ice, Hiro gently stroked Liberty¡¯s smooth long hair. He hoped that she would calm down and talk to him in a better way.

    But she fell silent instead. Hiro could only hear her sobs.

    Even so, she was no longer trembling like before.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay if you can¡¯t tell me anything. I¡¯ll find out about it myself.¡±

    ¡°But Libe, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s in your mind right now. I don¡¯t know why you said that none of what we¡¯ve been through is real, but for me, my feelings for you are more than real.¡± Hiro gently moved Liberty¡¯s right hand to his chest and put it there, intending to show her that he was real. The heart in his chest was beating at a calm rhythm.

    ¡°See? I¡¯m real. Everything I¡¯ve done with you, they¡¯re all real. And every single one of them matters to me.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know where those words came from, but the way he could say all those so smoothly made him, who had never experienced something like this before, feel strange. For the first time, he felt that he had truly changed. He began saying things he never did in a soft, gentle voice.

    ¡°Where are you going to start finding out?¡± Liberty mumbled without lifting her face to look at Hiro. Her eyes were fixed on her hands feeling Hiro¡¯s heartbeat, as if she was talking to it.

    Hiro tilted his head. Liberty always managed to surprise him. He didn¡¯t expect her to ask such a question, and he certainly didn¡¯t have an answer in his mind at the moment.

    But before he could say anything in response, Liberty continued to speak.

    ¡°Johnson Hope Hospital. Special 101 floor, VVIP Section, room number 1011.¡±

    Liberty lifted her face before she continued. She had released her hand from Hiro¡¯s hold and moved it to touch his face.

    Hiro didn¡¯t move. He really missed warm moments like this.

    ¡°It¡¯s Monica. My cat¡¯s name,¡± she said with a reluctant smile on her beautiful face.

    Hiro needed some time to digest what Liberty just mentioned.

    A hospital name?

    A special room in a hospital?

    Her cat¡¯s name?

    While he was still trying to find the answer in his head, Liberty took a few steps back. A mncholic smile was still on her face.

    ¡°I have to go,¡± she whispered as she took out a crystal-shaped item.

    Hiro recognized the item.

    A [Portkey Cyrstal], a rather expensive item that could teleport one individual no matter where they were. Of course, this didn¡¯t include dungeons.

    ¡°No, wait!¡±

    He tried to grab Liberty, but the girl immediately disappeared from his sight without a trace. It was toote.

    Hiro let out a long sigh.

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t even epted my friend request yet,¡± he muttered with disappointment.

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Hiro was startled by the voice that suddenly came from inside his cloak. The recent urrences made him forget about the important thing that had decided to hide in his cloak in fear of explosion sounds since the beginning.

    After feeling safe, the baby dragon finally came out. It flew in front of Hiro and tried to look straight into his eyes, as if it understood what he was going through.

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have forgotten about you like that.¡± Hiro rubbed the baby dragon¡¯s head.

    In the end, Hiro went down from the building that had be his shelter. Below, he could see about a dozen NPCs in a uniform he had never seen before. They all had the same face and posture like they were copy-pasted.

    Even their weapons were the same, a magic staff shaped like a ballpoint pen.

    Out of curiosity, Hiro watched the scene from the corner of the city to find out about the identity of those NPCs in uniform and what they were doing there.

    [NPC System Cleaner]

    At that moment, the team of NPCs simultaneously said one word.

    ¡°Restart.¡±

    Light shone from the end of the magic staff they pointed at the city square of Eternity Kingdom. Except for the fountain where the seven suspected yers stopped, everything had been destroyed.

    The light flew leaving the end of the identical NPCs¡¯ magic staffs and united in the air to form arge light orb in the air. In the next second, the previously yellowish light turned light blue and rose in the air right above the center of the city square, the spot where Yuujin appeared just several moments ago.

    Without a sound, the light orb exploded into crystal shards. The shards then rained on the destroyed area and slowly rearranged it, moving everything there as if time was being reverted to before the city square was blown up.

    Hiro was dumbfounded when he saw this scene. It felt like he was watching a clip from a magic-themed movie famous in the 2000s. It seemed so easy to revert everything to its initial state.

 Chapter 115

    The ce that had just been repaired by 15 NPCs was crowded with yers who were very curious to check with their own eyes, the ce where WynterRain had just appeared and shocked everyone.

    Meanwhile, Hiro walked in the opposite direction of people with his face down. He was still thinking about thest sentence that was said by Liberty before the girl disappeared.

    The name of the hospital room and the name of her cat?

    Those two things kept reying in Hiro¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Looks like I have to go back to that hospital.¡±

    He had gathered his resolve. Hiro didn¡¯t know what he would see in the room Liberty mentioned. However, he had to see it himself to prove that he really wanted to find out about her.

    Another additional task that he had toplete soon.

    Meanwhile, a baby dragon perched on Hiro¡¯s shoulder.

    It looked like it had high curiosity, looking at its surroundings until it twisted its neck many times without stopping. Then, the baby dragon looked back at Hiro¡¯s face, who was busy with his own thoughts.

    ¡°Kwakk!¡±

    Crash!

    [Health -15]

    The dragon pped its tiny wings, the spiky bones protruding out at the corners of its wings scratched Hiro¡¯s cheek until it bled. Hiro was surprised. He just remembered one thing he hadn¡¯t done.

    ¡°Ah, I almost forgot about you.¡±

    The dragon looked away like it was annoyed because it was being forgotten. Hiro didn¡¯t know how the pet¡¯s brain works in this game. But, that creature seemed to understand hisnguage.

    ¡°I have to name you, huh?¡±

    Hiro took the baby dragon perched on his shoulder and carried it in his arms gently.

    He then moved to a quiet ce. Entering the gap between the two tall buildings, then stopped there.

    The baby dragon didn¡¯t rebel at all and instead it met Hiro¡¯s eyes, who were looking at it.

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know the details about the pet feature. But I heard pets can talk. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    He tried tomunicate with the dragon, although he felt a little strange about what he was doing.

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    The little creature only let out a ¡®kwak!¡¯ which made it sound like a baby goose instead of a baby dragon.

    ¡°No-no no, I mean talk to me. Not the words that I can¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    Hiro sighed. It seemed his new pet didn¡¯t really understand the question. He then cleared his throat and tried to imitate the dragon¡¯s voice when he called out to him.

    ¡°Come on, say something, Little dragon.¡±

    ¡°Some words that I can understand.¡±

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    Hiro had run out of patience and hisst resort was to say the word he desperately wanted to hear one more time from the dragon, making sure that the in-game pet could speak.

    ¡°Can you say my name?!¡±

    ¡°Ow! What a cute conversation here!?¡± a girl¡¯s voice suddenly interrupted Hiro.

    He felt his face was burning as if there was boiling water under his head. He didn¡¯t even notice the presence of several people who had been following him all this time.

    Three people stood at the mouth of the gap in the building where Hiro was.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you enjoy that stuff, NightFall.¡± Noah wrinkled his nose, looking uneasy at seeing Hiro doing something unusual.

    ¡°Go ahead. Finish your business.¡± Cara walked into the narrow gap with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her chin raised gracefully.

    The way Cara walked made the girl look like she was doing a street catwalk. Reminding Hiro of one of the famous fictional superhero characters, Catwoman.

    ¡°Ehem. It¡¯s not like what you see.¡± Hiro cleared his throat and tried to appear calm, although the red color on his face couldn¡¯t be hidden.

    ¡°Hiro, we want to see the dragon!¡± Jacob exined the purpose of his arrival. Out of the three of them, it seemed that only Jacob didn¡¯t care about Hiro¡¯s silly actions.

    With sparkling eyes, Jacob walked closer to Hiro, following Cara who was already standing in front of Hiro.

    ¡°Tch. Don¡¯t count me in. That noobie knight forced me toe along.¡± Despite showing a displeased expression, Noah still walked forward approaching Hiro.

    ¡°Wait a sec¨C how did you guys find me?¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡ªthat damn party status.¡±

    Hiro had almost forgotten about it.

    ¡°So, is this dragon a female or a male? Have you given it a name?¡± Cara asked while moving her index finger to touch the back of the baby dragon, right where the bases of its wings were.

    As if the baby dragon was a spoiled cat, it enjoyed Cara¡¯s touch and even flew away, leaving Hiro¡¯s palms to perched on Cara¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Well, it looks like a male.¡± Jacob made judgment based on what he saw.

    ¡°He even easily turns away from his owner.¡± Noah added.

    The three of them nodded, as if they understood why the dragon easily turned away from Hiro.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t talk like that!¡±

    Hiro, who realized the implied message of Noah¡¯s sentence, was slightly offended. Even so, he let the baby dragon perch on Cara for the time being.

    ¡°It is indeed a male.¡±

    ¡°And about the name, I haven¡¯t found a suitable one.¡± Hiro spoke casually again and shared the information he had learned about pets with the three of them.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªsuch poor baby, your daddy doesn¡¯t even have a name for you.¡±

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    Even though Cara spoke without looking at Hiro, Hiro felt a sword stabbed into his chest.

    ¡®Did she just call me daddy?¡¯

    ¡°Can I give him a name?¡± a wide smile spread across Jacob¡¯s face, his eyes sparkled as if pleading for Hiro to grant his request.

    ¡°No way¡ªdon¡¯t let him, otherwise your dragon will be a noobie like him. Just let me do that.¡±

    Although the choice of words that always came out of his mouth seemed harsh, it seemed Noah also wanted to be the one who gave the baby dragon a name.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how to react because he wanted to give the dragon a name as its owner. However, without the help of the three of them, the baby dragon might not have hatched until now.

    Finally, he gave them a chance.

    ¡°OK, let¡¯s try to ask the dragon first.¡±

 Chapter 116

    Cara picked up the baby dragon and let it stand on her palms. Positioning the dragon among the four of them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± she just chimed in.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start with Cupcake!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Kwak?!¡±

    Not only Hiro, Jacob, and Noah that were surprised by the name Cara has suggested, but also the dragon. The dragon fell and kissed Cara¡¯s palm, as if it was too surprised by the name it got.

    ¡°No no no, of course not!¡± Hiro shook his head. He could feel a strange throbbing at the top of his eyebrows because he didn¡¯t expect a sadistic girl like Cara to suggest such a cute name.

    ¡°How about Pudding?¡±

    ¡°Or Pie?¡±

    ¡°Maybe Yogurt?!¡±

    ¡°Or Brownies?¡±

    Cara said so many names at once, and the expression on her face instantly changed from looking at the dragon with an exasperated look to one like that of a girl who had not eaten delicious food in a long time.

    His actions made the baby dragon fly back to Hiro¡¯s shoulder due to trauma.

    ¡°Please grab some food already, Cara. You seemed starving.¡± Jacob smirked at Cara¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°You crazy girl.¡± Noah muttered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

    ¡°Looks like the baby dragon doesn¡¯t like the names you gave it, Cara.¡± Hiro was frank.

    ¡°Yeah¡ªI thought so.¡± Cara let out a disappointed sigh.

    ¡°My turn!¡± Jacob raised his hand to get the other¡¯s attention.

    ¡°How about Hydra!?¡±

    ¡°Kwakk!¡±

    The baby dragon threw her face away after waiting for Jacob to give it a name. A thoughtless refusal.

    ¡°The baby dragon doesn¡¯t like it.¡±

    ¡°Anastasia? Belinda? Malinda?¡±

    ¡°Or maybe Khaleesi?¡±

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    Still rejected.

    ¡°You¡¯re naming the baby dragon or mentioning all of your ex-girlfriends one by one?¡± Noah snorted in annoyance.

    ¡°My turn.¡±

    ¡°Pfth.¡± Jacob gave up. It didn¡¯t work.

    ¡°Ahem, I have a really cool name.¡±

    Hiro doubted that. He began to give up and lost hope on the three of them.

    ¡°The Strongest Dragon Breed.¡±

    Noah said it proudly, a smirk stered on his face.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even the baby dragon was too stunned to make a sound.

    ¡°Is that even a name?¡± Cara asked in a whisper to Jacob, who was standing next to her.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s the worst name between us,¡± he replied in a whisper too.

    ¡°I can hear you.¡± Noah threw a death re towards Jacob and Cara.

    ¡°All right, Guys. Listen, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°But, actually, I have a name in my head.¡±

    ¡°This dragon has a bit of a cocky character and it is full of curiosity.¡± Hiro exined his observations so far after epting the dragon as a pet.

    ¡°I think he just copied his owner¡¯s character,¡± Noah interrupted.

    ¡°Agreed.¡± Cara and Jacob added at the same time.

    ¡°What!? No, I am not cocky.¡±

    Hiro frowned as he looked at the three yers in front of him. They seemed not to agree with his statement. It was very clear in their expressions as they showed t faces.

    ¡°Ok, just hear me out.¡±

    ¡°His character reminds me a lot of the first game that I have ever yed during my lifetime.¡±

    ¡°Spyro the Dragon & Sknders.¡±

    ¡°I am thinking about naming the baby dragon Spyro.¡±

    Kwakk! Kwaak!

    The baby dragon suddenly made voices while jumping to fly towards Hiro¡¯s face.

    ¡°Oh my goodness, he liked the name!¡± Jacob was amazed.

    ¡°Eh¡ª?¡± Hiro realized it a bitte, but it seemed like Jacob was right.

    ¡°Do you like that name?¡±

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    And the decision had been made. Hiro had found a suitable name for his pet.

    After letting Cara, Jacob, and Noah examine the baby dragon until they were satisfied, Hiro said goodbye to the three of them. He had to go offline to continue his search for proving his real feelings to Liberty.

    [System off]

    [Logout]

    When he first opened his VR helmet, Hiro saw the figure of Alice smoking in front of a window that was left open. The girl looked at Hiro with her eyes that never left the smokey makeup.

    ¡°You¡¯re back.¡±

    Hiro rxed all the muscles in his body. He felt stiff from ying long enough with the original body sitting on an old sofa. Even though it was softer, it was still not asfortable as the hard bed in his apartment in Japan.

    He suddenly missed the apartment. Hiro didn¡¯t know what happened to the apartment, as well as his belongings.

    ¡°What did I miss?¡± Hiro knew that Alice¡¯s movements showed she wanted to show him something big.

    The girl changed her position. This time she waspletely facing Hiro. She leaned against the open window.

    Ding!

    [You have a new message from Anonymous]

    Hiro gets a notification on his android bracelet. He then looked at Alice questioningly.

    ¡°Check it.¡±

    Without asking again, Hiro opened the message he had just received from the girl standing in front of him.

    The message had a file attachment, a videotape, and he knew why Alice didn¡¯t tell him directly, even though they were both in the same room.

    ¡­

    [Breaking News]

    A professional gamer, Yamaguchi Yuujin, who had been presumed dead from falling in ??the White Oak Canyon waterfall, suddenly appeared alive in an online game that was very popr recently. Last Shelter Online.

    A very strange and impossible event, a person who had been dered medically dead appeared in good condition and unusually strong in an artificial world.

    Yuujin¡¯s appearance in the Last Shelter Online game had been directly validated by the founder of Ninecent, the game¡¯s foundingpany. They stated that the yer with the WynterRain username was the real Yamaguchi Yuujin. And he was ¡®still alive¡¯.

    Dr. Jeff Johnson seemed to hold a sudden press conference just to validate the appearance of the dead yer.

    ¡°He¡¯s alive. He will be forever with us. In Last Shelter Online, the second life that everyone is looking for is real.¡±

    ¡°Within a month, we¡¯llunch a new mirror world of the game that everyone can enjoy. Don¡¯t worry, this time¡­ we¡¯ll provide an unlimited amount of gears. Just prepare yourself.¡±

    A very wide triumphant smile spread across the man¡¯s face with thick sses.

    Beep!

    [Video has been deleted]

    ¡°What?! Why?¡± Hiroined to Alice, who suddenly deleted the video before he finished watching.

    ¡°That damn witch!¡± Alice threw her cigarette butt out the window and kicked a nearby wooden table with an empty flower vase on top of it.

    Smash!

    The flower vase fell and broke. The girl suddenly looked so angry.

    ¡°How dare they take advantage of Yuujin like this?¡±

 Chapter 117

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to that hospital.¡±

    Hiro made Alice, who was drinking water, choked and coughed.

    Cough! Cough!

    ¡°What did you say? Have you gone mad? Do you think you can go to that hospital like you go to other hospitals?¡±

    Hiro had guessed that Alice would definitely not let him go to the hospital where Yuujin¡¯s body was being preserved. He had expected it.

    Even so, Hiro wouldn¡¯t let that stop his ns. He had prepared an offer so he could take advantage of Alice and her abilities as Anonymous.

    He told Anonymous about the pet he had got and his n to find WynterRain¡¯s whereabouts to ask him directly about what had really happened.

    Hiro told Alice that he had seen Yuujin¡¯s body being preserved in that hospital. He was also one hundred percent sure that WynterRain waspletely controlled by Yuujin.

    Though he hadn¡¯t found out the method yet. Hiro was still figuring it out.

    However, the most important thing right now, Hiro had information that corrted to all of that.

    The information on one room in the hospital, along with the cat¡¯s name. He knew that Liberty must have thought about it dozens of times before telling Hiro just like that, with no obvious clues.

    Hiro was sure Liberty knew something. Something deeper that she had known so far. He told Alice everything, about what was in his brain, and his predictions that he had thought carefully.

    And apparently, Alice realized that Hiro¡¯s prediction might be right.

    ¡°So, are you going to help me?¡± Hiro really hoped that the girl would agree to help him.

    Besides, Hiro was in America with an illegal identity. It would be very dangerous for him to go to big ces independently without Anonymous¡¯s help.

    ¡°One hour.¡±

    Hiro tilted his head, hearing Alice¡¯s short answer.

    ¡°I can hack their security system for only one hour before they clean me out.¡±

    Hiro breathed a sigh of relief. One hour was enough for him. He really couldn¡¯t wait to do it.

    Alice said Hiro¡¯s sneak out operation must be carried out at night. Because it would be dangerous if it turned out there were people in the targeted room during visiting hours. It would be a disaster for Hiro.

    In addition, he had to avoid eye contact with other people in the hospital as much as possible.

    To speed up time, Hiro took the time to re-login into the game andpleted the daily quest in less than an hour.

    While in the game, he repeatedly checked the time, which seemed to run so slowly when he was waiting for something.

    Even after sessfullypleting his daily quest, he still had time. Hiro decided to take a break and slept for three hours until the dazzling sun turned into a brilliant moonlight.

    ¡­

    Hiro went to the Johnson Hope Hospital by an automated taxi he used to escape from the kidnappers.

    Anonymous was indeed crazy. She could ess the automatic taxi by just hacking the system so that it functioned like it received a VVIP member customer. Free of charge, of course.

    Upon arriving, Hiro immediately put an earpod in his left ear to keep in touch with Alice without having to open the screen on his android bracelet.

    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Go to the fire escape.¡±

    Hiro walked to the side of the building to find a fire-escape ce and entered the building through the fire-escape when no one was paying attention.

    Even though there was CCTV monitoring in every corner of the hospital, Anonymous quickly manipted Hiro¡¯s image and erased it from the footage as if he had been camouged against the background.

    Hiro walked up the stairs to the fifth floor based on Anonymous¡¯s instruction. He woulde out on the floor where the hospital workers rested. And there, Hiro could easily steal the uniform as well as the identity card, just in case something happened out of his n.

    He managed to do it, and so far, he was still safe. No one seemed suspicious seeing Hiro wandering in the hospital.

    After stealing two uniforms, just in case. The first uniform was for cleaning service, and the second was the uniform for a nurse.

    Hiro got into the elevator and went to the floor that Liberty was told.

    ¡®Special 101 floor, VVIP Section, room number 1011¡¯.

    Ding!

    The elevator door opened, and he had arrived at the Special 101 floor. It surprised him a bit because he didn¡¯t see anyone on the floor.

    The hallway on that floor looked more like a luxury hotel than a hospital. As far as the eye could see, Hiro could only see an empty hallway.

    Even so, he noticed that some turns had automatic robots that seemed to serve as waiters, like in a restaurant. The robot greeted as Hiro passed by.

    He¡¯s d that there was no threat sensor like a security robot or anything.

    Hiro walked to room number 1011 with his heart beating faster than normal. The hallway felt freezing because the air conditioner in that floor was set below average, while there was nothing on the floor.

    There were only rows of rooms nearly three timesrger than the room where Yuujin¡¯s body was preserved.

    Finally, Hiro found it. A room with a gold metal que with ¡®1011¡¯ written on it.

    Hiro suddenly got cold feet to the point that he didn¡¯t realize the iron door in front of him didn¡¯t have a handle like other rooms.

    ¡°Damn.¡± Hiro felt so stupid when his hand was holding an empty air in front of the door.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Alice asked through the earpod.

    ¡°Emmm¡­how can we open a door with no knob?¡±

    ¡°What?! Show me!¡±

    Hiro stepped back and pointed his android bracelet camera towards the door in front of him. Anonymous could see it better through that camera than the CCTV cameras she controlled on that floor.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ it must have a hidden lock or something. Just what¡¯s inside that room?¡±

    Hiro tried to check on the door one more time, trying to find a clue. He was used to looking for something hidden in the game world. And now, looking for something in the real world¡­ It didn¡¯t seem like an impossible thing to do.

    He squinted his eyes and checked on the door without touching anything.

    ¡°Be careful. It might have an infrared sensor or something. Watch your hand, Hiro.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t respond. He already knew about it. He would not be so careless in his actions. After all, he was in the original world. Not just a virtual world.

    ¡°It¡¯s more difficult than I thought.¡± Hiro muttered to himself.

    Due to the cold temperature on that floor, whenever Hiro spoke, his mouth let out hot steam. And the hot steam just happened to cling to the golden que in front of the door.

    That was when he found something strange. The steam didn¡¯t manage to change the color of the quepletely. Because the number ¡®0¡¯ of ¡®1011¡¯ was not affected by Hiro¡¯s breath.

    Hiro tried it again. He let out hot steam from his mouth towards the number 0. And the result was the same. Nothing happened.

    ¡°Gotcha. You must be here.¡±

    Hiro touched the circle inside the number ¡®0¡¯ and a transparent panel suddenly appeared.

    Beep!

    [Enter The Password]

 Chapter 118

    Hiro felt very close to knowing the secret behind the door, but he didn¡¯t know whether he was ready to ept it or not. His hands were getting wet with sweat and his heart was pounding crazily.

    He stared at a transparent screen that appeared in front of him. Staring at the only column listed without knowing what to fill it with.

    What if he doesn¡¯t have a chance to try 2-3 times when he entered the wrong password?

    Below that column was a continuous disy of time.

    [2m 18s]

    ¡°Ehmm¡­ Alice, looks like I have to enter a password. Can¡¯t you help me with this machine?¡±

    Hiro pointed his android bracelet at the screen in front of him, so Anonymous could check it out.

    ¡°Hmm, I see. But, even if I can hack it, it will take time, you know? And it is too risky if we run out of time. A smuggler rm may have been set automatically.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t that girl tell you something?¡±

    At that moment, Hiro realized he had forgotten one piece of information that sounded trivial, but could be the most important thing in his search.

    ¡°Her cat¡¯s name,¡± he muttered.

    Hiro immediately input the word that popped up in his head with a tension feeling. He was really curious about what was behind the door.

    [Monica]

    [Password Correct]

    [ess Granted]

    The iron door in front of Hiro opened automatically, moving like a sophisticated transformer machine.

    Hiro immediately walked into the room in front of him without a second thought. He almost didn¡¯t care about his own safety anymore.

    After he entered, the door swung shut again automatically.

    A very luxurious room. It was as if the ce was a hidden penthouse in a hospital.

    In the sky, there was a roof that disyed millions of stars as if he stared directly at the night sky. The light source in the room came from the stars, which looked exactly like a real one. Even if Hiro stared at it for a long time, it was hard to prove that the starry sky was just a very high resolution LED screen.

    Then, Hiro¡¯s eyes immediately fell on a luxury sleeping capsule the size of a 2028 Lamborghini-type sports car that was in the middle of the room.

    At first nce, Hiro felt he had seen the model of the sleeping capsule design before. However, he was sure that the one in front of him was muchrger.

    Slowly, Hiro walked towards the sleeping capsule with an increasingly restless heart.

    ¡°What is that thing, I¡ª¡±

    His hands took off the earpod he was using to stay connected to Anonymous by force. He really wanted to focus on the thing in front of him right now.

    Getting closer to the sleeping capsule, Hiro felt a bad feeling.

    A goddess¡ªno, a beautifuldy looked sleeping soundly on her back with a very peaceful face. A smile spread across her naturally pink-plumply lips. The girl was wearing an exquisite white ornamental flower dress, glittering with diamonds on top of the dress.

    Her long blonde hair scattered beautifully behind her back. The girl had radiant white skin, and she looked very healthy.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t close his gaping mouth for a few seconds. He never thought he would see a sleeping princess in the real world.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s throat felt parched. He really didn¡¯t know what to do.

    The feelings were mixed together. He was happy because the girl was real and finally he could see her in person. However, he also felt anxious and restless when he realized the girl seemed to have been asleep for a very long time.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    Hiro observed Liberty¡¯s body through the cover of the sleeping capsule. He was sure that the girl was still breathing, although her breathing rhythm seemed abnormal. It was too slow.

    Does sleep make a person¡¯s breath slow down drastically?

    Hiro turned around, looking at his surroundings for other clues. He really wanted to know more about her. What really happened to her? If it is possible, he will touch her and wake her up.

    However, he couldn¡¯t do anything. He even couldn¡¯t find anything suspicious in that room.

    No oxygen cylinder, no electrocardiogram, no IV drip. She didn¡¯t like a patient being hospitalized in a hospital.

    There was only a huge sleeping capsule that reminded Hiro of the very famous robot alien movie when he was a child, Transformers.

    ¡°Is she sick?¡±

    Hiro looked back at Liberty, who was sleeping soundly. He really wanted to see her wake up from her slumber and noticed that he hade to visit.

    However, after thirty minutes had passed, there was no sign that the girl would wake up.

    Ding!

    Hiro was startled by an iing message from Anonymous, which he had been ignoring for quite a long time.

    ¡°Get out! Now!¡±

    Hiro really didn¡¯t realize that he had run out of time. An hour guaranteed by Anonymous was absolute.

    Although it was very hard for him to leave the girl, Hiro had no other choice. At least he already knew what was in the room Libe had told him about.

    He would ask her directly about what had happened to her when they met again.

    ¡­

    Hiro managed to return to Alice¡¯s shabby and spooky rented apartment. His mind was full of questions.

    He only told Alice about what he found in the room. However, Alice didn¡¯t look the least bit surprised. Instead, she looked normal and her face showed that she was not at all interested in anything Hiro found there.

    She waspletely focused on her main goal of unraveling the mystery of Yuujin¡¯s death.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what made her so eager like that. He was really curious about Alice¡¯s rtionship with his brother for real.

    ¡°I¡¯ll y the game.¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to meet Liberty and ask the girl directly.

    ¡°Go on!¡±

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    Hiro was back in the Eternity Kingdom. It was 10 p.m..

    It was difficult to meet Liberty at this hour of the night. What was more, he didn¡¯t have the girl¡¯s contact, nor her new address.

    Although he could randomly tag Liberty via world chat, he preferred not to because it was too attention-grabbing and made him look like a desperate person.

    Hiro looked at the full moon above the sky of the Eternity Kingdom. The light was very bright. And suddenly he remembered a quest he got from a bat-shaped boss that suddenly appeared in front of him.

    [Lost Sigil Map]

    When he activated the item, Hiro got a map. The directions on the map could only be seen when the full moonlight touched the surface.

    Hiro walked, following the map that led him deep into the forest to the west of the Eternity Kingdom.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Rustle!

    The forest was not so dark because of the moonlight. He continued walking in the direction the map showed. He could even see his footprints. His position in the forest was exactly the same as on the Lost Sigil Map. It seemed the map had magic material on it.

    Rustle!

    Hiro had heard the sound of bushes rustling behind him twice. However, when he looked behind him, he didn¡¯t see anyone there. Not even monsters existed.

    He kept walking until he reached the cross on the map.

    There was a giant transparent bubble that stretched out to cover the gap between two giant trees that rose 40 meters above ground level.

    While Hiro was staring at it, suddenly someone grabbed his hand from behind.

    ¡°Libe?!¡±

    Apletely unexpected event. The girl appeared before Hiro with a body drenched with sweat and gasping for air. She wore a robe that covered her entire body.

    ¡°Hiro, run. They¡¯reing.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Without knowing what the girl meant, Liberty suddenly pulled him towards the giant transparent bubble in front of them.

    And then, he heard her scream.

    ¡°Aaarghhhh!¡±

    Ding!

    [You have entered the Cursed Witch Lair]

 Chapter 119

    Hiro and Liberty were teleported when they entered the bubble between the giant trees. It turned out there was a hidden portal to The Cursed Witch Lair¡¯s dungeon.

    The feeling of being pulled back, then crammed into a narrow tube, made Hiro feel sick and ached all over his body. He felt like experiencing the pain two times for this teleportation.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t even feel Liberty¡¯s grip anymore. It was as if some great invisible force was trying to force the two of them apart, and it worked.

    Only the deafening sound of Liberty¡¯s screams was all Hiro remembered before finding himself awaked in the ruins of an old building.

    The building was overgrown with various types of vines on its crumbling walls.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro blinked while holding his head that throbbed painfully, as if a giant hammer had just been hit at him.

    He looked around, unable to find Liberty anywhere. It was as if she had never been with him a few seconds ago.

    ¡°Libe!!¡± Hiro shouted.

    His voice was reflected by the walls of the ruins until it echoed throughout the ce, even in the distance.

    Although he might attract the attention of monsters or even bosses in the area, still, Hiro kept shouting to call for the disappeared Liberty.

    ¡°Dammit. What happened?¡± he really felt guilty now.

    Hiro immediately took out his sword and remained alert as he started to explore the ce. After all, that ce was a dungeon. And in the dungeon, there was no way there weren¡¯t any monsters roaming around.

    ¡°LIBE!¡±

    Hiro kept shouting as he walked past the ruins of the old stone building. His feet tripped over small stones or nt roots that spread across the floor several times.

    That ce was really shabby. It looked like a ce that had been abandoned for a long time.

    There was nothing Hiro could find in that ce, small animals, insects, or even birds that should be tempted by the nts. There was only emptiness, making him feel all alone. The atmosphere got even more tense.

    The stone walls in the ruins were not that high because the top had been crushed. It was only two meters high, so sometimes Hiro could peek into the rooms just by jumping low.

    He felt the walls were getting more and more like a maze because it was really confusing.

    Until suddenly¨C he heard the sound of fast footsteps, something or someone was running towards him.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    He could feel the person getting closer and he could predict urately where the person would appear in a moment.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Liberty appeared out of breath with a drenched body. Beneath the robe she was wearing was a nightgown that looked soaked, adhering perfectly to her beautiful body. Even her underwear could be seen clearly.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Hiro put his sword back in his inventory and rushed to Liberty¡¯s side, rubbing her body that felt as cold as ice. He tried to warm her up.

    ¡°You¡¯re shivering. Quickly take off your robe. Use mine.¡±

    Hiro let go of his Night Ocean Cloak to warm Liberty.

    The girl shivered, her lips turning blue and her teeth chattering. But she did as Hiro said and took off her wet robe.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro repeated his question.

    This time he hugged Liberty and rubbed her body to keep her warm.

    ¡°You¡¯re fine, calm down. Do not be afraid, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Hiro tried to calm the girl down, but her body kept shaking. He couldn¡¯t tell if it was because Liberty was scared or because it was cold.

    Until suddenly the girl pushed Hiro¡¯s body away violently .

    He then looked into Hiro¡¯s eyes intently for a second before jumping up to kiss Hiro¡¯s lips, surprising Hiro, but he didn¡¯t resist.

    After being separated for quite a long time with no rity, getting a very warm kiss distracted Hiro from his main purpose of being there.

    Hiro returned Liberty¡¯s kiss passionately.

    His body had reacted strangely when she saw Libertye out wet with her underwear clearly visible, as if she was teasing him.

    ¡°Mmmh¡­ Libe?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know what was going on inside the girl¡¯s head. Why did she always appear full of surprises? Still, Hiro didn¡¯t mind it.

    Liberty¡¯s kiss was getting fiercer. The girl even grabbed Hiro¡¯s right hand and ced it on her hips. Hiro squeezed it, then pushed the girl¡¯s body against the stone wall behind him.

    Liberty wrapped her arms around Hiro¡¯s neck. Their kiss was getting wilder until she identally bit Hiro¡¯s lips several times. The girl managed to make Hiro¡¯s body feel hot. His heart was pounding harder than before, pumping his blood faster and faster inrge volumes to his lower body.

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. He felt challenged.

    ¡°You¡¯re really throbbing hard down there, Babe.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    As if an electric current had stung his brain, Hiro suddenly pulled his body free from Liberty¡¯s tight embrace and he pulled his sword out of his inventory.

    Liberty¡¯s expression immediately changed at seeing Hiro¡¯s sudden reaction.

    However, an unusual smirk appeared on her face, which had turned red from being controlled by lust.

    ¡°Ooops¡­ you know it! It¡¯s a shame, but I really wanted to feel a man¡¯s body today.¡±

    ¡°Stop using Liberty¡¯s face and body!¡±

    ¡°Tell me, where did you hide her?!¡± Hiro growled.

    His jaws tightened. He felt like he was being toyed with.

    It was obvious that the girl standing in front of him was someone else who had somehow imitated Liberty¡¯s face, although not with her gestures and the way she talked.

    ¡°Damn it. I should have realized it from the start.¡± Hiro thought of cursing himself.

    ¡°You really love your girlfriend, huh? You¡¯re so sweet, Honey. You even gave me warm clothes.¡±

    The creature was still using Liberty¡¯s face and body when talking to Hiro, so Hiro had a hard timeunching his first attack.

    ¡°Stop it! You¡¯re so disgusting.¡±

    ¡°Is that true? Does your girlfriend look disgusting?¡±

    The person disguised as Liberty walked closer towards Hiro and his gigantic sword pointed at her.

    The girl slowly took off her clothes, starting from Hiro¡¯s cloak, then the bra that restrained her round and full breast to the cute pink panty she was wearing.

    Liberty¡­ no¡­ the fake Liberty waspletely naked in front of Hiro.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t her body very beautiful?¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯re horny now, Sweetie.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you sheath that sword and take out your other sword?¡±

    Cold sweat dripped from Hiro¡¯s temples and his hands were already drenched in sweat, making him feel ufortable gripping the sword.

    The girl walked on the rough stone floor like a supermodel on a catwalk. She deliberately gave a seductive look to keep seducing Hiro so she could get what she wanted.

    ¡°Come on, I know you really want me, Honey.¡±

    Even the hoarse voice that came out of her luscious lips was exactly the same as Liberty¡¯s on that night. Hiro was really having a hard time staying focused and doing what he was supposed to do with the girl.

    ¡°Right, like that. Look at me with that look. Ahhh¡ªyour gaze really turns me on. Come here, Baby. Hug me, kiss me like before, I will give you the never-ending pleasure.¡±

    Hiro closed his eyes. His throat felt really dry now.

    ¡°Aaah¡ªmy dear.¡±

 Chapter 120

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro decided to run instead of having to sh the monster that was using Liberty¡¯s body, face, even voice.

    He was running away from a monster for the first time in his life in the LSO world.

    This monster was quite cunning. It really yed with Hiro¡¯s mentality and beat him with the best attack ever. Monsters with artificial intelligence that could think in such cunning ways were far more terrifying than the boss monsters Hiro had faced so far.

    Hiro was back in search of the real Liberty. He was sure Liberty was around that area, in the ruins of the old building, because the monster must have seen Liberty before it could urately copy her appearance.

    He kept running until he didn¡¯t realize there was a big boulder in front of him. He tripped over it¡ª

    Crash!

    Hiro fell to the ground with his face first.

    [Health -25]

    He groaned, then tried to get back on his feet. However, as he was about to get up, his eyes caught sight of the shape of the rock that knocked him down.

    The stone looked strangely detailed, like a bald-headed human. Even the expression on the stone looked very genuine, as if the head was transformed into stone by magical power. It looked like a masterpiece sculpturepared to ordinary stone.

    Hiro walked over to the rock to look at the other smaller stones. He just realized, after taking a closer look, the small stones were shaped like insects. They looked exactly like the real one.

    Some were like bees, beetles, grasshoppers, and even butterflies.

    Histest discovery made his heart, which had been pounding hard since Liberty disappeared, now beating crazily.

    Hiro scouted around that area. He checked that ce until he found several stone statues of human arranged in neat rows in the corner of the room.

    ¡°No¡­No¡­¡±

    Hiro ran over to the row of stone statues anxiously. And his knees immediately felt weak when he found a statue that he really didn¡¯t hope to be there.

    The statue standing in the very front row was someone he knew well, someone he was looking for.

    Liberty.

    The look of fear on the girl¡¯s face was perfectly etched into the stone statue. Her clothes were gone. The human-shaped statues in the back row were the same. They were all women, and naked.

    Hiro hugged the statue of Liberty out of guilt. He regretted having identally taken the girl into a dangerous dungeon.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    ¡°You found the real one. Don¡¯t I look much prettier than those stones?¡±

    The monster appeared behind Hiro. It still used Liberty face. It seemed the monster really liked Liberty¡¯s appearance.

    Hiro clenched his fists in rage. His body was boiling. It was hard to hold himself down anymore. His muscles tensed. Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to tear apart the monster into nothing.

    ¡°Medusa.¡±

    ¡°I know who you really are,¡± Hiro muttered with his jaws clenched. Slowly, he released his arms on Liberty¡¯s perfectly petrified body.

    ¡°Wait for me, Libe,¡± he whispered softly.

    ¡°Wow. You know who I am. Great! How do you know, huh? I¡¯m sure I hid it well.¡±

    That was right. Hiro waspletely unaware that the fake Liberty in front of him was actually a monster. Or was it not? Why didn¡¯t the system give him the information when the monster first appeared?

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±

    Itughed loudly. Yet, the serious expression on Hiro¡¯s face didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you live.¡±

    Hiro shot forward while swinging his blood-eater vampire greatsword.

    The monster didn¡¯t have time to dodge and ¡ª

    SPLAT!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Hiro shed it right in the waist. Making its body split in two in the air and blood gushing out profusely.

    The monster screamed in a deafening voice that hurt the ears.

    Meanwhile, the blood that had stuck to Hiro¡¯s de had been sucked away by the special ability of the sword.

    However, the monster was still not dead. Its two bodies that were cut in half transformed back into their original form.

    The top part turned into a woman with a head upied by dozens of green poisonous snakes that looked furious. It hissed and tried to throw their venom at Hiro, while the lower part turned into a huge and long snake tail.

    In split seconds, the two parts of the body wriggled and moved on their own, then it reconnected into one. This time, the monster showed its ghastly true appearance.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [Level 45. Medusa The Cursed Witch]

    [Race: Demon]

    Hissss!

    The monster hissed, then it pulled out a weapon from empty air. A long spear with a very sharp tip.

    nk!

    Hiro managed to stop the spear¡¯s attack with the de of his greatsword. He really nned to do everything in his power to finish off the monster and inflicted a terrible death on it.

    nk!

    Hiro twisted his body as well as his sword towards Medusa after using the spear as a foothold.

    SPLAT!

    SPLAT! [3x Critical Hit Combo]

    SPLAT! [4x Critical Hit Combo]

    The damage from Hiro¡¯s attacks with his sword increased. It was all thanks to the basic attribute conversion of Spyro, who was flying by his side with a cute, angry face. Even though the baby dragon still didn¡¯t have the ability to fight. Its presence made Hiro feel stronger.

    Medusa had a hard time dodging.

    And when it waspletely cornered, Hiro activated his unique sword skill right away.

    Ding!

    [Boss HP has been revealed]

    SPLAT!

    Hiro quickly thrust his sword vertically from under Medusa¡¯s jaws.

    [Fatal Damage]

    The venomous snakes that had been trying to attack him all this time suddenly went limp, then froze into stones.

    Medusa just stared at Hiro nkly. Before its body was petrified, Hiro pulled out his greatsword, which instantly sucked Medusa¡¯s blood until nothing was left.

    Then, the monster waspletely turned into a stone. And as the medusapletely turned into a statue, Hiro shed the statue with his sword.

    St!

    The statue of Medusa shattered into shapeless boulders.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Lucifer¡¯s sigil () ¨C Tier A]

    Hiro didn¡¯t check the promising item he had just received right away. He was more worried about Liberty¡¯s condition for now.

    He immediately ran towards the row of stone statues. Back to where Liberty was, waiting for him in the same ce.

    ¡°Libe.¡± Hiro tried to call out to the girl desperately and cupped her face, which was still a perfect stone.

    However, nothing happened. Liberty was still a statue, and Hiro didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Until suddenly¡ª

    Clink!

    A green light appeared in front of him. It floated and widened even more.

    ¡°Thank you, Nightfall. You have defeated The Cursed Witch with your overwhelming strength.¡±

    ¡°I am Freya, The Goddess of Love and Fertility.¡±

    ¡°As a gift, I grant you one special wish. Please tell me your wish.¡±

    Hiro stared at the greenish light with a look of despair. However, he believed the light was a goddess, and his wish right now was only one.

    ¡°Her name is Liberty. Medusa had turned her into a stone. I beg you, return her to normal.¡±

    ¡°I knew you would ask for that. I can feel true love from deep in your heart. I will bring her back. Liberty, that girl is very lucky to have you.¡±

    The green light suddenly descended on the top of the statue of Liberty and enveloped her with a bright and dazzling green aura. Hiro stepped back with great hope.

    He could feel the warmth just by standing near the light. He never thought he would meet a goddess who could grant his wish, because in the real world, he was an atheist.

    [Your wish has been granted]

    POOF!

    The light suddenly disappeared, and Liberty was back. The color of her body came back gradually. However, the girl staggered and almost fell to the ground, if only Hiro hadn¡¯t caught her on time.

    ¡°Libe.¡±

    No answer.

 Chapter 121

    Meanwhile¡­

    A very important meeting was being held in a circr room that had steel walls surrounding it. The walls were tightly closed to keep the information from being leaked out. They prioritized security more than anything.

    ¡°Excellent strategy, Dr. Johnson. You¡¯re really a genius.¡± A man dressed in a suit with a long gold tie gave a round of apuse, which was greeted by other people in the room.

    There were over fifteen people sitting on a luxurious andfortable sofa. And as a tribute to their achievement, they gave apuses.

    p! p! p!

    Meanwhile, a bespectacled man whose hair had partially turned white slightly bowed his head to the fifteen people in front of him. The man was standing on a small stage behind a wide screen withrge words disyed on it.

    [Last Shelter Online: Your Dream Life!]

    Dr. Jeff Johnson raised his head again, giving his best smile to the people who had be the most important investors for the project he was working on.

    With the news that had recently circted, Dr. Johnson nned to speed up the release date of a new patch for Last Shelter Online.

    A new patch that he believed could have a huge impact on people¡¯s lives around the world. A project that would require sacrifices and funds that he could not possibly do alone.

    A man in golden silk pajamas who was sitting in the back row raised his right hand.

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Bernalt?¡±

    ¡°When will I be able to meet the dead yer? I¡¯ll give him a special job. You know that money isn¡¯t an issue for me, right, Dr. Johnson?¡± His voice sounded like someone who had been suffering from a deadly disease for a long time.

    Dr. Johnson formed a warm smile. He lifted his face slightly and spoke in a reassuring tone.

    ¡°Soon, Mr. Bernalt. His psyche is still not primed enough toe back to life from the dead.¡±

    The answer from Dr. Johnson made the guests in the room burst outughing.

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±

    They thought that someone¡¯s death was a funny joke.

    Dr. Johnson seemed to enjoy the reaction he got, although his hands were already breaking out in a cold sweat from the tension.

    ¡°You know I will wait for that day toe, Dr. Johnson?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir. You will be the first to see him.¡±

    The important meeting was finally over, and Dr. Johnson asked all his guests to leave the special room. He continued to smile until the room waspletely empty.

    A well-dressed man who had been standing near the door finally walked closer to Dr. Johnson while disying a screen through his android bracelet.

    ¡°What¡¯s my next agenda, Morgan?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all done for today, Sir. But, you asked me to remind you that today you¡¯ll see your daughter.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Morgan. So it¡¯s my free time now. I am heading to the mothership.¡±

    The smile on the face of the genius scientist and the founder of today¡¯s biggest gamepany had disappearedpletely.

    Dr. Johnson took off the button of his cor that suffocated him, then he rushed out of the building where the meeting was held to go to another building that was still part of his estate.

    It was an evening, and Dr. Johnson did not say anything during the way, which only took 15 minutes. He arrived at a ce known as mothership.

    A luxurious building, a skyscraper that had the Ninecent logo on it.

    He walked speedily towards the room, while Morgan walked behind him, trying to keep up with the boss¡¯ pace.

    After holding an important meeting with thepany¡¯s major investors, Dr. Johnson was feeling very depressed.

    Although histest proposal received a very positive response from all of them, there was still one thing they wanted, but he wasn¡¯t sure he could grant it.

    WynterRain.

    Mothership was a special room in the Ninecent building, which became a headquarters for monitoring the yer. It was also the server center of the game that managed to be the focus of attention of the world, Last Shelter Online.

    The room was veryrge and spacious, like a mini stadium. It took up a full floor in the building. Inside the room, there were dozens of workers who looked very busy watching each of the threerge transparent screens in front of them. They were divided into several departments that worked based on their departments.

    Dr. Jeff Johnson came into the room, and none of those workers turned their gaze at him.

    It had always been like that. The running of the security in the game was more important than the arrival of the head of thepany.

    ¡°Bring Gary to me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±

    Gary Mitnick, a young genius who was working under the Ninecentpany as Captain Mothership. At the age of 28, he had solved all kinds of problems rted toputer systems and technology that even American Cyber ??Security Management couldn¡¯t handle.

    After leaving for a few minutes, Secretary Morgan came back to Dr. Johnson with a brte haired man who was wearing a casual t-shirt.

    ¡°Good evening, Dr. Johnson. Pardon my appearance outside of working hours.¡± The young man gave a greeting in a polite tone. His appearance didn¡¯t bother Dr. Johnson.

    ¡°Mr. Mitnick, sorry for interrupting your rest time. I came for something very important.¡±

    Dr. Johnson kept the volume down, even though no one wanted to overhear his conversation with the young man.

    ¡°I need you to get that yer¡¯s avatar back. This is very important.¡±

    Gary frowned at the whisper of his boss. He didn¡¯t seem to understand.

    ¡°Which one, sir?¡±

    ¡°WynterRain.¡±

    Last Shelter Onlinepany owned all yer IDs and had the right to confiscate if any yer vited the rules in the game and created an imbnce of power in it.

    WynterRain was also an avatar that was under the auspices of the Ninecentpany, and that meant the mothership had direct ess to that avatar, getting WynterRain¡¯s avatar wasn¡¯t hard to do either.

    Gary brought his face closer to Dr. Johnson to whisper back.

    ¡°I have tried, but I failed. I can¡¯t even detect the IP address of the yer who had stolen the avatar. It was as if the avatar was being controlled by a ghost. Isn¡¯t that weird?¡±

    Gary¡¯s answer made Dr. Johnson frowned.

    ¡°There is no such thing like ghost, Mr. Mitnick.¡±

    ¡°I know, but even the VR world was once a theory.¡±

    The two stared at each other tensely. Dr. Jeff Johnson regretted lying to the public about WynterRain working for him.

    What actually happened, he himself did not know the answer.

    He had absolutely no idea how the WynterRain ount could operate in the game even though the owner had actually died.

    Even so, Dr. Johnson was a genius that always had a back-up n.

    ¡°I guess this is the time, introducing my lovely daughter into the world.¡±

 Chapter 122

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Hiro banged loudly on the door to Jacob¡¯s house. It was so loud that it seemed to vibrate from his ce. Since leaving the secret dungeon, Liberty hadn¡¯t woken up yet. He had waited for her to wake up, but after a while, the girl didn¡¯t show a sign of waking up.

    Finally, Hiro decided to take her to Jacob¡¯s house because there was no other ce for him to stay in the game for now.

    ¡°Hiro?! What are youa€¡±holy shit! What happened to her?!¡±

    Jacob appeared with a sleepy face. It seemed the man had just woken up. He wore no clothes and only put on a short boxer.

    Hiro brought Liberty into Jacob¡¯s house and walked towards the room he hadst upied toy the girl in his arms to the bed.

    ¡°What did you do to her, Bro?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. She just came back from being petrified.¡±

    ¡°Petrified?¡±

    Hiro ignored Jacob, who kept on asking questions, and he checked Liberty¡¯s condition once more. Her body temperature was normal, and her body was not wet either. Even so, the girl hadn¡¯t opened her eyes as if she had fallen unconscious.

    ¡°How many times do I have to watch your girlfriend pass out?¡± Jacob looked panicked, and he was a little suspicious of what Hiro had done.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call the doctor.¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t.¡± Hiro immediately stopped Jacob, who was about to contact a doctor NPC via the HUD system inside his head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call her brother.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Hiro knew what he had to do under these conditions. After seeing Liberty¡¯s real body in the real world, and identally meeting Ace in human form in the real world, Hiro knew that for nowa€| he¡¯d better contact Liberty¡¯s brother because the man knew something Hiro didn¡¯t know.

    However, Hiro wasn¡¯t sure if Ace would see the message he sent via world chat.

    [You: @Ace, call me.]

    Hiro sat next to Liberty¡¯s legs, who were lying limply. He was staring at the world chat column with nervousness while Jacob, who was curious, also looked at the world chat with him.

    [FavBitch: OMG! My cutie @NightFall, you¡¯re still here!]

    [Lost_Queen: NightFall?!]

    [PinkBell: I thought that he¡¯s quitting the game T_T]

    ¡°You¡¯re so popr, Hiro.¡± Jacob looked surprised to see the world chat suddenly packed with other yers who wanted to greet his friend.

    Hiro ignored them. He didn¡¯t care about the others. He just hoped that Ace would get the notification.

    Ding!

    [You have received a new friend request]

    [Ace (Online)]

    ¡°Got him.¡±

    Hiro epted the friend¡¯s request so he could connect with the person he had been waiting for. Without waiting, Hiro contacted Ace via a direct call.

    Hiro informed Ace the reason he contacted the man. He told the man that Liberty was with him in an unconscious state and asked Ace toe and check on his sister¡¯s condition right away.

    Hearing what Hiro said, Ace really didn¡¯t look the least bit suspicious. Instead, he said that he would soone to the coordinates point where Hiro was taking care of his younger sister as if he simply believed that NightFall was with his sister at the moment.

    Ace¡¯s reaction really made Hiro suspicious.

    ¡®Does he know about my rtionship with Libe?¡¯

    Ding!

    [You have received a new message]

    [Ace: I¡¯m at the front.]

    Hiro and Jacob rushed out towards the main door of the house to wee an invited guest who came in split seconds. They weren¡¯t surprised because, after all, Ace was an elite yer who certainly had enough money to just buy a portkey crystal.

    Ace came in casual clothes. He hid a set of armor with a costume from a famous brand, Louis Vuitton. Absolutely no concept of clothing for the Medieval era.

    Hiro felt a little awkward when he had to deal with Liberty¡¯s brother. Even so, Ace didn¡¯t seem interested in asking him another question that wasn¡¯t rted to Liberty.

    ¡°Where is my sister?¡±

    They went back into the room to see Liberty¡¯s still motionless body.

    Ace strode to the girl and examined her body as if he were a real-life doctor.

    Waita€¡± is he?

    Wasn¡¯t the Johnson family hereditary as a doctor?

    Hiro was standing at the door with Jacob, who had given him suspicious signals several times. However, Hiro ignored it. Unlike Jacob, who was full of suspicion for Ace, Hiro really trusted him for things rted to Liberty.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Ace turned to ask Hiro.

    His face didn¡¯t look the least bit worried, and Hiro took that as something positive. It meant Liberty must be fine. Even though he didn¡¯t know the reason Liberty hadn¡¯t woken up yet, Hiro only believed in the reaction of the older brother who truly cared about his younger sister.

    Hiro told Ace the details of the incident that he had experienced a few hours ago. Starting from how Liberty suddenly appeared and dragged him into a dungeon portal. When he found Liberty, the girl was already petrified by a monster. Last, he told Ace that he prayed to a goddess to turn her back to normal.

    Hiro didn¡¯t miss anything except the information that he had made out with the monster that copied Liberty¡¯s appearance while in the dungeon. Of course, he didn¡¯t want to share that embarrassing story.

    ¡°I see. Looks like the avatar has a minor bug due to petrification.¡± Ace really wasn¡¯t interested in extracting more information than that. He didn¡¯t even seem to care, although Hiro told him that Liberty probably knew something about the person who was after him..

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring her home,¡± he added.

    ¡°What?!¡± Jacob was overreacting. However, Hiro looked calm.

    ¡°You better make her back to normal.¡±

    Ace tilted his head when he heard Hiro¡¯s words.

    ¡°Sorry? Who do you think you are, NightFall? She¡¯s my only sister. I know what¡¯s best for her.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s you who made her suffer.¡±

    Ace took out a portkey crystal from his pants pocket. His sharp gaze pierced Hiro¡¯s chest. Yet, Hiro gave no response.

    However, deep down, Hiro agreed. Ace was right. If only Liberty never entered that dungeona€| she would definitely be fine now.

    ¡°Please, take care of her.¡±

    Hiro bowed his head after getting an indirect insult from Liberty¡¯s brother. To convince Ace that he really hoped for Ace to take care of Liberty, he even brushed aside all his ego for the girl.

    And his action managed to make Ace surprised.

    During his departure while carrying Liberty¡¯s in his arms, a faint smile spread across Ace¡¯s face.

 Chapter 123

    That night, Hiro once again stayed the night at Jacob¡¯s abode.

    Jacob, the homeowner, didn¡¯t find it burdensome at all. Not only did he not mind, but he was also more than happy to let Hiro stay as it meant he wouldn¡¯t be alone in therge building.

    Hiro lied down on the single bed in the bedroom. He wasn¡¯t feeling sleepy yet, but he also had no intention of grinding for EXP or LSC in the middle of the night like usual.

    That day, Hiro felt exhausted due to theck of rest, but he also didn¡¯t intend to sleep due to the turbulence in his mind.

    One by one, the anomalies rted to the game he was ying were being unveiled. He tried to connect everything with his mind, but it was futile. There were still too many gaps he still couldn¡¯t find an exnation for at the moment.

    He subconsciously furrowed his brows and frowned. His brother¡¯s death turned out to be connected to the developerpany of LSO, and even the girl he loved was rted to the very same game¡¯s mystery.

    Hiro deeply sighed. He desperately wanted to know what actually happened. He didn¡¯t want to miss anything, but he was powerless.

    He tried to brush off his thoughts about LSO¡¯s mystery and focus on his initial goal of ying the game: Win the gameunch event that now had 2¨C3 weeks until its final announcement. He got so many distractions that he was left behind by other yers who were truly focused on that one goal.

    ¡°Kwak!¡±

    Spyro, who was asleep on the wooden desk near Hiro, seemed to be having a slightly unpleasant dream. It squirmed and made some noises for a bit, but after a few moments, it quickly went back to sleep.

    Hiro stroked the baby dragon¡¯s back until it snored like a cat.

    ¡°I am so tired,¡± Hiro mumbled while putting his left hand on his head, still lying down and staring at the room ceiling.

    At that moment, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten about one important thing; the item he obtained as a reward for defeating the snake woman.

    [Lucifer¡¯s Sigil]

    [Description: A sigil containing an immense power from one of the most powerful demon lords, Lucifer. Once this item is activated, your soul will be sold to the demon lord without a way to retrieve it. In return, you will be rewarded with his unique power. Dare to try?]

    Even though the item was ssified as an essory, when Hiro took it out, he found that it was only in the form of a tarot card with a symbol widely known as Lucifer¡¯s sigil.

    The item¡¯s description box only had a very general description, so Hiro didn¡¯t know what he would obtain from using the essory. He tried to check every corner of the card as thoroughly as possible for any text, but he saw none.

    Until he activated his Demon¡¯s Eyes.

    [Lucifer is the most powerful demon lord. Who knows what you will obtain when you give your soul to him.]

    Still, the information he found wasn¡¯t specific and even seemed a little too exaggerated.

    ¡°If this thing can give me a lot of strength, I better activate it.¡±

    ¡®But selling my soul to Lucifer, huh?¡¯

    To tell the truth, he didn¡¯t really mind the price even though it wasn¡¯t a game world.

    Hiro didn¡¯t stand up and remained in his position when he decided to activate the item in his left hand.

    Ding!

    [Are you sure you want to activate Lucifer¡¯s Sigil?]

    [Note: Your soul will no longer be yours. Are you sure?]

    He was a little puzzled as to why his HUD system would ask him twice. It was as if it was trying to keep him from getting lost in the dark world.

    But of course, Hiro nodded.

    ¡°Yes, activate the sigil.¡±

    ¡­

    Clink!

    Crash!

    All of a sudden, the card in Hiro¡¯s hand glowed a shade of purple that reminded him of the Blood-Eater Vampire when its unique skill was active. A few moments after, the card broke into crystal shards that floated above his head beforebining into a violet orb the size of a tennis ball.

    Hiro moved his index finger to touch the orb out of curiosity. To his surprise, as his finger approached it, the orb suddenly darted away and swiftly bounced in every direction in the room as if it wanted to run away.

    At a loss for what to do, he quickly stood up and tried to catch the violet orb with difficulty before it escaped from the closed room.

    However, just when Hiro jumped to catch it, the orb suddenly shot into his chest right where his heart was.

    Clink!

    Hiro instantly felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He could feel all the blood in his body being pulled toward his heart by that thing, and in a matter of seconds, all his senses stopped working and he fell backward to the wooden floor.

    Excruciating pain rushed through his body. At that moment, Hiro experienced the agonizing phenomenon of being on the border between life and death. He didn¡¯t realize it, but the simted pain from the phenomenon truly happened, like those who barely escaped death.

    A near-death experience.

    Ding!

    [Removing your soul¡­]

    Hiro could see a notification appear on a dark background, but apart from that, he couldn¡¯t do anything. It was so painful that his entire body felt numb.

    [Soul has been removed]

    ¡®Arghhh!¡¯

    He wanted to scream his lungs out, but it was as if his body was out of his control.

    Ding!

    [Lucifer has epted your soul.]

    [Imnting new soul¡­]

    ¡®¡­Huh?¡¯

    [Absolute Demon Seed has been nted]

    [Downloading a new system¡­]

    The recent notifications confused him. Coupled with the pain causing him to find it difficult to think straight, he couldn¡¯t process what was going on.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know why the process was taking so long. He had begun to feel frustrated due to being immobile despite beingpletely conscious of what was happening in his body.

    [New system has been downloaded]

    [Synchronizing system with HUD¡­]

    He looked back to the time when he got the GPS. The process to activate the item didn¡¯t take this long, and it definitely wasn¡¯t nearly as painful as this one. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, what was going to happen?

    [Systems have been synchronized]

    Ding!

    [A restart is required. System will automatically restart.]

    Zipp!

    ¡­

    Hiro was instantly programmed to sleep for several minutes before finally, the voice of a woman woke him up.

    [Pride System has been sessfully imnted]

 Chapter 124

    All of Hiro¡¯s senses started working again.

    However, he felt something different. The pain that previously overtook his entire body had been reced by a tranquil feeling. Moreover, he felt as if his energy had beenpletely replenished.

    He was still lying on the wooden floor while looking at the room ceiling. His body felt a little strange. Not only that, but his left hand also felt weird, a little like being burned with cold fire.

    Hiro checked his left hand, and¡­

    Something was there.

    The back of his left hand was covered by something akin to a tattoo that spread to the back of his fingers. At a nce, the tattoo reminded him of the sigil on the tarot card that had disappeared from his hand.

    Hiro took a closer look at its details. He had never been interested in getting a tattoo, but the ck tattoo on the back of his hand at the moment made him feel that getting one might not be bad at all.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    As Hiro wondered about the origin of this strange tattoo, a woman¡¯s voice suddenly reverberated inside his head, causing him to reflexively sit up out of surprise.

    ¡°It¡¯s the cursed sigil, proof that your soul has been epted by Lucifer and traded with the absolute demon seed,¡± the woman calmly answered.

    Hiro looked around. Nobody else apart from himself was in the room.

    A telepathy skill? Or¡­

    ¡°Who are you? Where are you hiding?¡±

    Hiro was a little puzzled. He didn¡¯t expect that such a thing would happen.

    At that instant, he felt as if he was being watched.

    ¡°My name is Meta. I am one of the seven primordial demons contracted to Demon Lord Lucifer. My duty is to monitor the owners of absolute demon seeds until their final evolution.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how to react. He still hadn¡¯t understood.

    LSO¡¯s system made him feel as if he was in an absolute magic world. Even the system was as organized as a story in a fantasy novel.

    However, before he could start asking more, a bunch of notifications suddenly appeared in front of him.

    Ding!

    [You havepleted a demon bloodline quest]

    [EXP has been increased]

    [5,000 EXP required to evolve to the next stage]

    Ding!

    [Sin of Pride has been activated]

    [Strength increased]

    [Agility increased]

    [Dexterity increased]

    [Intelligent increased]

    [Battle rating increased]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Thought eleration (Basic Skill)]

    [You have obtained Deadly w (Basic Skill)]

    [You have obtained Predicio (Basic Skill)]

    [You have obtained Godspeed Dash (Basic Skill)]

    ¡°Whoah!¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    Four additional basic skills in a row? How did he get them, and how could he use them?

    He quickly checked his HUD system. As he suspected, a new icon had appeared there.

    [Sin of Pride System]

    After checking to see what was in the new icon, Hiro could see the name of the additional skills he just received. They were listed in a column titled [Basic Skills].

    Several [???] slots were also in the column, showing that those slots could be filled with other basic skills.

    But that wasn¡¯t all. Something else piqued his interest to further check the system he just got.

    [Ultimate Skills].

    Like the list of [Basic Skills], there was another list titled [Ultimate Skills] with three empty slots marked as [???].

    ¡°Is this real!?¡± Hiro muttered in amazement. He still couldn¡¯t believe that he truly got something this significant. The sigil he obtained just a few hours ago caused his battle rating to skyrocket, and he now had a demondy in his body.

    [Thought eleration (Passive)]

    [Description: A skill that elerates the user¡¯s thought process by a million times.]

    [Deadly w (Active)]

    [Description: When demon stage reaches level 2, user can take out deadly demon ws that can be used anytime. (Cooldown: 0 seconds)]

    [Predicio (Active)]

    [Description: A skill that allows the user to predict their opponent¡¯s moves during a battle. (Duration: 60 seconds) (Cooldown: 3 minutes)]

    [Godspeed Dash (Passive)]

    [Description: A skill that elerates the user¡¯s movement speed during battle.]

    After reading the description of all the basic skills he just received, Hiro felt quite satisfied and motivated to quickly get up. He felt an urge to do something to increase his strength fast.

    Once again, Hiro went out and left Jacob¡¯s abode. He walked toward the nearest merchant NPC to purchase several must-bring potions for those who wanted to grind and look for materials.

    When most yers were sound asleep that night, Hiro was greatly excited to increase his strength after obtaining the new powers he really wanted to try.

    ¡­

    St!

    St!

    He was now in the middle of demon-type monsters that only appeared at night. Their forms were very simr to fireflies, but the light that faintly shone from their abdomen was blood red. Furthermore, they had a pair of scythe-shaped forelegs the size of an adult man¡¯s palm as weapons, and a bunch of them were gathered at one spot.

    As Hiro massacred the demonic monsters, he could feel the difference in his movement speed thanks to the system he just got. He could feel the effect at that very moment.

    St!

    Ding!

    [Job ss level up 1x]

    With the help of the Pride System, Hiro finally managed to reach level 35 for his job ss. At that moment, he quickly jumped out of the firefly monster swarm as he remembered about one important thing he had to do now.

    That awakening skill.

    He could already activate it since he already met the job ss level requirement, and Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to try the promising skill.

    Hiro opened his inventory to take out a scroll he had been keeping there for a long time, the scroll he worked hard to get by destroying the giant world tree.

    Hiro reminisced about what happened at that time. That night felt so special. Liberty was with him at that time, waiting for him even though she had to sleep on an open field.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see how strong this insanebo is.¡± Hiro gripped the skill scroll in his left hand.

    Ding!

    [Are you sure you want to activate Awakening Sword Combo Skill?]

    Hiro had never been so sure.

    ¡°Yes. Do it.¡±

    Following his confirmation, the skill scroll in his hand was instantly burned by a fire that didn¡¯t feel hot at all. In the next second, the fire dissipated.

    [You have activated Awakening Sword Combo Skill]

    [Awakening Sword Combo Skill (Active) ¨C Utilizesbo attacks to deal a high amount of damage. The higher the skill level, the higher the maximumbo limit. (Maximumbo limit up to 27x.)]

 Chapter 125

    From the middle of the night until the sun showed its golden light at the end of the horizon, Hiro was grinding against night-type monsters while trying his new skill. His new skill made him really enjoy his level up.

    So far, the awakening swordbo skill could only be used up to 15bos because the level was still low. Even so, using the awakening skill made Hiro¡¯s damage increase drastically even only at the firstbo stack of x2 or x3.

    However, the problem was that his energy was drained much faster when he used the awakening swordbo skill. Hiro thought it was time for him to level up his demon body so he could use skills that require energy costs more effective.

    St!

    He defeated thest monster before it was burned and destroyed by the light of the sun. Hiro was standing in front of a desert. It was quite windy that his body was covered with dust and sand.

    Hiro checked his progressive stats again to see how far he had progressed.

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

    Base Level 41

    Job ss Level 37

    Health 25300/25300

    AP 6120/6120

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 9910

    BR 35190

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 135

    AGI 87

    INT 55

    VIT 62

    DEX 55

    LUCK 30

    Skill Stats (Points 3)

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5 Max

    Bloodsteal (passive) Level 5 Max

    Martial Combo Art Level 5 Max

    Awakening Sword Combo Skill Level 2

    Hiro realized that his progressive stats were quite promising for now when hepared them to other yers from all servers. However, it was still far from enough to catch up with his brother.

    Realizing that, Hiro clenched his fists in annoyance. He felt his efforts were not maximal enough, and he had to improve to prove that Yuujin¡¯s words were wrong.

    ¡°I¡¯ll prove it to you, Yuujin. I am not weakling.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have received a new friend request]

    [LostSoul has added you as friend]

    Hiro arched an eyebrow in surprise. It was too early to ept a friend request. Also, he got a friend request from a legend. He didn¡¯t expect the man to remember him after receiving absolute defeat at the Haunted Maze event..

    He quickly epted the friend request from the leader of the Immortal Knights. Hiro was curious as to what would happen next. Because it seemed there was something urgent.

    And his guess was right.

    The owner of the username immediately contacted Hiro via direct call.

    ¡°Good morning, Kid,¡± he said in his distinctive deep voice.

    Elite yers from the Immortal Knights guild found a hidden dungeon that required a raid party of 15 people to enter. Dominic and the main party of Immortal Knights had already inspected the dungeon along with their ten guild members. However, when they arrived at the boss¡¯s door, there was a warning indicating that the total rmended BR was verycking.

    They could have forced their way in, but it would be too risky if a guild member was killed in the dungeon. They would also have to receive a 7 day penalty of not being able to log in.

    However, before the hidden dungeon was conquered by their rival guild, Exalted, Dominic nned to create a non-guild raid party with yer members ofrge BR. And that was the reason he contacted Hiro.

    Hiro listened to Dominic¡¯s coherent and clear exnation carefully. His eyebrows knitted together. Of course, he was interested in participating in the raid party. He was already curious about the main condition, which was 15 people in a party. It was an unusual condition. He was curious about what was hidden in the dungeon.

    ¡°If you already have your party, you can invite them,¡± Dominic added. He ended his sentence, hoping Hiro would join them.

    ¡°When are you nning to go?¡±

    ¡°Tonight. At 9 p.m. Let¡¯s gather at my guild base.¡±

    ¡°I will bring 4 people. If you have a highly skilled cleric or ranger in your guild, invite him to join my party.¡±

    The call ended and Hiro still had time to increase his strength and gather the people he believed could work with him.

    However, before he could do that, Hiro had toplete his daily quest.

    For weekly quests, the system should have unlocked the feature since the world level reached level 30. However, since they were busy with mysterious events recently, it seemed the feature was dyed for a few days. Hiro and other yers even receivedpensation for the dy in this feature. It was a normal quality pet food.

    Daily quests were monotonous. It was a repeated quest, but skipping one daily quest could make a person¡¯s level fall behind. And a real gamer would never do that. Whatever happened, they would do the quest.

    After Hiro finished the daily quest, he returned to the city of Underworld to meet with the NPC upgrade weapon.

    Hiro needed to increase his mining level to the max to get the legendary weapon refine materials. Because the materials for refining his weapon were still not avable in the marketce. It was still impossible for him to increase the power of the weapon through refinement of the vampire blood-eater weapon.

    But, Batarang, his second favorite weapon, he could increase his refinement level. He didn¡¯t buy [Green Mithril] through the marketce system because the prices listed there were set through the bidding system.

    Last night, before grinding in the desert, Hiro walked past the market arena in Vul Faldur. He met a yer who was focused on improving his mining life skill, so he sold those rare mining materials in the market. Luckily, that dwarf yer remembered Hiro as a hero for The Haunted Maze event, so he was willing to sell Hiro a [Green Mithril] with a discount. Just for one time.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know whether to feel lucky or guilty because he couldn¡¯t make the survivor team be the winner of the event.

    Finally, he spoke to the NPC Gararic to help him in the refining process.

    [Add your weapon here]

    [Batarang Tier A weapon has been added]

    [Add your refinement material here]

    [1 Green Mithril has been added]

    [Refining to +1 for tier A weapon guaranteed 100% sess rate]

    ¡°All 300 LSC. ¡±

    Hiro took a deep breath. 300 USD was still too expensive for him. The price in the game was really not friendly for a free yer like him.

    However, he felt Batarang would be very useful in the future as a backup weapon. So, he decided to give up 300 USD. After all, with a 100% sess rate, he had nothing to lose.

    Ding!

    [300 LSC has been consumed]

    Tukk! Tukk!

    Clink!

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! Your weapon, Batarang, has been sessfully refined to +1]

    [Refinement : Damage increase 3% (+1)]

 Chapter 126

    ¡°Where have you been, Hiro?!¡± Jacob just finished taking a shower. He was wrapping his waist with a thick towel when Hiro came into his house without knocking on the door, as if the man already thought of it as his own home.

    ¡°Good morning, Jake,¡± Hiro replied without giving any exnation. The drowsiness had returned, and he felt his body was getting weak. He needed to logout immediately and had a good sleep before login to the game again at the promised time with the leader of the Immortal Knights.

    Hiro almost forgot that he had promised toe with four people, yet he had not told the people he was going to invite about his ns.

    ¡°We are going to a hidden dungeon tonight with the Immortal Knights, Jacob,¡± he said nonchntly. Hiro didn¡¯t ept any rejection. Jacob looked surprised, but he didn¡¯t refuse. It seemed he had started to take on Hiro¡¯s interest in hidden dungeons.

    ¡°Cool! Another hidden dungeon?!¡±

    Hiro nodded while sitting on a wooden chair with his chin propped on his hand. His eyes felt heavy and tired. He had forgotten that the hand he used to support his chin was covered by a tattoo. It instantly caught Jacob¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Wow, look at that tattoo! Where did you get it?¡± He was always amazed by whatever Hiro had.

    Hiro raised his left hand so that Jacob could see the details of the tattoo on his hand clearly. The tattoo looked cool, but it was actually a cursed sigil, and there was nothing good about a curse, especially if it was in the real world.

    ¡°Wait, let me make a call.¡±

    The people Hiro contacted were none other than Cara and Noah. Of course, he couldn¡¯t easily convince the two of them to join him without mentioning the various promising offers.

    Cara said that she couldn¡¯t log into the game tonight because there is a very important event that she had to attend. The event ended at 9 pm, however, if Cara was allowed toete¡­ then she would be happy to join in. Even so, she had one condition, Hiro should go with her to meet one of her friends who became a big fan of NightFall after the girl was saved from the first yer killer. It was thanks to Hiro.

    The request sounded easy. But, as a yer who never get any attention from his achievements due to his older brother was too popr, Hiro felt that getting a real fan was quite awkward.

    Meanwhile Noah, he had no big ns for tonight. Still, he refused to join a raid party. For him, joined a raid would decrease his chances of getting rare items from the dungeon. In the end, he did not give an answer whether he agreed to participate or not.

    Hiro didn¡¯t have the right to force them. It was a bit disappointing but still, he couldn¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°So how is it?¡± Jacob needed a confirmation. Actually, he had already guessed that the result looked bad from Hiro¡¯s expression and reaction earlier.

    ¡°I already told them where we will meet. But, I don¡¯t know they wille or not.¡± Hiro shrugged his shoulders.

    Jacob sighed with Hiro¡¯s answer. He hoped they could fight together again. This time, he admitted he liked Noah a bit, despite his narcissistic and annoying nature. He could feel that Noah was not that pure after seeing his actions to protect the defenseless cleric in thest second against the dragon monster.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go out and take a break, Jacob. If you have time, it¡¯s best to increase your strength before we meet at the meeting point.¡±

    Finally, Hiro could leave the game.

    [System off]

    [Logout]

    Hiro took off his VR helmet and found that the sun was shining brightly outside. It felt warm when it touched his toes. He looked around, but there was no one in the room. Hiro didn¡¯t even see Alice¡¯s shadow.

    Out of curiosity, Hiro stood up and went around, looking for the girl. Inside the apartment, there was only one room that was used as a bedroom, and it seemed that Alice was in that room. Not wanting to make her misunderstand, Hiro decided to take a bath using a water heater. The water felt normal even though the snow had filled the city. At least he didn¡¯t take an ice bath.

    After cleaning his body, Hiro felt his stomach grumble. He wanted to eat something that could make his body feel warm. However, when he checked the refrigerator in the kitchen, he couldn¡¯t find anything other than mineral water in a bottle that had frozen.

    Finally, Hiro decided to knock on Alice¡¯s room and ask her where she kept the food.

    After several knocks on the door, he did not get any response.

    ¡°Where did that girl go? Is she not inside?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s assumption about Alice leaving him alone in the apartment grew stronger after he purposely pounded harder on the wooden door, but he still got no reply. Hiro decided to open the door and see what the girl was doing.

    Screech!

    Hiro poked his head into the room to take a peek. And at that moment, his eyes widened.

    Alice seemed to fall asleep sitting in an office chair with wheels. Her neck was tilted to the side, and it looked painful. Meanwhile, a white light was emitted from the surface of the android bracelet she was wearing. The light extended like a projector and cast the three giant transparent screens that were disying on a standby mode image in front of the chair Alice was sitting on.

    Hiro was amazed to see the three giant transparent screens. He had never seen anyone could pull out such arge screen from an android bracelet. Normally, the android bracelet could only disy a skinscreen that adjusted to the user¡¯s hand size. He had no idea that the android bracelet could be used like a sophisticatedputer.

    However, he couldn¡¯t stay there forever. Seeing Alice, who seemed to work too hard until the girl fell asleep, Hiro couldn¡¯t let her stay in that position. He wasn¡¯t that heartless.

    Hiro approached the girl to carry her onto the warm bed. When Hiro touched her, the android bracelet instantly turned off automatically, as if a super-advanced security system had been nted in it.

    It was the first time Hiro touched Alice. He realized that the girl¡¯s body was very light. Her skin also felt cold because she was only wearing a thin tank top.

    ¡°Sleep tight, Alice.¡± Hiro muttered afterying down Alice on the bed. He also covered her body with a thick nket.

    But, before he walked away, Alice¡¯s hand suddenly gripped her wrist tightly.

    ¡°No¡­ don¡¯t go¡­ Yuujin. Please.¡±

    Alice furrowed her brows without even opening her eyes.

 Chapter 127

    Despite being fully asleep, Alice gripped Hiro¡¯s wrist with quite a lot of force. Who knew where she got that much strength in her sleep.

    Sleeptalking? Or is it a nightmare?

    Hiro didn¡¯t know which one was happening to the person he just moved onto the bed.

    ¡°Yuujin, please don¡¯t go. I don¡¯t trust them,¡± Alice continued to sleeptalk. Her long and sharp nails scratched Hiro¡¯s hand and caused him to wince in pain.

    Still, he intentionally didn¡¯t wake her up. He wanted to know, what was she dreaming about? This was the second time she mentioned Yuujin¡¯s name in her dream.

    Hiro decided not to leave the room. Instead, he crouched next to Alice and closely observed her face. The old room warmer failed to neutralize the cold temperature of winter, causing her nose to slightly redden.

    Even Hiro felt that the temperature in the closed room was really cold and wanted to use something to warm himself.

    Still on the bed with her hand gripping Hiro¡¯s wrist, Alice suddenly moved as if she was struggling to break free with her eyes closed. A secondter, she abruptly opened her eyes like a shocked person and finally woke up from her horrible nightmare.

    ¡°No! Please, no!¡±

    Even her breathing was greatly irregr as if she had just run too much.

    Hiro looked into the sleepy eyes looking back at him. He didn¡¯t know what to do in his current position. There was no way he could shake her hand off just like that, he didn¡¯t have the heart to see her in that condition.

    Her face seemed pale and exhausted and her teeth were chattering due to the cold, truly showing that she was also a normal person with a weak side. This was a rare sight for Hiro.

    ¡°Y-Yuujin,¡± Alice still sleeptalked even though she was already awake. The hand that was previously gripping Hiro¡¯s wrist had moved to his face and was gently stroking his face. A smile was on her face as she gazed into his eyes with glistening eyes.

    Hiro felt strange.

    ¡®Is she crying?¡¯

    He hadn¡¯t even thought of the possible reasons when all of a sudden, Alice pulled his neck and hugged him tightly, choking him a little and causing him to reflexively cough.

    ¡°You¡¯re safe!!¡± Alice buried her face in his shoulder. Hiro could feel her slowly warm up, and something wet dripped onto his neck.

    She cried without loosening her hug on Hiro, whom she seemed to be mistaking as the other person she desperately wanted to meet at the moment.

    Hiro froze in ce. Alice¡¯s embrace made his body slowly warm up as well. If Alice was indeed mistaking him for Yuujin right now, he couldn¡¯t fully me her. She wasn¡¯t the only one who said he really resembled his brother.

    Moreover, if someone missed his brother like how he had deeply buried all this time, Hiro felt that they deserved a special appreciation from him.

    Hiro silently let Alice cry on his shoulder for as long as she needed to. After quite a long while, she fell asleep again after calming down.

    Very gently and carefully, Hiro moved Alice back to a sleeping position on the bed and covered her with the thick nket to warm her before finally leaving the room to rest on the living room sofa.

    What he just experienced made him want to know about Alice¡¯s rtionship with his brother even more.

    ¡®Is she his lover?¡¯ Hiro couldn¡¯t help but wonder in his mind. He had no other guess as convincing as that one at the moment.

    However, he didn¡¯t remember Yuujin telling him anything about his love life. That brother of his hadn¡¯t even talked about any girls to him, as if his entire life was focused on working and making money. Because of that, Hiro had even thought that his brother might be gay. How could someone be so popr yet never have a girlfriend?

    Hiro closed his eyes and drove out all the thoughts preventing him from sleeping. He needed to rest for now.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to turn on a parallel rm to wake him up so he wouldn¡¯t sleep for more than four hours a day. He still needed to work hard.

    ¡­

    A delicious aroma pulled Hiro from his subconscious.

    Alice was cooking in the kitchen for both of them after she woke up before Hiro, who had only slept for three hours.

    Hiro, who brought his unbearable hunger to his sleep, was immediately awakened and blinked a few times. He was still doubting whether the aroma that woke him up was in the real world.

    Having moved between the real world and the virtual world with extremely realistic graphics so often, he sometimes required more time to process which world he was in when he opened his eyes.

    That aroma, Hiro knew it well. It was very distinctive, so much that an image of the food Alice was preparing instantly appeared in his head.

    ¡°Okonomiyaki.¡± Hiro gulped and immediately sat up on the sofa that had be his throne. He looked in the direction of the kitchen and saw Alice looking at him with the normal gaze he knew.

    ¡°Is that okonomiyaki?¡± Hiro tried to confirm the truth of his guess.

    He could feel his mouth begin to water. Okonomiyaki was his favorite Japanese food, especially the okonomiyaki Yuujin often used to make when their parents recently passed away.

    ¡°Your nose is as sharp as a dog.¡±

    Alice was impressed by Hiro¡¯s sense of smell for Japanese food.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t hold himself back from eximing with joy and quickly stood up to walk toward the dining room, like a child waiting for his mother to cook his favorite food.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you like it so much. We don¡¯t have anything here and I forgot to go shopping. I only brought some Japanese sauces before leaving, too,¡± Alice exined how she had no choice but to cook okonomiyaki.

    But Hiro didn¡¯t care about the reason. He was ted and couldn¡¯t wait to gobble up the food.

    Even his stomach rumbled impatiently.

    ¡°Here.¡± Alice handed a te full of okonomiyaki to the table in front of him.

    Hiro didn¡¯t pay the hot steam clearlying out of the dish any mind and quickly took a knife and a fork to eat with.

    ¡°Huff, huff¡­ This is crazy. Freaking delicious. How did you do it?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t realize that the dish used the exact same recipe he loved, even down to the amount of ingredients and added variations. He was too hungry to realize those details, to realize that Yuujin was the one who taught Alice how to cook his best version of okonomiyaki.

 Chapter 128

    Hiro focused on gobbling up the steaming hot te of okonomiyaki in front of him without returning Alice¡¯s gaze watching him while leaning on the kitchen table.

    ¡°Thank you for the food,¡± Hiro genuinely said from the bottom of his heart.

    Without waiting for Alice to tell him to, he quickly stood up to wash the dinnerware and tware he used out of habit.

    After sleeping for three hours and eating the delicious food that indulged his stomach, Hiro decided to get back to work, logging in to the game awaiting him.

    It was still in thete afternoon, but the sky outside was already dark and snow was falling. Before logging in to the game, Hiro wore twoyers of jumper jackets Alice brought from his apartment in Japan and wrapped his legs with the thick nket Alice had prepared on the sofa for him.

    However, just as Hiro was about to put the VR helmet on his head, Alice spoke to him.

    ¡°Have you gotten a pet like I asked?¡±

    Hiro raised his brow in confusion. Hadn¡¯t he told Alice about his outrageous luck in getting a pet egg from a mysterious box.

    Did he forget to tell Alice that the egg had hatched, or did Alice forget?

    ¡°Of course. I got a dragon, a baby Night Fury,¡± Hiro exined like an employee talking to his boss.

    Alice wrinkled her forehead. ¡°Night Fury?¡±

    She looked as if she was about to burst with joy, but felt that it might be awkward so she tried not to show it. Still, Hiro could read her strange movements.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to get so lucky with it,¡± she acknowledged Hiro¡¯s luck.

    ¡°So, what do I have to do with the pet? Why do you keep asking about it? What does it have to do with you?

    Now that she brought the topic up again, Hiro could no longer hold back.

    Alice didn¡¯t immediately respond. Instead, she supported her chin on the table and tilted her head.

    ¡°It would be easier to show you than to tell.¡±

    Her answer dissatisfied Hiro. However, Alice quickly turned around before he could once again open his mouth to ask another question, a sign that this conversation between them was over.

    Hiro only heaved a long sigh and put his head in the VR helmet.

    [System linked]

    He once again appeared in Jacob¡¯s living room. Unexpectedly, instead of startling Jacob, his sudden appearance startled two female dwarven yers who were sitting not far from where he appeared.

    ¡°You surprised me! I thought you were a ghost!¡± one of the dwarven yers eximed with her hand on her chest.

    Hiro looked at the two.

    He didn¡¯t recognize them. He didn¡¯t know who they were to Jacob either, but what he did know was that even though the two had the dwarf bloodline, he found the two very cute and loveable. Rather than dwarves, they looked more like petite girls.

    ¡°Good afternoon.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know what to say. He only said the first thing that crossed his mind.

    There were still four hours before the agreed time to meet the leader of Immortal Knights. Even so, when he opened his inbox through his HUD system, he didn¡¯t find any iing messages from both Noah and Cara, who should¡¯ve confirmed their avability to join by now.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ Sorry, but who are you? Why did you appear here so suddenly?¡± One of the dwarven yers walked toward Hiro with her legs together as if she was trying not to pee herself.

    [Level 35. Callmebonnie. Mage. Hired Frencer]

    Hiro guessed who the girl was by the title she had.

    ¡®Are they working for Jacob?¡¯

    ¡°I live here. I¡¯m Jacob¡¯s friend,¡± he answered without hiding anything.

    Despite that, it seemed that the answer he gave made the girl misunderstand. When the girl heard his response, she hurriedly ran toward her friend, who was still standing at the same spot as before, and whispered to her in a voice loud enough for Hiro to hear quite clearly.

    ¡°See, I told you Sir Jacob already has a lover. I just didn¡¯t expect his lover to be a man. He looks cute though.¡±

    Hiro only smiled. He didn¡¯t know why, but people kept mistaking his sexual orientation.

    Before he heard more of the girls¡¯ strange words, the main door was suddenly knocked a bit harshly, surprising the three.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Hiro moved to open the door, but the dwarf girls were quick to move before his intention.

    ¡°Good afternoon, wee to our store. Is there anything we can help you with, sir? Eh¡ªmiss?¡±

    Even though the customer was quite rough with the wooden door, the two still acted very professionally.

    ¡°Is Hiro still here?¡±

    An exceptionally gentle and slightly pampered voice came from the direction of the door.

    Hiro¡¯s ears tensed up. He knew that voice.

    Liberty leaned her head into the room to check whether the person she was looking for was there. Her eyes immediately widened when she saw Hiro, who wasn¡¯t ready for the surprise.

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    She waved her hand full of enthusiasm. It was as if she had turned back into the old Liberty he knew.

    Always full of unexpected surprises.

    The two dwarven yers walked to the side to let Liberty enter and approach Hiro.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what to do. Liberty¡¯s appearance always surprised him. Still, he felt relieved inside when he saw that she seemed full of life.

    ¡°Hey. You came?¡±

    Hiro immediately regretted letting that strange sentencee out of his mouth.

    However, Liberty didn¡¯t seem to care about the awkwardness. The girl smiled so widely that herrge eyes turned into crescents.

    ¡°Yep, I came. I owe you one, Hiro. You know Ace? He insisted on making me thank you for saving my life.¡± Liberty scratched the back of her head. Her bright face had turned red.

    Ace told her to thank him? Hiro couldn¡¯t tell whether Ace actually did that or Liberty just misinterpreted it. From what he remembered, Ace had always been cold toward him and even said that Hiro made his little sister suffer.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, you saved me first. Eh?¡±

    Hiro instantly remembered what Liberty said before the two ended up entering the portal of The Cursed Witch Lair.

    She told him that someone was after him, but until now, he still didn¡¯t know who they were and what they wanted from him.

    He almost forgot about it.

    ¡°Libe, do you still remember the person who followed me at that time?¡±

    Liberty tilted her head when she heard Hiro¡¯s abrupt question and bit her lips, thinking hard. Her face was extremely adorable.

    But her answer instantly disappointed him.

    ¡°Did someone follow you? When do you mean?¡±

 Chapter 129

    Hiro tried to exin what happened that night in detail, the night where Liberty followed him and told him about the people secretly tailing him. He was sure that she wasn¡¯t lying about what she was saying at that time. The panicked expression on her scared face seemed extremely real.

    Even so, even after he gulped down two sses of mineral water Callmebonnie prepared, Liberty still didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. She even seemed to be on the verge of crying because Hiro forced her to remember a little.

    ¡°All right, I give up,¡± Hiro finally decided. He couldn¡¯t bear to see Liberty¡¯s reddened face holding back her tears.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hiro. I really don¡¯t remember,¡± Liberty exined with regret.

    Hiro looked at the girl and held her soft hands. He didn¡¯t want her to me herself for something that wasn¡¯t her fault.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± he said, softened.

    The two silently looked at each other for a few seconds. Hiro didn¡¯t know what was in her head at the moment, but his head was currently filled with astonishment seeing her beauty.

    ¡®She¡¯s really beautiful, and not just here. But she looks artificial in real life, too perfect.¡¯

    After mumbling in his heart, Hiro quickly remembered that he had forgotten about one important thing he should¡¯ve talked to Liberty about since that night. If only she didn¡¯t fall unconscious in the end.

    ¡°I visited you, Libe. I saw you asleep. You were really beautiful,¡± Hiro said, unable to find better words.

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as she reflexively pulled her hands to cover her agape mouth.

    ¡°You did?¡±

    From her tone, it was clear that she was in disbelief about what he just said. In disbelief that he had proven the first step, that even though the world where they met was virtual, he and his feelings for her were real.

    Hiro confidently nodded. He still had more to say as proof.

    ¡°You must really love Monica. I have to meet and thank her soon. Without her, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to see you sleeping like sleeping beauty,¡± he exined.

    Liberty was speechless for a few seconds. She only looked at Hiro without saying a word, with a mixed expression on her face.

    Hiro found it difficult to guess what she was feeling in her heart. She seemed a little in disbelief, but also happy and touched on the other hand. He couldn¡¯t tell which one dominated.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you really went there, Hiro. Just how did you break their security system?¡±

    Hiro tilted his head. There were so many reasons for her not to believe him, but she chose to talk about the security issue instead.

    Hiro, who had Anonymous on his side, felt that everything went too smoothly. He just did what Anonymous told him to bypass theyers of security securing the floor. Even for Hiro, the security of that hospital floor was too easy to bypass.

    ¡°I can do anything, Libe,¡± Hiro lied. His voice sounded odd as he spoke the nonsense even he didn¡¯t believe. He was only trying his luck to impress Liberty.

    And the naive girl was truly impressed.

    ¡°So, do you believe me now?¡±

    Liberty nodded without thinking. She even seemed to be blushing a little.

    Hiro knew what to say next. He cleared his throat and stood in front of Liberty while gently holding her hands.

    His face felt hot and his body felt like he had a fever, but Hiro didn¡¯t want to waste the moment.

    ¡°Ahem¡­ So¡­ can we officially start our rtionship?¡± Hiro said the exact same line with the only romance movie he had ever seen when he was forced to in English ss. The tips of his ears were a little red.

    Liberty was surprised to hear it. Her face instantly turned bright red, and the two beast ears on her head tensed for a few moments.

    ¡°Um¡­ I¡­¡± Liberty bit her lips. She seemed to be feeling a little awkward as her eyes were fixed on her hands in Hiro¡¯s. She couldn¡¯t even look him in the eye.

    In the meantime, Hiro tried to take a deep breath to calm his erratic heart.

    After a few moments, Liberty was finally able to slowly look up at him. With the two¡¯s eyes meeting, Hiro intended to slowly get closer and kiss her.

    However, Spyro, who had been asleep in his cloak, suddenly struggled and forcefully got out. The baby dragon flew out from its resting ce and pped its wings so sharply that Hiro¡¯s cheek was scratched until it bled.

    p! p!

    [HP -101]

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Spyro was behaving unusually. Even the way it was flying seemed strange, like a baby bird whose mother was still training for the first time.

    ¡°What happened to it?¡± Liberty was distracted easily. She looked at Spyro, who seemed to be having a difficult time, with apassionate look.

    Meanwhile, Hiro simply wiped the blood on his cheek and held himself back from throwing the dragon into a cage for stealing a precious moment in his life.

    ¡°Spyro, what the hell?¡± Hiro protested to the dragon unhappily.

    However, it seemed that he wasn¡¯t the only one. Spyro was also looking at him with a mad expression.

    Hiro looked at it with a little confusion. What happened to his dragon? Did it have a nightmare? Or was it mad because his erratic heartbeat bothered its sleep?

    However, what happened next shocked Hiro so much that he staggered backward and crashed onto a wooden chair behind him, causing the chair to fall onto the wooden floor with a loud thud.

    ¡°Your heart is so noisy, Hiro!¡± Spyro cursed with the voice of a very young boy.

    Hiro was dumbfounded by what he just heard. The dragon could talk?

    This was the first time he heard its voice since they were together several days ago. But¡­

    When did Spyro learn to talk so fluently?

    ¡°Eh?¡± Liberty, who didn¡¯t know that the baby dragon had never spoken before, reacted normally. She liked to talk to NPCs of various forms anyway. She even talked to a fairy and a foxst time, so seeing a talking dragon was nothing new to her.

    ¡°Hi¡­ what¡¯s your name?¡± Liberty tried to touch Spyro with both of her hands. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at the adorable creature.

    Spyro looked at Liberty with its head tilted, still pping its wings somewhat unusually. Its eyes seemed to have a serious glint as she looked at Liberty from top to bottom.

    ¡°Wow, you have great taste, Hiro.¡± The baby dragon turned to look at Hiro before looking back at Liberty. ¡°My name is Ali¡ªahemm. I¡¯m sorry, beautifuldy, I forgot my name.¡±

    ¡°Hiro, what¡¯s my name again?¡±

 Chapter 130

    ¡°Can you give us a second?¡±

    Spyro asked Liberty in a strangely squeaky voice. Liberty nodded, but she seemed confused about what the little dragon actually wanted.

    Meanwhile, Spyro, who could now talk, forced Hiro to walk to the corner of the room to discuss something important.

    Spyro exined to him the reason why it could now talk and why it was flying so unusually. The dragon was currently under the control of Alice, who somehow managed to control Spyro like a game avatar.

    Hiro was still dumbfounded as he listened to Alice exin with the voice of a very young little boy. The baby dragon suddenly looked talkative.

    ¡°So this is what you meant by easier to show than to exin?¡± Hiro whispered right to one of the dragon ears standing upright like mini bat wings.

    The baby dragon¡¯s head nodded. Hiro was also told not to let anyone know that his pet dragon was upied by a controller. If anyone were to find out, they would definitely report it as a bug or a cheat, which would be dangerous for him.

    Even so, it was fortunate that LSO had a special item sold by Ninecent in the Marketce. An item with the function to nt an AI system into a pet, which would allow it to think and talk with the intelligence of a human being. It was just that the item¡¯s price was extremely expensive, more expensive than a regr plot.

    30,000 LSC. Moreover, it only applied for three months and required an upgrade every time, one of the item types that Hiro could never afford.

    As it wasn¡¯t something impossible in LSO, Alice told Hiro to tell those who might see the dragon talk that he used the item.

    ¡°Fine. But why are you doing this? Why don¡¯t you just make an avatar and y with me that way?¡± Hiro wanted to know what Alice was nning.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier to mess the system by diving in with a form that doesn¡¯t attract attention,¡± she exined a little haughtily.

    However, Hiro found it a little difficult to take her words seriously when she was talking in that childish voice.

    ¡°Just don¡¯t make my pet die.¡± He was more worried about that.

    ¡°Die? Did you just underestimate me, young man?¡±

    Hiro only shook his head and dismissively walked back to Liberty, who was still in the room waiting for him.

    ¡°Hey. Sorry, Spyro was hungry. I had to feed him,¡± Hiro exined, making up a reason.

    Liberty smiled at him.

    The girl seemed a little awkward again. She couldn¡¯t look into Hiro¡¯s eyes for long.

    Fortunately, the main door to the building suddenly sted open a little harshly, revealing Jacob with a face full of questions.

    ¡°What happened here?¡± He looked disappointed having missed something that seemed fun.

    However, before Hiro could exin what he missed, an iing call startled him.

    [LostSoul is trying to contact you]

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Aaargh!¡±

    Hiro stiffened in ce when he heard the despair-filled scream from the other side. Even so, the voice didn¡¯t belong to Dominic as Hiro could hear him out of breath.

    ¡°What happened?

    ¡°NightFall, we¡¯re under attack.¡±

    The short answer from the leader of Immortal Knights didn¡¯t help. Instead, it only made Hiro anxious.

    ¡°Share your location.¡±

    Ding!

    [New location coordinates have been pinned on the map]

    Hiro checked the location pin. The marked location was outside the city area.

    ¡®An attack outside a safe zone?¡¯

    Hiro looked at Liberty and Jacob consecutively. In just a second, he had to decide his next step.

    Inviting Liberty without knowing what or who was attacking Immortal Knights was something Hiro would never choose as it would put both sides in danger. He would never make a move that would put Liberty at risk.

    But the same didn¡¯t apply to Jacob. Hiro was sure that he had already be a lot more courageous and stronger than before.

    ¡°I have to go, Libe. You can wait here or go home, I¡¯lle for youter,¡± Hiro hurriedly spoke.

    Liberty looked at him with a serious gaze and nodded, showing that she understood.

    The change made Hiro once again admire the girl. She was no longer the Liberty who kept insisting oning with him like a duckling.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he genuinely said. ¡°Jacob,e with me.¡±

    Hiro had no intention of epting his refusal and Jacob, who just got home, didn¡¯t seem to mind.

    The two then quickly left the house, running at full speed toward the destination located in the area of Moonspire City. His status as a student in the game allowed Hiro to receive a transportation discount, and in an urgent situation like this, he had to make a sacrifice.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Jacob had only been running and was busy following Hiro without knowing what was happening and where they were going.

    ¡°Saving a friend.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t reduce his speed at all.

    They were already running into the forest area with leafless trees covered in snow.

    Hiro was shivering. His legs felt numb from running without rest, but he didn¡¯t want to bete.

    On his shoulder, Spyro was gripping Hiro¡¯s cloak so tightly that its sharp ws scratched his skin and stung him several times. Hiro ignored it.

    He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, who were those assants? They were able to corner Immortal Knights so much that their leader had to call him for help.

    Who was the madman?

    From afar, Hiro could hear noises in the direction marked on the map.

    Jacob looked at him with his brows furrowed. He also heard it.

    ¡°We have to hurry.¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    A distance in front of them was a cave no taller than two meters. Most of its entrance was covered by a thickyer of snow, and five members of Immortal Knights¡¯s main party were sprawled on the ground in front of it. Aside from their chests going up and down signifying that they were still alive, the five weren¡¯t moving.

    In front of them were over 15 people in ck robes, and Hiro and Jacob instantly recognized their identity.

    Seeing that the assants were the group of people he had been avoiding, Jacob took a step back.

    However, Hiro stopped him.

    ¡°Do you have a teleportation item?¡±

    Jacob looked at him somewhat questioningly, but he still nodded. It was true that he had the item Hiro was asking about.

    ¡°Good. Use it to run if something bad happens.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    Jacob felt that he couldn¡¯t leave Hiro to die. The teleportation item he had wasn¡¯t like a Portkey Crystal that could teleport anyone.

    Hiro returned Jacob¡¯s anxious look with a smile.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let them kill me that easily.¡±

 Chapter 131

    An hour earlier¡­

    Two members of the Immortal Knights seemed to joking around while standing in front of a cave mouth covered by a giant snowball, preventing anyone from entering it.

    The two men tried to stay warm by moving around the ce they guarded so their bodies wouldn¡¯t freeze. It was difficult for a non-beast bloodline to survive in such a cold ce, like the forest in Moonspire City.

    The cave they guarded was a path to a hidden dungeon that could only be essed at night. Although the atmosphere in the forest was already dark because the weather in that ce was often cloudy. It looked like the city was always at night.

    ¡°Please bring my body back to the guild base if I am dying because of this damn cold weather.¡± One of them was a man wearing heavy armor with arge sword and a rounded-shield. He should be warm in that kind of outfit, yet the man was shivering because of the cold.

    ¡°Stop joking about your death. It¡¯s not funny at all, you know!¡± said a blond-haired young man with slightly tan skin. His condition was not much different from hisrade. He wore a thick jacket and a scarf in the shape of a sleeping fox wrapped around his neck.

    ¡°How long do we have to stay here?¡±

    ¡°Until they arrive.¡±

    Achooo!

    The young man couldn¡¯t help but sneeze. He felt like he was getting a terrible cold.

    ¡°Why does it have to be me?¡± he grumbled, feeling unlucky about his condition.

    After a few hours standing on guard, their health points were significantly declined. Even though they used health potions to restore the health points, still¡­ Their health potion supplies were running low while the people they were waiting for had yet to arrive.

    ¡°This is crazy. Are they nning to kill us?¡± the young man spoke through his gritted teeth and frozen lips.

    ¡°Shut up, you new kid! If you didn¡¯t do something silly, I wouldn¡¯t be in this cold ce with you. Remember your position.¡± The man in armor seemed to have brought out his true nature, as he felt that his life was on the brink of death.

    Crash!

    The young man who had just been angered by his senior had quite sharp ears, and he was sure that he had heard a rustling sound from nearby.

    ¡°Do you hear that?¡± he asked in a whisper. His face was turning pale with worry.

    ¡°What? Did you just ignore me¡ª-!¡±

    ¡°Shhhh!!!¡±

    The young man covered his senior¡¯s mouth harshly when he felt that something was approaching.

    Someone appeared from behind the trees. Alone. He hid his form in a ck robe that had a hood covering his face. A faint smile formed on his ck lips.

    ¡°Who the hell are you?!¡± The young man pulled out his two long swords to threaten the uninvited guest.

    However, the person in the robe still walked closer without the slightest bit of fear.

    ¡°This ce belongs to our guild!¡± shouted the senior in armor, ready to attack the person with his weapon and shield.

    ¡°Leave!¡± He snapped, clenching his teeth.

    The person in the robe heard their threatening words, but the more they threatened him, the wider the smile grew on his lips.

    ¡°Bivind¡­¡± he mumbled words that the two men standing in front of him couldn¡¯t understand.

    At the same time, ck smoke suddenly swirled out from under the robe, then it flew towards the two men in front of him.

    ¡°What are you doing?! Shit!¡±

    Cough! Cough!

    It was toote for them to realize that their enemy was a mage who possessed some deadly lost magic.

    The two of them coughed violently as the ck smoke forced its way through their breaths, mouths, and even the pores all over their half-frozen skin, as if the smoke had the power to prate their bodies.

    Crash!

    [health -2500]

    Crash!

    [health -2500]

    Crash!

    [health -2500]

    The two members of the Immortal Knights couldn¡¯t breathe, their throats were burning, and their health points kept dropping drastically.

    There was no longer any hope for them to survive, let alone survive the attack.

    The senior immediately sent an emergency message through the Guild Chatroom before it was toote.

    [S.O.S]

    He then fell unconscious due to low oxygen levels in his respiratory system.

    Although this world was a virtual world in the game, the game developer LSO had adopted a real life system, so everything that happened in the game was adopted from the real world.

    Thud!

    ¡°No! Seniors, endure it!¡± The young man had better resistance from poisonous smoke because he was a rogue who preferred swords as a weapon.

    One of the basic passive skills possessed by rogues was [Untoxicate], reducing the side effects of poison from various sources by 10-50% depending on skill level.

    At least with that basic skill, the young man couldst a little longer. And he certainly couldn¡¯t stand still.

    nk!

    He shot forward and shed at the mage using his two swords at once. However, it turned out, the mage was hiding a scythe under his robe.

    The size of the scythe was only the size of a keychain, but in split seconds, the weapon got bigger. It became a scythe the grim reapers usually used.

    ¡°Tch. You think you can beat me with that skill?¡± The person¡¯s hiss made the young man even more furious.

    nk!

    St!

    The fight was unavoidable. The young man swung two swords at high attack speed. He really knew how to control his avatar¡¯s power, even with a sword.

    As his health points continued to drop, and he had just drunk hisst health potion, he realized he would be defeated. Even so, the young man wouldn¡¯t let it happen so easily and quickly as the uninvited guest had nned.

    St!

    One of his swords managed to rip the ropes off the opponent¡¯s robe and made his hood droping down.

    ¡°How dare you touch my precious robe!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came from the forest. At the same time, another figure in the same robe appeared at the side of the young Immortal Knights who were jumping and¡­

    shh!

    The dagger used by the figure managed to slit the young man¡¯s throat and made him copse while holding his bloody neck.

    ¡°Dimitri, you came.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting soft, Jack.¡±

    The mage man who was called ¡®Jack¡¯ covered his face with the hood back.

    ¡°How many people?¡± His voice turned calm again.

    ¡°13.¡±

    The two of them looked back towards the dark forest.

    After three seconds had passed, dozens of people in robes appeared, emerging from the darkness. They walked with rhythmic steps and looked straight ahead.

    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

 Chapter 132

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what had happened before he arrived at the ce. However, he was sure that it wasn¡¯t toote. Because the main party of the Immortal Knights was still alive.

    Still, challenging the 15 yers in the robes alone with Jacob was the same asmitting suicide. He needed to have a n that he could use to save themself at least.

    Hiro racked his brain for ideas. If only he had a skill that could be used to attack all of them from within the darkness, things would have gone much easier.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t have that. The only skill that could be used to attack multiple people at once was the blood-eater vampire¡¯s unique skill, but he felt that alone was not enough. Especially if among the 15 of them, there were great knights with high defensive power.

    But¡ªhe had no other choice.

    ¡°Alice, you better help me with this.¡± He muttered towards the baby night fury who was flying around his shoulder. That the girl was used to controlling.

    ¡°This will be fun,¡± the dragon whispered excitedly.

    After Hiro exined his n to Jacob, they positioned themselves at different ces because staying in the same ce would make the opponent attack and kill them easily.

    Hiro left first.

    ¡°Demon¡¯s eyes.¡±

    He really couldn¡¯t let his guard down on this one thing.

    Hiro sprinted to the ce where the robes yers were gathered. Hepletely muffled his footsteps so that the opponents wouldn¡¯t realize his appearance from the darkness.

    When Hiro was five meters away from their ce, he immediately threw his Batarang. Aiming at all of them in one attack. Besides, he was already curious about the additional 3% damage increase he got from refining the weapon.

    St! St! St!

    [health -2100] [health -1550] [health -1750]

    His aim wasn¡¯t good enough, and it only managed to hit the three robed people standing in the front row.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hiro caught back Batarang, which had turned towards him, and jumped quickly, pushing his body to lean forward so he couldnd exactly at the point he had calcted.

    At the same time, the fifteen robed people looked back at the darkness to see who had just attacked them.

    And the timing was perfect.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, vampire!¡±

    Hiro¡¯s greatsword de emitted an extremely bright purplish-coloured light as he activated the sword skill one second before shing everything in its path.

    St!

    Wing! Stt!

    St!!!

    [health -5500] [health -5000] [health -3750] [health -4400]

    Ding!

    [you have killed 4 yer killers]

    [you have obtained 4,500 LSC]

    Hiro ignored the notifications that bothered him, and he continued to swing nonstop before the purple light on his sword faded out.

    Those who stood at the very back had no time to dodge, and they were killed by Hiro¡¯s sudden attack.

    After sucking their health points until they had less than 50% left, Hiro¡¯s greatsword damage got even crazier. It managed to kill them in one sh.

    [Awakening sword skill]

    St!!! [Critical hitbo 11x]

    Hiro used almost all the skills he had to optimized the attacks. Until he managed to eliminate half of the ck-robed yers.

    Until one of them was strong enough to stop his sword using arge shield with an iron spiked surface like a hedgehog.

    nk!

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±

    Hiro¡¯sbos stopped, and seven robed yers were already standing around him without a gap. They had brought out their own weapons, daggers, katars, scythes, and tomes as well.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Hiro lowered his sword after being cornered.

    No one knew if it was part of his n.

    While all the robed yers in defense position were focused on him, Jacob quietly activated the item [Panacea] for the five main party members of the Immortal Knights.

    A magic item that could eliminate almost all kinds of negative effects. And it was Hiro¡¯s idea, though he forced Jacob to buy it with his LSC just before they dispersed.

    ¡°He¡¯s NightFall.¡± One of them read the yer¡¯s name above Hiro¡¯s head.

    ¡°Nightfall¡­? Why does that username sound familiar?¡±

    ¡°Do you know him?¡±

    ¡°No, Sir.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s hands were sweaty and felt slippery as he gripped the hilt of his sword. His eyes moved to the voice of those who surrounded him. Neither of them looked upset, even though some of theirrades had been sessfully executed by Hiro.

    ¡°Are you stupid? How can you not know him?!¡±

    One of them wielding a silver-coloured scythe roared in annoyance. Hiro instantly knew who the leader was.

    No answer. The others just bowed their heads in resignation. Or they really didn¡¯t know and ept that stupid insult from the leader.

    Hiro tried to recognize the faces that were half hidden within the robes. However, he had difficulty. Everyone looked new in his eyes. He didn¡¯t recognize them. Besides, they were using special items to hide their identity. So, Hiro has no clues at all.

    However, when he turned to examine the weapons they used, Hiro was instantly fixated on the person standing in front of him.

    His weapon peeked out from under the cloak. A pair of w-shaped Katar that Hiro was sure he had seen that weapon somewhere.

    Feeling that he was being watched, the man purposely hid his hands, so Hiro could no longer observe the weapon.

    ¡®Do I know him?¡¯

    At that moment, suddenly Dominic¡¯s deep voice was heard from the darkness.

    ¡°Let that kid go!¡±

    The robed yers reflexively stared at the source of the sound. At the same time, Hiro swung his sword horizontally, stabbing the chest of a robed yer who was distracted. A tome user, a mage. Hiro was sure that the yer¡¯s defense was lower than the others.

    St!

    [fatal damage]

    [health -8800]

    Ding!

    [you have killed 1 yer killer]

    [you have obtained 3,000 LSC]

    ¡°3,000 LSC for only one PK? Damn, just how many yers did he kill?¡± Hiro¡¯s attention was distracted by the notification, and a yer managed to pull his back.

    Crash!

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw the tip of the scythe swinging at him, who was stumbling backwards.

    He didn¡¯t have time to dodge it.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    Spyro flew out of his hiding ce in the darkness. The dragon quickly shot towards the back of the yer¡¯s hand who was aiming to kill Hiro, hit him with all his might.

    Bam!

    Crash!

    The monstrous Scythe¡¯s tip stabbed the thickyer of snow on the ground, right on Hiro¡¯s left hand.

    ¡°Damn¡­ that was close.¡±

 Chapter 133

    Hiro¡¯s face paled. He really couldn¡¯t imagine how being stabbed right in the chest with that silver scythe would feel. His heart started to beat much faster and his legs felt weak. He didn¡¯t immediately move from where he fell.

    ¡°Tch. Missed.¡± The robed man pulled the scythe that had stabbed theyer of snow next to Hiro. However, he didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of swinging it again.

    ¡°I almost forgot,¡± he muttered before turning around, leaving Hiro on the ground.

    The other robed yers seemed confused when they saw their leader turn around. Why did he suddenly change his mind?

    They secretly spected inside their minds, but none of them moved.

    ¡°Hurry and stand up, cker!¡± Spyro had once again perched on Hiro¡¯s shoulder and scolded him.

    Snapped out of it, Hiro immediately stood up and pulled the greatsword not stuck at his side. He then moved to look at the six remaining robed yers one by one, though he didn¡¯t manage to catch a glimpse of their faces.

    Hiro walked out of the circle and walked toward Jacob, who stretched out his arm for him. Now that he was in a row with the healed members of Immortal Knights, he felt a little safe.

    ¡°We did it, Hiro!¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t hide his self-satisfaction. He didn¡¯t feel a trace of what Hiro felt at death¡¯s doorstep.

    On the side, Hiro gulped. Dominic was now standing face-to-face with the silver scythe wielder.

    ¡°We found it first,¡± Dominic spoke with his charismatic voice. Even though the other party attacked him first just a few minutes ago, he didn¡¯t seem to hold a grudge.

    The wielder of the silver scythe smirked from under his robe. Nheless, no word came out of his mouth.

    Hiro, who was witnessing the interaction from the distance, also tensed up. However, he was once again confused by the scythe wielder when the man abruptly turned toward him and pointed his scythe at Hiro.

    ¡°A battle to the death. Solo, NightFall and I. If he wins, we¡¯ll let you have this dungeon,¡± the man hissed like a snake.

    ¡°What!?¡± Dominic reflexively eximed. He looked at the robed man with wide eyes.

    It wasn¡¯t just Dominic. Even the other robed yers were surprised by their leader¡¯s sudden duel request, which prompted them to begin whispering among each other. Things weren¡¯t going ording to the n they had agreed upon together.

    Still, none of them dared toin.

    ¡°What do you say?¡± the wielder of the silver scythe ignored Dominic, who was standing in front of him, and asked Hiro.

    ¡°No,¡± Dominic interjected. ¡°This dungeon is not his responsibility. My people will take his ce.¡±

    It was clear that he was unwilling to put Hiro, who had saved him, in danger.

    Hiro stared at the hidden face with his brows furrowed. Even though he couldn¡¯t see the robed man¡¯s face clearly, he was sure that this person was serious about challenging him. He didn¡¯t know why he was doing this, but Hiro felt that he still had a chance of winning if he had to be involved in a duel against the man.

    Moreover, this could be a chance for him to test his strength after working hard for several days.

    ¡°I ept,¡± he decided while swinging the Blood-Eater Vampire to his back and putting it there. The greatsword instantly attracted their attention.

    ¡°Good boy.¡± The robed man faintly smiled, satisfied with Hiro¡¯s reaction.

    From the side, Val started to walk toward Hiro.

    ¡°Kid, are you serious?¡± the barbarian of Immortal Knights patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder and asked. He seemed somewhat worried.

    Having their dungeon depend on a person they had just met, of course the members of Immortal Kights would be reluctant about it. But at the same time, only TheNinja specialized in one-on-one fights among them, and they weren¡¯t sure that he would be able to secure victory with his current condition.

    After all, he had received so many attacks from what happened several minutes ago before the five were poisoned with a weakening venom that slowly chipped away their HP.

    ¡°Leave him to me.¡± Hiro felt even more confident when he noticed the people around him doubt his capability. He was even more motivated to prove that they could count on him.

    ¡°What¡¯s Boss nning?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Does it matter? Boss will win easily anyway.¡±

    Hiro heard the whispers of the robed yers in front of him. He couldn¡¯t wait toe out as the victor and make them eat their words.

    ¡°No rules. Whoever dies first loses.¡± The man spun his silver scythe in the air like a propeller.

    In the end, Dominic was forced to agree to the duel and the dungeon¡¯s fate was left in Hiro¡¯s hands. Although they couldn¡¯t see the future, they hoped that Hiro could be relied on.

    Meanwhile, Jacob, who was obviously worried about his friend, could only pray that Hiro would be safe and win.

    Those who weren¡¯t involved in the one-on-one duel stepped back. Jacob and the members of Immortal Knights walked backward to the cave entrance, while the ck-robed yers walked backward to the dark forest.

    Hiro walked on an empty space, face-to-face with the silver scythe wielder who was still unwilling to show what was hidden under his robe. Not being able to see his opponent¡¯s equipment made it difficult for Hiro to estimate the threat level and his chance of victory.

    Even so, he had to win.

    Swish!

    Swish!

    Hiro swung his Blood-Eater Vampire at the empty air with his eyes fully concentrated on his opponent. In the meantime, Spyro emitted a bluish glow from its protruding spine line, showing that the pet¡¯s stats had been converted and added to buff its owner.

    At least Hiro knew that his opponent didn¡¯t have a pet.

    ¡°The battle will start on the count of three.¡±

    As the match was between two barbarians, Val became the judge for the duel.

    ¡°One¡­¡±

    Hiro took a deep breath, trying to sort his breathing to the best he could.

    ¡°Two¡­¡±

    The wielder of the silver scythe walked sideways while spinning his scythe.

    ¡°Three. Battle start!¡±

    The moment the battle started, Hiro immediately dashed forward. [Godspeed], his new passive skill, greatly boosted his movement speed.

    Meanwhile, the scythe wielder still stood at the same spot with his scythe still spinning like a shield in front of him.

    [Predicio]

    Clink!

    The sigil on the back of Hiro¡¯s left hand suddenly glowed ck for a second. At the same time, Hiro¡¯s red iris turned ck along with the rest of his eyes.

 Chapter 134

    Hiro saw an image of himself in the exact same form jumping before him. At what felt like the same moment, his body and everything around him stopped moving. His position was locked with his two feet not touching the ground.

    In the meantime, right when the scythe was positioned under his body, the image that seemed to be his clone swung its greatsword and vertically shed the scythe wielder. This was something Hiro had thoroughly thought of to find an opening to breach his opponent¡¯s scythe shield. He felt as if he was watching someone else execute the n in his head.

    But¡­

    Stt!

    Thick ck blood sttered from the waist of his image, instantly splitting it into two.

    At the second Hiro had thought through, the opponent¡¯s scythe abruptly changed its spinning direction and cut his body.

    ¡­

    A second before he executed his n, Hiro received a vision from [Predicio] which prompted him to change his offense strategy at the same second.

    He didn¡¯t cancel the direct attack he nned. He just needed to modify it a little.

    Dash!

    As Hiro dashed in the air in front of him, the robed man¡¯s lips curved into a faint smile. He was confident that he would be able to end the duel with one attack.

    But he didn¡¯t know that his opponent wasn¡¯t someone to be underestimated.

    [Batarang]

    Whoosh!

    When the distance between Hiro¡¯s greatsword and the robed man was already extremely close, Hiro swiftly took out his Batarang and threw it at thest moment. At the same time, the de of his greatsword that was about to vertically sh at his opponent sharply changed directions down to the side.

    St!

    [HP -1200]

    nk!

    Hiro¡¯s Batarang sessfully stabbed the middle of the scythe wielder¡¯s chest. Meanwhile, the Blood-Eater Vampire had stabbed the ground right at Hiro¡¯s left, bringing about a heavy collision with the scythe.

    As seen in the vision, the scythe had changed directions and almost shed his body into two. But this time, Hiro didn¡¯t let it happen.

    Hiro, who hadn¡¯t received any wounds, immediately kicked the Batarang that was stabbed in his opponent¡¯s bleeding chest with all his strength.

    Bam!

    [Fatal Damage -3350]

    The man was heavily flung backward toward the ck-robed yers who were seriously watching the duel. Seeing their leader sent flying that way, the other robed yers were immediately infuriated.

    However, no one was more furious than the silver scythe wielder at the moment.

    Despite how deep the Batarang pierced his chest and how heavily he was flung, the man still had enough HP to stand up and stop his subordinates from attacking Hiro and ignoring the essence of the ongoing duel.

    ¡°He¡¯s mine,¡± the man hissed, causing the ck-robed yers to bow their heads.

    Seeing the smooth result of the duel opening, Hiro couldn¡¯t hold back his satisfied smile. His confidence drastically increased.

    ¡°Take it back!¡± The scythe wielder pulled out the Batarang in his chest and threw it toward Hiro with all his strength, clearly intending to use it as a weapon.

    However, the weapon was his to begin with. He already understood how the weapon worked, and to the robed man¡¯s disappointment, he was able to catch it with his bare hands without chopping his fingers.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Hiro purposefully gave a taunting smile.

    His actions infuriated the scythe wielder even more. He no longer spun his scythe to simultaneously use as a shield and a weapon.

    This time, he dashed toward Hiro to attack first.

    nk!

    The silver scythe and the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s des once again collided.

    Swish! Swish!

    nk!

    Their weapon mastery became the deciding factor of who would emerge victorious from the duel. When it came to swinging, shing, and evading their weapons, the two had mastered them very well.

    Hiro didn¡¯t allow anything to stop the swings of his greatsword.

    He fully concentrated. He had to calcte the right time to use his greatsword¡¯s unique skill. If he used it carelessly, he would only waste it without getting anything.

    [Predicio]

    Once again, Hiro saw an image of himself dash out. And when he saw his opponent¡¯s movement trajectory, he once again modified his attack.

    This time, a sacrifice must be made for victory.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Vampire.¡±

    Sttt!

    Hiro¡¯s now purplish de stabbed his opponent¡¯s waist before the man finally flung his scythe to throw Hiro¡¯s greatsword off his hand.

    Whoosh!

    nk!

    Due to having over 75% of his HP drained in just a second, the scythe wielder was weakened as a side effect. And Hiro took advantage of the opportunity well. He kicked the scythe handle its wielder was using as a footing to stand on.

    The robed man almost kissed the ground.

    But Hiro didn¡¯t intend to let him fall that way. Right after he kicked the handle, he grabbed the robe on his opponent¡¯s chest and mmed him in the opposite direction.

    ¡°Hyat!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Bang!

    [Fatal Damage]

    The moment Hiro mmed the man¡¯s back to the rocky ground covered in hard snow, the sound of several bones breaking reached his ears.

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    The man¡¯s hood fell, revealing his face. He was wearing a Vian mask, and due to the extreme collision hitting the back of his head, the mask was cracked and covered in blood.

    However¡­

    Despite already being injured to that extreme, he still had enough energy left to weakly grab Hiro¡¯s cloak and pull his face closer.

    ¡°Such an honor to be killed by his brother,¡± the man whispered with a strange smile.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened. He reflexively seized the cor of the man¡¯s robe, but when he looked back at the person covered in blood, his eyes had frozen and be empty.

    Ding!

    [You have killed 1 yer killer]

    [You have obtained 5,100 LSC]

    ¡°No way¡­¡±

    ¡°How!?¡±

    ¡°Who is he really?¡±

    ¡°He did it on purpose. Boss didn¡¯t fight him seriously.¡±

    The other robed yers¡¯ whispers reached Hiro¡¯s ears.

    Hiro released his grip on the lifeless body and walked to grab his Blood-Eater Vampire. The greatsword was lying on the ground, almost hidden by the snow mixed with blood.

    Was that true? Did the enemy he just defeated not fight him seriously?

    Was he hiding his power? Was he testing him? Or did he do it with another goal in mind?

    Hiro questioned his victory.

    He began to feel suspicious. Would it be that easy to win against the leader of a terrorist group? Moreover, the LSC reward he received was quite a lot, so the yer killer must¡¯ve been very powerful.

    Hiro took a deep breath with his eyes closed. His heart was still beating rapidly from the duel he just won.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± he silently cursed under his breath.

    ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have killed him.¡¯

    Regret once again filled his heart.

    Even so, with his face covered in the enemy¡¯s blood, Hiro coldly looked at the robed yers in front of him.

    ¡°Leave, or I will execute all of you.¡±

 Chapter 135

    The remaining five ck-robed yers decided to retreat. None of them took the initiative to stay and seize the dungeon they were after. Based on the agreement made by their leader who had been expelled from the game server after being killed outside the safezone, if Hiro won, then the dungeon was handed over to the Immortal Knights.

    As usual, using a smoke bomb item, they finally disappeared from Hiro¡¯s sight without saying anything.

    Hiro breathed a sigh of relief. At least he could rest after using all his strength to beat up the uninvited guests. However, deep down, he was also curious about their motive for trying to seize the dungeon that was guarded by the members of the Immortal Knights.

    What are they really after? Hiro forgot to ask them about it before they left.

    ¡°Thank you, Kid. Without you and your friends, we will definitely have to stop ying games for the next 7 days.¡± Dominic patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder from behind, making him slightly startled.

    Hiro turned around and gave the man a genuine smile. He felt he became a useful and reliable person now. Even a legend like Dominic, whom he admired, recognized his abilities.

    Behind Dominic, the main party members of the Immortal Knights nodded in agreement. They also acknowledged Hiro¡¯s abilities.

    ¡°If you want to go to the city, go ahead. We still have two and a half hours until 9. The others and I will be on guard here.¡±

    Hiro looked at Dominic and suddenly he remembered his depleted potion energy supply. For now, he really had to rely on those potions because his energy points were still low. When he used demonic skills, his energy drained quite much.

    ¡°I will go to the nearest town,¡± he said, signalling Jacob to go with him. Jacob ran to Hiro and stood by his side.

    ¡°Come back before 9 p.m. with your party.¡±

    Hiro almost forgot one important thing. He still hadn¡¯t received a message from Noah or Cara after he invited them this morning. Even so, Hiro didn¡¯t say anything to Dominic. He didn¡¯t want to look like someone who didn¡¯t keep his promise.

    ¡°Of course. See youter.¡±

    Hiro and Jacob walked towards the dark forest, leaving the members of the Immortal Knights standing guard at the mouth of the cave.

    Both fell silent. Jacob seemed to open his mouth repeatedly. However, the next second, he tightly closed his mouth again. It was as if he wanted to say something, but he changed his mind. Only God knew what¡¯s bothering him.

    Hiro didn¡¯t notice Jacob¡¯s behavior because he was still focused on thinking about the silver scythe wielder¡¯sst words. What exactly did that mean? What did he want?

    This was the first time Hiro would go to explore Moonspire City. It was breathtakingly beautiful and seemed very romantic.

    Even though the ce was freezing and snow covered all buildings, the countless number of warm lights scattered like a beautiful bridge from the main gate of the city. The light widened, and it became more and more dazzling in the city square. At night, the square functioned as an open market.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes gleamed when he saw the hustle and bustle in the exquisite town square, as if there was a big festival being held. The strains of music from various types of musical instruments sounded beautiful. It harmonized and made the mood instantly turn cheerful.

    Some of the NPC children from the beast¡¯s bloodline looked engrossed in ying on bicycles with only onerge wheel, like a clown performing in a circus.

    ¡°Whoa! What ce is this?!¡± Jacob even forgot what he wanted to say to Hiro because he was fascinated by the festive atmosphere of the town square.

    Hiro smelled mouthwatering food from the thin puff of smoke that the wind carried towards him. Instantly, his stomach growled. Fortunately, the sound of the lively music managed to muffle it.

    ¡°Hiro, should we just move here?¡± Jacob really wanted to move to this ce.

    ¡°Wee!¡± Two female NPC from the beast¡¯s bloodline, with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a pair of white rabbit ears on their head, approached Hiro and Jacob. They distributed brochures they were carrying.

    Hiro and Jacob were dumbfounded to see the two NPC girls. They were only wearing swimsuits in the middle of a freezing ce covered in snow. Even so, the two of them didn¡¯t seem to be shivering in the slightest. They gave a very charming smile that made Jacob¡¯s face immediately turn red.

    ¡°Miss Bunny, good evening!¡±

    Hiro nced at his friend, who looked hypnotized by the bunny girls. Jacob didn¡¯t even realize that one of the girls handed him a brochure. Hiro took the brochure and thanked the two NPC girls in front of him.

    ¡°Such a gentleman. I know you¡¯re shivering in the cold. If you need warmth in this splendid Moonspire City, my number is listed in the brochure.¡± One of them brought her body close to Hiro¡¯s chest, causing her two beautiful bosoms to press against him. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

    And it didn¡¯t stop there. The other girl moved and stood by Hiro¡¯s side, wrapping her arms tightly in his left hand. Hiro could feel something soft and warm pressing against his biceps.

    ¡°We also have massage services that are guaranteed to satisfy a traveler like you, Sir,¡± she said in a sweet and seductive voice. Hiro couldn¡¯t move. Only his eyes were looking at Jacob, asking for help.

    ¡°Ahee¡­ we still have two hours, Hiro. Why don¡¯t we just go along with these two beautifuldies?¡±

    Even his only hope betrayed him because of girls.

    Finally, Hiro walked while dragging his footsteps because the two girls clung to his hands and forced him to step aside from the crowd of the square.

    Jacob followed them cheerfully. Hiro could even guess what was on the man¡¯s mind.

    Meanwhile, Alice, who controlled Spyro, decided to hide inside the robe Hiro was wearing. And pretending like she wasn¡¯t there.

    They arrived in front of a two-story building. The light inside the building looked golden yellow. The sound of ttering sses and cheers could be heard even from the outside.

    A tavern. One of the taverns in Moonspire city, the tavern with the most strategic locationpared to the others because of its location close to the square.

    [Moonlight Tavern]

    When Hiro entered the tavern with the two girls who helped him open the sliding door, his eyes immediately shifted to the corner of the room, finding a suspicious movement. It was exactly where a staircase with dim light was located.

    Two men in ck robes looked at their surroundings, making sure no one was following them before they went upstairs.

 Chapter 136

    ¡°Are you sure this is a safe ce?¡± One of the two ck-robed men who had just left the forest a moment ago asked his partner in a doubtful tone.

    He looked tense while examining the faces of the tavern guests one by one, as if he were looking for someone. Or¡­ avoiding someone?

    ¡°Ie here almost every day. You can mark my words.¡±

    The two of them slipped to the second floor through the stairs in the corner, which looked very dark. It was hidden and made others think the stairs were no longer in use.

    ¡­

    ¡°Wow! The tavern is very lively too!¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t stop expressing his admiration after entering the tavern with Hiro.

    The tavern was much more spacious than Jack¡¯s tavern. Even the number of tables and chairs was plentiful. In a room that almost reeks of alcohol and cigarette smoke, there were three distinct areas that seemed to have been set up from the start.

    At the corner of the room, left and right, there were chairs hidden behind wooden partitions, so those who sat next to each other couldn¡¯t even peek. In the centre, there was a wooden table and chairs that looked the same as the ones in NPC Jack¡¯s Tavern. Meanwhile, there was one area on the far left that had a dimmer light. There were only a few chairs without a table, and no one upied it.

    There were two stairs in the room. It headed to the second floor. One staircase was on the right side. This staircase was just an ordinary stone stairs without a trellis. The light from the top floor also illuminated the steps, making it look like the main staircase.

    Meanwhile, the other staircase was the one Hiro suspected because he saw two ck-robed people, none other than the terrorist yer killers who imed to be diehard fans of his brother.

    ¡°I¡¯ve found a seat for you, pleasee here,¡± the bunny girls surprised Hiro. Then, they walked towards an empty seat on the first floor.

    ¡°Whiskey, do you have any?¡± Jacob asked when the bunny girls, who looked like identical twins, pulled out a note from their cleavage.

    ¡°Of course, sir. Moonlight Tavern is the number one tavern recognized by the king of the Eternity Kingdom. We have it all.¡± Obviously, the bunny girls made Hiro get even more suspicious.

    ¡®A tavern that has everything? Doesn¡¯t that mean that this ce is very promising to be used as a secret base to get information from various parties?¡¯

    Hiro let Jacob order for him. He was more interested in observing the faces of the people in the room.

    Even though it was in the city of the beast¡¯s bloodline, it seemed the yers who visited the tavern weren¡¯t dominated by any bloodlines. They werepletely mixed together; beasts, elves, demons, dwarves, and even dragons. It was as if the ce was really that famous. That supported what the NPC bunny girls said.

    Hiro didn¡¯t recognize anyone in the tavern. Some had familiar faces. It seemed they were the people he yed with in the game The Haunted Maze. However, because there was so little light in the maze, he wasn¡¯t sure he had seen the same person.

    ¡°We will prepare your order. Please wait.¡±

    Hiro just realized that there are many bunny girls, with a very identical appearance, who had wandered around the room. They were like clones who spoke the same way, with the same voice. They had a duty to find customers outside as well as serve customers inside.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get drunk, Jacob,¡± Hiro muttered, warning his friend who had been greedy for ordering a lot of high alcohol.

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me, Bro.¡± Jacob replied, feeling belittled.

    Ding!

    [Noah has tried to contact you]

    Finally, someone contacted him. Hiro didn¡¯t know what he was going to hear from the mage, but clearly, he had to walk towards a ce that was quiet so he could talk to him freely.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡±

    Hiro walked past the people. His goal was on the left side of the room. The ce where the chairs without tables were. It was the ce where the dimly lit staircase was. Hiro leaned on the wall before receiving a call from Noah.

    ¡°Moshi moshi.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Noah sounded surprised at Hiro¡¯s opening sentence.

    Hiro patted his forehead, feeling unfocused. How could he speak Japanese at a time like this?

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Hiro repeated his sentence again.

    ¡°Where are you?¡±

    A relieved smile spread across Hiro¡¯s face.

    Noah decided to join him in his party for the clearance of the dungeon that was currently being heavily guarded by the Immortal Knights.

    Hiro told him to go to Moonspire City and came to Moonlight Tavern to gather there with him and Jacob.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in 5 minutes.¡±

    Beep!

    The call was cut off. Noah didn¡¯t give Hiro the chance to say hisst sentence.

    Now, he just had to wait for Cara¡¯s confirmation. When Hiro checked his friendlist, MyPhantom was still not online. No wonder there was no news from the girl. Hiro took a deep breath. This time, he was resigned to what would happen at thest minute before his n.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous!!!¡± A very loud voice managed to make the ceiling above Hiro¡¯s head shake.

    Even though no one seemed to notice the voice apart from him, Hiro instantly froze on the spot. He had the feeling he had heard that voice before.

    But who?

    Out of curiosity and unwilling to remain silent, especially after knowing that the two ck-robed had entered the room on the second floor through the stairs in front of him, Hiro decided to overhear. If it was possible, he wanted to peek.

    With careful movements, Hiro moved like a thief, climbing the stairs one by one. The staircase was spiral shaped. It was very dark, and the stairs were made of rusted iron.

    One single mistake, Hiro could create a sound that would make them realize his presence.

    After reaching thest step, there was one wooden door that was tightly closed on that floor. And unfortunately, there was no gap in the surface of the door that could be used to peek inside.

    ¡°You want to cooperate with the Exalted? Don¡¯t be silly!¡±

    ¡°Not my idea. It¡¯s all his n.¡±

    ¡°And you, the only person ¡®you-know-who¡¯ can rely on.¡±

    ¡°He even remembers your name, Dimitri. You have to be proud of your duty.¡±

 Chapter 137

    Silence filled the air.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you here. Don¡¯t cause any unnecessary trouble. I¡¯ll be watching you.¡±

    The sound of footsteps then quickly approached where Hiro was. The moment he heard those footsteps, Hiro immediately rushed down the stairs with his heart beating erratically, afraid that he would be caught eavesdropping on the conversation he didn¡¯t understand.

    m!

    Hiro jumped to the side of the stairs and sat on an empty wooden seat near the wall. Several secondster, a ck-robed person walked down the stairs.

    He seemed surprised when he saw Hiro sitting there.

    Hiro didn¡¯t bow his head. On the contrary, he directly returned the gaze from under the Vian mask until finally, the robed man continued to walk while ignoring him. It seemed that he really didn¡¯t want to cause trouble.

    Still sitting on his chair, Hiro waited for the second person to leave.

    ¡°Who were they talking about? And Exalted¡­ isn¡¯t that Ace and Liberty¡¯s guild?¡±

    Hiro was muttering to himself when all of a sudden, he heard the sound of a door opening. This time, the door was opened so quietly that he almost didn¡¯t hear it because of how loud the room was.

    One¡­ two¡­ three¡­

    A second person should¡¯ve appeared from the stairs right about now, but Hiro didn¡¯t see anyonee down. He heard no sound of footsteps either.

    Out of curiosity, Hiro stood up from his seat and walked toward the stairs again. At the same time, he felt a gust of wind beside him.

    Whoosh!

    No wind was blowing from outside.

    ¡®Damn it!¡¯ Having felt something move past him, Hiro hurriedly turned around and used his demon-exclusive skill.

    [Demon¡¯s Eyes]

    When the colors in the room dimmed in his eyes, he began to see ck dust-like particles gathered to form the figure of a person.

    The second ck-robed man had blended into the crowd of people dancing with several bunny girl NPCs. Because the man was invisible to the naked eye, he ran into anyone who blocked his path and threw the crowd into disarray.

    ¡°What the hell? Who pushed me!?¡±

    ¡°You! What the f*ck? Are you challenging me?¡±

    Amotion urred. Two men began to throw punches without holding back, and when one of them identally fell on someone else, another person joined in on themotion.

    ¡°That damn rogue.¡± Hiro tried to stop the second ck-robed yer who had hurriedly walked away. It seemed that he intentionally created a scene so his invisible presence could be ignored.

    Hiro rushed forward to try to reach him, but he got trapped in the sea of people who had begun to break sses and throw chairs and tables.

    ¡°You! Wait, stop!¡±

    Hiro shouted toward the robed man, and it worked. Although he didn¡¯t stop, the man looked back. The eyes under the Vian mask widened when he saw that Hiro was indeed shouting at him.

    However, the man immediately sped up his steps toward the exit and ignored Hiro, who once again felt that his face looked familiar.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you! Stop or leave! Don¡¯t cause a ruckus in this tavern!¡±

    Out of nowhere, four bald men with the bodies of professional wrestlers taller than two meters appeared. and pulled the yers causing amotion with one hand, like separating elementary school children who were arguing in ss.

    Hiro quickly moved away. He didn¡¯t want to be escorted out of the tavern since he didn¡¯t participate in themotion.

    The security or bodyguards in the tavern had an intimidating appearance. Even though they were only humanoid NPCs, Hiro knew that each of them was at least twice as strong as the yers causing amotion.

    Hiro returned to his seat and received a nagging from Jacob, who had drunk half a bottle of his whiskey.

    ¡°Where were you, Hiro?¡± He genuinely sounded mad.

    Hiro leaned in to speak to his friend. It seemed that for this¡­ he didn¡¯t need to lie.

    ¡°Do you remember someone named Dimitri? I just saw him on the floor above,¡± Hiro whispered while making sure that only Jacob and himself could hear it.

    ¡°Dimitri? Wait¡­ you went to the floor above!?¡± Jacob seemed more shocked when he heard where Hiro was just from.

    Hiro nodded. Seeing his somewhat nonchnt reaction, Jacob told him a piece of information he didn¡¯t know about prior.

    While Hiro was gone, Jacob invited a bunny girl NPC to chat. ording to the information she gave, the second floor of Moonlight Tavern was a VIP room that had been bought by people or organizations to gather for meetings with entertainment.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t surprised when he heard this. He already expected it.

    ¡°And Dimitri, do you have trouble remembering people¡¯s names? How could you forget? Isn¡¯t Dimitri the rogue who dueled against Immortal Knights¡¯ ninja?¡±

    Hiro felt pped. How did he forget something so important?

    Dimitri, a member of Ace¡¯s party which included Liberty. They seemed close at that time.

    He remembered now, but¡­

    What was Dimitri doing with those terrorist yer killers?

    ¡°I finally found you.¡±

    Noah suddenly appeared and mmed the wooden table where Hiro hadn¡¯t tasted his still-full drink.

    ¡°You came?¡± Jacob was stuck between believing and disbelieving. Even so, he still pulled an empty chair near the table for Noah.

    ¡°What would you guys do without me?¡±

    Hiro smiled, not responding. His throat suddenly felt parched.

    At least Noah came. One of the yers he knew he could count on.

    ¡°You wanna order something?¡± Jacob asked while raising his right hand to call a bunny girl NPC.

    ¡°No alcohol. It killed me once.¡±

    In the meantime, Hiro once again checked his HUD system. His eyes sparkled when he saw MyPhantom¡¯s online status. Furthermore, before he contacted her, Cara had contacted him first through text.

    [MyPhantom: Where are you? Am Ite?]

    The time in his HUD system showed that it was 8:30 PM. It was already time for Hiro to stand up as Cara would teleport to Moonspire City in five minutes.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find a merchant.¡±

    The three left the tavern after Hiro paid the bill. 1,500 LSC flew out of his wallet just like that.

    It was quite expensive, but he felt that he had to be the one paying since he was the one who invited them.

    Hiro walked toward a merchant in the city square, while Noah and Jacob stood by near NPC Willie following Hiro¡¯s request to greet Cara¡¯s arrival.

    ¡°Wee, traveler. Please look around first.¡±

    Hiro bought 999 Energy Potions, filling up an entire stack. This was the first time he prepared so many Energy Potions.

    Meanwhile, his eyes wandered to a menu he had never seen before.

    [New Items]

    [Damage Attribute Converters]

    Hiro raised his brow. That converter item, of course he wouldn¡¯t miss it.

    ¡°Why did you onlye now, old friends!?¡±

 Chapter 138

    After he purchased several items from the merchant NPC, Hiro walked to where Jacob and Noah were waiting for Cara at.

    Looking at the total LSC he had at the moment, Hiro suddenly felt rich. He didn¡¯t expect that it would increase so drastically just from executing some yer killers a few hours ago.

    His LSC bnce was currently at 14,515 LSC. He already earned back the capital he used to purchase a regr plot and a guild license, and he felt that it was already time to start the guild he bought.

    From afar, Hiro saw that Cara had joined Jacob and Noah. The three seemed to be talking, but Hiro couldn¡¯t hear them clearly due to the loud music in the lively city square.

    When Jacob saw that Hiro was walking toward them, he quickly ran to approach Hiro with the other two behind him.

    ¡°Great, we¡¯re all here.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t realize that he had a smile on his face.

    He didn¡¯t expect that he would be able to get them all together again despite initially doubting if the n would work.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get a rare item.¡± Cara expectantly said. She seemed fired up as usual. Even though she had just finished something in real life, she didn¡¯t seem exhausted at all

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The three ran leaving the crowd with Hiro leading the way.

    ¡­

    The four reached the forest area in just ten minutes, very close to where the members of Immortal Knights were waiting.

    ¡°We¡¯re back.¡±

    The number of people gathered in front of the cave had increased. At just a nce, it was easy to see that 11 people were there.

    Dominic walked toward Hiro and nodded to greet Noah and Cara, who just joined.

    ¡°Wee, everyone.¡±

    Dominic briefly exined that he and the others already knew the way to the boss area hidden in the dungeon.

    And no matter what happened, they had to sessfully defeat the dungeon boss.

    There was no information about the type of boss that upied the room. The only clue avable was the type of monsters in the dungeon.

    The small monsters that had to be defeated before they could reach the boss area were of the demon race. Because of this, Dominic guessed that the dungeon boss was also of the demon race.

    No yer should havepleted a party raid-type dungeon prior to this. There was no information about it in the leaderboard of conquered hidden dungeons.

    When Hiro personally checked to confirm the information, he found that Dominic was indeed telling the truth.

    The dungeon in front of him might be the first party raid-type hidden dungeon to be recorded by the system. And due to this, Hiro found a possible answer as to why those ck-robed yers also wanted it so much. Apart from the item drops that would most likely be very promising, of course.

    Ding!

    [You have received a party invitation]

    [You have joined the party]

    Hiro was trusted by Dominic to be the leader of the sub-party he made. As a party could only consist of five members at most, a person from Immortal Knights joined Hiro¡¯s party. He was a ranger with automatic rifles.

    [Level 40. DemonHunterz. Ranger. Oneshot-Onekill]

    ¡°Let¡¯s cooperate well, pal.¡± A man that looked to be around 30 years old offered his hand.

    Hiro epted the handshake with an awkward bow. He just realized that the members of Immortal Knights in tonight¡¯s agenda consisted of those around 30 years of age. Only he and his friends were young.

    ¡°Are you guys ready?¡± Dominic was already standing in front of the cave entrance while the others were preparing their weapons.

    Hiro checked the members of his party. As usual, only Noah seemed reluctant tomunicate with the others. He only had his head high while waiting for the cue to enter.

    ¡®At least he hasn¡¯t caused any trouble so far.¡¯

    At 9 PM sharp, the giant snowball that blocked the cave entrance in front of them glitched and melted into water in seconds, allowing them to enter with ease.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    They took turns walking in.

    When they stepped in, tens of torches on the cave wall suddenly lit up together, showing a seemingly endless straight passage in front of them.

    ¡°Get ready to run, the first monsters are fast centipedes.¡±

    Hiro raised his brow. ¡°Centipedes? Didn¡¯t you say that they would be demon-type monsters?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Take a look for yourself.¡±

    At the end of the extremely long path was a square-shaped space, and at the other end in front of them was another passage to go deeper into the dungeon.

    Hiro and the others were about to rush to the next passage, but they immediately halted when hundreds of palm-sized centipedes started falling from the ceiling at the center of the space.

    The centipedes squirmed and emitted a putrid stench that inflicted damage on yers.

    [HP -120] [HP -175] [HP -225]

    ¡°Hold your breath. Don¡¯t inhale too much of that foul gas,¡± Dominic warned before running toward the pile of squirming centipedes without hesitation.

    On the other hand, Hiro wasn¡¯t in a rush. He had to understand what was going on before taking action.

    In the meantime, three mages in the party had begun to cast fire spells to burn the bugs. The fire attacks were very effective, much more effective than melee attacks.

    After paying attention to the pile of centipedes for longer, he found that they looked like dead centipedes. Looking at the different features like missing eyes and broken legs, Hiro realized that they were zombie centipedes.

    Moreover, even though the damage that afflicted them through the stench continued to increase, it seemed that those monsters had weak physical attacks.

    [HP -350]

    Now that he knew what to do, Hiro finally dashed forward. He began shing with his Awakening Sword Combo Skill to defeat tens of monsters with one sh and controlled his breathing to avoid breathing in too much.

    St!

    Swish! Stt!!

    Even though they were a group of 15, everyone knew their respective duties and worked well. In 10 minutes, all the centipedes were finally exterminated.

    ¡°Great! This is faster than our first attempt,¡± Dominicmented.

    Val, who had been dancing with his sword next to Hiro, gave a thumbs up to him. He liked Hiro even more and didn¡¯t bother to hide it at all.

    ¡°Yourbos are awesome,¡± heplimented in awe.

    Hiro put the Blood-Eater Vampire back on his back. ¡°This is nothing.¡±

    The group continued to walk toward another passage and were quickly greeted by more rows of torches. The next space was filled with monsters of the nocturnal bug Hiro hated in real life: Cockroaches.

    Even their demon version was still really disgusting.

    Because these monsters could physically fight, it took them a little more time to exterminate the tens of zombie cockroaches in the second space. They could even move and fly in the air, which made it somewhat more difficult for them.

    After wiping out those two type of monsters, they finally arrived in front of a giant wooden gate with two lit torches on its sides.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Dominic said while putting his hand in front of the gate.

    [Current Party BR is lower than rmended]

    [Rmended BR: 300,000]

    Dominic¡¯s brows furrowed.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t right¡­ Last time, it was 230,000 BR, is there any bug or something?¡±

    The guild leader was clearly perplexed and displeased.

    Seeing the notification also pop up in front of him, Hiro began to think. Could it be that the minimum BR requirement rose? Was that really possible?

    Val also looked at the wooden gate with his brows furrowed. ¡°What should we do now?¡±

    ¡°We have to get in,¡± Hiro immediately said while walking toward Dominic.

    ¡°If you cancel it, the minimum battle rating might increase again.¡±

 Chapter 139

    They discussed. With their total BR only amounting to 268,500 at the moment, they didn¡¯t immediately agree with Hiro¡¯s suggestion.

    Dominic was fairly wise. Rather than insisting on forcefully entering the boss area before him, he prioritized the safety of everyone in his party more.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose anyone,¡± he said with a serious gaze, looking at Hiro who only had a neutral expression on his face.

    As someone who grew up as a fan of Immortal Knights, he knew that Dominic would reject his suggestion. But that didn¡¯t mean he was willing to give up.

    While the others only sighed in disappointment, Hiro walked past the members of Immortal Knights until he stood right in front of the giant wooden gate. He put his left hand to the surface of the gate, hoping to find another clue aside from the rmended BR.

    When his palm touched the gate, the ck sigil on the back of his hand glowed ck, causing the lines of its details to seem thicker.

    The voice of a woman echoed in his mind.

    ¡°I can feel another curse behind the door.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡± Hiro subconsciously frowned.

    ¡°This power, it¡¯s the power of curses. It feels very weak, but I can tell it¡¯s actually strong. It¡¯s just pretending to be weak.¡± The voice was Meta¡¯s.

    Hiro still didn¡¯t understand what this demon inside him meant.

    ¡°The absolute demon¡¯s favorite meal is the power of curses. Consume it and you¡¯ll be stronger.¡±

    Hiro gulped. Meta¡¯s whispers were extremely tempting, causing a thinyer of sweat to trickle down his temples. He suddenly felt the urge to open the door without a second thought, perhaps even kick the gate down or break it directly at this moment if he could.

    ¡°Al¡­ Spyro, can you hear me?¡± Hiro whispered in a very low voice.

    ¡°Sure. I canmunicate with you through telepathy.¡±

    Another feature that made the bond between a pet and its master special.

    ¡°Great. Can you open the door for us?¡±

    Hiro was thinking of forcing them to enter the room behind the gate.

    ¡°Which door? The one in front of you? You can just enter. You can even enter alone.¡±

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    Hiro was surprised to hear Alice¡¯s answer. Enter the boss area alone?

    ¡®Is she serious?¡¯

    To see whether what she said was true, Hiro touched the surface of the gate again, this time with his right hand.

    Ding!

    [Current Party BR is lower than rmended]

    [Rmended BR: 300,000]

    Hiro almost missed the small text under the BR rmendation.

    [You can ignore the BR rmendation if you are ready to die]

    [Only those who are ready to die can enter the boss area]

    Getting the new piece of information Dominic didn¡¯t give caused Hiro to smile in satisfaction. At least he had something to defend his argument with at the moment.

    ¡°We¡¯re already here, why don¡¯t we just enter? Are you sure that those yer killers wouldn¡¯t raid this ce if you postpone it again?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s question took the others aback. DemonHunterz, the ranger in his party, even seemed confused when he heard the information.

    ¡°Wait, what do you mean ¡®those yer killers¡¯?¡± he asked like an absent-minded person.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know that the topic was being kept a secret by their leader, but before he could give them an exnation, Jacob spoke first.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know? Hiro and I came answering your leader¡¯s emergency call. When we arrived, they were already paralyzed by 15 yer killers in ck robes.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Is that true!?¡±

    Dominic looked at his unknowing guild members with guilt. However, he didn¡¯t me neither Hiro nor Jacob for unintentionally divulging the information he and the main party of Immortal Knights hid.

    On the contrary, Dominic bowed to apologize.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this was all my idea. I didn¡¯t want to make you all panic.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s true? The dungeon guardians were killed by those yer killers?¡± DemonHunterz annoyedly asked and clenched his fists.

    He was referring to the two Immortal Knights members who guarded in front of the cave entrance several hours ago. They were killed while they were guarding the cave and received the penalty as a result.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the right time for sin confessions. NightFall is right. If we don¡¯t enter the boss area, they mighte again tomorrow with even stronger people,¡± Draco, the mage of Immortal Knights, spoke and patted Dominic¡¯s shoulder.

    Hiro smiled. One person convinced.

    ¡°Come on, man, we just need to try. Rx, you have me who always pays attention to your HP bars,¡± TheWitchDoctor, n, also tried to convince the leader to try the challenge.

    ¡°Yeah. This is just a game anyway, let¡¯s give it a try,¡± Val agreed.

    TheNinja didn¡¯t say anything. His mouth under the tight mask was shut, but he nodded to show his agreement.

    Hiro hadn¡¯t even said a word about the additional sentences below the BR rmendation, but he felt that victory was already in his hands.

    ¡°You sure look happy,¡± Spyro¡¯s voice sounded in his head, causing the smile on his face to disappear instantly.

    Dominic thought about it for a moment. No matter what, the final decision was in his hands.

    He already disappointed his party member with the information he hid. As their leader, he didn¡¯t want to disappoint his guild members even more.

    ¡°All right, we¡¯ll enter the boss area. However, only those who are ready to die outside the safe zone will fight together with me. Whoever minds, you may leave.¡±

    It seemed that Hiro didn¡¯t need to use that sentence. Dominic already represented it.

    Now, he just needed to see how many of them would stay, and¡­

    To his surprise, none of them left. Even after Dominic started counting to 10, nobody moved from their spots.

    Hiro didn¡¯t expect that the members of Immortal Knights would be so loyal and unafraid of death.

    ¡°We¡¯re going with you, Capt,¡± DemonHunterz said, representing how the other members felt.

    His words put a smile back onto Dominic¡¯s face.

    ¡°Thank you. Your loyalty will definitely be rewarded.¡±

    ¡°And you, young man. This old man makes selfish decisions sometimes, so thank you for disagreeing with me. You¡¯re right. We should take the chance before it¡¯s toote.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, sir.¡± Hiro humbly smiled.

    He then nced at Jacob, Noah, and Cara, who had also wanted toin about the same thing he did. The vigor of young yers is indeed different from the vigor of adults.

    They pushed the giant wooden gate together. Its weight made it tremendously difficult to open. Furthermore, it had to be opened manually, so they made a line to use all the physical strength they could muster.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the boss area]

 Chapter 140

    Nothing was in front of them. As far as their eyes could see, there were only humid cave walls. Apart from a flickering torch on every five meters of the cave wall, the one-way straight passage had no source of light.

    It was almost pitch-ck.

    Hiro and the others looked at each other with confusion. As if they couldmunicate with their eyes, they nodded and took out their weapons, full of vignce.

    Dominic and the members of Immortal Knights¡¯ main party walked in the very front row followed by the others. As for Hiro, he intentionally slowed down his steps so he would be at the very back.

    ¡®This is strange.¡¯ he telepathically began speaking to Spyro. ¡®The boss usually appears a second after the boss area notification.¡¯

    The baby dragon was sitting on Hiro¡¯s shoulder, also observing their surroundings with Hiro.

    ¡®Be careful, it might be a trap,¡¯ Alice replied in the dragon¡¯s childish voice, suspicious of everything she saw.

    The group continued to walk forward while breathing in as little as possible. The previous urrence with the centipedes caused them to be wary of even the air in the area.

    The further they walked, the colder the air in the passage became. Even Hiro, who had twoyers of costumes on, was shivering.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the boss?¡± A mage with the username ckJack already seemed impatient.

    After walking until their legs felt sore, the people in the front row suddenly halted their steps.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys think something¡¯s off?¡± Val asked while rubbing his hands to create heat.

    Hiro¡¯s brows furrowed as he once again checked his surroundings. He also felt suspicious. The passage was straight, yet they couldn¡¯t seem to reach the boss room.

    ¡°I have to confirm something,¡± Hiro said as he walked past Dominic and the others.

    ¡°What are you nning to do?¡± Dominic looked at Hiro a little skeptically. Even after walking three meters past him, the young man still didn¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Please let me do this. And all of you, please stay here for a while.¡±

    Right after Hiro said those words, he immediately ran forward.

    ¡°Is he always like that?¡± Draco, who didn¡¯t know anything, asked the three who had been together like a teenage gang the whole time.

    ¡°Hm?¡± Jacob didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    ¡°If he¡¯s already that strange, he probably knows something,¡± Noah said with a sigh.

    Meanwhile¡­

    Hiro kept running without reducing his speed. He had already put his greatsword onto his back and only focused on running. He was going so fast that Spyro had to tightly grip his shoulder so it wouldn¡¯t be thrown off.

    ¡°What are you doing!?¡±

    Hiro ignored Spyro and kept running.

    After walking with them for over 15 minutes without getting anywhere, Hiro already started to feel suspicious of the passageway.

    And his suspicion was proven. A distance in front of him now was none other than the raid party he left just several minutes ago.

    Hearing the sound of footsteps behind them, the raid group warily turned around. However, their vignt look turned into disbelief when they saw that it was Hiro.

    ¡®I knew it.¡¯

    Hiro looked toward the raid group and regted his breathing before exining.

    ¡°Who knows what¡¯s going on, but it looks like we¡¯ve been walking around the same ce.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°No way!¡±

    ¡°How did you do that!? You just¡­¡± Draco pointed at the two different sides with bewilderment.

    ¡°See? I told you he knows something.¡± Noah threw a proud expression at Draco, whom Hiro astonished along with the other members of Immortal Knights.

    ¡­

    Now that they knew about the cheap trick, they decided not to move the same way. This time, they scattered to check the ceiling, wall, and even the ground in the cave, hoping that one of them would find a clue.

    ¡°How did you realize it?¡± Noah approached Hiro, who was checking the wall of the passage. Hiro rubbed its surface, but it was no use.

    ¡°It was easy. You just need to pay attention to your surroundings, Noah.¡±

    Noah snorted when he heard this. Hiro¡¯s response sounded sarcastic and simultaneously mocked him for rarely paying attention to his surroundings.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­ it¡¯s warm.¡±

    Hiro nced at Noah, who suddenly let out a moan-like sound. He furrowed his brows.

    Noah was standing right in front of a flickering torch on the wall, intentionally leaning to it with his face and palms close to the fire for warmth.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hiro frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t you just create a fire with your magic?¡±

    He also moved closer to the torch for warmth.

    Hiro was already shivering from the cold. His hair even felt as if it was freezing because of how low the temperature was, yet it still felt as if it was getting colder the longer they stayed there.

    ¡°My magic is currently out of control, you know? I even burned my hand when I was practicingst time.¡± Noah stretched out his left hand for Hiro to look at. It was red with burn scars.

    Hiro looked at the burn with a little puzzlement. For him to burn himself like that, what the hell did he do in practice?

    ¡°Aahhh¡­ it¡¯s so warm.¡±

    Once again, Noah, let out a moan-like sound that caused Hiro to shiver on the spot.

    ¡°Stop making that weird sound, you sound disgusting.¡±

    Noah looked at Hiro with annoyance. Unexpectedly, his hand suddenly grabbed Hiro¡¯s wrist raised near the flickering torch fire.

    ¡°Here. I¡¯ll show you how to get the perfect warmth from the fire!¡±

    Hiro was startled, but he didn¡¯t resist. He allowed Noah to position his hands to the fire on the torch.

    He just found out that at the perfect distance, the level of warmth he would get from the fire would be incredibly different. When his hands were finally positioned at the perfect distance, he felt a warmth that seemed to slowly move from his fingertips to his entire stiff body.

    ¡°How is it? Feels good, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Noah felt satisfied when he saw Hiro¡¯s amazed expression.

    Cara, who caught Noah and Hiro¡¯s act across them, kicked Jacob¡¯s leg and signaled to the two with her chin. Jacob initially looked at her with a confused look, but his eyes widened when he saw what she was signaling to.

    ¡°Are you serious!? Right in front of my shield!?¡± He couldn¡¯t stay quiet.

    Hiro immediately flung Noah¡¯s hands still holding his wrist. His physical strength, which was far above Noah¡¯s, caused Noah to stagger and reflexively hold on to the torch in front of him.

    Crack!

    The torch wood moved downward like a lever. All of a sudden, the ground Noah and Hiro were standing on glitched and disappeared.

 Chapter 141

    ¡°Aarghhhhh!!!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Hiro¡¯s body was sliding down at full speed in a very slippery, long tunnel. It reminded him of the tunnel in a water park.

    He tried to stop his speed by holding onto something he could find in the tunnel. However, he couldn¡¯t find anything, and it was too slippery. While Noah, who was in front of him, didn¡¯t stop screaming.

    *slides*

    Bam!!!

    After passing through a dark and muggy tunnel. Hiro was thrown out as if he was being spit up by the tunnel.

    ¡°Get off!¡±

    Bam!

    Hiro got a punch in the face from Noah. Because he justnded on his back.

    ¡°Argh.¡± Hiro groaned. His body suddenly felt heavy and wet, like he had just been swimming.

    He immediately checked his HP again, and he saw an insignificant point reduction. Even though his body ached after falling like that, Hiro¡¯s HP only decreased by 1%.

    Then, he checked the raid party¡¯s status and saw that the colour of the status information for his name and Noah looked normal. It was bright green. While for the other names, it seemed they lost their colour and changed to jade green.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Noah got up and brushed off the snow that stuck to his body. He didn¡¯t look like he was shivering like Hiro because he had activated his cold resistant skill. Unfortunately, Hiro didn¡¯t have it.

    ¡°It looks like you identally found a clue,¡± Hiro muttered, then focused his gaze on his surroundings, trying to check where they were.

    This ce reminded Hiro about the first cave where he fought the Minorous boss. However, in this ce, he could find many sharp-shaped ice crystals hanging above the cave ceiling like natural stctites.

    Hiro swallowed hard. If those things fell, this ce would be a graveyard for his avatar.

    ¡°Are theying?¡± Noah was standing in front of the tunnel, and Hiro walked to the other side of the dungeon.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If my guess is correct, it looks like the torches we saw earlier are the exit of that strange ce.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know whether to feel lucky or not. However, at least he could move to another ce right now.

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    For the first time, Noah asked Hiro what to do. It made Hiro reflexively look at him with disbelief. He even forgot to close his hanging mouth.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you always have a second-n?¡± Noah looked away awkwardly. Then, he walked back towards the other side of the ring-shaped cave.

    Hiro thought for a moment. He didn¡¯t immediately respond to what Noah said. Meanwhile, at the same time, Spyro crawled out from inside Hiro¡¯s robe with its two ears limping to the back.

    ¡°You damn kid! I almost threw up,¡± it grumbled telepathically.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know that even Alice would get a side effect from the slip-down incident a few seconds ago. He helped the dragon out to perch on his shoulder. It still put on a weary expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m really hungry right now.¡±

    Thest time Hiro fed it was before Spyro was under Alice¡¯s control. He thought he didn¡¯t need to feed it when Alice had taken the dragon¡¯s consciousness.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­ I forgot to buy pet food for you.¡± Hiro checked his inventory and found an item he thought he could be used as food.

    [Bat¡¯s Meat (Quality: Low/spoiled)]

    ¡°Take this.¡±

    Hiro shoved a piece of meat into Spyro¡¯s mouth, and without looking at it first, Spyro devoured it.

    ¡°What the hell is this? Are you trying to kill me?¡±

    Ding!

    [Spyro¡¯s mood has decreased]

    [Overwhelmed]

    [Warning! Your progressive stats might be decreased during battle]

    ¡°Damn, Alice? Can you not bother me?¡±

    Noah was surprised to hear Hiro suddenly talking to himself. He looked at Hiro in confusion. His eyebrow arched when there was no one here other than the two of them.

    ¡°Have you gone mad?¡±

    ¡°Come here. I found something.¡±

    Hiro red at Spyro, who threw a lopsided smile at him, looking very satisfied with what it had done.

    He ignored the dragon and then immediately ran over to Noah, who was standing in the middle of a circle. He looked up at something above the ceiling.

    On the surface of the sharp ice crystals, there was very thin green slime. It was frozen with the ice crystals so that the slime didn¡¯t drip. Hiro was certain the green slime was a liquid from outside this ce.

    ¡°Whatever it is, I believe it is the work of this dungeon boss,¡± Noah muttered, and Hiro nodded¡­ He was thinking the same thing as Noah.

    ¡°Is this the dungeon boss¡¯ hideout?¡±

    Noah had pulled out his Mystic Tome. He was on alert while looking out for any suspicious movements.

    On the contrary to Noah, Hiro didn¡¯t pull out his sword.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If this was the boss¡¯s hideout, there would be more clues to its whereabouts. Not only the frozen slime.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s answer made Noah frown in annoyance, but he still put his Mystic Tome back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up. If you find anything suspicious, tell me.¡±

    Hiro walked away from Noah, who hadn¡¯t even given an answer. Whether the man agreed with his n or not, he didn¡¯t care. He deliberately kept his distance to ask someone for help.

    ¡°Alice, can you see anything in this ce from the data structure program?¡±

    [silence]

    Hiro lifted Spyro with both hands and looked at it straight in the eye, waiting for an answer.

    ¡°Kwak!!¡±

    ¡°Ah, that gothic girl. She really is toying with me now.¡±

    Alice said nothing, and Spyro sounded like a crying duckling again.

    Hiro decided to move independently, even though it would take more time than getting help from Alice. Unlike Noah, who was more interested in checking from the centre of the circle, Hiro checked the edges of the walls that circled that ce.

    He kept walking until his left hand suddenly felt like it was burning.

    When Hiro checked it, the Sigil on the back of his hand gave off a dark ck light. Even his blood came out onto the surface of the Sigil line.

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    [health -1000] [health -1000] [health -1000]

    Hiro knew one thing that could make him experience this kind of sensation.

    He immediately jumped away from the ce he was standing while holding his left hand, which was in great pain. His blood was gushing out uncontrobly.

    ¡°What the hell? What have you done?¡± Noah, who saw Hiro suddenly running towards him with the left hand covered in blood, looked very shocked.

    ¡°Heal me.¡± Hiro gripped Noah¡¯s hand with a pale face.

 Chapter 142

    Strangely, the back of Hiro¡¯s hand stopped bleeding after Noah used a skill he had just learned [Purify]. A very simple basic skill that used water as the main element. The skill could dispel certain magic effects caused by non-living objects.

    The pain and burning sensation were decreasing. Hiro and Noah had a guess of the reason the hand suddenly reacts strangely like that.

    ¡°What have you done?¡± Noah checked Hiro¡¯s hand one more time as he interrogated him with an using question.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Hiro knew Noah would not ept such a simple answer.

    ¡°It¡¯s a holy attribute,¡± he added. Hiro was sure the reason his hand was blistered and bleeding was because of holy attributes. He immediately took out a health potion from his inventory and drank it, restoring his HP to normal.

    ¡°Thank you, Noah. You saved me.¡±

    Noah suddenly stood up and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Out of the corner of his hawk-eyed, he looked at Hiro with an annoyed expression.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you care about yourself? What kind of demon touched an object with holy attributes?¡± He rolled his eyes, still with his annoyance.

    Hiro chuckled.

    ¡°You look like my brother, telling me I can¡¯t take care of myself, huh?¡± Hiro mumbled while tapping his knees before standing up. He looked straight into Noah¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m not that stupid, Noah. There is a demon hiding in the cursed Sigil on my hand. It seems that the demon has a higher sensitivity with holy attributes. I didn¡¯t touch anything.¡±

    Hiro walked back in the direction where he had got a strange reaction in his hand. He had called Meta several times to ask what was really going on, but there was no answer. It looked like the demon fell unconscious.

    He couldn¡¯t do it by himself, so Hiro told Noah to check the wall, and Noah did it with great curiosity.

    Noah purposely put his ear to the wall. Who knows, maybe he could hear the boss¡¯s voice hiding behind the wall, but it was quiet. There was only the sound of water droplets. If he heard it for too long, he could be hypnotized.

    ¡°Shall we destroy it?¡± Noah was really curious about the thing behind the wall. Of course, Hiro didn¡¯t agree with Noah¡¯s idea. He shook his head firmly.

    ¡°Do you want to kill me here when no one is looking?¡±

    Hiro suspected that there was a source of holy water behind the wall. However, if the barrier was destroyed, the room where he was currently standing could be flooded by the holy water.

    Once again, he studied the ice crystals that filled the cave. The ice crystals seemed to be formed from pure water. It looked clear and sparkling, unlike stctite which was formed from minerals that dissolved with water.

    It seemed there had been drops of water in that ce before.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange, there weren¡¯t many ice crystals like this before in the previous ce,¡± Hiro muttered suspiciously.

    However, before he could inspect it any further, Noah suddenly shouted from a different direction. It wasn¡¯t from the ce where there was an effect of holy attributes.

    ¡°Hiro,e here! I found a way.¡±

    Hiro immediately rushed to Noah.

    In front of him, a lever of stone trapped in a frozen water crystal. It was the exact same colour as the sharp ice crystal on the ceiling.

    ¡°Melt it down.¡±

    rrr!

    Red mes suddenly sted out of Noah¡¯s palms like an explosion.

    Hiro was surprised to see the fire that was different from the fire elemental magic that Noah had used before. It seemed to be darken.

    ¡°I told you, my magic has been weirdtely. But don¡¯t worry, I can melt this ice in an instant.¡±

    Noah brought his hand that continued to emit mes like a rocket towards the stone lever. Naturally, the closer to the fire, the ice crystals melted into water that dripped onto the ground.

    In a few seconds, the stone lever could be touched.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let the other ice crystals melt with your fire.¡± Hiro moved to touch the stone lever, but his hand felt like it was burning again. He reflexively pulled his hand back.

    ¡°Argh! Damn it! Your fire really burns it to its roots.¡± Hiro protested, ming Noah who immediately frowned at Hiro¡¯s reaction.

    [health -200] [health -150] [health -75]

    ¡°No way. I often use it to cook food, and I can control which one is heated. There¡¯s no way the stone is hot.¡±

    Hiro raised his hand, which was already blistered red.

    Noah rolled his eyes again. His hand moved to grip the stone lever without hesitation. And¡­ he didn¡¯t pull his hand at all.

    Bzzzz!

    The wall to their left suddenly moved upwards, forming a square road five meters high and 20 meters wide. It seemed the gate camouged as a wall.

    ¡°I told you. It¡¯s not hot at all.¡± Noah was still annoyed by Hiro¡¯s usations against his fire.

    Hiro didn¡¯t say anything. He immediately ran towards the wide wall on the left which revealed a giant, dark hallway.

    ¡°What ce is this? It was huge.¡± This time, he took out his sword and walked closer to the giant hole to investigate it further.

    [Fire Torch]

    Noah ended up using his fire magic as a light.

    The two of them walked straight ahead. The giant tunnel was only one way. There wasn¡¯t ayer of snow like before,

    even so¡­

    the green slime that Hiro and Noah found clinging to the water crystals in the previous room could be seen decorating the tunnel. It stuck to the wall, ceiling, and even the rocky ground.

    ¡°We¡¯re close to where the boss is,¡± Noah mumbled, remembering Hiro¡¯s words about the boss¡¯ hideout earlier. His voice sounded squeaky in fright.

    Hiro realized this tunnel was too enormous. It could be that the boss he would fight had more or less the same size as the tunnel.

    ¡°We should check that thing.¡± Hiro stopped and pointed at the lump of green slime that had umted on the ground in front of him.

    ¡°No¡­ what if it¡¯s a trap?¡±

    Hiro ignored Noah and walked closer to the slime. Slowly, he poked the slime with the tip of his greatsword. No reaction. Hiro was about to touch it with his bare hands until suddenly¡­

    At the same time, Noah and Hiro were startled by the man¡¯s scream. It was echoing loudly from another side of the tunnel.

    ¡°Aaarghhhhh!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s them!¡± Noah knew he wasn¡¯t wrong this time.

    Hiro reflexively ran towards the source of the sound at full speed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Tap! tap! tap!

    The tunnel was really only one way.

    At the other end of the tunnel¡­

    The other raid party members gathered together. However¡­ they were cornered. In front of them was a dead body that was drenched in green slime.

    The skin of the person¡¯s body slowly eroded until finally he was only a skeleton of bones.

 Chapter 143

    Hiro dashed towards the source of the scream he had just heard. He hoped no one had been killed when he arrived there. His feet stepped on the surface of the green slime that had piled up in the long, dark tunnel. Until finally, he could see a bright light in front of him, indicating that he had arrived at the end of the tunnel.

    When he was getting closer to the end of the tunnel, Hiro stepped on something very sticky and managed to trap him. He fell and rolled on the ground.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± He tried to free his feet from something that looked like white soft webs, but it was very difficult to get his feet out. It also stuck to Hiro¡¯s hand as he tried to release it.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Noah, who had run with all his might, finally managed to reach the ce where Hiro was. He was more careful. Noah didn¡¯t want to fall like Hiro, who was cutting the sticky webs with his sword.

    ¡°Holy shit..¡± Noah didn¡¯t speak to Hiro. His eyes quivered at seeing something that was not far from him. It was at the end of the tunnel. Hiro, who was still busy with the webs, checked what Noah was looking at that made the man stupefied like that. When he did that, his eyes dted in disbelief.

    About 10 meters in front of him, there was a giant ball? No, it was an ovoid shaped thing that was hanging down by the millions of strands of the same white webs that trapped Hiro. It looked like a giant cocoon hanging upside down.

    Hiro¡¯s throat felt dry when he saw the monster hanging on that webs. It had four giant legs on each side of its body, and its body was three times bigger than its head. The four pairs of the jointed legs were covered with hideous looking fur.

    Ding!

    [Jorogumo (Boss)]

    [Race: Demon]

    ¡°Should we defeat that giant multi-legged boss?¡± Noah had already pulled out his Mystic Tome and activated it. Two ck and white lights were moving around the book that floated by itself.

    Finally, Hiro could free himself from the spider webs. He pulled out his vampire blood-eater. However, he didn¡¯t immediately attack the monster because Hiro wasn¡¯t sure he could win with his current strength.

    The spider-like monster that was hanging above the ground didn¡¯t look easy to beat. It was almost three times the size of the Minorous that Hiro had defeated along with the others.

    ¡°I saw them!¡± Noah pointed at the group of yers. Hiro didn¡¯t even notice it because the boss blocked his view.

    From where the two of them were standing, they could see that their raid party members were in a corner covered with the green slime and spider webs.

    They seemed to be ready to attack with their weapons. From the party status Hiro had just checked through his HUD system, not a single one of them had been killed.

    It was a relief. However, they couldn¡¯t stay there for too long or else they could be killed in a matter of seconds. If Hiro and Noah don¡¯t do anything to distract the boss who had cornered them, they might be dead meats pretty soon.

    ¡°We have to do something.¡± Hiro racked his brain. He had to find a way to attract the monster¡¯s attention, but also not let himself be a target.

    ¡°Launch a st of mes at the monster after I jump!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro ran with his sword raised high. He slightly slowed his pace, but he didn¡¯t find a better idea.

    Meanwhile, even though Noah didn¡¯t really understand Hiro¡¯s sudden and ambiguous order, he had already opened the page on his Mytsic Tome, looking for explosion-making magic. He wanted to make himself useful.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get all the spotlight, NightFall!¡±

    Noah began to babble, reciting an incantation written in the letters that only mages in the LSO world could understand.

    [Fire Explosion]

    Shooo!

    Boom! Kabooom!

    Noah shot at the belly of the giant spider monster from behind. After creating a magic circle full of runes that he wrote with his bare hands in the air, he fired mes that could explode.

    The explosion managed to make the monster growled in pain. The mes created by Noah burned the webs that kept the monster hanging upside down in that spot.

    Everyone who was tensed up was shocked because of the deafening explosion. However, when they looked in the source¡¯s direction of the bursting mes, they saw a shadowy figure running with arge sword raised high in a puff of smoke from the aftermath of the explosion. He ran at high speed. The smoke didn¡¯t bother him in the slightest.

    ¡°Hiro!¡± Jacob realized it first. He immediately jumped forward, using the sword and shield he had strengthened. He would not let his friend fight alone. However, Cara, who could move like zes, suddenly shot ahead of him.

    The explosion created by Noah became the first attack that made the boss fall to the ground. It squirmed with its head down. However, with four pairs of legs that were highly stic and could move 360 ??degrees, the gigantic monster could stand back quickly.

    Hiro jumped up and aimed at the head. The monster red at him with eight terrifying ck eyes gathered at the front of its head.

    However, suddenly, before Hiro could sh its head with his sword, the monster hissed and the four pairs of valves in its mouth vibrated simultaneously

    Hissss!

    Hiro, who didn¡¯t know the skills used by the monsters, decided to use his sword that was stuck on one of the monster¡¯s legs to turn around before something bad happened. And his guess was right. The moment Hiro changed his direction, the monster shot arge amount of green liquid at him.

    Screech!

    ¡°Watch out!¡±

    It was just an inch away from his body. Hiro saw thest green slime dripping right next to his feet. Instantly, the rock in that ce melted and emitted smoke.

    ¡®Strong acid,¡¯ Hiro thought. He didn¡¯t know that the green slime would be very dangerous when it just came out of the monster¡¯s body.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Dominic eximed, giving orders from the other side. Meanwhile, Jacob and Cara hadnded by Hiro¡¯s side.

    Boom! Kabooom!

    St!!

    nk!

    They all started to attack using various types of physical and magic based attacks from the rear. It made the monster instantly twist its head to them while hissing angrily. The monster even lifted itself up on its two hind legs.

    Screech!

    ¡°Hiro, are you okay?!¡± Jacob looked worried.

    ¡°We have to destroy it!¡±

    And they joined with the others. They attack the spider monster mercilessly.

 Chapter 144

    St!!

    Hiro had just managed to cut off the monster¡¯s leg for the eighth times, reducing the height of the monster by half a meter. However, the monster still moved freely andunched a counterattack on melee-type yers who tried to tear its body apart.

    Meanwhile, the three mages were standing on different sides of the monster. Each of them didn¡¯t stop attacking the monster¡¯s body, who looked terrifying. Noah wiped the sweat that ran down his temples repeatedly.

    In contrast to Noah, who focused on using fire-type magic, Draco of Immortal Knights used wind-type magic that functioned like physical-type attacks whose power could tear apart the monster¡¯s body like using a sword.

    Even though the boss¡¯ HP had been revealed a few minutes ago, Hiro observed that the boss¡¯s HP bar didn¡¯t drop at all, as if the damage it received as well as the regeneration skill had equal value. He couldn¡¯t let that happen, especially after looking around and seeing that the others were getting tired.

    The old Immortal knights looked exhausted and started to lose their focus. Some of them were even repeatedly thrown away and kicked by one of the spider¡¯s legs. Luckily, TheWitchDoctor, n, was always there to save them from being killed.

    At this rate, they would lose. Besides, the AP potions and energy potions they have had a limited amount of stock, and it could run out at any time.

    Hiro shed the monster¡¯s abdomen with all his might as the de turned purple. This was the second time he had used the skill, but the first attack was missed. It failed to reduce the monster¡¯s HP. It was as if the monster had an anti- to the unique skill of Hiro¡¯s sword. The second attack was the same, the monster¡¯s HP didn¡¯t manage to decrease by 75% but only by a half.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± The monster managed to get Hiro annoyed. He jumped to avoid the feet of the monster that was aiming at him.

    Hironded right next to DemonHunterz who continued to fire his rifle. He had changed the megazine of his gun so many times that it was scattered on the stone floor of the room. He only nced at Hiro briefly before he focused on shooting at the monster again.

    ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right ,¡± Hiro muttered as he mmed his fist on the ground. He had never spent that much time fighting monsters. He saw the back of his left hand, which had been emitting a ck light.

    The lines of the Sigil curse seemed to have thickened. It was the same reaction when Meta told him that there was a very strong power of curse. Seeing this, Hiro was convinced that the source of the curse was on the spider-monster like. He had to beat it, no matter what.

    ¡°This has no end. I have onest stack of AP potions left,¡± TheWeissX grumbled, a mage of the Immortal Knights guild members who used fire-type magic elements like Noah.

    The colour of the mes looked bluish. It was in contrast to Noah¡¯s dark red mes. Hiro opened his inventory to check how many energy potions he had. However, when he opened his inventory slots, he had just remembered that he bought several scroll items that functioned like enchantments for the damage he inflicted.

    [Holy attribute scroll]

    [Within the next 30 minutes, all damage the yer inflicts will be converted to holy attribute type. Highly rmended against bloodline demon monsters]

    Ding!

    [You have used 1 Holy attribute scroll]

    Hiro swallowed hard. Even though he was from the bloodline of the demon, his body didn¡¯t react strangely when he used the scroll. He was already worried about the side effects.

    ¡°How could I forget this important thing?¡±

    Hiro jumped onto the spider monster¡¯s back. This time, he nned to stab the de of his sword into the bulkhead between the monster¡¯s stomach and head. He predicted it was the ce where the monster¡¯s heart was.

    Stt!

    Screeeeehhh!!!

    Bang!!!

    Hiro was thrown back while his sword managed to pierce the area he was aiming for. His body flew towards Noah and hit the man hard, causing them to copse on the ground.

    ¡°Damn it, Nightfall. What the hell!¡±

    Screehhh!

    The spider monster reacted strangely. It stood on its two hind legs, while the other leg tried to guess the position of Hiro¡¯s sword, trying to pull it out.

    Its body continued to wriggle and stagger strangely, causing the other yers to retreat backwards to save themselves.

    The monster continued to hiss painfully. Its voice managed to force the yers who were surrounding the monster, dropped their weapons and covered their ear holes.

    Ding!

    [Jorogumo is burnt from the holy attribute]

    [Jorogumo is experiencing berserk status]

    [Be careful. You may not have time to run!]

    ¡°What¡¯s with that notification?¡±

    All yers got the same notification. Hiro swallowed hard. It looked like something big was about to happen.

    Within seconds, the spider monster¡¯s head suddenly melted on its own, sending the vampire blood-eater¡¯s sword crashing to the floor below. Meanwhile, the melted of the head seemed to wriggle strangely, elongating then condensing slowly and then¡­

    a slender body shaped like a beautiful woman, with long ck hair and ck eyespletely reced the melted parts of the monster.

    ¡°Jorogumo.¡± Hiro muttered in disbelief at seeing the transformation of the monster.

    ¡°In ancient Japanese legend, Jorogumo is a female demon who has a spider-like appearance.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about, Nightfall? Quickly do something!¡±

    The spider monster stopped squirming. At the same time, the other yers were already running towards it to attack again. But, not Hiro and Noah. They just stood at their ce.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hiro gripped Noah¡¯s arm, who was ready to turn the pages of the Mystic Tome in search of a new magic attack.

    ¡°No¡­ this is weird. It is not time yet.¡± Hiro was sure that the warning in the notification he had just received couldn¡¯t be ignored. However, he didn¡¯t have time to save the others who were out of his reach.

    ¡°Noah, can you pull my sword here? Use wind magic or whatever, hurry!¡± Hiro felt uneasy. He had a bad feeling. Noah did what Hiro asked quickly, using wind magic to fly the heavy object towards the two of them.

    ¡°Now what?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Hiro quickly pulled Noah¡¯s arm towards the tunnel the two of them had passed just before. Noah, who had weaker physical strength than Hiro, couldn¡¯t refuse. He just ran following him.

    ¡°Are you crazy? nning for an escape?¡±

    At that moment, when both of them had entered back to the tunnel. Hiro stopped and checked the condition of those who stood near the spider. Noah looked very surprised. His eyes dted and his body almost staggered to the ground.

    The other thirteen yers who didn¡¯t run with Hiro and Noah had been wrapped in cobwebs from head to toe like mummies. They were being pulled up. It seemed the spider in the human form wanted to hang them up.

    After it sessfully hung the yers above the ground, the long-haired woman¡¯s head suddenly twisted towards the tunnel. Noah exchanged a nce with the monster for one second before Hiro pulled him to run further.

    ¡°We have to keep running!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you warn them?!¡±

    ¡°No time. Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯re not dead.¡±

    ¡°Yet.¡±

 Chapter 145

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro continued to run while looking back to check if the Jorogumo was still after him and Noah.

    His heart was beating rapidly from running and the anxiety of what awaited them if they got caught. Behind him, Noah¡¯s face had reddened from forcing the limit of his energy to keep running following Hiro¡¯s instruction.

    On his hands burned mes that became the only sources of light for the two in the pitch-ck tunnel. Fortunately, there was only one straight path, so they didn¡¯t need to worry about running into something.

    ¡°Keep running! Hahh¡­ we¡¯re almost there.¡± Hiro saw a speck of light at the end of the tunnel. Despite his words, he actually wasn¡¯t sure whether or not they would be able to get there before the boss got them.

    Running after them with its four pairs of legs, the spider monster was extremely fast.

    ¡°Jump!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Hiro jumped out of the tunnel with all his strength and sessfully got back to the previous location, the giant round space embellished with stctite-like ice crystals, with Noah right behind him.

    Immediately after, he spun his body to attack the monster that would reach him in seconds.

    [Predicio]

    Hiro saw an image of himself move before him, jumping forward at the same time the Jorogumo jumped out of the tunnel. However¡­

    Screech!!!

    Before the de of his greatsword reached the monster, it hissed in pain and hastily retracted itself back into the tunnel.

    Even though it was only an image, Hiro was sure that he saw smokee out of the Jorogumo¡¯s legs when they touched the frozen ground.

    ¡®What was that?¡¯

    Before the boss reached them, Hiro shed the ice crystal-like ground at the spot where the monster stepped.

    The moment he broke the ice, the shards that flew his way caused his skin to burn.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    Hiro immediately jumped away.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Noah was startled when Hiro suddenly screamed and groaned in pain with smokeing out of his skin.

    Meanwhile, Hiro stayed silent. He feltme for only realizing it now, but at the same time, he felt excited for finding the bright spot he should¡¯ve noticed from the very beginning.

    ¡°This ce will be its tomb.¡±

    Hiro swiftly ran back to the tunnel, causing Noah to look at him full of disbelief. This time, he chose not to go after him.

    ¡°What are you up to?!¡±

    ¡°Pull her!¡± Hiro shouted while intentionally blocking the Jorogumo, who was already near the tunnel exit.

    Hiro lifted his greatsword high and positioned himself ready to attack. Meanwhile, the Jorogumo promptly halted its steps when it saw Hiro there.

    Pew!! Pew!!

    The Jorogumo shot hot green mucus from its lips, but at that moment, Hiro evaded and simultaneously dashed forward to steal an attack.

    St!! nk!

    Even when the woman-like body was shed, the blood that came out of its body was a smoking green mucus.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Hiro jumped back. ¡°Come here, unsightlydy!¡±

    Hiro intentionally walked backward slowly, and the Jorogumo followed. He nned topletely pull the monster into the room behind him. There was no way he would allow just its legs to step into the ce.

    But how was he supposed to do that? Hiro wasn¡¯t strong enough to kick or pull the monster into the room.

    Screech!

    The Jorogumo seemed angered, but it had quickly regenerated the part Hiro just shed. This time, it looked like it really wanted to clench Hiro¡¯s body with its eight legs.

    Whoosh!

    The creature abruptly dashed forward like a rocket. It directly attacked Hiro with its two forelegs, but he managed to parry with his greatsword¡¯s de.

    ¡°You¡¯re really aggressive, spiderdy.¡± Hiro used all the strength he could muster to not get flung from the monster¡¯s powerful push. His arm muscles hardened and he had to use all his energy to hold the Jorogumo.

    Bwoosh!

    Behind Hiro, Noah had already created a giant fireball and was ready to shoot it anytime. However, Hiro stopped him.

    ¡°Not now, Noah. Wait until I bring her there.¡±

    Noah was confused, but he stillplied. Besides, the fireball he prepared with both of his hands was toorge. If he released it now, he would probably burn Hiro along with the Jorogumo.

    nk!

    Bam!

    Hiro managed to throw the long legs back andnded a harsh punch right at the woman¡¯s face. Before those fully ck eyes opened back to look at him, Hiro had run closer to the border between the tunnel and the room where Noah was.

    ¡°Come here.¡±

    Like a bull ready to rush at a g whipped by a matador, the Jorogumo scratched the ground with its forelegs. In a matter of seconds, the creature once again rushed toward Hiro, who was holding the Blood-Eater Vampire horizontally at chest level.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    The moment the Jorogumo was about to strike him, Hiro leaped into the air.

    The Jorogumo was surprised, but it couldn¡¯t stop its eight legs fast enough. The sunken part on the ground formed by Hiro¡¯s sh not long ago caused the monster¡¯s forelegs to slip, and because it was running very fast, its body spun 180 degrees from the tunnel to where Noah was waiting.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    Booomm!

    Noah¡¯s giant fireball sessfully burned the monster¡¯s now-squirming enormous body.

    The boss¡¯s HP bar quickly decreased. Still, just that wouldn¡¯t be enough to finish it.

    While the skin of his hands felt like it was burning from Noah¡¯s fireball that melted even theyers of ice in the ce, Hiro once again jumped and shed the ice crystals that were stuck right above the Jorogumo.

    Crashh!!

    St! St! St!

    The sharp ice crystals resembling natural cave stctites struck down on the Jorogumo¡¯s body.

    Boomm!!

    All of a sudden, the fire that almost went out burned even more fiercely and became bluish. In just a second, the Jorogumo¡¯s HP bar dropped to zero.

    Ding!

    [Boss has been defeated]

    [Congrattions! LostSoul¡¯s Party sessfully cleared the hidden dungeon [Cursed Icy Cave].]

    Noah looked at Hiro with disbelief. In the meantime, Hiro had already stabbed his greatsword into the icy ground. He fell to a kneel with scalded arms and legs.

    ¡°We did it?!¡± Noah still couldn¡¯t believe that it would be so simple to finish the boss. He couldn¡¯t hide his smile.

    But Hiro¡¯s vision began to blur. He could no longer feel his body, and it felt as if everything was burning him.

    Ding!

    [Your body is in a terrible condition due to the Holy attribute¡¯s effect]

    [You might lose your consciousness]

 Chapter 146

    In a forest filled with withering trees covered in thick snow stood a building akin to an old mansion made of dark gray stones.

    Through the window ss visible from the outside, several torches could be seen lighting up the room. The light of the mes flickered following the light gusts of wind from the air venttion.

    In the building, more precisely the room that could be recognized as the dining room, dinner was served on a grand long table with candles neatly arranged as both decorations and light sources.

    The dinner that consisted of various scrumptious dishes was untouched, and none of the dozens of people seated at the sides of the table seemed to have any appetite.

    Meanwhile, at the end of the long dinner table in thevish kingdom-like dining room, a person was resting his chin on his left hand covered in a thin ck cloth.

    ¡°They defeated it,¡± he mumbled with a low, cold voice barely enough for everyone there to hear.

    Nobody gave a response. Only the sound of the blowing wind attempting to enter the room from the windows at each corner of the rectangr room filled the area.

    ¡°How did you return empty-handed?¡±

    Bang!

    The man at the end banged the table, causing some of the dishes to jump from their tes.

    ¡°F-Forgive me, sir, it¡¯s all my fault,¡± someone suddenly stood from his chair and kowtowed on the floor to the man who seemed to be the leader of them all.

    ¡°Your reason?¡± The leader wasn¡¯t interested in telling him to stop his act of worship.

    ¡°NightFall, WynterRain¡¯s brother. We¡¯re forbidden from killing him.¡± The kowtowing man¡¯s voice trembled. At the same time, a breeze blew his hood down.

    With the minimal light in the room, all the other ck-robed people peeked to see who dared to anger their leader.

    Their eyes widened in shock. The man wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to log in for seven days for being killed outside a safe zone.

    But he was there, at the same ce they were in as if what transpired just a few hours ago was only a system bug.

    ¡°That ungrateful kid,¡± the man growled and clenched the ss in his hand until it broke.

    Crash!

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the agreement I made with WynterRain, I would¡¯ve gotten rid of him from the beginning.¡±

    His hands suddenly swept the row of dishes in front of him, including thergest being a pork roast that had gone cold.

    Crash!!

    Everything messily fell to the floor.

    Those attending the dinner could only bow their heads, unwilling to raise their faces out of fear of meeting those wrathful red eyes.

    However, before the worst they expected came, the man abruptly coughed violently.

    Cough! Cough! Cough!

    He felt as if his heart stopped working and the system in his body instantly stopped. His body convulsed. His body was paralyzed before he finally fell from the beautifully-carved wooden chair with a painful thud.

    ¡°Boss, what happened? Are you all right?¡±

    The man who was kowtowing to him immediately ran to check the leader¡¯s condition with worry.

    Cough! Cough!

    All of a sudden, the leader forcefully gripped the man¡¯s hand. His sharp nails scratched the man¡¯s skin until he grimaced while enduring the pain.

    With a terrifying pair of red eyes wide open, he red at the man who managed to catch his body.

    ¡°Call him. Now,¡± he said with a painfully choked voice.

    Nobody could save him or even lessen his pain. All they could do was call the person he asked them to.

    WynterRain.

    With the special connection they had with the yer of unclear status in the world of LSO, they could contact him through a call using a device one-of-a-kind in the game.

    A small cube akin to a die made of stainless material.

    ¡­

    This wasn¡¯t the first time their boss suddenly experienced such a thing. Every time it happened, only one person in the game could save him from being deleted by the system.

    WynterRain came.

    He teleported using a Portkey Crystal, directly to the room where the leader of the yer killers proiming themselves as WynterRain¡¯s fanatic followers rested.

    The leader had lost consciousness, but his eyes were still wide open staring at the room ceiling.

    ¡°His condition is getting worse,¡± a man in a ck robe, the only person in the room with the leader, mumbled. He was the same man who was killed in the hands of a talented young man just a few hours ago.

    The man¡¯s body shook when WynterRain appeared in front of him. Even just looking at his side profile almost caused him to lose control.

    He wanted to devour WynterRain and have him for himself, right this instant.

    His eyes moistened like his mouth. He licked back his saliva before it dripped, which WynterRain noticed.

    ¡°Leave. I don¡¯t want anyone to see me right now,¡± WynterRain said, annoyed from constantly being paid attention to. He then walked toward the middle-aged man lying weakly on therge bed. All the hair on his head had turned white.

    Even so, the man who was told to leave didn¡¯t move like a statue.

    ¡°I said leave.¡±

    Whoosh!

    St!!

    With a fling of WynterRain¡¯s left hand, sharp gusts of wind instantly tore the man¡¯s body like thousands of des. At the same time, the man¡¯s body was sent flying until the door at the corner of the room sted open.

    He wasn¡¯t killed. With his body now covered in sh injuries dripping with fresh blood, the man stood back up and gave a wide grin.

    ¡°You¡¯re really the most powerful, WynterRain.¡±

    ¡°Your brother is nothing. He¡¯s very weak. I tested him, and it was very disappointing.¡±

    WynterRain froze on the spot, his pointy ears stiffening. His body temperature quickly rose and his face reddened.

    ¡°I thought he would be as powerful as you are, Wyn-¡±

    St! St! St!

    Three green arrows suddenly dashed out of WynterRain¡¯s fingers and swiftly shot the mouth of the man talking to him, destroying his vocal cords and silencing him.

    ¡°Do not say a word about my brother with that filthy mouth of yours. Understand?¡±

    ¡°If you darey a finger on him, I will make you die a thousand painful deaths in this world.¡±

 Chapter 147

    ¡°Will he be okay?¡±

    ¡°What exactly happened to him?¡±

    From a distance, Hiro could hear Liberty¡¯s voice faintly. Slowly, all the senses in his body had functioned back to normal, and Hiro could feel the air surrounded him. Even though his eyes were still tightly closed and his head felt very heavy, Hiro could feel the presence of several people nearby.

    As his nose began to work, he could smell the sweet fragrance of someone he knew. It belonged to Liberty.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine,¡± another voice murmured. A man¡¯s deep voice, Hiro could tell it was n, The WitchDoctor of Immortal Knights. But¡­ what was n doing here?

    Hiro tried to remember what had happened to him until his body ached from head to toe. He clearly remembered that he sessfully carried out his n to finish off Jorogumo with the frozen holy water.

    He couldn¡¯t recollect what had happened after that. He didn¡¯t even remember whether his party had sessfully cleared the dungeon or not.

    ¡®Wait¨Caren¡¯t n and the others trapped by the spider¡¯s webs?¡¯

    Instantly, Hiro gained back his strength to open his eyes as if he had just returned from the dead. When he opened his eyes, a pair of tiny, tearful ck eyes were looking at him from up close.

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    Spyro jumped in surprise at Hiro, who suddenly opened his eyes. The dragon slipped backwards and fell onto Hiro¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°Argh.¡± His head felt like it was going to explode. Hiro groaned as he clutched his head, which was throbbing painfully as he forced himself to get up.

    ¡°Hiro?¡±

    Liberty looked very worried. Her eyes were puffy and wet with tears. The girl¡¯s face was also red because of crying too much. She sat on a wooden chair next to the bed where Hiroid for several hours.

    Hiro looked at his surroundings in confusion. He knew where he was now. It was the same room he always used in Jacob¡¯s residence in the LSO. The room that was not so wide was filled with many people, and all of them were staring at him.

    Jacob immediately rushed to Hiro¡¯s feet when he saw his friend was awake, while Cara and Noah remained indifferent. They stood while leaning against the wall. Even though they didn¡¯t seem to care about Hiro¡¯s wellbeing, both of them were relieved that Hiro hade to his sense.

    Meanwhile, in front of Hiro¡¯s bed stood the main members of the Immortal Knights. The closest to him was n, who carried a briefcase like a doctor¡¯s on call. It seemed like he had just checked on Hiro¡¯s condition, because after all, a cleric was indeed a doctor in that game world.

    ¡°NightFall, how are you feeling?¡± n asked as his eyebrows knitted together. He looked just as worried as the others.

    Hiro tried to rx his stiff neck. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been unconscious to make the people worried about him.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Maybe after resting a little longer, I will get back to normal.¡± Hiro just realized that his throat felt dry. He almost coughed as he spoke. However, he restrained himself from coughing or other people would worry about him even more.

    ¡°We did it. All of these thanks to you, NightFall.¡± This time, Dominic talked. He even gave a sincere salute to Hiro by bowing his body slightly. The others followed his actions in unison.

    Hiro arched an eyebrow at them, feeling they were exaggerated. He only carried out his duties as a party member to clear the dungeon. However, he got something unexpected. It was a tribute from the people he admired.

    ¡°Th¡ªthank you.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Dominic straightened his back. This time, his hand moved to grip the wooden board on Hiro¡¯s bed. He seemed to take a deep breath and looked a little nervous. Hiro knew that the man was trying to say something important, and Hiro had to prepare his heart to hear it.

    ¡°We¡¯ve already decided. What if you and your friends join the Immortal Knights? We will give you a special position.¡± Dominic spoke fluently in one breath.

    ¡°What?!¡± Jacob, Noah, and Cara were surprised to hear that. After all, Hiro¡¯s so-called friends were the three of them.

    ¡°We will definitely be the greatest guild,¡± Draco added confidently.

    Hiro took a deep breath. He already knew that a time like this woulde. However, he didn¡¯t know it came too soon.

    He already had an answer for this offer. After all, he had already registered his own guild, even though it hadn¡¯t been officially released because he didn¡¯t have 10 members and a fixed name yet.

    ¡°Thank you, Dominic. I really appreciate your offer. But, I¡¯m sorry, I n to create my own guild. We can be an allyter after my guild is ready.¡± Hiro exined while looking straight into Dominic¡¯s eyes, not wanting to offend the man. And his efforts were sessful.

    Dominic nodded and smiled faintly.

    ¡°I had thought you would reject it, NightFall. You are young and talented, even your party members consist of talented young yers. It¡¯s a waste of time if you don¡¯t focus on polishing your skills and forming a strong guild in this game.¡± Dominic spoke like a father talking to his son.

    Hiro smiled in relief.

    ¡°Thank you, Dom. I will do my best.¡±

    After making sure Hiro was fine once again, the members of the Immortal Knights finally bid their goodbyes to leave.

    It was noon, but Jacob, Cara, and Noah kept yawning. They had been awake all this time to watch Hiro¡¯s condition when the man suddenly copsed in the dungeon. Even Noah had to carry him out.

    After the Jorogumo boss was defeated, Noah returned to the end of the tunnel, where Jacob and the others were still trapped in the spider¡¯s webs. He then used his mes to burn the webs until it was destroyed without hurting the person trapped in it.

    In fact, it was Noah who worked his ass hard that night.

    ¡°I have decided.¡± Hiro muttered as Jacob, Cara, and Noah were about to leave the room, giving him a time to be with Liberty.

    The three of them halted in their ces and looked at Hiro questioningly, waiting for his words.

    ¡°You three, join me! I¡¯ve already set up a guild for people like us.¡± Hiro looked seriously into the eyes of his three friends one by one. His decision managed to make the three of them dumbfounded for a few seconds before giving a different response.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Jacob agreed absolutely.

    ¡°What?!¡± Cara was bbergasted.

    ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Noah¡¯s tone seemed to disagree with Hiro¡¯s decision.

    Hiro nodded. He had made up his mind. Even though the three of them might refuse his offer, he would fight to get them. Because in his heart, he believed that his meeting with them was a fate.

    And a strong guild could definitely be created soon.

    ¡°Wait for me, Yuujin.¡±

 Chapter 148 - Take a break

    Hiro realized that the way he invited Jacob, Noah, and Cara to join his guild was too sudden. His guild had not even been officially recognized by the server yet. However, he did not want to wait and look for other opportunities. Hiro had thought about this for a few days.

    After meeting his brother in The Haunted Maze that night, Hiro knew he had to get stronger. He also needed to have strong and trustworthyrades so he could reveal the secrets his brother and the game developer had kept all this time.

    There were still many mysteries that had not been answered yet. However, Hiro believed that if he found the puzzle pieces and put them together one by one, one day, those mysteries would soon be revealed. And all the questions that haunted him would find its answer.

    He wouldn¡¯t give up easily.

    Hiro gave Noah and Cara time to consider his offer. He didn¡¯t need a quick answer because choosing a guild and a family in the game would take time and consideration.

    Besides, Hiro really respected Jacob¡¯s decision, who immediately agreed to join him without asking for any conditions. He even told Hiro that he had really wanted to join a guild because he was curious about what things could be done in a guild. Hiro¡¯s offer made him excited.

    ¡°This is sure to be fun, Hiro!¡± he screamed with sparkling eyes, even though dark circles had appeared on his eyelids from exhaustion.

    Hiro smiled. He knew Jacob would agree with his offer.

    ¡°Have a good rest,¡± Hiro said to the others. The three of them went outside, leaving Hiro alone with Liberty in the room.

    The girl was just silent while listening to their conversation. She didn¡¯t want to interrupt them because she didn¡¯t fully understand the topic. And Liberty didn¡¯t realize that Spyro had slept in herp while snoring.

    ¡°Libe, you are still here?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know what to say. He didn¡¯t expect that the girl would actually be the one sitting by his side when he was weak.

    ¡°You asked me to wait for you, Hiro,¡± she said in a soft and soothing voice.

    Hiro smiled, his hand moving to stroke Liberty¡¯s long hair and patted her head. He suddenly wanted to look at the beauty of the girl¡¯s face all night, not even letting a single hair get in his way.

    ¡°Thank you, I really appreciate it.¡±

    Liberty nodded and smiled. It was her first smile since Hiro opened his eyes again. The girl was really worried about Hiro¡¯s condition that even smiling was very difficult for her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡± Hiro tried to reassure her. He took Liberty¡¯s hands and held them tight. The girl¡¯s hands felt very warm, in stark contrast to his which felt icy cold.

    Hiro was still feeling tired. He really needed some rest. And maybe an actual break would be much better. The side effect of being exposed to the holy mes that burned Jorogumo to ashes also tormented him.

    Hiro already knew the consequence, but he had determined to do it that way. Defeating Jorogumo with holy water that had turned into an ice crystals was the fastest way to win. However, he didn¡¯t even know¡­ how great the impact his half demon body would get.

    He entrusted everything to Noah, the only yer who didn¡¯t get caught in the spider¡¯s webs. Despite his annoying nature, Hiro began to understand that Noah was a loyal person in his typical way.

    ¡°Are you really okay?¡± Liberty looked at him with puppy eyes. Her eyes had been watery while the wolf¡¯s ears on top of her head were drooping limply.

    Hiro felt distracted. How could he ignore Liberty to think about the past? He shook his head to brush off all the insignificant thoughts and focused his attention on her.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Libe. I¡¯m just tired,¡± Hiro said frankly.

    Liberty tilted her face, looking so adorable that even Hiro couldn¡¯t help but stroke the top of her head.

    ¡°Sleep Hiro, I¡¯ll take care of you.¡± The girl¡¯s words made Hiro¡¯s eyes widen in surprise. He did not expect that the weak girl who always wanted to be protected was acting like a strong adult woman.

    Hiro chuckled.

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±

    He really couldn¡¯t imagine Liberty being such a strong woman in the slightest. It looked hrious as he tried to imagine it.

    Hiro¡¯s reaction made Liberty pout her lips in annoyance. She even crossed her arms in front of her chest.

    ¡°You¡¯ve changed so much, Libe. I can hardly believe that you really are ¡®you¡¯.¡± Hiro wiped the tears dripping from the corner of his eyes because ofughing too much.

    ¡°Stopughing at things that aren¡¯t funny, Hiro. You look very healthy now, huh?¡±

    Hiro stoppedughing, then looked back at Liberty, who was still pouting. He couldn¡¯t keep his hands from poking Liberty¡¯s cheeks, which were puffing up like a chipmunk.

    Pufts!

    ¡°Stop making such expressions, Libe. Or I¡¯ll kiss you.¡± Hiro tried to cheer the girl up by teasing her. However, it didn¡¯t seem to work.

    Liberty sighed and closed her eyes. It was as if she tried to hold back her annoyance.

    ¡°Sleep, Hiro. If you don¡¯t want me to watch over you while you sleep, I¡¯ll sleep with you.¡±

    Hiro was taken aback. No words came out of his mouth. The girl said it with a serious look that Hiro didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Liberty moved Spyro who was sleeping soundly onto the wooden desk beside her gently, not wanting to wake the baby dragon.

    She then yawned while stretching out the muscles in her arms and neck in front of Hiro, who looked at her in a daze. The man didn¡¯t blink even once.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready,¡± Liberty muttered. She suddenly pulled the nket Hiro was using, then snuck into it.

    The single bed was too narrow for two people. Hiro was forced to tilt his body. He was cornered on the wall behind him, trying to give Liberty a space to sleep. However, instead of using the pillow, the girl used his left arm.

    ¡°Sleep tight, Hiro,¡± she said without looking back.

    Hiro could smell the sweet scent of Liberty¡¯s long hair, which was very soft, healthy, and shiny. His heart suddenly beat faster than before.

    He really didn¡¯t expect to be trapped in an atmosphere like this. When he threatened Liberty with a kiss, the girl actually managed to avenge him in a more daring way.

    Hiro had to hold himself from devouring the girl. Then, he saw the veins under Liberty¡¯s beautiful neck. It looked as if it was throbbing weakly.

    Hiro lifted his head slightly, then kissed the pulse on Liberty¡¯s neck gently. The sweet and fragrant aroma was really tempting.

    ¡°Sweet dream, Libe.¡±

 Chapter 149 - Moved Out

    [System off]

    Hiro decided to log out when Liberty was sound asleep and leave her alone for the time being. Back in his apartment which now felt colder, Hiro rxed the muscles of his sore arms and neck. He then hurried to find Alice, but¡­

    She wasn¡¯t there. Even her room was empty.

    ¡°Where did she go?¡±

    He didn¡¯t find any messages about where she went, either.

    While waiting, Hiro made some time to wash his face. The water was freezing cold.

    In the kitchen, he found two slices of frozen pizza in a box. He heated one with the microwave in the kitchen and ate it while it was still hot. At a nce, his life really seemed normal.

    Hiro suddenly missed his ordinary life atmosphere.

    ¡°Those good old days¡­¡± He sighed after finishing the cold milk from the fridge.

    It was already evening, but the weather that day was cloudy. Hiro couldn¡¯t tell that it was already evening without checking the time on his android bracelet.

    He then decided to sit back down on the sofa that had be his throne to catch up on whatever news he missed. However, before he could open his web browser, an iing call from Aunt Yuma came.

    It was only then that he remembered. He forgot to tell her about his situation.

    ¡°Hiro, where are you?! Why didn¡¯t you let me know?!¡±

    Aunt Yuma was yelling to the point as always, and she sounded drunk. Hiro had to decrease the volume on his android bracelet because of that.

    ¡°I¡¯m out of town right now. Um¡­ a friend of mine invited me. I¡¯m sorry I forgot to tell you, Aunt Yuma,¡± Hiro lied with an idea he came up with on the spot. Though, he wasn¡¯t good enough in doing it, so Aunt Yuma could quickly tell.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me. Tell me the truth, are you in danger?¡± Aunt Yuma¡¯s voice became a little deeper. The alcohol was really burning her throat.

    Hiro sighed. There was no merit in lying to Aunt Yuma anyway.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be too long if I tell you everything,¡± Hiro warned beforehand. Even so, Aunt Yuma didn¡¯t mind listening.

    Hiro exined the general gist of everything honestly, from how he found the VR gear from the person he was now living with, how he was kidnapped and brought to America to witness his brother¡¯s preserved body first-hand, and how he was still staying there for who-knew-how-long.

    It took him half an hour to tell Aunt Yuma everything, and when he was done exining, Aunt Yuma didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°I knew she would fall asleep.¡± Hiro wasn¡¯t sure if Aunt Yuma heard his story.

    ¡°Good night, Aunt Yuma.¡±

    Beep.

    m!

    The room¡¯s main door was suddenly opened. Alice was there with her body covered with a thick jacket.

    ¡°We need to talk,¡± she suddenly said. On the other side, Hiro was looking at her wide-eyed, startled by her abrupt appearance.

    Alice quickly took off her slightly wet jacket and hung it on the coat rack near the door. Without a word, she then hurried into her room and signaled for Hiro to follow her.

    And Hiro did.

    In the room, Alice suddenly closed the door and window curtains, instantly darkening the atmosphere in the room.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what was going on, but he could see that Alice was unusually anxious. Her eyes couldn¡¯t even stay at one spot for more than a second.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Alice sat on a chair and looked at Hiro, who was still standing in front of the door confused.

    ¡°We have to move soon like now,¡± Alice spoke in a low voice, almost whispering as if the room was bugged.

    ¡°What? Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but they found us. I¡¯ve been seeing two mysterious people keeping watch in front of our buildingtely.¡± Alice looked uneasy. She was even biting her fingertip.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what she was talking about and why she was so uneasy. Wasn¡¯t she capable of doing everything? Of doing anything without limit with her ability to manipte softwares?

    ¡°I already found a new ce. We have to hurry, pack all your things.¡± Alice abruptly stood up. She took out the suitcase she kept under the table and hurriedly crammed in the clothes scattered in the room.

    Hiro understood the situation even less. Who were the ¡®they¡¯ Alice mentioned, and why were they looking for him and Alice?

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just go back to Japan?¡± Hiro genuinely asked. If this ce was making her so anxious, wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave?

    Alice stopped and looked at him with disbelief.

    ¡°Are you serious? If you want to know what happened to your brother, being as close to information sources as possible is crucial. We¡¯re not going back to Japan, even if you get deported by this country.¡±

    Alice was clearly annoyed, but she still didn¡¯t exin what or who the two were actually avoiding.

    Hiro silently looked at her for a moment.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to tell me anything?¡±

    He could no longer wait for Alice to take a hint. He wasn¡¯t interested in packing his things before he knew whatever Alice did and he didn¡¯t. He seriously looked at her without softening his expression, causing her to once again stop.

    Alice ignored her suitcase and walked toward Hiro. She had to raise her face a little to return Hiro¡¯s sharp gaze.

    ¡°They want you, Hiro. Do you still not understand? The people who kidnapped you, they have a special connection to WynterRain. And they know something probably not much of the public knows.¡±

    Hiro still didn¡¯t quite get the connection. He just stayed silent and waited for Alice to finish her words.

    ¡°They know WynterRain has a brother.¡±

    Alice exined that ¡®they¡¯ whose identity she never exined really wanted him. This was because by having Hiro, they could control WynterRain to do whatever unscrupulous things they had arranged.

    She exined seriously as if she knew who the person behind ¡®their¡¯ n to get Hiro was.

    ¡°Aside from that, they would be more furious after they find out that you also y that game. They¡¯d want to get you even more. You know, you¡¯re considered both a hindrance and gold to their n.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t fully understand the information Alice just gave him. However, he knew that she wasn¡¯t lying.

    He became even more curious about the people Alice was talking about. He still remembered the face that appeared in the video call, the masked man who talked to him a few hours before he was flown to another country.

    But¡­ weren¡¯t those people capable of essing the special room in Johnson Hope Hospital? Hiro even vividly remembered how nobody stopped them when he entered through the front door with the person who kidnapped him.

    Did that mean they also have a connection to the founder of Ninecent? Or were they actually a Ninecent insider?

 Chapter 150

    ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything I knowter. I promise.¡±

    For the first time, Hiro saw Alice speak with a gaze full of hope at him, as if she was at a point of being helpless.

    Hiro nodded. In the end, he had no other choice but to agree. Either way, without her, he might have still been kept hostage by those people he didn¡¯t know.

    Alice already prepared another suitcase for Hiro to use. And because Hiro¡¯s things in the room were not many, he finished packing his things rather quickly.

    The two then hurriedly left the room with two suitcases. However, instead of using the main staircase, Alice led Hiro to go down the dark and dusty fire escape stairs.

    ¡°We have no choice.¡± Alice activated a skinscreen on her hand that showed a detailed map of the cityplete with several CCTV camera surveince. Who knew how she got them.

    Alice didn¡¯t immediately go down the stairs. Instead, she first opened the CCTV camera surveince in front of the building and showed it to Hiro.

    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

    On the screen, Hiro could clearly see a white van parked in front of the building. Two men in thick ck jackets and sunsses were standing in front of the van, seemingly talking about something.

    Or were they waiting for something?

    Alice swiped her skinscreen. It now showed a lock icon with a progressing loading bar under it.

    ¡°They¡¯re trying to break the security system I set for this building.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know whether to feel amazed or panicked now. Was Alice saying that ¡®they¡¯ also had someone who could work like her, hacking the system?

    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re waiting for. Let¡¯s go, we don¡¯t have much time.¡±

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    The two ran down the dusty stairs which made Hiro cough multiple times. Still, they arrived at the exit on the other side of the building in the end, and fortunately, they weren¡¯t discovered.

    An electric-powered car automatically functioning as a taxi was already waiting for them. Again, Alice had already arranged it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The two sessfully left the building and went at normal speed into the streets. The traffic was considerably heavy that evening. Hiro didn¡¯t expect that he would have to be offline for a bit longer this time.

    On the way, Alice seemed busy with the semi-transparent screen projected from her android bracelet. She was preparing something and didn¡¯t want to be disturbed.

    Hiro closed his eyes. However, just when he was starting to feel sleepy, the car suddenly stopped.

    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    Hiro looked around. The car stopped right in front of an entrance lobby of an extravagant building. An attendant in a tidy uniform was even helping open the car door for them.

    A hotel?

    ¡°Wee,¡± the man said with a weing smile.

    Alice had alreadye out through the other door, while Hiro still felt that they arrived at the wrong destination. He hurried out to take out the suitcases in the car trunk, but once again, the hotel employee helped him and brought the two suitcases into the hotel lobby.

    ¡°Alice, are you sure we¡¯re at the right ce?¡± Hiro whispered, feeling awkward.

    Alice only gave him a side nce before walking toward the reception table. The receptionist was a stunning humanoid robotdy, and Alice only gave a barcode for the robot to scan before receiving a fancy keycard made of gold.

    ¡°Thank you, Miss Golne,¡± a slightly mechanical female voice sounded.

    The robot¡¯s words made Hiro raise his brow.

    ¡°Golne?¡±

    Alice didn¡¯t respond, and the two silently walked toward the ordered room.

    A luxurious suite. Hiro couldn¡¯t even estimate how much it cost per night.

    ¡°Are we really going to stay here? Doesn¡¯t it stand out too much? And hey, whose money are you using?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know which question to prioritize. He still felt strange for suddenly getting such a luxurious living space.

    ¡°Ever heard of the phrase, ¡®Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer¡¯?¡±

    Alice suddenly pressed a digital controller next to a wallpletely covered by a luxurious curtain. The next second, the golden curtain automatically rolled to the side to reveal a wide pane of ss, revealing the view of a building with a logo he very much recognized.

    ¡°Wee to Last Shelter Online¡¯s head office.¡±

    Hiro was dumbfounded.

    His legs subconsciously moved toward the ss pane. He wanted to make sure that it was indeed just a normal ss pane, not a screen disying a background of what he was seeing at the moment.

    ¡°¡­Alice, isn¡¯t this too close?¡±

    Alice walked toward a work deskplete with a wide-screen, semi-circleputer. The room even provided a superputer as the facility.

    ¡°From here, I can infiltrate the main system through their main signal transmitter. My current goal, I¡¯m going to make you win LSO¡¯sunch event.¡±

    ¡°This is going to be a grand moment to introduce you to the world!¡±

    Beep!

    Theputer screen lit up and showed tiny coding numbers, numbers Hiro had learned about before.

    Hiro gulped. He still couldn¡¯t match what was in her head and what her n meant.

    Make me win? Introduce me to the world?

    Hiro felt that everything was exaggerated, but Alice seemed extremely serious with what she just said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why do you want me to win all of a sudden? And why would you introduce me to the world? I¡¯m not Yuujin who¡¯s thirst for attention.¡±

    After inputting several codes to do something rted to her n, Alice stood back up from her seat. She then walked toward Hiro who was still standing in front of the ss pane. Her eyes were looking straight at the main building of LSO¡¯s office, which was clearly visible as it was less than 200 meters away from the hotel.

    ¡°We¡¯re standing in the middle of a battle arena right now, between two gigantic monsters in war. The first monster knows about your existence, while the second doesn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°As I mentioned before, you¡¯re important ammunition for the first monster¡¯s main weapon. Their greatest fear at the moment might just be one, which is that you side with their enemy.¡±

    ¡°The enemy of my enemy is my friend. When the second monster thinks that they¡¯ve won after getting you, that¡¯s when the third monster appears.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll make you that monster.¡±

 Chapter 151

    Hiro felt his heart suddenly beat faster than before after he heard Alice¡¯s exnation about the n she had for him.

    He sat up straight on the chair. He clenched his hands into fists, making the muscles under his pale white skin bulge out slightly. It was obvious that his weight had once again been reduced.

    The information he had just received from Alice helped him open his eyes. Instead of being sleepy because he was so tired, Hiro could not wait to login to the game once again. If only Alice hadn¡¯t been confiscating his VR machine to do something to it.

    Hiro checked again the progress of what Alice was doing. The girl seemed to use a USB charging cable slot for another purpose, transferring the data that she made from the supeputer in front of her.

    ¡°Almost there,¡± she said, realizing that Hiro had been constantly checking on her.

    In less than two weeks, Hiro had to work really hard.

    His n to start his guild was still in progress. Meanwhile, in less than two weeks too¡­ Hiro had to surpass all the other yers¡¯ BR out there, especially those ¡®yers registered by the system¡¯.

    ¡°Done. You can use it and I will help you using the Night Fury.¡± Alice returned the VR helmet machine to Hiro and told him to login immediately to the game.

    Hiro nodded and ced his body asfortably as possible on a soft and luxurious sofa. He didn¡¯t want to have back aches or a sore neck, especially after he returned to the real worldter.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    ¡­

    Hiro only saw darkness. His body felt as if he was trapped in a dark room, and his feet didn¡¯t touch the ground beneath him.

    Strange¡­ he should have gone back to his room, hugging Liberty, who was sleeping soundly. If only the girl hadn¡¯t woken up yet. After all, Hiro had left her for more than five hours.

    But¡­ What was this darkness about?

    [Beep]

    A transparent screen suddenly appeared in front of him, with a text that was still typing.

    [A third party application has been detected]

    [The system will take some time to scan]

    [Please wait!]

    Hiro held his breath. Did Alice¡¯s n not go well?

    For the first time, the girl¡¯s intervention was noticed by the program of the main security system.

    Would LSO¡¯s security system be much more sophisticated than Alice¡¯s hacking capabilities?

    Hiro realized that this time, the fate of his ount was being threatened. How if he got banned from the game?

    Even so, he couldn¡¯t do anything but wait for the scanning process to finish.

    [Scanningplete]

    [A third party application has been removed]

    ¡°¡­?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    [You will be teleported back to the city]

    Hiro blinked as he moved from a very dark ce to a dimly warm ce. He smelled a fragrant and sweet scent, but just as he was hoping to see his girl one more time because her scent still lingered around that room, Hiro had to swallow up his disappointment.

    Liberty was no longer in the room. However, the girl left a piece of paper on the table. There was a short handwritten message on it.

    ¡®I have to go. Ace realized I was not at home. I¡¯ll see youter. Libe.¡¯

    Hiro put the paper back on the table. His eyes searched for Spyro, who was sitting proudly on the table that had be its personal bed.

    ¡°Alice?¡± Hiro had to make sure that the girl managed to get back into the system.

    ¡°Yo! Are you ready?¡±

    He was a bit shocked hearing that little boy¡¯s voice from Spyro. He patted his chest before giving her a response.

    ¡°But¡ªthe third party has been removed. I think you have failed this time. Should I re-log?¡±

    ¡°Am I? Check your menu.¡± Spyro tilted its tiny head.

    Hiro arched an eyebrow in confusion. Then, he checked his HUD system and opened the menu in the system. He could find a new icon of a Vendetta mask with a text ¡®Anonymous¡¯ below it.

    ¡°Removing meaning activating.¡± Spyro spoke with his head raised, like it was showing off.

    ¡°What can I do with this thing?¡± To be honest, Hiro still didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a buff special package. Try it.¡±

    Hiro only needed to use his mind to activate the application.

    Ding!

    [Anonymous wants to make changes to the system around you. Are you sure you want to continue?]

    ¡°Humm¡­ yes, I guess.¡±

    Ding!

    [85% rare drop rate increase!]

    [Double EXP obtained]

    [Unlimited Energy obtained]

    Hiro was surprised to see the notifications that appeared simultaneously. The three buffs that Alice gave were fantastic. He suddenly felt bad for being a cheater like that. After all, He loved to y fair, even sometimes he managed to hack the in-game currency.

    ¡°Is it just too much?¡±

    He asked, but Spyro shook its head.

    ¡°When GM releases a new feature, you lose that third app. I¡¯ve programmed it for self-destruction when there¡¯s a change to the game¡¯s main system,¡± Spyro exined it to Hiro, clearly giving a warning if it was only temporary buffs.

    ¡°I prepared that software before you yed the CBT version. So, to make a clone again¡­ it might take one to two months.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know if he should feel lucky or the opposite. He just got a special card to win the game easily. However, he did not know when he would lose the card. Because the card could destroy itself anytime it wants.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll make it useful.¡± He suddenly stood up from the bed and started stretching his body, which felt a bit stiff.

    ¡°Just a little more, and you will catch up with your brother, Hiro.¡± Spyro flew and perched on top of Hiro¡¯s shoulder.

    After that, Hiro left the building. He didn¡¯t see Jacob, Noah, Cara, or even two dwarvendies who worked for Jacob. It seemed that everyone left him alone.

    Hiro then decided to go forpleting his daily quest first.

    ¡­

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Barbarian] [CBT King]

    Base Level 48

    Job ss Level 40 (Rmendation: Job ss Upgrade!)

    Health 27250/27250

    AP 6990/6990

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 9910

    BR 37195

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 157

    AGI 88

    INT 56

    VIT 60

    DEX 58

    LUCK 45

    Skill Stats (Points 8)

    Sword Combo Skill Level 5 Max

    Bloodsteal (passive) Level 5 Max

    Martial Combo Art Level 5 Max

    Awakening Sword Combo Skill Level 4

    ¡°All set.¡±

    Hiro just realized that his basic job ss level was sufficient for upgrading to advanced job ss. He immediately checked the newbie guidebook to find out how he could upgrade his job ss.

    [To upgrade a job ss from basic to advanced, yers mustplete a special examination. Find an NPC that can help you upgrade your job ss!]

    [Click here to find a suitable NPC for your avatar]

    ¡°Are NPCs for the exam different? Doesn¡¯t that mean the difficulty level can also be different?¡±

    Hiro pressed the button that appeared on the transparent screen in front of him. Next, a miniature NPC he was familiar with suddenly appeared above the surface of the transparent screen.

    [NPC Fred]

    [Current location: Training Area at Beginner Town]

 Chapter 152

    Hiro immediately rushed to the NPC rmended by the system to upgrade his current basic job ss to an advanced job ss.

    On the way, he checked the leaderboard to see the progress of other yers both in the same server and different servers.

    From what Hiro found, not a single yer had seeded in changing their basic job ss to an advanced level. Even though some of their job ss levels had surpassed Hiro¡¯s level because maybe they were focused on fighting monsters that gave a higher job ss EXP bonus than the base EXP.

    ¡°Was the exam really that hard?¡± Hiro began to doubt if he could do it with his current strength. However, he wouldn¡¯t feel satisfied if he had not tried it first.

    ¡°Wee, Traveler.¡±

    NPC Fred¡¯s appearance didn¡¯t change in the slightest. A barbarian NPC that always greeted Hiro in a friendly manner.

    Hiro said the purpose of his arrival was to upgrade the basic job ss. And NPC Fred told him how he could do that.

    Ding!

    [You have received a job ss upgrade (Basic ¨C Advance) examination card]

    Inside the card that looked simr to an ATM card, there was a button that would disy a transparent screen containing the progress of the job ss upgrade exam if it was pressed.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Hiro walked away from Fred.

    To upgrade his job ss, Hiro had toplete three steps before he could ess the final examination.

    [Step 1: Gather 15 crazy orc hearts]

    [Requirement: Battle rating minimum 25,000]

    [Step 2: Destroy 10 giant bunny dolls in the training area]

    [Requirement: Finish the step 2 within 10 minutes]

    [Step 3: Challenge and defeat NPC Fred in the training area]

    [Requirement: Battle rating minimum 35,000]

    [If you fail in step 3, the examination card will be forfeited and you must request a new one. Steps 1-3 might change in the new card]

    ¡°It looks like it will take a long time.¡± Hiro muttered again, confused which one to prioritize first. His duties seemed to increase, but the time he had was very limited.

    ¡°If only there were over 30 hours in a day.¡±

    ¡°Come on, Hiro. I remembered your brother can finish the examination within the same day,¡± Spyro chirped, then suddenly covered its mouth with its wings.

    Spyro¡¯s words werepletely unexpected. It was as if it knew more than what it had told Hiro so far.

    ¡°You really still have a secret, don¡¯t you?¡±

    When Hiro was about to force Spyro to tell him the truth, he suddenly received a call from Jacob. Jacob asked about Hiro¡¯s whereabouts and he requested to meet briefly.

    Because he was taking a rest afterpleting his daily quest, Hiro told Jacob toe to Tavern at Beginner Town and meet him there.

    The Tavern at Beginner Town was never empty of visitors. And the people who visited there were almost always the same people. Hiro even remembered their faces.

    He often saw BigShow and his men who increased day by day in that ce. Hiro was sure that there were only five of them before. It seemed that they already had a special ce in the tavern. More than 10 chairs had been set up on the tables that had been put together just for them to gather.

    ¡°NightFall, you¡¯re back!¡± BigShow waved his hand. The man signaled the skinny man next to him to give his seat to Hiro so Hiro could join them.

    ¡°Thank you, BigShow. But, I¡¯m waiting for my friends.¡± Hiro chose to sit on the empty chair across the room. The quieter the better. He didn¡¯t like crowds.

    Jacob arrived after five minutes had passed. However, he didn¡¯te alone.

    Noah and Cara came with him as if the three of them had nned it. Hiro looked at them with a t expression. Jacob didn¡¯t tell Hiro beforehand what he wanted to tell.

    ¡°Hiro, they agreed!¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t hide his excitement in the slightest. He smacked the empty table in front of Hiro.

    m!

    Hiro arched an eyebrow.

    ¡°We will join you. Guild or whatever it is. I am in. And it seemed that it was your boyfriend too.¡± Cara spoke as if she had never been interested in joining a guild before.

    At that time, Hiro remembered that he had given Noah and Cara time to think about his offer before he took a break. He hadpletely forgotten about it because of the many events he had experienced in such a short time.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Hiro stood up and his voice came out quite loud. It made BigShow and his friends turn their heads towards him.

    ¡°1¡­2¡­3¡­4¡­I need 6 more.¡± He had no idea that he wouldn¡¯t have to go to the trouble of convincing Noah and Cara to join him. Hiro couldn¡¯t hide his smile.

    ¡°What 6 more do you need, Hiro?¡± Jacob asked in a whisper.

    ¡°We still need 6 more yers to register our guild.¡±

    m!

    BigShow suddenly banged on the wooden table in front of him until several sses on it spilled its contents. His actions managed to attract Hiro and the others.

    ¡°Did I just hear the word ¡®guild¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Are you nning on creating a guild, NightFall?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t answer right away. His heart was a bit shocked at the loud thud made by BigShow. But, he suddenly got an idea.

    Even though he saw the guild name written on BigShow¡¯s avatar profile, he knew that the big man had always been interested in him since he told him the grinding spots that could speed up the progressive stats.

    ¡°We have six slots for our guild.¡± Hiro ignored the confused looks on Jacob¡¯s and Noah¡¯s faces as he shared the information with people they didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Only six slots?¡±

    ¡°Yes. At this moment. We need 6 more yers to open the guild.¡±

    ¡°Cool! I believe that your guild will be awesome.¡±

    BigShow left his seat and walked over to Hiro. His two eyes stared straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes without blinking.

    ¡°I would be very proud if I could be one of the 6, NightFall. Will you consider my request?¡±

    Hiro smiled simply. He knew he could pull off BigShow easily, just by using words.

    ¡°You and your main party are weed here.¡±

    Hiro extended his right hand and BigShow greeted him without a second thought. He didn¡¯t mention the slightest objection, even though he already had a guild.

    Hiro had checked the name of the guild BigShow and his party members joined in. The guild was inactive. It could be seen from the activity points on the leaderboard menu. It didn¡¯t matter if the guild lost five of its members at once.

    ¡°One more left.¡± Noah didn¡¯t even mind Hiro¡¯s decision, as if he recognized the potential that BigShow and his party members had. To create a guild, one of the most important things was that the party remained solid. And BigShow¡¯s party already met that criteria. Noah had checked on them when they became the survivors at The Haunted Maze event.

    ¡°Cara, can you offer your little friend to join in?¡±

    Hiro deliberately epted five people from BigShow¡¯s party because he already had one other name to join his guild.

    ¡°Which one?¡±

    ¡°You mean that beautiful dwarfdy, right Hiro?¡± Jacob was sure of his guess, as if he could read Hiro¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°And thest thing that we need is a name. Let¡¯s talk about our guild name.¡±

 Chapter 153

    Hiro asked BigShow to gather his party members and get them to introduce themself.

    To make a guild be official, all he needed was the first 10 guild members, a guild base, and also a guild name. For the first 10, everything had been fixed. Thus, Hiro had to let everyone get to know each other first because, after all, they would be the pioneers of the guild.

    BigShow joined in with his 5 party members. They had the same characteristics that made Hiro interested in recruiting them. Besides being faithful to each other, they were hard workers and active in progressing their avatars. They also looked very enthusiastic about bing strong yers. Although their nature was a bit arrogant like Noah, Hiro was sure everything would be fine if they could be controlledter.

    BigShow was a barbarian, just like Hiro. The man¡¯s party members were GoodDay (Knight), NightWalker (rogue), Ime (mage), and RobinHood02 (ranger). They all had the same bloodline, the dragon bloodline.

    Even though they were from dragons¡¯ bloodline, Hiro realized that each of them was unique. They could adjust their avatar so that their bloodline could be used in each job ss they had chosen.

    After getting to know them, Hiro introduced them one by one to his friends. A very short introduction had been made, and they agreed to use their usernames for addressing each other.

    Among his three friends, only Jacob seemed to adapt well and get along with them. Even so, Hiro didn¡¯t think much of it. He believed they could get along as soon as they were in the same guild.

    Not only that, the five of them were above the average world level, 42.

    With these two things, Hiro knew they were a yer who had the knowledge of ying MMORPG. Of course, they had the potential to be a strong yer in the future.

    ¡°She¡¯s here.¡± Cara suddenly patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder, then walked out of the tavern.

    She then came back with a female Dwarf Hiro had been waiting for, Wheelie. The girl only nced at Hiro before staring at Noah with a very broad smile on her face.

    Hiro once again introduced the girl to everyone who had gathered before discussing another important matter that would excite him.

    ¡°So, about the name. Do you guys have any suggestions?¡±

    Since the conversation would be a bit long, Hiro asked for ten seats and a ss of light beer to the NPC Jack. He didn¡¯t let Jacob order strong alcohol because he needed them all to focus before something big happened.

    ¡°Me! Me! Me!¡± Jacob was very enthusiastic, raising his hand like a bright student who always had a question in his head in every ss.

    Hiro allowed anyone to express their opinion, so he allowed Jacob to speak first.

    ¡°I have cool names in my head, Hiro. Just listen to me!¡± His eyes looked sparkling, while the others stared at him in silence.

    ¡°How about the Power Rangers?¡±

    ¡°Or Awesome Rangers?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­ maybe Brave Rangers¡­ no no no.¡±

    ¡°How about the Strongest Rangers?!¡±

    Hiro had already guessed that Jacob would suggest weird names. However, this time it was slightly off the mark, although the result was the same.

    ¡°Noobie Knight, you just added another word in front of the rangers. Can¡¯t you be more creative?¡± Noah said. He couldn¡¯t hide his disappointment. He had wasted five precious seconds of his time listening to Jacob.

    ¡°Excuse me? Who gave Spyro such a ridiculous name back then, huh? Who is less creative?!¡± Jacob couldn¡¯t ept it whenever Noah asked for a battle with him.

    Hiro had to tap on the wooden table in front of him to stop the two of them from killing each other in the safe zone.

    ¡°Okay enough. Looks like I must ask one thing first before deciding on a name.¡± Hiro cleared his throat. It felt dry because he talked too much.

    ¡°Jacob, what is the role of a guild for you? What is the definition of a guild in your head? Can you exin it to me in a short sentence?¡± Hiro wanted to know how Jacob see a guild, because he knew this game was the first MMORPG for the man. And he was sure that this guild would be Jacob¡¯s first guild.

    Jacob raised his head in deep thought. His eyes looked up at the ceiling of the building.

    ¡°The role of a guild for me? Hmmm¡­ I¡¯m thinking about a great team that will do great things together. Is that enough?¡±

    Hiro let out a long sigh.

    ¡°What kind of great things do you expect, Jacob?¡± He needed a more specific answer, and Jacob was in a deep thought again. This time, the man closed his eyes tightly.

    ¡°Hummm¡­ fighting viins like the Power Rangers do?¡±

    ¡°Viins? You mean monsters?¡± said Noah, who immediately received a death re from Hiro. Thus, he decided to lock his lips tight.

    ¡°No¡­ I mean yes, monsters included. But, what I am talking about is the real viins. For example, those famous yer killers. maybe?¡± Jacob looked at Hiro, asking for help as if he wasn¡¯t sure of his answer.

    However, before Hiro could give hisment about it, BigShow suddenly interrupted.

    ¡°I think that would be great! Guild that will exterminate the crime in the game. The guild that would put an end to the yer killers. I totally agree with you, Jake.¡±

    ¡°Me, too. Those PKs are annoying. No one can y this game with no fear.¡± GoodDay added his opinion.

    Hiro looked to the side where BigShow and his party members were sitting close together. They had almost the same posture. Seeing the five of them together made Hiro felt like he was watching an international wrestling tournament. They were mostly like professional wrestlers.

    ¡°For me, a guild is a home to gather with family. Guild members are a family. And the family can provide whatever we need, such as security, pleasure,fort, and others. When I yed the previous games, I hated it the most when my guild had to be disbanded because it could no longer meet the requirements given by the in-game system. Because that means I lost my family.¡± Wheelie spoke in a soft, elegant female voice. Even her gestures were gentle. In stark contrast to Cara, who sat with one leg raised on the table like a thug.

    ¡°Miss Wheelie is right. I really hate that too,¡± said Ime. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Wheelie.

    ¡°All right, anything else? We have got two important roles of the guild. Guild as a ce to exterminate the crime and guild as a home for families to gather.¡± Hiro summed up the two things he had managed to get so far.

    ¡°Forever. What¡¯s the point of being a crime-fighting family if it¡¯s only temporary?¡±

    For the very first time, Cara talked about things that were off her character. And the sentence was too good to be true. Hiro even reflexively pointed at her with his index finger.

    ¡°Well said, Cara. I also have no interest in guilds that can onlyst temporarily.¡±

    ¡°For me, a guild must have a purpose. Goals like exterminating evil, bing the strongest yer, bing the strongest family. Goals like that make a guild sure tost a long time. And guild members must keep the same goal in mind. Because if we don¡¯t, surely the guild will notst long.¡±

    All eyes stared at Hiro with a serious look. Hiro could see their necks moving in rhythm while swallowing their saliva. It seemed his words were too deep to make them look at him like that.

    ¡°I got the point. All right, now I have one name in my head.¡± Jacob licked his own lips. He seemed impatient to propose a name for their guild again.

    ¡°Say it, Jacob.¡± Hiro gave him another chance.

    ¡°Forever Rangers.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Or maybe Rangers Forever!¡±

    Everyone sitting around Jacob had the same expression on their faces. They were surprised to hear Jacob still using the word ¡®Rangers¡¯.

    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s so bad about Rangers? Why don¡¯t you agree?!¡±

    Noah couldn¡¯t hold himself back any longer, and he had to shut Jacob¡¯s mouth by force.

    ¡°Shut up! What a waste, You Dumb, Noobie Knight!¡±

    Hiro¡¯s eyebrow twitched after seeing Noah attack Jacob suddenly. For some reason, he didn¡¯t feel like stopping Noah, and let the man teach Jacob a lesson.

    ¡°All right, enough.¡± Hiro again asked them to keep their mouths shut.

    He didn¡¯t know how long they would stay in that ce just toe up with a name for his guild.

    ¡°Evesting.¡± Wheelie suddenly muttered in a soft voice. Her face was downcast as she stared at her hand, which was moving awkwardly under the table.

    ¡°Yes, Wheelie?¡± Hiro thought he heard a word that sounded great. However, he wasn¡¯t sure if he heard it right.

    ¡°Evesting.¡± Wheelie repeated her words. This time, her beautiful eyes looked at Hiro seriously.

    ¡°Existing without ends, eternal, evesting. A beautiful word with a deep meaning,¡± she added with a beautiful smile on her face.

    ¡°Evesting?¡±

    ¡°Evesting?¡±

    Everyone started muttering the same word while nodding their heads, looking at each other by saying the word as if they were talking to each other with the same signal of approval.

    ¡°Evesting?¡± Hiro¡¯s voice broke themotion.

    ¡°All the things I mentioned earlier summed up in one word. Evesting. This word is not just beautiful, it is perfect!¡±

 Chapter 154

    After they had agreed on a name for the guild that would soon be officialized, Hiro raised his beer ss into the air with his right hand.

    ¡°For Evesting!¡± he eximed in a loud voice, ignoring the annoyed looks of the people who visited the tavern.

    Those sitting around Hiro did the same. Even Jacob, who had finished the beer in his ss, didn¡¯t hesitate to raise the empty ss.

    ¡°For Evesting!¡±

    Cheers!

    For the first time, Hiro finished the beer in hisrge ss in one gulp, ignoring the bitter taste that ran down his throat. Hiro couldn¡¯t hide his overflowing enthusiasm to quickly officialize his guild.

    ¡°System call.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t need to change ces to officialize his guild, which was ready tounch. His hands seemed to tremble slightly when he had to fill in the data on the transparent screen that appeared in front of him.

    [Guild Name required]

    [(Typing) Evesting]

    [Name avable. Are you sure you want to use Evesting as your guild name?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [The Guild¡¯s name has been confirmed]

    [Added 9 name of yers who will be the pioneer of the guild members]

    [Jacob has been added]

    [Noah has been added]

    [MyPhantom has been added]

    [Wheelie has been added]

    [BigShow has been added]

    [GoodDay has been added]

    [NightWalker has been added]

    [Ime has been added]

    [RobinHood02 has been added]

    [Required yer quota has been full. Can¡¯t add new members at this moment]

    [Please wait!]

    Hiro could feel a warm feeling lingered in his heart when those he just added to the system surrounded him. They really wanted to see what was on the transparent screen. Hiro could feel their spirits through the air inside the tavern at Beginner Town.

    [Enter the plot number/settlement/city data along with the slot number to be registered as the guild base]

    [Regr Plot area number W2801 ¨C Server North America]

    [Slot area number 007]

    [You have registered one vacantnd slot for the guild base. Are you sure you want to continue?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [Please Wait!]

    Hiro stared at the loading sphere that kept circling like a snake about to eat its own tail with sparkling eyes. He already had an idea of ??what his base guild would look like. After all, he already had enough money to buy the cheapest building he could use as a ce for the guild house.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! NightFall yers have sessfully registered the new guild ¡®Evesting¡¯ into the system! You can send a gift to congratte them by using the link below this announcement]

    The system broadcasted the announcement to all servers in the game. Seeing his name appear in the broadcast, Hiro suddenly felt nostalgic. It had been a long time since he achieved something that made his name flood the world announcement system.

    ¡°Hiro, look!¡± Jacob shared his HUD screen with Hiro. Jacob¡¯s HUD screen showed the world chat column that was suddenly flooded with chats from many yers whose username Hiro didn¡¯t even know.

    [LordKuma: Congrattions! Here is a gift for you ¡®Evesting!¡¯]

    [Pigispink: Congrattions! Here is a gift for you ¡®Evesting!¡¯]

    [WednesdayMood: Congrattions! Here is a gift for you ¡®Evesting!¡¯]

    Jacob looked very excited when he saw the notification showing that many people in the world chat had given his new guild a gift. Although he didn¡¯t know what kind of gift it was until Hiro opened the new menu that had appeared on his system¡¯s homepageter.

    [Evesting Guild]

    [Guild ID number: 1]

    [Guild Level: 1]

    [Guild Fame: 1029] [100,000 Fame required to upgrade to level 2]

    [Guild LSC Bnce: 1,000 LSC]

    More and more people congratted and gave gifts through the link given by the system to ¡®Evesting¡¯. It increased the value of the ¡®Evesting¡¯ guild fame even more. And thus the guild fame was meant as an automatic gift. Hiro felt d about that.

    ¡°Wow! Look at the name above my head!¡± RobinHood02 looked excited by the name ¡®Evesting¡¯ that appeared above his head along with the yer¡¯s information.

    [Level 44. RobinHood02. Ranger. Trained Hunter. Evesting]

    Hiro smiled, seeing the reaction of his guild members, who looked very happy after sessfully getting a new guild that had been officially recognized by the system.

    At that time, he asked everyone to join him, going together to the guild base to build the ce together.

    On the way to the coordinate that he had memorized, Hiro couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the transparent screen in front of him. He still wanted to continue managing his guild through that screen.

    Currently, he was looking at the buildings that could be purchased using LSC for a level 1 guild base. So far, with a price of 10,000-15,000 LSC, the avable buildings were wooden buildings that resembled an inn on the top floor and a bar downstairs. The only difference was the location of the bar. It could be indoor or outdoor.

    ¡°So, how much do we have to share, Hiro?¡± Jacob tapped Hiro¡¯s shoulder when Hiro was staring at the example of a building with an outdoor bar. Underneath the image, there was information about avable rooms and maximum visitors that could be amodated.

    [Property name: The Wood¡¯s Cabin]

    [Daily Visitor Capacity: Up to 100 people]

    [Facility: [Bedroom: 10 rooms] [Bathroom: 4 (indoors only)] [1 Gathering Space] [1 Meeting Room] [1 build- in kitchen] [Empty Room: 4 rooms] [Long Balcony] [Underground Warehouse] [Outdoor Mini Bar]]

    [Price: 15,500 LSC]

    Hiro looked at Jacob, who suddenly asked an unexpected question. He didn¡¯t think he could ask the others to give their savings to buy a building that could be used as a guild base. At first, he thought of buying it with his own money. However, seeing the building was quite expensive, Hiro was a bit desperate.

    ¡°Would you like to pay for the building?¡± Hiro looked at those walking with him one by one. They halted in their ce when Hiro suddenly stopped after Jacob patted him.

    ¡°Of course. How much is it, Boss?¡± BigShow seemed not at all hesitant to spend money, as if he was a sessful businessman in the real world.

    ¡°I am sorry. I used my LSC to pay my sister¡¯s tuition fee yesterday. For now, my remaining LSC is no more than 5,000 LSC.¡± Ime felt a little awkward when he gave detailed information about his LSC.

    ¡°Just how much is it? We can split the bill.¡± Jacob patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder as if he knew what had just been bothering Hiro¡¯s mind.

    Hiro was taken aback. He couldn¡¯t believe his ears, so he saw them one by one. Even Noah, who used to be very annoyed because he didn¡¯t get the rare drop from the Minorous boss, didn¡¯t seem to mind in the slightest about giving some of his savings.

    Hiro really had never met anyone like them before in his life. After all, only Yuujin would often give him money without any consideration.

    ¡°You guys¡­¡±

    Hiro could feel his heart suddenly lighten and his nose felt a little wet.

 Chapter 155

    [The Wood¡¯s Cabin has been purchased]

    Hiro and his nine new guild members were standing on the expanse of vacantnd that would be their new home in seconds.

    The expanse of vacantnd seemed to glitch before something appeared on it. It was a wooden building that was exactly the same as Hiro and the others saw in the property purchase menu for the guild base.

    ¡°Woah! It¡¯s so big!¡± GoodDay was already running around the very fresh and new looking wooden building. The refreshing scent of natural wood wafted their nostrils as the wind blew from behind the building.

    Others soon followed GoodDay to explore the guild base they had bought with their money for their sess.

    Jacob gave 2,000 LSC for free while Noah, who knew Hiro¡¯s true identity¡­ he gave 7,500 LSC without saying anything as soon as Hiro told the man the price of the property he had chosen.

    Noah was standing there, beside Hiro, while staring at the floor of the long balcony at the front of the wooden building on the second floor. His eyes seemed to squint because of the dazzling sun.

    Hiro silently watched his friend¡¯s reaction, which was still full of mystery. He really didn¡¯t think that Noah was much better than he had thought.

    ¡°Thank you, Noah.¡± Hiro reflexively expressed his sincere gratitude to Noah. And Noah heard it.

    The mage just nced out of the corner of his sharp eye, then decided to follow the others, starting to explore the inside of the building. Ignoring Hiro.

    Even though the guild base building was fully furnished. Hiro felt that there were still many things he should buy separately to decorate the ce, so it would be morefortable for all of them, both those who were with him right now and those who would soone.

    Ding!

    [Guild Base has beenpleted]

    [You can now recruit guild members again]

    [Guild member quota for current level is 10/50]

    [You can change the guild member title using the menu ¡®Guild Management¡¯]

    Hiro checked the new menu that appeared in the notification.

    [Evesting Guild Officer]

    [Leader: NightFall]

    [Co-Leader: -]

    [Guild Manager: -]

    [Admin: -]

    [Note: Guild Organizer will receive a special title ording to the main task assigned by the Guild Leader. The new members will automatically get the title ¡®Intern¡¯, while the new members who have joined and actively take part in weekly donations for 30 days will get the title ¡®Member¡¯. If the new members can contribute to increasing the guild¡¯s fame, the title ¡®Member¡¯ will be awarded immediately without waiting for 30 days.]

    ¡°Uhmmm, NightFall¡­ Can I decorate this ce a little?¡± Wheelie came out of the building. The beautiful girl looked a little embarrassed by the request she made.

    Hiro nodded without taking the time to think. He knew Wheelie was a girl who cared deeply about tidiness and cleanliness. He would let her do what she wanted.

    ¡°Do what you do, Wheelie. It¡¯s yours now.¡±

    A smile spread across Wheelie¡¯s face, which instantly gleamed up. She was truly beautiful for a female Dwarf.

    ¡°But can I have a moment of your time? Looks like it¡¯s time for Evesting¡¯s first meeting.¡±

    Hiro gathered his guild members one by one in the meeting room that was already avable in the wooden building. It was an empty room with an oval stone table in the middle of the room. There was a dazzling light on the table.

    They stood around the table and waited for Hiro to start the meeting

    ¡°Thank you. None of this would have happened without you guys. I am very lucky to have met you. And I also feel very honoured that you want to trust me as a leader.¡± Hiro bowed his head, giving them sincere gratitude. The others didn¡¯t expect that Hiro would thank them right away.

    ¡°No, Boss. It is precisely I who am very grateful to be part of the Evesting Guild with you as the guild leader.¡± BigShow indeed had a big heart. He actually looked awkward when Hiro bowed his head.

    Hiro smiled. For the first time in his life, he felt very appreciated by someone.

    ¡°There is one thing I want to talk about here. Don¡¯t forget our main goal of forming this guild and continue to hold on to that goal.¡±

    ¡°Next up is the guild officer title. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t give it to all of you because the title is limited. I hope that the selection for this title doesn¡¯t make you jealous of each other.¡±

    Even though he already had names in his head, Hiro still felt bad to just say it without seeing their response first.

    But once again, he was very lucky.

    The guild members seemed didn¡¯t mind it. They didn¡¯t even seem the least bit bothered by whatever Hiro would decide on the guild officer title.

    ¡°Go on, Nightfall.¡± Noah told Hiro to continue his words instead.

    ¡°All right.¡±

    ¡°First is the co-leader.¡±

    ¡°Co-leader, the job is to lead the guild when I¡¯m not around or I have other business at the same time. I need someone that totally understands how the game system works. Someone that is strong enough to lead and to protect the guild members. Someone just like you, Noah.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s statement made Noah gasp in surprise. He didn¡¯t expect Hiro would mention his name as Co-leader after all the bad things he had done to Hiro and Jacob so far. How could he be chosen as a co-leader?

    Even though Noah still looked like he couldn¡¯t believe Hiro¡¯s decision, the people around him nodded their heads as if they had already guessed who would get this important position.

    ¡°Me?!¡± It was hard for him to believe it.

    Ding!

    [yer Noah has been promoted to Guild Co-leader]

    ¡°Next is Guild Manager. Based on what I read, the Guild Manager in the LSO is tasked as a manager. It is in charge of managing the internal and external rtionships of the guild. Choosing of guild allies, guild wars, and guild events will all go through the Guild Manager. And someone who is very good at socializing would be very useful for this one task¡ª¡±

    ¡°Jacob, what do you say?¡± Hiro was grateful to have guild members with different personalities. With that variation, he could manage all roles or tasks in the guild easily.

    ¡°Aye, sir!¡± Jacob gave a salute to Hiro.

    Ding!

    [yer Jacob has been promoted to Guild Manager]

    ¡°Last one is Guild Admin. An admin¡¯s job is to manage the iing and outgoing quests. All guild members who want to do guild quests must im the quest through the guild admin. I believe Wheelie will be perfect for this job.¡±

    ¡°Eh-me?¡±

    Ding!

    [yer Wheelie has been promoted to Guild Admin]

 Chapter 156

    Finally, Hiro returned alone after leaving the guild base. Spyro had fallen asleep in his robe from waiting too long. This time, he had to work hard again and use the cheat buff he had got from Alice before the cheat activated its self-destruction.

    Hiro decided to start using the buff to collect 15 crazy orc hearts, which were special items he needed to change his job ss level to advance. Based on the information avable in the sample item, crazy orc heart was a rare drop item from the mini boss that only appeared once every thirty minutes in the forest. The crazy orcs monsters roamed around that ce.

    The forest was named ¡®ck Forest¡¯. Based on the name, Hiro could imagine how dark that ce would be.

    The ck Forest was located in the west of the Beginner Town. Not that far from the base of the Evesting guild. Hiro only needed to walk a few meters to enter the forest, which made him reminisce about the wild boar family who became his first grinding monster while still ying in the CBT version.

    The deeper he walked into the forest, the closer the distance between the trees were. Even the path that Hiro used seemed to get narrower, so several times his hands were scratched by sharp branches and tree branches.

    ¡°What are you going to do in a ce like this, Kid?¡± Even Alice didn¡¯t like that very narrow and dark ce.

    ¡°Attempting to change my job ss within the half day so that I can proudly say that I am a bit better than my brother.¡± Hiro said what he was really feeling right now.

    Spyro let out a chuckle-like voice at Hiro¡¯s answer.

    ¡°Kekekeke.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious? You¡­ better than Yuujin? Is it just too soon to im that?¡±

    Hiro rolled his eyes. He knew that alone would not be enough to im that he was better than his brother at ying games. However, hearing it from Alice somehow annoyed him.

    After walking more than 2 kilometers into a very dark forest, Hiro finally entered the ¡®ck Forest¡¯ area.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ reading its name makes me starve, y¡¯ know!¡±

    Hiro ignored Spyro, who had regained Great mood status without him having to feed it because Alice seemed to have done something to the little dragon.

    The humidity of the air feltpletely different the moment he entered the ¡®ck Forest¡¯ area. The air was much more humid and cold, even though there was no snow there. From a distance, Hiro could hear the sounds of insects chirping at each other as it was in a forest in the real world.

    Hiro felt like he was trekking in a forest he had never been to before. Even so, he is not the least bit afraid of getting lost because, after all, the GPS System is still integrated with his HUD System.

    He couldn¡¯t see the monsters running around because the forest was packed with trees. However, he sensed a strange feeling. That was when he realized a pair of eyes were watching him ever since he entered that very dark forest.

    ¡°Alice, did you see something suspicious?¡±

    Hiro pulled out his sword as he became more and more certain that something was indeed watching him.

    Rustle!

    Hiro¡¯s eyes quickly moved towards the source of the sound. And he immediately used [Demon¡¯s eyes] to see what couldn¡¯t be seen.

    On his left side, two meters away from his ce, there was a huge figure with a bloated belly that could be seen exhaling hot breaths from his nostrils, while hiding in the gap between two trees with trunks overgrown with moss and lichens. The creature had red eyes that glowed in the dark like a mecha.

    ¡°Got you!¡±

    Hiro dashed to the ce where the monster prepared to ambush him while swinging his sword vigorously.

    sh!

    [Fatal damage]

    [-3150]

    The monster wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge Hiro¡¯s sudden attack.

    With a single sh of the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s sword across its bare chest, the monster was brought down.

    [Level 50. Crazy orc (Normal)]

    That monster had a green body that looked very sturdy. It also had a pair of canines sticking out of its mouth. Its pointed tip curving upwards like a wild boar.

    It growled and swung a ck-spiked mace at Hiro with its right hand.

    Bang!

    Hiro managed to block the attack with the de of his sword before sending a powerful kick towards the orc¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    [-880]

    The monster was thrown backwards. Its back hit a tree trunk so hard that the fruit on the tree fell down. The monster seemed to get angrier. Even the red colour in its eyes gradually got darker, as if it showed the level of anger.

    ¡°Orcs!!¡±All of a sudden, the monster suddenly roared. Its voice was reflected by the trees in the forest so Hiro could hear it repeatedly in his ears.

    One second after the voice dissipated, Hiro could hear the rumbling sounds from all directions moving towards him.

    ¡°Calling for help, huh?¡± Hiro was mocking the monster in front of him.

    ¡°Be ready, Hiro.¡± Even Alice felt that danger was approaching them.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

    Hiro squeezed the hilt of his sword, using both of his hands more firmly. He was still using Demon¡¯s eyes because he had an unlimited energy buff that put him in a very advantageous situation.

    St!

    One horizontal sh right at the neck of the orc in front of him managed to make the monster turn into shards of crystal, then disappeared into nothingness.

    The next second, from a distance, Hiro could see pairs of red eyes that gave off light in the darkness, staring at him from all directions.

    Crazy orcs came in crowds. Their number was over thirty monsters at once.

    Seeing the monsters wereing from all directions made Hiro feel relieved instead of frightened. He was confident that he could dance with his sword and used thebos non-stop without worrying about running out of energy potions in the battle.

    ¡°You better bring your boss here!¡±

    A confident smile appeared on his face.

    ¡°Hiyatt!¡±

    St!

    nk! St!

    Hiro was very focused, shing his sword in all directions in a split second while paying close attention to his position to stay safe from the fatal attacks.

    Getting a few scratches on non-vital parts of the body was not a problem. A little pain and soreness was an art of a struggle for Hiro.

    [-2,500] [-4,210] [-6,210] [-11,210]

    Hiro noticed the highest damage record he could get from the peak of hisbo.

    After shing half of them, suddenly a very loud roar could be heard from within the darkness.

    An orc with a body twice the normal orcs appeared while carrying an iron ax the size of a tree trunk on Hiro¡¯s left side.

    Ding!

    [Crazy orcs boss has spawned]

 Chapter 157

    Finally, after more than 5 hours of struggling to beat the orcs monsters until the boss came out 5 times, Hiro managed to get the item he was looking for. With the help of the buff he got from Alice, he could collect 15 Crazy Orcs Hearts in just 5 hours. The boss monster dropped 2 crazy orc hearts every time it was defeated. And Hiro was sure that it was actually not that easy to get them.

    Hiro immediately rushed back to the Training Area toplete the second stage of advancing job ss.

    By grinding for 5 hours at the crazy orcs¡¯ ce, Hiro had levelled up twice and obtained various types of Misceneous items as well as several weapons and equipment from Tier B and A. After some consideration, Hiro decided to sell the items through the Guild Shopter, or through Jacob who could be a dealer.

    For now, he wasn¡¯t too bothered about it. By creating a Guild Base, there was an additional menu called Guild Bank. Only officers could ess the Guild Bank. Hiro could store the items he would sell in the storage without having to return to the guild base first.

    In the Training Area, Hiro immediately looked for the location of the giant bunny dolls, which were his second target after the crazy orcs. He could find giant bunny dolls lining the sandy field in the backyard. However, when he counted the number of dolls, Hiro could only find 5 dolls made entirely of wood in that ce. Whilst, he needed 10 dolls to be destroyed in 10 minutes.

    Hiro knew about this. He had to talk to a male NPC who looked almost the same as NPC Fred, except for his long sword. The man was standing near the fifth row of giant bunny dolls.

    But, he didn¡¯t want to be caught in a trap. So, Hiro didn¡¯t immediately ask the NPC to move him to a ce where 10 giant bunny dolls waited for him. Instead, Hiro walked over to one of the bunny dolls to test how fast he could destroy it. Actually, he already had a bad feeling about this stage.

    nk!

    St! St! Swish!

    Hiro beat a doll until his body was covered with sweat, and his breathing became ragged. Meanwhile, the doll remained intact, standing firmly in front of him like a boxing glove with the face of a rabbitughing scornfully at him.

    ¡°Damn it! I knew this was bound to happen.¡± Hiro stopped attacking the bunny doll after seeing that its HP was still green. It was only reduced by a quarter, even though Hiro had beaten it without pause for 3 minutes.

    ¡°You certainly can do it, Hiro.¡± Spyro was just watching while perched on top of a bunny that didn¡¯t get hit by Hiro.

    Hiro believed many yers had difficulty passing this stage, so they decided to give up too early. They had to increase their strength first before continuing this extremely strenuous test.

    Hiro sighed, trying to rack his brain out. In this condition, he couldn¡¯t recklessly enter the ce where 10 giant bunny dolls waited for him.

    After his breathing returned to normal, he tried again with a different technique. He would use two types ofbos that he had mastered. With the awakening swordbo skill, which was the advanced skill of his swordbo skill, coupled with the martial artsbo, Hiro felt that he still had a chance to pass this stage.

    nk!

    Crash! Cracks!

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    [You managed to destroy one giant bunny doll!]

    ¡°It¡¯s 3 minutes.¡± Even though he managed to destroy the wooden doll this time, it still took him 3 minutes for just one doll. He had to take down 10 dolls in 10 minutes.

    He sighed again and wiped the sweat that dripped down on his eyes. It made his eyes sting.

    This time, he opened the Marketce menu on the homepage of his system to check if someone had already sold the buff or whether Ninecent had it avable there. Alice¡¯s buff wasn¡¯t enough. He had to increase his strength first, even if it onlysted for a few hours or minutes.

    [Popeye Spinach Can]

    [Increase all basic stats by 10% for 30 minutes]

    [Cannot be used for PVP]

    [Price: 1,000 LSC]

    [Steroid Tablet]

    [Damage increase by 20% for 10 minutes]

    [Cannot be used for PVP ]

    [Warning! Consuming it many times can cause the yer¡¯s body to copse. yers should probably see a doctor]

    [Price: 2,500 LSC]

    After reading the buff items he could buy, Hiro found two items that seemed to help him seed in destroying 10 giant bunny dolls in 10 minutes. Indeed, to achieve something, he needed to sacrifice something. With a total price of 3,500 LSC, this was the most expensive buff he had ever bought in a MMORPG.

    ¡°Are you sure you can handle this?¡± Spyro had already flown back in front of Hiro.

    ¡°I¡¯m certain. You¡¯re not helping me at all, Alice. I have to buy these expensive things.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you will seed or you will just be wasting your time once again.¡±

    Hiro rolled his eyes. He walked over to NPC Louis, who was standing next to one of the giant bunny dolls.

    [Enter the training area]

    [Quest Advance Job ss]

    [Learning Martial Arts Skill]

    [Just say, Hi!]

    Hiro arched an eyebrow when he saw the menu options that appeared as he spoke to NPC Louis.

    ¡°Martial arts skill learning?¡± It instantly distracted him from his main goal.

    ¡°Hiro, what are you doing?¡±

    Hiro ignored Spyro, who looked annoyed that he had misfocused on other things. But, Hiro knew what he was doing.

    [Learning Martial Arts Skill]

    Hiro was teleported to a new map. He had to follow the movements taught by NPC Louis in a room that looked like a karate practice room. It took up to 3 minutes to be able to follow the movements perfectly, and at the same time took down NPC Louis.

    Ding!

    [You have learned new martial art]

    [Acrobatic Blitz]

    ¡°Now, I am much more prepared.¡± Hiro clenched his fists, then asked NPC Louis again.

    [Job Advancement Quest]

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported to the special ce of the Training Area]

    [Good luck!]

    Hiro was standing on a field that was exactly the same as the field he had previously lived in. However, the difference was, there were 10 giant bunny dolls that looked exactly the same as the one he had managed to destroy surrounded him in a circle. Seeing them so close to each other only made Hiro more confident that he could pass this stage.

    Ding!

    [All basic stats have been increased (30 minutes remaining)]

    Hiro drew out his sword and prepared himself before he put the red tablet in his hand into his mouth.

    ¡°Watch me!¡± He nced at Spyro, who chose to keep itself safe by flying away. It became a spectator for Hiro¡¯s fight. Its body was already emitting light when Hiro got the basic stats conversion from his pet.

 Chapter 158

    [Giant bunny dolls have been destroyed 10/10]

    [Time remaining: 00 minutes 25 seconds]

    ¡°Hahhh¡­ hahhh¡­ That¡¯s how you destroy those creepy bunny dolls!¡±

    Ding!

    [You have sessfullypleted stage 2 advancing job ss]

    Hiro was teleported again, leaving the Training Area fill with the remains of the giant bunny dolls that had been shattered to pieces. In front of him stood NPC Louis, who greeted him with a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re the first yer whopleted this quest! Great! I thought the quest was too impossible.¡± NPC Louis spoke fluently, as if he wasn¡¯t an NPC who only thought using his limited AI brain. Hiro arched an eyebrow suspiciously.

    Next, would be thest stage.

    If in stage 2 he had to use expensive buffs, Hiro was sure that defeating NPC Fred would not be that easy.

    Unlike in the stage 2 where he could try it first, NPC Fred did not provide a trial session. Hiro didn¡¯t know how much power the man had. If only NPC Fred¡¯s strength could be measured with the specified rmended BR of 35,000, then Hiro was already above the man and he could beat him.

    However, it was just a rmended BR. What if NPC Fred was much stronger than that? Hiro couldn¡¯t be careless.

    ¡°Hmmm, let¡¯s see the newbie book again.¡±

    In the newbie guidebook, there was information about the names of NPCs in the LSO world,plete with the coordinates of their location, the time they appeared, and other information.

    Hiro found a special page for NPC Fred. He read what was written on the page carefully.

    [NPC Fred]

    [Barbarian] [Human]

    ¡®Is it the special ability of being a human? In this world?¡¯

    [Main Weapon: Durandal (GreatSword)]

    [Damage 180 uracy 15 Attack Speed ??10]

    [NPC Fred is an NPC that always upies the main gate of the Training Area in the Beginner Town. He is a barbarian who is very meritorious to the Eternity Kingdom and has been appointed as a sword art teacher to train the younger generation who are chosen as the country¡¯s warriors. His experience of eradicating monsters of various races made him highly respected. Yet, he is friendly and loves to collect rare items.]

    Hiro didn¡¯t get any information that could help him other than Fred¡¯s weapons and NPC skills from that page.

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ in terms of weapons, the Blood-Eater Vampire is far superior. But still, what makes it so special?¡±

    NPC Fred was in front of him. Hiro only stood two meters away and watched him from head to toe. Other yers passed by and spoke to NPC Fred frequently. It seemed they were also yers who wanted to upgrade their job sses.

    ¡°Did you give up?¡± Spyro repeatedly asked the same thing, as if it was only there to ask Hiro that question.

    Hiro looked at the baby dragon in annoyance.

    Sitting there was just a waste of time. The buff from Popeye Spinach Can was only 15 minutes left, and Hiro wanted to beat NPC Fred immediately without needing to buy the buff again.

    ¡°Come on, Hiro. We don¡¯t have much time!¡±

    ¡°Shut up and let me think!¡±

    Hiro felt a little annoyed and wanted to seal the baby dragon¡¯s mouth so it would shut up.

    No clues. No walkthroughs. Nothing. Hiro even began to think that he would be the first to challenge an NPC Fred to a duel.

    He opened the marketce again to look for items he could use. Just in case something unexpected happened. After all, Hiro had to clear this stage or else he would be wasting his time today.

    But, something bothered him.

    A transparent screen appeared in front of Hiro, blocking his view of the items that Ninecent was selling in the Marketce.

    [Update Announcement]

    [Grand opening battle arena for yer(s) vs yer(s)]

    [Weekly quest featuring: Guild War, Tower of The Death, Strongest Party Guild Battle]

    [Server requirements: World level 45, Active Guild is more than 2]

    [Server will be shut for maintenance!]

    [Countdown: 47 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds]

    ¡°Damn! Only two days left!¡± Hiro suddenly felt the god of luck had left him. His eyes drifted to Spyro.

    Meanwhile, Spyro seemed to ignore him.

    ¡°I told you. We don¡¯t have much time,¡± it said while looking away.

    Hiro was ready with items in the marketce. He also bought battle buffs, which were very useful to increase his winning percentage against NPC Fred. He had to give up 2,500 LSC in total to buy those buffs.

    Next, Hiro rushed over to NPC Fred and asked him to talk.

    [You have challenged NPC Fred to a duel. Are you sure you¡¯re going to do it now?]

    There was no time to back off right now.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    [You will be teleported to the Training Area]

    Again, Hiro was back on the sandy field he just left a few minutes ago. This time, there were no more giant bunny dolls swarming around him.

    In front of him, standing mighty with a sword pointed at him, NPC Fred looked very ready to be his opponent.

    Hiro prepared himself. With the addition of the item buffs he had used before being teleported to that ce, Hiro felt that his body had undergone a slight change. The proportion of his muscle increased, and he could feel a tremendous energy, as if it was exploding within his body.

    ¡°Show me what you have, yer NightFall!¡±

    Hiro gripped the hilt of his sword tightly at NPC Fred¡¯s words. He had to stay focused before dashing toward NPC Fred to start the one-on-one fight.

    [Ready?!]

    [3¡­2¡­1¡­]

    [Battle Start!]

    Dang!

    Along with the sound of a bell that came from out of nowhere, Hiro immediately dashed forward. At the same time, NPC Fred did the same. A sh between the two swords was inevitable.

    nk!

    Hiro could feel a powerful boost from the energy possessed by NPC Fred as their swords shed. It was as if they both had equal strength.

    ¡°Damn it. How can he be this strong?!¡±

    Bang!

    Hiro threw a sidekick towards NPC Fred¡¯s waist, but NPC Fred quickly jumped up, while back rolling to dodge the attack.

    For the first time, the movement of NPC Fred, who was too agile for an NPC with a GreatSword weapon, made Hiro suspect the NPC had martial arts skills as well.

    ¡°Spyro.¡±

    Hiro got additional strength from Spyro, who was flying low by his side. Without wasting time, Hiro dashed towards NPC Fred while raising his sword.

    Bang!

    The two swords continued to sh with each other until sparks came out of their rubbing des. Even though at the beginning NPC Fred had the same physical strength as Hiro, it seemed NPC Fred¡¯s stamina wasn¡¯t that special. It could be seen from the swing of his sword that had slowed down after dozens of shes.

    nk!

    Hiro jumped back to prepare his swordbo skill. It took him a few seconds to attack NPC Fred again. A faint smile spread across his face when he saw that NPC Fred didn¡¯t rush towards him. The man used the time to catch his breath instead.

    ¡°I can see my victory right in front of my eyes.¡±

 Chapter 159

    St! [Critical Hit 17x]

    Hiro swung his sword like a madman while NPC Fred looked very overwhelmed in positioning his sword, which he used as a shield.

    St! [Critical Hit 18x]

    Even though the critical hit from NPC Fred¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t as big as the damage Hiro¡¯s sword that managed to hit his body directly, at least¡­ The stackbos that had been collected continued to increase and thebos didn¡¯t stop.

    Hiro only hoped that hisst hitbo would hit the NPC¡¯s body.

    St!

    ¡°Hiyat!!¡±

    Resisting the bombardment of attacks from a person swinging a greatsword like swinging a light wooden stick was no easy feat. NPC Fred was being pushed back by Hiro, and the man almost dropped his sword.

    Hiro jumped forward as the Blood-Eater vampire¡¯s de shed a purplish glow.

    ¡°Eat him.¡±

    St!

    Whoosh!

    nk!

    Hiro used his sword to blow NPC Fred¡¯s sword vertically, making the NPC Fred¡¯s sword fly away from its master. Meanwhile, the tip of Hiro¡¯s de managed to scratch the front of NPC Fred¡¯s body. It pierced through the iron armour the man was wearing, blood spurting out like a fountain. Just a single scratch was enough for the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s unique skill to do its job.

    NPC Fred still stood on his two legs. His hand moved to press the wound, which was still oozing blood. Yet, he still had a bit of HP left, and it was enough for Hiro to try out his newest martial art movement.

    Hiro kicked the back of NPC Fred¡¯s hand hard before leaping forward. He used both hands to stand up while his two legs splendidly hit hard on the bottom of NPC Fred¡¯s jaw twice.

    Bang! Bang!

    [Acrobatic Blitz]

    NPC Fred copsed backwards with his nose bleeding profusely, while Hiro turned his body back to stand on his two legs.

    Ding!

    [NPC Fred has been defeated]

    [You have sessfully cleared stage 3 advancing job ss]

    ¡°Yeah!¡¯

    The crystal shards suddenly appeared in the empty air in front of Hiro. Those things gave off a dazzling light and circled around the body of NPC Fred, who didn¡¯t move an inch. Within seconds, the crystal shards disappeared and NPC Fred was resurrected.

    The man jumped to his feet as if everything that had just happened to him had never happened. He looked back at Hiro with a smile on his face.

    ¡°Congrattions! You have sessfullypleted the examination!¡±

    ¡°You are a very talented barbarian. You deserve the advance job ss.¡±

    [You will be teleported to the Half-Blood Academy]

    Hiro was still checking the surroundings when his sight suddenly became blurry and dark. He could not see anything, while his body could feel that the very dark ce was extremely cold. It was as if he was in arge hall full of AC that had no lights.

    He waited patiently. Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to see the types of advance jobs he had been waiting for. He had to choose again this time.

    ¡°Hummm, Hiro, are you there?¡±

    Spyro¡¯s voice sounded in his ears, very close. Until Hiro could hear the sound of his wings pping. It seemed the dragon couldn¡¯t see in the dark.

    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    Zap!

    Suddenly, a very bright light appeared from above the ceiling of the room, highlighting Hiro who reflexively squinted his eyes because of the dazzling light. In the next second, he could hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

    Eva. The Headmistress.

    The woman walked over to Hiro. This time, she wore a neat white zer and a very short white span skirt, so Hiro could see her thick and smooth thighs.

    ¡°Congrattions, yer NightFall! You did a great job!¡± For the first time, Hiro saw the NPC Headmistress in person. She was much more attractive in person than behind the screen or the statue of herself that Hiro had seen in the front yard of the academy area.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    The woman smiled after getting a response from Hiro.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you so far. You are indeed talented. Who exactly are you, NightFall?¡± Eva suddenly leaned in to take a closer look at Hiro. She bent her body slightly and made her protruding cleavage squeeze against each other. It looked very tight, struggling to get out of a small button that restrained it.

    Hiro swallowed hard. Did an NPC really have to be like that?

    ¡°Thank you. I am just myself, Headmistress.¡± He answered without moving from his spot in the slightest.

    ¡°You know¡­ that face of yours, you look a bit like someone. Did you purposely adjust your physical appearance to be simr to that person?¡±

    Hiro was slightly surprised at her question. He grew suspicious. Could an NPC really ask such a very specific thing? This time, he frowned before answering. He knew well where the conversation would lead him. Even Spyro, who was perched on his shoulder, was slightly gripping him with its paws as if it had the same suspicion.

    ¡°Yes, of course. Who doesn¡¯t want to have that handsome face like his? He¡¯s a legend,¡± he lied. His ability to lie had increasedtely. Even though the woman in front of him was supposed to be an NPC with an AI brain, she seemed to squint her eyes suspiciously at Hiro. Before she finally turned around and pped her hands three times.

    p! p! p!

    Poof!

    A small explosion appeared in the air in front of Hiro. Straight with his head. The small explosion emitted a thick smoke that onlysted for a few seconds before Nyx finally emerged from the smoke.

    ¡°Yes, Headmistress!¡±

    Hiro felt it had been a long time since he hadst seen Nyx¡¯s form before his eyes. Not on screen as a bot to help him answer questions.

    ¡°Nyx, can you help him with the advance job ss?¡± the woman asked the android to assist Hiro. Hiro felt more relieved after hearing that. Because of the strange question the Headmistress had asked him, he felt ufortable having to talk to her any longer than this conversation.

    ¡°Of course, Headmistress. It¡¯s my job.¡± Nyx still hadn¡¯t lifted his head. He really respected the Headmistress.

    ¡°All right. I guess this is the time to say goodbye¡­ or see you again?¡±

    Hiro only gave a nod in response. The woman blinked an eye before she left the room, walking like a model.

    Ding!

    A transparent screen that made Hiro feel a little nostalgic with the time he made his avatar reappeared on his screen. It disyed a miniature of his body as well as the list of advance job sses offered by the system.

    [Advance Job ss]

    [Berserker]

    [Barbarianbo is invincible. By bing a Berserker, yers will gain additional defense like a formidable knight and create a bncedbination of attack and defense.]

    [Barrage]

    [Sword in right hand and magic in left hand. Physical Attack and Magical Attack. Why not both? yer Barrage is a terrifying hybrid damage dealer.]

    [Hunter]

    [Having great physical strength and extremely high uracy allows a hunter to always hunt down his prey.]

    [Raider]

    [Powerful physical strength with the power of speed. Who says that a greatsword wielder is slow? The strength and the speed, a raider has it both.]

    [Please choose your advance job ss!]

 Chapter 160

    ¡®Which one should I choose?¡¯ Hiro talked to himself.

    He had to consider carefully what advance job ss he would use next.

    Berserker. Combining a barbarian with a knight he had often found in MMORPGs. In fact, usually the two jobs were inseparable from each other. However, closebat required high defense because it would definitely be the target of monsters. However, Hiro was no longer worried about that because he still had bloodsteal. His sword also could supply him with HP.

    Barrage. A mix of magic power and physical strength. At first nce, it sounded great. For yers who were crazy about extensive damage, this job ss might be one of their favourites. However, it wasn¡¯t that easy to adjust the bnce between magic and physical in the game. Hiro had to split his points into different things like STR, AGI, and INT. After all, magic required more mana and had short casting time. He had to always maintain his level further above other yers in order to maintain the bnce he wanted. Besides, this job might be a little difficult to do if the physical weapon used was a 2-handed greatsword.

    Hunter. High uracy was the key to the sess of the damage, so the opponent could be taken down perfectly. Choosing the right timing and angle beforeunching an attack was very important. By bing a hunter, both of those things could be easily done because it seemed there would be a special hunter skill to improve both. Hiro knew that he desperately needed uracy. Several times, his unique sword skill was missed due tock of uracy. And that was really annoying. But, with the predicio skill he had¡­ he could ovee that problem.

    Thest one was Raider. Hiro couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of damage he could do with the speed buff from being a Raider. This job ss felt like abination of a barbarian and a rogue who were excellent in terms of speed. Speed ??was very important in almost everything. Both to attack and to dodge. Currently, Hiro relied on the attack speed buff from the golem card. That alone would not be enough.

    ¡°Anything can lead me to defeat him.¡± Hiro clenched his fists.

    If the opponent was a magician with insane strength, he couldn¡¯t use half-half hybrid powers. He had to focus on one type of attack. Physical.

    By choosing an advance job ss that focused on physics, Hiro¡¯s remaining choices were Berserker, Hunter, and Raider.

    Mage was unbeatable in ranged attacks. The right timing to defeat a mage was when the mage cast a skill that required waiting time. The waiting time was just seconds. Having a bnced defense and attack like a berserker might not have enough damage to finish off a mage in that timing. uracy might be useful, but that was if the physical damage the hunter had was very high. And the raider, with its speed¡­ the time didn¡¯t matter. Besides, it was, after all, a rogue¡­ Rogue was Hiro¡¯s second favourite job while ying MMORPG. Rogue was the best counter for mage and vice versa.

    If the mage was as crazy as WynterRain, the chances of Hiro winning against him with a job ss raider were no longer 50:50, but maybe 30 for him and 60 for WynterRain. Even so, having Anonymous by his side, it could be increased to 45.

    The best option he had right now was Raider.

    [You have chosen Raider as your advanced job ss, you will not be able to change it againter.]

    [Proceed, anyway?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! yer NightFall has be the first yer to advance the job ss in the world of LSO! Good Job! Everyone should follow his steps!]

    ¡°Nice! They broadcast it! They really helped my n,¡± Spyro muttered while reading the world announcement that appeared in front of Hiro. The dragon seemed very satisfied with what it had just seen.

    [You will be teleported back to the Training Area]

    Hiro stood in front of the NPC Fred, who immediately smiled at seeing his appearance.

    Before Hiro checked the appearance that might have changed from changing his job ss, Spyro suddenly moved in front of his face while strangely pping its wings in panic.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Hiro, you should get out of the game. Now.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Hurry up!¡±

    Hiro had no idea what was really going on. However, from Alice¡¯s tone that suddenly turned serious, he realized that maybe something had happened. He rushed out of the game.

    [System off]

    ¡­

    ¡°I¡¯m here with Dr. Jeff Johnson. The most genius man that I ever met.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. O¡¯Brien.¡±

    ¡°Today, Dr. Jeff Johnson is about to share something new. The world will surely record this moment as one of the big moments that will make everyone happy.¡±

    ¡°The greatest discovery in the medical field of this era.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. O¡¯Brien. I think that¡¯s a bit of an exaggeration because it¡¯s actually still in the process of research. So far, the sess rate of the trials we have done has reached 80%. We will definitely make it through 100% with the support of everyone from all over the world.¡±

    ¡°I heard that your daughter also voluntarily participated in this trial. Isn¡¯t that very dangerous, Dr. Johnson?¡±

    ¡°Right. My daughter was the first to be a test subject. Actually, I created all of this to save her. She is an angel that God sent to me. If this world can¡¯t ept her, I just need to create a new world for her.¡±

    ¡°What kind of world would you like to create for your daughter, Dr. Johnson? And how are you doing so far? I¡¯m sorry, I heard the best doctors at Johnson Hope Hospital have dered that she has brain death.¡±

    ¡°It was true. My lovely angel has brain death. However, with the technology that we are currently developing, her brain is starting to improve. The progress is also getting better. I wouldn¡¯t have appeared on this broadcast with a smile this wide if something bad had happened to her. And about the world that you are asking, Mr. O¡¯Brien. I will make you and the millions of viewers of your show the first to see that world.¡±

 Chapter 161

    The New world. A world that would be a home for everyone. In that world, people could have fun without being afraid of anything. A world that provided all kinds of fantasy in real virtual form.

    Just by using a set of VR machines, everyone could enjoy the artificial world. There was no need to buy expensive VR to get a chance to y. The experience couldn¡¯t bepared to anything else. Because everyone who had an inte connection would be able to download the data of the world in virtual reality for free.

    Yes! Absolutely for free!

    Dr. Jeff Johnson had seeded in convincing sponsors from a variety of sectors to invest in his world-realization project.

    With a very simple initial idea, which was to create a world for his beloved daughter, who had been dered medically dead because her brain system had stopped working. The world that would be part of Last Shelter Online would soon beunched.

    A world without worries. A world without fear. A world without pain. Only life matters. A life that would never end.

    Not only that, Dr. Jeff Johnson managed to convince the World Health Organization that Brain Downloading technology was very safe. Brain Downloading, which he had seeded in creating through years of research, could download all memories in the human body and insert that memory into an artificial AI brain. It could be used to transfer a person into the world he had created.

    By using his daughter as the first human subject, Dr. Jeff Johnson managed to get a lot of support from the medical world and people who shared the same desire as him to save the loved one.

    ¡°My daughter is everything. It¡¯s enough that I lost my wife while giving birth to her. I knew myte wife would only be angry when she found out that her daughter had the same fate as her at such a young age. However, they have me. I can save them.¡±

    Not a few people who strongly opposed Dr. Jeff Johnson¡¯s project. They thought the man had no ethics because using humans in the trial. What¡¯s more, it was his daughter.

    Even so, people couldn¡¯t deny that the results were really positive. Without a sacrifice, humans would never have made any progress.

    Currently, Dr. Jeff Johnson continued the next project. He named it Brain Uploading. This technology¡¯s goal was to upload memories that had been downloaded through the brain downloading process into a new human body that was being developed by coborative research. They had seeded in knowing the best way to create a human body using only cell culture.

    Brain Uploading technology was believed to be able to bring back people who had died, like being reborn into a new and fresh body.

    Even though it sounded very impossible. All of that could happen. It was just a matter of time until it could be achieved.

    An overview of the world of Last Shelter Online: The New World is still on the same server as the Last Shelter Online. However, if the current theme is adventure gaming, The New World will provide anything for fun such as nightlife, beautiful beaches, sky dining towers, cafes, lounges, rooftop pools, hotels, cars, and everything that can be found in the world. The real ones will be avable there.

    So¡­

    What are you waiting for?

    ¡­

    Hiro was dumbfounded by the sight of the live broadcast ying on the television in front of him.

    Alice, who was standing in front of the television, looked confused by what she had just seen.

    ¡°What kind of bullshit was that?¡± Alice looked so desperate to kick the television until the screen shattered to pieces. However, Hiro stopped her and pulled her away from the television. Not to stop her from destroying the television, but he was sure there was more information he needed to see.

    ¡°Wait. It¡¯s still not finished.¡±

    And he was right.

    After the host who talked to Dr. Jeff Johnson finished exining the live broadcast that looked like a massive promotion in disguise, the man seemed to have one more thing to add.

    ¡°So, Dr. Jeff Johnson, have you been able tomunicate with your daughter so far? Even though she¡¯s, I¡¯m sorry, medically dered dead and you¡¯ve sent her into the world of Last Shelter Online, can shemunicate with people outside the game?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I always call her every day. Even though I actually know her condition in that world without having to contact her.¡± Dr. Jeff Johnson sat straight while talking confidently, as if he really didn¡¯t have anything to hide.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ I¡¯m sure that right now she¡¯s also watching this broadcast. I can call her and ask her to speak in this live broadcast.¡±

    Hiro reflexively nced at Alice, and Alice nodded. They knew who would appear next. Of course, they were eager to know what the girl would say.

    Beep¡­ beep!

    Dr. Jeff Johnson took out his android bracelet, which was shaped like a watch with the Hermes logo written on it. He put the android bracelet faced on the camera that was highlighting it.

    Then, the call he was making got an answer.

    A miniature figure that was perfectly shaped like a hologram nendroid suddenly appeared on the surface of Dr. Jeff Johnson¡¯s android bracelet.

    ¡°Good evening, my lovely daughter,¡± Dr. Jeff greeted her with a big smile on his face. It looked brighter than before.

    ¡°Hello, Dad. How are you?¡±

    Hiro swallowed hard when he heard Liberty¡¯s voice. He could see the miniature of the girl on the television clearly. Even though she had a slight glitch due to the unstable camera effect, the girl¡¯s hologram still looked gorgeous in his eyes.

    ¡°Never better, Dear.¡±

    The host of the show couldn¡¯t believe the appearance of Liberty. The girl looked very healthy, even though it was reported that she had died medically. She was even still very cheerful when greeting him and answering a few questions from him.

    They talk about how Liberty was and how life in the Last Shelter Online world was, the only ce she could live.

    Liberty seemed to be very fluent in answering the questions of the host. However, she did not know if everyone from all over the world was amazed and proud of the sess of Dr. Jeff who had managed to save his daughter.

    ¡°Thank you, Miss Johnson. You look so gorgeous, really.¡±

    Snap!

    Hiro turned off the television screen as the host began to tease Liberty a bit with ttering words.

    ¡°This is the craziest live broadcast I¡¯ve ever watched,¡± Hiro muttered, realizing that Alice had the same opinion as him.

    But, Alice ignored him. She didn¡¯t respond and instead sat back on her throne, in front of the superputer.

    ¡°Alice?¡±

    ¡°Not now, Hiro.¡±

    The girlpletely refused Hiro. She didn¡¯t want to talk to him.

    Alice buried her face in the table. She banged her forehead on the table until her skin was red.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Hiro was a little worried about seeing Alice acting strange. He had never seen her like that.

    ¡°That damn wizard! He really is a very cunning doctor.¡±

    Alice let out a growl.

    Hiro raised an eyebrow, waiting for Alice to finish her sentence.

    ¡°Now he¡¯s got a lot of people who will support his scheme. Using her own daughter¡¯s name for a shield? You lunatic! Isn¡¯t there anything else going on in his head besides money?¡±

    ¡­

    Meanwhile, in an old building in a forest in the game Last Shelter Online¡­

    ¡°Have you watched the live broadcast, Yuujin!?¡±

    A figure was lying on a clean-looking tiled floor in an empty circr room. He was alone, lying on the floor with his arms outstretched like an exhausted man.

    ¡°Did you hear me!?¡±

    ¡°Ah. I have watched it.¡±

    He spoke to himself in a voice he could hear through his ears. He did not use anything that could be used as amunication aid, as if the voice that was talking to him wasing from his own head.

    ¡°That damn, Demon. I can¡¯t wait to destroy it.¡±

    ¡°No, you won¡¯t. Not yet. My current strength is still not enough. Just wait for my signal.¡± The man ced his right hand over his face, covering his eyes.

    ¡°You know that we don¡¯t have much time, right, Yuujin?¡±

    ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing. If you keep pushing me, why don¡¯t you just do it yourself!?¡±

    ¡°You, brat! Have you forgotten who saved you? Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re in the lead, Yuujin. You¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ahhh Alice, you came back.¡±

    The man reflexively sat up as the only door in the room burst open. A ck dragon the size of abrador entered the room.

    The dragon pped its two wide wings before finallynding in front of the man, who immediately greeted it with a smile.

    ¡°Good girl.¡±

    Kwakk!

    He patted its head gently and the dragonid it head on hisp like a clingy pet.

    ¡°Did you just ignore me?¡± The voice in his head was still trying to interrupt.

    ¡°Time¡¯s up. I have to go back to work.¡±

 Chapter 162

    After the live broadcast of Dr. Jeff Johnson that introduced the new world and the technology that could save people all over the world, two different factions began to appear. One supporting the discovery and the other strongly rejecting it. Even those who refused began to form an organization. They did a demonstration in front of all the main buildings of the Last Shelter Online¡¯s servers.

    The days went by with the same story. Those who refused continued to shout their opinions about the technology that was considered capable of destroying human civilization.

    Every day, Hiro watched all their action through the window where he lived. There was not a slight change. There was not the slightest bit of further action to at least appreciate the efforts of those who had spent their days defending human civilization, which they thought was right.

    Dr. Jeff Johnson was never once seening to the building. Instead, he appeared on television programs rted to technology and health many times. Even more often than before, taking all the eyes of our world to him.

    Hiro felt very annoyed whenever someone asked for proof that the new world Dr. Jeff Johnson created was real, because that meant they should call Liberty and make her at least say hello to the media.

    Alice was right, it was obvious that¡­ Dr. Jeff Johnson looked as if he used his daughter, exploiting her for his sess in the world.

    Hiro spent those days struggling in the game. Increasing his power so that he could be the strongest yer to reveal the secret of this world. What did Dr. Jeff Johnson n behind his fake smile?

    The idea of ??using Liberty as the reason for the rescue mission was very sessful in persuading investors to invest a veryrge amount of their money. They fully support Dr. Jeff Johnson¡¯s project.

    People who had dying family members hoped that Dr. Jeff Johnson would soonplete the project. They would support in any way to make this big project be a reality.

    Those who were hopeless and depressed about their life in this world felt that they deserved a second chance to live in another new world with a new life that made them feel grateful to have been born. They put their faith in Dr. Jeff Johnson¡¯s hands. Even a few of them thought that the founder of Ninecent was a god.

    The news was so massive that it exploded, not only in the original world but also in the Last Shelter Online world. The news of Yuujin¡¯s death just drowned. Even the detectives who investigated the case retreated themselves as per order of their leader, saying that Last Shelter Online was the future. Last Shelter Online was free of all kinds of usations.

    However, there really was no evidence to support Yuujin¡¯s theory of suicide.

    The fact that Yuujin lived with great power in Last Shelter Online was proof that Last Shelter Online had managed to save a legend and let him experience eternal life after death.

    The days went by, and all the news made Hiro and Alice have to cover their ears wherever they were.

    Inside the hotel lobby, outside the hotel, in the supermarket, in the game. They discussed the same topic.

    Two weeks had passed since that shocking incident. And finally, Hiro managed to contact Liberty, who had been very busytely.

    There were still 24 hours left before the announcement of the Last Shelter Onlineunching event, and the enthusiasm to get 60,000 LSC which was the reason why Hiro¡¯s will to y the game was decreasing.

    Even though his name had returned to rank 1 on the all server leaderboard, with a battle rating difference that was quite far from yer at rank 2 who he had never met before, Hiro still felt that his heart was empty.

    ¡°Fix your expression, Hiro. You don¡¯t look like a winner at all,¡± Spyro muttered while sitting quietly on Hiro¡¯s shoulder. The dragon had evolved into a Teen Night Fury, so its size had almost doubled from before.

    Hiro didn¡¯t say anything. Lately, his mouth was more and more tightly shut. He avoided anyone who tried to contact him.

    Even for his guild, he hadn¡¯t visited the base for a long time and checked how things were progressing.

    Although Noah and Jacob didn¡¯t know what had happened to Hiro, they agreed to give him some time. They volunteered to be the ones managing the development of the guild while Hiro was away.

    It sounded a little selfish, but it needed to be done. Hiro focused on increasing his strength, starting by simply grinding monsters, upgrading the weapons he used, looking for new sets of equipment, and increasing his strength. He also collected skills he could get through quests or buy them in the marketce.

    Hiro had done it all until he surpassed all yers in the Last Shelter Online world who were being distracted by the new update patch of Last Shelter Online: The New World.

    There was still no sign of Yuujin¡¯s appearance since then. Hiro didn¡¯t even know if his older brother was still in the same world as him or not. He knew nothing at all because WynterRain wasn¡¯t listed as a yer on the leaderboard of all servers, as if he wasn¡¯t a yer, even though he roamed freely and used powers like a yer in that world.

    Hiro still didn¡¯t know anything.

    With a lot of struggles, he had managed to reach the peak that could be considered the strongest yer who could challenge WynterRainter.

    He had gone through big events. Other yers had seen NightFall¡¯s name on the world broadcast. From those who were excited to see his name until they were bored because the system had broadcast it many times, only his name came out.

    Even though he never returned to the guild base, Evesting¡¯s guild fame points continued to increase, thanks to Hiro¡¯s hard work. No one wanted to hinder him or disturb him. They knew that something had happened to their leader, but they didn¡¯t know how long the man would keep his mouth shut like that.

    They were all very worried about his condition. The look in Hiro¡¯s eyes had changed. There was no longer any light that coloured them. It was so dim, as if there was no soul filling the avatar.

    Thest thing that Hiro remembered was a whisper from Cara. The only yer who dared to meet him.

    ¡°You¡¯re not alone, Hiro. Come back anytime. We are waiting for you.¡±

 Chapter 163

    Liberty hade.

    The girl walked with light footsteps while wearing a dress with very beautiful ornamental flowers. A very wide smile on her lovely face did not fade in the slightest.

    Meanwhile, Hiro just stood there, leaning against a shady tree in the expanse of a flower garden. He found that ce while looking for something to refine the vampire blood-eater. He managed to get +3, which meant a 15% damage increase.

    He looked at the girl with a t face. His heart was no longer beating abnormally when he saw her approaching. Hiro did not know what had happened to him. Clearly, his heart felt empty. And for the first time, he didn¡¯t smile when he saw Libertying.

    ¡°Hiro, did you wait long? I¡¯m sorry, I have to do an interview with¡ª¡±

    ¡°No. I didn¡¯t wait too long. And I don¡¯t have much time to talk to you here either.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s answer managed to make the smile on Liberty¡¯s face disappear. The girl looked confused by Hiro¡¯s overly obvious change. Yet, she had absolutely no idea what caused it.

    ¡°Hiro? What happened?¡± she asked in a very soft voice. Her hand moved to touch Hiro¡¯s cheek and forced those droopy eyes to look at her.

    Only once did Liberty ever experience this. She had seen Hiro in this condition before. And she remembered all the details clearly.

    ¡°Did you have a nightmare again? You can share it with me, Hiro.¡± The girl looked at Hiro with pity, as if she could feel what Hiro was feeling. Liberty began to tear up.

    ¡°Is this about your brother again? The nightmare about your brother?¡±

    The girl was still trying hard to get Hiro to open his mouth. However, all she got was a cold, nk stare. Hiro brushed Liberty¡¯s hand away gently before speaking.

    ¡°My brother is still alive. Even if he really died, he was killed. And the one who killed him was your father, Libe.¡±

    Liberty shook her head in disbelief at the words that came out of Hiro¡¯s mouth. using her father of murder was something that hurt the girl¡¯s feelings so much. She couldn¡¯t help but burst into tears.

    ¡°My father is not a murderer. He saved everyone who needed help. People think of him as a hero, Hiro. And your brother, I¡¯m sure my father didn¡¯t know him. Don¡¯t make up a theory.¡± Liberty pushed Hiro¡¯s body roughly, but she was thrown backwards instead because the difference in their STR points was too far.

    Snap!

    Hiro grabbed the girl¡¯s hand before she tumbled backwards due to her own action.

    ¡°Let me go.¡± Liberty was the one who shook Hiro¡¯s hand forcefully. The look in her eyes had changed. She was furious.

    Hiro took a deep breath. He knew it would happen. However, his heart felt a little lighter after saying those hurtful words to Liberty. What he had been bothering all this time could finallye out in the form of words. Even Spyro, who pretended to be asleep on a tree branch, for the first time could hear the reason for Hiro¡¯s sudden change of mood to be very quiet.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know that my father was the one who had created a world as beautiful as this? Didn¡¯t you know that without my father, you might never have met me? Didn¡¯t you know¡ª¡±

    ¡°I know. You don¡¯t need to mention them one by one. The more you mention your father¡¯s sess, the more I will only hate him, Libe.¡±

    Hiro cut off Liberty¡¯s words with a louder voice. Making the girl look at him with a look of disbelief, while her cheeks were already wet with tears.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the way he uses you as a shield to cover up his crimes, Libe. I just can¡¯t ept that.¡± Hiro knew he had gone too far. He was too rude, and he had hurt Liberty with his words.

    Hiro spoke in a very soft voice, trying to convey what was in his heart to convince the girl. But, apparently, it was useless.

    Liberty looked really shaken by his words, and the girl¡¯s body seemed to tremble slightly. She didn¡¯t even want to look Hiro in the eye anymore when she spoke.

    ¡°Enough. You don¡¯t know anything, Hiro. You don¡¯t know my father¡¯s sacrifice in the slightest. You don¡¯t know what I¡¯ve been through until I die and can only live in this world. We just happened to meet and if it weren¡¯t for that, none of this would have happened.¡±

    Hiro let the girl pour out her emotion into words. All he could see was the top of her head. Both the girl¡¯s ears dropped weakly because she was very sad and disappointed at the same time.

    Hiro really wanted to touch her, but he knew it wasn¡¯t a wise choice.

    ¡°He killed my brother. He¡¯s a killer, Libe.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know where that sentence came from. He just believed it. And, he had a feeling that was the case. Hiro was more convinced, since Dr. Jeff Johnson was constantly promoting his new project around the world. It was as if the man tried to gather as many allies as possible so that they would save him from an unseen sin.

    ¡°Stop it, Hiro. I don¡¯t know who your brother is, let alone my father¡­ It¡¯s impossible for someone as busy as him to know your brother. And you use my father of being a murderer just because your brother is dead, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°What you said really didn¡¯t make sense, Hiro. I don¡¯t know what my father did to you, but you¡¯ve gone too far in using him of being a murderer. I¡¯m very disappointed in you, Hiro.¡±

    The girl¡¯s body began to tremble violently. She cried with her face down while staring at the flowers that had died from being stepped on.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Libe. I¡¯m messed up. Seeing you just made me think back to that person. Give me some time.¡± Hiro felt his heart empty. He realized his words were too harsh for Liberty. And he knew he could lose her for good after this.

    ¡°Forgive me.¡± He repeated his apology, but the girl gave no response.

    Hiro didn¡¯t really have any proof for his statement before because he knew that getting that proof wasn¡¯t easy. However, he was sure he would get it sooner orter. If only he had the opportunity to ask his brother directly, things would have gone much easier. But, he didn¡¯t know his brother¡¯s status in this world.

    ¡°Never appear before me again, Hiro. I don¡¯t want to see you until you apologize to my father for the harsh usations you made against him.¡±

    Liberty suddenly looked at Hiro with her wet and swollen eyes. The girl held her breath as if not willing to say it.

    And Hiro, who already knew he would hear such a sentence, nodded resignedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll only apologize if he really didn¡¯t kill anyone.¡±

 Chapter 164

    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re really going to let things happen like this, Hiro?¡± Spyro patted Hiro¡¯s back with its paw after Liberty had left the two of them in the garden. The girl didn¡¯t even look back once.

    Hiro sighed. He didn¡¯t give Spyro an answer. After what he had done so far, after what Anonymous discovered recently, his hatred for Liberty¡¯s father grew. And he was furious whenever Dr. Jeff Johnson used Liberty as a virtual guest of honour who always managed to amaze people around the world with his father¡¯s inventions.

    Even a few investors from all over the world had increased the amount of money they invested to help the Brain Download and Brain Upload projects developed by Dr. Jeff Johnson.

    One thing that might be good news for Hiro was the skyrocketing value of the LSC cryptocurrency against the US dor. Previously, LSC was still in second ce behind BTC, with a value of 1,000 LSC equal to 1,000 USD. Since two weeks ago it had been officialized, the price of LSC against the dor had tripled. LSC had be the most expensive cryptocurrency in the world.

    1,000 LSC was now equivalent to 3,500 USD.

    And LSC had been universally recognized by banks around the world so that it could be used for various types of real transactions. Besides, people who had LSC no longer needed to convert LSC into local currency in their country because the world had epted LSC in any form.

    A very big thing was really happening. While the others werepeting to get LSC as much as possible, Hiro was focused on strengthening his avatar, and he was satisfied with what he had achieved so far.

    ¡°Just a few more hours,¡± muttered Hiro, deciding to leave the flower garden where he met with Liberty. He chose that ce, while thinking about the girl. He thought Liberty would definitely like it.

    However, Hiro¡¯s current emotions really messed things up.

    ¡°You have prepared words for them, right?¡± Lately, only Spyromunicated with him, both online and offline.

    ¡°Are you sure they¡¯ll need that?¡±

    ¡°Even if they change it, I¡¯ll let you do it anyway. Don¡¯t worry, Hiro. You have me.¡±

    Hiro walked towards the city. He returned to Beginner Town and walked towards his guild base. However, instead of going inside the building, he only saw it from a distance.

    He could see that the guild base was very crowded with visitors. Either they just spent time by enjoying the drinks sold at the bar or they were interested in joining the guild. However, they must pass the tests Noah and Jacob had arranged first.

    Seeing Noah and Jacob work together so well, it seemed like a dream for Hiro.

    Even though Hiro had only focused on ying solo for the past two weeks, the Evesting guild was still in the top five of the guilds on the NA server. Aside from the guild fame that NightFall managed to get, the BigShow party was also very active in dungeon hunting. Meanwhile, Hiro¡¯s party seems to focus on increasing their strengths.

    Before Hiro left that very crowded ce, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

    ¡°You came.¡±

    Hiro waspletely unaware of Cara¡¯s existence. The girl had stood behind him, as if she had just teleported to that ce and identally caught Hiro, who quietly observed his guild.

    ¡°Cara. You seem to get stronger. I didn¡¯t know you were here.¡±

    Cara smiled at Hiro¡¯s praise. However, she didn¡¯t let herself be carried away by the praise for too long. Besides, she also had a lot of things in her head to say to Hiro.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can go back together.¡± She purposely nudged Hiro¡¯s shoulder before walking past him.

    ¡°Go back? How can I go back now?¡±

    Cara was dumbfounded at Hiro¡¯s very t answer. Even the man¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t return her gaze. His eyes were nk.

    ¡°Hiro, you look a lot worse than NPCs. Come on, let¡¯s go back. We will celebrate your victory.¡± Cara patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder and sent Spyro flying because of her actions.

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    All yers in the game could see the leaderboard. That was why even Cara knew that Hiro had the potential to be a winner for the gameunching event held by Ninecent. Because the gap between rank 1 and rank 2 was quiterge, Cara believed that it was impossible for rank 2 to catch up on Hiro¡¯s Battle rating in less than 24 hours.

    ¡°No. It¡¯s still not enough. I have to get stronger.¡± Hiro clenched his fists. His body slightly trembled from holding back the emotions he had been keeping all this time.

    Spyro, no¡ªAlice looked at Hiro through Spyro¡¯s eyes with pity. She felt guilty for making Hiro like that. The man was too easy to be given the job he was currently doing.

    ¡°Hiro, Cara was right. Why not just rest today and hang out with the others? They will definitely be very proud of your hard work.¡± Spyro tried to speak telepathically with Hiro, setting its voice to sound so soft that Hiro would consider its suggestion.

    ¡°Do you need me to call someone else to pick you up here?¡± Cara still forced him to go back to the guild. It had actually been quite a while since she hadst spoken to Hiro. Even though Hiro often came to take a peek at what was going on at the guild base, she and the others pretended not to see it. Cara felt that something big bothered her leader, and she felt very frustrated with herself for not knowing what was that.

    ¡°Hiro, whatever happens, you are still our leader. We will follow you. If you have something to say, say it. You know that there is no yer who can use the mind reading feature here, right?¡±

    No response. Hiro kept his mouth shut. Meanwhile, Cara was at a loss for words to convince him toe with her.

    Cara decided to remain there, facing Hiro while waiting for the man to move his ass.

    ¡°You¡¯vee this close, but still don¡¯t want to go back, huh?¡±

    It was Noah¡¯s voice. Hiro looked back to see Jacob and Noah, who were already standing a meter away from him with their hands, carrying various kinds of groceries, such as raw meat and vegetables.

    Noah looked at Hiro with a t expression, while Jacob immediately jumped over to Hiro to take a closer look. The smile on the man¡¯s face never faded. And even though Jacob had a hard time with his groceries, he could still use his hands to put his arm around Hiro¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Hiro, let¡¯s go. We have prepared a party to celebrate your victory.¡±

 Chapter 165

    ¡°Everyone also takes a break for today. They can¡¯t wait to see Leader¡¯s name announced by the system.¡± Jacob gave some of the vegetables he had in his hand to Cara, slightly forcing the girl because she really objected to it.

    However, for the sake of sessfully bringing Hiro to the guild, Cara didn¡¯tin.

    Jacob always had a way offorting Hiro with his words. It made Hiro feel reluctant to refuse the man. Especially after he knew who Jacob really was and what had happened to the man. Hiro had a weak heart for him. He couldn¡¯t just ignore Jacob.

    The four of them finally walked together towards the guild base, which was still crowded with visitors. Most people who came were female yers. They repeatedly asked the bar manager when they could meet the NightFall yer just to ask for a group photo or say hello.

    The yer whose name was repeatedly announced by the system because of the achievements he had got. Of course, Hiro became the center of attention of the other yers. Moreover, with such an achievement, Hiro must have a lot of LSC in his current bnce. Having an LSC was enough to attract women because of its great value.

    It wouldn¡¯t be strange if Hiro suddenly became the most wanted person on the server.

    When BigShow saw Hiro¡¯s arrival from afar, along with the others, he decided to close the bar and forcibly expel the non-guild members who were visiting that day.

    ¡°We are closed for now. Please get out of here. If you haven¡¯t paid, no problem, you don¡¯t have to pay. Everything is free at this second due to an internal important event.¡± BigShow¡¯s deep voice caught the attention of all the bar¡¯s visitors, and they immediately cried out in disappointment.

    Boohoo!

    Even so, they moved from their seats and quickly left the bar. No one knew the reason why they were told to leave all of a sudden. And Jacob, who had seen BigShow¡¯s action from afar, decided to block Hiro so no one would see him.

    Jacob was bigger than Hiro, so he could hide him easily.

    ¡°This is sure going to be a lot of fun. They can¡¯t wait to see you, my friend. Do you know? Our new members are very talented, although most of them are still young. And what motivated them to join Evesting is you.¡± Jacob briefly told what had happened to Evesting since Hiro left. He was so excited when he told his story that Hiro felt a little moved to listen to him.

    Hiro really did not expect that he was still considered that important by his guild members. They even actually prepared a party for his victory, which would be announced in the next few hours, as if they were the ones who were the most proud of what he had achieved in the past two weeks.

    Just thinking about it gave Hiro the thrill. He really didn¡¯t expect that people would rely on him like that.

    From the start, his intention to y the game was simple. He needed to make as much money as possible because he had to be independent after his brother died. However, when his mind was in chaos because of the unexpected information he had just received, his members were waiting for him, weing him, and even celebrating his sess.

    BigShow and the others were already standing in front of the guild base in a row. Wheelie also appeared to wee Hiro¡¯s arrival with a broad smile. Meanwhile, behind them were the new members that Hiro saw for the first time. They looked very happy and excited. Some even rubbed their hands because they were nervous to see his arrival.

    ¡°Wee back, Our Leader.¡± Wheelie didn¡¯t hesitate to rush over to Hiro and hug him. The girl had a little trouble because she had a small dwarf body. However, Hiro still couldn¡¯t believe that he would be greeted so warmly by the guild members, even though he had indirectly abandoned them for the past few days. He didn¡¯t move an inch, nor did he hug Wheelie back.

    Slowly, he began to realize that Wheelie¡¯s arms felt very warm. And that warmth made his defenses instantly crumble. Hiro¡¯s body was trembling violently. He buried his face in Wheelie¡¯s shoulder, and the girl was quite startled by Hiro¡¯s action.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Hiro whispered while sobbing on Wheelie¡¯s shoulder.

    Wheelie tightened her embrace.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to, Leader. We¡¯ve been family since the start, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    Jacob pulled Cara¡¯s arms to hug Hiro from behind together.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Hiro. Whatever¡¯s bothering you, you can tell us whenever you¡¯re ready. We will always be there for you.¡±

    Jacob¡¯s words made Hiro sob even more. His body was shaking.

    ¡°All right, All right. We have to prepare the food, guys! We have a party to celebrate!¡± BigShow didn¡¯t want to get carried away. He wiped the corners of his eyes that were already dripping with tears before pping his hands to get the Evesting members¡¯ attention.

    Those who had been given the tasks immediately rushed to carry out their duties.

    Starting from cleaning the tables and chairs at the bar which were closed to the public today, then preparing the food ingredients that Jacob and Noah had bought. They were immediately preupied with their tasks, and they did it with great enthusiasm.

    None of them seemed to object to the tasks. It even made them excited to work overtime because the most important person they really hoped for that day hade.

    After calming down, Hiro sat down on one of the chairs at the bar with the guild management members. And he fell silent again.

    Hiro realized it was time for him to speak up.

    ¡°Thank you very much. You guys have done a lot.¡± Hiro bowed his head and thanked them sincerely.

    ¡°Not at all, boss. We can¡¯t celebrate victory like this every day, can we?¡± BigShow handed Hiro a cup of hot tea to help him rx his muscles and calm his worries.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I really didn¡¯t mean to leave my family. But I really have something very important to do.¡± Hiro adjusted his sitting position so he could sit straight and looked them in the eyes, one by one. Beside him were Jacob and Cara, while the person most reluctant to look at him was Noah. It was as if Noah was the only one annoyed with him for deciding to disappear for days, leaving the task of being a leader to the man.

    Hiro thought that he would have a private talk with Noah to thank himter.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that very important thing right now. However, in a few hours, you¡¯ll find out. When you know, I hope you will still stay by my side. But if you don¡¯t, I won¡¯t force you.¡±

    Hiro knew that the words he had prepared would make his guild members torn apart. Who knows how many of them would continue to believe in him or decide otherwise?

    Whatever happened, Hiro would respect their decision.

 Chapter 166

    The number of guild members had reached 35 people, including the guild management members. The number had increased by three times than before Hiro left them for ying solo.

    Hiro felt a bit nervous when he saw all of them. However, in contrast to Hiro, the new members couldn¡¯t wait for this day to happen soon. They had been waiting to meet their leader.

    Wheelie and the members who had the life skill ability to cook were busy in the kitchen, cooking food for the party. Because almost all of them were yers from America, the food that they would cook also adjusted to their tastes.

    Hiro didn¡¯t mind that. He adapted quickly. Although the food in America was very different from the food he ate every day during his life in Japan, his tongue could ept it all well.

    ¡°So, have you prepared your victory speech, Hiro?¡± Jacob started the conversation. Hiro nced at him. He felt grateful that Jacob had indirectly saved him from feeling awkward.

    ¡°I have prepared it. You¡¯ll have to listen to it carefullyter.¡± Hiro felt his throat parched becausetely he rarely spoke, except talking to the NPCs to carry out the quest.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t wait, Boss,¡± said BigShow, holding up the bottle of beer he had just opened. Even though it was still noon, getting drunk in the LSO game wouldn¡¯t have any effect on the real body. It was the most favourite thing for many people. Even yers who had never drank alcohol in the real world could experience it without fearing that their health would deteriorate.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t wait. I wonder how the PKs will react, seeing Evesting¡¯s leader win theunching event.¡± Cara had changed to be a more talkative person. The girl just needed more time to show her true nature in this circle.

    Hiro smiled after hearing Cara¡¯s words. He knew why the girl was so impatient to wait for the PKs¡¯ reaction.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t in the guild base, Hiro had seen the announcement multiple times, stating that the PKs had been eliminated by the system. And the ones who eliminated the PKs were none other than yers who had the guild name ¡®Evesting¡¯ on their avatars.

    Hiro did not expect that they would actually do as Jacob said when the guild hadn¡¯t been formed yet. Saying that they would be heroes like power rangers and eradicate the PKs in the game.

    Cara and Jacob had united in carrying out the vision and mission.

    ¡°You did well too, Cara.¡± Hiro also felt proud of what the girl had aplished. She had grown quite rapidly.

    The one that stood out the most was Jacob. Previously, he didn¡¯t want to be near PKs, let alone deal with them. Hiro still vividly remembered how Jacob prevented him from interfering when he met the PKs for the first time who called themselves WynterRain fanatic fans.

    Even though Hiro still didn¡¯t want to talk too much because he was in a bad mood, the Evesting guild members were very active in telling what they had experienced during Hiro¡¯s absence. It was either a personal experience or a shared experience.

    With various types of stories, starting with serious stories to stories full of jokes, Hiro could feel the atmosphere inside the building he had bought with the money of the first members was getting warmer. And most importantly, their bond as family had got stronger.

    Time flew fast when people got the best chance in life. The sky had turned dark, and a bonfire was lit in the empty courtyard in front of the guild base.

    They waited impatiently. The food should not be touched before the announcement was made. Even though Hiro had asked them to have dinner first, they refused, saying that it couldn¡¯t be called a celebration if it was celebrated before the announcement.

    Ding!

    [In the next 10 minutes, Last Shelter Online will officially operate for 1 month]

    [yers who can reach the highest progressive within 1 month will get a reward as mentioned earlier]

    [Top 10 yers from all servers will get 50,000 LSC]

    [Top 100 yers from all servers will get 10,000 LSC]

    [For your information, the current LSC price against the US dor is 1,000 LSC equivalent to 3990 USD]

    [Additional prizes from sponsors who have coborated with Last Shelter Online will be given to the Top 3 yers ]

    A transparent panel suddenly appeared in front of all the yers, announcing the information they had been waiting for.

    [For this event, the Battle Rating will determine the ranking on the leaderboard]

    [The time to increase the Battle Rating is only 5 minutes before the system stops counting the upgrade]

    ¡°Exalted and Immortal Knights are nothingpared to Evesting!¡± RobinHood02, who was already half drunk from drinking too much alcohol, eximed in a loud voice.

    ¡°Yesss!¡±

    ¡°We are the strongest!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The atmosphere in the Evesting guild base became boisterous again when the announcement they had been waiting for was only 10 minutes left.

    ¡°For the next update of the guild war, we will dominate it!¡± cried RobinHood02, pouring the alcohol over his head. The cold alcohol managed to cool his body, that felt hot.

    ¡°Nightfall. Check the leaderboard.¡± Noah didn¡¯t take his eyes off the HUD of the system disying the leaderboard. The man frowned at the sight of the odd number skyrocketing like LSC against the dor.

    Hiro did as Noah said and saw what happened to the Leaderboard.

    [All Server]

    [Sort based on Battle Rating]

    [Rank 1. NightFall. Raider. Evesting. Lucifer Descendant. Battle Rating 149,890]

    [Rank 2. TheNinja. Assassin. Immortal Knights. Nightwalkers. Battle Rating 99,500]

    One thing that made Hiro arched an eyebrow in surprise was the names of the yers who were ranked 3 and below. The leaderboard continued to refresh automatically because there was one name that rapidly rose from the tenth rank. It continued to rise non-stop, as if the system had a bug.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°A cheater?¡±

 Chapter 167

    The yers continued to soar disapprovingly.

    ¡°What¡¯s with that yer Ace? Did he cheat?¡±

    Feeling that something was wrong with the leaderboard which became the center of attention, the world chat was flooded with messages suspecting that Ace, the leader of Exalted, had cheated to increase the battle rating in seconds.

    ¡°This is not true.¡± Even Hiro felt that something was wrong.

    Even so, the Evesting members who looked worried that their leader could not be the winner were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly yer Ace stopped at rank 2. The battle rating number no longer increased.

    [Rank 2. Ace. Hunter. Exalted. Moonspire Knight. Battle Rating 111,750]

    [Rank 3. TheNinja. Assassin. Immortal Knights. Nightwalker. Battle Rating 99,500]

    Ding!

    [Time is up!]

    [System is calcting the Final Battle Rating]

    [Please Wait]

    No words came out of anyone¡¯s mouth. Hiro also locked his mouth tightly and focused on the transparent screen that appeared in front of him, disying a text without an image.

    Glitche!

    The screen suddenly glitched, and the leaderboard appeared again in front of them. The order of the winners didn¡¯t change from what they had seen thest time before the screen disappeared.

    And that meant¡­

    [Congrattions! yer NightFall from Evesting for bing the top rank 1 of the Last Shelter Onlineunching Event]

    A moving text appeared like a billboard above the dark sky on the server. Then thousands of fireworks suddenly popped up and enlivened the ongoing announcement.

    ¡°We did it!¡±

    ¡°We did it!¡±

    ¡°They said Night Fall from Evesting!¡±

    ¡°They did!¡±

    ¡°Yahoo!¡±

    The Evesting members immediately jumped with joy and pride when they saw the official announcement given by Last Shelter Online. As if the spotlight that night was only devoted to top rank 1. Suddenly, a drone came flying in the empty air. It flew to Hiro.

    Those who were celebrating the victory over Hiro¡¯s sess were stunned and curious about the drone¡¯s function. Until a familiar hologram suddenly appeared from the light that came out of the drone.

    The hologram was Dr. Jeff Johnson, who directly broadcast what was going on in the Last Shelter Online. He also directly congratted Hiro on being the winner.

    Hiro, who did not expect that he would face Dr. Jeff Johnson, the person who had ruined his mood, could only clench his fists secretly. He tried to stop himself from exploding in anger in front of the millions of people watching him.

    ¡°Hiro, you¡¯re in a live broadcast.¡± Spyro repeatedly warned him not to do anything rash, or all the ns they had prepared so far would be in vain.

    ¡°Congrattions, Nightfall. You are the greatest yer who had managed to find great power in the world of Last Shelter Online. Tonight is a special night for you.¡±

    ¡°Here, 60,000 LSC for you.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have obtained 60,000 LSC]

    ¡°And a privilege card to get premium facilities at the Last Shelter Online: The New World.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have obtained tinum card (This item can only be used in the Last Shelter Online: The New World]

    Hiro still didn¡¯t respond. Not even a smile appeared on his lips.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the winner of thisunching event to be a teenager. There¡¯s a lot of talented teenagers these days. You seem to be the same age as my daughter. Maybe one day we can have dinner together in Last Shelter Online: The New World.¡±

    Cara realized there was something wrong with Hiro¡¯s expression. She moved closer to him, holding Hiro¡¯s hand so the man wouldn¡¯t do anything stupid.

    Hiro looked at the girl with a confused look. He was a bit surprised by the girl¡¯s action. However, when Cara gave a nod, he understood that he had to hold back his anger and resentment.

    ¡°Congrattions on your victory, Kid. I hope you can keep getting stronger in the Last Shelter Online. The gifts from sponsors, I can¡¯t mention one by one, but Nyx will definitely help me give them to you.¡± Dr. Jeff Johnson talked like a man of high authority.

    ¡°So, what haven¡¯t you got from the Last Shelter Online so far? Feedback from the strongest yer will be very useful for improving the game features.¡±

    This time, Hiro knew it was time for him to take a chance.

    ¡°I have one request as the strongest yer and at the same time the winner of thisunching event.¡±

    Dr. Jeff Johnson didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. His hands moved to ask Hiro to continue his words.

    ¡°The time to talk. Let me get a chance to deliver my victory speech,¡± said Hiro in a calm voice. His body was already trembling with emotion, but he still managed to keep it from bursting out.

    ¡°Of course, yer NightFall. Tonight is a celebration for you. You can deliver your victory speech. We are on a worldwide live broadcast. Let the world know you through the Last Shelter Online.¡±

    Hiro smiled faintly. He was getting closer to what he had nned.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t interrupt me.¡±

    The drone flying in front of Hiro gave off a new light that looked like a shlight, but it didn¡¯t hurt Hiro¡¯s eyes when he looked at it.

    He took a deep breath before starting what was already neatly arranged in his head.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s start this.¡±

    ¡°But before I start, I hope that you, my brother, don¡¯t disturb the spotlight for me this time.¡±

    Just hearing Hiro¡¯s opening sentence made the people in the Evesting look at each other in bewilderment.

    ¡°His brother? Does he have a brother?¡±

    ¡°What is the rtion between it?¡±

    ¡°Is he doing all this for his brother?¡±

    Hiro cleared his throat, asking for the people nearby to pay attention to him again, and kept quiet.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªI forgot that you¡¯re dead. You will nevere back again to do that, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I never thought you were still alive, especially in a different world. But we can still meet to greet each other.¡±

    ¡°Today. I want them all to know. That, I, NightFall, will be the strongest yer in this game. Strong enough to know what evil they have been hiding all this time.¡±

    ¡°My real name is Yamaguchi Hiro. And if you feel familiar with my surname, what spontaneously pops into your head is true.¡±

    ¡°Yes! I am the little brother of the legendary WynterRain.¡±

    ¡°And I won¡¯t let my brother¡¯s death be forgotten.¡±

    ¡°One person who knows everything, but pretends to know nothing, is now talking on the live broadcast with me. Isn¡¯t it, Dr. Johnson?¡±

    The hologram of Dr. Jeff Johnson didn¡¯t seem to react. Even so, the live broadcast was still going on. Alice had hacked it.

    Zzzaaap!

    Suddenly, a very terrible lightning shed from above the sky.

    It was so powerful that it made people who were still dumbfounded by Hiro¡¯s exnation reflexively raise their heads to look up at the sky.

    There was only one person on that server who could do that, regardless of what was going on.

    Starting from a lightning strike turned into a sign that disaster wasing.

    Before his spotlight was stolen, Hiro continued his unfinished sentence.

    ¡°Dr. Jeff Johnson is a murderer. He didn¡¯t just kill my brother, Yuujin. But everyone involved in testing his illegal project. So, are you all going to keep on¡ª¡±

    arrrrr!

    [-11900]

    A sudden sh of lightning struck the drone in front of Hiro until it shattered into nothing.

 Chapter 168

    Hiro was dumbfounded. Suddenly, in front of him stood the figure of a man hiding his body in a ck robe with a hood covering his head. Next to the man was a ck dragon the size of an adult husky who was pping its wings slowly. The dragon grinned mischievously while baring its sharp teeth.

    The figure appeared alone, recing the destroyed drone in front of Hiro with a single lightning strike. When Hiro peeked at the face hidden under the hood, a familiar silhouette could be seen smiling faintly at him.

    ¡°Do you like to get people¡¯s attention, Hiro?¡±

    Hiro clenched his hands into fists when he heard the voice he had missed so much speaking directly in front of him.

    ¡°Y-Yujin.¡± Hiro¡¯s tongue suddenly felt stiff, and he didn¡¯t know what to say to Yuujin, who suddenly appeared in front of him.

    Meanwhile, the Evesting members were still surprised by the deafening sound of a lightning that struck so close to them. They also recognized the ck robe man as one of the yer killers who was considered a terrorist group on the server.

    Jacob, who was standing very close to Hiro, immediately rushed to pull Hiro away from the figure standing in front of them.

    ¡°Hiro, back off!¡±

    Zapppp!

    A bolt of lightning struck the spot in front of Jacob¡¯s feet just as he was about to grab Hiro, trying to save the man from being struck by the lightning. The lightning was so close to him that it made Jacob¡¯s heart pounding crazily. His face had turned pale, like a corpse. Jacob fell to the ground helplessly, and Wheelie immediately helped him up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch my friend!¡± Seeing what his brother had just done to Jacob made Hiro furious. He reflexively moved the Blood-Eater Vampire¡¯s de in his left side against Yuujin¡¯s neck, trying to threaten the man.

    Yuujin tilted his head, then chuckled.

    ¡°Ha ha ha. Did you just n to kill me because I attacked your friend Hiro?¡±

    Hiro remained silent, as if he had lost his voice. Yet, the serious look on his face didn¡¯t change in the slightest. It didn¡¯t soften at all. Meanwhile, his hand kept aiming the de at Yuujin¡¯s neck steadily.

    ¡°I¡¯m so jealous of your dear friend. You know that, right?¡±

    Yuujin moved his hand. Hiro, who had known that bad things woulde every time his brother moved his hand, brought his de closer to Yuujin¡¯s neck. However, the ck dragon next to Yuujin suddenly tossed Hiro¡¯s sword away.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill anyone here. I¡¯ll just introduce myself, like what you just did in the live broadcast, Hiro.¡±

    Even though he still couldn¡¯t believe Yuujinpletely, Hiro let Yuujin open the hood that covered his face. It made the people in that ce gasp in bewilderment after seeing the face behind the hood.

    ¡°Holy shit! Does the Boss have two ounts?!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe my eyes, but¡­ has the Boss split himself in two?¡±

    They started muttering and judging how the person hiding behind the robe looked really alike with Hiro.

    Yuujin turned his body to face the Evesting members, then tilted his head while smiling.

    From the eyes, nose, even his lips look exactly the same as Hiro, except for the hair. The man had longer hair. They were more suitable to be called twins than brothers.

    ¡°Good grief! Is he really WynterRain?!¡±

    ¡°Really? That WynterRain?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is WynterRain, right?¡±

    ¡°You mean WynterRain, the leader of that terrorist group?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what his older brother was nning, but he remained on guard. Even though his eyes were a little distracted because of the ck dragon looking at him fiercely. As if it really wanted to kill him right away, if only Yuujin didn¡¯t stop the dragon that was about to charge at him.

    ¡°Wait, is he really our Boss¡¯ brother?¡± BigShow started to connect pieces of information he had. After hearing Hiro¡¯s confession in front of the drone, and the appearance of WynterRain which became the hot topic talked by yers all over the server, BigShow felt that something was indeed off among all of it.

    ¡°Right. My name is WynterRain. I am a human just like you, and I have a little clingy brother that never stopped bothering me, even after I had died.¡± Yuujin turned her head to Hiro as he mentioned that he had a brother.

    No one dared to speak, not even a rebuttal could be heard. Everyone kept their mouths shut and waited patiently for WynterRain¡¯s words.

    ¡°What my brother said is true. Jeff Johnson is a murderer. And if you don¡¯t agree with that, you¡¯d better leave this guild right away.¡±

    Hiro felt that the words Yuujin had just said were too harsh. His brother should not have interfered with his affairs. Even him as the guild leader, let his guild members choose to believe it or not believe it.

    ¡°Stop it, Yujin. This guild is my guild. Stop interfering with things that are none of your business.¡±

    Yuujin turned his body back to face Hiro, who was looking at him with his eyebrows knitted together. Hiro really wasn¡¯t afraid of his brother anymore. Even if Yuujin came to kill him once again, he had already prepared a way to dodge the attack.

    But¡ª Yuujin didn¡¯t seem interested in killing him this time. He tapped Hiro¡¯s shoulder three times, then smiled.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I only came here for two reasons.¡±

    ¡°First. I want to warn you. You have to be careful about trusting someone, especially if it is your best friend. When something is not in line with your n, you have to get rid of that person quickly.¡±

    Yuujin¡¯s eyes shifted to Noah, who had pulled out a Mystic Tome in front of him. The man was ready to attack Yuujin at any time. Then, next to Noah, was Jacob, who had also pulled out his sword and shield just in case the lightning came again unexpectedly. Thest one was Cara, who was still sitting in her chair with a t expression on her face. The girl didn¡¯t seem interested in what was going on in front of her.

    ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing and what I believe, Yuujin.¡± Hiro didn¡¯t know what Yuujin meant by telling him something like that.

    A faint smile spread across Yuujin¡¯s face. He patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder once again.

    ¡°Great. I know you¡¯re mature enough to know that. You are a reliable person, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°And second. First of all, I have to apologize for interrupting your first live broadcast on a channel that everyone in the world can watch, Hiro. I just can¡¯t wait to congratte you in person without getting filmed by the camera.¡±

    Yuujin had a more muscr and taller bodypared to Hiro, so he could put one of his hands on Hiro¡¯s head. The man brought his face closer to Hiro, saying something he had been holding back for a long time.

    ¡°Well done, Hiro. Although you are still far from catching up with my power, you are the best yer here, in the Last Shelter Online. I know you¡¯ve been through a lot. But for now, I ask you to not stop! Keep getting stronger so that no one can bring you down. As your brother, seeing you grow this fast is an honour. You know that I¡¯m very proud of you right, Hiro?¡±

    Hiro froze on the spot. His heart suddenly felt like it was about to burst out of happiness because of Yuujin¡¯s words. He really needed it so he could keep on doing his n.

    He had worked hard, but no one acknowledged it. And now, it was his dead brother who acknowledged his abilities. Hiro could feel his nose getting wet. He lifted his face so that tears wouldn¡¯t fall out in front of everyone. It would be very embarrassing.

    Yuujin smiled, seeing Hiro¡¯s reaction. However, he had not finished yet.

    ¡°I might not be able to join the celebrations here with Evesting. But, I have a gift for you.¡±

 Chapter 169 - A Notepad

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a notepad]

    ¡°You will need thister,¡± Yuujin said after handing a notebook to Hiro.

    Hiro looked at the light notebook questioningly. He had been expecting something big as a gift from his brother. However, it seemed Yuujin had other ns.

    ¡°What is this?¡± He hoped to get a clue before Yuujin really left him once again.

    ¡°The thing that you always asked me to do.¡± Yuujin walked backwards away, the ck dragon flew after him, then perched on his hand in a tilted position.

    ¡°My eyes are always on you, Hiro.¡±

    ¡°It is time for us to go, Alice.¡±

    Zappp!

    Yuujin came with lightning, and he also disappeared within the lightning. Hiro blinked his eyes because he felt like he was being burned by such a bright light. However, onest thing he heard from Yuujin¡¯s mouth made him stare at Spyro, who had been perching on his shoulder for so long.

    ¡°He called the dragon Alice. Did you hear that?¡± Hiro really didn¡¯t know if it was a coincidence or there was a good reason behind it. There was no way Yuujin would use a random name for his pet that apanied him wherever he went. However, if it was just a coincidence, how could the coincidence be so urate?

    ¡°Alice, tell me! What is your rtionship with Yuujin?¡±

    ¡°Kwakkk!¡±

    As if running away from his question, Alice stopped controlling Spyro, and the dragon had returned to normal mode.

    ¡°Damn you, Alice.¡±

    Hiro looked around and found that the Evesting members were still looking dumbfounded while staring at him. Their mouths were wide open. It seemed they were still confused about what had just happened at the guild base.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ sorry for this mess. So, when are we going to start the party for the celebration?¡± Hiro felt awkward while speaking in a normal tone. For some reason, after doing a live confession, his old mood had returned to normal. Actually, he didn¡¯t know if it was because of the live broadcast he had done or because of Yuujin¡¯s sudden appearance.

    ¡°Party! Party! Party! They did mention our guild name, Evesting!¡± Jacob lifted the full bottle of wine he had bought from Jack¡¯s bar. He had always been Hiro¡¯s saviour for unexpected moments like this.

    ¡°Yahoo!¡±

    ¡°Our leader is so cool!¡±

    ¡°Evesting at its best!¡±

    ¡°We are the strongest!¡±

    As if they didn¡¯t want to worry about what had just happened, they busied themselves again to celebrate Hiro¡¯s victory. The food that was still warm and ready to eat was already lined up on the table.

    The first was to eat voraciously together. The second event was to drink alcohol, which was in stock because everything had been calcted by Jacob. He had nned to get everyone drunk that night.

    Theter the night, the louder the singing voices could be heard from Evesting guild base. Some have even stood up and danced on the table with their clothes half exposed.

    Hiro enjoyed all the free viewing of his win earnestly. Everything looked very normal in front of him. No one thought he was weird after what he did. Hiro was relieved by that.

    As he was sitting alone on a wooden chair, Noah, Jacob, and Cara came up to him, bringing their chairs close to Hiro.

    ¡°You did it, Hiro.¡± Jacob spoke with his breath reeking of alcohol. He still could open his eyes, although they were only slightly open. His hands moved to embrace Hiro¡¯s shoulders and pulled Hiro to him a little roughly. Hiro didn¡¯t mind that at all, instead he held onto Jacob so the man wouldn¡¯t fall from the chair.

    ¡°So you¡¯re WynterRain¡¯s little brother, huh? No wonder you look so much alike with him. Even too simr, like twins.¡± Noah tried to get Hiro to talk. Noah, who recently spent time with Jacob, also learned how to interact with the fellow yers.

    ¡°Why, Noah? Are you confused about choosing between Hiro and his brother? If I were you, I¡¯d choose Hiro. At least Hiro is cuter and he won¡¯t make you scared of getting killed every time hees.¡± Cara always brought up her BL topic about Noah.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Noah rolled his eyes in annoyance. He took a deep breath, feeling tired of the same topic over and over again.

    ¡°He is my brother. One and only.¡± Hiro replied in a calm voice. His eyes were still glued to the people who were dancing and singing at the table like they were having a concert.

    ¡°So, what did he give you? I only saw it in the form of an ordinary notebook. Did he write a letter?¡± This time, Cara asked a serious question. Noah looked back at Hiro, wanting to hear the answer to Cara¡¯s question because he was also curious.

    Hiro took out a notepad from his inventory and fiddled with it in his hand. Noah and Cara had to tilt their seats so they could peek at what was in the notebook.

    ¡°Have you opened it?¡± Noah asked curiously. Secretly, WynterRain was his idol, especially in this game. WynterRain used an avatar with magic power like him. Noah became increasingly obsessed with him. He was curious about the man¡¯s secret to be so powerful like that. Besides, the system didn¡¯t detect him as a yer. Because if he was detected, Hiro could not possibly be the first winner.

    ¡°Not yet. But I think I know what¡¯s in it.¡±

    From what his older brother had said before he disappeared without a trace again or told Hiro where he lived, only one thing made him instantly know what was written in the notebook.

    ¡°It¡¯s a game walkthrough.¡± Hiro was very sure of the answer.

    ¡°What?!¡± Jacob, who had been silent because he was drunk, suddenly eximed. He had never heard of that term.

    ¡°Are you sure? Holy shit! How could he do that?¡± Noah covered his mouth with his palm. He reflexively shouted. Noah couldn¡¯t believe Hiro¡¯s answer before he saw the contents of the notebook with his own two eyes.

    But, before Hiro opened the notebook together with the others to prove he wasn¡¯t wrong, Jacob once again asked what the game walkthrough was. And Noah gave him an answer, although he wasn¡¯t sure if Jacob could understand it or not because he was drunk right now.

    ¡°A game walkthrough is a guide to improve a yer¡¯s skill within a game and it is often made to assist yers inpleting either an entire game or specific events.¡±

    ¡°Really? Do you mean that it¡¯s a cheat?¡± Cara lowered her voice for fear of being heard by others and disrupting the party.

    ¡°Kind of.¡±

    Hiro opened the first page of the notebook and found the name of his sword there.

    [Blood-Eater Vampire]

    [Legendary Weapon Upgrade Quest Stage 1 to Stage 5 (Complete)]

    Everything was written in Yuujin¡¯s handwriting that Hiro knew well. The real Yuujin really preferred to write on paper rather than type it. That was why when Hiro found the VR helmet as a gift, Hiro was a little suspicious because the sender used a print out.

    And the notebook was indeed a walkthrough. As if Yuujin had decided to support other yers who would be his brother¡¯s permanent party, he also added a special page for Noah¡¯s weapons.

    [Ying-Yang Harmony]

    [Legendary Weapon Upgrade Quest Stage 1 to Stage 5 (Complete)]

    Hiro remembered the first time he yed a video game when he was 6 years old. He asked his brother to make aplete guide until he managed toplete all the quests and get a perfect final score in the game. Hiro¡¯s request became a habit for Yuujin. The man always made a guide for Hiro. Besides, most of the Walkthroughs written by Yuujin were purchased by the gamermunity from all over the world.

 Chapter 170 - Lucifers Ancient Diary

    [You bought Lucifer¡¯s memory shards 15x]

    [Total price 7,500 LSC]

    [Proceed?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Hiro was in a marketce and stood face to face with Nyx, who became a helper as usual. The android smiled with his lips only the size of a line.

    [Your payment has been received]

    [You have obtained Lucifer¡¯s memory shards 15x]

    ¡°Nice. Next is the second step.¡±

    After the celebration party that ended in the morning, Hiro was finally able to go back to being alone again. He woke up earlier than other guild members, so he could sneak away to try out one of the walkthrough Yuujin had given him.

    [Stage 1 Legendary Weapon Blood-Eater Vampire]

    In order to upgrade his weapon so that it could be as powerful as when he used it during the Closed-Beta Test, Hiro had to do the Legendary Weapon upgrade quest, which consisted of five stages.

    Stage 1 was the easiest. The requirement written by Yuujin toplete stage 1 sessfully was Hiro needed to have a minimum battle rating of 100,000 with STR and AGI above 100 points and he had to use a set of armour that focused on increasing the defense.

    Hiro left the marketce in the Underworld City because the item he had just bought was only avable in that ce. He then went out of the city area of ??the Underworld City to look for hidden NPCs that were somewhere outside that area.

    Unlike other cities, which mostly always had forests outside the city area, the Underworld City only had rocks that form hills and valleys. The ground, which was only made of reddish-coloured stone, looked cracked as if there had never been water in that ce.

    Not very pleasing to the eye.

    After passing through three rows of hills, as written in the notebook Yuujin gave him, Hiro found a giant rift that stopped him from going through another rocky ground that stretched twenty meters in front of him. It was separated by a very deep chasm.

    Stage 2 of a legendary weapon could be essed by crossing the abyss. However, to go to that ce, the yers from the demon bloodline must have at least one wing to fly. Or they were also allowed to use an adult pet that could take them flying.

    Hiro found an NPC he was looking for. A half-demon girl who had one wing intact, while the other was a broken wing. The girl stood in front of a rocky hill and stared nkly at the cliff.

    ¡°Hello, Lily!¡± Hiro greeted the NPC casually.

    ¡°Wee, yer NightFall. Have a safe day from the wrath of the King of All Demons, Lucifer.¡±

    Just saying hello didn¡¯t trigger the legendary weapon stage 1 quest toe out. Hiro used the second method. He showed one of Lucifer¡¯s memory shards in front of NPC Lily and waited for her reaction.

    ¡°Look what I have,¡± he said, trying to get the attention of NPC Lily, who didn¡¯t blink her eyes even once. Her eyes were nk.

    What Hiro had offered instantly made the girl look back at Hiro and the shard in his hand in turn.

    ¡°Lucifer¡¯s memory shard?¡± Her tone changed to one of enthusiasm.

    ¡°Great! Where did you get it from? Is it for me?¡±

    With Yuujin¡¯s infallible walkthrough, Hiro knew what he had to do next.

    ¡°What will I get if I give it to you?¡±

    NPC Lily smiled faintly, then crossed her arms in front of her chest.

    ¡°If you have 15 shards, I will give you a notebook that Lucifer wrote himself.¡± She spoke in a confident voice.

    Without thinking, Hiro took out fifteen shards of Lucifer¡¯s memory he had just bought a few minutes ago, and he gave them all to NPC Lily.

    ¡°Wow! You really have it! Are you really interested in learning about Lucifer¡¯s powers?¡± His eyes were sparkling with vigour. And like an ordinary girl who was very happy after getting a gift from someone, NPC Lily jumped up and down with joy.

    ¡°Give me the book you had promised.¡± Hiro gave the 15 shards to NPC Lily and in return, NPC Lily brought out a very old-looking book. The girl gave it to Hiro at the same time.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Lucifer¡¯s ancient diary]

    ¡°Thank you. It is nice to do business with you.¡±

    The Walkthrough written by Yuujin this time was not so detailed, as if the man had never tried it himself. For stage 1, Yuujin only provided information until he got a diary from NPC Lily. Next, he only added a small note in the form of scribbles.

    ¡®Just follow what Lucifer wrote.¡¯

    Hiro immediately read the contents of the book he had just received. The book was, of course, written on full pages with the letters that couldn¡¯t be read with normal eyes.

    [Demon¡¯s Eyes]

    [Dear Diary, today I have captured a very famous Dwarf and imprisoned him in a dungeon. I asked him to create an invincible strongest sword that could contain some of the power of my curse without breaking the vessel. Whatever happens, he must finish it or he will rot forever underground until the day he loses his breath.]

    Next page¡­

    [Dear Diary, after 365 days of non-stop work, finally the sword I dreamed of was born. The power of my curse has been sessfully sealed within it, and the sword will continue to suck the blood of anyone, regardless of their race. However, it seems that the de is still not perfect. I have to find a Dwarf who inherited the swordsmith¡¯s blood and ask him to refine it.]

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a special quest]

    [Story of Blood-Eater Vampire Stage 1]

    ¡°Here we go.¡±

    [This quest can only be essed if the yer is the owner of the Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword)]

    [If the yer does not have the weapon, this quest can be sold in the marketce]

    [Please confirm if you have Blood-Eater Vampire on your hands]

    ¡°How?¡±

    [Bleed your arm and let Blood-Eater Vampire absorb your blood. After that, pat the de on this page]

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªbleed myself again, huh? Who wrote this story? Is he promoting self-harm?¡±

    Hiro had no other choice but to do as the system said. He ced the book on a high rock before using the de of his sword to cut the surface of his own left hand until it bled. Enough blood to be absorbed by the sword.

    He was a bit used to the pain now.

    Ding!

    [You have been confirmed as the owner of the Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatswords)]

    No more notifications appeared, but suddenly the diary sheet he was holding moved by itself even though there was no strong wind blowing in that ce.

    The page shifted to a nk sheet that slowly filled itself with ck ink.

    Drawing a map that looked very familiar to Hiro.

    Map of Vul Faldur City.

 Chapter 171 - Dwarfs Mine

    Hiro had arrived at the town square of Vul Faldur, which he had marked as the spawn point. Vul Faldur City was very crowded with visitors as usual. yers and NPCs blend together into one toe as buyers or travelling merchants.

    After making a confession on the live broadcastst night, Hiro suddenly became very famous. Every yer who passed him greeted him respectfully. He felt a little awkward when other yers bent down their heads just to greet him. He felt it was a bit too much. That was not what he wanted after his confession.

    To avoid that, Hiro decided to buy a new robe that had a hoodie and a mask to cover his face. He also bought a new scabbard to hide the Blood-Eater Vampire, which had be his signature weapon.

    Based on the map that appeared on the pages of Lucifer¡¯s diary, Hiro had to move to a ce where there was a mine at that point. There was no clear clue as to what he would find at that point because there was no detailed exnation in the diary.

    If the instructions were very clear, everything would feel too easy to upgrade the stage 1 legendary weapon, and the price was also rtively cheap because he had 15 Lucifer¡¯s memory shards .

    That afternoon, the weather was hot and Hiro ran in the scorching sun, while Spyro flew after him. Until this moment, Alice still hadn¡¯t controlled his pet¡¯s body again and left it in automatic mode. At least, after Alice managed to add cheats to Spyro, the dragon would always be full and its mood was always great. Hiro didn¡¯t have to bother to feed it and paid attention to its mood.

    After walking for more than a kilometre, Hiro finally arrived at a point marked on the map. At that point, there was no visible building above the ground. Just a hut that seemed to be used as a resting ce for the dwarf miners.

    Hiro saw a train track that must have functioned to move the mining products out of the dug hole. By following the end of the train tracks, Hiro also found a mine passage that was still used by the Dwarves. It had oilmps in it.

    He could enter the passage without asking the Dwarves¡¯ permission who were passing by with the mining tools.

    Hiro arrived at the end of the train tracks. He saw a wooden carriage that was already full of cargo parked there. But, his objective was not in the wooden carriage.

    In front of him, there was a three-way junction which Hiro had to choose whether he would go to the left or right. And he really didn¡¯t know which path to take.

    In times like these, there was no other choice but to try both at random.

    Hiro chose the path to the left and entered it. A simr passage, but not as many oilmps as the previous one.

    And as he walked deeper and deeper, suddenly dozens of monsters resembling rattlesnakes appeared, surrounding him from all directions. Even some of them were hanging from the ceiling of the cave.

    ¡°Well, wrong way.¡± Hiro muttered, then drew out the Blood-Eater Vampire to finish off the monsters.

    Ding!

    [New Monster Information has been unlocked]

    [Rattlevenom Level 70]

    [Race: Beast]

    Hiro smiled. After working hard enough to increase his progressive stats, Hiro felt that this time he became obsessed with taking down the enemies. And this rattlesnake monster would be his first hunt today. He would use them as a light warm-up.

    [Concentration (passive)]

    [In order to use a great sword properly, you must first concentrate on your mind. Once you are focused, there is nothing that cannot be cut by your sword. With this skill, your XP will increase faster during battle.]

    [Hurricane sh]

    [Attack skill using a great sword. When used, you will be swinging your great sword in a circr motion to create a hurricane. This powerful hurricane will sh through your opponent and will damage even those who are behind them.]

    Hirobined his new skills in the right order.

    Whoosh!

    With the speed of a rogue and barbarian, Hiro twisted his body until the air pressure surrounding him changed ording to the direction of his rotation. At the same time, the vampire Blood-Eater spun around to form a powerful hurricane that could sh down the nearby monsters and pull them into the vortex.

    St!

    St!

    St!

    [-15000] [-15000] [-15000]

    The rattlesnake monsters that were being pulled into the vortex of sword shes instantly died with their bodies tear limb from limb before being able to shoot their poison at Hiro.

    St! St! St!

    Hiro didn¡¯t stop until his energy ran out. The reduced energy count wasn¡¯t that greatpared to the Awakening swordbo skill, so Hiro didn¡¯t hesitate at all when using it.

    St!

    [-15000] [-15000 [-15000]

    Those rattlesnake monsters had been in in a matter of minutes.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Rattlesnakes Venom Drops 55x]

    [You have obtained Snake sses () ¨C Fame +500 (Tradeable)]

    Hiro immediately put all the drops he got from killing the monster to the Marketce for sale. Venom Drops were highly sought after by low-level rogues for extra stack damage.

    While Snake sses, what kind of people were interested in wearing sses with a dark brown snake-shaped frame? Yet, Hiro hoped that it would sell well in the market.

    After finding a dead end that only contained dozens of deadly poisonous monsters, Hiro ran back to the previous three-way junction, and this time, he chose to take the path to the right.

    To the right, he saw the Dwarves taking their lunch break again while leaning against the wall. Some of them offered Hiro to join in with them, but Hiro ignored it.

    At the end of the passage, there was a hole dug downwards that looked as deep as a well, but the diameter was so wide, like a chasm. There was a wooden staircase against the wall leading down.

    And Hiro had no other choice but to go down the stairs to the bottom.

    It took more than five minutes without a break for Hiro to go down the stairs to the bottom. And below, he saw many Dwarves working in unison, digging the ground in other parts.

    Hiro continued to walk through the main passage, which was quite narrow and congested with a bit of difficulty. He was the only person who had a normal body size. Without knowing what he was looking for in there, Hiro continued and didn¡¯t give up.

    Until suddenly, an NPC greeted him with a sentence that made his ears stiff.

    ¡°What an excellent sword, Man.¡±

 Chapter 172 - Stealing Casually

    Hiro immediately turned around and walked over to the Dwarf who had just said something about his sword.

    He was a male Dwarf who looked very old. He wore an eye patch like a pirate.

    ¡°Do you know anything about my sword?¡± Hiro took out his sword and showed the Blood-Eater Vampire in front of the Dwarf, letting the Dwarf observe and assess the exquisite detail of the sword. The Dwarf kept nodding his head as scrutinize it.

    ¡°I see¡­ I see. The object to forge this sword has been nowhere to be found for thousands of years. Ahh¡ªI saw something missing here.¡±

    Hiro furrowed his brows in confusion. He had been with the sword for more than a month, but he didn¡¯t even notice that there was an empty semicircr hollow right at the base of the de. Hiro thought that the sword model was like that. However, after hearing what the NPC said, he realized that it must be rted to the Stage 1 Legendary Weapon upgrade quest.

    ¡°Do you know what kind of thing should be in that ce?¡±

    ¡°Hmmmm¡­ from the diameter and depth of the basin. It looks like a 2-inch Hell Stone ss Gem. You know that gem, right?¡± The NPC returned Hiro¡¯s sword and Hiro nodded as he epted it.

    ¡°Great! If you have it, the power of your sword will definitely increase.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where I can get that gem?¡±

    ¡°Of course. The Hell Stone ss Gem is a magic stone that is essential for preserving life in the Voiceless Abyss.¡±

    ¡°The Voiceless Abyss?¡±

    ¡°You can find it at the base of the Tower of the Death in the Underworld City. Found a subus to gain ess to the ce. Usually, they gather at the Hellfire Tavern every midnight.¡±

    The information Hiro had obtained was sufficient. He rushed back out of the mine. However, he still had to wait until midnight to be able to find the subus.

    Hiro decided to continue grinding monsters in order to increase his progressives stats again while rxing his muscles.

    The monster that Hiro targeted was the centaur monster that upied the desert in Vul Faldur City. The monster used arge sword as a weapon so that Hiro could practise his sword technique at the same time.

    Hiro spent time in that ce until the day turned to night and he was already exhausted.

    Then, he decided to head towards the Underworld City. In two hours, it would be midnight.

    That night, the Underworld City seemed busier than usual.

    After the sale of VR helmets for Last Shelter Online was re-opened with an infinite number, even epting pre-orders, the number of yers had increased. And since Hiro won theunching event, most of the new yers decided to choose the same job and bloodline as Hiro because they believed that the job and the bloodline were very strong.

    That was why the Underworld City looked even busier than before. Even so, most of them were low-level yers who had just reached the level to travel around all the cities in the world of Last Shelter Online.

    In all the cities, there must be a space to sell any kind of item and it could be done by anyone who had a merchant certificate. Even so, the sellers in the Underworld City weren¡¯t as many as the sellers in Vul Faldur.

    Hiro decided to check the market where the yers were selling while waiting for midnight toe. However, he had no interest in checking out the yers selling on the side of the city¡¯s main street. Hiro knew hidden ces where he could find items at bombastic prices due to their rarity.

    In a ce that not many yers knew about, the sellers didn¡¯t have to pay for the tax at all, so it could be said that the system allowed illegal buying and selling.

    The ce was hidden inside the Hellfire Tavern. Precisely, the underground of the Hellfire Tavern. Not just anyone could enter it. The first time Hiro entered the ce was because he managed to defeat the NPC bartender, who was an incubus. The ess to go to that ce would only be granted if the yer was stronger than the NPC bartender. Although Hiro was able to defeat him easily back then.

    The ck market under the Hellfire Tavern was very quiet. The people who came could be counted on with fingers. Even so, the secret underground warehouse seemed to be packed with all kinds of items.

    ¡°What are you saying? This thing costs 30,000 LSC? Have you gone mad? Do you really have any intention of selling or not?¡±

    A bloodline demon thug-looking man was seen cursing a merchant who covered his face with a bandage like a mummy. He was a yer too.

    Even though he was being shouted at like that, the yer who was selling the item did not budge from his spot as if he didn¡¯t hear it.

    Hiro sighed. There was always amotion every time he came to this ce. However, because Hiro was curious about the item that was valued at 30,000 LSC, he decided to go to the source of themotion.

    Hiro could feel the seller¡¯s eyes who were being cursed, ncing at him briefly before averting his gaze as if he wasn¡¯t interested in Hiro in the slightest.

    The items that the man sold were not many. They are all stones with different functions. From what Hiro had got from fighting monsters to the stones that Hiro had never seen before.

    There were 12 stones in total and they were neatly arranged on a wooden table covered with a shabby cloth.

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy from this person. He had no intention of selling at all. How could he sell a stone for 30,000 LSC?¡± the thug-looking man grumbled in annoyance to Hiro, who had just joined him.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t interested in hearing that. He was more interested in seeing the stone which sold for 30,000 LSC. And because he knew a trick that many people didn¡¯t know, Hiro observed the stone with the help of [Demon¡¯s Eyes].

    The stone that was sold for a high price seemed to have a swirling aura within it. A magic power. Hiro was sure that he wasn¡¯t wrong. The magic power swirled within the stone. He still didn¡¯t know its function, but there seemed to be a reason why it cost 30,000 LSC.

    There was something more appealing to him than that stone. It was four pieces of stone that looked like they had been crushed by an explosion. The stones emitted a purplish glow that was exactly the same color as the Blood-Eater Vampire every time Hiro activated his unique skill.

    Out of curiosity, he picked up one of the stones and suddenly, his left hand felt very hot.

    Ding!

    [The curse power detected]

    [Initiate to absorb the power of the curse from the object]

    ¡°Wait a sec, it doesn¡¯t seem right.¡± Hiro nced at the seller, who he couldn¡¯t see his face was, to make sure that the person wasn¡¯t aware of what Hiro was doing.

    [The power of the curse has been absorbed]

    When he looked at it again, the purplish light that he could only see with [Demon¡¯s Eyes] on that one piece of stone had gone.

    Hiro swallowed hard. It seemed like he didn¡¯t have to pay to get extra power in that ce.

    Hiro pretended to ask the price of each stone shard while taking it in turn to let his cursed sigil absorb the power in the stone until all four of them turned into ordinary stones.

    ¡°10,000 LSC each,¡± replied the seller curtly.

    Hiro smiled faintly after stealing unnoticed.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªit¡¯s just an ordinary stone. Too expensive,¡± he said casually and turned away.

 Chapter 173 - Succubus

    Hiro went back to looking for other useful items in the market. Still using the help of his Demon¡¯s eyes, he looked around carefully.

    Then, he saw a Tome shrouded in thick ck smoke and zing like mes. Hiro wasn¡¯t sure if it was smoke or ck mes. When he used [Demon¡¯s Eyes], the Tome looked like a broken book and was probably found in the trash.

    ¡°Where did you get this thing?¡± Hiro tried to ask the seller, a female bloodline demon yer who had been busy scraping the dirt on her ck, dirty-looking toenails. She didn¡¯t wear shoes.

    ¡°Are you talking to me?¡± The woman looked like she had no intention of selling. However, Hiro was used to the unique character merchants in that ce, so he just nodded calmly.

    ¡°Where did you get this thing?¡±

    ¡°You mean all these books?¡±

    It was true that the woman sold worn-out books in her stall. However, only one book caught Hiro¡¯s attention because of the strange aura he could see through his Demon¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°I picked them all up from the ruins of the cathedral on the outskirts of the Eternity Kingdom. I didn¡¯t know they could be sold, but they did. So I just took it all. Are you interested in any of those crappy books?¡±

    A cathedral ruin? Hiro didn¡¯t know where it was. He had travelled around the city many times where all races could gather in peace. However, for that one ce, Hiro had never been to that ce before. He couldn¡¯t find it.

    Hiro examined the dark green Tome with slightly burnt on the edges. He took a peek at what was written on it. However, it was useless. Even with the help of the Demon¡¯s Eyes, he couldn¡¯t read what was written in the book.

    ¡°Damn, looks like this is another bloodlinenguage rted to a cathedral. Hmmm it should be a cleric or a priest? But it¡¯s a job ss and not a bloodline.¡± Hiro thought as he continued to try to understand what was written in the book. But sadly, he couldn¡¯t find anything useful as a clue.

    ¡°How much does this book cost?¡± he finally decided to take it with him and asked his guild members to help him read the contents.

    After all, the aura of the ck mes was too suspicious. He didn¡¯t want to miss anything.

    ¡°50,000 LSC,¡± murmured the woman, setting the price randomly.

    Hiro knew that bidding was still possible in that ce. However, if he bid just like in a normal market, Hiro knew that he would fail and end up being kicked out by the seller. He must have something more valuable in exchange.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ how about I exchange it for this thing?¡±

    Ding!

    [You have removed the Anti-holy ring from your inventory]

    The woman looked frowning and disinterested when Hiro held out a ring with a white pearl on it.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m a woman who can be easily seduced with a ring, huh?¡±

    Hiro smiled lopsidedly at the woman¡¯s rebuttal.

    ¡°This is an , Anti-holy ring. By using this item, you canplete a Demon bloodline main quest which is impossible toplete without this item. I know you haven¡¯t done the quest yet, have you?¡±

    Hearing what Hiro had just said, the woman¡¯s eyes widened. She brought her face closer to look at the ordinary-looking ring curiously.

    ¡°How do you know if I haven¡¯t finished it yet? That damn quest is making mezy.¡± the woman grumbled as she took a deep breath.

    ¡°So, do you want to exchange it? You know how much that thing costs in the official marketce, right?¡±

    Hiro ignored the woman¡¯s question. While other yers had to buy the item for at least 55,000 LSC in the marketce through the auction system, Hiro had half a dozen Anti-holy rings from beating the only monster that dropped that . Hiro got it while he was still using the rare drop buff from Anonymous.

    The anti-holy ring he offered to the yer in front of him was an anti-holy ring that couldn¡¯t be sold because he had used it. However, some items in the Last Shelter Online had an exception. Even if they couldn¡¯t be sold because they had been used, some items could still be given as gifts.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± The woman snatched the ring roughly from Hiro¡¯s hands as if she was afraid that Hiro was just ying a prank on her.

    After being satisfied with the item he had bought, Hiro returned to the top of the Hellfire Tavern. And when he went upstairs, he saw that the tavern was already filled with visitors. They were all yers and NPCs with demon bloodlines.

    Because Hellfire Tavern was very racist, it didn¡¯t want to ept any bloodline other than demons.

    Hiro saw a lot of subusing to the tavern. Most of them were flirting with the yers, and some of them were dancing to the music on the dance floor.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time Hiro had seen NPCs subus. They were very sexy and full of deceit.

    ¡°Hi, Nightfall. Do you need a bed partner tonight?¡± a subus rammed its protruding chest into Hiro¡¯s chest, purposely teasing him.

    The NPC Subus in the Last Shelter Online was extremely materialistic. They would tempt the yer and spend the yer¡¯s money by fair means or foul. The yers who were crazy about them should be prepared to donate tens of thousands of LSC just to spend the night with them.

    Hiro already knew about it.

    Normally, he would ask Jacob to flirt with the female NPCs, but since Jacob had never got in touch with a Subus before, this time he had to improvise.

    ¡°Are you willing to take me to the Tower of the Death?¡± He spoke calmly to the Subus who was flirting with him. A subus in a red bunny girl outfit. Its long tail had already moved to wrap around Hiro¡¯s waist and restrain him.

    ¡°Uhmm¨Cnot a great ce to spend the night alone, Honey.¡±

    ¡°Do any of your friends want to take me there?¡± Hiro restrained himself from falling into the temptation of the subus in front of him. She was very beautiful with tan skin and long hair tied in a ponytail, showing her long and beautiful neck.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªyou¡¯re so naughty, Honey. Do you really want to go there tonight?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll give you whatever you want if you take me there.¡±

    Hiro knew one thing. The yer who wanted to request the Subus for the first only had to pay at a maximum limit of 1,000 LSC. And it would be multiplied if the yer wanted to spend the night with the same subus in the future. So, Hiro was not afraid to go bankrupt with only 1,000 LSC.

    ¡°It seemed you misunderstood something. To enter the Tower of the Death, you don¡¯t need to give money to the subus. But you must give your desire.¡±

 Chapter 174 - Opening The Gate Of Sins 1

    Hiro walked out, leaving the Hellfire Tavern with a beautiful subus who kept embracing his right arm as he walked. Their destination was the Tower of the Death in the Underworld City.

    ¡°You can call me Milly, by the way,¡± she said in a seductive voice. Hiro ignored her. He continued walking silently towards his destination that could be seen from a distance.

    At night, the Underworld City was bustling with NPCs passing by. However, they were unfriendly and avoided having eye contact with the others.

    The Tower of the Death was located in one of the zas in the Underworld City. Due to its enormous size, there were three zas in the Underworld City. All three of them had a building that rose sky rockets through the clouds.

    Even though he had been trying to find the end of the Tower of the Death in front of him until his neck felt sore, Hiro couldn¡¯t see it. He was waiting for the Subus named Milly toe back to invite him into one of the dozens of iron doors that lined up on the tower wall.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go in now!¡± said Milly after leaving Hiro alone for a few seconds to approach the two Tower guards. From their form, Hiro could guess that they were an Incubus.

    Hiro walked after Milly. However, instead of entering the tower through one of the doors, Milly took him through an underground door parallel to the ground in front of the tower. When Milly opened it roughly, a very thick dust billowed out and made both of them cough.

    ¡°Here, you want to enter the Voiceless Abyss, right?¡± The subus wanted to confirm one more time before entering the very dark, square-shaped hole. Hiro didn¡¯t know how deep the ce was. He couldn¡¯t see it, even though he had used the demon¡¯s eyes.

    Milly left him once more and came back with an oilmp in her right hand. She didn¡¯t want to bring it, so the girl gave the oilmp to Hiro.

    ¡°You cane down first.¡± She let Hiro take the lead, looking a bit reluctant to enter the ce.

    Hiroplied. He didn¡¯t know what awaited him down there, but he had to go there to get the items that were useful for upgrading his sword.

    There was a woodendder attached to the wall. Hiro had a hard time holding on as he went down the stairs because his hands were carrying an oilmp.

    After going down the stairs until his knees started to ache, he finally arrived at the bottom of the ce.

    A square room as narrow as the entrance above.

    ¡°Catch me!¡± Milly eximed as she suddenly let go of her grip on thedder. She was very sure that Hiro would definitely catch her.

    Since the room was only enough for a maximum of two people, Hiro had no other choice but to catch Milly or he would be thending site for the subus.

    Thud!

    The subusnded right in Hiro¡¯s arms. Hiro found it strange that her body was so light, even the Blood-Eater Vampire felt much heavier than the girl¡¯s body.

    ¡°How long are you going to carry me, NightFall?¡± Both of her arms moved to wrap around Hiro¡¯s neck and Hiro reflexively dropped her.

    Thud!

    ¡°Ouch. What are you doing?¡± The subus stood back up in annoyance.

    Hiro felt that the NPC Subus was too strange. How could she be so expressive like a yer? Hiro began to suspect that the NPC Subus was actually yed by yers who were deliberately prepared by the Last Shelter Online developers to drain LSC from lonely yers.

    In the underground, the air was freezing and humid. They continued walking through the only path that existed in that ce. A long narrow corridor, but Milly forced herself to walk beside Hiro with her hands clung to Hiro¡¯s. Hiro let the Subus do whatever she wanted.

    Hiro used the demon¡¯s eyes regrly to check if there was anything in that ce that could be of use to him other than the Hell stone that the dwarf NPC was talking about. But, her effort was in vain. The passage was empty until Hiro arrived in front of an iron door filled with the letters that he could read using the demon¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Heaven must be safe, but hell is far more exciting. I promise you will have some fun. Gluttony, wrath, sloth, vanity, pride, greed, and lust, with me, you will never be alone. When you are ready, knock on my door three times. I am looking forward to your arrival.¡±

    The exnation was very clear. Hiro approached the steel door and knocked three times as instructed by the writing on the door. Not knowing what was waiting behind the door, Hiro felt a little tense. There was no way that the journey would be smooth.

    However, after knocking on the door for a few minutes, it still didn¡¯t budge at all. Nothing happened.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Hiro tried to pull and push the door forcefully. However, because it couldn¡¯t be opened with physical force, it didn¡¯t budge from where it was.

    ¡°It says that you have to knock on the door three times only when you¡¯re ready, NightFall. If the door doesn¡¯t show any reaction, then you probably aren¡¯t ready yet.¡±

    Hiro frowned. He was more than very ready to enter the room beyond the door. However, what was meant by being ready here seemed to be different from what was in Hiro¡¯s head at the moment.

    He thought again and repeated the sentence he had read. Trying to arrange pieces of an irregr puzzle. Meanwhile, Milly was leaning against the wall, unwilling to give any hints. She just waited for Hiro. Hiro was sure that the subus was programmed to do so.

    -With me you¡¯ll never be alone, all the seven deadly sins.- Hiro believed that all of them are rted. Still, he didn¡¯t have a clue.

    Frustrated because having waited there for too long, Hiro furiously banged on the door in front of him, full of anger.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    But suddenly, a transparent screen appeared in front of the door.

    Ding!

    [Wrath has been activated]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Feeling that he had found an answer to his question, Hiro tried to do something.

    ¡°You, whoever the demon is hiding behind the door! Come out! I will challenge you to a fight! I can definitely beat you easily. I will send you to hell faster!¡±

    Ding!

    [Pride has been activated]

    ¡°Well. So that¡¯s what it means if I¡¯m ready or not, huh?¡±

    Hiro continued to spit out words that matched the type of seven deadly sins on the door, and he managed to activate it. However, there was one sin that still couldn¡¯t be activated, even though he had tried to revise the sentence many times.

    ¡°The sin of lust.¡±

    And Millyughed at Hiro for using vulgar words to try to activate it.

    ¡°Stop it. You broke my ears! Why don¡¯t you try another way?¡±

 Chapter 175 - ?175 Opening The Gate Of Sins 2

    After running out of words to activate the sin of lust, Hiro finally gave up and allowed Milly to exin another way she had said before. Even so, not a single word escaped the subus¡¯ lips. Instead, she moved towards Hiro with a seductive gaze while slowly removing the bunny girl suit she was wearing.

    Hiro felt cornered, the cold sweat already dripping from his forehead. He swallowed hard. He didn¡¯t know if this method would work. However, he had no other choice but to give it a try.

    ¡°Close your eyes!¡± Milly whispered seductive words right in Hiro¡¯s ear, making Hiro¡¯s body tremble as the air that came out of the subus¡¯ mouth hit his neck. Hiro closed his eyes. However, when he closed his eyes, he saw the image of Liberty. It was very clear.

    The image of Liberty, who wasughing, pouting, acting spoiled, and all the expressions the girl could show so far, was vivid in his mind. Hiro took a deep breath. Hisst meeting with Liberty went badly. And he regretted it a little. It seemed he fell too hard on her.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªis that your girlfriend?¡± as if she could take a peek at Hiro¡¯s mind, Milly suddenlymented in a seductive voice. However, Hiro didn¡¯t answer her.

    ¡°A very beautiful girl. You have great taste too, NightFall,¡± she added in a distant voice.

    ¡°Now, open your eyes slowly.¡±

    Hiro opened his eyes slowly, like what the subus said. When he opened his eyes, he saw something very shocking.

    Milly was no longer there with him in that cramped space. Her existence had been reced by a female figure who had the exact same face as Liberty. Even when she was smiling while waiting for Hiro toe, leaning against the wall, it was exactly the same as Liberty.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t bbergasted, yet he was still unable to keep his mouth shut. The Liberty who was standing in front of him while wagging her fluffy fox tail was clearly not the real Liberty he knew.

    ¡°Come, eat me. I know you really want me now.¡±

    It was Milly who spoke to Hiro, but the girl used Liberty¡¯s very soft and soothing voice.

    Hiro¡¯s heart was beating fast. With the face of the girl he loved deeply, it would be easier to activate the sin of lust.

    Hiro moved towards the girl, who was still clinging to the wall behind her. He locked the girl between the wall with his arms, looking at her face intently as if he wanted to eat her whole.

    The girl¡¯s facial features were perfect. And Hiro wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that the Liberty in front of him was fake if she didn¡¯t say anything.

    Hiro really missed Liberty. Missing their togetherness like this. Only the two of them in a ce where no one interfered. He caressed her face and lifted her slightly pointed chin.

    ¡°Libe,¡± Hiro¡¯s voice had turned to a whisper. And he kissed her lips as usual. Their lips intertwined. From a kiss that just touched each other until it turned into a passionate kiss using their tongue. Hiro really liked biting the lower lips of Liberty. It was soft.

    His heart was beating faster than before, and his left hand locked Liberty¡¯s hands above her head, while his right hand gently stroked her cheek.

    Even the sweet scent of Liberty¡¯s real body could be smelled with his nostril. The scent even felt twice as strong as usual, as if there were two Libertys in the ce.

    Yet, it was still not enough. The door hadn¡¯t given the activation sound of the sin of lust.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know the reason why the door didn¡¯t open. It might be because the method he used really didn¡¯t have any effect on the door, or because the lust within him wasn¡¯t burning like when he was with the real Liberty.

    Knowing that the girl he was kissing was not the real Liberty, Hiro could act a little harshly.

    Thud!

    Hiro grabbed the girl¡¯s body and mmed her against the steel door that was blocking his way. He then kissed her again, but this time, the lips were no longer his target.

    Liberty¡¯s slender neck was one of Hiro¡¯s favourites. In that part, he could inhale Liberty¡¯s scent to his heart¡¯s content, as well as feel the girl¡¯s pulse pumping the blood faster than normal because the girl was excited.

    ¡°Mmmhmm, Nightfall.¡±

    With the girl¡¯s naked body, Hiro could do whatever fantasy he had in his head right now. His hand moved to squeeze the soft lump in the girl¡¯s chest until she let out a seductive moan.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ mmmh yes.¡±

    Hiro lifted his gaze to look at Liberty¡¯s face once more. Now, the girl¡¯s face was very red and her gaze was wistful with lust, inviting Hiro to go further.

    ¡®No¡­ it¡¯s still not enough.¡¯

    Hiro was back in action, his hands exploring her beautiful body while his lips searching for Liberty¡¯s lips. He kissed her ferociously. This time, he let his heart beat really fast and his body quickly turned hotter and hotter.

    Hiro allowed himself to move naturally.

    ¡°Ahhh¡­ please make me feel good.¡±

    Hiro could feel his heart pumping blood towards his lower body. He didn¡¯t want to feel that way alone, so Hiro lowered his right hand and tucked his lower body between the girl¡¯s thighs. She had been mping them tightly, as if she was trying to hold something from escaping.

    ¡°Mmhh yes¡­¡±

    Hiro¡¯s hand could feel something wet and slightly sticky on that spot. And because of that, he couldn¡¯t hold himself back anymore. Hiro felt that his little brother down there had risen and struggled to be freed.

    Ding!

    [Lust has been activated]

    Suddenly, thick smoke came out from the gaps in the steel door that had been used as a support for Hiro to trap the subus girl.

    The door then made a rumbling sound and moved very slowly.

    Hiro let go of the subus in his embrace. He watched the door move until it openedpletely. In front of him was a very long passage. The torches on the walls of the passage lit up as soon as the door was fully opened.

    ¡°We did it.¡± Hiro muttered, not believing that this method actually worked.

    ¡°Ummm, Nightfall. How about we continue what hasn¡¯t been done?¡± Hiro looked at the subus, who was still using Liberty¡¯s face, then pulled her neck closer to him roughly. Even so, the girl actually smiled, enjoying it.

    Hiro gently caressed Liberty¡¯s face once more, then moved his lips to the girl¡¯s ear to whisper something.

    ¡°Not today, Milly.¡±

    Hiro let go of the subus, then pulled out his sword as he walked in through the open door.

    Milly had returned to her original form and stomped her feet on the ground in annoyance because she couldn¡¯t fulfill her desire. She badly wanted Hiro to enjoy her body.

    Ding!

    [You have entered Voiceless Abyssal]

 Chapter 176 - 176 Hell Stone 1

    The Voiceless Abyssal looked like a ce devoid of any life. Inside the long passage, Hiro couldn¡¯t hear anything. Even Milly, who kept nagging at him, her voice couldn¡¯t be heard when the two of them had entered the ce.

    Nomunication. No sound whatsoever. Hiro felt like he was walking in a very quiet world. Not even the slightest sound of the mes of the torches on the wall was heard. When his sense of hearing was no longer working, Hiro had no other choice but to sharpen his eyes with the help of the [Demon¡¯s Eyes]. He had to be more alert than usual because he didn¡¯t know when the monsters would attack and where they woulde from.

    After exiting a long passage, Hiro and Milly arrived at a T-junction made of rock that was damp and wet. Even so, no moss grew on the rock.

    T-junction made Hiro had to choose one of the three. His chance of finding the correct path in one try was only 33%. Before entering one of the paths in front of him, Hiro circled around to look for clues that might be useful.

    And he found it. On the path that led to the center or straight of the passage that Hiro had just passed, he found a blood-red gemstone in the shape of a heart. When Hiro approached it to observe the stone closely, suddenly the stone sparkled, then the images of animals appeared one by one in a clockwise direction.

    [Toad]

    [Snake]

    [Lion]

    [Sloth]

    [Goat]

    [Peacock]

    Hiro, who often found the content of the seven deadly sins in the MMORPG he had yed, knew what the images of the animals meant.

    But still, the clues he just got didn¡¯t give him any rity on what he should do for now.

    Hiro decided to continue walking by choosing the middle path. He resigned to what he would find behind it.

    He entered a closed room with a very short natural stone ceiling. Its height was less than 2 meters. There was nothing there but a lever on a round stone table. Not even the other path could be seen there.

    Hiro approached the lever to see what he could do with it. Still no sound. Milly continued to cling behind him while squeezing the robe worn by Hiro. She looked scared and anxious.

    Once again, on the stone table appeared the images of beasts Hiro had seen in a gemstone. Meanwhile, the lever above it seemed to be able to be rotated to select an image. Only one. The shape was like an analog clock with only one hand.

    ¡®Hmmm¡­ I guess dealing with Lucifer means having to choose the peacock, right?¡¯ Hiro didn¡¯t have any clue other than what he just thought.

    Without wasting any time, Hiro turned the lever to point at the peacock image. And suddenly, the ground he was standing on shook like an earthquake urred.

    Hiro had no handle other than the stone table in front of him. It took 30 seconds for the ground to stop shaking, and Hiro was able to stand back up normally.

    Nothing happened in the room. Hiro decided to head back out through the same entrance. However, when he came out, that ce was gone.

    Hiro was standing on a rock surrounded by boilingva that felt scorching hot.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    From a distance, he could see a door at the end of the ce that suddenly turned as vast as a crater in a volcanic mountain. To get there, Hiro had no other choice but to jump from rock to rock to the end. However, with the boilingva, it was really life threatening. Hiro saw some not so big rocks could be crushed into several pieces before they ended up sinking.

    Hiro swallowed hard. It couldn¡¯t go wrong.

    ¡°If only I could fly, it would be nothing,¡± Hiro muttered. He couldn¡¯t even hear his own voice.

    Not even the sound ofva and rock being crushed could be heard.

    Milly seemed to keep talking to him, but he still couldn¡¯t hear her. It seemed the girl didn¡¯t want to jump off the rocks with Hiro.

    Hiro told Milly to go back to the ce where there was an earthquake before. Right now, he was certain that it was a room that functioned as an elevator within the dungeon.

    And finally, Hiro was free from that subus for a while.

    Hiro tried to use Predicio to check the rock he was aiming for as a stepping stone, whether it would shatter or not when hended on it. However, Predicio couldn¡¯t be used for the movement of inanimate objects.

    Hop!

    Hop!

    Three stones had been sessfully jumped over without any problems. He needed five more stones to reach the door. However, the number ofrge stones was decreasing because of the boilingva.

    Hop!

    Hiro managed to jump closer and closer to the door. One more step left. Hiro measured how far thest jump he needed before jumping with a stance like a long jump athlete.

    Hop!

    He seeded. Hiro managed tond in front of the ck steel door. The shape of the door reminded Hiro of the door that guarded Lucifer during the Closed-Beta Test mode. In front of the door, there was an engraving that formed the same image as the cursed sigil on Hiro¡¯s left hand.

    Hiro touched the engraving with his left hand, and in split seconds, the sigil in his hand thickened and ckened even more than before. Then, the door in front of him opened by itself.

    Crack!

    Hiro pushed the door openpletely. But once again, what was waiting for him behind the door never failed to astonish him again.

    He saw a very dense forest with giant trees. Even the grass growing in that ce was as tall as Hiro¡¯s chest. Besides, Hiro¡¯s ears were able to function properly again. And the first thing he heard was the sound of a monster¡¯s roar.

    Roar!

    The sound of the monster¡¯s roar was so loud that the door behind Hiro moved and closed by itself due to the changing of the air pressure.

    The monster was enormous, about the size of Lucifer¡¯s Absolute Demon mode. And it only had bones in its body. From its skeletal form, the monster looked like a living fossil T-Rex.

    The pair of red eyes that were in the eye sockets of the monster stared at Hiro, who had juste uninvited.

    Hiro immediately drew his sword and ran over to the monster. But strangely, he couldn¡¯t see the name of the monster as well as its level.

 Chapter 177 Hell Stone 2

    nk!

    [Miss!]

    Roarrr!

    [Immortal object!]

    [Can¡¯t be defeated]

    Hiro decided to run after seeing the notification. When he just mmed his greatsword into one of the monster¡¯s legs, the monsters chased him away. He went into the forest and hid there. Because the grass that surrounded him was so high, he could easily escape from the pursuit of the T-Rex monster.

    This time, Hiro found ake that looked very calm, and the water was very clear. He could even see his reflection on the surface of the water, as if he was looking at a mirror. He had not done anything, but suddenly there was a ck shadow moving very quickly towards him from theke.

    Ssh!<sub>.</sub>

    [-1011]

    [Immortal object!]

    Hiro managed to dodge the attack of the creature that had just emerged from theke. At the perfect time, Hiro drew his sword to ward off its attack.

    The creature was once again just a skeleton, and it had an extremely long corbone, almost twice the length of the vampire Blood-Eater¡¯s de.

    The creature went back into theke and made theke water ssh at Hiro¡¯s body until he was drenched.

    ¡°Damn, what was that?¡±

    Feeling theke wasn¡¯t safe, Hiro decided to continue walking away from the ce. At the same time, he heard the sounds of animals that he often heard on the cinema screen.<sub></sub>

    Hiro was curious and decided to peek at the source of the sound. And again, the monsters were just skeletons. It seemed they were patrolling in that area. This time, the monsters that Hiro had seen before appeared in groups. In each group, there were six monsters of the same shape, only different in size. It varied from small torge.

    No need to try it. Hiro was sure that they were also immortal objects. He just needed to choose another path and stay away from the monsters that could potentially kill him. It was a bit unfair. The monsters could attack Hiro and reduce his health points, but he couldn¡¯t do any damage to them. No matter how powerful the attack, it would be counted as a miss by the system.

    Hiro continued walking forward, trying to find the clues. But, as far as his eye could see, he could only see giant trees and grass. asionally, he ran into monsters with the body of the skeleton, but some of them were not aggressive. They even ignored Hiro, who passed in front of them.

    ¡°Is this a Jurassic Park cemetery?¡± Hiro kept walking without knowing the direction. His GPS System continued to record the path that Hiro had travelled actively, so that Hiro didn¡¯t have to go around in circles at the same ce.

    After walking for a while, Hiro saw the ruins of a building that reminded him of the tribe that worshiped the sun. The Maya Tribe. The Pyramid of the Sun.

    But, the building was half destroyed, while the other half was still standing high. Hiro checked the ce because maybe he could find a clue there.

    However, just looking at it from the bottom didn¡¯t give him any answer. Hiro had to climb to the top, where there was a ce like a rectangr altar. And to reach the altar, Hiro had to climb as high as 25 metres using adder overgrown with tendrils of nts.<sub></sub>

    Once again, he had no other choice but to give it a try.

    Thedder attached to the pyramid building was so steep, and Hiro looked more like a wall climber than an ordinary climber. At some point, Hiro encountered the skeleton monsters whose body were as long as a snake. The monsters even hissed at the sight of Hiro, then Hiro threw small stones at them to drive them away by force.

    Finally, he reached the top of the pyramid and found a square stone altar table there. It wasrge enough for a lion to sit on. However, the stone altar table had cracked, and it looked like it had not been used for a long time.

    From a height of 25 metres, Hiro could see what ce he was visiting. He really felt he was in a forest where the dinosaur era was. He could even see the enormous and tall bone monsters like brontosaurus gathering in the southern part of the forest.

    ¡°Well, how am I supposed to find a stone the size of a button¡¯s shirt in this big ce?¡± Hiro tried to recall what the dwarf NPC had said, hoping not to miss any important information that made him lose his precious time in this ce.

    ¡°Hell stone. I guess the terrain is hell, not Jurassic world. The dwarf said something about the stone that was the source of life in the Voiceless Abyssal. However, it seems that this is no longer the Voiceless Abyssal. Could the NPC be wrong?¡±

    Hiro sat on the crushed stone altar. He was in deep thought, thinking of some possibilities.

    ?[0)??? The only life Hiro had found since entering the Tower of the Death were the skeleton monsters, so he concluded that the life the dwarf NPC meant was the life of the skeleton monsters. It seemed that without the Hell stone Hiro was looking for, the monsters would return to being fossilized skeletons.

    If it was true, then that meant the stone was really in this ce. But where? The most important ce to store the item should be in the center of the map. And Hiro felt that the center of the Jurassic forest was where he was now. Even so, it wasn¡¯t easy to find such a small stone above the giant ruins of the stone building.

    Feeling tired, Hiroid down on the altar and looked up at the still bright sky above his head. He had almost forgotten that it was supposed to be dark and it should be in the middle of the night. Even when he checked his HUD system, it was still 2 in the morning.

    ¡°No sun, no clouds, and of course no stars.¡± Hiro muttered as if he was protesting to the sky that seemed to be moving up there.

    Hiro raised his hands in the air to cover his face from the bright light of the sky. But, suddenly, he saw a light as big as a toysernded on the back of his hand. When Hiro moved his hand, the light became invisible. But when Hiro returned his hand to its original position, the light came back into view.

    From what he had just tried, Hiro was certain that it was a reflection. And the thing that reflected the light was behind his back.

    ¡°Damn! How close have you been?¡±

    A red gemstone seemed to sparkle and reflect the light from the sky. It was in the middle of the crack of the stone altar, unobstructed by anything.

    Hiro quickly picked up the red gemstone.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the Hell Stone ss Gem]

    A satisfied smile spread across Hiro¡¯s face. However, that smile didn¡¯tst long because in a split second, a very strong wind blew against his body along with a very loud booming from the western sky.

    Kwaaak!

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [metalon The Rising Phoenix (Boss)]

 Chapter 178 Flametalon Phoenix

    The bright sky suddenly turned very dark, as if the source of light that was the main lighting in that ce had just been extinguished. The howls of pain from the monsters around the forest instantly made the hairs on Hiro¡¯s neck stand up.

    What he had just done was take the stone he was looking for. It was the only reason for his arrival at that ce. It seemed the Dwarf words were true. The stone was a source of life, so the monsters and the living things in that ce could keep on living. It was even capable of strangely resurrecting the dinosaur fossils.

    With the removal of the stone from its ce, all the life that had been created in that ce was taken away. The skeleton monsters fell and turned back into fossils.

    It was dark, and Hiro couldn¡¯t see anything. However, suddenly, from a distance above the sky, whose colour was indistinguishable from thend, a giant me could be seening close. It moved very quickly. The shape looked very beautiful and its size was almost three times the size of the centaur that Hiro had fought. The monster flew while pping its wings that spread across the sky. Every time it pped its wings, the fireballs fell down and burned the very dark forest.

    Hiro swallowed hard, and he immediately looked for a small hole where he could ce the Hell stone in his hand. Searching for the hole in the dark was a bit difficult. Besides, the hole he was looking for was very small.

    Hiro wouldn¡¯t have had enough time to find it.

    Hop!

    He jumped down from the altar stone and looked for a foothold. Still on top of the pyramid that had half been destroyed for no exact reason. He decided to fight the phoenix-shaped boss monster first, before upgrading the power of his sword.

    ¡°Well, it will be my first boss fight this time. And it can fly.¡± Hiro held the Blood-Eater Vampire in his hand.

    Whoosh!<sub>.</sub>

    The phoenix suddenly shot like a bolt of lightning. It quickly hit Hiro¡¯s body, and he didn¡¯t have time to dodge it.

    Bang!

    ?[0)??? [-1100]

    Hiro wriggled in the air. His body was locked by the painful grip of the phoenix¡¯s feet. Its sharp and pointed toenails scraped the skin of his stomach until the robe he was wearing was torn apart and he was bleeding profusely.

    ¡°Damn, I¡¯m flying.¡±

    The phoenix took him flying without doing anything. But still, the grip of its feet made Hiro keep on losing health points.

    ¡°Where are you taking me, huh?¡±

    After flying far enough and unable to move because of the grip of the Phoenix¡¯s feet, the Phoenix finally threw Hiro violently onto anding site.

    Crash!<sub></sub>

    [-5050]

    Hiro tumbled down on the t, rocky ground. And even though his whole body was ached a lot, he didn¡¯t have time to rx and wait. He immediately stood up while facing the boss monster that was still flying in front of him. It was so close to Hiro¡¯s position. It also kept making a squeaking sound that hurt the ears.

    ¡°Spyro.¡± Hiro activated Spyro buff and turned it into battle mode. After evolving into teen, Spyro could already take part in the battle.

    At that ce, Hiro just realized that he was standing in a t and round arena like a ce that had been devoted to fighting the monster. Even so, he saw no way out in that ce because extremely scorching and boilingva surrounded the ce, trapping him. Meanwhile, the small mountain who continued to vomit theirva were seen lined up on the edge of the ce.

    ¡°Quite an intimidating ce for bossing.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Spyro!¡¯

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro used the [Godspeed Dash] skill that he had levelled up by absorbing a lot of curses energy, allowing him to zigzag at the speed of light in a direction that the phoenix couldn¡¯t predict. Finally, he was swinging his sword with all his might towards the phoenix¡¯s chest that was flying majestically.

    St!<sub></sub>

    [-9900]

    ¡°Damn, I can¡¯t use mybo with a flying monster like this.¡±

    Hiro realized that he might not be able to defeat the monster as quickly as usual.

    ¡°Spyro!¡±

    Spyro shot out a breath of blue mes towards the wide sh that Hiro had managed to inflict on the Phoenix¡¯s chest.

    [Divine st]

    Boom!

    [-25000]

    ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡±

    It was the only magic skill Spyro could perform for its current phase. And the cooldown period was quite long, which was about 15 minutes. Afterwards, Spyro could only help Hiro by using physical attacks.

    Even though the figure he saw was quiterge, the phoenix lookedpletely unmoved, as if he was just a small fry for it. And, Hiro still couldn¡¯t see the phoenix¡¯s health points right now.

    Kwakkk!

    The phoenix swooped down while opening its pointed beak to catch Hiro and tear him apart. But, Hiro quickly dodged to the side and attacked it by mming hard the blood-eater vampire¡¯s de against its neck.

    St!

    [-13090]

    This time the phoenix reacted slightly, squinting its red glowing eyes, then shaking its head to bring it back into focus.

    The battle continued, and Hiro managed to give shes, kicks, and even punches. Even so, until Spyro was able to cast his [Divine st] three times, the phoenix¡¯s health points still didn¡¯t appear.

    Hiro had also to pay attention to his potion supply that kept running low. He couldn¡¯t stay there for too long or he would lose just because he ran out of health potions and energy potions.

    When the phoenix took out its ultimate skill once again, Hiro was almost killed and his HP was very red.

    The ultimate phoenix skill tended to attack a specific area and Hiro couldn¡¯t avoid it. He had tried to run away from the phoenix while it was charging before blowing up the volcanoes in that ce, making a flood ofva to where Hiro was standing.

    Now Hiro knew why the phoenix had brought him to that ce before fighting against him.

    While running to avoid the stter ofva that came from the air like hundreds of falling meteors, Hiro reached into his inventory to take out the Hell stone. He had to put it up in its ce or the phoenix could never be defeated.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Crash!

    Every time Hiro saw thevanding on a rock, the rock instantly shattered and it created a hole where boilingva came out of it.

    Hiro knew that if he got caught by theva, he would get a hole in his own body.

    And finally. Hiro found it. The small hole he had been looking for. He immediately put the stone in the hollow. Thanks to the fire, even though it was so hot, he could finally see in the dark.

    Ding!

    [Hell stone ss Gem has been installed]

    [Upgrading the Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword) in progress]

    ¡­

 Chapter 179 Diary

    [Hell stone ss Gem has been installed]

    [Upgrading the Blood-Eater Vampire (Greatsword) in progress]

    [Upgrade sessful]

    [Rank Upgrade 1/5]

    [Rank 1 Weapon Special Ability: Increase critical rate by 100% and increase critical damage by 200 % when activating thebo skill. Ignore enemy¡¯s armor during the night time]

    ¡°Wait a sec¡­¡±

    Hiro arched an eyebrow in surprise at the notification he just got. He read the weapon¡¯s special ability over and over again. He was afraid of missing something because of what he remembered; the ability was exactly the same as the 5/5 rank upgrade that he got for free during the closed-beta test. However, this time, he got it with an upgrade rank of only 1/5?

    He didn¡¯t have time to check for the bugs that might have urred, or was the sword power upgraded by the developer?

    Whatever the reason, Hiro was very satisfied with what he had just seen. This time, he faced the phoenix that was flying low in the center of the circle. To use the weapon¡¯s special ability, Hiro had to take the phoenix down first.

    Whoosh!

    ?[0)??? St! St!<sub>.</sub>

    Hirobined his Godspeed dash with a sword sh to tear the me wings of the phoenix from the right to left until they both shattered. Then, the monster fell onto the rocky ground.

    The monster was very good at flying, but not very good at standing on its two legs. And when he saw the monster staggering from losing its bnce, Hiro immediately activated his awakening swordbo skill and shed through the phoenix¡¯s chest mercilessly.

    St! St! St!

    [Critical hitbo]

    [Critical hitbo]

    [Critical hitbo]

    [Critical hitbo]

    This time the phoenix¡¯s body waspletely torn apart, and it continued to roar in pain. Meanwhile, Hiro didn¡¯t stop attacking it.

    Seeing the critical hits keeping out made Hiro very excited to keep swinging his sword non-stop.

    Crash!<sub></sub>

    Ding!

    [metalon has been defeated]

    At the end of his defeat, the phoenix monster suddenly exploded, and the explosion made theva surrounding Hiro harden into the volcanic ash. And Hiro couldn¡¯t avoid the rain of ash.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained phoenix ash (Pet)]

    [You have obtained an advanced fire resistance scroll (tradeable)]

    [You have obtained a new title, ¡®Phoenix yer¡¯]

    [You have obtained ava resistance scroll (tradeable)]

    [You will be teleported back to the checkpoint]

    ¡­<sub></sub>

    Finally, the stage 1 upgrading of the vampire blood-eater was sessfullypleted, and Hiro got a lot of useful items.

    After being returned to the checkpoint, the ce where Milly was still waiting for him, Hiro used the ce as an elevator again. Then, he finally got out of the Tower of The Death.

    When he came out of the Tower of the Death, the sun had already appeared in the sky and instantly, Milly the subus suddenly disappeared like a fire. However, she said that she woulde to meet Hiro again. So, Hiro knew that it seemed like the subus really couldn¡¯t appear in the morning.

    Next, he nned to return to the guild base to ask someone who could read the book he had exchanged in the illegal market.

    The guild base was still very quiet when morning came. They were all more active at night than in the morning because most of them were office workers who had to follow working hours. Only a few were frencers or entrepreneurs, so they could y without time limits.

    When Hiro came, he saw Wheelie cleaning the guild base bar tables. The girl was very happy to see Hiro.

    ¡°Would you like me to have a cup of coffee to wee this morning that I predict will be bright?¡± the Dwarf woman asked, still wearing an apron.

    ¡°Thank you, Wheelie. You are very kind. Have you had enough rest for today?¡± Hiro felt awkward when he realized that his words didn¡¯t sound like him at all. However, he didn¡¯t regret saying it. He wanted to change for the better for those who were good to him.

    ¡°Of course, Nightfall. After all, yesterday was a holiday. Ha ha ha. So, do you want coffee or tea?¡± The girl still forced Hiro to ept her kindness, and Hiro chose to get coffee.

    He then walked into the center of the guild base. There, he saw the BigShow party members sleeping on the floor like fish lined up for sale in the market. Meanwhile, above their heads, there was a couch that became Noah¡¯s throne. It seemed the man had identally fallen asleep while reading. He even hugged the book he was reading with his eyes closed. His neck tilted against the back of the sofa.

    ¡°Well, it looks like they all worked overtime.¡± Hiro was curious about the book Noah was reading, so he checked it. The book was quite heavy when he picked it up, and the cover was made of animal skin.

    However, when he opened the first page of the book, Hiro couldn¡¯t read what was written there. Yet, his eyes lit up when he saw the letters looked familiar, and he felt like he had seen them before.

    ¡°Noah, wake up!¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to ask Noah to trante what was written in the book he bought from the illegal market.

    Noah woke up in surprise because Hiro shook him quite hard. Noah looked at Hiro with an annoyed look. He then wiped his own lips as if to make sure that there wasn¡¯t any dried drool there.

    ¡°What the hell, Nightfall? You startled me.¡± His eyes moved to see the book that had moved hands, and he quickly grabbed it.

    Snap!

    ¡°What are you doing? Did you read it?¡± her face turned red. Hiro became a little suspicious. Why did Noah suddenly look embarrassed when the man found out the book was in his hands?

    ¡°I just¡ª¡±

    ¡°No! No! No! Don¡¯t say anything!¡± Noah covered his ears as if he didn¡¯t want to hear anything Hiro had to say.

    ¡°Did you always do that? Reading people¡¯s diaries?¡± Noah was annoyed again after putting his book into his inventory.

    Hiro frowned. So that was the contents of the book, Noah¡¯s diary? Just hearing it, Hiro was not interested.

    ¡°You wrote it in another letter. How could I read it? Are you stupid?¡± Hiro sat on the shoulder of the couch next to Noah. He suddenly felt exhausted.

    ¡°Ah¡ªI forgot. I¡¯m using elf letters and you¡¯re a demon. You don¡¯t know what I wrote there. It was a relief.¡± Noah let out a long sigh. He even patted his own chest.

    ¡°What did you write there? And since when have you been keeping a diary?¡±

    ¡°None of your business, Nightfall. What do you want from me so early?¡±

    Hiro snapped his fingers to take out a worn-out book stored in his inventory and he pushed it in front of Noah¡¯s face.

    ¡°I need you to tell me what¡¯s inside this book. Trante it please!¡±

    Noah felt a little ufortable when he picked up the book from Hiro¡¯s hands, especially since the book emitted a strong, charred smell.

    He immediately used [Elven¡¯s eyes] and both of his eyes gave off a glowing green light.

    ¡°Diary of Seven High Priests.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m right. You really like reading people¡¯s diaries, NightFall!¡±

 Chapter 180 The Forbidden One

    Hiro felt tense, nervous, and excited at the same time. He listened attentively to what Noah had just read. For people who were not so lucky in his real life, Hiro felt very lucky in the Last Shelter Online.

    The book that he got almost for free was very important because it had a big secret. He was sure he could increase his demon¡¯s body rapidly if he followed what was said in the book.

    The book exined the secret of the 7 high priests who had stripped Lucifer of his armor before ending up sacrificing themselves to seal the demon in the Underworld from hundreds of years ago. And what was written in it wasplete. It even wrote about the location where they spread Lucifer¡¯s armor in the world.

    Even the name of Lucifer¡¯s armor set was clearly stated.

    ¡°If that demon manages to escape from where we sealed it, may someone very powerful manage to collect pieces of The Forbidden One¡¯s armor and use them for the safety of mankind.¡± Noah frowned. He was really interested in reading everything that was written in the book. He looked at Hiro with an envious look. It was useless if he was the one who found the armor, because they mentioned that the armor could only be used by those who had the same bloodline as Lucifer. What¡¯s more, it was specifically for the descendants of Lucifer.

    And so far, the only Lucifer bloodline demon Noah knew was Hiro.

    ¡°Well, time to find the treasure.¡± Hiro muttered as he patted Noah¡¯s shoulder without looking at the man. His gaze was distant, as if he had imagined himself in Lucifer¡¯s lost armor.

    ¡°Can you trante it for me in written form? Only the important things.¡± Hiro asked. He couldn¡¯t find other elves he could trust to keep the book a secret apart from Noah. And, of course, Noah seemed reluctant.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of work, NightFall. How much will you pay me?¡±

    ¡°You want money? Do you still need LSC? Aren¡¯t you a hard-line pay-to-win yer?¡±

    Noah took a deep breath at Hiro¡¯s sarcasm. However, he couldn¡¯t say no. Noah did have a lot of money that Hiro didn¡¯t know where it came from. Hiro never had any information about it. What was clear was that Hiro believed that Noah might be the son of a wealthy businessman or perhaps an illegal underground businessman that would keep him rich.

    ¡°Actually, I need your help,¡± Noah muttered, looking for a way to keep what Hiro asked for as a symbiotic mutualism. He didn¡¯t need Hiro¡¯s LSC, but he needed the man¡¯s power.

    ?[0)??? ¡°Mystic Tome stage 1 quest. I really don¡¯t know what to do next after finding this one clue.¡±

    Noah took out a piece of brown animal skin that was rolled up and tied using an stic tree root. He then opened it and showed what was inside to Hiro.

    An article.<sub></sub>

    An ordinary writing and he did not need elven eyes to read it.

    ¡°My guess is¡­ it asked me to pair with someone.¡± Noah mumbled his opinion.

    Hiro saw what was written on the skin. There was a very simple yin-yang engraved in ck ink. One side was coloured with full ck, while the other side was not filled with any colour. However, there was one point on each side that had the opposite colour from each other.

    Then, circling the yin-yang, was an inscription. Just two sentences.

    [here is the bad in the good]

    [here is the good in the bad]

    Hiro immediately agreed with what Noah had said, it seemed that a partner was needed toplete the quest. The couples who had conflicting characters, but could understand each other.<sub></sub>

    ¡°If the elven is the good one, the demon must be the bad one,¡± Noah added after noticing that Hiro¡¯s pupils dted from agreeing with his opinion.

    ¡°We won¡¯t know until we try,¡± muttered Hiro, agreeing to help Noah.

    Even if he didn¡¯t need Noah¡¯s help, Hiro would still agree to help him for free if the man needed it. With Noah, getting stronger meant his party would also get stronger. And that reason was enough for him to help Noah.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    However, Noah refused Hiro¡¯s invitation for now. He asked Hiro to wait for a while because he needed to take a shower and clean himself up. Hiro could only wait for Noah to finish his business while enjoying the coffee Wheelie gave him.

    ¡°Ah, boss, you came?¡± BigShow had just woken up and saw Hiro sipping his coffee. He got up from the floor.

    ¡°Good morning,¡± said Hiro friendly.

    ¡°How was your journey using that walkthrough, Boss? Are you getting stronger now?¡± BigShow sat up and rubbed his teary eyes. It yawned many times.

    ¡°Very pleasant. I got to flirt with a subus I just met, then I went on a tour to a Jurassic park full of living dinosaur bones. And finally, I found it.¡± Hiro tried to shorten the story. At least, he had said everything he had gone through to get to stage 1.

    ¡°Wow, looks like you went through a lot in a day. So, how strong are you now, Boss?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ it¡¯s not easy to convert it into numbers. How about you try it yourself? Are you interested in having a duel with me this morning?¡±

    BigShow didn¡¯t respond and just smirked while rubbing the back of his bald head.

    ¡°Well, in that case, I will skip.¡±

    Noah was back with a fresh look. He evenbed his hair well and used make-up to sharpen his eyes.

    ¡°I have to go.¡± Hiro walked over while patting BigShow on the shoulder.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need sleep, boss?¡± BigShow was feeling a little worried about Hiro¡¯s health. However, from the wide smile on the man¡¯s face, he felt that he was worrying too much.

    Hiro walked after Noah had left first. And as it turned out, there was Cara already at the bar, wearing an apron to apany Wheelie that day.

    Cara saw Noah and Hiroing together, and instantly her lips formed a wide smile.

    ¡°Well, look at these two. Isn¡¯t it too early for a date?¡± she teased them again, feeling excited about bringing her BL¡¯s imagination in her head to life .

    Hiro had already expected that. He walked over to Cara and picked up the charred crusty bread that was on the te the girl was carrying.

    ¡°We¡¯re not dating, Cara. But still, you weren¡¯t invited.¡± Hiro ate the crusty bread after irritating Cara with his words.

    Ding!

    [You ate poor quality food]

    [Defense has been reduced -150 (30 minutes)]

    ¡°Damn, who cooked this spoiled food?¡±

 Chapter 181 Alice & Yuujin

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with Yuujin? He used my name for his pet? Has he gone mad?¡±

    Alice still couldn¡¯t believe what she had just experienced in the game. Being so close to Yuujin, who appeared to congratte his brother and gave him a gift, made her chest suddenly feel tight.

    She even left Hiro alone in the game. Meanwhile, she tried to calm herself for hours. She had drunk cans of alcohol, but she still hadn¡¯t lost the slightest bit of consciousness.

    Alice felt her head dizzy, so she moved towards the toilet to throw up. She had drank too much.

    ¡°Did he do it on purpose?¡±

    ¡°Because of that stupid act, Hiro must be suspicious of me right now. My ns could be jeopardized.¡±

    Alice washed her face with cold water and kept the tap water flowing in front of her.

    ¡°I have to prepare an alibi for an excuse. Hiro mustn¡¯t know who I really am. He¡¯s quite smart. I have to be careful.¡±

    The girl decided to take a warm shower without taking her clothes off.

    As the warm water soaked her body, she closed her eyes and the memories of the past that had been buried deep within her for a very long time came back to the surface. It kept ying in her head like a broken recorder.

    ¡­

    Alice was in a room that at first nce looked like a studio. There was no one in the room.<sub>.</sub>

    There were 10 superputerspleted with gaming sets, including chairs, mouses, headsets, and even various types of controllers. It was veryplete.

    The girl sneaked away and made sure that there was no sound of footstepsing to the room. She even turned off the light and made the room dark.

    Only the colourful light from theputer engine that was left on as the source of light. However, the room was still dark.

    She walked over to one of theputers that had been her target from the start.

    When she turned on theputer, a password needed to be entered to gain ess.

    [Yamaguchi Yuujin]

    [WynterRain]

    Alice didn¡¯t need to use her hacking skills to gain ess to thatputer.

    [ess granted]

    ¡°I will stop you no matter what. I will never let you y the game,¡± Alice muttered while using the keyboard inside theputer with her very dexterous hands. The darkness of the room was not a problem for her.

    [Last Shelter Online]<sub></sub>

    [Game Tester has signed the agreement]

    [Avatar in progress]

    [username: WynterRain]

    [basic job ss: Mage]

    [bloodline: Elf]

    This time, Alice used her android bracelet. She connected it to theputer using a Wi-Fiwork, then activated what she had prepared long before she executed it today.

    [Warning!]

    [Your avatar will be deleted by the system]

    [cheat has been detected]

    At that moment, suddenly the door burst open, and a man who had just arrived reflexively turned on themp in the room.

    Alice was taken aback, but what bothered her more at that moment was the bright light from themp that blinded her eyes.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Alice, I know you¡¯re here. Stop it! Do not do it.¡±

    The man was Yuujin who only wore short pants to sleep. It was summer day, so it was really hot right now, and he had a habit of sleeping shirtless every summer.

    Seeing Yuujin still standing in front of the door, Alice still insisted on agreeing to the order she entered into Yuujin¡¯sputer. In such a hurry, she pried out a letter on the keyboard.

    ?[0)??? Tak!

    [avatar has been deleted]

    Yuujin sighed, then walked over with a calm expression on his face, approaching Alice.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be involved in that game.¡± Alice smiled in satisfaction after seeing that her action was sessful.

    But Yuujin, instead of getting mad at her, he patted the shoulders of the girl in front of him before speaking in a calm tone.

    ¡°You know that Hiro will be entering college soon. I need a lot of money to make him a righteous man. Not like me. I have no other choice, Alice.¡±

    Alice bit her lower lip, hearing Yuujin¡¯s soft voice that always managed to make her chest hurttely.

    ¡°I know what happened to people who joined the test. I don¡¯t want you to go through the same thing, Yuujin. And if your brother finds out that you risk your own life for him, do you think he will be happy?!¡±

    Alice shouted in a loud voice. The working rooms of the E-nfinity members were soundproof. And that meant they were both safe to talk about anything, even with a loud voice.

    Her body began to tremble violently from the mixed emotions. She felt very tired telling Yuujin the same thing when the man ignored her and didn¡¯t listen to her words, even though she had shouted at him many times.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to know what happened. And you, you will never tell him what happened. Alice, it¡¯s just a test run. They¡¯re getting better. This will all go smoothly. Don¡¯t worry. I wille back.¡±

    Yuujin continued to speak in a calm tone. Alice was getting more and more shaken by that, and she couldn¡¯t hold back her tears that had been welling up in her eyes.

    The girl hugged Yuujin tightly.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to lose you, Yuujin.¡± Her sobs were weak.

    ¡°I know. I promise I will be fine.¡±

    ¡­

    Alice curled up in the bathtub. The warm water from the shower kept pouring down her body. Recalling the most regrettable thing in her life made her feel like a very weak girl right now.

    ¡°If only I was stronger back then.¡±

    Alice still had a part of her that kept ming herself for not being able to keep Yuujin from carrying out his secret mission that the public didn¡¯t know about.

    The moment she recalled the moment when Yuujin actually managed to bring the others back out of the game safely gave her goosebumps all over her body.

    The wide smile on Yuujin¡¯s face and the people who came with him made Alice feel that everything was fine.

    However¡­ all of that didn¡¯tst long.

    ¡­

    ¡°The medical reports show that only one in 10 game testers of the control group showed positive results. There are no harmful side effects after sessfully exiting the system.¡±

    ¡°What about the experimental group game tester? Give me an update on their medical condition report.¡±

    Alice managed to install an eavesdrop tool in the office of the founder of the Last Shelter Online, Dr. Jeff Johnson, who held a sudden meeting with the best doctors at Johnson Hope Hospital. And she heard all the things she shouldn¡¯t have heard.

    ¡°10 out of 10 game tester experimental group subjects have died. Their brain is no longer able to provide any signals to all the organs in the body. It is over. We have failed, Dr. Jeff.¡±

    ¡°No, no, not yet. We still have time. I have to save my daughter. There must be a way. My goal is definitely achievable. At least, there is one normal game tester control person. Isn¡¯t that a sign that all of this is still possible?¡±

    ¡°Tell me, who is that lucky game tester?¡±

    ¡°He is Yamaguchi Yuujin from E-nfinity management.¡±

 Chapter 182 Elven Queen

    For the first time, Hiro walked around for more than 10 minutes in the breathtaking view of Asvesera City.

    He just walked with Noah, who still needed to meet a few NPCs before the main quest to upgrade the Mystic Tome could be aplished.

    Hiro really couldn¡¯t focus on Noah, because the surrounding scenery was too spectacr to pass by.

    The city of the elve meant that those who had bloodline elve also lived there. Whether it was a yer or an NPC, both were equally pleasing to the eye, as if they emitted an aura that could attract the attention of anyone who saw them.

    ¡°We should take Jacob,¡± muttered Hiro, while looking at the group of elve women who were standing nearby. They looked sheepishly while stealing nces at Hiro continuously.

    ¡°Do you like the view? I thought you were loyal to your unique girlfriend.¡± Noah had just finished talking to a male elve NPC who had a haughty face, but not a few female yers surrounded him.

    ¡°We¡¯ve broken up.¡±

    ¡°You what?¡± Noah really didn¡¯t know about this one thing. He didn¡¯t even know whether to be shocked or delighted by the new information.

    ¡°Ehem. I mean, what a shame. But you guys are really good.¡± He cleared his throat and repeated his reaction so that Hiro wouldn¡¯t misunderstand.

    However, Hiro was no longer by his side and moved towards the group of female elf yers who had signalled him to approach her.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°NightFall, you look more handsome in person than on the broadcast screen.¡± A female elve with long, light green hair blushed as Hiro stood next to her.

    ¡°Thank you. I really appreciate it.¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here, Nightfall? Did youe alone? Do you want us to apany you?¡± One of the short-haired elve suddenly wrapped her arms around Hiro¡¯s. The girl was really aggressive, and Hiro let her do that. Instead of snapping his arm from her, he actually gave her a subtle smile.

    ¡°I came with a friend.¡± He said it in a calm tone, still trying to look cool in front of the dazzling elve girls.

    But, before either of them said anything, suddenly Noah barged in and embraced Hiro, pulling him out of the crowd of elve yers.

    ¡°No no no, don¡¯t flirt with my friend. He is not avable. You will end up heartbroken.¡± Noah¡¯s old, haughty, and rude self reappeared, and he stared at the elve women with displeasure.

    ¡°You are so greedy. Just say you want to have him to yourself. Humph.¡± The short-haired elve girl looked away in annoyance.

    However, Noah didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Nightfall. We are going to meet the queen of the elve.¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°The queen of elve?¡± Instantly, Hiro imagined the figure of a woman who was very visually perfect. wless. He swallowed hard.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re going to think all kinds of things, but let¡¯s go. She¡¯s very busy.¡±

    Finally, Hiro continued his journey with Noah that morning in order to get a trantion of a set of armor that he really wanted now.

    They walked towards a majestic and beautiful giant pce with dozens of mini waterfalls surrounding it.

    The elve guards who were guarding around the pce used weapons in the form of staff and shields. Hiro already knew that some of them might be hybrid mages, using staff to create weapons like spears or swords that were used for melee attacks, orunching the spear or sword at the enemy.

    For a yer, that kind of power wasn¡¯t that advantageous.

    Just as the two of them were about to enter through a gate, suddenly the three guards stopped Hiro and Noah.

    ¡°Demon is forbidden to set foot in this holy ce!¡± one of them snarled while aiming a spearhead that appeared at the end of his staff to Hiro.

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know there was such a ridiculous rule. But, he¡¯s not the real one. He¡¯s half human.¡± Noah was troubled by the unexpected obstacle.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Let us pass if you don¡¯t want to get hurt.¡± Hiro threatened them.

    However, hearing Hiro¡¯s threat, the three NPCsughed and hinted that they weren¡¯t afraid of the threat.

    ¡°Elve who befriend the demon run the risk of bing dark elve one day. The dark elve is not allowed to be here,¡± said one of the guards, who used a mask to cover his face.

    ¡°The dark elve?¡± Hiro had only heard of that term. He looked at Noah questioningly, wishing he could get an exnation without asking.

    ?[0)??? ¡°I guess it¡¯s just a useless rumor among the NPCs. There¡¯s no option to be a dark elve listed for yers. I¡¯ve studied it,¡± Noah exined it curtly.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know if he could trust Noah¡¯s answer, just like that or not. He found it strange that the NPCs said something that had nothing to do with the yer.

    ¡®The dark elve.¡¯

    ¡°All right, if you keep getting in my way. Looks like it¡¯s time for me to get rid of you.¡±

    [Fire st]

    r! r! r!

    The three guard NPCs were instantly devoured by the mes that shot out of Noah¡¯s hands. And all three of them burned down.

    ¡°No cellphones, they are programmed that way.¡± Hiro mumbled before Noah felt he was great to have eliminated them in an instant.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need yourments, NightFall.¡±

    They continued walking into the pce.

    Hiro used his cloak to cover his body. Not wanting to be a hindrance to Noah, who was in need of something in that ce.

    The ess to meet an elve queen was very easy. They didn¡¯t need to go through any sort of inspection, and the Elve queen was sitting majestically on her phoenix-shaped throne. Hiro suddenly remembered the phoenix ashes that were still stored in his inventory.

    ¡°Wee, Noah, my son.¡±

    The woman sitting gracefully on the throne. She straightened her back as Noah and Hiro arrived before her. The woman was very beautiful. Her hair was light blue, like the clear sky. It was long, dangling to her knees.

    She stood up gracefully, and her feet were wearing nothing. Her skin was fair and glowing. There was an ornamental flower dress made of real flowers that perfected her appearance.

    Hiro took a deep breath as the refreshing scent of flowers mixed with nts wafted his nostrils.

    ¡°You brought a friend.¡± The woman walked over to Noah and touched her forehead to Noah, who was already bowing his head. It was as if he had already known how to greet the queen.

    The elve queen had no name written above her head bar. She then walked over to Hiro, who had been staring at her without blinking.

    ¡°May I?¡± she asked in a very soft voice, like a song of a luby. Her hand stretched out in front of Hiro.

    Hiro looked at Noah, asking for help because he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    But, Noah just gave him a silent nod. Hiro had no other choice but to nod, following Noah¡¯s instruction.

    After gaining approval from Hiro, the woman smiled, very charming. She thennded her right palm on the back of Hiro¡¯s neck gently, and before Hiro could take a breath, suddenly the elve woman pressed her lips to Hiro¡¯s.

 Chapter 183 Blessings

    Ding!

    [The Elve Queen has sessfully gained ess to your progressive stats]

    [All hidden information will no longer work for the Elve Queen]

    [Be careful! The queen could have sold that information to your greatest enemy]

    Hiro was still in awe of what the elve queen had just done. Even though he knew the notification that had just appeared was a negative thing, Hiro couldn¡¯t have the heart to push the angelic woman in front of him. Until she pulled her face away from Hiro.

    ¡°A descendant of Lucifer, the king of the seven deadly sins demons.¡± The woman seemed to have widened her eyes, amazed by what she had just discovered.

    The elve queen in the world of Last Shelter Online had the special ability to check all the stats hidden by the yers through a single kiss. And she clearly looked interested in Hiro, as if she wasn¡¯t just an NPC who only used AI as a brain.

    ¡°Give me your hand, my sweet son.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    Noah¡¯s hand reached out, and the woman grabbed it while smiling beautifully.

    ¡°And now, give me your hand, Lucifer¡¯s son.¡±

    Hiro followed what Noah did and both of their hands were now in the elve queen¡¯s soft and warm hand.

    ¡°In order to maintain bnce in this world, everything was created with aplete bnce in mind. There is no one-sided weight between the goodness of those who live with the holy blood of the elve born of angels, and the evil of those who live with bodies made of mes and blood that boils like theva of the demons.¡±

    ¡°By mixing the holy blood and the mes blood, a very perfect bnce can be achieved. And one who holds the rule of bnce will be endowed with iparable power.¡±

    ¡°I, Merilyn, the queen of the elve, have bestowed an ancestral blessing on our son Noah.¡±

    The elve queen closed her eyes tightly while her voice sounded loud as she spoke. Her body suddenly gave off a greenish aura that was getting bigger and bigger, then followed by a wind that seemed to swirl around her. Blowing everything around the ce except for Hiro and Noah, who still kept their hands in the queen¡¯s grip.<sub></sub>

    At the mention of Noah¡¯s name, the queen opened her eyes, and suddenly the back of Noah¡¯s hand that she was holding gave off a very blinding white light. The light disappeared after the queen blinked her eyes, and a broad smile spread across her face.

    ¡°Good job, Noah. Next, you have to meet a demon lord to get their blessing. Because that can only be called a true bnce,¡± she said, then let go of Hiro and Noah¡¯s hands at the same time, while still smiling gracefully.

    ¡°Meeting the demon lord?¡± Noah looked like he couldn¡¯t believe what the queen had just said. To be more precise, he had a slight objection here. He thought this was thest stage of the stage 1 quest for Yin Yang Harmony.

    ¡°Yes, and they are not very easy to give blessings. That¡¯s why you have to have a strong partner.¡± The woman looked at Hiro, then nodded her head.

    ¡°To my knowledge, there are 7 demon lords in the Underworld City. Who should we meet?¡± asked Hiro, trying to get as much information as possible.

    ¡°Anyone is possible. Meet one of them who can make it easier for you.¡± The elve queen had already walked back to her throne and sat there gracefully. She felt that her role here was over, and it was time for Noah and Hiro to continue their journey.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Hiro saluted before turning his body to leave the ce with Noah.<sub></sub>

    He didn¡¯t talk to Noah because he was thinking about the queen¡¯s words right now. How to get Noah into the Underworld City? The city was really very racist. It would not ept anyone who was not a part of them.

    ?[0)??? However, Hiro felt that there must be a way.

    ¡°Well¡­ it seems like it¡¯s over. Do you know? I never made it into that spooky city. After all, who would want toe and visit hell, anyway?¡± grumbled Noah, who had been silent for a long time because he was thinking about things that were not much different from Hiro.

    Hiro patted Noah on the shoulder, and the two stopped in front of the pce. Whatever the obstacles, there must be a trick and there must be a way. Hiro was sure of that. After all, he had already thought of one thing in his head, and he really wanted to try it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can solve this one problem. But first, tell me which demon lord do you want to meet?¡±

    Noah arched an eyebrow, slightly doubting Hiro¡¯s question, who looked very calm when the man told Noah that he could solve the problem.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never read anything about a demon lord here, NightFall. How about you just choose it? I¡¯ll leave it to you. Besides, I¡¯m not sure I canplete this quest at my current level.¡± Noahined.

    Hiro frowned. Seeing Noah look resigned for the first time was not what he wanted.

    ¡°We definitely can do it. Just leave it to me.¡±

    Hiro raised his left hand. He exposed the back of his hand, which was covered with the curse of sigil and then activated his [Demon¡¯s eyes].

    At the same time, the details of the curse of sigil grew darker and darker. Every time Hiro used a skill rted to the demonic bloodline, the sigil would react and change colour to be increasingly ck.

    ¡°Yes, Master?¡±

    A female voice sounded inside Hiro¡¯s head. It was Meta¡¯s voice that had been called by Hiro because Hiro was using his eyes to look straight at the curse of sigil right now.

    ¡°Can you tell me about the seven demon lords and how to get their blessings?¡±

    Noah frowned when he saw Hiro talking to himself while looking at something in his hands. Noah couldn¡¯t hear Meta¡¯s voice.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, Master.¡±

    ¡°Let me change my sentence¡­ Tell me about the seven demon lords and how to get their blessings!¡± Hiro insisted by using amand line. His expression was serious and his brows knitted together.

    ¡°I told you, I can¡¯t, Master. My answer remains the same.¡±

    ¡°The demon lords rarely want to meet anyone, much less give a half-blood demon a blessing. And an elf? You won¡¯t make it.¡±

    Hiro took a deep breath in disappointment. Did that sound like a strange mission, asking for the devil¡¯s blessing? Seriously?

    However, Meta did not stop there.

    ¡°But, if you really need that blessing. There was a rumour that one of them had given a blessing. The one who has uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger.¡±

    ¡°The King of Wrath.¡±

    Hiro gulped. He had heard of three party raid yers challenging the demon lord, Sathanas.

 Chapter 184 Another Way

    Hiro and Noah used the services of an NPC¡¯s teleportation to go to the Underworld City. As usual, only in the Underworld City that the NPC could teleport the yer outside of the city area. Precisely, in front of an intimidating giant gate.

    ¡°Thank you, Traveler. I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t bring the two of you in.¡±

    After saying that, the NPC disappeared again and left Hiro and Noah alone in front of a giant gate that was tightly closed.

    ¡°Well, now what?¡±

    Hiro had told Noah that he had an idea that could be useful for sneaking into the Underworld City. However, until now, he still hadn¡¯t exined it yet.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The two of them walked towards the gate. And, at the same time, twelve NPC guards nearly twice their height were lined up to block the way.

    ¡°Only demons can pass through this gate,¡± snapped a male demon whose form reminded Hiro of the Hellboy movie. He had two horns in front of its very long forehead and the expression on his face was fierce and full of hatred. His body was red. Out of the twelve male demons, only he had a pair ofrge horns.

    ¡°He came with me.¡± Hiro muttered, trying his luck. It would be good if he could use the normal way.<sub>.</sub>

    However, from the way the two dark red eyes stared at him with disdain, Hiro knew that his attempt was unsessful.

    ¡°Leave,¡± the male demon hissed in an echoing voice.

    ¡°Do you n to beat them up like I did to the elve guards?¡± Noah couldn¡¯t wait to get through the gate.

    Hiro shook his head.

    ¡°No. They are different. I¡¯ve heard of someone trying to beat them and force their way inside.¡±

    ¡°But that someone isn¡¯t us, NightFall. We can win against the twelve of them.¡± Noah never lost his confidence in his strength.

    ¡°Wait¡ª that would be the third way. I still have a second way.¡±

    Hiro lifted his face slightly to meet the two demon eyes in front of him. He didn¡¯t smile at all. His gaze was serious, as cynical as the demon¡¯s.<sub></sub>

    ¡°I brought a potential buyer, Hellfire Tavern, the underground floor,¡± said Hiro in a low voice. But loud enough for the chief guard to hear it.

    Hearing what Hiro had just said, the demon arched his brows. He looked at Noah with a questioning look, as if he was confirming that Noah was wealthy enough to be called a potential buyer. However, because Hiro knew that there was a special agreement between the owner of the illegal market and the guards of the Underworld City, the demon nodded. Even so, his hand reached out in front of Noah.

    ¡°10,000 LSC,¡± he said while clenching his jaws.

    Noah looked at Hiro in disbelief. He preferred the third idea, which was to beat the 12 demons rather than pay for the entrance. But, Hiro nodded his head, signalling Noah to do what the demon wanted.

    Thus, Noah gave 10,000 LSC to the guard with a forceful heart.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± said the guard after receiving the money he had asked.

    ¡°What the hell, Nightfall?¡± Noah protested in Hiro¡¯s ear with a low voice.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the NPC name bars on them?¡± Hiro asked casually. He knew that 10,000 LSC for Noah wasn¡¯t the slightest problem. So he didn¡¯t feel guilty at all. Again, there was no other choice.<sub></sub>

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything. They don¡¯t have the NPC name bars.¡± Noah frowned in disappointment.

    ¡°Yes, that means we can¡¯t beat them. It was clear that they are an NPC, but there are no NPC name bars indicating that they are immortal objects. And that¡¯s very clear. You better start taking notes and don¡¯t beat anyone up without observing them first.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s exnation made Noah reflexively stop his footsteps to carefully observe the twelve demon guards one by one. They didn¡¯t have the name bar. Unlike other NPCs he had seen before.

    ¡°What are you doing, Buyer? Did you change your mind?¡± The demon leading the way turned around to confirm that his two guests followed him.

    Noah ran after Hiro.

    And since their destination was the Hellfire Tavern underground floor, the giant gate was not opened. And the demons led them through another door hidden by the wall of the gate.

    They had to go down dozens of stairs until they arrived in a very dark and long hallway. Hiro saw that all the demons were using their demon¡¯s eyes. They didn¡¯t need a torch to walk without hitting a wall.

    ¡°Noah, the fire torch.¡±

    rr!

    The mes that shot out of Noah¡¯s palm had changed its colour once again. It was getting darker, and Hiro didn¡¯t know what had happened to the man for the mes to change like that. Even so, the fire was quite calm, unlike thest time Hiro saw it. It seemed that Noah had already been able to control his newfound power, which was too great for him to control it at first.

    The NPC demons looked at the two of them with astonished expressions. The red light from their eyes went out when Noah had created a fire for them.

    ¡°You should pay me back 20,000 LSC for my fire.¡± Noah snarled at the lead guard. However, because the demon guard was set to be emotionless, he just focused on walking down the long passage.

    After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at the illegal market Hiro hadst visited.

    ¡°Happy Shopping!¡±

    The demons who brought them both finally left them.

    Hiro was relieved to not have to think of a way to escape from them, since his true aim was not the Hellfire Tavern.

    But first, he had to hide the elve identity that was very prominent in Noah¡¯s physical appearance before they left the ce.

    ¡°What ce is this?¡± Noah looked ufortable seeing the condition of the merchant who were in that ce. They did not even hesitate to cough in the air.

    ¡°This is a ce where you can find unexpected things like the information about The Forbidden One.¡± Hiro muttered, then walked through the sellers. He saw that several people had gone, including the woman who sold the book.

    ¡°What are we doing here? Come on, we have to go to Sathanas quickly.¡± Noah still didn¡¯t understand why Hiro was just pacing back and forth, as if he was really serious about buying something from that ce.

    ¡°I found one.¡±

    Hiro stopped in front of an old man, a bald-headed yer who sold various kinds of essories in his stall.

    As usual, Hiro would exchange them for items he didn¡¯t use anymore, but they were definitely useful for them. And he managed to convince the seller with one try, until Noah was stunned to see it.

    Ding!

    [you have obtained Mythical Unicorn horn]

    [you have obtained Pixie¡¯s sunsses]

    [you have obtained Baroque Wig]

    ¡°What is that for?¡± Noah didn¡¯t know what Hiro was thinking by buying such quirky essories. But, instead of answering, Hiro just smiled evilly.

 Chapter 185 King of Wrath

    Hiro smiled in satisfaction after Noahplied with his request to use the items he had just bought from the merchant.

    Noah¡¯s current appearance didn¡¯t look like an elve at all because on his forehead there was a unicorn horn. He used the long hair wigs of the ancient nobles to cover Noah¡¯s pointed ears. And to cover the man¡¯s eyes, Hiro forced him to wear a pair of sunsses.

    Noah not just looked like a bloodline of the demon, but he even looks like a totally different person.

    ¡°Well, with that being said, I think it¡¯s safe for you toe out upstairs.¡± Hiro muttered very confidently.

    Noah just snorted in annoyance. After all, this was for the sake of his mission. He actually felt lucky that Hiro was willing to help him get this far.

    Next, they had to go to Sathanas.

    The two of them went up the stairs and out of the tavern, which was very quiet while the sun was still zing in the sky. Even the visitors could be counted on the fingers.

    Hiro rushed out of the Tavern, and they arrived at one of the town zas.

    Noah was astonished at the eerie and deserted view of the city. No NPCs walking outside in the morning. Only the bloodline of the demon yers were passing by.

    Hiro covered his face and head with the hood of his robe. He didn¡¯t want to stand out because nowadays, many people knew him even with just one nce.

    Even in the world chat, his name was still often discussed by yers who were very active in the world chat. Some thought that Hiro just pretended to be WynterRain¡¯s younger brother, but some of the yers really believed in Hiro¡¯s statement.

    Hiro remembered from his conversation with an NPC demon while he was doing a light quest. The NPC demon that he couldn¡¯t remember the name of was a follower of Sathanas. And the demon had mentioned that Sathanas never left his shipwreck.<sub>.</sub>

    ording to the city map, Hiro had to go to the northern end of the city¡¯s border to arrive at a giant building resembling a ship.

    There was an iron bridge that looked rusty there. It was used as a path between the maind and a ship that Hiro was after. Under the iron bridge was a very deep abyss.

    Hiro walked across the iron bridge with Noah. Until suddenly, a notification appeared in front of them.

    Ding!

    [you have left the safezone]

    Both of them looked at each other, then nodded. Hiro invited Noah into the party just in case something unexpected happened.

    Ding!

    [Noah joined the party]

    They got into the iron ship.

    The door they were passing through suddenly had a glitch, then disappeared from behind them. However, the good thing was, Noah was still in the same ce as him.

    Hiro pulled out his sword to prepare for an attack. And the terrible sounds that made his hair stand up could be heard from inside the ship. It was reflected by the walls.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Keep going,¡± Hiro muttered, then walked deeper. He was already on the body of the bottom floor of the ship. And the size of the ship was almost as big as the Tower of Death when installed in a horizontal form.

    Screech!

    Five monsters in the form of human skulls covered in green slime came out of a door on Hiro¡¯s left. They carried a spear in their hands.

    [Level 77 Dead Pirate]

    [demon/undead/unholy]

    The five monsters stiffened on the spot before suddenly leaping very fast, attacking Noah and Hiro at the same time.

    Screech!

    Crash!

    [-1150] [-1130] [-1250]

    Hiro received bites on both his hands and left leg as the three monsters attacked him. But, even though they were extremely fast due to their light bodies, Hiro managed to sh three of them in retaliation and destroy them all at once.

    St! St! St!<sub></sub>

    Sqrueech!

    Meanwhile, Noah had to face the same two monsters. He almost lost 20% of his health points due to the bite of one of the monsters, as well as the spear that managed to pierce his left hand.

    [Fire st]

    He managed to burn the two monsters to ashes.

    ¡°They are very fast but weak.¡± Hiro muttered, helping Noah pull the spear stuck in his hand and let Noah use his healing skill to heal himself.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The two of them walked again, and finally, they found a staircase leading to the top floor. Hiro decided to go upstairs and Noah thought the same thing. Generally, the boss would be on the floor opposite to the floor the yer first entered.

    For example, when they entered through the top floor of the ship. So, it was most likely that the boss was on the ground floor.

    They had just stepped on the first staircase, but the squeaking sound of the old metal stairs seemed to summon more of the Dead Pirates hiding on the floor. And they were already running around like the zombies of the apocalypse.

    ¡°Hurry up!¡±

    Bang!

    Hiro managed to close the iron door of the stairs, so the monster couldn¡¯t catch up with them. From a quick count, there were more than twenty Dead Pirates that suddenly appeared in that ce.

    ¡°Well, it looks like it¡¯s working.¡±

    However, Hiro was not aware that Noah was frozen in ce. His two eyes stared at a giant figure who was staring at him while sitting on a chair majestically. The creature gave off a green light. He wore a hat like a pirate, and one of his hands had turned into iron like a fishhook.

    ¡°What do you want from me, Elve?¡±

    A deep, booming sound reflected by the floor in that ce made Hiro reflexively look at the figure.

    No notification appeared, indicating that the monster in front of him was a monster to fight. However, a name bar above the top of his head that Hiro had to look up at also showed who the man was.

    ¡°The King of Wrath.¡±

    ¡°Sathanas?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t expect that he would be able to find Sathanas so quickly. His feelings had already turned bad after seeing the demon form.

    ¡°You came with Lucifer¡¯s son, but you came to see me¡­?¡± The monster took the form of a human, an old man with a gigantic body full of muscles and a thick beard. His body was greenish, just like the monster of the dead pirates.

    ¡°A blessing. That¡¯s the thing that I want from you.¡± Noah said after he managed to get rid of his tension. His voice sounded haughty as usual.

    ¡°A blessing?¡± The King of Wrath arched an eyebrow.

    The man still looked rxed. Hiro actually felt strange because the conversation that was going on sounded very normal. Shouldn¡¯t Sathanas be so grumpy?

    ¡°You think I am your ancestor? You¡¯ve sneaked into this city and you¡¯re asking for my blessing? You think I¡¯ll give it to you?¡± Suddenly, the mood of the giant man changed drastically.

    Hiro and Noah could hear The King¡¯s heart beating very clearly, as if it was their own heart.

    His heart rate increased, but then it decreased again. Noah swallowed hard.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re really great at not being caught by the guards. I¡¯ll give you a present instead. And I will punish those guards.¡±

    Noah looked at Hiro expectantly. A faint smile appeared on his lips. Meanwhile, Hiro felt that it was too easy.

    ¡°You became the second elve to meet me in this ce.¡±

    ¡®Second?¡¯

    ¡°But I¡¯m not that generous, elve. If you want to get your reward, my blessing, you must entertain me.¡±

 Chapter 186 Vs Noah

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [NightFall] [Raider] [Underworld Baron]

    Base Level 81

    Job ss Advance Level 33

    Health 55075/55075

    AP 12700/12700

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 21390

    BR 135850

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 257

    AGI 155<sub>.</sub>

    INT 75

    VIT 127

    DEX 122

    LUCK 69

    ¡°All sets.¡±

    Hiro checked his progressive stats before starting the unavoidable fight with Noah.

    In order to get the blessings Noah needed, Sathanas ordered the two of them to fight against each other to keep him entertained. And even though Noah had refused, Hiro knew they had no other choice but toply with the demon¡¯s request.

    The rule of the fight was until one of them died. It didn¡¯t matter if it was Hiro or Noah.

    The two of them were standing opposite each other in front of the King of Wrath, who was still sitting while leaning his back on his throne. The crown he was wearing seemed to be falling sideways because of it.

    Hiro had already positioned himself, preparing to fight. He had a powerful technique to fight mages. Even though one of them could choose to not use their full power that caused a deliberate defeat, Hiro wouldn¡¯t do it. In fact, he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The fight against Noah.

    Meanwhile, Noah thought the same. He wouldn¡¯t hold back his strength in the slightest, even if the opponent was his ownrade. After all, he really hated losing.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Don¡¯t show a boring fight or I¡¯ll finish you two myself,¡± The King of Wrathmented in his booming voice.

    ¡°Start your count!¡±

    Hiro tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

    ¡°On three!¡± he cried before Noah could open his mouth.

    ¡°One¡­¡±

    ¡°Two¡­¡±

    ¡°Three¡­¡±

    Hiro dashed forward, and unexpectedly, Noah did the same, using a fire boost that helped him push his body forward.

    Hiro was a little surprised when he saw it. When he swung his sword with a basic attack, Noah was able to hold it back with both of his bare hands. Meanwhile, an intense air pressure swirled between his palms. Without touching Hiro¡¯s sword, Noah was able to block it with wind magic.

    *Jump*

    ¡°Well.¡± Hiro pulled himself back as his sword was stuck. A faint smile spread across his face. He did not expect that Noah could have a unique way of fighting as a mage. However, even if the man tried tobine physical and magical power, it was still not enough to stop Hiro¡¯s actual sword shing attack.<sub></sub>

    Whoosh!

    Once again, they shot toward each other at full speed. Hiro swung his sword, this time crosswise. Noah nned to use the same technique to stop Hiro. However, before his hands got close to the de, Hiro twisted his body and shifted the position of his sword, with his feet giving a powerful sidekick.

    Bang!

    Noah was thrown violently backwards. His body hit the ship¡¯s wall before falling to the floor.

    ¡°What was that?!¡± Noah eximed, feeling cheated by Hiro¡¯s trick. However, Hiro didn¡¯t answer, and instead challenged Noah to attack him back. He nned to have a little more fun with Noah. Hiro also wanted to find out how far Noah¡¯s progress was right now. At the same time, looking for weak points that could have been improved, but Noah didn¡¯t realize it. The man really thought that Hiro attacked him because Hiro wanted it.

    Whoosh!

    Noah shot forward while Hiro remained on his feet. This time, Hiro nned to take the attacks Noah could create. When the distance between the two was very close, Noah¡¯s two fists were suddenly burned by zing ck mes. He threw one of his fists at Hiro. And at the same time, Hiro positioned the de to fend off the attack, making Noah¡¯s fistnd on the de.

    Bang!

    Boom!

    Hiro was pushed back one meter away from where he was standing. The wooden floor on which he stood emitted smoke due to the friction. For the physical and magical power to be able to move both of his legs, Hiro considered that a great achievement. Noah had gotten so much stronger than before.

    ¡°My turn.¡± Hiro dashed forward. This time, he nned to use his basic swordbo skill. Hiro felt that if he used the awakening swordbo skill, he could identally kill Noah on the spot. He didn¡¯t want to lose his precious co-leader.

    However, once again, Noah showed his above-average abilities. He formed a shield of wind that allowed him to withhold the arrival of Hiro, who was trying to sh his body from the front.

    Hiro had to exert all his strength to suppress the wind shield and prate through it. And because Noah was more focused on increasing his damage, the shield of wind was not a barrier that was difficult for Hiro to prate.

    sh!

    St!

    Blood spurted out of Noah¡¯s shed chest. But, one sh wasn¡¯t enough to knock him down.

    St!

    Hiro furrowed his brows, focusing on finding a spot on Noah¡¯s body that wasn¡¯t too vital to take an attack from him.

    St!

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Noah looked in a lot of pain and his hands were drooping weakly.

    St!

    Bang!

    Hiro kicked Noah¡¯s chest with a quite hard kick, making his body that was covered in blood powerfully hit the ship¡¯s wall. Noah fell to his knees and vomited blood from his mouth. However, from the two pupils of his eyes that were shaking violently, he still didn¡¯t seem to give up, and Hiro was proud to see the expression on the man¡¯s face.

    Noah got back to his feet with difficulty. He even needed to grip on the wall. His gaze was locked on Hiro¡¯s eyes with a serious expression on his face. Meanwhile, Hiro was standing in his ce, looking back at Noah with the same serious face.

    ¡°Charge,¡± Noah murmured in a whisper. A yellowish me suddenly appeared, covering his body. It glowed faintly without a sound, but anyone could see it vividly.

    Hiro saw Noah¡¯s HP bar. His health points increased, but only filled three-quarters of the bar that were empty due to Hiro¡¯sst attack.

    This time, Noah would use the most powerful magic attack to corner Hiro. And Hiro couldn¡¯t wait to see it.

    [Fireshot]

    Pew! Pew! Pew!

    The shot of fire bolted from Noah¡¯s palms to Hiro. However, with the speed of an assassin, the shot of fire could still be handled by Hiro. Hiro dodged and cut his distance from Noah, nning to corner Noah once again so that the man would use his ultimate power.

    [Advance Void Phantom] [Level Max]

    [Turn into a shadow, receiving a stealth effect thatsts for 10s, during which time increases the dodge rate by 45%, attack speed by 75%, and movement speed by 50%. (CD 10s)]

    Noah¡¯s eyes widened as his target suddenly disappeared before his eyes. And before he had time to realize where it wasing from, suddenly a sword shing attack that was so fast, like the wind, hit his body.

    St! St! St!

    Bybining the Advance Void Phantom and the swordbo skills, Hiro¡¯s sword shing speed was too terrifying for Noah to stop.

 Chapter 187 Human Form

    Noah fell, kissing the damp wooden floor of the ship while coughing and spewing blood from his mouth. He had been defeated. But, he still couldn¡¯t take it for granted.

    ¡°Shit!¡± he protested, ming his own abilities.

    Hiro stood in front of him. He did nothing, just hoping that Noah wouldn¡¯t be killed so easily. He felt a little guilty for not controlling hisst attack and was having fun with it instead.

    ¡°What a boring fight,¡± murmured the thunderous voice. He even yawned very widely without covering his mouth. Hiro and Noah looked at the King of Wrath, and at the same time, the demon suddenly came down from his throne and stood in front of them.

    The distance between the top of his head, which had a pair of horns, and the ship¡¯s ceiling was no more than half a meter, even though he had lowered his head to look at Hiro and Noah.

    ¡°What if you two fight me?¡± he suggested in a disappointed tone.

    Before Hiro and Noah could respond. Suddenly, the giant¡¯s body was burned by green mes that felt scorching hot. Hiro pulled Noah¡¯s still helpless body away from the mes as his health points continued to decrease drastically.

    [-2500] [-2200] [-2170] [-2450]

    ¡°Charge.¡± Noah used the skill to regenerate his HP again because he didn¡¯t want to be killed by the hot mes.

    The air inside the ship seemed to boil with the heat of the green mes.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Damn! I had expected something like this to happen,¡± Hiro muttered as he stood with his back to Noah. He looked back to check if Noah was still alive or not.

    ¡°Prepare yourself,¡± he said, giving an order.

    rrrr!

    The green mes grew bigger, but the figures trapped within them seemed to have shrunk in size, as if he had justpleted a transformation. A young, brown-skinned male figure stepped out of the green mes with his chin raised in a haughty manner. Both of his eyes glowing red, giving an eerie sensation. His gaze was intensely focused on Hiro, who was already standing bravely in a fighting position.

    The green mes finally disappeared. And the air was back to normal. However, Hiro and Noah had to deal with Sathanas, who chose to use his human form to fight.

    ¡°Attack me at the same time,¡± Sathanas muttered. Even his voice had changed. Much less intimidating than before.

    ¡°Damn¡­ how could he do that?¡±

    Noah was able to get back up on his feet using both legs, but blood was still all over his body.

    ¡°The seven demon kings have two different forms. His human form and his demon form. We¡¯ve seen both now. Let¡¯s go, the human form will be much easier to defeat than the absolute demon form.¡±<sub></sub>

    Hiro dashed forward to attack Sathanas, who was still not showing his weapon. Meanwhile, Noah knew that he really couldn¡¯t lose in this fight or else he could lose one of his limb. And because of that, Noah used ranged attacks.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let yourself die before giving the blessing!¡± Noah eximed as he turned the pages on the Mystic Tome in search of a suitable magic spell that could be used to fight against Sathanas.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro swung his sword swiftly at Sathanas. However, even with his bare hands, Sathanas was able to dodge all of Hiro¡¯s sword shes attack with ease, even though he deliberately closed one of his eyes.

    In the back, Noah had been using water magic after he had seen that Sathanas used mes just a moment ago.

    [Water Cannon]

    Noah sped his hands together, and at the same time, a powerful shot of water came out of his hands. However, instead of dodging the water shot, Sathanas stayed where he was as Hiro jumped back to avoid being hit as well.

    And an unexpected thing happened. Sathanas spread his arms and let the water shot struck his chest hard. However, not a single drop of water fell down.

    The water was actually absorbed into the body of Sathanas. In an instant, when no more water came, the demon¡¯s body changed significantly. His muscle mass increased and his height increased by five centimetres.<sub></sub>

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Noah had no idea that something like that could happen.

    ¡°Thank you for the food,¡± Sathanas muttered while biting his lip, like he had eaten a delicious food. His face showed an expression of ease, even a little red from a blush flickered in his cheeks.

    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s on the ship. It seems his true power is water.¡± Hiro clearly felt stupid for realizing it toote. Just like Noah, he was deceived by Sathanas, who he thought used the power of green mes.

    ¡°Or even both. Water and fire. How could that possibly happen?¡± Noah still couldn¡¯t ept his opponent¡¯s power, which was too impossible for him to defeat the demon.

    However, because he was careless, suddenly, from the front, there was something shot towards him at high speed. It was a giant Trident made of water, aiming at him.

    nk!

    Hiro jumped at the right time to cut the Trident¡¯s attack that was stuck in the de of his sword right now. The Trident still didn¡¯t shatter and kept trying to push back Hiro¡¯s sword, aiming for the target that had been marked for it.

    Sathanas raised his left hand to control the Trident from a distance. A faint, wicked smile spread across his face.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Noah tried to use ice magic to freeze the Trident.

    [Frozen]

    The attempt was sessful. The Trident froze, but it remained stuck on Hiro¡¯s de. And before Hiro could say anything, suddenly the Trident that had beenpletely frozen let out mes.

    rr!

    And in just one second, its form resembling water had returned to its original state.

    ¡°Well, that was a nicebination of water and fire.¡± Noah actually looked amazed by what he had seen.

    ¡°Attack him!¡± Hiro hissed in a muffled voice. The power of the Trident that rammed to Hiro had almost doubled.

    Hiro was right. Noah had to stop the unstoppable attack by attacking the caster.

    ¡°I also have abination of elements that are no less great. Just prepare yourself. You will be the first human to taste my ultimate power.¡±

    The pages within the Mystic Tome flipped very quickly and emitted a very clear sound.

    ¡°Ancient magic power emanating from the same core, I call you.¡± Noah locked his eyes at the unmoving Sathanas. His right hand moved through the air in a circle and created a ck magic circle with an eastern dragon¡¯s head engraved in the center.

    ¡°The almighty fire and the destructive wind, let me guide you to your enemy.¡±

    [Fire Inferno]

    Boom!

    The ckish-red mes shot out from within the magic circle, while a powerful whirlpool of wind covered the mes and blended beforeing towards Sathanas.

    Seeing the enormity of the magic targeting him, Sathanas jumped back and made the Trident disappear.

    However, as Noah had said before, he was the one who would give instruction to the fire and wind to tell him the position of the enemy. And quickly, the shot twisted, then struck Sathanas powerfully, and exploded together with him.

    Boom! Kaboom!

 Chapter 188 Blessings 2

    Still not enough. The massive explosion alone was not enough to destroy Sathanas. It only managed to push him five metres away, without knocking him over. With blood gushing out of his face, which was covered in wounds from the st he received, Sathanas grinned, showing off a row of sharp teeth.

    Noah still couldn¡¯t believe what he had seen. He clenched his trembling fists. He felt he was still far from perfect for not being able to defeat Sathanas in one st, even though he had been training for days and hiding it all this time.

    Meanwhile, Hiro would not give Sathanas time to react. He knew that the demon king had the ability to regenerate the HP, and he didn¡¯t want that to happen because it would only make Noah¡¯s ultimate skill be useless. However, Noah¡¯s attack managed to reduce Sathanas¡¯ HP by half and seriously injured him.

    Whoosh!

    [Awakening Sword Combo Skill]

    Stt! [Critical Hit Combo -25050]

    St!! [Hit Combo -13410]

    Hiro continued swinging his sword mercilessly at Sathanas, who was pushed back until the demon¡¯s back hit the ship¡¯s wall quite hard. However, Hiro still hadn¡¯t finished hisbo skill to the max.

    Blood spurted out onto Hiro¡¯s face and body, flooding the ship¡¯s floor. The greenish-coloured blood smelled more fishy than normal blood.

    Stt! [Critical hitbo -109970]

    ¡°Unique skill.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    The vampire¡¯s Blood-Eater shed a purplish glow on its de again before it shed deeply into Sathanas¡¯ chest that had been horribly torn apart.

    Stt!

    [Absorbing Boss HP]

    But¡ª

    Even though Hiro was sure that he had attacked him very strongly and there was no notification that his unique sword skill had been missed, still, Sathanas¡¯ HP didn¡¯t seem to reduce to the left in the slightest. Then, Hiro decided to jump backwards to return to stand with Noah.

    Whoosh!

    ¡°What happened?¡± Noah asked in confusion at seeing Hiro suddenly stopped attacking.

    ¡°It¡¯s still not the time.¡± Hiro muttered. He couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of Sathanas, who was kneeling on the floor. The demon lifted his bloodied face and grinned sinisterly.

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± Noah asked again, still not understanding what Hiro had just said.

    ¡°This boss, it is still not the time to be defeated. Just look at his HP. It didn¡¯t reduce in the slightest, no matter how much I attacked him. My Blood-Eater Vampire should be able to finish him off.¡±<sub></sub>

    Noah still didn¡¯t understand what Hiro was saying until Sathanas suddenly let out a horribleugh. It boomed in the hull of the ship.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    ¡°You two are very talented. No one has been able to beat me like this before. Ha ha ha ha.¡± Sathanas stood to his feet using both legs, as if Hiro¡¯s fierce attacks earlier didn¡¯t affect him at all. He wiped the blood off his face, then licked it with his long, pointed tongue.

    ¡°Well, I guess now is my turn.¡± His voice had turned to a whisper.

    Whoosh!

    nk!

    Noah was stunned. He didn¡¯t realize when Sathanas had appeared in front of him. If only Hiro hadn¡¯t sped up and swung his sword in front of Noah, then Noah might have been killed by now.

    ¡°Nice try, but you have to defeat me first before him.¡± Hiro managed to stop Sathanas, who was flying at high-speed with his hands that were covered with long curved pointed nails. However, for matters of speed, Hiro was also as fast as the demon.

    ¡°Grrrr¡­¡± Sathanas pulled his hand that hit the Vampire Blood-Eater,and this time he used his ws to grab Hiro and tear him apart. His eyebrows knit together in anger, annoyed that he didn¡¯t manage to kill his first target.

    nk! Swish! nk! Swish!<sub></sub>

    Even though he had arge sword in his hand, Hiro was able to keep up with Sathanas¡¯ speed easily, which made the demon get even angrier. The demon¡¯s face flushed red with overflowing emotions. Meanwhile, Hiro just smiled lopsidedly, provoking Sathanas with an expression on his face.

    ¡°You son of Lucifer, you think you can beat me?¡± Sathanas growled furiously. This time he used both of his legs to kick Hiro, and twist his body to give a powerful impact.

    His efforts managed to overwhelm Hiro this time.

    ¡°You think you can win against me? Stop daydreaming!¡±

    Whoosh!

    Bang!

    Hiro copied the movements made by Sathanas and managed to m his boots hard into Sathanas¡¯ neck, making the demon re and stop attacking for one second.

    Noah, who had returned to normal, had prepared the wind shards to add damage to Sathanas¡¯ body. He aimed for the neck and nned to behead him.

    St St St!

    [-15000] [-13450] [-14410]

    [Windsh]

    Blood was pouring back onto the floor, and Sathanas reflexively used both hands to protect his own neck.

    Meanwhile, Hiro saw it as a golden opportunity. He dashed towards Sathanas, who was still wailing in pain, while Hiro¡¯s left hand was already outstretched in the air. His eyes shed with a red glow, and the sigil on the back of his hand thickened.

    Scratch!

    ¡°Ugh!¡±

    Sathanas vomited some greenish blood into Hiro¡¯s hand, which was stuck in his left chest.

    ¡°Demon¡¯s w.¡± Hiro hissed, then pulled out his hand. His nails that had grown drastically were as sharp as Sathanas¡¯ nails. They were covered in blood, which looked more like slime. The nails went back into Hiro¡¯s fingers when Hiro had no intention of using them.

    Meanwhile, Sathanas reflexivelynded his right hand to grip Hiro¡¯s robe and held on to it.

    ¡°The power of the curse.¡± His murmur sounded more like admiration than fear.

    ¡°You have the power of curse from your father. You must be the chosen one.¡±

    Hiro knew that it was a script for an NPC boss, though it seemed like Sathanas¡¯ words contained a hint.

    ¡°You, Young elve. You can never evolve into a dark elve if your opponent is a chosen demon. Just give up.¡± Sathanas¡¯ eyes stared at Noah.

    Noah walked over to Hiro and Sathanas.

    ¡°What are you talking about, filthy creature? I only came here because I need your blessing.¡±

    Sathanas tilted his head and looked at Noah in confusion.

    ¡°My blessing to be a dark elve, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Noah looked at Hiro and gave him a look that seemed to say, ¡°Has he gone mad?¡±

    Hiro also wondered about the dark elve. He hadn¡¯t found any information about the dark elve so far, as if it was a hidden feature that only certain people could ess.

    ¡°What does it take to be a dark elve?¡± Hiro asked curiously.

    ¡°You can¡¯t, because you¡¯re not an elve. You have to be an elve first before turning into the dark one. An elve should kill the demon who has the strongest bond to him and take a bath, using its blood as a ritual to be the dark one. The ritual must be done in front of the demon king and use one of their blessings.¡±

 Chapter 189 Coincidence

    ¡°I will never do that if it means that I have to kill him.¡±

    Hiro nced at Noah, who just said something too sweet and didn¡¯t seem like him.

    But, Sathanas actuallyughed at what he had said.

    ¡°Ha ha ha.¡±

    ¡°But the devour of power will make you kill everyone, even your own parents, or your beautiful queen, Young elve.¡± Sathanas said something that made Hiro think hard again. It seemed that the certain NPCs in the LSO world were actually controlled by someone and it didn¡¯t work automatically as they were created in the system.

    Hiro saw that the HP bar above Sathanas¡¯s head had disappeared again, as if to signify that the time to fight against him was up. Even before the monster got angry? Hiro didn¡¯t know the concept of that creature, but he was sure that in the future, he would have to face Sathanas once again. With maximum power.

    Sathanas walked up to Noah and patted him on the back. His hand, that was in contact with Noah, seemed to give off a greenish glow. He didn¡¯t budge at all, then he could feel something warm within him.

    Ding!

    [The bnce has been achieved]<sub>.</sub>

    [Yin Yang Harmony has been upgraded to Stage 1]

    Noah smiled at the notification he just received. He then looked at Hiro and nodded.

    ¡°I got them.¡±

    After getting what they needed, Hiro and Noah walked back towards the stairs they had entered earlier. However, Sathanas showed a warp bubble behind his throne that could send the two of them straight out of the ce without having to pass through the skeleton¡¯sir.

    ¡°Come back when you have found a way to kill him, Young elve.¡± Sathanas sat back on his throne in his human form. He looked like he still hoped that Noah woulde back to see him again for the purpose of getting the blessing of being a dark elve.

    Noah ignored him and kept walking.

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported back to the city]<sub></sub>

    It was already evening when the two of them managed to get off the ship. Before the highly racist NPC demons roamed the city more and more and arrested Noah, Hiro decided to go back out through the illegal market under the Hellfire Tavern floor.

    Besides, he also wanted to check back if there were more interesting items to buy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to trante my book,¡± Hiro muttered to Noah, reminding Noah that he still owed Hiro something.

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡± Noah still couldn¡¯t stop staring at his Mystic Tome with both eyes, shing an excited glow. He really would never have been able to find a way to upgrade it this fast if Hiro¡¯s older brother hadn¡¯t written a little note for him in that Walkthrough.

    ¡°NightFall, I wonder why did your brother write the walkthrough for my weapon, too? I mean, he did know from the first meeting at the maze that Yin Yang Harmony is my weapon.¡± He stopped walking and stood by the side of the road.

    Hiro sighed, and he gave Noah an answer.

    ¡°It seems like he already knows that you will be a permanent member of my party, and he really wants to make whoever I work with right now grow rapidly and be the strongest.¡±

    ¡°But, for what? What does that have to do with him?¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Well, I guess, to defeat him together. You know, being the strongest sometimes makes the whole world feel like a really boring ce because nothing else can bring you down? He has been through it since he was young and that¡¯s why he continues to teach me to be strong in the hope that I can beat him one day.¡±

    ¡°But you know what? Of course, I can¡¯t beat him. Ha ha ha.¡±

    Hiro returned to walking afterughing in discordance. Noah just watched the man¡¯s back. He felt that this time Hiro had just talked about something he had never told anyone before. Somehow, that touched Noah¡¯s heart. He felt closer to Hiro, and his bond with the man grew stronger. Moreover, Hiro repeatedly tried to protect him when he was off guard.

    A wide smile spread across Noah¡¯s face. For the first time, he felt that his heart, that was always filled with hatred and thirst for power, felt very light. What he needed all this time turned out to be in the game he was ying.

    A friend.

    ¡°I¡¯ll treat you to a meal as an exchange!¡± Noah put his arm around Hiro¡¯s shoulders from behind, making the man startle reflexively. Hiro felt ufortable.

    ¡°You can buy me something in the illegal market instead of treating me to a meal in this world.¡± Hiro gave another alternative.

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t just bankrupt me, I¡¯ll treat you.¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    Hiro entered the Hellfire Tavern, and the ce was as deserted as before. That way, the two of them could easily infiltrate and use the underground stairs to go to the market.

    However, before they had time to find a unique item to buy, Hiro¡¯s steps stopped when he saw a figure too luminous to visit the ce. And it seemed that the figure was facing a problem.

    ¡°Just give my flower back! I found it first. You stole it from me! I don¡¯t want to buy things I already have in the first ce!¡±

    Liberty was having an argument with a woman who had opened a stall in the market. The woman was dark-skinned and well built. She carried arge axe on her back as a weapon. Her gaze savagely stared at Liberty, who furrowed her brows in annoyance.

    ¡°I told you, the price is 99,000 LSC. I know a princess like you can really afford it.¡± The woman¡¯s voice hissed like a snake, and she clenched her jaws tightly.

    However, it was not Liberty if the girl was not stubborn and never gave up on things she thought were right.

    ¡°I found it first! You stole it from me!¡± The girl¡¯s voice couldn¡¯t keep up with the intimidation of the woman.

    ¡°Shut up and get out of my face!¡±

    Liberty closed her eyes as the drool of the woman in front of her streamed down her face.

    ¡°Watchmen!¡± the woman called out to two bulky yers who worked as guards at the market and they were on their shifts.

    The two guards immediately stood nking Liberty and pulled the girl by force.

    ¡°Let go of me!¡± Liberty struggled, but she was helpless.

    But of course, Hiro couldn¡¯t just let the girl be rudely chased away.

    ¡°Let go of her or I¡¯ll rip your hands off.¡± Hiro looked at the two guards with a look full of anger.

    Liberty reflexively turned her neck to look at Hiro, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

    ¡°H¨CHiro¡­¡±

    ¡°If I were you, I would listen to him. You know, having hands is perfect!¡± Noah hade to join in, and he was standing on the other side of the guards who were trapping Liberty with their muscr bodies.

    ¡°Get the hell out of this ce!¡±

 Chapter 190 Lily of The Midnight

    Bang!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Hiro kicked the yer who was working as a guard in that ce, making them fall backwards and destroying people¡¯s stalls with their bare hands.

    They were helpless and fell with one kick. They didn¡¯t expect that the yer they had just cursed at was such a powerful yer. Even with one kick to the chest, their health points were reduced by 50%.

    ¡°I had already warned you.¡± Noah only watched the free show, which was enough to keep him entertained.

    Liberty was still shocked by themotion. However, after the girl was able to adapt to the current situation, she quickly grabbed Hiro¡¯s arm and pulled him away from the ce.

    The girl even had time to snatch the item she had been after from the start forcibly. A flower-shaped item with a purple crown that sparkled beautifully as if it were a stic flower.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t paid!¡± eximed the woman who had been having an argument with Liberty. As she was about to walk out of her stall, Noah swiftly stood in front of her, blocking her path.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Don¡¯t disturb them. You¡¯d better let that item go. You won¡¯t win. You don¡¯t know who that girl is, do you?¡± Noah sneered. He squinted his eyes and spoke in a half whisper.

    The woman looked at Noah with her eyes wide open. He was more distracted by Noah¡¯s handsome face than what the man just said. She even gulped nervously, forgetting the flower, and her lost LSC.

    ¡°Uhm wee, Young master. What are you looking for in my shop? I have all kinds of nts that aren¡¯t even registered in the system yet.¡± That woman, even though her body was muscr, she was still a gentle woman when she was in front of a man like Noah.

    ¡°Nope.¡± Noah frowned, then looked around to see where Hiro and Liberty were. Actually, he was very curious to hear what they were going to talk about.

    ¡­

    ¡°Hiro, finally I found you!¡± Liberty pulled Hiro upstairs and led him to the corner of the Hellfire Tavern.

    Her obvious appearance, which had a pair of wolf¡¯s ears on top of her head, made the guest in the tavern stare at her with displeasure. Some even whispered openly because they knew who the girl was through television and all currentmunication media.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Libe, what are you doing in a dirty ce like this? It doesn¡¯t really suit you,¡± he half snapped.

    Hiro felt a little annoyed that he saw Liberty almost getting hurt because of the highly paid market guard yer. He felt that Liberty was too reckless, and he didn¡¯t want to imagine what would happen to her if he didn¡¯te at the right time.

    However, Liberty looked at Hiro¡¯s eyes keenly, making Hiro lose the will to scold or me her.

    The girl grabbed Hiro¡¯s right hand and opened his fist before cing a flower that she had been holding nervously on top of Hiro¡¯s palm.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained Lily of The Midnight]

    Getting the notification, Hiro looked back at Liberty in confusion. The girl¡¯s face had changed. The tip of her nose was red and her eyes were staring at Hiro with tears in her eyes.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Hiro, I¡¯m really sorry. I didn¡¯t know that Yuujin was your brother. I didn¡¯t know anything. I¡ªmy words at that time were too harsh. I shouldn¡¯t say anything like that. I¡ªI can¡¯t stop ming myself after I saw it on your live broadcast.¡±

    Hiro let Liberty touch his face with her warm and soft fingers.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It must be really hard for you to lose him. He¡¯s such a big brother. I remember the first time I met him. Wearing those sses made him look so different from you. But now, I realize that you really looked like him.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how to respond to the girl. However, he knew that his heart felt a sense of relief. The tightness in his chest disappeared in an instant. His hand moved to caress Liberty¡¯s hair gently. The girl was unable to hold back her tears.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. You didn¡¯t know about it. I should have told you about it from the beginning. I am the one who needed to me. I yelled at you and told you that your father was a murderer.¡±

    Hiro felt that it would be better not to say that to Liberty. After all, without what his father did, perhaps his meeting with Liberty would never have happened either. And he couldn¡¯t brush off that fact.

    Liberty hugged Hiro tightly, and she pressed her ear to Hiro¡¯s chest, hearing and feeling his heart beating with a gentle rhythm.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the courage to meet you. You know that I missed you very much, and I wanted to go see you immediately after the live broadcast, Hiro. I had many stories to share with you. However, every time I wanted to do it, I felt guilty, and I thought it was inappropriate for me to meet you empty-handed.¡±

    Hiro let the girl let out all her feelings into words. Her soft and sweet voiceforted Hiro, and he reflexively smiled. He hugged Liberty back, ignoring the people staring at them.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I went to look for the flower in the forest. A very rare flower, Lily of The Midnight. I read the encyclopedia and found interesting details about the flower.¡±

    Liberty pulled her body from Hiro¡¯s embrace, then looked back at the man.

    ¡°It said that Lily of The Midnight is a flower for the forgiving. The person who gives the flower to someone to apologize can see if that person is really sincere when she apologizes.¡±

    ¡°What happens when the person sincerely asks for forgiveness?¡± Hiro asked curiously, one of his eyebrows arched.

    Liberty smiled, not answering. A beautiful smile that made Hiro hypnotized to kiss her lips gently.

    Ding!

    [Lily of The Midnight has been activated]

    [The apology epted]

    [You have obtained a love and affection buff for 24 hours]

    [Tips: spend your time with your beloved one and get her/him back to you from your broken rtionship]

    Hiro blinked in disbelief at what he was seeing.

 Chapter 191 Festival

    ¡°I got it too. It¡¯s a bit embarrassing, but if you don¡¯t have time for me now, it¡¯s fine Hiro. The apology is the most important to me right now.¡± Liberty said, still looking at Hiro with a pretty smile on her face.

    Hiro looked at Liberty attentively. The girl¡¯s gaze made him a little uneasy. He also caught Noah standing on the stairs, eavesdropping on his conversation with Liberty.

    Hiro grabbed Liberty¡¯s hand, still not giving her a definite answer. Then, he walked upstairs, towards Noah.

    ¡°Noah, you can go alone, can¡¯t you? I have to do something.¡± Hiro¡¯s words made Noah frown in annoyance, then he looked at Liberty with an envious look.

    ¡°I expected that you would dump me soon, NightFall. Just enjoy your date! I¡¯ll see you againter.¡±

    Noah turned away to go back downstairs.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about my book!¡± Hiro eximed, reminding Naoh about the book the man had to trante. Noah just gave a thumbs up without looking up.

    At least now Hiro had time to put the buff to good use.

    ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re going with me?¡± Liberty asked, looking in disbelief at Hiro¡¯s very positive reaction. She didn¡¯t want to have high hopes before, but now, it seemed that she was the only one in Hiro¡¯s eyes.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Of course. You have gone to great lengths to find this flower item. I don¡¯t want to waste its effects just like that.¡± Hiro smiled and his voice softened.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Liberty jumped in joy. She immediately took out a crystal from the waist bag she was carrying.

    Hiro stared at the crystal curiously. It looked different from the usual Portkey Crystal.

    ¡°There is a Moon Goddess festival in Moonspire. I want to go there with you right now.¡±

    Liberty grabbed Hiro¡¯s hand before taking him along to teleport from inside the Hellfire Tavern. They actually couldn¡¯t teleport from this ce.

    It was a bit weird. However, this Last Shelter Online was definitely built for her, so it must be the daughter¡¯s privilege.

    Hiro shivered as he arrived at Moonspire City. The extremely cold air prated Hiro¡¯s skin and froze his pores. Meanwhile, the girl who was holding his hand tightly looked normal, not shivering in the slightest. Instead, her body felt warmer than before.

    They had been standing in the center of the za of Moonspire city. There were rows of warm tent-shaped stalls selling a variety of warm food and drinks. Both yers and NPCs seemed to be passing through the streets. They looked happy, and most of them were a couple.<sub></sub>

    No wonder Liberty took him to that ce. Honestly, this was Hiro¡¯s first time getting this life experience.

    ¡°Hiro, are you okay?¡± Liberty saw Hiro¡¯s lips were slightly blue from the cold, and she was anxious to see it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll buy something hot and sweet for you.¡±

    Liberty led Hiro to enter the crowd, and the girl began to look enthusiastic about choosing the food.

    Hiro could find various types of food from all over the world in that ce. And his eyes couldn¡¯t lie, he was very interested in buying ramen at the shop not far from him.

    ¡°Oh, Japanese food. I love them! Should we buy some?¡± Liberty invited Hiro over to the shop.

    Smelling the aroma of ramen being cooked made Hiro¡¯s stomach rumble. He felt that he had not eaten Japanese food in a very long time because he was stuck living in America.

    After buying food and warm drinks, the two of them walked towards the seats that had been prepared in the center of the za. It was already very crowded with people.<sub></sub>

    When Hiro came, pairs of eyes were on him. No exception, male or female. Everyone looked at Hiro in disbelief, then continued whispering to their partner.

    ¡°Just ignore them, Hiro.¡± Liberty pulled Hiro¡¯s hand after finding an empty seat.

    In the Moonspire city, morning and night were equally dark. No light. However, at this time, Hiro could see a moon that looked huge and very close to the ground above the sky of Moonspire City. It was very beautiful and perfect.

    ¡°I really like the Moon Goddess. Because my dad said that my mom often drew the illustrations of the Moon Goddess while she was pregnant with me, hoping that her daughter would be as beautiful as the goddess,¡± exined Liberty as she looked up at the moon above the sky of Moonspire city. Meanwhile, Hiro actually looked at the girl¡¯s face and he felt that what Liberty¡¯s mom was trying to do was really sessful.

    Liberty was even more beautiful than the Moon Goddess Hiro had imagined.

    Hiro had already moved to kiss the girl on the cheek, but suddenly five female bloodline beast yers who looked very sexy came to disturb them.

    ¡°Omg! Look who¡¯s at the Moon Goddess festival! The famous NightFall!¡± the girl with long hair in a ponytail shouted, then sat beside Hiro even before being allowed to.

    ¡°Nightfall! Finally, I can see you in person!¡± Another one, this time a girl with curly hair, pale skin, and round eyes, came. She even burst into the gap between Hiro and Liberty and sat there shamelessly, staring at Hiro from a close distance.

    ¡°NightFall, don¡¯t you want to have a lot of women? We are willing to share with each other!¡± the curly-haired girl added, followed byughter by her friends.

    Hiro was surprised. However, before he could say anything, Liberty pulled him to his feet and took him away from all the girls who were staring at him with thirst.

    ¡°He¡¯s mine and I don¡¯t share!¡± Liberty sounded very annoyed by those girls¡¯ arrival.

    ¡°Oh, I know who you are? You are the famous dead girl!¡± This time the girl wearing heart-shaped sses spoke. She even took off her sses to make sure she wasn¡¯t mistaken.

    Hiro could feel Liberty¡¯s grip in his hand tightening as the girl in front of him gave a name that Hiro had heard for the first time.

    ¡°Aww, rest in peace, baby girl!¡±

    ¡°You better leave this ce and live in true paradise, Princess.¡±

    ¡°Aww, what a pity, but it¡¯s ok if you don¡¯t share. I will just date him outside this game and you will never be able to stop me.¡±

    Hiro felt that the girls¡¯ words had gone too far. Liberty didn¡¯t even move. Her warm hand had turned cold.

    However, once again, before he could do anything, Liberty took out her special teleportation crystal and took Hiro away from that ce.

    ¡­

    Hiro smelled a very strongvender scent that rxed his body. He felt he had smelled this scent before.

    And when he regained his eye function, he saw that he was already in a warm room. Then, he realized that it was Liberty¡¯s room.

    ¡°Libe,¡± Hiro said softly, but Liberty stood by his side with her face down.

    Hiro was worried. Those girls¡¯ words had clearly offended Liberty.

    ¡°Libe, I¡ª¡±

    Liberty suddenly locked Hiro¡¯s lips with hers, stopping the words that were about toe out of his mouth.

    Hiro could feel Liberty¡¯s soft lips and her breath against his cheek. He returned the kiss gently.

    The girl then stopped and looked at Hiro with a dejected look.

    ¡°Ace wasn¡¯t here. Hiro, please help me to forget that I was already dead.¡±

 Chapter 192 Love and Affection

    Liberty looked at Hiro with her gentle eyes. Her arms were wrapped around Hiro¡¯s neck, and she looked like she was waiting for the man¡¯s answer.

    The words Liberty just said to him made Hiro¡¯s heart beat faster than before. He swallowed his saliva with difficulty and moved his hand to brush Liberty¡¯s long hair to the back.

    Hiro pushed Liberty¡¯s body backwards until her back touched the wall of the room. Then, he trapped the girl¡¯s body there before kissing her gently, treasuring every touch he did to the girl.

    Liberty¡¯s fragrant and slightly sweet scent made Hiro continue to inhale the air around the girl. He even sniffed her cheek while kissing her lips.

    Liberty¡¯s upper lip was Hiro¡¯s favourite part. He liked to give it a slightly soft bite.

    ¡°Hiro, please don¡¯t leave me again. I¡¯m scared.¡± Liberty said in a sobbing voice. The girl looked back at Hiro with teary eyes.

    Hiro wiped away the tears that flowed down her cheeks every time the girl blinked, and he tried to calm her down.

    ¡°No, I will never do that. You are very special to me. I love you more than you know. I don¡¯t care what happened to your real body right now.¡± Hiro said softly. He didn¡¯t want Liberty to feel sad again, thinking about things that weren¡¯t her fault and things that were really destined to happen.

    ¡°You promise?¡± The girl still felt it wasn¡¯t enough. The doubt still lingered in her heart.

    ¡°I promise.¡±

    Hiro gently caressed Liberty¡¯s warm cheeks, then kissed her lips again.

    However, after only three kisses, Liberty suddenly pushed Hiro¡¯s body away.

    Hiro looked at her, slightly confused. However, before he could say anything, Liberty caressed Hiro¡¯s cheeks and pushed him back before she suddenly jumped onto Hiro¡¯s body and locked his waist with both of her legs.

    Hiro reflexively put his hands on Liberty¡¯s exposed thighs because the girl was only wearing a short dress. He held her from falling while Liberty was already licking his lips as if she wanted to eat them voraciously.<sub>.</sub>

    With his heart beating faster than before, Hiro couldn¡¯t stay in that position any longer. He was suddenly desperate for more touches. It seemed that it was because of the active buff from the Lily the Midnight item.

    Hiro turned and lowered Liberty on the bed. He pinned down the girl between his arms again, then returned her wild kiss with more passion.

    Liberty didn¡¯t mind it, and she continued to trap Hiro with her legs on the man¡¯s hips. Her hands pulled Hiro¡¯s neck and pulled at his hair asionally.

    ¡°Mmmhh¡­ Hiro.¡± Liberty¡¯s soft moan and her hitched breath brushing against Hiro¡¯s face, and it made Hiro even more challenged to make the girl moan louder.

    ¡°Libe, I love you.¡±

    Hiro lifted his head to look at the expression on Liberty¡¯s face. The girl¡¯s gaze was more wistful than before and her face was already red. She bit her own lip as if signaling Hiro to continue what he wished to do.

    [Robe has been removed]

    [Costume has been removed]

    Liberty swallowed hard. She couldn¡¯t take his eyes off Hiro¡¯s white skin body that was different from hers. With much more STR thanst time, Hiro¡¯s body became muscr and bulky than before. Even the muscles in his arms, chest, and stomach were perfectly formed, like an athlete¡¯s.

    Liberty moved her hand to touch the skin of Hiro¡¯s chest. Stroking him down, then touching Hiro¡¯s ripped stomach. The girl bit her own lips until they turned red. It was obvious on her face that she really wanted Hiro¡¯s body.

    Hiro pressed Liberty¡¯s body again, but this time, his hand pulled the dress the girl was wearing down until the most beautiful bosoms of hers protruded. The instinct in Hiro¡¯s head made Hiro gently kiss Liberty¡¯s chest skin and bite it until it turned red.

    ¡°Mmhhh¡­ Hiro.¡±

    Hiro freed the bosoms from the bra gently, and Liberty didn¡¯t stop him. He touched the peak of her breast until it turned hard.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Ahhh¡ªHiro.¡± Liberty couldn¡¯t hold her moans when Hiro started to suck her nipple softly, toying it a bit using his tongue.

    Hiro moved his left hand up, then put his index finger into Liberty¡¯s small mouth. He let her suck it while he was sucking her nipple one by one.

    Hiro could feel Liberty starting to wriggle her thighs, while her left hand was hiding in between, trying to touch herself there.

    ¡°Did you often touch yourself? Touching yourself like this to seek pleasure?¡± Hiro asked in a whisper, and his voice had turned hoarse.

    Liberty nodded while still sucking Hiro¡¯s index finger like a baby. Her eyes had softened.

    ¡°I wish that I could have you everytime,¡± she added.

    Hiro smiled at Liberty¡¯s words. He then stopped Liberty¡¯s hand, which was rubbing her most private area by herself.

    ¡°I will help you down there.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please.¡± Liberty couldn¡¯t help herself.

    Hiro moved down and put his head in between Liberty¡¯s beautiful thighs. He stared at the pinkish cute panties that were already wet by her honeydew.

    Hiro teased her a bit by touching the wet spot and pushed it softly.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªHiro!¡±

    Hearing her scream and moan turned on Hiro¡¯s sword down there, and he gulped his saliva.<sub></sub>

    But, suddenly, a loud banging sound could be heard from the door in that room.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Both Hiro and Liberty were started.

    ¡°Libe, are you there?¡±

    It was clearly Ace¡¯s voice in front of the door. And Liberty hurriedly pulled the wide nket near her bed to cover her body along with Hiro, who was still busy staring at her most private area.

    ¡°Ssshhhttt. Don¡¯t say anything.¡± The girl gave an order to Hiro, and Hiro nodded obediently. It seemed that he had toply with her order for now, otherwise her brother would have caught Hiro up staring at his little sister plumply ¡®V¡¯.

    ¡°Libe!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here!¡± Libe shouted back to Ace behind the door. And the knob suddenly moved, and the door swung open.

    ¡°Are you sleeping?¡±

    Hiro moved his face down so that he wouldn¡¯t be seen. He could hear a footstep approaching. And he could feel Ace wasing to the room.

    ¡°Libe, are you alright? Your face looks so red.¡± Ace looked so worried. But, he didn¡¯t actually need that.

    ¡°I am okay. I just need to get more sleep.¡± Liberty was trying her best to make her brother leave her and her secret boyfriend alone.

    But, instead of leaving, Ace sat down on the sofa in that room.

    Hiro felt his body was about to freeze because of his position. But, he could see Liberty moved her left hand inside the nket and once again touched her own wet panties.

    Noticing that it was a signal, Hiro gulped and decided toy his face on her while pulling off the panties, and now he could see her beautiful bald ¡®V¡¯ right in front of his eyes. It was so tempting.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t help but start to sniff the hiding hole under those plumply soft skin and stuck his tongue out to lick the wet hole gently.

    ¡°Mmmh.¡± Liberty squeezed the nket as Hiro sucked on the sensitive part of her body and yed with it with his tongue.

    ¡°Hmm Ace, I¡ªmm.¡±

    Hiro chuckled quietly when he heard how Liberty was trying her best to hold her sweet moan because her brother was still there.

    ¡°Are you really alright?¡± Ace was worried.

    ¡°Mmm Ace, I want to sleep. Can you just leave?¡± She finally asked him to leave the room directly.

    ¡°Oo-okay then, call me if you need something.¡± He said while still staring at Liberty.

    Hiro once again teased Liberty. This time, he pushed his index finger into the hole that kept twitching hard.

    ¡°Mmmh Ace, p-please.¡±

    Finally, Ace left and closed the door tightly. Liberty pulled her body off from the bed to lock the door with her dress and panties hanging strangely.

    ¡°Hiro, how could you do that to me?¡± sheined, but she took off her dress, bra, and panties, naked in front of Hiro.

    Hiro moved his position while staring at her. Now, heid on the bed and his hands moved to open the gasper on his pants.

    ¡°Come here, Libe. I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore. It¡¯s been a while since thest time. Unlike you, I couldn¡¯t do it alone.¡±

    Liberty moved on the bed, crawling naked. She helped Hiro take off his pants and her face looked so happy when she could see the sword that was already hard under his boxer.

    Hiro didn¡¯t say anything, but Liberty suddenly put his sword into her mouth and sucked it. The pleasure that he already forgot the taste was back.

    And Liberty¡¯s tongue teasing his skin made him feel hot all over his body.

    ¡°Mmm Hiro, can I sit on your face?¡±

    Hiro gulped his saliva. He didn¡¯t remember that Libe was this brave, but of course he nodded so he could also give her the same pleasure by teasing her plumply bald vagina.

    ¡°Ahhh¡ª-Hiro.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t hold it Hiro, I¡¯ming.¡±

    The honeydew was flooding out. Hiro slurped it, and then he moved Liberty¡¯s body down, pinning her with his arms, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to move. He stuck out the sword, positioning it on the bridge of her wet hole of pleasure.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to put it in now, Libe.¡±

    Liberty nodded. Her body was really hot right now.

    ¡°Yes Hiro, yes. Please.¡±

 Chapter 193 Guild War Preparation 1

    It was already 7 pm when Hiro left Liberty¡¯s house using the back door. If it weren¡¯t for a notification reminding him that the guild warsunching event would open tonight, Hiro would have chosen to stay with Liberty a bit longer.

    He immediately rushed to the Evesting guild base after sending notification messages to all his guild members, asking them to gather at 8 pm to prepare the things needed for the first guild war event after the end of the trial period. This time, the victory of the guild war determined the fate of the joining guild.

    The guild war in the Last Shelter Online was cross-server. All the guilds officially registered on all servers in the game would fight one on one randomly. Even so, there was still the possibility of guilds from the same server to meet in the battle arena that had been prepared by the system.

    In order to equalize the time that could be used to strategize by each guild, the new system would show which guild would be their opponent on that night. It was decided within an hour before the fight started.

    ¡°Boss, we¡¯ve all gathered here. Some can¡¯t log in due to real-world business. Only seven people were absent. The rest are online. There are 40 people,¡± BigShow immediately reported to Hiro when he just came to join other guild members who had already gathered at the outdoor base. The bar was temporarily closed tonight.

    ¡°Thirty more minutes until the opponent¡¯s guild is revealed. You better prepare yourself with your own needs first.¡± Hiro exined, then sat down on the high chair in front of the bar counter before Wheelie.

    Noah came over to Hiro with two books in his hand. One was Hiro¡¯s book, which looked like an antique item, and the other was a thin notebook.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°I¡¯ve copied down everything. It looks like you won¡¯t be able to collect them that easily, but I know that you won¡¯t listen to me.¡± Noah shoved the two books back into Hiro¡¯s hands and then nodded. He sat on the empty seat next to Hiro, which had been prepared for the main party members.

    ¡°Thank you for helping me trante it, Noah.¡± Hiro said sincerely as he put the two books back into his inventory.

    ¡°It¡¯s best if Evesting wins tonight or I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Noah sighed, sounding a little annoyed. Hiro just nodded briefly. He didn¡¯t know what made his co-leader upset like that.

    After trying the trial version of the guild war a few days ago, Hiro already knew how the event worked. He had also prepared the best strategy to win the guild war.

    In the 1vs1 guild war event, all online yers in both guilds would be teleported into a battle arena by force within fifteen minutes before the guild war started.

    Meanwhile, in the battle arena, it reminded Hiro of a multiyer online battle arena (MOBA) game genre. Each guild had three paths to reach a main base in their territory, which was shaped like a giant tower. The main base had to be guarded. If the building was destroyed by the opponent, then the guild was considered lost.<sub></sub>

    In each path to the main base, there were three guard towers each that had to be destroyed first because they were able to shootsers and kill the opponent yers who tried to approach the building.

    In one day, there would be three rounds with three different opponent guilds. The winner would give a score of 100 while the loser would give a score of -100. Every month, the 5 guilds with the highest guild war scores would get special spots in the fivergest cities in the Last Shelter Online.

    For the facilities, the owner of the special spots would get everything inside the city, including the exclusive titles for all guild members. The name of the city would be given a special sign using the guild logo. Besides, all the hidden events in the city could be essed by all the members of the guild winner on certain days.

    For the first month of the guild war, of course, Hiro wanted to bring Evesting to be one of the winners. Besides, the five guilds¡¯ winner would have their names disyed as the owners of the five major cities on the entire server, and not just in North America.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s arrange the n. My party will attack and defend the middlene and roam around there, while BigShow¡¯s party will defend the bottomne with 5 tanks. yers with level 60-70, you can help us power up the tower by farming in the topne.¡± Hiro was still using the strategy he felt was most effective when he tried it during the trial period.

    ¡°All rogues must be roaming around and kill them if you can. Mages and barbarians, please focus on destroying the tower.¡±<sub></sub>

    ¡°Clerics, please watch your spot and don¡¯t get killed.¡± Hiro looked at Wheelie, who was looking at him with a frown. This time, Wheelie was much more determined and confident in her strength after Hiro told her to train so hard that he was repeatedly scolded by Cara.

    Even so, thanks to Wheelie¡¯s efforts and hard work, the girl had be a very useful cleric and was part of the strongest party of Evesting.

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± they eximed in unison. It was apparent on their faces that they were very excited and wanted to go to the guild war right away.

    ¡°Prepare your buff. If you don¡¯t have money right now, ask Jacob¡¯s help. We have our guild bank for everyone here.¡±

    Hiro immediately took out the transparent screen in front of him, using a flick of his finger. He checked the online marketce and nned to buy some buffs he needed to win the guild war.

    After all the guild members had done their preparations as ordered by Hiro, finally the time for the announcement of which guild would be their opponent came out.

    And of the three hundreds of officially registered guilds, the name of the guild that appeared as Evesting¡¯s first opponent tonight was¡­

    [Evesting ¨C North America Server]

    [VS]

    [Exalted ¨C North America Server]

    Hiro swallowed hard after seeing the guild¡¯s name. And he wasn¡¯t the only one who fell silent when seeing the announcement.

    Noah patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder lightly, then brought his face closer to Hiro.

    ¡°Don¡¯t me me if I identally kill your girl, NightFall,¡± Noah whispered while nodding his head.

    ¡°Exalted? Seriously? That¡¯s an elite yer¡¯s guild, right? How can we win?¡± DarkHell, a male yer mage with level 70, eximed with an annoyed expression on his face.

    ¡°Ah, what a lousy draw!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We have NightFall here, WynterRain¡¯s Brother. He¡¯s our power!¡± BigShow always believed that the leader of Evesting was indeed the strongest in the game. He tried to convince the guild members who looked desperate since they knew who would be their opponent.

    ¡°Hiro, what do you say?¡± Jacob didn¡¯t know how to react. He also did not expect to face such a tough opponent on the first day.

    Hiro looked at the Evesting members until they fell silent again. His gaze still didn¡¯t change one bit. The gaze of a winner.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We can do this, but we changed the n.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

 Chapter 194 Guild War Preparation 2

    Meanwhile, on the side of the Exalted guild¡­

    ¡°The announcement of our first opponent is out,¡± said Natalie, a rogue assassin yer in the Closed Beta Test who had decided to join the Exalted Guild.

    ¡°Have you managed to contact Dimitri yet?¡± Ace was seen standing in front of a room they used as a gathering room at the guild base. Out of their current 50 guild members, all of them were present except for one person.

    Dimitri. Ace was still trying to connect with him since half an hour ago, but Dimitri didn¡¯t give an answer. No one knew where Dimitri was, even though the man was actually online.

    ¡°He¡¯s been missing a lottely. I didn¡¯t expect that he would also be leaving on such an important day for our guild,¡± sought ric in a disappointed tone. From the way he spoke, he had already guessed that this would happen.

    ¡°Maybe he is on his way.¡± Nius, the knight, still tried to be positive thinking. He sat quietly on the sofa near Liberty, who was more interested in checking the marketce and updating the new clothes they were selling right now, than thinking about the uing guild war.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°Let Natalie fill his ce. He could havee after.¡± ric felt that it was pointless to wait for Dimitri who had no news.

    ¡°Just, where did Dimitri go? Was he involved with something misleading? He¡¯s never ignored me like this before.¡±

    Ace squeezed his scabbard, which was lying on the stone table in front of him, in annoyance. However, his mind was also clouded with anxiety. After all, Dimitri was his closest friend. He had known Dimitri since elementary school, long before he knew ric and Nius. And Dimitri also wanted to join him in ying the Last Shelter Online just because he wanted to help Ace, his best friend. But now, where did he go?

    ¡°Did any of you run into him outside the base?¡± Ace shifted his gaze to his guild members, who were sitting on thefortable sofa leisurely. They were preparing weapons and shields for the uing war. Actually, they couldn¡¯t wait topete to kill the most yers because most of them were crazy about big damage.

    Almost none of them paid any attention to Ace, ignoring him as if he wasn¡¯t the leader of the guild.<sub></sub>

    ¡°How long are we going to wait for that ignorant brat? We must immediately arrange the strategies. Haven¡¯t you checked who our opponent is, huh?¡± a middle-aged man wearing full silver armor,plete with a spear and shield, shouted from the other end of the room. His deep voice boomed in the room.

    ¡°Ace, he is right. We have to arrange the strategies. Our opponent is Evesting, they are ranked first ording to current guild fame. And in case you forgot, I¡¯ll let you know. That NightFall, who dered himself as WynterRain¡¯s younger brother, was also there. He¡¯s the leader.¡± Nius exined in a whisper to Ace.

    The information he had just received from his calmest friend made Ace¡¯s pupils widen. Of course, he remembered who the guild leader of Evesting was, and of course, he also knew that the guild was ranked first based on guild fame on the server. Hearing this made Ace feel that he really needed Dimitri even more right now.

    ¡°Shut up, Nius. Hiro is Yuujin¡¯s younger brother. Don¡¯t act like you know him. You don¡¯t know anything at all.¡± Liberty suddenly rose to her feet and looked at Nius in annoyance before walking over to her brother.

    ¡°So, is it true that our opponent is Hiro¡¯s guild, Brother?¡± The girl showed a different reaction from the others. Instead of feeling worry, both of Liberty¡¯s eyes widened with happiness. A distinct smile formed on her fresh looking face.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Just who the hell is Hiro?¡± ric whispered to Nius, and Nius just shrugged his shoulders. He didn¡¯t know who Hiro was that Liberty was talking about. But, it looks like Ace knew, although Liberty had never told him.

    ¡°Right, we¡¯re going to fight your boyfriend¡¯s guild. But, we will win. You know your job, don¡¯t you, Libe?¡± Ace whispered right in his sister¡¯s ear, who immediately pouted his lips in annoyance.

    ¡°I know. But, if it¡¯s Hiro, I won¡¯t hurt him. No more.¡± Liberty sat back down on the sofa. Her face showed the sign of rebellion. From the beginning, she was not interested in participating in the event, but her brother forced her to join in. Liberty looked at Nius in annoyance as if she tried taking her anger out on him.

    ¡°All right, this is a bit of bad news. I didn¡¯t expect that we would face Evesting in the first game. However, I firmly believe that in terms of overall power, ourbined strength will be much stronger than Evesting,¡± Ace said confidently. And all the Exalted members seemed to nod in agreement. They didn¡¯t really care about anything that threatened them.

    ¡°Can I just kill everyone and y?¡± asked a young blond male yer who looked like a gentleman, but was ying with the golden de of a dagger in his hand, slicing his finger until it bled like a psychopath.

    ¡°Uhmmm, yes, Master Jason.¡± Ace¡¯s voice suddenly became more polite.

    ¡°Good. If I win, I¡¯ll donate more money to your hospital and yourpany, Mr. Young Johnson.¡± he replied while slicing back his finger which had healed because he used the special fast regeneration buff like a vampire.

    Ace squeezed the scabbard back on his desk quietly. He was actually tired of managing the elite yers who were the members of his father¡¯s project sponsors. They were very difficult to control and y like real gamers. Besides using expensive items that could be said as a ¡®cheat¡¯, their behaviour was also very annoying.

    However, Ace had no other choice but to be patient.

    Ace raised his face again and forced a smile. Before he could open his mouth once again, the main door of the room suddenly burst open and a ck shadow shot in quickly. It stopped right in front of Ace.

    ¡°Dimitri, you¡¯rete,¡± Ace said. He was surprised by the arrival of Dimitri, who was always excessive. However, he was relieved that his best friend had finally arrived in a condition that looked fine.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my friend. I almost forgot what day it is today.¡± Dimitri walked to Ace¡¯s side and put his arm around his shoulder.

    Ace arched an eyebrow in surprise. It was unusual for Dimitri to forget the events that could make him kill many yers because it was his favourite every time he yed a game. He even acted as if he hadn¡¯t received any calls from Ace, ric, or Nius, who still seemed annoyed with Dimitri¡¯s tardiness.

    ¡°I¡¯ve checked who our opponents are, and I know the easiest way to win,¡± Dimitri muttered in a low voice.

    ¡°We can use your sister, Liberty,¡± he added with a hideous grin on his face.

 Chapter 195 First Guild War Event

    Ding!

    [Guild War Event will begin in 15 minutes]

    [All guild members will be teleported automatically to the battle arena]

    Hiro and the members of Evesting, who were standing in front of him, were immediately transferred to a preparation location in the battle arena that resembled a giant dome. The two guilds that were going to fight were moved to two different locations. It was only a matter of time before they were allowed to enter the three different gates that were shaped like caves in front of them.

    ¡°Are you sure about your strategy, Hiro?¡± Noah still seemed a bit objected to the choice made by Hiro earlier. A strategy that could be considered quite reckless for a guild war.

    ¡°They are crazy elite yers. I know what they want. They want to ughter the opponent guild yers for fun. Destroying the tower might not be their priority,¡± exined Hiro, who was very sure of his guess. Hiro felt that he could win if he focused on destroying the opponent¡¯s tower until he reached their main base.

    The guild war with the MOBA type was not the first battle Hiro had yed. And he had known most of the attack and the defense patterns of the opponent.

    ¡°In a moment, use your main buff 5 minutes before the battle starts. We don¡¯t know how long it will take us to defeat themter. It¡¯s better if you do it only in 30 minutes of the game, or they will look through our strategies.¡± Hiro exined while looking at the members of Evesting with a firm gaze. They had already started doing warm-up movements, so that their bodies were flexible enough to move in the guild warter.

    [The Guild War Event will begin in 5 minutes]<sub>.</sub>

    [Please prepare yourself!]

    [In the guild war event, yers who are killed will not get a penalty and they can still respawn with the help of the priest or auto respawn if there is no help around after 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s. The numbers depend on how many times the yer is killed in a battle. The yers who respawn will automatically return to the safezone and start over from there.]

    Hiro took out the special items he had purchased from the Marketce to increase his overall power. All Evesting members were required to use buff items with the minimum specs set by Hiro. He really didn¡¯t mind even having to buy some items for those who didn¡¯t have enough money.

    Ding!

    [Strength has been increased]

    [Agility has been increased]

    [Dexterity has been increased]

    [Physical Attack has been increased]<sub></sub>

    [Attack Speed ??has been increased]

    [Health point has been increased]

    [Ability point has been increased]

    [Movement Speed ??has been increased]

    [Defensive Damage has been increased]

    [Armor Power has been increased]

    [Damage has been increased 3x]

    Hiro pulled out a vampire blood-eater that felt lighter in his hands because the temporary buff he just got had increased his power.<sub></sub>

    He then walked towards the cave in the middle, leading all his guild members to go inside. One by one, they followed Hiro in orderly. Hiro nodded after giving them a cue, while the others had already taken their positions, like Hiro had just told them beforehand.

    On the right side of the cave, there were more yers than the others. On the right, they would walk towards the topne, which was a safezone. They would do farming by destroying the crystal flowers that appeared every three minutes to get a tower defense buff, so that the tower would be difficult to destroy.

    Because some of the Evesting yers were finally able to go online, the number of yers joining the guild war event was 49/50.

    20 yers were ready to fill the topne, and 11 yers consisting of 8 tanks and 4 mages were ready to guard the bottomne. Meanwhile, the rest, including the yers who couldunch the biggest damage, would fill the middlene.

    ¡°Focus on farming until we destroy the middle tower,¡± Hiro muttered once again, reminding his guild members. He couldn¡¯t wait to face the Exalted Guild. For him, it would be a very challenging battle.

    [The Guild War will be started in 3 minutes]

    [The Gates have been opened]

    [yer can enter the gates]

    Hiro and the others immediately rushed into the cave, and they came out on the other side of the cave. The ce resembled an underground cave, which was very spacious and felt very humid.

    Their feet stood on a stone ground marked in a rectangr shape. It was a safezone, the yers settled in that ce would not get any damage from the opponent, but they could give damage to the opponent. The opposing yers who entered the safezone of other yers would get an instant death penalty from the system.

    Hiro continued to move forward until he arrived at the end of the safezone. There was a thin line that prevented him from leaving the safezone before the war really started.

    The positions of the topne, bottomne, and middlene were quite far away from each other, but they were still on the same map. However, to move from onene to another, the yer must light up a hidden torch to know the way, so as not to get lost in the dark and be killed by uninvited cave monsters in the guild war.

    ¡°Nightfall! I will kill you for my first kill!¡±

    Hiro could hear the scream from the other end of the cave. He recognized that annoying voice. Only one person from the Exalted had such a rude attitude.

    ¡°That damn rogue. I will not let you run this time.¡± Noah, who was standing beside Hiro, clenched his fist tightly. He still had a grudge against Dimitri since thest time the rogue had tried to kill him before Noah was aware of his presence. If only Hiro hadn¡¯t saved him back then, he would be dead meat.

    ¡°Hoosh¡­ it¡¯s so humid and cold in here, or is it just me feeling it?¡± RobinHood rubbed his hands profusely while blowing his breath on them for warmth.

    ¡°Hiro! I¡¯m here! Where are you?!¡± This time it was a girl¡¯s cute voice, shouting loudly in excitement.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªHiro, Liberty¡¯s here? Damn¡­ I wish that she will focus on farming the crystal flowers or something. I don¡¯t want to identally kill her because of my reflected damage.¡± Jacob grinned as he rubbed the back of his head.

    Based on what Hiro had suggested, for the sake of his party¡¯s power to be invincible, Hiro asked Jacob to focus on increasing his reflected damage as a tank rather than just focusing on increasing his defense. Even though it meant Jacob had to give up on his physical damage. It was not that high though, and he would have a little difficulty when grinding because of it.

    But, even though he had to work harder when grinding, the tank strength that Hiro rmended for him was the best choice. He believed that it could make him be the strongest tank.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s just a game. After all, there is no penalty for being killed in this event,¡± Hiro exined in a reassuring voice, yet he really wanted Evesting to win the guild war. Even though to achieve it, he might have to see Liberty killed in front of his eyes, or even worse¡­ he would have to finish the girl himself.

    [The war will begin in 3 seconds]

    [1¡­]

    [2¡­]

    Hiro, Noah, Jacob, Cara, and Wheelie were already at the front line. They had drawn their weapons and were ready to run to the centermost tower in the front. Their running speed would affect where the wind blew in this war.

    [3¡­]

    Dang!

    [Battle started]

 Chapter 196 Everlasting Vs Exalted 1

    Hiro ran at full speed. He could run faster than the others due to his movement speed, which was doubled from the skill and the activated buff.

    Whoosh!

    Dashing, every jump made his four party members fall further and further behind as he shot like the wind. At first nce, his feet looked as if they were floating and not stepping on the ground.

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Evesting]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 7x by Evesting]

    Hiro smiled at the notification that had just appeared. It seemed that Evesting¡¯s farmingne really had dominated in the guild war. And that meant it was a very good start.

    nk!

    The vampire blood-eater shed with a pair of w-shaped Katar that dripped with a very thick ck slime liquid. Dimitri came earlier than the others. However, Hiro could see him hiding in the shadows and he immediately stopped Dimitri before the man attacked him.

    ¡°You think you can stop me just because you have the speed of the rogue, huh?¡± Dimitri flung both his Katar free from Hiro¡¯s de resistance. However, Hiro didn¡¯t budge. His STR point was still far above Dimitri¡¯s.

    ¡°That was too weak.¡±

    Bang!<sub>.</sub>

    [-9500]

    A very strong sidekick hit past Dimitri¡¯s waist until he was thrown against a tall rock that stuck to the ground.

    Before Dimitri fell to the ground, Hiro dashed forward, approaching him. He was very fast enough while activating his ¡®Phantom¡¯ mode before he stabbed Dimitri¡¯s left chest using his Demon¡¯s w.

    Crash!

    Hiro could feel the extremely hot blood running down his left hand, and the hand stuck there while gripping the heart could feel that it was still beating weakly.

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d grown a lot, but it turns out you¡¯re just sitting in one ce.¡±

    St!

    [Lethality Damage Sess]

    [-35780]

    [NightFall has obtained the first blood!]<sub></sub>

    [Movement speed buff has been granted for Evesting]

    [Dimitri from Exalted has been killed]

    Hiro plucked his hand out of Dimitri¡¯s motionless body, and the manid down on the ground in front of him lifelessly. Hiro immediately returned to his original position, and the other party members had finally arrived there.

    ¡°What the hell, Nightfall. You stole my prey!¡± Noahined, but the expression on his face looked like he was amazed.

    ¡°Get ready. They¡¯reing!¡±

    ¡°Noah, your turn!¡±

    rrr!

    Noah¡¯s body was suddenly enveloped by ck mes that roared like a giant bonfire. The guild members who were standing nearby immediately moved away because the fire was scorching hot against their skin.

    The yers from Exalted appeared irregrly, and Hiro¡¯s guess was right. They would target anyone and kill them right away. Meanwhile, Noah used the fire skill he used to challenge Sathanas to attack them.

    [Fire Inferno]<sub></sub>

    st!

    A very powerful explosion managed to hit straight at the center tower of the enemy at the front.

    [Exalted Tower M1 is under attack]

    The explosion of the fire that came out of Noah¡¯s hand managed to sweep away all the yers who were near the target point. Causing them to be thrown into the air before getting back up with furious expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Hiro gave orders to the Evesting members on the front line. His eyes couldn¡¯t find Ace and the others, and it made him a little worried. They shouldn¡¯t be in a differentne than Dimitri, should they?

    Stt!

    Hiro aimed at the low defensive yers. He used a swordbo skill to finish them off. Because they really looked like they were just ying without having a great strategy, Hiro could easily kidnap mages, rangers, and clerics who were in the middle line.

    Finish them off.

    [NightFall is in the killing spree]

    [Damage to tower has been increased for Evesting]

    The sound of the collision of various weapons, the sound of magic explosions of various elements, and the sound of endless fire shots made the atmosphere in the cave instantly turn very boisterous. Even the air was turning scorching hot.

    Hiro and Cara could get the kill easily, because those people with weak defenses were really left unguarded. Meanwhile, their tanks actually nned to fight in a one-on-one battle and tried to get a kill.

    St!

    ¡°I¡¯ll be chasing your kill score, NightFall!¡± Cara eximed after shing the neck of an opposing rogue yer. Even though the weapon the man used was far more promising than Cara¡¯s, the girl¡¯s sticity and speed were still far superior. The rogue that didn¡¯t have either of the two would only be a failed rogue and got killed.

    ¡°Try it if you can!¡± Hiro¡¯s challenge made Cara even more excited to ughter anyone freely.

    Meanwhile, Jacob just stood in the middle of the front line guarding Noah, who focused on giving damage to the tower along with the other mages. Even though he just stood still, Jacob activated the skill to absorb all the damage directed at Noah and returned it as reflected damage. So, the ranger that fired his weapon at Noah continuously ended up being killed by his own weapon because he didn¡¯t have enough defense to counterbnce Jacob¡¯s reflected damage.

    ¡°Well, this is a bit boring, but pretty cool. I feel like I am bulletproof.¡± Jacob seemed to enjoy his job. He walked closer to the tower slowly. And when the number of yers in the middlene had decreased, finally Jacob and three other tanks were able to invade the tower area tounch attacks that would damage the tower.

    After entering the arena of the opposing tower, Hiro focused more on hitting the tower using his awakening swordbo skill, and he deflected his sword at the approaching opposing yer asionally.

    [Tower M1 Exalted HP remaining is 75%]

    But suddenly, tower M1¡¯s HP didn¡¯t seem to decrease a bit even though more and more Evesting members beat the giant tower.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Noah asked, feeling something was wrong.

    Hiro checked again the notifications that had been piling up, and he realized that the crystal flower which was supposed to keep running every three minutes had stopped in one ce.

    ¡°Damn, I think I know where they are right now.¡±

    ?[0??]? Whoosh!

    Suddenly, a ck shadow shot quickly past Hiro and Jacob, who were standing side by side with each other. The ck shadow hit Noah so hard that he was blown back three meters, out of the area of the protection of ??Jacob¡¯s skill.

    Bang!

    ¡°Ugh.¡± The fire that enveloped Noah¡¯s body automatically extinguished when he fell. In front of him stood Dimitri, who immediately tore apart Noah¡¯s body with his ws.

    And as if something bad for Evesting was starting to happen, a notification appeared before them, flooding the HUD.

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    [Tower M1 Exalted HP has been regenerated]

    [HP remaining is 99%]

 Chapter 197 Everlasting Vs Exalted 2

    [NightCrawler: Help, we are under attack!]

    St!

    [Lethality Damage Sess]

    [NightFall is in Killing Spree!]

    [Dimitri from Exalted has been killed]

    Hiro immediately eliminated Dimitri after the rogue managed to finish off Noah. Luckily, Wheelie immediately used his [Revive] skill to revive Noah so he could continue his task.

    ¡°Stay focused! You can kill himter, but now focus on the tower! I¡¯ll go to the miningne.¡± Hiro held Noah¡¯s shoulder as the man looked furious and wanted to beat Dimitri¡¯s body, which was still frozen on the ground because he was dead, but no one came to revive him. There were no clerics left in the middlene, and even if there were, Hiro and the others wouldn¡¯t let the clerics revive Dimitri.

    ¡°All right. Jacob, protect me, you Noobie knight!¡± Noahined.

    ¡°I am really sorry. I didn¡¯t see himing.¡± Jacob looked really sorry for letting Dimitri attack Noah. He was also annoyed that Dimitri managed to get past him and even killed a yer he should have protected well as Hiro had trusted him.

    ¡°No, this time he¡¯lle back for Wheelie,¡± Hiro said confidently, while looking at Wheelie. Wheelie looked surprised. Her eyes widened, and she looked a little scared. After all, being killed in the game meant feeling an excruciating pain, especially if the killer was a sadist like Dimitri.

    ¡°I¡¯ll never let him get closer to Wheelie.¡± Cara certainly wouldn¡¯t let that happen, and Hiro believed in her.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon. Please. At least destroy one tower before I get back. Noah, it¡¯s your turn to lead here!¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t have to wait any longer to dash toward the dark turn on the right of the arena. He used [Demon¡¯s Eyes] which was so reliable in the dark. He didn¡¯t need a fire torch to get to the crystal flower farming ce.

    He shot off at full speed. However, the notifications about the crystal flowers appearing on the system over and over again were still overpowered by Exalted.

    ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t expect that they would go farming. How could they do that? And only Dimitri in the middlene? Are they nning to make this gamest for hours?¡±

    Hiro avoided areas that had giant trap monsters and hid in the dark. The monsters were not fit to be fought as they could use a one hit one kill attack that could kill anyone in the area, and he had to wait for an automatic respawn time.

    Whoosh!

    [Noah: Damn, this tower is impossible to destroy. Hurry up and stop them, NightFall]

    Hiro finally arrived at the farming arena. At the same time hended there, a giant crystal flower appeared in front of him. The giant crystal flower was a special crystal flower that took longer to destroy than the normal crystal flowers. And that giant Crystal flower appeared randomly. Sometimes, it didn¡¯t even appear.

    Destroying 1 giant crystal flower was equal to 20 times destroying an ordinary crystal flower.

    Hiro jumped high while raising his sword vertically before concentrating all his energy in his hands, and he shed at the crystal with all his might.<sub></sub>

    Pranggg!

    [Giant Crystal Flower has been destroyed by NightFall]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 20x by Exalted]

    The giant Crystal flower cracked and shattered into crystal shards which then melted into the air.

    ¡°Damn, why did the system use my name in the announcement? They¡¯ll know that I¡¯ming.¡±

    Hiro kept running until he arrived behind the backs of the four core party yers from Exalted. They were standing in front of the borderline safezone for Evesting, so that none of them dared to get out of the safezone or they would be killed easily by Ace, ric, Nius, and Liberty.

    Meanwhile, behind them were 10 low-level Exalted yers who were trying to destroy the crystal flower that had appeared with their weapons.

    No one saw Hiroing from back, so Hiro quickly dashed forward to finish off 10 low-level Exalted yers while snatching the crystal flower with one sh.

    St!

    St!<sub></sub>

    St!

    [Fatal Damage]

    The members who were given the task of farming the flower crystals were very weak. Hiro didn¡¯t know that Exalted, the once strongest guild, epted such yers. However, it actually benefited him.

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    [Crystal Flower has been collected 5x by Exalted]

    The 10 yers were killed and the crystal flower was stolen. However, at the same time, Hiro managed to be the center of attention.

    ¡°Hiro!¡± Liberty shouted, looking very happy to see Hiro¡¯s action. Her eyes widened in amazement. The girl didn¡¯t seem to mind at all that her guild would be defeated.

    ¡°I see. So, you guys are really here, huh? Totally unpredictable,¡± said Hiro, trying to provoke Ace and the others to get away from the safezone so that the Evesting members could run out of the safezone to farm crystal flowers again.

    ¡°You, what is the strongest yer doing here?¡± Ace pulled out his sword, which had overwhelmed Hiro in the past. However, this time, Hiro confidently raised his sword and believed that the vampire blood-eater was far better than Ace¡¯s sword.

    ¡°Come on. Kill me if you can!¡±

    ?[0??]? Whoosh!

    Ace didn¡¯t charge forward alone. He sped along with a shot of water that came out of ric¡¯s hands.

    Ssh!

    Hiro shed the water shot until it split in two before swinging his sword at Ace, who had made his swords fused perfectly.

    nk!

    St!

    nk!

    ¡°Don¡¯t get in my way, ric!¡±

    nk!

    Hiro smiled as he counterbnced Ace¡¯s swordy, which looked very graceful, the nobility style. Hiro was sure that Ace had got private sword lessons like ancient European royalty when he was a child.

    However, such graceful and nobility movements were too stiff to deal with Hiro¡¯s unexpected improvised sword movements.

    St! St!

    [Fatal damage]

    [-25,600] [-15,230]

    Ace was thrown into the air and fell to the ground. Hiro still remembered that the armor used by Ace was light type armor that only had a small defense because he needed speed to swing his light sword.

    ¡°Damn!¡± Ace was still able to get back on his feet, and his hands signalled ric and Nius not to disturb him.

    Hiro actually felt very benefited by it.

    ¡°I am really sorry, Libe¡¯s brother. But I have no choice. I have to win this game.¡±

    St!

    [Fatal damage]

    A single vertical sword sh managed to sh Ace¡¯s chest, but Hiro also used [Demon¡¯s w] at thest minute, digging his sharp ws into Ace¡¯s heart and making Ace feel a very painful preview of a terrible death.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Hiro felt bad because, after all, he was the older brother of the girl he was dating.

    Ace grabbed Hiro¡¯s cloak by the wrist and pulled him closer. ¡°I¡¯lle back to kill you.¡±

 Chapter 198 Everlasting Vs Exalted 3

    ¡°Please find me in the middlene.¡± Hiro replied and then freed himself from Ace¡¯s grip, who had been frozen because he had been killed.

    This time, his eyes fell on ric, Nius, and Liberty alternately. He had to kill the three of them so that thene could be dominated by Evesting. Meanwhile, behind their backs, the Evesting members were seen scattering out and choosing a detour to go farming the crystal flowers again. They didn¡¯t wait until Exalted were killed in Hiro¡¯s hands because they believed that Hiro would not let them be killed at the hands of the three Exalted members.

    Hiro nced at Liberty, who was still looking at him with her eyes, looking very excited. The girl even lowered the Hellshing Whisper in her hand. It seemed that she had absolutely no intention of pointing it at Hiro.

    ¡°Well, it looks like Libe doesn¡¯t count,¡± Hiro muttered to himself.

    He immediately dashed forward to beat ric first because the man was the one who had the potential to damage arge area and disturb the others. Meanwhile, Hiro had to defeat the two quickly before Ace was revived.

    Whoosh!

    nk!

    [Switch]

    When Hiro¡¯s sword was aimed at ric and it should have hit him hard, Nius suddenly reced ric¡¯s position in split seconds and made the de of his sword hit Nius¡¯rge shield.

    Hiro jumped back, creating some distance.

    ¡°ric, just attack him. I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Nius said confidently that he could stop Hiro with his current power.

    ¡°Wow, I¡¯ll ask Jacob to buy the skill. Where did you get it from? Is it avable in the marketce?¡± Hiro actually asked Nius that because he felt that the switch skill would be very useful.

    However, Nius didn¡¯t answer, and instead, he shot forward with the shield he ced in front of his body and hit Hiro hard.<sub>.</sub>

    Bang!

    [-3,500]

    Hiro was pushed back from his ce. He didn¡¯t fall because he was able to block the attack with his sword.

    At the same time, the water appeared behind Nius¡¯ back. The water waves, like a tsunami as high as five meters, were about to roll over Hiro, who was still amazed to see the arrival of the giant waves.

    Whoosh!

    Ssh!

    [-5,550] [-6,510] [-6,060] [-5,500]

    4x hits from the same wave. Even though Hiro had jumped before the wave drowned him, his jump wasn¡¯t high enough and made his lower body hit by the waves.

    Hiro¡¯s robes were wet, and it made his body feel heavier than before.

    ¡°At least it was not holy water.¡± Hiro thought he was still safe.

    Hiro jumped back, keeping a safe distance to pull out a bottle filled with red liquid from under his robes, and he immediately drank the contents to the end.

    [Physical Pration has been increased]<sub></sub>

    [Special effect has been obtained]

    [Special effect: Ignore Armor Defense up to 80% for 10 minutes]

    Hiro ran back towards Nius. This time, he only carried a blood-eater in his right hand.

    Nius always positioned his shield in front of his body, and he bent slightly to strengthen his foothold when Hiro came to him.

    But, instead of attacking Nius with his sword, Hironded his left hand that didn¡¯t carry anything on the surface of Nius¡¯ shield, and then he mmed his own body behind Nius¡¯ back like a gymnast.

    Whoosh!

    Before Nius could turn his body, Hiro stabbed the man¡¯s back on the left side, where his heart was pounding fast.

    St!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Hiro pushed his sword even harder until the tip of the de pierced through the front of Nius¡¯ body

    [Lethality Damage Sess]

    With the help of the Lethality Damage skill from Raider, Hiro could use an attack that had a chance to kill a yer in one hit. And he knew a good way to increase the sess rate of the skill function.<sub></sub>

    [NightFall is unstoppable]

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    This time, Hiro¡¯s only enemies were ric and Liberty. They were frozen in ce after seeing how Hiro killed Nius very quickly after creating a beautiful acrobatic movement.

    ¡°Wow, Hiro! How could you do that?¡± Liberty actually looked more amazed at Hiro¡¯s abilities than surprised that her partner was killed in front of her once again.

    ¡°Always with a surprised tone, huh?¡±

    ric used the magic staff, and Hiro could see his hands shaking as Hiro stared at him with sharp eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯te to this ce if you don¡¯t want to die a miserable death at my hands.¡± Hiro¡¯s threat made ric grit his teeth furiously. His jaws hardened. And his left hand suddenly extended forward.

    [Water Seal]

    Ssh!

    A giant water bubble suddenly appeared, enveloping ric¡¯s body. The water bubble had waves that continued to whirl at a speed that was no less intense, like a tornado on the outside, making it impossible for anyone to touch the body inside.

    ¡°That damn seal again.¡± Hiro recalled the moment when Noah used the seal to stop the Minotaur. The only dumbest memory Noah could ever make.

    Hiro stuck his sword on the ground by his side while he raised his empty left hand in the air.

    He felt that this was the perfect time to use the power of Meta.

    ¡°Meta.¡±

    ?[0??]? ¡°Yes, Master.¡±

    ¡°Reflection.¡±

    Clink!

    The sigil on the back of Hiro¡¯s hand turned ck again. However, this time, it was not only thickened, but the tendrils also seemed to extend to Hiro¡¯s elbow in a short time, making it look like he had a full tattoo on his left hand.

    ¡°Reflection is ready.¡±

    ¡°Please lock the target.¡±

    ¡°Water Seal.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Hiro smiled at the answer inside his head. Now, he just needed to wait until the unique skill was activated.

    ric, who saw the sly smile on Hiro¡¯s face, panicked. His body trembled again. He still hoped to be free from the pain of death.

    But¨Chis hope was in vain.

    A very thick ck smoke suddenly shot out from Hiro¡¯s left hand. The smoke quickly moved into the whirlpool of water seal that enveloped ric¡¯s body.

    ¡°Stop! What are you nning?! You can never reach me!¡± ric screamed within his water seal. His voice distorted with fright.

    ¡°Well, we never know if we never try.¡± Hiro muttered. At the same time, the ck smoke managed to cover the water seal and melted into the water, making the water change colour like very dirty sewage.

    ¡°Hiro, what are you doing?¡± Liberty looked worried.

    ¡°Arghhhh!¡±

    Ssh!

    Crash!

    Blood gushed out profusely, along with the ck water, wetting the ground around Hiro. Nobody remained behind the contaminated water seal.

    ric disappeared without leaving a trace.

    [NightFall is in killing spree]

    ¡°That was scary.¡± Even Hiro didn¡¯t expect Meta¡¯s Reflection to work so terribly like that.

 Chapter 199 Everlasting Vs Exalted 4

    Now, it was only Liberty standing alone in front of Hiro. Unexpectedly, the girl raised her gun at Hiro with her hands slightly trembling.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill you, but can you please leave this area, Libe?¡± Hiro lowered his sword. He never thought of killing Liberty, even for her clone version in the daily battle arena.

    However, Liberty seemed to think differently. The girl walked up to Hiro with the gun still raised in a perfect position. Hiro looked at her with a softened gaze, both of his hands raised in the air.

    ¡°Nightfall, what are you doing? Kill her!¡± NightCrawler eximed, feeling frustrated because he saw his leader seemed to be giving up in front of a beautiful girl. The girl was the opponent, who had killed many of his friends before.

    ¡°She killed many of us!¡± he added furiously. He still couldn¡¯t ept it, even though he didn¡¯t dare to approach them because he was one of the victims who fell at the hands of Liberty before.

    ¡°You won¡¯t kill me, Libe,¡± Hiro said in a calm tone. He was sure of what was inside the girl¡¯s head. Her hands trembled even more when her distance from Hiro grew closer.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hiro. But, this is apetition.¡±

    nk!

    Before Liberty pulled the trigger, Hiro quickly restrained her hand and made the girl drop the gun on the ground. He also twisted her body and locked it from behind.

    ¡°No, I will not let you kill me. I don¡¯t have my cleric here,¡± Hiro whispered while pressing his lips against Liberty¡¯s earlobe, which felt cold and stiff because he was too close.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t hurt you.¡±<sub>.</sub>

    Liberty didn¡¯t struggle and tried to be free from Hiro, instead the girl seemed to enjoy it when Hiro locked her body tightly in front of the many Evesting girls who looked at her with envious eyes. Liberty threw a lopsided smile at them.

    ¡°Uhmmm Hiro, have you told them you¡¯re mine?¡± The girl actually talked about something unexpected and made Hiro confused.

    ¡°What? What did I do it for?¡±

    ¡°Hummm¡­ it seems they like you, and I¡¯m not happy to see them. Should we just get married so everyone knows you¡¯re mine?¡± she said in a serious tone. Hiro really couldn¡¯t understand what the girl was thinking. However, he didn¡¯t have much time to talk to her.

    [Noah: Tower M1 is almost destroyed, tower HP remaining 15%]

    [Jacob: Hiro, we need you]

    Hiro took out a special item from his inventory after reading the messages that entered his guild chat system.

    [Painless Death]

    A syringe appeared in Hiro¡¯s left hand. The syringe contained 1 of transparent liquid. Hiro had prepared it for a moment like this. He really didn¡¯t want to hurt Liberty, but he had to get rid of her for the time being.

    Hiro turned Liberty¡¯s body to face him, then kissed the girl after saying,<sub></sub>

    ¡°I am sorry for this, Libe. I love you.¡±

    Liberty returned Hiro¡¯s unexpected kiss with passion. The girl didn¡¯t even realize when Hiro stuck the syringe in his hand into the girl¡¯s shoulder and inserted all the liquid into her body.

    Hiro could feel Liberty¡¯s body in his embrace gradually turning cold before freezing motionless like a statue, staring at him nkly.

    ¡°Who is that girl?¡± The Evesting members looked puzzled.

    [Tower M1 of Exalted has been destroyed]

    [Tower M2 of Exalted is under attack]

    Seeing the notification, Hiro immediately gave an order to all Evesting in the bottomne, especially the BigShow party, to move to the middlene and attack all Exalted right away.

    Whoosh!

    ?[0??]? Hiro dashed back into the darkness, towards the middlene at full speed before anything bad happened there.

    While he was running, the Evesting members regained control of the crystal flower miningne, and it made Evesting¡¯s defense tower in the bottomne get even stronger. Even the member of Exalted who tried to destroy it couldn¡¯t do anything because the tower¡¯s HP didn¡¯t budge at all.<sub></sub>

    Hiro arrived in the middlene at the right time when Ace, ric, and Nius came back alive, and they actually appeared in the middlene. Seeing Hiro¡¯s arrival in front of them made their eyes seem to glow up like a predator that had just found its prey.

    ¡°Stay focused. I got them!¡± Hiro shouted at Noah as he passed the man. Noah was the damage dealer, the key to destroying the opponent¡¯s tower.

    When Hiro darted into the area of ??the second tower, or tower M2, Ace¡¯s party immediately shot towards him and surrounded him from all directions. Now, even Dimitri was there.

    ¡°What did you do to my sister?¡± Ace clenched his fist on the hilt of his sword. His brow furrowed with anger.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I eliminated her with this thing. She won¡¯t feel any pain.¡± Hiro said honestly as he lifted the empty syringe.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you win this time.¡± Ace spoke in a trembling voice. He really had ambitions to beat Hiro. However, this time, he didn¡¯t n to beat the man alone.

    Whoosh!

    sh!

    St!

    [-12,500]

    At the same time, the four of them attacked Hiro. Hiro managed to dodge Dimitri¡¯s extremely dangerous Katar poison. He also dodged ric¡¯s sh of water, and the spear thrown by Nius. However, not for Ace¡¯s attack, who managed to sh his chest until his robe was torn apart.

    Hiro staggered backwards, as the excruciating pain could not be avoided. His blood was pouring out profusely.

    ¡°Again.¡± He challenged them without the slightest hesitation.

    St!

    nk!

    sh!

    This time, Hiro managed to dodge all the attacks by continuing to walk backwards from the M2 tower area. He sessfully brought the four main Exalted parties away from the tower they should have guarded well. A smile spread across Hiro¡¯s face. Meanwhile, the Evesting members remained focused on attacking the tower and killing anyone who tried to block their way. They didn¡¯t seem to budge to help Hiro in the slightest, because they believed that Hiro would be able to handle it on his own.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    St!

    [-10,100]

    Hiro got another sh wound. This time, it was his face. The attack ripped off part of his cheek, leaving a deep wound.

    ¡°Arghh¡­ not my handsome face, but it¡¯s okay, it will recoverter,¡± he said in a calm tone. Hiro still hadn¡¯t raised his sword again. He just dodged and dodged, at the same time moving away from the tower M2.

    [Noah: Hang on, NightFall. We almost destroy the M2]

    Noah understood that Hiro deliberately tried to divert the Exalted members¡¯ attention, so instead of saying it directly to Hiro in a loud voice, Noah told him through the guild chat, which could be read easily without Exalted knowing about it.

    It was all nned. And Hiro was just waiting for the signal.

    [Noah: 10% HP of tower M2]

    And that was the signal he had been waiting for to draw out his sword and charge forward to attack them back.

    Whoosh!

    ¡°Phantom,¡± Hiro muttered as he used his phantom mode skill and blended together into the shadows. The ck shadow moved towards Ace, Dimitri, ric, and Nius. It moved from where they were standing, approaching Ace, who prepared to attack Hiro together with his parties.

    However, one thing they did not know. The shadow that was seen shooting towards Ace was not Hiro. It was Cara who had switched ces with Hiro in a split second before she bolted forward.

 Chapter 200 The Winner Guild

    ¡°Shuriken Shower.¡±

    Thirteen star-shaped iron shuriken suddenly shot very quickly from the darkness. The one who jumped out from it was a sexy woman in a very tight ck dress. The thirteen shuriken swiftly attacked the four Exalted yers standing before her randomly, aiming for their vital organs.

    St!

    St!

    St!

    ric was the unluckiest one to receive two shuriken at once. It stabbed him in the forehead, causing him to be killed in one hit and fell helplessly on the ground.

    No one could dodge the unexpected attack, not even Dimitri, who had a speed that could keep up with Cara¡¯s.

    ¡°Did I fool you?¡± Cara sneered while smiling lopsidedly.

    [Shuriken Shower] was Cara¡¯s new skill. It was included in the basic skill, but it was very effective when she used it at the right time.

    [Shuriken Shower Deals 13 hits of 150% and 1 hit of 180% shadow damage to the target and nearby enemies, and energizes the entire party team].

    Attacking with shuriken alone wasn¡¯t enough for Cara. She immediately took out a pair of silver daggers from her waist. Her eyes fell on Dimitri. The man was her current target.

    At the same time, Hiro jumped out of the ck shadow behind Nius¡¯ back. Once again, he stabbed Nius¡¯ left back until the vampire blood-eater¡¯s de could pierce Nius¡¯ heart and kill the man right away.<sub>.</sub>

    St!

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Tower M2 of Exalted has been destroyed]

    Ace was surprised to see that his tower had been destroyed again by the opposing team. However, before he could run to stop the Evesting members¡¯ solidarity from advancing towards the M3 tower, Hiro had already jumped in front of him and blocked his path.

    ¡°Beat me first,¡± said Hiro, as he raised his sword in a fighting position.

    Ace didn¡¯t budge. He didn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity to have a one-on-one battle with Hiro.

    ¡°Hiyatt!¡±

    nk!

    Swish! nk!

    Hiro didn¡¯t attack. He just counterbnced Ace¡¯s sword skills so he wouldn¡¯t be hit. And it was not difficult for him.

    Hiro was no longer overwhelmed by Ace¡¯s speed with the man¡¯s light sword because he was a raider hybrid now. Hiro really enjoyed the moment when the two des of their swords shed until the sparks of terrible mes could be seen.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Stop approaching my sister,¡± Ace growled in between his sword fights.

    ¡°She is the one who came looking for me herself. I just didn¡¯t avoid her.¡± Hiro replied, making Ace a little annoyed.

    ¡°I know what you did to her. I won¡¯t let you make her sad!¡±

    ¡°I know. I won¡¯t let myself make her sad again either. It was really lousy. Forgive me. But, I really fell in love with your sister.¡±

    nk!

    Ace shed his sword with more force than before, but Hiro was still able to deflect it smoothly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sincere. And she fell in love with me too. I hope you will soon approve of our rtionship,¡± said Hiro, still continuing talking with Ace while swinging his sword.

    Ace withstood Hiro¡¯s sword and brought his face closer to Hiro¡¯s before hissing like a snake, ¡°Never.¡±

    ¡°All right. I¡¯m sorry. I will ask you againter. For now, our ytime is over.¡±

    Hiro threw Ace¡¯s sword that locked his sword and jumped back one step. This time, he raised his left hand and called out to Meta once again.

    ¡°Predicio.¡±<sub></sub>

    Ace¡¯s shadow shot past his real body, rushing towards Hiro after fusing his two swords so that his strength doubled. He stabbed horizontally at Hiro without hesitation, and it all appeared very quickly, like someone who had the ability to foretell the future.

    Hiro, who had regained his full consciousness, decided to bend his knees and jump high in the air just as Ace shot up to him and fused his swords together.

    Hiro spun his body beautifully in the air like a gymnastic athlete with a light and stic body. Ace really didn¡¯t expect it, so his n to stab Hiro failed because he had to turn back first. However, the length of hisbined sword could not be used to stab Hiro, who hadnded perfectly behind Ace¡¯s back.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for this. I only prepare painless death for your sister.¡±

    St!

    [Lethality Damage Sess]

    [NightFall is unstoppable]

    [Exalted: Damage to the tower has been increased by 50%]

    At the same time, Cara was still fighting with all her might, trying to defeat Dimitri.

    ¡°You need help, Cara?¡± Hiro asked while standing in the rear, watching them fighting at high speed. It looked as if their shadows had blended with the surrounding area.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother me, NightFall.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t n to help her from the start. He was sure that Cara didn¡¯t need him.

    Hiro ran to his other members, who tried to crush the M3 tower, and he joined them right away.

    Using his Awakening Sword Combo skill, Hiro¡¯s arrival made the M3 tower¡¯s HP drain very quickly, and it was destroyed faster than usual.

    [Tower M3 of Exalted has been destroyed]

    Now, the road to the main base was in sight. Hiro summoned all members of Evesting to join him. There was no longer for them to search for crystal flowers again when the ess to the opponent¡¯s main base was open wide.

    ¡°Woah!¡±

    ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    ¡°Show me who is the strongest guild!¡±

    Hiro let all his members have fun, ughtering the enemy together because they couldn¡¯t possibly win if they fought one on one. Hiro only needed to focus on beating those who had the potential to be dangerous opponents. He also threw his swordbo at Exalted¡¯s main base asionally.

    Liberty, who had re-spawned again, stayed in a safe zone circle while shooting her bullets to Evesting members from there. The girl looked serious, but she really never thought of targeting Hiro, who had managed to grab her attention from time to time.

    ¡°Leader, your girlfriend is scary!¡± eximed NightCrawler, who had just managed to dodge Liberty¡¯s silver bullet. He was a rogue who had a demon bloodline, so he was really afraid of being hit by Liberty¡¯s silver bullet.

    ¡°I know. I won¡¯t be able to win against her either.¡± Hiro muttered as he continued to sh his sword until his body was covered in sweat.

    The guild war battle was almost over and their victory was in sight.

    The Exalted members began to be afraid to leave the safe zone circle because fighting the opposing guild was useless. They would be quickly killed because Evesting was mercilessly ganging up on them from all directions like thugs.

    [Main Base is under attack]

    [Main Base has been destroyed]

    [Evesting has won the war]

    Exalted¡¯s main base was finally destroyed, and the victory went to Evesting.

    The announcement of the winning guild in the guild war was announced by the system, and it could be seen by anyone on all the Last Shelter Online¡¯s global servers.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions! Evesting has won the guild war against Exalted. The MVP from the winner team is NightFall, The MVP from the loser team is Dimitri]

 Chapter 201 After War

    ¡°We did it!¡±

    The Evesting members had been teleported back to the original ce, the guild base.

    The atmosphere turned into a boisterous moment. They really looked very satisfied with the victory they had achieved, even though it seemed impossible at first.

    ¡°Good job, Noah. You managed to cast the greatest total damage to the opposing tower.¡± Hiro tapped Noah on the shoulder. He felt that Noah should have been the MVP of the guild war that night, because the man was so focused on destroying the opposing tower.

    ¡°It¡¯s really boring. I want to hunt yers with my new powers, yet I was stuck fighting the tower behind the Noobie knight¡¯s back.¡± Noah sighed, looking dispirited.

    Hiro chuckled while Jacob, who was resting in the chair near the two of them, seemed to throw a displeased look at Noah because the man still called him a Noobie knight, even though he had managed to keep Noah safe like a personal bodyguardtely.

    ¡°You can do as you please if the opposing guild is a little weaker than Exalted,¡± Hiro promised. He knew very well how boring a guild war could be without hunting down the enemies.

    Meanwhile, Wheelie and BighShow had pulled out a tray of dozens of beers and served it on the table.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°To celebrate our first victory!¡± BigShow eximed while holding up a bottle of beer in his hand. His eyes shifted to look at Hiro and waited for the leader¡¯s signal.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too drunk. We still have two more games to win,¡± Hiro said calmly. He nodded in agreement with BigShow and Wheelie¡¯s idea.

    ¡°For Evesting! Today we are the winners!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Evesting!¡±

    They lifted the beer bottle and gulped down its contents.

    ¡­<sub></sub>

    Meanwhile, in the guild that had just suffered a crushing defeat to Evesting¡­

    The atmosphere within the luxurious guild base suddenly turned tense and chaotic. The elite users were very upset and furious. They couldn¡¯t ept their defeat.

    They started smashing the tables with swords, smashing walls with guns, and swearing at those objects with harsh words.

    Most of them even deliberately logged out of the game, even though the guild war wasn¡¯t really over.

    Meanwhile, Ace seemed to have a hard time calming them down. His voice waspletely ignored by all of them, as if his status as Exalted¡¯s leader was just a useless title.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Brother. I should have stopped Hiro,¡± said Liberty regretfully. She was worried seeing the expression on Ace¡¯s face. Her brother¡¯s face turned pale, and the man continued to hold his head in deep thought.

    ¡°No, Libe. This is not your fault. NightFall is too powerful. I underestimated him too much,¡± Ace exined in a reassuring tone. He always did what was best for his only sister. He looked at Liberty from head to toe, making sure his sister was okay.<sub></sub>

    ¡°How about you? Are you hurt? Couldn¡¯t you remember something? Does it hurt when you get killed?¡± he asked as he walked over to Liberty to take a closer look.

    Liberty shook her head and took her brother¡¯s hands, holding it gently. The girl lifted her head to look straight at Ace¡¯s eyes, which looked like a confused person.

    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m perfectly fine. I didn¡¯t even realize I was killed at Hiro¡¯s hands earlier. I don¡¯t feel any pain at all.¡± Liberty tried to convince Ace again that she was okay.

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful. I really sucked. I¡¯m sorry, Libe. If only I was stronger here, I definitely wouldn¡¯t let NightFall hurt you.¡±

    ¡°Hiro didn¡¯t hurt me, Ace. He did kill me, but it didn¡¯t hurt at all.¡± The expression on Liberty¡¯s face seemed to show a mixture of disbelief and amazement at the same time. The girl still didn¡¯t believe what she had experienced before.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Ace confirmed once again.

    ¡°One hundred percent sure.¡± Liberty smiled.

    Ace breathed a sigh of relief. At least, NightFall¡¯s choice of having prepared that special item to kill his sister was a considerate act. If it was him, he could never really think like that. Ace slowly became sure that NightFall really didn¡¯t want to hurt his sister because like the man had said, Hiro loved his sister.

    ¡°Ace, can we talk?¡± Dimitri, who had been seen pacing restlessly in the corner of the guild meeting room, finally came over to Ace. He patted his leader¡¯s shoulder from behind and ignored the suspicious looks that ric and Nius gave him.

    ¡°Of course. What is it? Is there any problem?¡± Ace arched an eyebrow, looking at Dimitri who still looked agitated. He didn¡¯t look like the Dimitri he knew at all.

    ¡°You¡¯re not under the morphine are you, Dimitri?¡± Ace narrowed his eyes, suspecting the strange behaviour of Dimitri who couldn¡¯t stop moving his legs.

    Dimitri shook his head firmly.

    ¡°Just me and you. There are too many people here, it¡¯s noisy,¡± Dimitri added while signalling Ace to follow him.

    Ace didn¡¯t mind at all. It was true that the room wasn¡¯t really appropriate for serious conversation because most of the tables and chairs in the room had been destroyed. However, because the guild¡¯s savings were veryrge, Ace only needed to rece everything that was damaged with a new one after everyone was satisfied, venting their frustration.

    ¡°I will be right back. Wait here.¡± Ace said to ric, Nius, and Liberty, who looked disappointed because they weren¡¯t invited to join him and Dimitri.

    However, they just nodded in agreement and let Ace go out of the room alone with Dimitri withoutmenting.

    ¡°Is he involved in something?¡± ric chimed in suspiciously.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. Or maybe he is under the influence of morphine or heroine. Hadn¡¯t he been addicted to it before?¡± Nius said with a big yawn. He was getting bored with waiting for them.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Are you guys talking about my brother?¡± Liberty acted as usual, forcing herself into a conversation she couldn¡¯t understand quickly.

    ¡°No, but Dimitri,¡± ric exined in a gentle tone. With Ace gone, he had a chance to tease the man¡¯s sister, whom he secretly had a crush for a long time.

    Meanwhile, outside the room¡­

    ¡°Did you consider my request at that time, Ace?¡± Dimitri spoke in a whisper, as if he was afraid that someone might overhear his conversation with Ace.

    ¡°Which one?¡± Ace couldn¡¯t remember the specific part Dimitri was referring to.

    ¡°An alliance with the killer yer guild. They wanted to speed up the alliance. They¡¯ve asked me once again.¡±

 Chapter 202 Celebration

    Ace red at Dimitri, gritting his jaws furiously. His gaze darkened in anger.

    ¡°Dimitri, it¡¯s a no. I have told you before, I couldn¡¯t do it. It was too dangerous. Why are you still in touch with them? I told you to stop seeing them.¡± There was a clear tone of disappointment in the words that came out of Ace¡¯s mouth. However, Ace remained calm, and he did not scold Dimitri at all.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see them, but they dide to me many times. Come on, Ace, by allying with them, we will be invincible yers in the Last Shelter Online. NightFall isn¡¯t even anything.¡±

    Even though Dimitri admitted that he didn¡¯t meet them, the tone of his voice made Ace arched an eyebrow when he looked at Dimitri. He was suspicious because his friend actually seemed pushy.

    ¡°I beg you, you can still consider it one more time,¡± he added, still not giving up.

    Ace took a deep breath and shook his head firmly.

    ¡°No means no, Dimitri. Run away if theye at you again. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be killed at their hands. You don¡¯t even know who they are!¡± This time, Ace sounded like a good friend, not like a guild leader.

    Dimitri clenched his fists tightly. His jaws hardened. He looked like he was going tosh out his anger, but the man tried his best to calm himself down. Meanwhile, Ace remained calm while looking at him.<sub>.</sub>

    ¡°They are WynterRain fans! They are the same as me! We are very solid and they will never betray us. With WynterRain¡¯s help as our ally, an ordinary ss yer like NightFall is nothing!¡± Dimitri growled, hot steam rising through his nostrils.

    Ace closed his eyes. He was silent for a few seconds, trying not to be provoked by Dimitri¡¯s increasingly forcing words.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that WynterRain and NightFall are brothers? Did you just say that we¡¯re going to use WynterRain to beat his own little brother? Do you think that could happen?¡±

    Dimitri didn¡¯t answer.

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense. If you really want to beat NightFall, you have to work hard and make yourself much stronger. If I were WynterRain, I¡¯d probably prefer to kill you over my own brother. Even though you are my ally,¡± Ace exined while massaging his dizzy head again.

    He then walked past Dimitri and back into the room, leaving his aggrieved friend alone.

    ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit! What should I do now!?¡± Dimitri mmed his bare fist against a nearby wall after Ace entered the room. He looked restless again. He even started biting his fingernails like a frightened person.<sub></sub>

    ¡°If I still can¡¯t convince Ace by this weekend, I¡¯m dead.¡±

    ¡­

    Finally, the second match was announced. And that night, ording to what BigShow shouted when he lifted his beer bottle a few minutes ago, Evesting really came out as the winner for the second and third matches against the guild from the Asia Pacific server.

    Evesting celebrated by holding a massive victory party again. This time, they didn¡¯t limit the number of bottles of beer they could drink until they got drunk and lost consciousness.

    Meanwhile, Hiro, who was still not used to consuming alcohol, decided to focus on reading the trantion that Noah had given him.

    He wanted to get The Forbidden One set of costume armor hidden somewhere in the game right away.

    ¡°It looks like some of the quests can¡¯t be done alone. Let me know if you need help,¡± said Noah, who was sitting near Hiro while fiddling with the empty beer bottle in his hand.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Without you asking, I will force you to help me.¡± Hiro¡¯s reply made Noahugh reflexively.

    In the bar, Jacob seemed busy drinking with the other Evesting members.

    Meanwhile, Cara, who was already half drunk, walked like a cat woman to Hiro. She suddenly stroked Hiro¡¯s thighs with a wistful look on her blushing face.

    ¡°NightFall, you are so strong.¡± Her words were interspersed with hups. The girl staggered and tripped over the heels of her own boots, and Hiro caught her before falling to the floor.

    ¡°And you¡¯re very drunk. I¡¯ll take you inside,¡± Hiro muttered as he stood up while lifting Cara¡¯s body, which felt very light in his arms.

    Hiro brought Cara into the girl¡¯s room in the guild base. The room wasn¡¯t locked. When Hiro walked in, the room had a feminine scent of a woman that made Hiro feel like he had entered the wrong room.

    ¡°Get some rest, Cara. You¡¯ve worked hard tonight.¡± Hiro muttered as he lowered Cara on her warm bed.

    The girl still opened her eyes and looked at Hiro. He didn¡¯t know what Cara whispered to him. Cara suddenly wrapped her arms around Hiro¡¯s neck and pulled Hiro¡¯s body closer. It was so close that Hiro could smell the strong alcohol scent from the girl¡¯s breath.

    ¡°What are you doing, Cara? Are you seducing me now?¡± Hiro chuckled. He was eager to record what had just happened and show it to the girl when she came back to her sensester.

    ¡°Hmmm Hiro, I really feel sorry for you. You really are unlucky to be born in this world,¡± Cara muttered, rambling more and more words that didn¡¯t fit her character. Yet, the girl hugged Hiro tightly while patting Hiro¡¯s back many times, as if she was being possessed by another side hidden inside her all this time. Another side of Cara who really cared about other people. This side of Cara was very gentle, like how a girl should be.

    ¡°Thank you, Cara. But it looks like you should rest now.¡± Hiro said, not evading Cara¡¯s statement. He even let Cara hug him. Hiro actually enjoyed the attention given by the girl. It was a very rare moment.

    Cara pulled her body away, but the girl suddenly acted up once again. She pressed her lips to Hiro¡¯s for a second, then smiled broadly.

    Holy shit! What the hell was that? Hiro reflexively let go of Cara¡¯s body, who was leaning on him before. He touched his lips, which had just gotten a kiss from the drunkard girl in front of him.

    ¡°I¡¯m half French, Hiro. And that¡¯s how we say good night!¡±

    Cara fell on the bed with her eyes closed. Now, she hadpletely lost consciousness.

    Hiro immediately shook his head, which had been thinking nonsense. He pulled the nket to Cara¡¯s chest so the girl would feel warm.

    He rushed out of the girl¡¯s room right away before his mind wandered further when he saw the girl¡¯s sexy body looking helpless lying on the bed.

    ¡°That was scary, but ¡­ will she remember that?¡±

    Hiro leaned against Cara¡¯s bedroom door. And a short girl looked at him questioningly. It was Wheelie.

    ¡°What are you doing here, Nightfall?¡±

    ¡°Uhmm¡­ Cara was drunk, so I have to move her to the room,¡± Hiro exined calmly. He had gotten back his usual self.

    ¡°Is that true? Strange, I don¡¯t think she drank too much tonight.¡± Wheelie looked doubtfully at Hiro¡¯s answer.

    ¡°You can check her for yourself, Wheelie. I have to finish reading a book before going to bed. Good night.¡±

    Hiro walked past Wheelie while taking out a book from under his cloak. He went back to the bar to read it there.

 Chapter 203 Gaming Capsule

    After studying what was written in Noah¡¯s tranted book, Hiro decided to rest first because he could feel his body was really exhausted after the guild war earlier. He almost forgot that he hadn¡¯t gotten enough sleep for more than a night¡¯s sleep.

    After removing his VR helmet, Hiro immediately got up from the sofa to stretch his body, which felt very stiff. He didn¡¯t see Cara in that ce. The elite hotel room looked very empty and quiet when he was the only one there.

    Hiro walked over to the supeputer machine used by Alice and found that theputer was still on. When he touched the screen that was a touch screen, theputer immediately showed the browser that was still open. Alice probably forgot to close it before leaving herputer.

    ¡°Tch. She ims to be a professional hacker, but she doesn¡¯t even put a pin code to ess herputer.¡± Hiro muttered, then sat on thefortable gaming chair that used to be Alice¡¯s throne.

    He then checked Alice¡¯s browser. It had been a long time since Hiro hadst used aputer to ess the inte.

    On the page that was currently open, it turned out that Alice essed the marketce for the Last Shelter Online game.

    And Hiro immediately focused on the logo that read ¡®New and unlimited¡¯. There was one item for sale with that logo. The shape felt very familiar in Hiro¡¯s eyes. And he reflexively got up to run to his room and took something there.

    A cardboard box containing his brother¡¯s remaining things.

    Fortunately, Alice brought it from Hiro¡¯s apartment in Japan because the girl felt that there might be clues she could find in those things. Although in the end she had to be disappointed because she didn¡¯t find anything from it.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    Hiro took the memory cube that stored the photos of Yuujin¡¯s activities with the E-nfinity members. In one of the photos, the background was the sleeping capsules that looked a little more sophisticated than the regr sleeping capsules Hiro had seen.

    Hiropared the sleeping capsule to the photo of the item being sold in the Last Shelter Online marketce. He swallowed hard when he saw that the two were very simr. Even the colour was the same.

    [Dive into the ¡®Last Shelter Online¡¯ with no limitations of time]

    [The first generation of the Gaming Capsule Pod in the world ¨C LSOX]

    [Grab it fast before it¡¯s gone!]

    [With the Gaming Capsule Pod (LSOX), your digestion system will slow down without harming your digestive tract. The censor that calms your brain will maintain your energy so that you do not have to worry about staying ¡®online¡¯ for weeks. If you buy the nutrition infused water from our marketce, you just need to plug the infusion to the pod and set the time for your daily meals, and the machine will feed you while you y the game so that you can y longer for months, depending on the infused water stocks that you have.]

    [Only 100,000 LSC to prove that you are a real gamer!]

    ¡°What the heck was that? How could they finally build such a machine like this?¡± Hiro still couldn¡¯t believe what he just read from the description of the LSOX Gaming Capsule Pod. It really took him by surprise that such a thing really existed.<sub></sub>

    Just a few days after not leaving the world of Last Shelter Online, Hiro has missed a technological evolution that was impossible to achieve from a few years ago.

    But, seeing the exact same thing in the photo in the memory cube, Hiro guessed that the gaming capsule pod had been ready for use since a year ago, or at least since the photo was taken by Yuujin.

    ¡°Damn, I should buy this thing.¡±

    Hiro immediately took a look at his android bracelet and opened the Last Shelter Online application. Checking how much savings he had managed to collect so far.

    [Bnce 125,750 LSC]

    The bnce was too tight with the price of the item. He would instantly fall back into poverty if he bought that thing.

    ¡°Ahh¡ªeven though I was already nning to return to Japan for Aunt Yuma¡¯s umpteenth wedding. She¡¯ll definitely hate me if I don¡¯t show up.¡±

    Hiro leaned back against thefortable gaming chair while closing his eyes, deep in thought.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Should I just buy it? What if it is sold out?¡±

    He was still in a dilemma. 100,000 LSC to buy a gaming device? He never imagined it would ever happen to him.

    ¡°But¡ªimagine ying without logging out for months? I can definitely catch up to Yuujin and defeat him,¡± Hiro muttered with a long and deep sigh.

    In fact, he already had a lot of ns with the money he had umted. He would use it to at least buy a simple apartment in Japan and settle there without fear of being evicted once again. He even thought about going back to college while continuing to y games to make a living. At least by having a title, he would not be underestimated in the environment of his country, which highly values ??education.

    ¡°I am home!¡±

    Alice suddenly opened the main door of the hotel room and made Hiro reflexively get up from the chair that didn¡¯t belong to him, but it was toote. Alice had seen it.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Alice asked, while frowning in displeasure to find Hiro in front of herputer. Even so, the girl didn¡¯t push him away. Instead, sheid down on the sofa in front of Hiro.

    ¡°I just took a look in the LSO marketce,¡± Hiro answered honestly. He regretted that he had not had time to open the history of the girl¡¯s browser.

    0???.?0? ¡°Ah¡ªdid you already know about that?¡± Alice looked at Hiro with her head turned upside down, hanging on the back of the sofa. It made Hiro a little surprised because Alice looked like Sadako in the famous Japanese horror film.

    ¡°Know about what?¡±

    ¡°LSOX pod. I know you must have opened my browser, which I haven¡¯t closed.¡±

    Hiro grinned. He couldn¡¯t deny it because he was caught red-handed, so he just nodded. At least Alice didn¡¯t scold him. The girl just took a deep breath while closing her eyes.

    ¡°Let me guess, you really want it. Now, all you have in your head is to just buy it right away, right?¡±

    Hiro still didn¡¯t utter a single word. Damn thisdy¡­ can she read minds?

    ¡°You really do look like him. Your brother immediately fell in love with the pod, even though he knew it didn¡¯t have a license for production at the time.¡±

    Alice got up from the sofa and walked over to Hiro, who was still standing stiffly in front of herputer. Alice asked Hiro to move so he could sit on the chair, then opened the page of the browser, showing Hiro¡¯s LSOX pod once again.

    ¡°If you want to buy it. Just buy it. But, I won¡¯t help you. I hate this tool. I don¡¯t want to pay to buy something I hate. You know that, right?¡± she said, giving Hiro permission in a strange way.

    Hiro frowned. He had hoped for Alice to buy the pod for him, just as the girl had bought the LSO VR helmet for him. However, it seemed he had to be disappointed with his hope this time.

    ¡°Why? Just buy it, think of it as my sry for helping you.¡± Hiro was still trying to convince the girl. But, he got a cynical look from Alice instead.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already paid you over 100,000 LSC at this point. Did you forget that you could never y the Last Shelter Online without me?¡±

    Hiro sighed. The girl was right. He was lost now.

    ¡°And don¡¯t forget who¡¯s been paying half the price for your apartment in Japan all this time,¡± Alice added, making Hiro tilt his head in confusion.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Ah¨C so, you still don¡¯t know? I purposely asked the owner of the apartment to give you a low price and even let you pay in stages, because I already paid the price for your room. Actually, I already bought it. And the money you¡¯ve been paying so far is just for a cleaning service. Do you think the apartments are that cheap now?¡±

    Hiro swallowed hard. He really didn¡¯t know about it. He just thought that he was very lucky after experiencing such a tragic incident. He really didn¡¯t know if Alice had arranged all of that. Alce had arranged all of it in detail that she had already prepared a ce to live before Hiro realized that the girl was already around him.

    ¡°Alice,¡± Hiro called out, with both eyes looking straight at Alice.

    ¡°Hmmm?¡±

    ¡°You really are my savior angel. I don¡¯t know what would have happened to me if you weren¡¯t around. Thank you very much, Alice. I don¡¯t know if I can pay it back in the future. Thank you.¡±

 Chapter 204 The Haunted Base

    Hiro bowed respectfully to Alice. The girl looked at him with her eyes widened. She was really surprised.

    ¡°What are you doing, boy? I don¡¯t need your thanks. I need you to work hard.¡± Alice ignored Hiro and threw her face away.

    However, when Hiro looked back at her, he could clearly see that Alice¡¯s face had turned very red. Hiro didn¡¯t know what it meant, but he was sure that Alice was embarrassed by such touching things. After all, Alice was also an ordinary girl who had a soft heart in her soul.

    ¡°Alright, I will do my best!¡± Hiro replied, suddenly feeling excited.

    At first, Hiro felt like asking about the rtionship between Alice and his brother again, especially after knowing his brother named his pet by Alice¡¯s name. He was sure that it couldn¡¯t be just a coincidence. Hiro increasingly believed his theory about Alice and his brother having a deeper and stronger rtionship.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t feel like interfering. Alice might not want him to know because she looked hurt every time the girl thought about it. It was the same as Hiro opening Alice¡¯s old wounds and hurting her again. Hiro didn¡¯t want to repay Alice¡¯s kindness in that way, so he just ignored his curiosity for now.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve decided.¡± Hiro finally decided on something.

    ¡°What do you mean, boy? Go to sleep if you¡¯re tired. Looks like you really need it.¡±

    Hiro chuckled at the way Alice spoke. The girl looked like her aunt now.

    ¡°No. I mean, not yet. You have to help me buy that Gaming pod first, Alice.¡±

    ¡­

    Meanwhile¡­

    In a very dark forest with no light at all, a man with a body shrouded in ck mes that burned everything nearby went berserk with a ck dragon flying low in the sky while releasing spikes from its back.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    The two of them were in a very fierce battle against a monstrous monster that was almost the size of a mountain.

    The monster had a body covered with thick fur and could stand on its two legs like a human. Its teeth only consisted of very sharp canines that could tear anything, growing so long that they touched its nose and cheeks, which were very sunken, as if they were only made up of bone.

    ¡°Shit. You just destroyed one of my summons,¡± sighed the man, who was none other than WynterRain. His two eyes glowed red like a bloodline of the demon race.

    He wouldn¡¯t give up easily and lost to the monster. He drew a magic rune in the shape of a circle in front of him, using both bare hands. So far, no one had noticed that the weapon he used was the pair of sigils in his palms.

    While Hiro had only one sigil, WynterRain had two, and both of them functioned optimally to create damage in the world of the Last Shelter Online.

    ¡°Alice, ck fire breath!¡± he ordered, as the magic rune he had just created managed to expand to the size of his pet fly ck dragon.

    Kwaaah!

    The dragon¡¯s body began to emit light before the ck smoke billowed out through its triangr nostrils. It seemed ready to spit out the breath of fire that had umted in its throat.

    [ck Fire Breath]

    rrrr!

    The ck mes shot out from the dragon¡¯s gaping mouth, it was purposely aimed towards the center of the circle with the magic runes that WynterRain had created to give it an additional effect.

    ¡°Infinite,¡± WynterRain muttered as he raised his right hand. In a split second, the ck mes that shot past his magic circle suddenly turned into a huge explosion of ck mes which multiplied from its original size.<sub></sub>

    Boom!

    Kaboom!

    The jet of ck mes from thebination attack managed to blow up the front body of the giant monster, and his opponent was finally being pushed backwards.

    However, even though the explosion managed to create a gaping hole in its abdomen, the monster was still able to stand on its two legs. It also seemed not afraid of WynterRain in the slightest.

    Hoaaaah!

    The monster mmed its two fists against its chest like a giant King Kong raging in the forest. Its loud voice made the trees in the forest sway and even uprooted them.

    ¡°Hmmm interesting, I¡¯ve nevere across anything this hard.¡±

    Even though he still hadn¡¯t seeded in taking down the monster, WynterRain smiled with satisfaction. He looked very excited, as his eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

    ¡°Take me to the top of its head, Alice.¡±

    The ck dragon immediately shot past WynterRain, and WynterRain swiftly jumped up to grab the dragon¡¯s leg. At its current size, the ck dragon still wasn¡¯t capable of being used as a mount, but it was strong enough to take WynterRain flying by dangling in its leg.

    Whooosh!

    WynterRain jumped down right on top of the monster¡¯s t, square-shaped head. He then slid down towards the nape of the monster¡¯s head.<sub></sub>

    Because the size of the enemy was very small, the monster looked confused, looking for WynterRain, who suddenly disappeared before its eyes.

    Meanwhile, Alice ¡ª the flying ck dragon had a special ability to blend in the darkness and camouge so that its current existence couldn¡¯t be sensed by anyone. The moment he dashed towards the monster¡¯s head, the monster didn¡¯t realize his presence.

    After WynterRain hadnded smoothly on the back of the monster¡¯s neck, he raised his left hand in the air. His mouth moved to chant a curse magic incantation.

    ¡°Power of Blood Magic. Give me the weapon that can rip through the thickest of skin, flesh, muscle, and bone.¡±

    He then took out a dagger from under the robe he was using and used the dagger to sh his own palm.

    sh!

    The blood suddenly gushing out from WynterRain¡¯s left palm froze in the midair. It hardened like the shape of a stctite frozen in a cave. It had a very pointed tip and looked very sharp.

    WynterRain used his right hand to pull the object out of his palm, then repeated the previous steps. He shed in different parts, but it was still on his left hand.

    sh!

    Once again, his blood froze in a horrible way because of the blood magic he had.

    This time, in WynterRain¡¯s two hands, there was a pair of twin weapons made from his own blood.

    ¡°Alice, lend me your physical strength!¡± he eximed to his dragon flying nearby.

    Clink!

    The dragon¡¯s body gave off light as it gave all its physical strength to its master as needed.

    WynterRain could feel a great power emanating from within his body. Even the muscles in his hands instantly grew stronger, and their size expanded distinctly.

    Before the effects that he couldn¡¯t enjoy forever wore off, he immediately thrust the two blood guns in his hands at the same time towards the monster¡¯s neck. He did it with all his strength, so it would inflict great damage.

    ¡°Hiyatt!¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    Growl!

    The monster roared in an extremely loud and deafening voice as WynterRain¡¯s weapons shed its neck from behind. It tried to reach WynterRain, but its big hands prevented it from doing so.

    The monster rammed its own back rearward, looking for arge tree capable of grazing the nape of its neck, but its efforts were in vain. Blood had flowed out so much that it dripped onto the forest ground.

    ¡°Now give me your precious skin,¡± WynterRain muttered before deciding to sh the two weapons sideways until the wound that was originally just a stab had turned into a gaping sh that made the monster scream in pain.

    [Fatal damage]

    [Boss has been defeated]

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the legendary Yeti¡¯s skin (Legendary crafting material)]

    Just the notification of the drop made WynterRain smile again before jumping into the air, grabbing the dragon¡¯s leg to send him flying away from a ce where it could no longer give him an advantage.

    ¡°Well done, Alice. Now let¡¯s go back to that guy¡¯s ce,¡± he said as he patted the dragon¡¯s leg, which answered him with a kwak.

    pa??? ?<0>??? On the way back to a spooky old building in the forest, WynterRain took the time to check his stats. And once again he smiled with satisfaction, as if what he had dreamed of had been achieved so far.

    It was in the middle of the night, but the building that was WynterRain¡¯s destination looked crowded. More crowded than usual.

    ¡°They¡¯ve gathered, huh? It will be a boring meeting,¡± WynterRain muttered as he nced at the only room in the building that had the lights on.

    At the front door, two yers in ck robes, who were fully equipped with scythes that had be their group¡¯s signature, were seen standing guard. As if they knew that someone was always stalking them out there. Although on WynterRain¡¯s radar, there was actually no one in that ce.

    Unlike others who entered from the front door, WynterRain asked Alice to drop him down near the giant bell located at the tower part of the old building. He didn¡¯t want to enter through the normal door and caused a ruckus.

    ¡°Removing the Barriers,¡± he muttered while wiping the empty air in front of him with both hands like he was exorcising an invisible demon in the real world.

    ¡°Alice, just stay here. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    WynterRain quickly made a magic circle in front of him, then entered the magic circle, which closed right away after he passed through it.

    He had actually installed a strong magic barrier that made the old building invisible to the eyes of those he wasn¡¯t allowed to enter. The barrier also prevented anyone from teleporting directly to that ce, so he had to remove it first every time he came for a visit.

    ¡°I wish to hear the good news today.¡±

 Chapter 205 Duo Party is Back

    In a few hours, the Gaming Capsule pod that Hiro bought finally arrived at the hotel where he was staying.

    The Gaming Capsule pod could be folded into a cube shape, making it very easy to move it from the lobby to the hotel room.

    Hiro and Alice quickly unboxed it. He really couldn¡¯t wait to try it. He could not rest peacefully and just took a nap because he was waiting for the most expensive thing he had bought so far to arrive.

    After setting the Gaming Capsule pod ording to what was written in the manual, Hiro and Alice checked it once more to make sure that it waspletely safe to use.

    ¡°They¡¯ve added a lot of new features to this thing. Well, that is great,¡± Alice muttered after she finished examining the body of the capsule carefully. She helped Hiro to connect the pod with the electricity and activated it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wear it,¡± said Hiro, while stretching his body first like an athlete. As usual, every time he had to log into a game, he had to make sure his body was in perfect condition so that it wouldn¡¯t affect NightFall¡¯s progressive stats too much.

    Hiro got into the gaming capsule and positioned his body like he was sleeping in a sleeping capsule that was usually found in international airports.

    The ss door of the pod closed automatically when it detected someone was inside. Then, when Hiro said the keyword unch the game,¡¯ the machine immediately sprayed a thin white smoke that felt very cold inside the capsule. It covered Hiro¡¯s body as if he was being sterilized.

    The smoke was cold, yet felt cool in his lungs as if it contained the refreshing, pure oxygen. However, inhaling too much white smoke made Hiro¡¯s eyes feel heavier, and he finally closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    Beep!

    The light around the capsule¡¯s ss cover changed colour from white to red. Besides, the capsule door was locked by itself automatically.

    ¦Ñ?n?a (n?)????? [Hibernate Mode]

    ¡­

    Hiro was back in the game. He appeared in the Evesting meeting room with no one there at the moment.

    At a very early hour like today, Evesting members might still be asleep in the gathering room or offline to do some work or activities in the real world so that they could continue to y games because ying games cost money.

    Hiro rushed out of the meeting room, and he met Cara, who looked surprised when she saw him. The girl didn¡¯t greet Hiro as usual. She just turned away and immediately left the ce, like she didn¡¯t see Hiro at all.

    Hiro arched an eyebrow. ¡°Does she remember what she did that night?¡±<sub></sub>

    Ding!

    [Liberty has tried to contact you!]

    Just logging into the game and getting a call notification from Liberty made Hiro extremely happy.

    ¡°Hey Hiro!¡± Liberty eximed, activating a video call so Hiro could see what the girl was doing at the moment.

    He looked at the background behind Liberty. It looked familiar. Meanwhile, the girl continued to smile until her eyes could not be seen.

    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you outside,e out!¡± she said excitedly while waving her hand.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t believe what the girl had just said, but he immediately rushed out of the room to make sure of the girl¡¯s words.

    ¡°Over here, Hiro!¡±<sub></sub>

    Liberty was sitting at one of the bar tables while waving at Hiro with great enthusiasm. She immediately ended the video call and got up from her chair.

    Hiro looked around. Several members of Evesting, including NightCrawler, were at the bar, looking at Liberty with strange expressions on their faces. Hiro was sure that they were admiring the girl¡¯s beauty.

    ¡°Hi, Libe. Good morning. Is there anything you need here?¡± Hiro deliberately lowered his voice because he didn¡¯t want to sound like a seducer in front of his guild members.

    Liberty pouted her lips. ¡°I wanted to meet you. I miss you! Do I have to have a reason toe see my boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Hiro cleared his throat stiffly. His face felt warm because Liberty¡¯s words were too sweet. He still hadn¡¯t gotten used to it.

    Liberty chuckled, amused by Hiro¡¯s expression. The man was so adorable that she wanted to pinch and pull his cheeks.

    ¡°Come on, Boss. Have a room for you two!¡± NightCrawler eximed from the bar table. He purposely teased Hiro, who looked shy, like a typical Japanese guy who was not used to showing affection in public.

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Hiro grabbed Liberty¡¯s hand and pulled the girl away from the Evesting guild base before the other members arrived. He took Liberty to a fairly quiet ce and made sure that no one was following them.

    ¡°Libe, I¡¯m sorry aboutst night. I have no other choice but to kill you.¡± Hiro clearly still remembered his guilt towards the girl.

    Liberty smiled broadly, ¡°No problem, I know you have to do it, Hiro. You¡¯re still my boyfriend, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t cut you off because of that trivial thing.¡±

    Hiro¡¯s face turned red again.

    ¡°Ah ¡ª I miss going on adventures with you again, Hiro. What are you going to do today? Can Ie along?¡± Liberty pleaded, staring at Hiro with puppy-like eyes.

    Hiro took a deep breath. It seemed that he had no other choice but to take the girl to go with him. After all, Liberty had grown quite a lot from before. It seemed like Ace intervened with it too.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the haunted house¡¯s dungeon. But there are a lot of ghosts there. Are you sure you want toe along?¡± Hiro hoped that his words would make Liberty change her mind. However, the girl was even more excited than before.

    ¡°Good! It was like the first dungeon where we met! I can also reminisce about that time, Hiro. Ahh¡ª and I¡¯m not afraid because you¡¯ll save me,¡± exined Liberty, pulling Hiro¡¯s hand and holding it tightly to her soft breasts.

    ¡°Alright then, I have to go to the merchant first to buy some potions.¡±

    Liberty nodded and walked beside Hiro, still with her hands wrapped around Hiro¡¯s left arm. She didn¡¯t loosen it up one bit.

    The Beginner Town was getting busier. The Last Shelter Online yers were growing rapidly, and they still started from the bottom.

    They never gave up even though they had to catch up with other yers. Not a few of them even bought double EXP items to be used as an asset.

    Besides, hunting for LSC through the Last Shelter Online game could already be considered an upation to be able to make a living in the real world. Just like Hiro was doing right now.

    After buying potions for him and Liberty, just in case something unwanted happen Hiro invited Liberty to move to the Moonspire City.

    The City of the beast.

    As usual, the Moonspire City was indistinguishable between morning, noon, and night because the sun did not appear in the sky of the city.

    Hiro¡¯s destination was one of the Moonspire City¡¯s northern forests. He walked from the gate of the Moonspire City with Liberty. This time, Hiro was already wearing a thick robe, so he didn¡¯t have to shiver from the cold.

    In the forest where the trees werepletely barren, the two of them saw a chimney from a distance.

    Hiro was sure that the chimney was his destination.

 Chapter 206 Trapped Inside

    Hiro and Liberty had arrived at an old abandoned building. The building was made of wood, without the slightest iron on its construction. The wood was very sturdy, as strong as the trees that grew on the ground that were always covered by snow.

    There was no light from inside the building. However, the sound of whispers and hisses that made the fine hairs shiver kept repeating from the windows that were left open.

    ¡°Uhmm Hiro, is this the ce?¡± Liberty pressed her body against Hiro. The girl even hid behind Hiro¡¯s back and buried her face a little there.

    ¡°I told you, you might be scared. Did you change your mind now, Libe?¡± Hiro asked, confirming onest time.

    In contrast to Liberty, who had started to tremble in fear, Hiro actually looked very calm. He really didn¡¯t like ghosts, especially those in human form, but he had instilled a belief in his heart that they were only ghosts made of program data, so they were not real.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not afraid.¡± Liberty said a little hesitantly, her voice getting smaller and weaker.

    Hiro chuckled, it was obvious that Liberty was afraid of what awaited them in the building. However, he purposely ignored the girl¡¯s acting and started walking toward the only three-meter-high wooden door that loomed before him. It was the entrance to the building.

    An inscription that Hiro recognized as the demon bloodline letters was engraved on the door leaf. He immediately activated the Demon¡¯s eyes to read it.

    ¡°Anyone who enters will be lost and will never be able to get out unless you know that there is no way out of this house.¡±

    The sentence was quite confusing, and Hiro had to read it carefully for fear of misreading it.<sub>-?(0??)?.</sub>

    However, the result remained the same.

    ¡°Why, Hiro?¡± Liberty asked curiously as she saw Hiro was frowning.

    ¡°Nothing, just some weird writing. It¡¯s impossible for a game developer to mistype a word, right?¡± Hiro muttered, making Liberty even more confused, so she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Hiro then continued walking ahead and opened the wooden door knob. However, the door could not be opened.

    ¡°Hiro, looks like we were in the wrong ce. Maybe this one can¡¯t be entered,¡± Liberty cheeped hopefully.

    However, Hiro knew that he wouldn¡¯t be wrong. Then, he took a step back from the front door before kicking the door hard.

    .?O? Bang!

    m!

    The door burst open with a single kick. However, a very strong wind blew from inside the house. At first, the wind pushed Hiro and Liberty back for a few seconds before finally sucking in both of them as they both focused on keeping their weight forward so they wouldn¡¯t be thrown backwards.<sub></sub>

    Bang!

    The door closed again after sucking Hiro and Liberty into the inside of the building.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the haunted house dungeon]

    [This is not a hidden dungeon. But no one could ever escape from this dungeon]

    Ding!

    [Special condition has been applied]

    [Dungeon privilege: All yers who have given up in this dungeon will be reset to level 0 and will have to start the game from the beginning. Don¡¯t worry, this privilege is not including your inventory]

    ¡°Damn¡­ what kind of rule is that?¡± Hiro really didn¡¯t know about that shitty rule because no one had ever talked about it before. However, it was toote for him to back down now that the door had suddenly disappeared from the wall.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Hiro, what is this ce?¡± Liberty was standing with trembling legs. She wouldn¡¯t let go of Hiro¡¯s hand in such a state of fear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Take out your gun. The monsters here must be the demon type. You¡¯re safe with Hellsing Whisper, Libe.¡± Hiro tried to calm the girl down, then drew his sword, just in case a monster came to attack them.

    They both walked towards the stairs. The building resembled a tower that had more than 10 floors. On the ground floor, they couldn¡¯t find anything but terrible noises and a scorching stench of something.

    Meanwhile, on the next floor, dozens of zombies suddenly greeted the two of them as soon as they set foot on that floor.

    The zombies were in human form with wrecked faces and blood that kept pouring out horribly.

    The stench must havee from them.

    Ding!

    [Level 90. Starve Zombie]

    [race: Undead/unholy/Demon]

    One thing that made their arrival not a problem for Hiro was their extremely slow movement.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Liberty started shooting zombies right in the head until their heads exploded and their rotting brains sttered on the floor.

    Meanwhile, Hiro quickly bolted in a zigzag to sh the heads of the zombies horizontally.

    St! St! St!

    It was Level 90, but it was ssified as a weak monster because it was really slow. Moreover, they upied the lowest floor of the haunted house.

    In a matter of minutes, the Zombies had been eliminated.

    ¡°Good job, Libe.¡± Hiro praised sincerely. He was a little proud to see Liberty who could aim without missing the target now, even though the girl¡¯s legs were still shaking. She had really grown further than before.

    Liberty thrust a ¡®peace¡¯ with her finger in front of Hiro. The girl smiled widely, as if she had just finished a game in the y zone.

    The two of them then continued walking to find the nextdder. The room on the floor was so spacious that it made them a bit confused because from the outside the building wasn¡¯t really that big. However, once they were inside, it seemed to have tripled in size.

    ¡°Hiro over there!¡± Liberty whispered while pointing into the darkness. There was a door to the room that had been left swinging open, and the staircase they were looking for was behind it, as if it had been left open to hide it from them.

    Hiro nodded and led Liberty towards the stairs until suddenly they heard a deafening sound of footsteps. Those footsteps ran very fast and made the wooden floor on which they stood up moved as if there was an earthquake.

    Ding!

    [The First floor boss has appeared in front of you]

    A zombie monster with an enormous body and a very foul smell came out of the room whose door was opened with some difficulty. Being trapped in the door, the monster suddenly mmed its fist hard against the wooden wall that was squeezing its body. It made the wall instantly crumble.

    Groaaaa!

    Its body was enormous and looked like a gori with two armsrger than a pair of legs. It even used those hands to walk. The bulging muscles on its pale blue skin showed that the monster was a physical type. However, there was something that made Liberty instantly feel nauseous.

    The monster¡¯s stomach kept moving, as if it was about to burst. The zombies that looked like they were still alive kept trying to get out of the monster¡¯s bloated stomach. It seemed they had been swallowed alive and were in the process of being digested.

    [Mutated Zombie (Boss)]

    [race: Demon]

 Chapter 207 Accident

    Bringing Liberty into the dungeon with a demon type monster really made Hiro lucky.

    Bang! Bang!

    Liberty continued to aim her gun and fired the silver bullets at the enormous body of the monster who was fighting Hiro. They were involved in a fierce battle. The girl kept trying to aim at the same point so that the wound she managed to create gave fatal damage to the monster.

    However, the monster had a strange behaviour. Every time Hiro managed to sh its arm off or Liberty blew its hand out of shape, the new hand immediately grew rapidly and functioned well, as if the monster wasn¡¯t hit by any attacks to begin with.

    Hiro racked his brains, looking for a way to defeat the monster. However, he still hadn¡¯t found it until now.

    [Demon¡¯s w]

    Scratch!

    With all his might, Hiro attacked at the monster¡¯s bloated stomach with his w until a greenish liquid gushed out of it.

    Not only that, Hiro also used his sword to make the open wound in the monster¡¯s stomach tearing even more.

    Crash!

    At first, he thought that the stomach was the monster¡¯s weakness because it looked like it was digesting food. However, Hiro¡¯s choice was wrong.

    The green liquid that kept pouring out from the monster¡¯s stomach made the wooden floor of the building melt, and the room was instantly filled with white smoke. The boss¡¯s digestive juices were so acidic that they could easily crush the rotten and thin wood.

    Hiro jumped back, trying his best to dodge the ssh of the green liquid.

    Besides, after the green liquid stoppeding out, the zombies trapped in the stomach crawled out in a very pathetic state. Their faces and bodies melted away, but the zombies were still able to crawl speedily.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!<sub></sub>

    Each of the three zombies had died with a special silver bulletunched by Liberty, added with her skill that multiplied the bullet.

    Meanwhile, the monster¡¯s stomach shrunk, but slowly its body regenerated the parts that had been damaged. Even inside its tightly closed stomach filled with zombies again, as if the zombies were indeed produced there.

    Dash! Whoosh!

    Hiro jumped and spun through the air like a rocket that was shooting fast.

    St!

    The tip of his swordnded right on the monster¡¯s left chest and made its heart pierced by the sword. In a split second, blood gushed out profusely.

    ¡°Libe, explode his heart on the count of three!¡± Hiro eximed, having another idea of beating the monster. He hoped this one would work.

    Dan sh!

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Liberty¡¯s Hellsing Whisper always fired three bullets at once every time she pulled the trigger. However, if the girl used a certain skill, the number of bullets released could increase or decrease.

    [Fire st!]

    . Boom!

    The three silver bullets exploded simultaneously as the three of them prated through the gaping wound Hiro had made with his sword. The monster had not had time to regenerate its body when Liberty attacked the monster again.

    Kabooom!<sub></sub>

    The explosion was so powerful that it made the monster not only lose its heart, but its body as well. Its body exploded to pieces and was thrown away everywhere; hands, feet, even head. Everything was separate.

    ¡°Kyaa!¡± Liberty jumped at Hiro in surprise as the half of the monster¡¯s destroyed head flew andnded right in front of her feet.

    ¡°Is it dead?¡± Hiro still didn¡¯t lower his guard. He didn¡¯t know whether Liberty¡¯s explosion was too strong or the heart was the monster¡¯s weakness.

    Groaaa!

    From each piece of the monster¡¯s body, crippled zombies grew. They crawled and tried to attack them from all directions. However, Hiro had prepared himself for an unexpected attack like this. He quickly pulled Liberty behind his back. He stood right behind the girl before he used the skill he bought for 15,000 LSC.

    [Tornado de]

    Wingg!

    St! St! St!

    Hiro¡¯s body spun like there was wind speeding up his movement, and the axis under his feet allowed him to spin at the ce he had marked within a one meter radius.

    In the speed of the tornado, Hiro managed to sh all the zombie monsters that crawled to reach him with Liberty standing in the middle of his line of rotation like the center of a ma.

    Ding!

    [Mutated Zombie (Boss) has been defeated]

    [You have obtained a zombie costume (rare) ¨C Halloween party costume (Tradeable)]

    [Your party member: Liberty has obtained zombie¡¯s index finger (crafting material)]<sub></sub>

    [You have obtained 2nd floor key ]

    Liberty was still standing with her eyes widened in shock as Hiro looked at her. Then, he smiled while sheathing the vampire blood-eater to his back.

    ¡°What did you just do, Hiro?¡± the girl was still in shock. She pointed to a circr line that circled her with a radius of one meter. The ce where Hiro spun around and crushed the monsters in an instant.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing big.¡± Hiro replied casually.

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue, it looks like we still have a long way to go in this ce,¡± he added, not expecting that he would be stuck in this ce much longer than he expected.

    Hiro reflexively embraced Liberty and made the girl¡¯s face turn red.

    ¡°Umm Hiro, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Liberty asked in a timid tone.

    Hiro looked back at Liberty with his eyebrows arched. He was confused by the girl¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t tell me you want to go to the toilet now?¡± Hiro guessed.

    Liberty red at him before looking away in annoyance. She had hoped that this trip would be sweet because Hiro embraced her for the first time outside the safe zone. However, it turned out Hiro waspletely insensitive.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Liberty urged while walking ahead of Hiro.

    However, just as she stepped on her feet, the wooden nk on which she was standing suddenly moved upside down and made Liberty fall into a hidden hole.

    ¡°Kyaaaaa!¡± the girl screamed in a loud voice, but her voice grew less and less audible.

    Hiro panicked, and he immediately rushed to jump into the same wood. However, his effort was in vain. He repeatedly jumped over in the ce with all his might until the dust on the wood flew, but the wood would not open.

    ¡°Damn! Why always like this?¡± Hiro knelt under the wooden floor and banged on the wood repeatedly.

    ¡°Libe, are you okay?!¡± he shouted into the wood, hoping his voice would reach Liberty¡¯s ears. However, when Hiro pressed his ear to the floor¡­ he didn¡¯t hear any response.

    Themunication with Liberty just cut off.

    Hiro immediately tried to contact Liberty via direct dialling, trying everything from voice calls to video calls, and even texting her. However, it was useless,

    Ding!

    [You can¡¯t interact with anyone in this house]

    [Liberty is offline]

    ¡°Offline your ass!¡± Hiro cursed, feeling tricked by the system.

    There was no other choice. Nothing he could do but find a way out of his problem.

    ¡°Wait for me, Libe. I will save you like I usually do,¡± Hiro muttered. He was sure that he would find a way. And he was also sure if Liberty was fine.

    Hiro sighed, then started walking ahead. And as he moved from the floor that had caught Liberty to the wooden floor right next to it, his footing suddenly spun around and everything turned very dark.

    Hiro fell into a hole near Liberty. It was shaped like a children¡¯s slide tunnel that he used to y in the parks in Japan as a child. Hiro was calm. He positioned his body to rx so as not to hit something unwanted.

    And after sliding very fast for almost 1 minute, he finally fell on a stretch of ck sand. It felt a little hot there.

    Hiro rushed to his feet, sending the ck sand flying. Then, he found something surprising under the sand.

    The bones he believed were human bones, seeing from their size, scattered in that ce.

    ¡°Another one ising!¡± someone shouted from a distance. It was a man¡¯s voice. His voice was so hoarse, as if it had been a very long time since he hadst consumed water.

    Hiro looked to the source of the voice, and he was surprised to see three men standing in front of Liberty who were already curled up while kissing the ground in a motionless body.

    ¡°You came from the same direction as this girl. Do you guys know each other?¡± one of the men who had very long hair covering his back asked Hiro.

    However, before he got the answer he wanted, Hiro immediately dashed at full speed.

    Whoosh!

    Bang!

    He hit the man who was standing closest to Liberty¡¯s body so that the man was thrown back with a force and hit a giant rock that formed like a pir in that ce.

    ¡°Libe,¡± Hiro called, feeling guilty. He turned the girl¡¯s body. Her face and clothes were already covered with ck sand.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ¡ª is she your lover? Too bad. She¡¯s already lost.¡± Two men of very thin stature burst outughing.

    ¡°Dammit, we were tricked by yer merchants. They said there was treasure in this ce. We didn¡¯t know that we would be stuck here. I don¡¯t know where this is, and we have to kill 10 yers to get back to the surface.¡±

    ¡°That girl is the 9th. It looks like it¡¯s our lucky day, guys. Two prey came to be killed at once.¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha¡­ Did you see that girl earlier? She pitied an old man like me who was helpless and tried to help me like an angel?¡±

    ¡°Ha Ha ha¡­¡±

    ¡°You should just be an actor. Your acting is really good, my friend.¡±

    Hearing what they were talking about made Hiro close his eyes and then clenched his jaw furiously. His two fists tightened. Those trapped yers, their level was far below Liberty, but they won by deceiving her.

    Hiro would not forgive their sly actions. Even until Liberty woke up.

 Chapter 208 Another Challenge

    Hiro managed to make theirughter turn into screams and shrieks of fright as his sword flew up and shed at the neck of the yer with the oldest appearance among the rest.

    St!

    [Fatal Damage]

    The man¡¯s head was blown away along with the sword that fell on the ground. Blood immediately gushed out and made the sand turn crimson red.

    Ding!

    [You have activated duel mode in this arena]

    [2 vs 2]

    [The prize for the winner of this duel is an exit secret door]

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dashed to retrieve his sword. His icy cold eyes turned to look for his next victim. There were only two remaining male yers who had pulled out their weapons. They were holding those weapons with trembling hands.

    ¡°2?¡± Hiro said while reading the notification he had just received. His eyes reflexively turned to look at Liberty, and the girl was getting up again while coughing.<sub></sub>

    [Your party member: Liberty has been revived]

    Hiro smiled. The worry in his heart instantly disappeared. The girl¡¯s avatar was still getting special privilege from the game developer. It looked like Hiro would have to thank Dr. Johnson this time.

    ¡°Hiro, I¡¯m sorry¡­ What happened? Kyaaa!¡±

    The girl screamed frantically when she saw the headless body copsed at her feet. She immediately stood up and ran away from the terrible thing.

    ¡°Stay back. I¡¯ll finish this soon, and we¡¯ll continue our journey,¡± Hiro said again, looking at his two enemies who were standing on different sides. The difference in the distance between the two was no more than two meters, so Hiro could sh both of them in one hit.

    ¡°Oh my! Forgive us! Your girlfriend is alive again, right? Let us go¡­ we promise not to bother you again.¡± One yer had fallen to his knees and begged for Hiro¡¯s forgiveness. What an unexpected choice.

    However, it seemed¡­ hisrade didn¡¯t want to lower his pride just to get forgiveness. He quickly dashed towards Hiro with a dagger in his hand. He was a rogue yer who was still level 50, no match with Hiro.

    Whoosh!

    nk!

    Hiro raised his sword towards the dagger that came aiming for his neck. Without the need to hold his sword firmly, Hiro was able to stop the dagger easily and urately.<sub></sub>

    ¡°Too-soo.¡±

    Stt!

    The dagger in the man¡¯s hand fell down with a fist that was perfectly clenched after Hiro swung his sword at the yer¡¯s wrist and cut it without the slightest doubt.

    The yer¡¯s blood sttered towards Hiro¡¯s body, and Hiro kicked him so that the man fell backwards.

    The man immediately took out the remaining health potion he had. With his other hand still intact, the man drank the health potion until thest bottle ran out.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. Health potions won¡¯t be able to treat the wounds you receive. You will die soon.¡± Hiro clearly ignored the man¡¯s frightened face.

    [1 enemy has been defeated]

    Hiro walked over to the one remaining enemy. The man definitely sought forgiveness from Hiro because he really wanted to live. He even threw away the dagger he carried quite far away in an attempt to convince Hiro.

    ¡°Hiro, he has given up,¡± Liberty said from a distance. Hiro looked at her, then smiled.

    ¡°I know, Libe. But this game doesn¡¯t want to know. Only death they can count.¡± Hiro made the man in front of him immediately scream hysterically and tried to run away by crawling on the sand.<sub></sub>

    Liberty bit her lip. However, she also knew that Hiro was telling the truth.

    ¡°Close your eyes, Libe. You don¡¯t need to see it,¡± Hiro said, and Liberty obeyed the man¡¯s order.

    Stt!

    Hiro stabbed his sword right into the back of the yer who was trying to run from him. He directly aimed for the man¡¯s heart so that it could be counted as fatal damage. The man died right away without being absorbed in the pain like hisrade experienced.

    Ding!

    [Your party has won the game]

    [The exit door will appear]

    Zing!

    Liberty immediately ran over to Hiro when a loud thud came from the ceiling of the ce. The very dark ceiling seemed to shift and then an iron staircase appeared from above their head. Itnded right in front of Hiro.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Hiro said, then grabbed Liberty¡¯s hand and pulled her running up the stairs. He was worried that the stairs also had a limited time. There was nothing wrong with being careful.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    Hiro continued to run. Even though it was dark, each stairs had very minimal white lighting, so it could only show the location of the stairs without showing what was nking the two of them.

    After climbing the stairs for more than five minutes without stopping, finally there were no more stairs in that ce, and Hiro and Liberty arrived in another room of the haunted house.

    ¡°I thought we were going out¡­ Hahah,¡± Liberty tried to catch her breath.

    Hiro inspected the room very carefully, not wanting to fall into a trap with the same pattern. He continued to hold Liberty¡¯s hand so he wouldn¡¯t part with her again because of a secret trap. Liberty didn¡¯t understand that, she just thought that Hiro¡¯s attitude had suddenly turned very cute. The girl¡¯s cheeks turned red again.

    There was nothing strange in the room. It seemed to function like a regr check point. Hiro walked through the only door on the wall of the room. And when he entered it, he fell silent again.

    The next room was rectangr, with a neat ck and white chessboard-like floor. Another wall in front of Hiro had two doors in ck and white. They were exactly the same colour as the floor.

    ¡°What now, Hiro?¡± Liberty asked while peeking over Hiro¡¯s back. The empty room gave off a strange feeling. It made her body a little tense. The girl was a little traumatized by the previous incident.

    It was strange because there was nothing he could find in the room. Hiro stepped on the white wooden floor. Liberty was about to follow in his footsteps, but when the girl¡¯s feet were about to touch the ck wooden floor, Hiro immediately pulled her quickly so that both of themnded on the same white floor.

    ¡°Why, Hiro? You startled me!¡±

    Ding!

    [yer has been registered for chess battle]

    [Two yers in one team are allowed]

    [NightFall and Liberty has been registered as one team]

    [Searching for new yers for enemy]

    Hiro let out a sigh of relief when he saw the notification stating that a new game just appeared and it could be done as a team.

    [No yers found]

    [Searching for NPCs for enemy]

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    [No NPCs found]

    [Searching for monsters for enemy]

 Chapter 209 Feeling Nostalgic?

    [1 Monster has been found]

    [1 monster joined the game]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    The ck floor right next to Hiro suddenly gave off a bright and dazzling light. In the next second, a spider-like zombie-monster appeared on the floor while staring at Hiro with its eight ck eyes.

    Hiro was ready to draw his sword, but when he did¡­ his hand only reached for empty air, and Hiro Hiro¡¯s sword remained intact behind his back.

    [Wait until the game starts]

    [1 new monster has been found]

    [1 monster joined the game]

    On the same floor as the zombie spider, the same light appeared again, followed by the presence of the second monster. The second monster took the form of a half demon woman with its half face shattered horribly. It had a pair of small wings on its back and continued to p.

    ¡°I know you really want me from that look in your eyes, traveler!¡± the woman hissed, talking to Hiro. Hiro was surprised by the deafening sound that hurt his ears. However, he was even more surprised that the monster could talk to him.

    Only monsters with special abilities could do the same thing like the half-demon woman did.

    ¡°He is mine, you shatter-faced evil demon!¡± Liberty retorted along with a hiss, trying to imitate the demonic woman¡¯s intimidating voice.<sub></sub>

    Hiro chuckled. Liberty¡¯s behaviour made him want to pull her red cheek. She was really adorable. He didn¡¯t expect that the girl would reply to the monster¡¯s words.

    ¡°Yosh¡­ yosh¡­ Libe good girl.¡± Hiro stroked the top of Liberty¡¯s head gently, making the girl blush again.

    [The game is ready to be yed.]

    [Objective: The team member who can reach the door of the color ording to the chosen floor first will be the winner]

    [yer must choose the role used and walk in the same way as the chosen role path. Important message to remember! This is not just an ordinary chess game. You might be killed and eliminated from the game if you make a wrong move.]

    Hiro arched an eyebrow, thinking hard. He tried to guess what game he should actually y right now. And how could a game appear in a dungeon that no one had been able to conquer before?

    Ding!

    [White team registered first]

    [White team can choose the role first]

    [Please choose your role!]

    [Queen] [Bishop] [Knight] [Rook]<sub></sub>

    Hiro instantly chose [Queen] which had more movement patterns than the other roles. That was if his guess was correct. If the chosen role really affected the way they yed in the game, the role of the queen would be really advantageous.

    [Are you selecting for yourself or your teammate?]

    Hiro looked at Liberty who was looking at him with a confused expression. The girl didn¡¯t seem to know how to y chess and that meant Hiro had to think for her too. He would be the strategist in this team.

    ¡°No,¡± said Hiro.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    [Role (Queen) will be given to your teammate, Liberty]

    [Proceed?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It would be easier to protect the girl if she had very free movement with less restriction. Besides, if it was possible, Hiro would bring the girl to touch the white door first.

    [The white team has chosen the Queen]

    [Next, the ck team has chosen a role]<sub></sub>

    [The ck team has chosen the Rook]

    Hiro guessed that the two monsters weren¡¯t pure monsters. It seemed like someone was controlling them, so both of them had a smart enough brain to be able to y chess as Hiro¡¯s and Liberty¡¯s opponentter.

    The proof was from the way they chose Rook as the first choice. Also, the shape of the room was a rectangle. And with a role that could move in a straight line, it would be easier to reach the door rather than choosing a Knight or Bishop which had a restricted movement.

    [Your turn]

    Hiro had already known what he would choose.

    ¡°Knight.¡±

    [The white team has chosen the Knight]

    [The ck team will automatically get the remaining role]

    [The ck team has chosen the Bishop]

    Ding!

    [The preparations before the game started]

    Buzzzzzz!

    ,?-?m Suddenly, the ground inside the room vibrated as if there was a great earthquake outside, shaking them violently. Hiro couldn¡¯t keep holding on to Liberty because of the vibration, and the two eventually parted away again.

    When Hiro nced at the two monsters that were his new opponents, they both seemed to be struggling to stay on the same floor.

    Ding!

    [The preparations have beenpleted]

    [All yers will randomly appear on the floor ording to team colour (3s remaining)]

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Hiro felt the sensation of being pulled back and stuffed into a narrow pipe. He suddenly felt nauseous, as if his stomach was turned upside down, but the next second¡­ he had regained his consciousness.

    Hiro was standing in the middle of the room while Liberty was at the far end of the room, not far from where the two of them were before.

    The two monsters were far apart, at the far end of the other side of the room. Hiro was relieved when he checked the colour of the floor near Liberty. At least the two monsters couldn¡¯t suddenly approach the girl.

    Ding!

    [yers are prohibited from using pets, weapons, items, and special buffs that are owned while ying]

    Ding!

    [The distribution of special features based on the roles begins]

    Spyro suddenly turned into crystal shards, then disappearedpletely.

    The room suddenly felt like it was expanding, a change that gave Hiro a dizziness. The white floor that he stepped on was also increasing.

    A few secondster, a white light appeared in front of Hiro. That light brought forth a very beautiful white unicorn,plete with armor and a silver spear tied to its body.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Hiro walked over to the unicorn and stroked its smooth neck.

    [Knights can only walk using a unicorn. Remember! When your unicorn dies, you die too. So, protect your unicorn like you protect yourself]

    Hiro swallowed hard after reading the notification that popped up in front of him.

    He then turned to look at Liberty and see what the girl had got.

    His eyes suddenly dted and his mouth opened wide when he saw Liberty had changed into a queen¡¯s dressplete with a golden crown on her head. She was very beautiful and fit perfectly in that dress.

    However¡­ What was the use?

    Hiro saw that the only weapon Liberty carried was a staff. And it reminded him of his first meeting with the girl.

    ¡°Really? A magician staff? She¡¯s not even a wizard!¡± He protested the system.

 Chapter 210 Game Start!

    Boom! Kaboom!

    The game had started, and it was more terrifying than Hiro had imagined, especially the weapon that Liberty wielded. It could cast anything. No need to be a mage to make it work.

    Because she couldn¡¯t pull out a legendary weapon, Liberty then took out a bazooka just as the spider-shaped monster got a dice with a number that allowed it to approach Liberty. There was only one floor square left before the spider-shaped monster got near her.

    It was no ordinary chess game. The system words earlier were true. Because even though the four of them yed with the rolesmonly used on the chessboard, they were given a pair of dice to y with instead. The maximum number that they could get from the two dice was 12.

    And the game of chess turned into a game of snakes anddders. However, there were no snakes and nodders because they walked ording to their role¡¯s movement pattern.

    The effect of snakes ordders could be created by using various types of attacks that could be carried out by yers, like what Liberty just did.

    The girl seemed to enjoy the game, which made her feel a little nostalgic.

    With a very powerful bazooka shot, the spider monster was thrown away until its body crashed into the wall in the corner of the room. Away from the door that became its destination.

    ¡°Ha ha ha¡­ look at me, Hiro!¡± Liberty eximed excitedly, having a little trouble lifting her very heavy weapon.

    Although Liberty was equipped with a long-range weapon, there was still one rule in the game that prevented her from using her weapon at any time. The ranged weapons could only be used for yers standing at least 3 squares on the floor.

    In addition, the weapon could only be used once in one roll of the dice for all four yers.

    ¡°It¡¯s your turn, Hiro!¡±

    Hiro exhaled heavily.

    The number of dice the yers would get was random and only based on luck. He had to strike a damage meter that was shaped like a boxing glove, and it appeared in front of him every time it was his turn to move. The greater the damage calcted  ¡­ the greater the chance for Hiro to get arge of the total number.

    Hiro¡¯s current position was closer to the door than Liberty. Because he managed to get the number 12 out of the dice many times.

    Hiro readied his spear, concentrating all his physical strength on his two hands. His eyes looked straight at the boxing gloves in front of him and chose a point to attack.

    Bang!

    [Total damage 259,000]

    [New Record!]

    [12 total dice guaranteed]

    Hiro managed to get 12 points again, and he immediately moved across the square-shaped floor with the movement pattern forming the letter ¡®L¡¯. He had to estimate the closest distance and correctly count the number of squares left, so he could reach the white door at the right time.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    The unicorn that Hiro had to ride could walk fast. It got closer to the white door.

    [Your turn is over]

    Now, it was the demonic woman¡¯s turn to move. It chose a Bishop, so it walked sideways. The demonic woman¡¯s strength was almost twice that of the zombie spider, so its position was between Liberty and Hiro.

    Crash!

    [Total damage 150,500]

    [New Record!]

    The monster managed to get the total number of 10. And instead of choosing a path to approach the ck door, it chose another path that it could take. From the distance of the squares, it would arrive one square near Hiro.

    ¡°Hiro, be careful!¡± Liberty cried, realizing the monster¡¯s evil n.

    ?<0,>?,?l Hiro already knew and was prepared for it. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to descend from the unicorn while the game was ying. And even worse, he had to protect the unicorn at the same time.

    Whoosh!

    The demonic woman dashed swiftly through the 10 ck floor squares and arrived at thest box. Its right hand was stretched out along with the lengthening of its pointed fingernails. The target wasn¡¯t Hiro, but the unicorn¡¯s neck.

    Hiro jumped to his feet on the Unicorn¡¯s back, and he quickly threw the demon¡¯s hand away with a spear like a bat.

    Bang!

    The demon beast¡¯s attempt failed. And it had lost its chance to strike again.

    ¡°Good job, Hiro!¡± Liberty eximed. She was pleased to see the man could overpower the demonic woman.

    And now, it was the girl¡¯s turn to y.

    [Lucky!]

    [You got 12!]

    Before Liberty could move from the floor she stepped on, Hiro told her to stop.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Liberty, looking a bit confused. Hiro shook his head, then calcted again Liberty¡¯s current andter position when the girl used those 12 steps.

    ¡°Libe,e this way!¡± Hiro asked while pointing the way for Liberty to choose. It was a nted path like the demon monster did.

    From Hiro¡¯s count, with 12 steps, Liberty would be 3 floor squares with him, and he already had an idea to try something so that victory could be obtained faster.

    Liberty nodded and walked towards the square shown by Hiro while counting the number of the steps.

    12.

    Liberty was standing in thest box and then looked back at Hiro questioningly.

    [You can attack the two closest yers]

    [Choose one]

    ¡°Me!¡± Hiro eximed, making Liberty a bit surprised.

    ¡°Attack me!¡± Hiro eximed again, rifying his orders.

    Liberty looked at him in disbelief as she held up the heavy bazooka in her hands.

    ¡°Yes, Libe. Attack me. But, aim your gun properly. Push me to that door!¡± Hiro eximed while pointing at the white door, which was still about 10 meters from his current position.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Liberty didn¡¯t seem to like Hiro¡¯s idea.

    ¡°Please. We just need one of us to get to that door.¡± Hiro pleaded.

    The girl raised her gun at Hiro. In the end, she agreed. But still, both of her hands seemed to be slightly trembling.

    ¡°Hiro, what if I miss?¡± Liberty asked, doubting her own abilities.

    ¡°No, you won¡¯t miss it!¡± Hiro replied,pletely trusting the girl. Hiro knew that Liberty was very good at aiming her gun. He was sure that Liberty must have had shooting and archery sses before. Because that girl knew very well how to hold a weapon and use it.

    ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t be. Just hit me!¡± Hiro nodded his head, trying to convince the girl to shoot him right away.

    [Hurry up!]

    [Choose your target to attack!]

    Booom!

    Hiro could feel a tremendous beat hit his chest. He wasn¡¯t even ready to endure the pain that wasing.

    ¡°Hoek.¡± Hiro vomited blood while kneeling on the floor after his back hit the wall until his bones made a crack sound.

    Even so, he was still alive. It was just an effect that looked very exaggerated from the game. Even Hiro¡¯s health points were still green, indicating that his health points were still in a safe number.

 Chapter 211 Almost There

    ¡°Hiro, I am really really sorry!¡± shrieked Liberty in guilt, truly sorry for shooting Hiro with the bazooka.

    Hiro looked around to see where hended. However, as he reflexively clung to the nearby wall, a notification suddenly popped up.

    [Game Over!]

    [White team has made it to the door]

    [White team wins]

    [The losers will be destroy]

    ¡­.

    ¡°Jacob, Jacob, wake up!¡± In the gathering room of the ¡®Evesting¡¯ guild base, several members of Evesting were seen rxing until they fell asleep. One of them was Jacob. He fell asleep while sitting on the sofa.

    Cara who had just arrived woke him up violently, making Jacob startle and end up falling to the floor.

    ¡°Cara, you surprised me!¡± Jacob yawned then looked at Cara with his eyes still half closed.

    ¡°Did you see NightFall? I looked for him everywhere, but he is not here.¡± Cara sat on the sofa previously upied by Jacob.

    ¡°You¡¯re looking, Hiro? What for? You know for yourself that he is not easy to find.¡±

    ¡°I have information that might interest him. Damn¡ªwhere did he go? His status is very strange. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a yer with that status.¡± Cara grumbled, feeling annoyed. She had been looking for Hiro everywhere. Even to the tavern that Hiro often visited. She had even asked several NPCs.

    ¡°Huh? What strange status do you mean?¡± Finally, Jacob was fully awake.

    Cara shared the screen that her HUD was showing, so Jacob could see what she was looking at.

    In the screen that appeared in front of the two of them, Cara was opening the friendlist, then opening NightFall¡¯s profile. In the profile section, there was usually a status that showed whether the yer was online or offline. However, this time, the status in the disy showed that NightFall was lost.

    This status had never been seen before, including Jacob. He had only just seen that kind of status now.

    ¡°What does it mean?¡± Jacob asked curiously.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Cara replied with a shrug.

    ¡°It looks like we should ask Noah. He usually knows a lot. Did you see him?¡± Jacob asked. He was sure of that.

    Cara once again shrugged her shoulders. Noah wasn¡¯t in the guild base either.

    Jacob opened his friendlist to contact Noah and ask him over the phone. However, his eyes stopped at yer Liberty¡¯s status. It showed the same status as Hiro.

    ¡¢??m ¡°Liberty¡¯s status is also lost. Is this just a coincidence, or are the two of them missing together?¡±

    Cara raised an eyebrow, looking like she was deep in thought. However, in the end, she shook her head in confusion.

    [Calling Noah]

    ¡°Yes, Noobie knight?¡±

    Noah answered quickly.

    ¡°Do you know where Hiro is?¡±

    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t know. You think I nted a tracker on his body? Maybe he went to a dungeon or something.¡±

    Hearing what Noah said through the video call, Cara immediately remembered that this morning she had seen Hiro and Liberty together.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, Jacob. They both go together. But where? Why is their status so weird?¡±

    ¡°What strange status?¡± Noah asked, suddenly feeling curious.

    Jacob finally asked about the meaning of Liberty¡¯s and Hiro¡¯s status. And Jacob¡¯s guess was right, Noah knew what that status meant.

    ¡°They got lost. In a dungeon that misleads the yers. I¡¯ve read about it somewhere.¡±

    ¡°What? Then, how? Can they survive?¡±

    ¡°They can¡­ We just need to find them and help them clear the dungeon.¡± Noah exined, as if he had memorized everything he had ever read.

    ¡°If Hiro can¡¯t just conquer that dungeon, do you think we can?¡± Jacob asked again, feeling uneasy. He didn¡¯t know that something like that could happen in a game.

    ¡°There may be one dungeon condition that is not met. That¡¯s why the dungeon misled them. Ah¡­ I suddenly remembered when I saw that status.¡±

    Jacob and Cara looked at each other questioningly.

    ¡°When I entered the Minotaur dungeon before I met the three of you. I checked my status changed to lost.¡±

    ¡­

    Hiro and Liberty manage to get out of the strange chess game room and get a white key.

    The key was only given to them after they walked through the white door, so Hiro was sure that it was not the key to open the white door.

    ¡°What else now?¡± Liberty asked, starting to feel bored and tired.

    ¡°I am very hungry,¡± the girl added. She whined like a child.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t have the heart to tell her to continue walking. However, he also didn¡¯t have any food supplies in his inventory.

    Inside the dungeon, the two of them couldn¡¯t ess the marketce. The only edible items in Hiro¡¯s inventory were buff potions, HP, and energy.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Libe. I didn¡¯t know it would turn out like this,¡± said Hiro, feeling sorry for Liberty who continued to clutch her stomach.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Hiro. I¡¯m d I could go with you. But still¡­ I¡¯m so hungry. Do you think we can get out of this ce?¡±

    Hiro took a deep breath.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know how long it will take.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue on our way,¡± Liberty decided. She suddenly changed her mind and walked ahead of Hiro.

    However¡­ having just walked for a while, they once again stopped when they saw a giant wooden gate towering above them. The height of the gate might reach 10 meters from the floor of the room.

    There was a keyhole on the surface of the gate that Hiro could still reach when he jumped.

    ¡°Uhmmm Hiro, are you thinking of what I¡¯m thinking?¡± Liberty muttered, then backed away to stand by Hiro¡¯s side, not daring enough to approach the gate alone.

    Ding!

    [You have found the boss area]

    [Two Parties required to enter]

    ¡°Damn.¡±

    [Finding yers nearby]

    [¡­]

    [no yers found]

    [please try again!]

    ¡°How could I find a party inside the dungeon? What¡¯s wrong with this game?¡±

    ¡°Maybe this time we have to take a rest, Hiro.¡± Liberty tried to calm Hiro¡¯s down.

 Chapter 212 Music

    [Finding yers nearby]

    [¡­]

    Hiro had already spent over two hours staring at the transparent screen that appeared before him. It continued to refresh the selection of finding yers while Liberty was already asleep, leaning against his shoulder.

    Luckily, the room they were trapped in that had no existing door was warm andfortable enough, so the two of them could rest safely. No monsters hade this far because the ce was probably a safezone.

    Even so, they couldn¡¯t wait there forever. Besides, Hiro repeatedly heard the sound of Liberty¡¯s stomach. The girl was indeed asleep, but her empty stomach continued to growl. It managed to make Hiro worry.

    [three yers have been found]

    Hiro reflexively stood up when he saw that there were finally yers nearby.

    Because they appeared together, Hiro guessed that the three of them were from the same party.

    [Finding the party nearby]

    [1 party has been found]

    ¡°Gotcha.¡±

    [Request to join the party]

    [Raid party has been requested]

    [Noah¡¯s party has epted your request]

    ¡°Wait¨CNoah?¡±

    Hiro could see the information on the three yers who were part of Noah¡¯s party, and he felt that he was lucky because the three names were very familiar to him.

    [Party chat (Noah): Where the hell are you?]

    Even the party chat could be used freely. There was only one reason why the party chat could be used by them. They were in the same dungeon.

    [You: Give me the lead, hurry up.]

    [NightFall has been appointed as raid party leader]

    After being appointed as a party leader, Hiro could see theplete party settings, including managing who entered party one and party two. And the most important thing¡­ there was an option to summon the party members.

    [You have requested your party members to follow you]

    .?O,m [Request epted]

    A very bright light appeared in front of Hiro, it formed the silhouettes of three people.

    ¡°Finally.¡± Hiro muttered again, feeling relief and saved, although he didn¡¯t know whether there was another boss he had to fight after the room in front of him.

    ¡°Hiro, what are you doing here?¡± Jacob immediately ran over to Hiro and tapped him on the shoulder a little harshly. Hiro greeted Cara, Noah, and Jacob with a smile.

    Liberty, who could hear themotion, woke up from her sleep. The girl¡¯s eyes immediately widened when she saw three other people had joined in with her and Hiro.

    ¡°Wow! How did you guys get here?¡± Liberty asked in disbelief at what she saw.

    ¡°Hey Libe. Are you okay?¡± Jacob said. The only person of the three who had a fairly good rtionship with Liberty.

    ¡°Oh, Hi, Jake! It¡¯s been a while.¡± The girl gave Jacob a warm hug.

    Meanwhile, Hiro and Noah had already moved towards the boss¡¯ gate, touching the surface of the door.

    [Are you sure you want to open this gate?]

    [Once you enter, you can¡¯t run. Make your choice wisely.]

    Hiro looked at Noah before the two nodded together. However, even though he had two parties right now, with only 5 members, Noah looked a bit hesitant to enter the door. He held Hiro¡¯s hand from pushing the door.

    ¡°Are you sure you can beat whatever¡¯s behind that door?¡± Noah asked, while frowning.

    Hiro nodded slowly. There was no other choice but to give it a try. Whatever awaited himter, he had to find a way to defeat something there.

    However, before he touched the door again, Hiro suddenly thought of something.

    Why did a party have to be made up of at least two parties? Wasn¡¯t it usually moremon to provide a BR rmendation or a full party?

    Remembering what he had just experienced with Liberty twice, both when he fell into a hole and when he found a chessboard patterned floor, they were involved in an unexpected one-on-one match.

    What if the two parties that were used as a condition for entering the boss gate were to be fought against each other?

    If that was the case, Hiro couldn¡¯t possibly sacrifice any of them but himself.

    [Liberty has been moved to 2nd party]

    [Liberty has joined Noah¡¯s party]

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Noah asked, not understanding Hiro¡¯s action when he saw the notification he had just received. Hiro didn¡¯t say the reason, but he looked at Noah expectantly.

    ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing, Noah. Trust me,¡± he pleaded a little.

    Liberty, Cara, and Jacob were waiting for the two of them in the back. They were all ready with their weapons before Hiro pushed the gate open.

    [The gate has opened]

    [Toote! There is no way back!]

    A very strong wind suddenly pulled the five of them into the dark room behind the gate, as if the system wouldn¡¯t allow them to run at thest second.

    m!

    The gate was locked again behind Hiro¡¯s back. At the same time, a strain of traditional music could be heard from within the darkness. From the soothing strains of its voice, Hiro was sure that the instrument was plucked using the trained fingers.

    As the music got faster and faster, a dazzling bright white light suddenly appeared in streaks throughout the room. On the floor, on the walls, and even above the ceiling.

    From the light that appeared, Hiro and the others knew that the shape of the room was an isosceles triangle.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Jacob pointed towards the corner of the room, which was about 20 meters from where they were standing right now.

    From her silhouette, we could see a woman in a unique ck and red traditional Chinese dress, Qixiong Ruqun. It was the woman who was ying a long traditional musical instrument on the floor that looked different from the other floors.

    In that quite big room, there was no one other than the woman who didn¡¯t even show her face.

    ¡°Get ready. Maybe she¡¯s up to something,¡± Hiro muttered confidently.

    Even so, they couldn¡¯t stay silent and decided to walk up to the woman warily.

    Hiro walked in the lead with Noah who was ready to activate the fire magic in both hands. The man was even ready to shoot the fire magic if there was a threat approaching them.

    However, after they arrived at a distance of three meters from the woman who was ying the music, suddenly the floor in front of them pulled out sharp iron like thorns that reached Hiro¡¯s waist.

    The road was impassable. And at the same time, the woman stopped ying her music, then looked at the five of them in turn.

    Jacob swallowed his saliva nervously when he saw her face. The woman looked very beautiful with natural makeup and a petite, oriental face, typical of Asia¡¯s women.

    ¡°What does she want, Hiro?¡± Jacob asked, pulling Hiro¡¯s robe from behind.

 Chapter 213 Control

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hiro replied briefly.

    After she looked at Hiro and his party members, the woman lowered her face again to stare at the musical instrument in front of her and strummed its thick strings again.

    Dong Ding Dong!

    Hiro, Noah, and Jacob looked at each other questioningly. They didn¡¯t know what to do. The music was pleasant enough to their ears, and they didn¡¯t get any weird effects from hearing it. Even Hiro, who thought that the music might make him sleepy, was wrong.

    Because they were too focused on the woman and the musical instrument she was ying, the three of them forgot to check Liberty and Cara who were already standing up straight. Both of their eyes had turnedpletely ck.

    ¡°What should we do now, Hiro?¡± Noah asked while looking to the side, to see Hiro who was still watching the woman.

    Noah was the first to notice the change in pressure behind his back. He looked back to check where the pressure wasing from.

    Bang!

    [Fatal Damage]

    Noah quickly pushed Hiro¡¯s body to the side when he realized that the Hellsing Whisper¡¯s gun had been aimed at the back of the man¡¯s head, making Noah the one who was shot right in the left shoulder.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Liberty still raised her gun again, aiming at Hiro with an upright position and her legs slightly apart like a skilled shooter.

    Meanwhile, Cara had disappeared from her ce, leaving a ck shadow bouncing in a zigzag on the walls of the room. She was preparing to attack one of them.

    ¡°Damn¡­ they¡¯re under control,¡±

    nk!

    Hiro managed to throw a silver bullet aimed at him. Liberty seemed to have marked him as an enemy. And Hiro had to face her even if he didn¡¯t want to.

    ¡°Are you all right, Noah?¡± Jacob was already moving in circles, circling Noah as he continued to stare at the ck shadow that kept bouncing off the wall. He was sure that Cara would attack the mage.

    ¡°I¡¯ve treated my wound. At least it¡¯s easier because I¡¯m not a bloodline demon,¡± Noah exined while tearing the sleeves of his robes to tie his shoulder, stopping the bleeding before the healing spell finished.

    ¡°What should we do now, Hiro?¡± Jacob asked, not knowing what to do. He also objected if he had to fight Cara or Liberty.

    ¡°Catch them first!¡±

    Hiro dashed towards Liberty to catch her with his bare hands, but Liberty was much more agile and quick than normal. Her speed was even on par with Cara whose agility was undoubtedly superior.

    Liberty rolled back three times to avoid Hiro¡¯s hands who was trying to catch her. When she managed to dodge, the girl¡¯s gun shot up again and fired three silver bullets at Hiro at once.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Jacob threw his shield that changed shape like a chakram, and it was thrown like a boomerang. The shield managed to stop the three silver bullets before returning to Jacob¡¯s hands.

    [Fire Seal]

    Noah created a circle of fire that appeared and zed around Liberty¡¯s feet, locking the girl in her ce so that his mission of capturing the girl was aplished. However, even though she couldn¡¯t go anywhere, the girl¡¯s hands were still able to use her weapon freely.

    Bang! Bang!

    The target was still unchanged. Hiro was still the girl¡¯s target as if the others were invisible in her eyes.

    sh! nk!

    Hiro managed to fend off two silver bullets, but one managed to scratch the back of his hand while he was swinging the sword. Even if it was just a scratch, because the silver bullet had an innate holy attribute, Hiro¡¯s hand immediately smoked and burned.

    ¡°Hshhhh¡­¡± Hiro backed away. He couldn¡¯t stop Liberty without hurting the girl a bit. And it was also impossible to let the girl keep attacking him while he was looking for a way to break them free from the control of the monster.

    At the same time, while Hiro was raising his sword with one hand, suddenly a ck shadow shot past him, then a dagger swiftly shed his hand with an unavoidable long sh.

    ¡°Aghhh!¡±

    Hiro dropped his sword on the floor, holding back the pain. Both of his hands couldn¡¯t be used due to the injuries he had just received.

    ¡°What? Why did she attack Hiro too?¡± Jacob and Noah immediately stood closer to Hiro and put their backs together to protect each other. Their guess was wrong and made Hiro only get another wound.

    The worse thing was Hiro couldn¡¯t ess his inventory to take potions and increase his HP.

    [ck Rose Venom has been detected]

    [You will not be able to consume any potions and buff for 5 minutes]

    That was the effect of Cara¡¯s dagger.

    ¡°Hiro, we have to do something.¡± Jacob felt sorry for Hiro¡¯s condition.

    Meanwhile, Noah didn¡¯t stay still. He kept trying to use the fire seal to catch Cara who didn¡¯t show herself at all, as if she had been fully transformed into a shadow right now.

    Catching something that moved much faster than his casting time made Noah just wasting his mana and energy. All his effort was in vain.

    ¡°Stop it, I¡¯ll get her. And for you two, don¡¯t let Liberty attack me.¡± Hiro raised his sword again with his right hand in a bit of difficulty. Meanwhile, his right hand had stopped functioning due to the burn effect.

    However, he still had another weapon in his left hand, which he would use to stop Cara and pull the girl out of her own shadow.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro sped up and used [Void Phantom] to hide his whereabouts. He then chased after Cara who kept bouncing on the walls and floor at full speed. In terms of speed, Hiro was still superior.

    Grab!

    Hiro could feel Cara¡¯s boots and tug on them before throwing them in the opposite direction with all his might.

    ¡¢??m Bang!

    Cara was sessfully pulled out of her shadow, and she hit another wall of the triangr room. Even so, she immediately got up and shot at Hiro from the front.

    Hiro aimed his Demon¡¯s ws at Cara, but Cara was able to bend her body backwards almost in a circle with her agile body. And she managed to escape from Hiro¡¯s grasp.

    As Cara darted around while bending her body, her movements slowed down, and Noah made good use of that.

    [Fire Seal]

    The two girls were finally trapped in Noah¡¯s [fire seal].

    However, it was the same as Liberty. Cara could still attack by throwing her stock of weapons. One of them was a shuriken that managed to prate Noah¡¯s chest before the man realized the attack wasing to him.

    St!

    [Fatal damage]

    When the firebender was dying, the fire that was restraining the two girls automatically weakened, and the two of them shot out in unison.

    ¡°Noah, are you okay?¡± Jacob immediately caught the fallen Noah while pulling the shuriken that pierced the man¡¯s chest.

    ¡°That bitch, I will never forget this, even if she¡¯s awaketer,¡± Noah said furiously, then he used the HP boosting potion right away.

    Meanwhile, the two girls fully ignored Noah and Jacob. They walked over to Hiro until Hiro was pinned against the wall in the room.

    Why did it look like they were only after Hiro until this second?

 Chapter 214 High Priest Aaron

    Thirty minutes had passed, and Hiro was still busy dodging the attacks that kepting from Liberty and Cara. The two of them even used a ranged attack skill that was strong enough to attack Hiro. Meanwhile, Noah continued to focus on maintaining his fire seal and Jacob helped Hiro not to be hit by any fatal attack.

    Hop! Hop!

    Hiro jumped and spun in the air. His eyes repeatedly nced at the woman who was still ying traditional music in the same ce. He had thought about jumping at the iron needles to stop the woman. Hiro firmly believed that the music was the reason Liberty and Cara lost their consciousness.

    ¡°Noah, can you push me over to that woman¡¯s ce?¡± Hiro asked, still jumping and spinning in the air, dodging the attacks that aimed at him.

    ¡°Of course. But, are you sure it¡¯s okay to do it?¡±

    Hiro had no other choice but to give it a try. There was no way he could just dodge those two girls¡¯ attacks forever. ¡°Hurry up and do it!¡±

    Noah turned the page on his Tome to search for spells using wind magic. Then, he found a suitable one for Hiro. A skill that did not inflict any damage and worked like a support skill.

    [Windboost]

    Noah made a magic rune circle using his fingers that moved very fast in the air, then pushed the magic rune towards Hiro who was waiting for him.

    ¡°With the divine permission of the wind goddess, you will get the help of the wind, WindBoost!¡± Noah said the condition to activate the magic rune.

    Booshh!

    Hiro could feel an extremely strong air pressureing out of his body. A very thin greenish aura had covered him. His body suddenly felt light and his feet were no longer on the ground. He continued to rise two meters above the air. When he moved his legs to the left, his body also shifted in the air like he was flying without wings.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Hiro was amazed at what Noah could do with his various elemental magic.

    ¡°Quick, the effect onlysts for 10 minutes!¡± Noah shouted, giving a warning to Hiro who was a bit distracted.

    Hiro nodded his head, and he immediately ran through the air towards the ce where the woman was. However, even though he had managed to get past the iron needles, Liberty¡¯s bullet and Cara¡¯s shuriken continued to target him. The distance was not a problem for either of them.

    Jacob wielded his shield steadily. He had a skill that could be activated for a certain time and kept Hiro protected from both Liberty and Cara¡¯s attacks at the same time.

    [Shield Expansion]

    The round shield that Jacob had been holding with both hands suddenly increased in size. Jacob stood in the middle of the room while covering Hiro who was already busy with the other task.

    With Shield Expansion, the shield carried by Jacob had turned into a giant wall that made any type of weapon unable to pass through.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The silver bullet from Liberty¡¯s weapon as well as the shuriken thrown by Cara had stuck to the surface of Jacob¡¯s shield.

    Hiro returned his focus to the woman who was ying the music. After the time to fly was up, hended smoothly on the same floor as the female musician. He stood in front of her and walked over to her. Even so, the woman did not budge and refused to lift her face.

    Not knowing what to do, Hiro was more interested in taking the Batarang. He used it to cut off the three strings on the musical instrument that the woman was ying, so the music was stopped.

    The woman looked at Hiro with a pair of terrifying ck eyes. The skin on her face had turned pale, too pale, as if she had put on too much white make-up.

    Hiro looked back to check the condition of Cara and Liberty who seemed fine. The two girls just fell to their knees and looked back at them with confused looks.

    ¡°Where am I? What am I doing here?¡± Liberty asked, while massaging her suddenly very tired body. Cara did the same thing, but she remained silent. Her eyes found the mes that surrounded her, and she immediately turned to look at Noah with a disapproving look on her face.

    - ¡°What did you do to me, Noah?¡± Cara hissed in displeasure. Noah immediately freed her after confirming that the girl had returned to normal state.

    Hiro took a deep breath, feeling relieved. This time, his focus had returned to the woman who was still sitting across from him. As Hiro stared at the woman, the woman suddenly spoke to him.

    ¡°The Key,¡± she hissed in a sinister voice. For the first time, Hiro saw the row of yellowed pointed teeth behind the beautiful woman¡¯s mouth. He was a little surprised, but he instantly understood the meaning of the woman¡¯s words.

    Hiro took out a key he got from winning the chess mini game a while ago. After considering it, he decided to give the key to the woman in front of him. It made the woman smile.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, still in a hiss.

    The next scene made Hiro almost vomit. The woman¡¯s heart suddenly came out of her chest while still beating at a normal rhythm like a heart should be. It was covered in fresh blood.

    The woman used the key Hiro gave her to touch her odd-looking heart once, like knocking on it.

    Ting!

    [Congrattions! NightFall¡¯s party haspleted the haunted house dungeon and cure the curseddy¡¯s heart]

    [Evesting Fame has been increased]

    The woman¡¯s heart suddenly seemed to harden like a rock then ckened before going back into her chest. Hiro frowned in confusion. The woman smiled at him with a very wide smile. However, in the next second, her skin slowly shrunk as if it was being sucked in from within.

    The previously chubby cheeks and skin that looked very healthy had been reced with thin and wrinkled skin. The beautiful woman turned into a granny before finally breaking down into human bones, leaving her skull alone.

    [The curseddy is a demon who pretends to be human all her life. Her secret is not revealed until one day she married a prince who was blinded by his beauty. The prince was willing to leave the pce to live alone with the curseddy in this building. However, the prince began to know that his lover was not a human when she gave birth to their first child. Zombies, demons of all kinds, undead. No human was born from that woman. Feeling cheated, the prince asked the high priest for help in punishing his wife and the first children, which consisted of 100 different creatures.]

    Hiro and the others carefully read the stories about what really happened inside the building. There were no clues from the story other than the ce¡¯s connection to the high priest Hiro was looking for.

    Hiro got the information about the dungeon¡¯s existence from the book Noah had tranted. He had toe to that ce and end the curse. That was why Noah knew where Hiro was going and supposedly got lost.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the high priest¡¯s charm: Aaron¡¯s Charm]

    ¡°I got it,¡± Hiro muttered, telling Noah who just nodded in relief.

    [Your party member: Liberty has obtained Beautiful Chinese Ornamental Dress]

    [Your party member: MyPhantom has obtained Broken Geomungo (Korean Traditional Music Instrument)]

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Noah grumbled because he got nothing. He protested again to the system, which still gave him nothing. Meanwhile, Jacob who had the same fate as Noah could only grin while rubbing the back of his head.

    [The haunted house has been cleared from the curse. Everyone will be free now]

    Ding!

    [You will be kicked out of the dungeon]

    Ding!

    [Liberty left the party]

    [Noah left the party]

    [Jacob left the party]

    [MyPhantom left the party]

    The four of them were automatically being kicked out of the building and appeared in front of the building. The building suddenly shook, then copsed after all those trapped in it were simply thrown out.

    Hiro saw that there were more than 11 other yers who were forcibly being kicked out of the building. They looked confused. It seemed they were about to give up ying the game. Even their level was far behind from the world level.

    ¡°Did you guys do it?¡± a man asked, walking with his body bent over. He looked like he just woke up.

    ¡°Right, his name was announced a while ago. Nightfall,¡± said a young man who looked still energeticpared to the others.

    The first man walked up to Hiro and tapped him on the shoulder.

    ¡°Thank you so much. I almost gave up ying this game because I could get stuck in that damn old building, even though I¡¯ve used all my savings to buy this VR game. From now on, I can focus on finding items that can be sold in the market,¡± the man exined, feeling very grateful as he looked at Hiro.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Please continue your work.¡± Hiro replied briefly, then walked back towards the threerades who were waiting for him.

    ¡°Thank you foring. I¡¯ll probably be stuck there somehow if you guys don¡¯te.¡± Hiro bowed before Jacob, Noah, and Cara.

    Cara and Noah seemed to be enjoying the moment, but Jacob quickly told Hiro to stand up straight again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Buddy. It¡¯s our job, isn¡¯t it? Helping each other because we are family.¡± Jacob reminded him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll alsoe for me if I¡¯m the one stuck there,¡± he added, making Hiro feel a little relieved.

    Meanwhile, Liberty suddenly screamed while staring at the transparent screen in front of her.

    ¡°Kyaa! It¡¯s bad! Why did Ace call me more than 100 times? Is he in trouble?¡±

 Chapter 215 Exalted Base

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Hiro asked while approaching Liberty who instantly looked pale. Hiro was already standing behind the girl to examine the screen that appeared in front of her. He was curious about what appeared on the screen. Meanwhile, Noah, Jacob, and Cara just kept quiet and watched the two.

    [Ace: Don¡¯t go to the guild base now. I¡¯ll let you knowter]

    That short message was all that appeared on the screen. It was not too strange for Hiro, but for Liberty, it was quite the opposite. The girl turned to look at Hiro with a worried expression on her face. This was the first time her brother sent her a message telling her not toe back.

    ¡°I have to go. It looks like Ace is in trouble,¡± Liberty said and she hurriedly walked past Hiro. Hiro stopped the girl, gripping her wrist gently. Liberty looked at him with displeasure.

    ¡°Hiro, I have to go. I won¡¯t let my brother deal with the problem alone,¡± the girl exined while trying to free herself from Hiro¡¯s grip. Meanwhile, Hiro signalled for Noah, Jacob, and Cara toe closer.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go with you. Besides, we have to go that way!¡± Hiro showed her which direction was the right way to go back to the Moonspire City and go to Exalted guild base. Liberty, who had just realized that she had almost walked in the wrong direction, only frowned and turned around.

    ¡°You will go with me?¡± asked Liberty, feeling a little guilty for bothering the man. However, her gaze showed that she hoped that Hiro and his friends would go with her because she believed that their help would be very useful. Noah took a deep breath, yet he nodded obediently.

    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll go with you, Liberty, especially if you know something has happened. But, what actually happened? Can you exin it briefly?¡± Jacob asked curiously. Even though Liberty seemed to be in a great hurry, she couldn¡¯t let the three of them go with her without knowing what was waiting for them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Ace contacted me 100 times when I couldn¡¯t connect to him. And from the message, I¡¯m sure he¡¯s in trouble,¡± Liberty said as it was without hiding anything. Her exnation made Jacob look at Hiro with an arched eyebrow, signalling to the man that maybe they both thought the same thing.

    ¡°Does he have enemies?¡± Noah asked. He was also curious about what happened to Ace. Liberty just shook her head and ended the conversation right away. The longer she waited and stayed there, the further her brother was trapped in danger.

    ¡°We will go now. Just to be on guard, you¡¯d better prepare your weapons,¡± Hiro exined briefly. He understood that Liberty didn¡¯t want to wait there any longer. Finally, the five of them rushed away from the purified haunted building towards the Moonspire City. They ran with Hiro leading the way. He knew the right and short way out of the forest.

    Midnight. Hiro nced at the time printed on his HUD system. It was 00:24. Even so, since the Moonspire City never got any sun, the atmosphere of the city didn¡¯t change in the slightest.

    After they arrived inside the Moonspire City, they moved towards the north, very close to the pce of the bloodline beast. Nearby, there was a majestic building almost asrge as the pce of the beast stood in that ce. The building that became the guild base for Exalted.

    However, the ce turned out to be already filled with yers crowding their way. It was as if all the yers who were in the city were gathered there right now. And a very loud explosion sound came from the front of the building, followed by a puff of ck smoke that made all the spectators close their noses reflexively.

    ¡°No! What was that?¡± Liberty quickened her pace and stepped out of the line of yers blocking her way. ¡°Let me pass, excuse me. Excuse me.¡± However, the line of yers still didn¡¯t move from their ce as if the spectacle was very exciting, and they didn¡¯t want to miss it.

    [Giant Air Bubble]

    Noah had thought of another way to bring the five of them together in a giant air bubble that appeared from the magic circle in his right hand. All who had not expected the bubble to appear were shocked when their bodies were marked and instantly being pulled into the bubble, and the bubble lifted off their bodies from the ground.

    ¡°Noah, stop it! I don¡¯t like heights!¡± Cara eximed, squealing like a normal girl. She even held on to Jacob¡¯s shoulder reflexively when suddenly her feet were no longer on the ground.

    The air bubble flew upwards so the five of them could see what was going on and what kind of spectacle the other yers saw. And their eyes immediately widened in surprise when they saw an attack from ten terrorist yers against Ace, Dimitri, Nius, and ric. The four of them seemed to have been half paralyzed, but they still tried to stand back up, even though their bodies were covered with wounds and blood.

    ¡°I will not let you have it,¡± Ace growled at a yer standing in the front row. He wore a ck robe without covering his head. And the yer seemed to be standing with a ck stick.

    ¡°You know that we didn¡¯te to ask, right? We havee to take it by force, game master owner,¡± replied the man in a calm voice. Hiro, who heard it, felt that the man¡¯s voice sounded a little familiar. However, he couldn¡¯t remember when and where he heard that voice before.

    ¡°Get the hell out of my guild!¡± Ace replied while throwing the spit that was mixed with blood.

    ¡°What a scumbag. You never learnt, did you?¡±

    The man raised his wand in the air and began to draw a magic circleplete with runes, which surprised Noah because he knew what that magic rune meant.

    [Destruction]

    But, Liberty didn¡¯t let that happen. Not after she hade.

    Bang!

    Three silver bullets shot from the Hellsing Whisper and lodged in the man¡¯s hand, making him reflexively cancel the magic casting spell and drop his wand. His hand instantly scalded with fire. The silver bullets fused into his body and burned him alive right away.

    The man turned his head back to see who had just attacked him, along with everyone else in the ce. They stared reflexively at the giant air bubble containing five people floating in the air.

    ¡°Now they see us.¡± Noah said feeling that the situation was going to take a turn for the worse.

    Meanwhile, Hiro had jumped out of the air bubbles from a height of five meters above the air andnded beautifully in front of Ace who was standing with both feet covered in blood.

    ¡°Nice shot, Libe. Now leave him to me,¡± he said to Liberty just before he jumped down without hesitation.

    ¡°Hiro?!¡±

    ¡°Should we go down now?¡± asked Jacob, waiting for a response from Cara and Noah.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the answer!¡± Cara said while pointing at Hiro who was ready with a Vampire Blood-eater in his hand.

    Cara shot out of the air bubbles to catch up with Hiro. Due to her light body, shended further behind Hiro. Finally, the Evesting members lined up to form barricades to protect those who could no longer fight.

    Meanwhile, Noah stayed in the bubble, floating in the air with Liberty.

    ¡°You¡¯d better stay here. I¡¯ll protect you or Hiro will be in trouble,¡± Noah exined as he rolled his eyes, feeling like he had no other choice but to do so. At least he and Liberty could still attack from this distance.

    ¡­

    ¡°You must be ¡­ someone who imed himself as WynterRain¡¯s brother,¡± the man muttered with the wand in his hand. He recognized Hiro with a single nce. He was still wincing in pain from the gunshot wound to his hand. He even used his left hand to pick up the fallen wand.

    Hiro did notment and only focused on reading the name listed above the yer.

    [Level 85. Unknown]

    The man hid his title and job as if they were very important to cover.

    ¡°I have nothing to do with you, young people. Enjoy this game while you can. But, with him¡­ I have to teach him a bit of a warm-up lesson.¡± The man pointed at Ace who had walked up to Hiro and stood next to him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him,¡± said Ace, not wanting to be indebted to Hiro.

    ¡°Libe is very worried about you. My friends and I will kick them out of Exalted¡¯s guild base. I do this for her, not for you.¡± Hiro replied while tilting his head up to look at Liberty who couldn¡¯t hold back her tears anymore after seeing her brother¡¯s poor condition. Even if this was a game, and everything that happened here didn¡¯t happen to the yer¡¯s real body, still for Liberty¡­ this world was the only world she could live in right now.

    Ace looked at Liberty who looked back at him, then nodded his head. For the first time, he believed that Hiro¡¯s words, which he had considered as a rival, were true.

    ¡°You better not disappoint me,¡± Ace replied as a signal.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡±

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dashed before the Unknown yer prepared a magic circle to attack him first. At full speed, Hiro swung his sword across the man¡¯s body without reducing his strength in the slightest.

    Crash!

    The man¡¯s body was split in two with great ease, but both of them instantly turned into smoke. Meanwhile, his original body had moved not far from where Hiro had attacked him.

 Chapter 216 Swordmaster

    The unknown yer suddenly stomped the stick he was carrying on the ground, and the wand instantly transformed into a greatsword with a pitch ck de that wasn¡¯t shiny.

    Swish! nk!

    He dashed to attack Hiro who had just shattered his clone body, and the two swords shed violently.

    Swish! nk! nk!

    Both of them had sword skills with the same technique. It looked like the opponent Hiro was facing also had Hachidan level like him. Even so, this wasn¡¯t the real world¡­ but a game world where the sword skills and techniques of Hachidan¡¯s ss didn¡¯t make too much of an impact. Everything still depended on how high the progressive point they had. And Hiro certainly had a higher progressive point than the unknown yer.

    Swish! St!

    One long sh managed to tear apart the man¡¯s robe, and he fell to the ground. Blood spurted out from his torn waist.

    Hiro didn¡¯t hesitate to swing his sword at all. Instead, he felt very lucky because his opponent was so stupid to choose a sword as a weapon to take him down.

    ¡°Enough! Leave this ce or I¡¯m gonna kill you,¡± Hiro hissed threateningly. He couldn¡¯t bear to see Liberty, who was brimming with tears in the air. The girl looked very eager to approach her brother and check on him directly. Although it actually was not needed anymore, because ric had already provided assistance to heal Ace.

    ¡°Tch. Who do you think you are? Just winning theunching event made you this arrogant.¡± The man dashed again towards Hiro with an angry look on his face. He did not let his men approach him to provide any assistance. He wanted to beat Hiro with his own hands.

    Hiro didn¡¯t move from his ce. He just stayed silent to guess where the sword sh woulde from. Was it from above, from the side, or was the opponent using a trick technique and would attack him from behind? As one who had wielded a sword from day one, Hiro knew what his opponent was going to do just from a quick nce.

    Swish!

    The man bolted past Hiro, but he immediately twisted his body. He turned around while thrusting the tip of his sword into Hiro¡¯s back. For Hiro, such a trick technique was something very easy to guess.

    nk!!

    At the same second as the enemy¡¯s sword came, Hiro turned the Vampire Blood-eater like a light drumstick to blow the enemy¡¯s sword, and he seeded.

    The enemy¡¯s sword was sessfully thrown and fell on the ground not far from the two of them. The unknown yer was surprised when his hand suddenly pulled to the side like it had been sprained. However, he didn¡¯t have time to dodge when Hiro threw a hard sidekick right in the neck.

    Bang!

    [Fatal damage]

    The man fell to the ground, and he didn¡¯t move again. He was still alive, but he was too shocked to be able to retreat back quickly.

    ¡°Get lost. I won¡¯t finish you here if you take all yourrades away from here right away,¡± Hiro said coldly. However, before he got an answer, the opponent¡¯s sword that was stuck near Hiro¡¯s feet suddenly transformed again. This time, the sword did not change into its original form, but it turned into a king cobra that stood up and hissed at him.

    Cuss!

    The King cobra hurled its highly acidic venom three times at Hiro. Two of them managed to make a hole in the robe Hiro was wearing, while one of them hit Hiro¡¯s shoe and made a hole in it.

    [Veteran Boots has been damaged]

    [All effects of the boots will be lost]

    [Bonus set cannot be obtained]

    St!

    Hiro shed the king cobra¡¯s head and managed to kill it in one hit. However, he lost his valuable asset, and as a result, his stats immediately dropped.

    Hiro had to rece his boots with the boots that were still stored in his inventory right away.

    [Adventure Boots has been equipped]

    The downgrade boots that could at least provide some additional basic stats that had been lost due to the broken Veteran Boots.

    Hiro sighed. He must immediately get the forbidden one boots in the near future. His resolve was firm.

    After the snake was killed in a gruesome way, the object finally returned to its full form. A stick, but this time it was broken and split in two.

    ¡°No, my precious stick!¡± the unknown yer groaned and crawled to pick up the two pieces of stick and held it tightly. He raised his face to look at Hiro with a look full of hatred.

    Hiro clenched his jaw. He was ready if the man suddenly attacked him again. He was determined to cut the man¡¯s body in half this time. However, before an unbnced fight broke out, the two robed people who were hiding their faces behind the ck masks like a ninja walked up to the unknown yer¡¯s side and pulled him to his feet.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, WynterRain will fix it for you,¡± one of them whispered. It sounded so clear to Hiro¡¯s ears that he reflexively grabbed the man¡¯s wrist, stopping his footsteps that had decided to walk away from that ce. Hiro¡¯s action startled him.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± the man hissed while trying to release Hiro¡¯s hand from him, but he failed. His STR points were clearly still far behind Hiro¡¯s.

    ¡°What is your rtionship with WynterRain? What are you guys nning?¡± Hiro asked, looking straight into the man¡¯s light grey eyes.

    ¡°It has nothing to do with you,¡± he replied, still in a displeased hissing voice.

    However, that answer failed to satisfy Hiro. This time, Hiro went from gripping the man¡¯s hand to tightly strangling him. It was so strong that it made the man¡¯s face turn blue right away.

    Hiro lifted it up in the air with one hand, looking so lightly, as if he had no limit on the weight he could lift.

    ¡°Let me ask you one more question. Did he order you to do such a thing as this?¡± Hiro asked curiously whether his brother turned out to be involved with the troublesome terrorists in the game. He was even more curious whether his brother turned out to be their leader and nned all the crimes they hadmitted so far in the game. He could never ept that if it was true.

    Killing other yers just to get the title of yer killer and ending up paying a heavy price for their heads¡­ Hiro really didn¡¯t like yers who did something like that. Fighting monsters and enemies in the story game was not over yet, but they started a war with other yers instead, even though the safe official war and pvp features had been provided.

    The man pped Hiro¡¯s hand and tried to kick the empty air. His feet were no longer on the ground.

    ¡°Did he? Just nod your head if he did,¡± Hiro added, still not letting go of the man.

 Chapter 217 Secret?

    Hiro threw the man¡¯s body at three other men who were also hiding in ck robes, and they were just about to dash towards him to save their friend.

    Bang!

    The four of them fell on the ground with one person hitting the other. Hiro looked at them one by one, trying to figure out any information he might have missed. However, no matter how long he looked into their eyes¡­ Hiro didn¡¯t know all the people hidden behind the mask were. He didn¡¯t know them at all.

    ¡°Get lost from here! Whatever the reason, nevere here again or you will end up in my hands.¡± Hiro threatened them, making the terrorists in the game be furious. However, none of them dared to fight Hiro because they didn¡¯t want to put a risk on their ount. They might not be able to y for a while if they did that.

    One of them suddenly threw a ck ball, which instantly sucked their bodies one by one into it the moment it hit the ground.

    Whoosh!

    Boom!

    The ball exploded and released quite a strong air pressure to blow away the nearby rock.

    A mass teleportation device. That was the first time Hiro had seen how it worked.

    ¡°Ace! Are you okay?¡± Liberty immediately ran towards Ace after Noah lowered her from above the air bubble that had burst because it was no longer needed.

    The girl rushed into her brother¡¯s arms and began to sob because she was so worried about him. She even hugged Ace too tightly, as if she forgot that Ace was still not fully recovered from his injury.

    Hiro nced at Noah, giving him a signal toe with him to Ace who was still receiving treatment from ric¡¯s magic.

    ¡°Noah, help him recover.¡± Hiro asked, making Ace seem to be frowning in disapproval, but Noah was not someone who cared about anyone except Hiro these days.

    ¡°Power of wind, bring peace to him. Power of earth, absorb all the pain from his body. Power of fire, burn all the hates in him. Power of water, rebuild all the broken. And Power of sky, cure him.¡± Noah twisted his hands clockwise like he was holding a ball between his hands. Every time he mentioned the element he was about to fuse¡­ the sparks of a different color appeared in the gap between his two constantly moving hands.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time Hiro had witnessed one of Noah¡¯s most amazing healing magics. Only Ying-Yang Harmony users could use all the elemental magic in a bnced way and blend them together.

    [World Healing]

    Clink!

    Even Ace, who had wanted to refuse the help from Noah, couldn¡¯t say anything as his eyes locked on the bright light with five colours in the air. They had just appeared from Noah¡¯s hand, and it moved towards him.

    When the light expanded and covered his body like a baby and the centa that kept a living creature alive in the human body, Ace felt very warm andfortable in that light. His ears could hear the rxing sound of the wind. The stinging pain in his body was slowly disappearing. His torn skin and wounds hadpletely closed again. And what¡¯s even more amazing, all feelings of emotion, especially hatred and anger that welled up so big in his chest just a moment ago also disappeared. His chest felt very light. That was when he could see Liberty¡¯s face again, his mouth hanging open.

    ¡°Libe, I¡¯m d that you¡¯re not here when it¡¯s happening.¡± Ace reflexively pulled his sister into his embrace and hugged her tightly.

    Hiro was already very curious about what had really happened. What did they want from the Exalted guild? And why did they attack Ace and hisrades with the intention of killing them like before? Even so, he didn¡¯t want to disturb Liberty and her brother for a while.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nius, who was the most able to put his ego aside among them, expressed his gratitude sincerely on behalf of the others. He also received an injury, but it was not as bad as the wound received by Ace, so that with ric¡¯s help alone was enough to make him return to normal.

    ¡°How did you guyse on time? If you didn¡¯te, we might¡­¡± ric looked a little traumatized by what had just happened to him. He couldn¡¯t even continue his sentence.

    Jacob patted ric¡¯s shoulder tofort him, as if the two of them were old friends.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my friend. Even though we fought in a guild war, on a cold, normal day like today¡­ We are still friends ying the same game,¡± Jacob said. ric didn¡¯t know what the man meant by that. Even so, he nodded and smiled again, as if he understood it.

    ¡°Hiro, thank you foring with me. And you too, Cara, Jacob, Noah.¡± Liberty turned away from her brother to express her gratitude to the members of Evesting.

    ¡°We did nothing honestly.¡± Cara said, her tone a little disappointed because it turned out that she didn¡¯t have to step in to get rid of those terrorists.

    When the atmosphere in front of the magnificent building of Exalted¡¯s guild base felt warm again, and the audience finally dispersed because their spectacle was over, suddenly Dimitri, who had been listening from afar, approached and spoke in a hateful tone.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need your help. I alone am enough to defeat them all,¡± he said sarcastically, looking straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes while clenching his jaw.

    Hiro arched an eyebrow. Dimitri¡¯s voice when he was angry and annoyed and the cold look in his eyes made him feel very familiar. Besides, the costume that Dimitri wore today was a ck robe which reminded him of the WynterRain fanatic who sneaked around the tavern together with his friends and talked about something Hiro didn¡¯t know what it meant.

    At that moment, Hiro immediately became suspicious of Dimitri and continued to stare at him from head to toes. He tried to convince himself that his guess was not wrong. Dimitri was one of them?

    ¡°What do they want from you?¡± Hiro asked anyone who would answer. He didn¡¯t take his eyes off of Dimitri, which made Dimitri look a little awkward and feel strange.

    ¡°A ce to live. The official base and guild. They asked me to join Exalted,¡± Ace replied, feeling no need to hide it from Hiro. Even Liberty had heard it for the first time.

    ¡°OMG, brother? Seriously? No¡ªI don¡¯t wanna live with bad guys like them,¡± Liberty replied spontaneously. She was against that idea.

    ¡°I know. And I will never let it happen,¡± Ace added calmly. Even just a little, Hiro was sure if he saw Ace ncing at Dimitri as he said it.

 Chapter 218 Exalted Base

    Hiro, Jacob, Noah, and Cara enter the Exalted guild base for the first time. As they entered the majestic building, they couldn¡¯t stop admiring the interior of the room that looked like a royal pce. There were NPCs walking around in uniform and in charge as servants. They greeted Hiro and the others with the same words as they came.

    ¡°I wonder how much they earn,¡± Jacob muttered, his neck moving left and right. Hiro ignored him. He was actually curious about the Exalted members who might still hold a grudge against him because of their defeat a while ago. However, he couldn¡¯t see any of them as if they weren¡¯t there.

    Ace took his guests to a not so big room to talk about something a little sensitive and secretive. The room previously used by him and the Exalted main party members, only this time they invited other people who weren¡¯t even Exalted members.

    ¡°What are they going to do here?¡± Dimitri asked, still with a cold tone at Ace. The look in his eyes showed that he totally disagreed with Ace¡¯s idea of ??bringing Hiro and his friends in.

    ¡°They helped us earlier, Dimitri. I think they are also curious about what really happened,¡± exined Ace in a calm tone. This was the first time Hiro felt that Ace was much more mature than before. He acted like a real older brother right now.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that enough? What else do they need to know? Did you forget that they humiliated us in thest battle?¡± Dimitri whispered to Ace, but his voice was too loud for everyone to hear. ric and Nius seemed to be sighing in unison, as if they were both tired of Dimitri¡¯s attitude. However, it was useless even if they protested about it. After all, Dimitri was Ace¡¯s closest friend.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a guild war. And they didn¡¯t embarrass us, Dimitri. You¡¯re exaggerating. We lost because we weren¡¯t able to beat them with a war strategy that didn¡¯t even work at all. Weren¡¯t you also one of those who ignored the strategy I shared?¡± Ace replied, still in a calm tone. However, this time his words managed to offend Dimitri and irritate him even more.

    Noah nced at Hiro, and Hiro noticed it. He knew what Noah was thinking, more or less the same as him. They couldn¡¯t stay too long in that ce. Hiro even had other ns after this.

    ¡°So, why did you invite us here one more time?¡± Hiro asked, interrupting the ongoing conversation between Ace and Dimitri. His efforts managed to get Ace¡¯s full attention, and unexpectedly, the man gave Hiro a subtle smile.

    ¡°NightFall, I¡¯ve heard a lot about you from all over the media, especially from my lovely sister.¡± Ace straightened his back, his eyes shifting to Liberty as he spoke the second sentence. It made the girl look a little embarrassed. ¡°I have no other words that I can say to you and your friends right now other than, thank you. You may not know anything, but your arrival this time really saved us,¡± he added with a firm nod.

    Hiro just nodded in response. He didn¡¯t get an answer to the question he asked earlier, so Hiro just waited. Ace walked up to him and stood in front of him, his eyes staring at Hiro for a few seconds before nodding again.

    ¡°Due to the problems I¡¯ve been having with Exalted recently, I hope to get some help from another guild. And I believe that there is no other guild that is better and stronger than Evesting. I want to make a request to you directly as the leader of Evesting. Will you and your guild be our alliance?¡± Ace asked without hesitation.

    m!

    Dimitri suddenly threw a hard fist at the wooden door of the room until the HP of the object changed colour from green to red. He then looked at Ace with a look as if he was someone who had just been betrayed by his own friend.

    ¡°What is that request? Didn¡¯t you talk about it with me or the others first? Do you think they will agree with your decision?!¡± Dimitri snapped at Ace, his index finger pointed at Ace¡¯s face, which still didn¡¯t change the expression on his face one bit.

    ¡°Dimitri, listen. You have been my best friend since I was in kindergarten. You know how much I worry about you, right? I know you are involved with the terrorists even though you don¡¯t admit it, but I still protect you. Did you know that?¡± Ace¡¯s reply made Dimitri clench his jaw. It looked as if he was thinking about an answer that wasn¡¯t avable in his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not involved with the terrorists! Since when did you use me of something stupid? Tch¡­ I thought you were my best friend, but it turns out you don¡¯t really think about my opinion at all.¡± Dimitri chuckled sarcastically and walked toward the only door in the room.

    Hiro really didn¡¯t know what drama he was watching. He really wanted to get out of there, or at least he wanted Dimitri toe out, so he could talk to Ace without being disturbed by the man¡¯s shout. At the same time, Jacob whispered to him in a very low voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s all up to you, Hiro. If you want to be with Liberty forever, this is a very good opportunity.¡± Jacob¡¯s words made Hiro sigh. That was not what Hiro had in mind. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted or didn¡¯t want to ept the request from Liberty¡¯s brother about the guild alliance right now. However, Evesting guild was not only Hiro¡¯s possession, but all the members. Although the final decision was in Hiro, for him, he couldn¡¯t decide right now before discussing it with the others.

    m!

    Dimitri left the room with a loud bang on the door. No one tried to go after him. ric and Nius, who had been sitting at the table earlier, even had expressions of relief.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you must have been disturbed by him. But, Dimitri is like a brother to me and he is like that,¡± exined Ace calmly. He then looked back at Hiro and reminded him of his request.

    ¡°That is the reason I invited the four of you here. There¡¯s no other meaning, and I¡¯m really serious about the request I just mentioned. So, what do you think? Are you interested?¡±

    Hiro looked back at Ace¡¯s serious eyes. The man was really serious, asking for his help. However, without the slightest hesitation, Hiro shook his head. A response that shocked everyone in the room except Cara. She could read what other people couldn¡¯t.

 Chapter 219 Ally?

    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it. I can¡¯t give you an answer right now. The guild alliance system in this game is a bitplicated and the members of Evesting should know about your request before I ept or reject it,¡± Hiro said, giving an exnation that was quite reasonable and eptable to Ace and the others who had put their hopes in him.

    ¡°But, don¡¯t worry. When you are in danger, you can contact us at any time. Because after all¡­ one of the visions of Evesting¡¯s mission was to eliminate those terrorists and create a safe game world.¡± Hiro exined, nodding confidently.

    Ace put on a smile. At a nce, he looked disappointed, but he couldn¡¯t me Hiro for the rejection he just got. For the first time in his perfect life, someone simply rejected him.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait for your answer,¡± Ace said in understanding.

    Since they had nothing more to talk about in the ce, Noah, Jacob, and Cara had already walked out of the door, leaving themon room with ric and Nius. Even Liberty had rushed out without saying anything. Only God knew what was bothering the girl.

    Meanwhile, Hiro didn¡¯t move and waited until the room was empty. It was just him and Ace now.

    ¡°Do you still have anything else to talk about?¡± Ace asked curiously. He arched an eyebrow and stood in front of the door after closing it from the inside. Hiro nodded. However, his eyes moved across the room to make sure that no one was recording their conversation or recording it in any way.

    ¡°Moonlight Tavern. Tomorrow night at 10 pm. I¡¯ll show you something that might surprise you a bit.¡± Hiro exined, then patted Ace¡¯s shoulder. He walked past him, leaving the room before Ace gave an answer as if he was sure that Ace would not refuse.

    Liberty waited for Hiro outside the room while Noah, Jacob, and Cara had already left the building.

    ¡°Hiro, thank you. I really don¡¯t know what to do if you didn¡¯te with me,¡± said the girl, a little hesitant. She fiddled with her index finger because she was nervous when she said it. The girl¡¯s behaviour actually looked adorable in Hiro¡¯s eyes. Hiro stroked Liberty¡¯s long hair and brought his face closer to look at the girls¡¯ eyes more closely.

    ¡°I knew something like this would happen. I can feel it when danger is approaching, as if I have a sensor for that one thing. Libe, if you see anything suspicious, you should contact me first. I won¡¯t let anything bad happen to you even in this world,¡± said Hiro again, speaking softly. Then, he kissed the girl¡¯s forehead to calm her down. At the same time, Ace came out of the room and caught them both.

    ¡°Take your time,¡± he said, then walked away, leaving Hiro and Liberty just like that. It was a signal that right now, Ace had entrusted his beloved sister to Hiro. Both Liberty and Hiro were surprised at Ace¡¯s reaction, but Liberty reflexively chuckled.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see Ace like that. It looks like he¡¯s starting to like you, Hiro,¡± the girl whispered to Hiro. An information that made Hiro feel a little calmer.

    ¡­

    Hiro checked his HUD system. This time, there was a new disy that showed how much remaining nutrient supply he had, so he didn¡¯t have to log out of the game. And the supply of nutrients was still showing a safe number. It seemed like Alice had just fed his body.

    After having a pretty tiring day, Hiro and the three Evesting members decided to return to the guild base and rest for a while. While the others decided to sleep, Hiro was more interested in reading the tranted book from Ace again and finding out the next steps to collect the Forbidden One Armor.

    ¡°How are you?¡± Spyro asked, suddenly talking to him and crawling over to Hiro¡¯s body, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room of the guild base, all alone.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally back, Alice. I¡¯m already feeling a little lonely.¡± Hiro kept his focus on reading his book and let Spyro take a peek at his reading.

    ¡°Recently, I checked something that I think is very suspicious. Don¡¯t think I¡¯m justzing around, kid,¡± said the girl in annoyance. She read sentence by sentence in the book Hiro was holding through Spyro¡¯s round eyes.

    ¡°You know, meeting him so many times here makes me a little confused. I still can¡¯t believe that Yuujin is dead, yet he is still running his avatar here. How could that happen? I still can¡¯t believe it.¡± Hiro closed his book and looked at Spyro¡¯s green eyes, which were wide like balls.

    ¡°It¡¯s science, kid. Nothing is impossible for science. Starting from inanimate objects to living things, with science, everything can be created.¡± Alice retorted. The girl suddenly sounded like a devotee of science. Hiro arched an eyebrow. He almost forgot that Alice was really smart because she always had a way to break through various forms of digital security protection as if they were her everyday toys.

    ¡°What if it turns out that the person we thought was Yuujin is not the Yuujin we know?¡± Hiro asked, starting toe up with a new theory that sounded so far-fetched. There was no way that it was not the Yuujin he knew, because the man¡¯s memories were exactly the same. Even his attitude was like a clone.

    ¡°Tch¡­ do you think that he is Yuujin from another universe? I didn¡¯t know you were a believer in a multiverse.¡± Spyroughed until its body flipped over Hiro¡¯s chest like a child.

    Hiro just realized that the dragon had gotten bigger, and it looked like it would soon evolve into an adult stage. It seemed he had to prepare these very rare evolutionary materials. However, a notification suddenly appeared, surprising him.

    Ding!

    [Phoenix¡¯s ash in your inventory has reactivated]

    [You must use it immediately before it can¡¯t be used]

    Hiro frowned. He straightened his back again and took the item out of his inventory.

    But¡­

    Ding!

    [Item cannot be used]

    [yer can only use one pet at a time]

    [choose your partner carefully]

    [do you want to rece the night fury with Phoenix¡¯s ash?]

    Hiro looked at Spyro who looked back at him in confusion. Alice couldn¡¯t see what he was looking at through his HUD system. However, if he was asked to choose between the dragon and the legendary bird, Hiro would still choose the dragon.

    Because he knew that dragons gave physical buffs while phoenixes were more in magical buffs.

    [you chose to keep the night fury]

    [are you going to let Phoenix¡¯s ash expire?]

    Hiro took a deep breath. He didn¡¯t know this would happen. However, Noah suddenly entered the room and called out to him.

    ¡°Nightfall, you have to see this!¡±

    Ding!

    [The phoenix¡¯s soul inside its ash has found a potential partner]

    [Would you like to give the Phoenix¡¯s ash to yer Noah?]

    ¡°Wait, what? How could that even be possible? I mean, how can this game work like this?¡±

 Chapter 220 The Ash

    Hiro called Noah toe closer after seeing a strange notification that appeared for the first time. He then looked at Noah in silence, hoping that there would be additional information he could get from his HUD system. However, he couldn¡¯t find anything. After thinking for a while, if Phoenix Ash could produce a legendary pet, it would be very suitable for mana users, especially Noah.

    ¡°What do you want from me, NightFall?¡± Noah snapped curiously because Hiro had been silent for too long. He decided to sit beside Hiro and wait for the answer he needed. Hiro was still silent. He looked back at the pet shaped like a dove that Noah had been using. He was sure that the bird hadn¡¯t changed one bit from the start since he saw Noah had it.

    ¡°Noah, I have something for you,¡± said Hiro after he was sure of his decision. After all, by helping to increase Noah¡¯s progressive, he would also get the benefit because his party power would increase. So did the power of Evesting. A smile spread across his face. He was grateful that the notification told him. It seemed that he had just missed a certain notification about the items that could be gifted to other yers.

    ¡°Is that true? What do you have? Don¡¯t waste my time, NightFall,¡± Noah said, still maintaining his usual arrogance. Hiro was already very used to it.

    [Are you sure you want to give Phoenix Ash to yer Noah as a gift?]

    ¡°Yes, give it to him.¡±

    Ding!

    [Phoenix Ash has been gifted to yer Noah]

    After getting the notification of receiving a gift from Hiro, Noah arched an eyebrow. He seemed interested when he read the name of the item he had just received.

    Ding!

    [Your affinity with yer Noah has been increased]

    [Noah affinity (Friend) + 100]

    Hiro arched an eyebrow. The notification that appeared had changed from before. There was even yer status information in the notification. Friend? Did I skip something new?

    ¡°Wow! Is this really for me?!¡± Noah shouted, looking very disbelieving of what he had just got. He reflexively stood up and looked back at Hiro with wide eyes. Hiro nodded briefly, and Noah¡¯s smile grew wider.

    ¡°Holy shit, Nightfall! How can you get two legendary pets at once? And Phoenix Ash? I¡¯ve been looking for it everywhere until I thought it never existed. But¡­ you had it all along?¡± Noah was suddenly annoyed again. However, that quickly brushed away because he knew that it was now his no matter what.

    ¡°I got it from defeating the phoenix monster while looking for the stone for my sword. I almost forgot that it was in the bag.¡± Hiro¡¯s exnation surprised Noah again. The two of them fell silent once more, but Hiro already had a question in his head.

    ¡°Is this affinity for friends? Do you know anything?¡± he asked Noah. Hiro knew that Noah had a hobby of reading, and the man certainly wouldn¡¯t miss the information.

    ¡°Yeah, it just updated yesterday when you disappeared. Didn¡¯t you receive the notification?¡± Noah asked instead. Hiro just shrugged his shoulders.

    ¡°There is a feature to date or get married officially. You know, that boring feature that alwayses with in a game like this?¡± Noah added, making Hiro open his mouth. To be honest, Hiro had been waiting for that feature, because this time he had Liberty in this game.

    ¡°What do you get from getting married in this game?¡± Hiro asked once again, better to ask someone who had read it first than read a notification that he didn¡¯t know where it got stuck. He definitely didn¡¯t ept it.

    ¡°Buffs, of course. If you are in the same dungeon as your partner, your strength will increase. However, as far as I know, in the notification yesterday, there were many types of rtionships that the system had prepared. Starting from bonding, soulmates, to life partners,¡± Noah exined as he recalled his reading, which he had only read once. At the same time, Cara joined the room.

    ¡°Wait¡ªare you guys nning to get married?¡± The girl¡¯s thoughts, as Hiro and Noah¡¯s hardline shipper, were simply spoken in a loud voice when she had just entered the room. Hiro and Noah, who were tired of hearing Cara¡¯s imagination, just let out a long sigh, ignoring the girl.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s also allowed in this game? I even nned to marry Wheelie before the girl was taken by someone else,¡± Cara exined bluntly, before jumping on the sofa in Noah¡¯s ce.

    ¡°Do as you please, Cara,¡± Hiro replied, uninterested. He was more interested in seeing the shape of a phoenix that would soon be born from its ashes. However, it seemed he had to be disappointed because Noah had to go to the pet tamer to give birth to the phoenix.

    ¡°I will be right back.¡± Noah said, making a promise. Hiro was reluctant to go with him this time. He was more interested in doing something that he hadn¡¯t finished before. Meanwhile, Cara did not immediately leave the room. The girl stared at Hiro in silence instead.

    ¡°What do you want from me, Cara? Stop looking at me like that, you¡¯ll never get it.¡± Hiro muttered, feeling ufortable being watched like that by the girl.

    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s about your brother,¡± Cara said, suddenly lowering her voice. Hiro closed his book right away, and his eyes immediately focused on Cara¡¯s gaze. Even Alice, who was still there with them, was also looking at Cara through Spyro¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°My father is one of the detectives working to investigate the case of your brother¡¯s death, NightFall. I¡¯m sorry for informing youte about this, but even if I had told you from the start, nothing would have changed because thetest information was just obtained by them. It hasn¡¯t been released to the public yet,¡± Cara exined, still in a whisper, so no one could hear her voice other than Hiro and Spyro.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Cara shared the information she learned from eavesdropping on her father¡¯s conversation with the members of the case investigation. From the information she got, the detectives who were still voluntarily investigating this case found a letter of agreement with the signatures of Yamaguchi Yuujin and nine yers who were the members of the E-nfinity agency with Ninecent.

    In the letter of agreement, the ten of them agreed to bear all the bad risks and consequences that could result in death and exchanged their lives for money and life insurance for their family members, which was valid for life. However, based on the information that was also obtained by Cara, the insurance was kept a secret from the public, and Ninecent actually hid the original sheet of the agreement, as if they did not want to be responsible for what had happened to E-nifity members.

    Hiro squeezed the sofa¡¯s shoulder, and he identally smashed it when he heard all of that. Besides, who were the nine yers that Cara mentioned? It was impossible if they died too, right? Because it would really attract the attention of the world. Then, where were they now? What were they doing?

 Chapter 221 Aarons Charm

    It was still early when Hiro decided to walk out of the guild base after falling asleep while reading his tranted book. He visited Vul Faldur City to sell some of the items he had separated from the items he could use.

    Even though it was still early, Vul Faldur City, precisely in the Tax-free part of the market, yers had gathered to transact as if the city never slept. Hiro already had a seller who would always help him to sell the items. He was a very useful NightFall fan.

    ¡°I¡¯ll sell it for you, NightFall. I¡¯ll call you again when everything¡¯s done,¡± said a Dwarf yer who was very good at trading. The nickname he used was LordKey, and his shop was growing rapidly, as if he was already an expert in buying and selling. Even now, he had bought a shop in the form of a building, so there was no need to sell all the items using ordinary carpets in the market.

    ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s good to work with you,¡± Hiro replied, then patted the dwarf yer¡¯s shoulder, who was only a chest-high.

    Next, Hiro took out an important item that he managed to get from the strange haunted house dungeon.

    [Aaron¡¯s Charm]

    Its shape resembled a ne with a ck gemstone, but it did not sparkle at all. It really looked like a useless cheap item, but the item was clearly written in Noah¡¯s trantion book.

    ¡°Seven high priests. Seven high priests,¡± Hiro muttered as he studied the ne using the help of the intense sunlight where he was currently standing in the crowd. Vul Faldur did have more sunlight intensity than other cities.

    The next step Hiro had to do was to find the direct descendants of the seven high priests who could activate the magic that had been locked in the item he was carrying right now. However, the problem was, the name of the NPC who was the descendant of the High Priest Aaron wasn¡¯t listed in the book because it was written thousands of years ago when the seven high priests were still alive.

    Hiro let out a long, disappointed sigh. He had to start looking for the NPC because the item was still the first item of the missing piece of Lucifer¡¯s armor. Collecting aplete set might be a waste of time and energy. Even so, Hiro still had ambitions to collect it.

    He had to get stronger before his brother threw a tantrum once again, and he would have a little difficulty uncovering the evil that had been covered up by the creators of the Last Shelter Online.

    ¡°It looks like I have to start from Asvesera City.¡± Hiro had decided, and he was sure of his decision. In the city of the Elve, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to search for the descendants of the strongest high priests from their direct bloodlines. Because if the Elve really thought that the lineage of their ancestors was of great importance, Hiro was sure that the descendants of the high priests must have been upying the pce right now.

    Hiro had to take RobinHood02 to apany him around the city of the Elve who highly discriminated against the bloodline demons. It was because Noah was very busy that the man couldn¡¯t even be contacted.

    ¡°My heart is pounding hard,¡± RobinHood02 muttered after ten minutes of walking by Hiro¡¯s side towards the Elve¡¯s Pce.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°This is the first time you have asked me for help. I feel very proud. Am I overreacting?¡± he asked while clutching his chest like he couldn¡¯t calm down his pounding heart. Hiro chuckled and patted his partner¡¯s shoulder without saying anything.

    Finally, the two of them arrived in front of the Pce of the Elve which was very beautiful and never failed to make Hiro open his mouth widely. The soothing sound of the waterfall and the fresh air that pampered the lungs made Hiro instantly feel sleepy and wanted to sleep on thend of the city right now.

    Even so, the two of them couldn¡¯t possibly do that. And Hiro, who already had ess to enter the pce because he had been recognized by the queen, could easily get past the guards who blocked him for a few seconds. RobinHood02 looked surprised to see Hiro was able to enter the pce like a member of the royal family.

    ¡°Wee back, the Son of Lucifer,¡± the Elve Queen greeted him. The woman had not changed at all since thest time Hiro saw her.

    Hiro showed Aaron¡¯s Charm to the queen without beating around the bush. ¡°Do you know where I can meet the descendants of High Priest Aaron?¡± he asked. He really didn¡¯t waste his time.

    The very beautiful queen looked even more tempting when her mouth instantly opened and formed an O as she saw the object in Hiro¡¯s hand. ¡°Where did you get that thing from?¡± asked the queen curiously, looking interested. She even left herfortable throne and walked over to Hiro.

    However, just as the queen nearly snatched Aaron¡¯s Charm from Hiro¡¯s hand, Hiro quickly pulled it away from her reach.

    ¡°Let me touch it,¡± asked the queen half hissed, feeling annoyed to be yed with by Hiro like that.

    ¡°Answer my question first. You can hold it after you tell me,¡± Hiro exined. He didn¡¯t want to lose anything, considering that the Elve Queen was very clever thest time he spoke to her with Noah. The woman smiled faintly and then looked straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes, trying to hypnotize him with her charms. And she seeded.

    Hiro felt that the woman¡¯s eyes, nose, and full lips were too good to pass by. As if some magic was affecting him, Hiro put his hand on the woman¡¯s neck and pulled her face closer to kiss her.

    The Elve Queen enjoyed the touch. However, the main goal was not just to get a simple kiss from a yer. With her ability to read other people¡¯s memories, the queen instantly knew where Hiro got Aaron¡¯s Charm from Hiro¡¯s memories. She didn¡¯t have to wait for Hiro to give her an answer. After she was satisfied with the information she was looking for, the woman slowly pushed Hiro¡¯s body away and gave him a sweet smile.

    ¡°So, you managed to clear the curse in that ce? You really exceeded my expectations all along, the Son of Lucifer.¡±

    Hiro arched an eyebrow. He suddenly realized what his body had just done. It was beyond his control.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell your beautiful and spoiled lover,¡± said the queen while blinking one of her eyes in a joking manner. She had seen too much information inside Hiro¡¯s head as if she wasn¡¯t an NPC, but a yer with boundless wits.

    ¡°Who are you really?¡± Hiro asked, feeling that he was being yed with this time. He had fallen for the same trick twice. Even though he had nothing to lose because he got a kiss from a beautiful woman like the queen.

    The woman didn¡¯t answer right away, instead she walked back to her throne and sat there. After straightening her slightly tilted crown, she smiled faintly.

    ¡°I am the person you are looking for. I am thest descendant of High Priest Aaron.¡±

 Chapter 222 The Meeting

    Hiro handed over Aaron¡¯s Charm to the Elve Queen who had shed the knife into her palm and made her blood flow out. Based on what the woman had said, she had to use her blood to activate the magic effect in Aaron¡¯s Charm, so that it could be used as a key to a forbidden ce.

    Even so, to get the queen¡¯s blood, Hiro had to make a transaction in the form of an agreement. The queen asked Hiro that he had to give Aaron¡¯s Charm to her after Hiro finished his business using it. And Hiro agreed because there was no other way to get the queen¡¯s blood other than toply with her request. It seemed that was the way the story was written by the developer.

    Clink!

    Just one drop of blood from the Elve Queen, the stone crystal suddenly gave off a bright light as if it was answering a call. And the light grew wider and became very dazzling.

    When Hiro could only see a nk white colour because of the light, suddenly a moving writing appeared in front of him

    [Aaron¡¯s Charm has been reactivated. Aaron was the strongest high priest in his era, and he sacrificed himself for a very noble deed which was to stop the arrogance of the invincible strongest demon lord. Memories of him will always be remembered by anyone who knows those dark times. And Aaron¡¯s soul will keep living on in this sealed stone. To any adventurers who managed to awaken Aaron¡¯s soul, thank you. May Aaron¡¯s blessings continue to be with you.]

    After the animation ended, the very bright light was sucked into the gemstone in Hiro¡¯s hand again. This time, the gemstone had its own glow and continued to glow like a firefly. Hiro nced at the Elve Queen to see her reaction, and the woman turned out to be sobbing while wiping the tears that trickled down her cheeks. It looked very dramatic in Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°So beautiful, I can hear the voice of Aaron¡¯s ancestor speaking to you, The Son of Lucifer.¡± The woman kept sobbing. Even when she took out a white handkerchief from the empty air, the tears were still flowing down from her eyes. Hiro waited for another clue that should have appeared right now, but he got nothing, as if the story part of Aaron¡¯s Charm had ended there.

    Finally, Hiro and RobinHood02 left the pce, leaving the queen who was still crying dramatically over something that was no longer there. It was impossible to have a talk with the woman right now. Because every time Hiro asked a question, the answer used the same temte.

    ¡°So beautiful, I can hear the voice of Aaron¡¯s ancestor speaking to you, The Son of Lucifer.¡±

    And it looked like the AI ??system had stuck there.

    ¡°Thank you for apanying me today, Robin. I think it¡¯s time for us to part here. I still have some business waiting for me,¡± Hiro exined, making Robin stop walking. Then, the man looked at him with his eyebrows arched.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even get to do anything for you, NightFall. Am I really needed here?¡± asked Robin, feeling useless. He had already imagined fighting against the Elve guards by the side of the person he idolized so much, but so far, he had been just following Hiro. He didn¡¯t even do anything meaningful.

    Hiro chuckled, then patted Robin on the shoulder. ¡°It was a precaution, Bro. Everything went smoothly, and that¡¯s actually good. You don¡¯t have to do anything. There¡¯s no need to waste your energy,¡± Hiro said, and Robin nodded his head in understanding.

    ¡°Ah¡ª if you still want to do something for me, how about you tell Jacob or Noah that I won¡¯t be returning to the guild base tonight until tomorrow morning. Maybe. But, you guys don¡¯t have to look for me,¡± Hiro exined, giving a task that instantly made Robin feel excited again. Robin instantly saluted at Hiro as a sign that he agreed with the order.

    ¡°See you again,¡± Hiro said, then took out a Portkey Crystal from his inventory. He held the object while thinking about where he would go after this.

    ¡­

    [Moonlight Tavern]

    ¡°Wee to Moonlight Tavern, NightFall yer!¡± eximed two NPCs that dressed as hot bunny girls. They greeted Hiro, who had just teleported to the front door of the warm atmosphere of the tavern. He was quite surprised when the two women in front of him suddenly shouted loudly and then attacked Hiro with their protruding chests. They were very warm for Moonspire City¡¯s cold temperature, which was abnormal for other bloodlines.

    ¡°Ah¨C you are still here,¡± Hiro said in reflex. However, he felt stupid after saying it. Yet, he allowed the two NPCs to apany him into the tavern, which was already crowded with visitors. Paying the two NPCs was nothing to Hiro who continued to collect LSC easily through all means.

    For a while, he would forget about Aaron¡¯s Charm that was currently hanging on his chest. He wore the ne around his neck, and its beautiful shape caught the attention of the two NPC women.

    ¡°Please sit here.¡±

    Hiro sat on a wooden chair. Meanwhile, the two NPCs sat across from Hiro, filling the other two empty chairs and propping their chins on the round table in front of Hiro to admire the ne Hiro was wearing.

    The expressions on their faces both looked like they really wanted to get the warmth of a man tonight. Hiro suddenly had a goosebump. Besides, when his eyes dropped slightly, the sight of two pairs of breasts squeezing each other really tested his loyalty this time.

    ¡°What are you doing with these two hot women, NightFall?!¡±

    The person who had an appointment with Hiro suddenly appeared and caught Hiro who was out of focus. He reflexively stood up to look at Ace who looked at him with an ufortable look in his eyes.

    ¡°They¡­ they¡¯re just NPCs,¡± Hiro stammered, hoping that his image as Liberty¡¯s lover, Ace¡¯s sister, wouldn¡¯t be ruined just because of what he had just done.

    Ace quickly chased the two NPCs away and gave them a tip. The tip was quiterge because they didn¡¯t have to stay with the two of them. He then sat on the chair opposite Hiro and waited for what Hiro would say to him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste my time. I¡¯m very busy,¡± Ace said after ordering a bottle of wine from the waiter.

    Hiro took a deep breath. His eyes moved to see the dark staircase at the far end of the room, which was quite far from where he was currently sitting. Then, he just waited without saying anything.

    ¡°What are you looking at, Nightfall? Tell me quickly what you know while I don¡¯t. Don¡¯t make me wait too long.¡±

 Chapter 223 His Bestfriend

    It was useless. Hiro didn¡¯t see what he was looking for. He didn¡¯t know why they didn¡¯te today.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯ll have to wait a little longer,¡± Hiro exined, speaking honestly while looking at Ace¡¯s eyes, which were exactly the same as Liberty¡¯s. This time, Ace just took a deep breath, as if he knew this was going to happen. This time, he could ept it because he was also curious.

    The bottle of wine that Ace ordered had arrived, Hiro got his order too. It was the same wine. They then drank the contents of the bottle awkwardly. Neither of them spoke as if they didn¡¯t know where to start the conversation.

    ¡°So, how is your rtionship with my sister? What do you like about her?¡± Ace suddenly asked. It was a question that managed to make Hiro cough in surprise.

    Hiro patted his chest until he felt much better before calmly answering the unexpected question. ¡°We¡¯ve been together, I mean in a rtionship. What do I like about her? I think there are many things I like about her. If I mention them one by one, you will probably lose a lot of your precious time.¡±

    Ace chuckled at Hiro¡¯s chosen answer. He drank the wine again from the bottle directly and turned to look at the view around him.

    yers of all ages, from the young to the old, had gathered at the tavern to enjoy a warm evening¡¯s entertainment without fear of getting a kidney or any disease from ying with the same women. All of that could only be done in the game world because if they did it in the real world, they might not have the courage to do that unless they want to die quickly.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that our father created this perfect world,¡± Ace muttered, suddenly changing the subject of their conversation to something else. However, Hiro didn¡¯t really like that kind of topic. Even so, Hiro had to restrain himself because whatever Ace would talk about, it meant the time they spent in that ce would be longer. And what he needed right now was to buy time for as long as possible.

    ¡°When we were little, he really didn¡¯t have time for us. Even for just a second. Now that I¡¯ve grown up, I¡¯m starting to understand why he did it back then.¡± Ace shook his head. He couldn¡¯t stop drinking while talking about his childhood life.

    ¡°I really had no idea that Liberty had been sick since birth, and my father was doing everything he could to save her. Every day, he uses his brain to save his daughter, whom he doesn¡¯t even get to say hello to on normal days.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a stupid thing or quite a heroic thing after knowing all his efforts finally managed to save so many people up to this moment. I used to hate him so much, you know? He really never existed in my life. A very bad father to his children. But now, I realize that I was very selfish back then. Seeing his sess now makes me the proudest son of his father.¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of kids out there who aren¡¯t as lucky as Liberty. And I always turned a blind eye to that until I studied to be a doctor because of the lineage that forced me to continue that line. It was impossible for Liberty because she was already very weak by then. I¡¯m the only sessor.¡±

    Hiro continued to observe the movements of Ace who was pouring out his heart with various types of emotions mixed into one, as if he had been holding it in all this time without telling anyone. However, for some reason, he told Hiro about his life story right now even though they were considered an enemy before.

    ¡°The stupidest thing is the dream I had in the past. I wish Liberty was never born because she was too weak. She didn¡¯t even have the energy to y with me when we were little. At that time, I scolded the girl and told her that I wanted a little brother more than a sister because they were too whiny and weak.¡± Ace chuckled, feeling stupid with himself in those days.

    ¡°Even though I should feel very lucky because I got a very beautiful and loving sister that no one else had.¡±

    Thud! Crash!!!

    An unknown man identally nudged Ace¡¯s body so hard that the bottle he was holding fell and broke on the floor.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you using your eyes? Look at where you¡¯re sitting! This is the way for the visitor!¡± snapped the half-drunk man that made Ace reflexively trigger to take out his weapon and split the unknown yer¡¯s body into two. However, Hiro quickly held Ace¡¯s hand because there was something else that caught his attention more than the drunk man.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± asked Hiro, then pulled Ace¡¯s hand, ignoring the drunk man who was now shouting at them both in a loud voice before staggering and falling into the hands of two hot bunny girls. Those two women dragged him out of the Moonlight Tavern right away.

    When themotion happened, three people in ck robes were seen sneaking into the tavern. What made their arrival strange was that the hot bunny girl NPCs didn¡¯t disturb them when they came, as if they were special members of the tavern who got a special treatment.

    Besides, the strange movement of the drunkard yer who nudged Ace before was also suspicious in Hiro¡¯s eyes. It was as if the man purposely created amotion so that no one would notice the three ck-robed yers entering the tavern.

    After confirming that the three suspicious yers went up the dark stairs without any lighting, Hiro walked with Ace, who had followed him behind in silence. He was still annoyed that he didn¡¯t have time to avenge the drunken man.

    ¡°Sshhh¡­ we better be quiet for a while,¡± Hiro whispered, giving a warning, and Ace nodded in agreement.

    Hiro walked up the stairs very slowly so as not to make any unwanted squeaking noises. And Ace did the same. Until the two of them were in front of an old door which did not close properly right now so that both Hiro and Ace could hear what the suspicious people were talking about.

    ¡°We had already used the attack method as we nned, but it still failed,¡± said a man in a growling voice. He sounded very angry.

    However, the second voice actually managed to make Hiro and Ace reflexively look at each other in surprise.

    ¡°NightFall and his friends, they are very annoying.¡±

    And it was a voice that Ace knew so well that he didn¡¯t need to examine the face of the person hidden in the half-face mask worn by the person who had just spoken.

    ¡°Dimitri.¡±

 Chapter 224 Busted!

    ¡°I told you this wouldn¡¯t work. You¡¯re just wasting your time,¡± Dimitri hissed at the two men facing him. They were both very angry and walked, cornering Dimitri in the hidden room.

    ¡°You think WynterRain can ept that failure? You think he¡¯d be proud of what you did, huh?¡± the man said in a deep voice, trying to be intimidating. However, Dimitri wasn¡¯t afraid, instead he prepared his Katar and threatened them both to back off. ¡°If youe any closer, you will die on the spot,¡± Dimitri eximed. He had positioned himself to attack the two of them.

    The two men in front of Dimitri burst intoughter. Thinking that Dimitri¡¯s threat was some kind of useless joke. ¡°Did you forget that we have a contract? If you kill me, you will die with me too. Are you ready to part with your precious friend?¡±

    Dimitri¡¯s body looked trembling. He clenched his fists tightly on the handle of the Katar, as if it would help him to calm down. However, he knew that what the two people who were standing in front of him were saying was true. And he couldn¡¯t fight them even if he could.

    ¡°Why? From your loser¡¯s expression, it looks like you¡¯re really afraid of your secret being exposed, huh? Do you regreting to us in the first ce?¡±

    Dimitri didn¡¯t answer. He then lowered his weapon and stood up straight. Next, Dimitri spread out his arms like someone who had given up. ¡°I¡¯m still better than you guys. At least I¡¯m still working ording to his orders. Not like you guys who just give me orders without doing anything. Even if there is the most useless person in our group, it must be the two of you.¡±

    The two men hissed angrily at Dimitri¡¯s sarcasm. They stared at each other for a second before charging at Dimitri simultaneously without using any weapon.

    m!

    Just as the three of them had fallen to the floor and rolled violently at Dimitri, who was trying to use his bare hands to defend himself, the door that was not closed was suddenly kicked very hard from the outside. The three of them immediately turned towards the door and found two yers already standing there with the expressions on their faces that they couldn¡¯t read.

    ¡°Let go of him or you¡¯ll end up in this ce,¡± Ace snarled. He had already taken out his twin swords and swung them, shing through the air. Seeing Ace¡¯s unexpected arrival made Dimitri in shock, and his eyes immediately moved to me Hiro who was standing next to his best friend.

    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± one of the men let go of Dimitri and rose to his feet with a scythe as his weapon. He was ready to challenge Ace and NightFall whom he didn¡¯t recognize.

    ¡°You really are stupid. If it was my brother who sent you, I don¡¯t know why he chose idiots like you,¡± Hiro interrupted. And without waiting like Ace did, he threw the Batarang he had been holding since before entering the room. He threw it so hard that it cut the scythe bearer¡¯s arm and the scythe fell to his own feet.

    ¡°Arghhhh!¡± the man screamed in pain. His blood was pouring out profusely, and he had fallen backwards, rolling on the dusty wooden floor of the room.

    Hiro captured Batarang who was flung to him again. Just as he had threatened Dimitri¡¯s two male assants with the same weapon, the man had already knelt before Hiro and sped his hands together as if asking for forgiveness.

    ¡°Not only you are stupid, you guys are pretty useless too,¡± Hiro said sarcastically, then lowered his Batarang. However, the man had a devious intention from the start. He quickly took out a chakram-shaped weapon from the empty air and swung it at Hiro.

    nk!

    Ace, who was really fast, had already shot and withstood the chakram attack using his two weapons that had beenbined, making his power doubled for a while. Then, he shed the man without a second thought until the man fell and rolled up at his partner¡¯s side.

    The room that looked very dirty and had not been used for a long time was instantly transformed into a sea of ??blood. All that was left right now was Dimitri who had his back pressed against the wall behind him. He couldn¡¯t run. Not after he was caught having a rtionship with the terrorists that his best friend hated so much.

    ¡°I guess we have many things to discuss,¡± Ace said. He spoke in a calm tone even though his heart hurt from the betrayal of his best friend. Even so, he still looked at Dimitri with the same look. It made Hiro who saw it felt a little strange.

    Dimitri nodded like a child who had just been caught stealing by his father.

    ¡°What should we do with those two?¡± This time, Ace asked Hiro¡¯s opinion about the two men. They managed to stop their bleeding with a special potion. Hiro was already crouching in front of the two of them, as if he was trying to threaten them in case they nned to run away at any moment.

    ¡°We bring them both. I have this thing in my inventory. I guess it will be helpful.¡±

    [Silver Handcuffs]

    [Can be used to catch unwanted yers. yers who are paired with Silver Handcuffs in their hands will be weakened. Neither their physical skills nor magic spells can be used.]

    Hiro put the handcuffs on the two terrorists who were shaking their heads in horror as they looked into Hiro¡¯s eyes that didn¡¯t have the slightest pity.

    Then, Hiro took out another Silver Handcuffs and handed it to Ace with the intention of using it on Dimitri as well. However, once again, in order to respect the feelings of a man who had just been betrayed by his best friend or confidant, Hiro let Ace decide.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do that to me, would you, Ace?¡± Dimitri shook his head as Ace took the Silver handcuffs from Hiro¡¯s hands. He epted it with a nod.

    ¡°You left me with no choice.¡±

    Ace pulled Dimitri¡¯s hands a little roughly, then activated the item he was holding.

    [yer Dimitri has been locked by Silver Handcuffs]

    [yer has been disabled]

    Dimitri tried to destroy it by stretching his arms, but his effort was in vain. The item couldn¡¯t be destroyed that easily, especially when his power was weakened.

    Hiro took out a Portkey Crystal from his inventory and gripped the shoulders of the two prisoners. Meanwhile, Ace did the same. His hand was on Dimitri¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Where should we go to take them? Exalted base?¡± Hiro asked, making sure they were headed to the same ce.

    ¡°No. my home. I¡¯m sure you know where it is because Liberty once smuggled you there,¡± Ace said. It made Hiro clear his throat instantly because only once did Hiro go to the house where Ace and his sister lived, and it was a memory that was too hot and sexy to tell.

    ¡­

    After they teleported using the Portkey Crystal, it only took one second, and the five of them had already arrived in the living room of Ace and Liberty¡¯s house. When they appeared together, Liberty was in the living room, enjoying her ice cream.

    ¡°Brother, Hiro? How did you guys get together? And who are they?¡± Liberty looked dumbfounded. She really had many questions on her mind. However, his older brother gave a shortmand.

    ¡°Your room, now,¡± he said, looking at Liberty as if giving a signal from his sharp eyes. Liberty locked her lips tightly, then walked quickly to her room to hide her whereabouts. She was already very curious about what her brother and boyfriend were gonna do, but she could only listen to what Ace said right now, which showed the anti-rejection mode.

    ¡°Not here. I have a special room in the basement. Isn¡¯t that right, Dimitri?¡±

    Ace¡¯s words made Dimitri swallow hard his saliva. Hiro was instantly curious about what was down there.

    The five of them walked into the room with many questions in their heads. Hiro had to push his two prisoners to get into the room full of mystery. He was already curious about what awaited him.

    Underneath the house was a bunker-like ce with a steel gate that only epted a secret code for the ess. Ace used the fingerprints of his ten fingers to open the gate.

    Inside the room was a veryrge room, and there were many monitor screens lined up on the walls. Meanwhile, in the middle of the room was a circle with a shiny white line that Hiro knew as a track for the robots created by creative people of their time.

    Winggg!

    The sound of a very loud engine followed by a very brightmp in the room made Hiro slightly surprised. He then pushed the two prisoners so that they both fell on the floor while Hiro could freely observe what was avable in Ace¡¯s secret room.

    Ace sat in front of a giant supeputer and activated all the monitors in the room. It disyed the same image, namely the image of the room and those in it. It was like a live stream.

    ¡°So, who should I start with? What about you, my best friend Dimitri?¡± asked Ace in a voice that was clearly different from before. This time, his voice sounded very low, like a psychopath threatening his prey.

    Even Hiro shuddered when he heard it.

    ¡°No, please no, I have nothing to do with them. You have to believe me,¡± Dimitri pleaded. He suddenly turned frightened, as if he knew what he was going to face after this. Hiro arched an eyebrow questioningly. However, he knew that for now he should just shut up his mouth and enjoy the spectacle.

    ¡°Good. That means I have to start with you.¡±

 Chapter 225 Punishment 1

    Ace entered a special code using the keyboard in front of him. His fingers were moving so fast as if he was a hacker, and not a doctor like Hiro had heard from some story of others. After he finished typing the long code, Ace pressed the button that had just shed red on his left, and the room suddenly made a loud noise.

    Zing! Zing! Zing!

    As if there was a fire in the room, suddenly the sound of a siren of a fire engine rang out. The gate that the five of them had passed before seemed to move closer together, as if it was confining the five of them in that ce. Then, an iron board slowly appeared in the middle of the room that had caught Hiro¡¯s attention earlier.

    Zing! Bang!

    The iron seemed to have a very strong maic force while Dimitri¡¯s body was iron that was very easily attracted by the maic field. Before Hiro could blink his eyes, Dimitri¡¯s body had already floated and hit the iron board. The man was stuck to its surface.

    Dimitri couldn¡¯t move. His feet and hands were attached to the iron surface as if they were locked tightly there. Even though Dimitri didn¡¯t show any signs of pain, it was clear from his face that he was scared.

    ¡°Let go of me. Have you forgotten that I am also your friend? What are you doing with this thing to me, Ace?!¡± Dimitri shouted, still able to speak fluently. However, even though his saliva came out profusely, Ace didn¡¯t care.

    Ace walked out of his seat to approach Dimitri. He patted Hiro¡¯s shoulder from behind and signalled for the man to follow him. Hiro didn¡¯t know what was going to happen. However, from the obvious fear in Dimitri¡¯s eyes, the man seemed to know what Ace was going to do to him.

    ¡°I have great faith in you, Dimitri. Nius and ric, they both told me about the betrayal you did behind my back again and again, but I never believed them one bit because I trusted you more than anyone else,¡± Ace mumbled as he stood before Dimitri¡¯s body who was unable to move. The man¡¯s chest bobbed from the sudden fear that engulfed his body tightly.

    ¡°I really hope that what I saw a few minutes ago wasn¡¯t you,¡± Ace added without looking Dimitri in the eye, as if he was still trying to deny the reality that was too heavy for him to ept.

    Ace suddenly spread his arms in the air, and the next second, his twin swords appeared in both hands. Seeing that Ace had taken out his weapons, Dimitri sensed that his position was increasingly in danger, and he shouted again.

    ¡°Let me go! Let me go! I am sorry, okay? I am sorry! Please let me go!¡± he shouted as he continued to plead. His voice turned hoarse as he kept on screaming, as if his voice for the day had run out and no longer remained in his throat. Hiro felt a little pity, but he still wanted to know what Dimitri would receive next.

    ¡°You know I can do this, don¡¯t you, Dimitri?¡± Ace pressed his index finger on the metal surface where Dimitri¡¯s body was trapped. It looked like he was tapping it three times, and then a transparent panel appeared in front of Ace. The position of the transparent panel was behind Dimitri, so Hiro could still read what was written there.

    Hiro approached to peek at the panel that just appeared. And the panel turned out to disy the level of the pain sensor that could be adjusted. The current pain sensor level listed was 100% or the pain was very real, like the pain experienced by humans in the real world. It was the default setting given by the system and normally it couldn¡¯t be changed.

    However, within that transparent panel that Hiro was looking at¡­ Ace moved his index finger to increase the pain sensor level to 150%. And from the bar that was still empty, Hiro was sure that the maximum scale was 300%. That meant the pain could be increased by 3 times the normal pain that could be epted by humans.

    ¡°No please. Don¡¯t do this.¡± Dimitri was still pleading, but this time his voice seemed to be stuck in his throat.

    ¡°I am not gonna kill you. You know that I really hate yer killers because I am a doctor, Dimitri. However, since this is a game, I can still ept it. I won¡¯t kill anyone outside of the event that allowed it to happen,¡± Ace exined, reminding Dimitri of his likes and dislikes at the same time. Even so, as Hiro nced at Ace¡¯s eyes, the man¡¯s two eyes actually looked like a bloodthirsty killer when Ace looked at Dimitri right now.

    ¡°Please.¡±

    ¡°I was surprised too, Dimitri. I didn¡¯t expect to bring you into this room again for interrogation. I never thought of interrogating my own best friend. Pathetic.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s okay. I know that you already know how my interrogation works, so I don¡¯t need to exin the rules, right? As usual Dimitri, I hope you remember this one.¡±

    Dimitri looked like he was gulping down his saliva with difficulty. He was really terrified. His body trembled, but the iron restrained him was too strong so that he couldn¡¯t do anything at all. He was helpless.

    ¡°So what exactly have you done with those terrorists, Dimitri? Have you forgotten that they exist to ruin this game? To bring my father down? Do you really want that to happen?¡±

    Dimitri bit his lip. However, when he realized that the bite was painful even if he did it himself, he immediately stopped the gesture. ¡°I, you know I couldn¡¯t possibly do that to Uncle Jeff.¡±

    ¡°Boom! Wrong answer!¡±

    St! St!

    ¡°Arghhhhhhhh!!!¡±

    With a very quick movement, Ace swung his two swords crosswise at Dimitri¡¯s chest until his chest had a long sh that was bleeding in X-shaped.

    However, with the pain increasing, Dimitri screamed very loudly with his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

    ¡°Tell me¡­ what did my father do to you that you nned to bring him down behind my back?¡±

    ¡°I¡ª¡±

    St! St!

    Dimitri didn¡¯t even give an answer yet, but Ace had shed him again like someone who had a grudge for a long time. Right now, Hiro felt Ace¡¯s actions would not help them get any information they needed, and he patted Ace¡¯s shoulder to stop the man.

    ¡°Let me handle this. You know that involving emotions in an interrogation is bad and subjective, right?¡±

    Ace looked at Hiro with his eyes that had changed like possessed by a demon. However, with all the mixed emotions right now, Ace, who was basically an adult, decided to get rid of all those feelings and leave everything to Hiro.

    ¡°You are right. But please, don¡¯t be too kind to a traitor.¡±

 Chapter 226 Punishment 2

    When Hiro took Ace¡¯s ce to interrogate Dimitri, Dimitri looked at him with hatred. ¡°I will never open my mouth to tell you a single piece of information,¡± Dimitri said with a sneer. Hiro looked at him calmly. There was no need to use the Blood-Eater Vampire to punish him. He just took out the Batarang and yed it in his hand like he was ying a fidget spinner.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s up to you. But let me tell you, I know the area in the body which is very sensitive in receiving pain. I just hope you don¡¯t get killed because I¡¯m after it,¡± Hiro exined in a calm voice, but his gaze was really intimidating. Dimitri swallowed hard. He knew that Hiro had a way he never imagined, and it was proven from the two times he experienced as the opponent of the man in the event.

    ¡°Same question, but let me cut it short. What is your motive for working with them?¡±

    Dimitri really stood firm with his determination. He purposely curled his lips inward to indicate that he would not say anything for Hiro to hear.

    Hiro took a deep breath. He hoped that this interrogation would end quickly. However, it seemed he had no other choice, but to show that his threat was not just mere words.

    Hiro held Batarang like he was holding a kitchen knife when he wanted to cook. He then stuck the sharp tip of Batarang to Dimitri¡¯s gut and pushed it so fast that the blood oozed out.

    ¡°Arghhhh!¡± Dimitri screamed, then vomited blood from his mouth. It almost burst into Hiro¡¯s body if only Hiro didn¡¯t jump back immediately. Hiro stabbed at the most painful point and the effect was like being hit so hard in that part. Then, Dimitri vomited blood profusely.

    ¡°You! I will never forgive you!¡±

    Hiro felt a little relieved that Dimitri didn¡¯t get killed by the pain he just gave him. Even though Dimitri¡¯s <span>HP bar had turned red due to Hiro¡¯s sudden action. The man nearly met the grim reaper. Yet he still held on, and Ace tapped the iron again to bring out the second panel.

    [HP has been recovered]

    Even for the feature to restore the HP of the person being interrogated, Ace could use the iron board. Hiro was amazed. If it was possible, he also wanted to make a special room like this in his guild base, but it looked like they didn¡¯t sell it on the Marketce.

    ¡°Do you want to answer my question or remain silent?¡± asked Hiro once again.

    ¡°I can endure it. I will never tell you.¡±

    Hiro smiled faintly. He already expected the answer that came out of Dimitri¡¯s mouth would be the same. However, he had already had an idea to get him to talk.

    ¡°Well, then. Let me try this advanced machine.¡± Hiro touched the pain sensor bar on the transparent panel and raised its level to 200%. Dimitri red at him. It was obvious he was terrified. However, with trembling lips he still refused. ¡°Nice try. But you know what? I¡¯ll never tell you.¡±

    Hiro arched an eyebrow. His index finger was still on the bar and he moved his finger again, increasing the pain to a maximum of 300%.

    ¡°You will kill him at that level,¡± Ace said, suddenly feeling that Hiro¡¯s decision had gone too far. However, Hiro knew what was in his head would work to make Dimitri speak.

    ¡°This is just a game. Isn¡¯t that right, Dimitri?¡±

    Dimitri bit his lip out of reflex, and with a 3 times increase in pain, it managed to create a long tear in his own lip that instantly bled profusely.

    ¡°Arghhh.¡±

    ¡°Oops. I haven¡¯t done anything, friend.¡± Hiro raised his hand.

    Dimitri looked at him hatefully. He regretted his own actions because it really hurt, and he had never felt such pain before.

    ¡°You won¡¯t do it. Your name will turn red, and all the people who have hated you all this time will be scrambling to kill you.¡± Dimitri felt very confident with his words. He even threatened Hiro.

    ¡°Is that true? Ah, I have no problem with my name turning red. If I only killed one yer, it would probably onlyst a week. Then, it will return to normal again. And people who hate me? I¡¯m not sure if they dare to challenge me with my battle rating, which is disyed at the highest rank right now.¡±

    Hiro raised his Batarang after speaking like that and yed with it like before. Then, he pointed the weapon at Dimitri¡¯s body again. Dimitri looked terrified, his pupils quivering.

    ¡°Ok! Ok! I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll answer it. Just please move it away from my sensitive body! It scared the hell out of me!¡±

    Hiro nodded. His n to threaten Dimitri was sessful.

    ¡°Just like with the others. The reason they join the team you call terrorists is the same as mine. We, we just want to uncover the truth behind Yamaguchi Yuujin¡¯s death. That¡¯s all! I didn¡¯t even mean to bring down your father, man.¡± Dimitri spoke so fast that his saliva was flying all over the ce. He didn¡¯t dare to look both Hiro and Ace¡¯s eyes. His eyes stared at the floor of the room. And if he could move his body, Dimitri might have knelt in front of the two of them.

    ¡°Then, why did you do it?¡± Ace asked. His voice had turned soft. As his best friend, he could tell that Dimitri was telling the truth right now.

    ¡°This is embarrassing, but I like him a lot. Yamaguchi Yuujin, he always knows what ordinary gamers like me don¡¯t. I really admire him. I idolize him. Then, suddenly, he just died by reason of suicide? The person whose life always motivates others to solve hidden paths in various kinds of games, ends his life bymitting suicide? I really can¡¯t ept it.¡± Dimitri suddenly burst into tears. The tears came out profusely from his eyes and mixed with the blood on his face. His body looked shaken after saying that confession.

    A very unexpected confession and really managed to touch Hiro¡¯s heart. One of his brother¡¯s fans was talking directly to him about his love for Yuujin, which might be greater than Hiro¡¯s love for his brother even though the man was only a fan whose name Yuujin might not remember.

    ¡°So, when I heard that people like me were getting together to form amunity that wanted to reveal all the secrets behind Yamaguchi Yuujin¡¯s death and expose the real perpetrator, I joined in without thinking.¡± Dimitri looked at Ace with teary eyes right now.

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t know it would have anything to do with Uncle Jeff. I am really sorry, Ace. I really didn¡¯t mean to betray you. You are the best friend I have ever had. But all the work they gave me almost drove me crazy. I really don¡¯t know what to do. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    Ace clenched his fists. His jaws hardened. Even though he already knew about the news out there involving his father with Yuujin¡¯s death, which was cleared a few weeks ago, he still fully believed in his father that his father was a pure person.

    ¡°All right, if that¡¯s the case. It looks like you¡¯ll be of great use to me and to Ace now,¡± said Hiro calmly. His sentence made Ace and Dimitri look at him questioningly.

    ¡°I believe that whatever Yuujin did with his fans might be something bad. If they only wanted to catch the perpetrator, they should have done it long ago. But I¡¯m sure, from what Yuujin is currently working on¡­ he¡¯s preparing something much bigger than just wanting to throw someone to jail.¡±

 Chapter 227 Problem Solved

    Hiro returned upstairs to meet Liberty, who apparently couldn¡¯t sleep, and felt restless in her room. He knocked on the girl¡¯s door to call her out, and Liberty quickly opened the door for him.

    ¡°What happened? I¡¯ve never seen Ace¡¯s face like that,¡± she immediately asked. She had been holding back every question lingered in her head for the past few hours. Hiro stroked the girl¡¯s hair, tidying it up because it looked a little messy.

    ¡°It¡¯s over. They¡¯ve all been released again. But Ace asked me to look after you here tonight,¡± Hiro exined the reason he was still in the girl¡¯s house.

    Liberty frowned in confusion.

    ¡°Ace is offline. He has to check something, and from what had happened to Exalted yesterday, he asked my help to take care of you while he wasn¡¯t around.¡±

    Hearing that, Liberty stared at Hiro for a few seconds. Her lips were already open to ask a question, but soon she closed them again. The girl then threw herself into Hiro¡¯s arms and hugged him without saying anything.

    Hiro stroked the girl¡¯s back gently. He knew that Liberty wanted to know more. However, with what he and Ace had agreed with in the punishment room earlier, he couldn¡¯t share what was going on down there with anyone else at all. That was all for the sess of their n.

    What was clear, Dimitri and the two yers who were the members of WynterRain¡¯s fanaticalmunity had been released, and they had been ordered to y the role of spies for Hiro and Ace right now. It was all thanks to Hiro¡¯s kindness, because otherwise¡­ Ace had already nned to get rid of them. And, to make sure that the three fans of WynterRain had sided with them, either out ofpulsion or really regretting their actions, Ace showed one more ultimate weapon.

    Ace had ess to view the recording of all the memories recorded in all yers in the game. Hiro only found out today after Ace showed it to him. Ace also told Hiro that he knew Hiro¡¯s rtionship with his sister through the same method.

    Even so, some yers, including WynterRain¡­ their memory seemed to be blocked by something so that Ace¡¯s system couldn¡¯t prate it. This made the memories about WynterRain¡¯s appearance could only be seen through the eyes of other yers, not from his own point of view, so even Ace couldn¡¯t guess what the man was really up to.

    ¡°What are you going to do now, Hiro?¡± asked Liberty, as she rested her chin on Hiro¡¯s shoulder. Then, she looked the man in the eye.

    ¡°Are you sleepy?¡±

    Liberty shook her head.

    ¡°Good. I¡¯m not in the mood to stay at home and do nothing. Actually, I was trying to solve something. Do you want toe with me? Or do you prefer I take you to Evesting guild base and let my friends take care of you?¡± Hiro asked calmly. He didn¡¯t feel rushed in the slightest. His body felt like it was still too fresh and not sleepy at all. He didn¡¯t even feel weak, even though he had been ying in the game all day.

    This seemed to be the effect of the gaming capsule pod.

    Hiro felt that spending his savings on buying that thing was the best decision he could ever make.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you to solve whatever it is! Wait a moment!¡± Liberty suddenly went back into her room and closed the door in front of Hiro. However, in a split second, the girl had returned with a new armor that Hiro had never seen before.

    ¡°Wow! How did you get that armor?¡± Hiro asked in amazement at the exquisite and detailed of Liberty armor. By using armor that looked sturdy but still stylish in shiny gold, Liberty looked like a Valkriye right now.

    ¡°My father made it for me,¡± Liberty replied briefly with her eyes rounded perfectly. She also really liked her new battle armor.

    Hiro swallowed hard. If the game developer was the one who gave it specifically to his beloved daughter, Hiro was sure that the power of the armor must be very enormous. There was no need to test it to know that there must be a lot of power cheats in the armor. What was clear was that Hiro was grateful that Liberty was not his enemy right now.

    ¡°You embarrassed me, Hiro. Stop looking at me like that.¡± Liberty blushed, but she quickly took Hiro¡¯s hand and led him out of the house, as if she had spent all day at her house today and desperately wanted to run away.

    Hiro was not surprised if Ace turned out to be locking her up that day.

    ¡°So where are we going this time, Hiro? You know¡­ every time we go on adventures, it seems like we¡¯re bound to get lost,¡± Liberty said with a chuckle as she recalled the exciting moments she had with Hiro.

    Even though technically not all of their adventures had that kind of <span>fate, it was true that going on an adventure with the girl made it look like he was gambling. Sometimes she gave him luck, and sometimes it was the other way around.

    ¡°Should we call the others?¡± Liberty asked. The girl couldn¡¯t stay still again.

    Hiro didn¡¯t answer right away. He had to check the notifications that had been buried in his inbox first. The notification he got after sessfully activating Aaron¡¯s Charm. Opening the notification again made Hiro remember what he had done with the seductive Elve Queen, and he nced at Liberty with a guilty look on his face. He just hoped that Ace didn¡¯t betray him by peeking at his memory tape and telling Liberty about it.

    [Go to the Eastern Forest of Asvesera, a ce where fairies sing on a bright night. They¡¯ll tell you what to do next]

    That was all it said in the notification.

    ¡°It looks like there¡¯s no need for help from the others. Besides, it was already midnight. I think they¡¯re already asleep. And we¡¯re just going to visit the fairies. I think they are not harmful. They weren¡¯t aggressive thest time I went there,¡± Hiro exined. It managed to make Liberty even more excited to go to meet the fairies.

    ¡°The fairies! I haven¡¯t visited them in a long time!¡± she eximed excitedly.

    The girl, who was even befriended by the fairy NPCs, couldn¡¯t hide her happiness.

    ¡°Have you ever visited the fairies in the Eastern Forest of Asvesera, Libe?¡± asked Hiro curiously. Last time, Liberty¡¯s best friend, the fairy NPCs, were the fairies from the Beginner Town. From what Hiro remembered, the appearances of the two fairies were very much different.

    ¡°Eastern Forest of Asvesera?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It looks like you¡¯ve never been there.¡± Hiro was convinced from the way Liberty answered with her mouth agape.

    ¡°Are there fairies in that ce?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they are everywhere, but the fairies in the Eastern Forest of Asvesera¡­ they can be called the sacred fairies and the Elve worship them. I mean the Elve NPCs.¡±

    Liberty was dumbfounded while looking at Hiro. Her eyes blinked strangely for a few seconds before her enthusiastic expression returned.

    ¡°I can not wait to visit that ce!¡±

 Chapter 228 Night Date

    At night, the city of the Elve, Asvesera is much more beautiful than in the morning. Thousands of fireflies flew in the city, like the lights that were neatly arranged. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Their golden light was very warm to the eyes of anyone who visited the city at night.

    Even though ess to the pce of the Elve was closed at night, the visitors from various bloodlines hade to the area of the city for activities that made Hiro instantly feel a little awkward. They came for a date.

    Ever since he arrived at that ce with Liberty who was still holding his hand tightly until he could feel his arm warm andfortable because of being squeezed by the girl¡¯s plump breasts. The scene that was served in the city was the couple of lovers on a date in the game.

    They openly kissed on the side of the road or near a ce with a beautiful view like the small waterfalls in the city. They looked so happy when they stared at each other¡¯s eyes that their aura of happiness melted into one. It made the air in that ce feel very warm.

    ¡°Ehmmm Hiro, are you taking me on a date?¡± Liberty asked. She misunderstood the sight she was seeing. Then, the girl tightened her grip.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you, Libe, but I really didn¡¯t know this city became a city full of love at night. Maybe I¡¯ll bring you here again sometime,¡± Hiro exined while clearing his throat, feeling bad for shattering the girl¡¯s hope. His expression managed to make Liberty chuckle in amusement.

    ¡°My Japanese boyfriend is so cute!¡± she said, then she brought her face closer to kiss Hiro¡¯s cheek before Hiro realized it.

    *kiss*

    Hiro¡¯s face suddenly felt hot, but he immediately shook his head to focus on his goal again. ¡°Thank you, Libe. I really appreciate it.¡± Liberty nodded in satisfaction.

    The two of them walked away from the crowd of yers who were intoxicated with love. Hiro¡¯s ears were already hot from overhearing the couple¡¯s conversation, as well as Liberty. The girl had even lowered her reddened face. The conversation was too 21+ for the two of them.

    ¡°Honey, what if someone sees us?¡±

    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you like my hand ying in your sensitive part?¡±

    ¡°No, honey. You are so great, I want to scream. Can I scream now? Ahhh-¡°

    Or conversation like¡­

    ¡°Bend your knees a bit more, Baby. I couldn¡¯t put it in at this position. Come on, I can¡¯t hold it anymore.¡±

    ¡°What if other people see us? I¡¯m scared.¡±

    ¡°They did the same thing. Doing it in public like this really gets my adrenaline rising up. Come on, baby. Don¡¯t be shy, I know that you¡¯re already flooding down there!¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know that people did that kind of thing on the side of the road that many people even passed by, even though it was a bit dim and he couldn¡¯t see clearly what they were doing. However, Hiro was sure that if someone used Demon¡¯s eyes, that person would be able to see things clearly even in the dark.

    Hiro managed to restrain himself from using his skill to peek at what they were doing that had made him curious until finally the strange voices were no longer heard.

    ¡°Libe, are you okay?¡±

    Liberty suddenly stopped her footsteps and fiddled with her fingers. The girl turned to look at Hiro, and Hiro was immediately surprised when he saw that the girl¡¯s face had turned rose-colored.

    ¡°Do you have a fever?¡±

    ¡°Uhmm Hiro¡­ don¡¯t you want to give it a try too?¡± she asked in a small, adorable voice.

    Hiro swallowed hard. Did Libe just give me a signal? But really, in a ce like this?

    Hiro felt that if he refused the girl¡¯s request, he would hurt her. He had no idea that Liberty was interested in trying such things. Isn¡¯t she the daughter of a rich man? Are rich people also interested in doing it in public like this?

    The look in Liberty¡¯s eyes showed that the girl really didn¡¯t want to be rejected. Hiro took a deep breath, then turned to the right and left to look at their surroundings. He had to make sure that where he was right now, there was no one near the two of them. And since they were already far enough from the point with the most beautiful scenery to have a date, their ce was deserted by people right now.

    Hiro brought his body closer to Liberty. When he touched the girl¡¯s petite face, he could feel that her body temperature was already warm. She¡¯s already in heat.

    Hiro kissed Liberty¡¯s lips from a soft kiss to a passionate kiss. He could feel the breathing out of the girl¡¯s nose had turned into a rag. It was hot too, and Hiro could tell that the girl really wanted more than just a kiss on the lips right now.

    Slowly, Hiro pushed Liberty¡¯s body back while continuing to devour her lips. He nced at Liberty¡¯s back. There was a tree with a wide and tall trunk that he could use this time.

    Thud!

    Liberty moved her face away from Hiro¡¯s as her back hit something hard. Even so, the girl¡¯s eyes still stared straight into Hiro¡¯s eyes and locked onto them.

    ¡°Libe, do you believe me?¡± Hiro asked in a voice that had grown deeper. Liberty nodded, then pulled Hiro back to kiss him passionately.

    Hiro¡¯s hands moved to squeeze Liberty¡¯s two plump buttocks and lifted her up. The girl immediately wrapped her legs around Hiro¡¯s waist tightly. Liberty had taken off her armor and reced it with a ck silk nightgown right away before Hiro even realized it. The girl was very passionate that night.

    ¡°Yes, Hiro,¡± Liberty moaned when Hiro pinned her against the tree and then deliberately rubbed his hardened sword against Liberty¡¯s thin, wet panties.

    ¡°Shhh¡­¡±

    Hiro carried Liberty¡¯s body with one hand, while the other hand tried to find ess to Liberty¡¯s vagina, which had been waiting for him.

    ¡°Ahhh¨C¡±

    Hiro kept kissing the girl¡¯s lips as she made a sweet sound. This time, he would not let the girl make a sound as he prated her vagina, which instantly sucked him strongly. It made him feel an iparable pleasure. He continued to increase his rhythm. Hiro was pounding her body hard until the girl couldn¡¯t help but gripped Hiro¡¯s shoulders and continued to let out small screams of pleasure.

 Chapter 229 Activating...

    ¡°This is thest one, Alice. Soon we won¡¯t have to hide like this anymore. I know this is very boring. But thank you, Alice. You always apany me without ever betraying me for a second. Not like other people who im to be my best friend.¡±

    Growl!

    From the very dark sky that was covered by thick ck clouds, a yer could be seen flying on a giant ck dragon. He didn¡¯t budge at all even though thunderous bolts of lightning kept appearing in front of him. It was so close, as if they were really right in his eyes.

    Somewhere far from the main cities of Ninecent, there was an ind whose existence had almost been forgotten because there was no ess to it other than flying. And that was why Yuujin was just able to go to that ce after his pet was strong enough to lift his weight.

    Although Yuujin could use the help of wind magic to fly there, he had tried it before and ended up falling into a very deep ocean full of scary monsters. It took a week for Yuujin to finally manage to break free from the ocean, and it was a really terrifying experience.

    Now, he could fly in peace at a height that surpassed even theyers of clouds below him without fear of falling into the ocean once again. He knew what even the developer didn¡¯t know.

    The zone was referred to as an undetectable zone by the Last Shelter Online system. It was the Dark Zone. On an ind that had never been visited by anyone, there were various types of system defects gathered together. And in order to be a true terrorist, with the aim of ruining the game, Yuujin needed something from that ce.

    ¡°Alice, I heard there is a dragon monster that guards the data there. Do you want to duel against it?¡±

    After reaching its full form, the legendary fly ck dragon had an A.I system like Nyx, and it could talk. Even so, the A.I ??system embedded in the dragon¡¯s brain could be adjusted ording to what was taught and the habits of the tamer. So for now, WynterRain¡¯s dragon had almost the exact same attitude as the legendary gamer¡¯s pet, Yamaguchi Yuujin.

    ¡°Let me finish it myself, Master. Finish what you want to do in that ce. And I wille to you after destroying the dragon,¡± Alice replied in a dragon¡¯s voice that boomed over the increasingly hostile roar of thunder.

    ¡°You are very reliable indeed, Alice. How about wepete? Who will finish the task sooner?¡± Yuujin challenged the dragon. He was always full of ideas to make things fun. Even Alice, the name of the ck dragon, had already guessed that Yuujin would ask for it.

    ¡°You better prepare that Philippine bird meat,¡± Alice replied very confident that it could defeat its master this time. Yujin chuckled. He considered Alice¡¯s reaction as a progress. Hisughter did not stop just like that and just got louder and louder.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    rrr!

    An extremely powerful lightning bolt suddenlynded on the ck dragon¡¯s back while Yuujin wasughing. However, as if the lightning bolt was its food, the dragon pped its wings rapidly before shooting off at three times the previous speed. And its body was emitting white light, which then faded in seconds.

    ¡°That was awesome, Alice!¡± Yuujin rubbed the back of the dragon¡¯s neck with both hands, giving praise to the pet.

    The ind, which was located in the southernmost part of the Last Shelter Online world map, could finally be seen from a distance. It showed that the ind was very close to them. Without being asked by its master, the ck dragon swooped down and circled through the air like a meteor falling from outer space. It had calcted that it wouldnd right on the destinationnd.

    Growl!

    Crash!

    Alice gripped the top of a giant ck pyramid with its two hind legs. Itsrge and thick ws made the ss pyramid shatter, and the ss fell into the very dark room, hidden within.

    Hearing the noise that had just boomed, the guardian who had been curled up asleep at the bottom of the giant pyramid opened its eyes. A ck dragon with a body that looked much sturdier than Alice had turned its neck to look at the source of the sound.

    The dragon¡¯s body looked very hard. It was very thick, as if theyers of armor were made to form the skin. The dragon was even bigger than Alice¡¯s.

    This was Yuujin¡¯s first time seeing the guardian monster. After seeing it in person, he slightly doubted Alice¡¯s current abilities.

    ¡°Are you sure you can beat it without me?¡± he asked, sounding like a teacher who cared about his one and only student.

    ¡°We never know if we never try,¡± Alice replied in a booming voice. It was not afraid at all, and it got that attitude from its master. With a smaller body, his speed and movement were much more agile than the opponent¡¯s. And that alone was enough to keep the ck dragon¡¯s confidence.

    ¡°You really have to prepare the bird meat for me, Master,¡± it said before flying off, leaving Yuujin who had descended to the surface of the giant pyramid to peek at the conditions inside.

    Growwall!

    While the two dragons were fighting fiercely out there, Yuujin rushed down into the pyramid through the ss that Alice had broken. With his current progressive stats, Yuujin didn¡¯t need to create soft cushions of clouds or whirlwind on the ground below tond painlessly.

    Inside the giant pyramid, there was only darkness. And to find what he was looking for, Yuujin had to use a cube-shaped item that reminded him of a memory cube in the real world.

    Yuujin activated the cube with the same button as the memory cube, then the cube suddenly spun on the spot. It emitted a light of four different colours from all four sides. The color that reflected the four bloodlines in the game. Then, a transparent panel with red light appeared in front of Yuujin.

    There was a bar that continued to move in progress ¡­

    [Initiating data transfer in progress]

    [Warning!]

    [This external patch insertion may lead to global system damage!]

    ¡°Let¡¯s start a new order. Shall we?¡±

 Chapter 230 New Order?

    Hiro was addicted to Liberty tonight. Hearing her little moans, and smelling her sweet scents, while he pounded her body hard to the ground behind a giant tree, it really excited him. This might be the third time he was about to release his load.

    ¡°Uhmmm¨CHiro, yes!¡± Liberty was the same. The girl was still excited to enjoy the pleasures of hers and his body in unison that night, outside the city of love, Asvesera City.

    They started from doing it while standing and leaning on the trunk of the tree, to now lying both naked on the dark ground. Hiro, who had thought that doing it outside would be embarrassing when someone else saw them had changed his mind. He had never been this excited before.

    Hiro decided to spend the night with Liberty to make love longer and ignore the things he had previously nned for a moment.

    ¡°Libe, I¡¯m almost there,¡± Hiro whispered. He could no longer hold it again.

    ¡°Yes¡ªAhhn, Hiro. Fill me. I¡¯m ready.¡±

    Hiro then shot out his love liquid for the third time into Liberty¡¯s hot womb that night. He pulled back his limp sword andid down beside the girl.

    Their bodies were already sweating and with the wind not so strong in that ce, it took them at least ten minutes to dry off.

    Hiro put his armor back on and looked up at the beautiful sky filled with stars of various sizes. Gazing at the beauty that he could only see in the virtual world. When he looked to the side, he could find an equally beautiful sight.

    Liberty looked at Hiro with sparkling eyes. A wide smile spread across her face. She felt very satisfied and happy that Hiro hadplied with her request earlier. She didn¡¯t even think that Hiro wanted more than that.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been so naughtytely Hiro, what made you change?¡± teased the girl while embracing Hiro¡¯s body. She was still reluctant to put her clothes back on and seemed to enjoy the touch of the soft grass beneath her body.

    ¡°You are very seductive. How can I hold myself back if you continue teasing me like that, Libe? I¡¯m a normal guy who¡¯s still in his time to do that,¡± Hiro said as it was. He didn¡¯t need to hide anything from his girlfriend.

    Liberty chuckled. Hiro¡¯s answer managed to cheer her up.

    ¡°Tonight is really beautiful. I will never forget it. Do you know? I will never even forget anything about you as long as I live in this world, Hiro,¡± Liberty eximed. Hiro was a bit clueless about the girl¡¯s words.

    ¡°Ace will help me restore my memory whenever there is a problem with my memory. You know, he gave his all. Yes, although it¡¯s a little embarrassing when I have to ask him to restore my memories of the first night I spent with you. The night I gave my virginity to you.¡±

    Hiro coughed hearing the girl speak so fluently about that one thing. He couldn¡¯t imagine how she asked Ace. No wonder at the beginning of his meeting with Ace, Ace looked very eager to kill him. The man seemed to have known about what he had done with Liberty from the start.

    ¡°I think he will hate me this time. After asking you to do it in the garden like this when he told me to take good care of you at home.¡±

    Liberty once again chuckled. The girl really enjoyed her time with Hiro.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. But Hiro, he really likes you. If he¡¯s cold to you, just pretend he¡¯s testing the sincerity of your feelings for me,¡± Liberty said as she lifted her body slightly higher to meet Hiro¡¯s eyes.

    The girl¡¯s smile was really addictive for Hiro, and he couldn¡¯t resist it. Hiro gently stroked Liberty¡¯s hair, tucking it behind her ear before pulling her face closer to kiss her.

    ¡°Let him test me, Libe. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve passed from the start when ites to that one,¡± Hiro said softly, and then kissed Liberty¡¯s thick and plump lips again.

    Hiro and Liberty touched each other¡¯s bodies again, but this time they both emphasized their feelings that continued to unite, and not just a lust that ended a few minutes ago.

    They were like other couples making love in that ce. Inside their heads were currently filled with passionate love. They had absolutely no idea if in seconds, something terrible would happen. And they would never have enough time to prepare for that time.

    In the distant sky, while they were engrossed in admiring the beauty of the stars that they could never get in the real world again, suddenly millions of red screens shed and blinked like ambnce sirens.

    Ziiing! Ziiing! Zing!

    A very loud and painful sound rang out from the sky, and it was followed by a loud and terrifying booming sound.

    Hiro hadn¡¯t had time to stand on his two feet. Even Liberty didn¡¯t have time to put on her clothes when suddenly the entire yers¡¯ body in that ce seemed to experience a strange glitch that made them turn into 1D form, and they turned back into 2D form again. It kept repeating as if there was something about the worst system crash that had never happened before.

    ¡°Hiro? What happened?¡± Liberty screamed in a loud voice, and her eyes bulged in fright. However, her voice did not reach Hiro¡¯s ears. Even so, Hiro could read what the girl was saying from the movement of her lips.

    Hiro counted the time that greatly slowed down through his HUD system. However, at an odd second, their bodies all turned back to normal. And even though it was just an odd second that went by so fast, Hiro quickly pulled the robe he usually wore to hide his identity out and flung it over Liberty¡¯s naked body.

    One second, as the two of them turned back into 1D form once again, a very strong and painful energy was suddenly felt to suck their bodies all over the top of their heads. It sucked their bodies until they lost consciousness in the same second.

    Unbeknownst to them, their bodies in the real world had skipped one heartbeat before it had a recovery. However, the more terrifying thing than what had just happened in the virtual world was, not all the yers who experienced it were able to get their heartbeats back again.

    Beeep!

    Beeep!

    In a giant building hidden from the big city. It was located on a private ind in a developing country. The sound of long beeps kept ringing loudly. The sound came from electrocardiogram machines that failed to detect the heartbeats of the patients hidden in that ce. They were people who had entered the Last Shelter Online earlier than Hiro. The Beta Testers.

 Chapter 231 GM

    An hour earlier ¡­

    On a small ind that was quite isted from other inds, located in the tropics with two seasons, hidden a giant building that continued to operate every day. The building was built five years ago, and it had been operating for two years now.

    All electricity used came directly from nature, starting from sr thermal energy, motion energy from wind, water, and even energy that was intentionally created with the help of biotechnology by utilizing algae, bacteria, and even fungi. From a distance, both from the sea and from the air, the ind looked like an uninhabited ind. The tropical rainforests grew very dense and hid the activities that were kept secret from the world.

    The giant building did not have any logo. Even the official name for the building with thick and very secure armored walls had not been confirmed until now. Even so, the insiders referred to the building as heaven. It was heaven in its truest sense, ording to its creators.

    Although from the outside it looked like an empty building, it turned out that inside the building was already filled with people who had worked there for their lives and sacrificed their lives for money because they could no longer interact with the outside world. They were not just ordinary people who really needed work, but they were people with high intellectuals who had mastered their respective fields.

    The fields were varied, starting from medicine, science, physics, biology, chemistry to those who were experts in the fields of information technology,munication,puters, and robotics had also signed contracts to dedicate themselves to work in that ce.

    Ring!

    The onlymunication that could be used to interact with people outside the ind rang when all the workers in the ce were on duty. A man in charge of guarding the 7-inch screen-shapedmunication device then received the iing call.

    ¡°Hello, it¡¯s Hea¨C.¡±

    The man stopped his sentence when he saw that the disy on the screen did not show anyone¡¯s face. Instead, the screen disyed two letters that coincide with each other. It was ¡®GM.¡¯

    ¡°Hello, I believe that I have connected with people who have imed to be God. Those who live in a remote ce¡­ Ah, what is it called? Heaven?¡±

    The man who had just received the call was shocked, his eyes widening. He could hear voices, but he couldn¡¯t identify them. Was it a man or a woman? The voice that came out of themunication device in front of him had been modified using sound effects like a robot.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡± The voiceughed loudly. And despite doing nothing, the volume that came out of the small device suddenly increased to the maximum, and theughter that gave off a goosebump began to be heard by everyone who happened to work in the same room as the man. They immediately paid their attention to the smallmunication device.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It looks like I¡¯ll have to interrupt your work for a little while,¡± the voice exined, not feeling sorry at all. This time, he was not only able to increase the volume of the two-waymunication device, but he took over the loudspeakers installed in every corner of the room in that giant building.

    ¡°Test test¡­ do you guys hear my voice now?¡± he asked in a voice that could now be heard by all the workers in the ce. Even those who were taking a break from their work shifts could hear it. The voice was even heard as far as the bathroom and the private rooms of the workers. It made everyone confused for a moment.

    ¡°Rick! Turn it off! We got hacked!¡± shouted a worker who was standing in front of a giant screen. His job was to secure the ce so that no one would find them. However, the screen in front of him suddenly experienced a glitch, and the disy was reced with the same two letters ¡®GM¡¯ right now.

    Rick was the name of the man who received the call. And he quickly pressed the disconnect button on the screen in front of him. He repeatedly tried to push it roughly, but his effort was in vain, as if the button was no longer working.

    ¡°Come on, Rick! Just listen to me. I¡¯m not going to reveal where you were and what you were doing there. Well, not yet.¡± The robot¡¯s voice made Rick have a panic attack. Now that person even knew his name.

    In contrast to Rick who had given up and crouched in front of themunication screen, the man who had given him the order had already stood up and lifted the iron chair where he was sitting and mmed it hard at themunication device.

    Crash!

    The screen shattered. There was no longer any image on the screen that had cracked, and the shards had fallen to the floor. Having managed to get rid of the suspicious person, he reached out his hand to Rick and tried to calm the man down.

    Just as he thought that the robotic voice had been cut off, a very satisfiedugh burst out loudly.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!¡±

    He still hadn¡¯t left.

    ¡°Oh,e on, Rick¡¯s friend. Do you think that it can stop me?¡± his voice sounded mocking them. The sound was heard throughout the building so that everyone could hear what was going on in the department surveince.

    ¡°I do not have much time. I just wanted to say hi to you. Since I am being very kind, I will provide you with the information in advance for warning.¡±

    All the workers in the ce immediately stopped doing whatever they were doing at the moment and returned their focus to hearing the mysterious voice. Not a few of them began to feel fear crept against their bodies.

    ¡°What happened? Did we get caught?¡±

    ¡°Are they going to put me in jail?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to end up in prison. The guards are so scary!¡±

    ¡°Someone help me!¡±

    The voices of fear came from many rooms. This was the first time someone hade to disturb the peace of their work that the public didn¡¯t know about.

    ¡°In the next hour, there will be a mass virtual brain shock. Pay close attention to the patients you treat. Remember that their money is what makes your life prosperous until now.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them die!¡± The robot¡¯s voice really managed to make a ce that was always calm instantly turned into chaos.

    After saying a message that was unclear what the intent and purpose was, the voice just disappeared.

    ¡°Who¡¯s GM?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that? How dare you break into our security system!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that bastard?!¡±

    The warning split the workers into two groups. One group believed the warning, and one group thought the warning was just a useless joke. They then returned to work as usual. However, the group who believed in the suspicious voice¡¯s words felt that something bad was about to happen and decided to do as he was warned.

    Those who were not on their shift were even willing to return to work to supervise their patients. One patient at the site was guarded by arge team of seven people. They were specialist doctors along with technology experts. Everything was arranged like that. One thing that worried them was that the lives of the patients they cared for because they were also their lives.

 Chapter 232 Dragons

    ¡°Where are we?¡±

    ¡°What is this ce?¡±

    ¡°Look at that pyramid!¡±

    When he opened his eyes, Hiro had already found himself in another ce he had never been to before. Gathering with millions of other yers in the same ce, the loud noises were unavoidable. Meanwhile, above the sky, the roar of lightning, along with surprising lightning strikes, continued to appear like shouts. And besides that, millions of red screens that appeared for a while were still in the background behind them.

    Just a pause of a second, something suddenly fell towards him from the air. Hiro caught it with both hands. The one who fell turned out to be Liberty. The girl¡¯s body was already covered by the cloak he had thrown just before the two of them were forcibly teleported to this ce. However, the girl did not move. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was very weak.

    ¡°Libe.¡± Hiro tried to bring back the girl¡¯s consciousness. However, no matter how hard he shook her body, the girl still didn¡¯t wake up, as if she had lost consciousness. Hiro felt something bad again.

    ¡°Hiro, something has happened. I can¡¯t log in to Spyro. The system tried to kick me out!¡± Spyro panicked in front of Hiro, disturbing him who still didn¡¯t know how to wake Liberty up.

    ¡°Listen to me. Be careful and keep alive! I tried to use the emergency log out from the gaming capsule, but it didn¡¯t work! This is serious. I don¡¯t kna€¡°.¡±

    Kwakkkkk!

    Hiro blinked. He had lost Alice¡¯s connection through Spyro before the girl finished her sentence. For the first time, hearing Alice¡¯s panicked voice like that and seeing someone out there managed to get rid of that genius girl, Hiro felt that the current problem was quite serious.

    ¡°Spyro, stay close to me!¡± Hiro ordered the young dragon, Spyro, who had used its original AI again. It obeyed its master and flew low near Hiro.

    ¡°Look! Dragons!¡±

    Someone shouted very loudly. His voice managed to dominate all the voices of fear and anxiety of the yers that had suddenly gathered up in somewhere they didn¡¯t know. It was an extremely dark and eerie ce, and the sight of a giant ck pyramid before them made it worse.

    Hiro and the millions of yers who were in that ce raised their heads simultaneously towards the sky. At the same time, they could see two dragons flying out from the thick and terrifyingyer of ck clouds. The two dragons seemed to be chasing each other. They were fighting fiercely in the air.

    One veryrge dragon chased one medium-sized dragon.

    Growwll!

    The giant dragon roared and created a ck windstorm vortex out of its mouth. It tried to aim at the dragon flying in front of it with the windstorm. However, the attack was missed. The medium-sized dragon that became its target moved away very quickly, and when the dragon did it, its body seemed to turn bright white for a second, and it moved in zigzag like a bolt of lightning.

    Growlll!

    The dragon not only dodged the attack, but it also immediately counterattacked with the same attack. From his wide-open mouth came out a sh of light that was exactly the same as the bolt of lightning in the sky of that ce. And the sh managed to hit its opponent¡¯s wide-spread wings.

    The poor creature lost its bnce and fell down very quickly. Its head dipped down. However, it was soon able to reverse its position and p its two giant wings even faster, like a bird that had just learned to fly.

    Meanwhile, the other dragon was still in the air. The two of them stared at each other with eyes that had turnedpletely ck.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    ¡°Should we defeat the dragons?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t log out!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this?! What happened?¡±

    At the same time, the two dragons suddenly shot out an equally powerful force from their mouths.

    Boom!

    There was a huge explosion in the air. Making a rain of ck fire was created and fell on the yers who immediately took cover from it.

    Hiro felt familiar with the attack the dragon had justunched. The ck mes and also the silhouette of the shape. He firmly believed that it was the final stage of evolution of the Fly ck Dragon. And the only Fly ck Dragon in the game was owned by someone who was none other than his brother.

    ¡°Yuujin.¡± Hiro clenched his fists when he was sure that Yuujin was the cause of this mess. And whatever the man nned this time, it managed to put Liberty in danger.

    Growl!

    The Fly ck Dragon sped swiftly towards the already overwhelmed enemy. The more lightning that struck in the sky, the more energy it could absorb to fight the dragon monster that was muchrger than it.

    Every time the giant dragon attacked the Fly ck Dragon with a ranged attack, the Fly ck Dragon was able to dodge very easily. Its movement was very fast and agile. It wasn¡¯t even hurt in the slightest.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show my master!¡±

    ¡°That I am the strongest dragon!¡±

    Whoosh!

    The ck dragon swooped down towards the giant dragon¡¯s body. It directed the pair of long horns on top of its head towards its opponent. And at a very close distance, the two horns emitted light and electricity. The next second, a very powerful bolt of lightning suddenly came from the sky, striking the two horns as if it was calling for them.

    [Lightning Arrestor]

    Boom! Kaboom!

    A very strong collision urred. The two horns that had been engulfed by the powerful lightning managed to pierce the giant dragon¡¯s head and shatter it with one strike. Losing its head, the gigantic dragon¡¯s body just fell onto the ground that was already filled with yers, and they fled in fear, not caring if they trampled on their ownrades.

    ¡°Aaaaahhhh!¡±

    St! St! St!

    Hiro was quite lucky because his position was far from the disaster. His eyes didn¡¯t move at all from the dragon that had won the battle. It was still flying in the air, watching the corpse of its enemy scattered on the ground.

    And the next second, the dragon shot up to the top of the pyramid. Using the help of [Demon¡¯s Eyes], Hiro saw the silhouette of a figure standing on the top of the pyramid, waiting for the dragon. That figure, Hiro didn¡¯t doubt with his guess in the slightest.

    It was Yuujin. Hiro didn¡¯t know what his brother had just done with the mysterious ck pyramid.

    When the dragon returned, Yuujin raised his right hand into the air, and a thunderous bolt of lightning apanied by a very bright lightning shot out from his hand towards the sky. He intentionally shot it to get the attention of the yers he had managed to gather.

    His strength this time was far greater than his previous strength. And everyone could feel it.

 Chapter 233 The Dark War

    All the Last Shelter Online yers with online status from all existing servers had been moved to another ind in the south based on the world map right now. The ind, which was only described as ck without a name, had be a gathering ce for millions of yers right now.

    The current total online yers were 85 million yers. They came from various factions. Now, they were gathered here and crammed into one another. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were rich or they had sacrificed all their savings to try their luck in the game. A fair equality.

    Rich and poor.

    Those two differentiators were the things WynterRain hated the most. A very unfair social status, especially for him.

    In front of millions of the yers, a transparent screen appeared. It disyed two letters that were close together.

    [GM]

    Since they were currently in the game, the abbreviation GM was definitely Game Master, and they believed in that too. What they had just experienced, the malfunctioning of the logout button from the game, and not being able to leave the ind located out of nowhere, they believed that it was all the game master¡¯s n.

    However, the question was, was that really the game master n?

    ¡°This must be an event!¡±

    ¡°Yes, finally a big event!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from the Japanese server. Is there someone here who is on the same server as me?!¡±

    Hiro started to hear screams in a foreignnguage. From anguage he knew to anguage that was very foreign to his ears. They thought all of this was the preparation for a big event. Hiro couldn¡¯t me them. However, the girl in his arms still didn¡¯t move.

    There was no way the event would knock the yers out even before the announcement, right?

    Besides, seeing the appearance of Yuujin who was standing on his dragon¡¯s head in the sky that continued to rumble fiercely made Hiro very sure that his opinion was actually different from the others. No events. There was only damage.

    ¡°Hey it¡¯s WynterRain!¡±

    ¡°WynterRain says something!¡±

    ¡°Was he also teleported here?¡±

    ¡°WynterRain! Get down from there!¡±

    Yuujin could hear the scream from a distance. However, he ignored it as if he was waiting for something. His eyes shed with light. His left eye gave off a red glow, while the right one gave off a greenish glow. He was looking for someone and just found the person.

    ¡°Too bad, Hiro. You must be stuck here. I warned you before, but you don¡¯t seem to care,¡± he muttered when he found Hiro¡¯s figure staring at him from above the ground with a furrowed brow. Hiro was very angry. Whatever Yuujin did had put the man¡¯s girlfriend in danger once again.

    ¡°Have you received it, Alice?¡± Yuujin asked in a whisper. He stood with his arms folded across his chest above Alice¡¯s head, between its two long, pointed horns.

    ¡°Not yet, Master.¡±

    Beep!

    Yuujin received a message in his inbox. What he had been waiting for so long had finallye.

    [30% of them have died. 65% copsed. The remaining was safe. ¨C GM]

    ¡°Only 5%? Was that girl also included? If yes, Hiro would definitely hate me by now,¡± Yuujin muttered again, closing the one-way message. Now, it was his turn to exin what would happen in the world of the Last Shelter Online.

    Yuujin raised his right hand into the air and a thunderous bolt of lightning apanied by a very bright lightning shot out from his hand towards the sky. He intentionally shot it to get the attention of the yers he had managed to gather.

    rrrr!

    His action made the yers, who had been very excited about the event that they would never get, be hysterical. It also deafened their ears. Their bodies then trembled with fear. The giant lightning that just struck was really scary, as if the sky was splitting in two above.

    However, Yuujin didn¡¯t have time to say anything as nned. From the split sky, a giant figure resembling a Mecha that could fly suddenly appeared. However, only part of its body came out up to the waist. Its position was reversed with the head, which was as big as the fly ck dragon below.

    Yuujin clenched his fists tightly. This was not what he had nned.

    ¡°Thank you, Yujin.¡± The Mecha¡¯s voice boomed out over the roar of the dark sky.

    ¡°My name is GM. Yes! Only that!¡±

    He was not a yer. There was no option to be a Mecha for the yer in this game. He was also not an NPC, let alone a game master. Even though he used the word GM as his name, no GM appeared that way. His uninvited arrival was more suitable to be considered as the final boss of an RPG game than a GM.

    Even so, no one said anything to each other while the Mecha was talking. The yers in that ce actually looked astonished and amazed by the visual graphics of a giant Mecha-shaped monster that had just appeared, as if their Transformers movies were all really alive.

    ¡°Wee to our new game version!¡±

    ¡°The real Last Shelter Online!¡±

    The Mecha suddenly spread its two gigantic arms across the sky, and from those fingers came a ck smog that was moving very quickly around the ce. Making the already dark atmosphere became even darker. The worst thing was that ck smog¡­ it had a poison that not everyone could endure.

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Fatal Damage]

    [Fatal Damage]

    Millions of yers instantly fell as the ck smog touched the ground and surrounded them. The yers who were smart enough had taken out the masks or breathing apparatus items to avoid inhaling the deadly poison. Just like Hiro did. Luckily, he still had 2 oxygen masks left.

    He put it on Liberty who was still unconscious and put it on himself. Even so, if the smog didn¡¯t go away, he might have the same fate as the others because the oxygen produced by the mask could run out anytime.

    ¡°What was going on here?¡±

    Hiro saw how people started falling to the ground. Because it was so dark, he couldn¡¯t even see the shadow of the Mecha above. Hiro ended up using Demon¡¯s eyes to check the surroundings.

    The sounds of crying, screaming, and wailing of despair were getting less and less. It seemed many had fallen and given up on their lives. The ce suddenly turned eerily quiet. Even those who cover their noses and mouths with masks couldn¡¯t speak because the more they spoke, the more oxygen they consumed.

    However, it didn¡¯t just end there.

    After the smog stopped thickening, the ground beneath their feet suddenly seemed to shake violently, like an earthquake was happening with great force.

    Zaappp crasshh! crasshh!

    The pyramid made ofyers of ss shattered and the ss shards fell down. It fell and stuck in the bodies of yers who had been killed in zones that were not part of the safezone.

    Hiro started to struggle. He had to carry Liberty in his arms while the ground on which he stood seemed to have begun to split in two.

    Nobody knew what happened. They didn¡¯t have time to think about it. All they had in their heads right now was fear. However, Hiro tried to stay sane.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡± The Mecha¡¯s voiceughed at the yers below. While the ground shook, the skies weren¡¯t in a good state either.

    Rumbling, thunder, whirlpools mixed with shing lightning began to form in gigantic sizes. Even so, those things didn¡¯t make the Mecha move as if he wasn¡¯t touched by them. Meanwhile, Yuujin, who was a disaster magician, was seen standing upright on his two feet. He didn¡¯t seem to have difficulty in the slightest. His eyes were still watching Hiro.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what we have been waiting for, Yuujin? How do you feel? Are you very satisfied now?! Ha ha ha ha.¡± The Mecha continued tough like a psychopath.

    ¡°What we have been waiting for, you said. I would never have done it if I knew 300 people¡¯s lives would be lost.¡± Yuujin felt a little cheated by the person he was working with.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my old friend. They just died medically. You can still meet them again in the world we have prepared. Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    Yuujin clenched his fists, feeling very annoyed right now. All the ns that the two of them had prepared in a matter of years seemed to have turned into meaningless to him. The real goal was to bring down the elite, the crazy people who were desperate to give an injection of funds to a mad scientist and doctor full of ambition, like Dr. Jeff Johnson. However, what existed right now involved people who had been powerless from the start. And from those helpless people was probably the one who was very important to his younger brother.

    ¡°What are you waiting for, Yuujin?! Now, it¡¯s your turn!¡±

    Yuujin focused his mind again. Whatever had happened, he had to carry out everything ording to n.

    With one big p, Yuujin pped his hands

    CLAP!

    A bright silver colored magic circle suddenly formed in front of him. The size of the magic circle was enormous, with a diameter that both he and Alice could pass in their current stance.

    [Light in the Darkness]

    An extremely bright light seemed to burst forth from the magic circle, like a giant ring expanding vertically. It was so fast that no one noticed that the ring had made it all over the world map of the Last Shelter Online. The ck smog was swept away. It disappearedpletely, and all yers who were still alive could see what had just happened to the world in the game. Everything was ruined. Even the sea that used to be seen around the ind was no longer water, it had been reced by drynd that cracked and split in half imperfectly.

    And before Yuujin said anything, all the yers were revived in the same ce without getting a penalty. They were greeted with a notification that they always saw every time they logged into the game.

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to the Last Shelter Online]

    [The Dark War has begun]

    ================================================================

    Dear my precious readers,

    Thank you so much for supporting this story so far. I knew that this story has so many ws and it¡¯s all because of my limitation. I am trying my best to make this story keep growing and keep getting better. This will be thest chapter for this privilege section. I hope to see you again in the next month which is tomorrow. I promise that the story will be much different.

 Chapter 234 Reset

    [Checking connection¡­]

    [Synchronizing yer information, please wait¡­]

    [All set]

    [System linked]

    [Wee to Last Shelter Online]

    [The Dark War has begun]

    All the dead yers hade back to life. They were very surprised when their bodies suddenly snapped back into the air and flew low for a few seconds before falling andnding on the ground. Just a moment ago, they were killed because of the digital disaster or the fall of the giant dragon who lost the battle, and now, they found themselves trapped, as if they were there, but couldn¡¯t do anything.

    They heard and watched as if they were still alive. However, their voices were not heard despite shouting very loudly. It was a desperate situation. When you were actually there, but no one could see you. And the experience in those seconds made the yers who had been revived seem to tremble in fear. The situation just got worse as the time went on.

    Hiro and the others were already surprised by the first notification, like they repeatedly logged into the game. However, with an additional sentence, it made people feel even worse right now. It seemed their nightmare hade.

    [The Dark War has begun]

    What did those words mean? They had never heard any information about updating into a new version before. And now, they were gathered on the same single server. It was impossible if such a big change was not announced in advance on social media.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering what¡¯s really going on right now.¡± Yuujin was on top of the dragon¡¯s head, still looking at all the yers who still didn¡¯t know how to fly with a calm gaze. Everything went ording to the n.

    ¡°Today, you lost all the status you had in the real world. You are not a leader, you are not a dictator, you are not a wealthy businessman, and you are not a president. All of you are just ordinary yers in a world with the rules that I have created.¡±

    Still, no one understood what WynterRain meant. He spoke quietly, but his voice sounded very clear, as if he was whispering to them one by one. And no one understood the topic of the discussion.

    ¡°One thing that connects you to your actual body right now is just a digital signal that continues to flow in the form of data. The data moves constantly, in and out, and vice versa. Those movements are what allow you to survive in twopletely different worlds.¡±

    ¡°To make it easier to exin. You may already know about the life support system of the patients who can no longer be saved from their illness because they have lost the function of their organs. Those life support systems are usually provided by medical devices that can actually work like a clone for an organ that isn¡¯t functioning properly.¡±

    ¡°You are probably already familiar with such an exnation. When the system is stopped being provided by the family, as well as the medical side because of many considerations, the life of a patient can be lost right away. Very easy, huh? And just so you all know, even though you are very healthy when you log into this game, you may be a person who is very concerned about health, regr diet, regr exercise, and regr working hours, all of them do not help to save you when you decide to enter in this game.¡±

    ¡°Because once you enter this game, you instantly turn into a patient with a disabled organ, and the VR gear you¡¯re using is your only life support system right now. And I don¡¯t need to exin what happens if the gear is turned off, right?¡±

    ¡°Ahh¡ªmaybe I¡¯ll exin it in a shorter sentence. Right now, all of your original body functions are perfectly connected to the detector signal used by this game to create and move your avatar. Do you remember the school lesson about external stimtion on the receptors sending signals to the brain and the brain decoding them and rying the results to the effector? The receptor is your real body, the brain is the nerve gear you are using, and the effector is the avatar you are currently using to hear my voice.¡±

    ¡°One thing that just happened before was a system hack, and the target of the hack system is that part of the brain. For you to know, you are currently prisoners in this game. You will never be able to leave this game even though you have collected a lot of LSC here and are willing to exchange them for anything. I have given you a warning beforehand not to y this corrupted game, but you guys didn¡¯t really hear me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me what would happen to your real bodies if you were stuck here forever with me. Because you already know the answer, and let me say it one more time. Whatever you are fearing right now is one thing that is very likely to happen to you.¡±

    ¡°With a few modifications, the Last Shelter Online: The Dark War has been sessfully created. And the world you used to admire, it¡¯s all over.¡±

    Yuujin had finished his part. He once again took his chance to nce at Hiro who was looking at him with his eyebrows knit together. Even though his n could be said to be something of a high sess, he didn¡¯t expect to see Hiro in this ce at all, stuck with the others because of something terrible he had prepared so well.

    ¡°Yuujin, it is time,¡± said the Mecha telepathically. His voice rang in Yuujin¡¯s ears. The voice of a male who was heavy and sounded like a normal man in Yuujin¡¯s age. It wasn¡¯t a sound made using an effect, as if the man didn¡¯t have to worry about hiding his identity from Yuujin.

    ¡°I know,¡± Yuujin replied, then raised his hands in the air again, and the next second the giant magic circle appeared. Its position was facing down like a UFO preparing tond. It was enormous. The magic circle that appeared was ck, with red magic runes engraved on it.

    All eyes were on the magic circle. They took out shields and anything that could be used for protection.

    ¡°This will kill all of them in one instance,¡± he muttered without the slightest hesitation.

    ¡°Do it. Now. We have to give them a lesson.¡±

    [Sr Storm]

 Chapter 235 Hackers?

    ¡°Hiro! Hiro! Wake up!¡±

    p! p! p!

    Spyro pped Hiro¡¯s face, using its two front paws multiple times. The dragon didn¡¯t even hesitate to use its ws to wake Hiro who was lying on an emptynd with ckish rednd like it had been burned by hell fire. Next to his body, there was Liberty who was curled up motionless.

    ¡°Hiro! Wake up! Geez! How long are you going to sleep like that?¡± Spyro still hadn¡¯t given up even though it had been doing that for more than half an hour now.

    Alice had managed to find a gap to enter the game again, which was currently announced to have closed all of its servers due to a very serious problem. Even though no one had managed to break into the server that had been mentioned that was locked from the inside due to a hacker attack, Alice still managed to get into the messed up system as usual. Although she was dishonorably expelled before.

    Finally, after wing at Hiro¡¯s face until his face was covered with a lot of scratches and flowing blood, Hiro was able to feel pain again when all the pain receptors in his body had returned to normal. He blinked and saw Spyro¡¯s round eyes right in front of his face, which immediately startled him.

    He didn¡¯t know what exactly he just experienced until he was lying there helplessly. However, Hiro¡¯s brain that had returned to function remembered right away that he was taking care of the girl he loved. He instantly got up and sat down to find where the girl was right now.

    Hiro breathed a sigh of relief when he found Liberty by his side. In that ce, in an unfamiliar ce and far different from what he had seen before he lost consciousness, Hiro could only see an empty expanse of drynd. The surface is cracked. However, he didn¡¯t know where his current location was, as if he had just been thrown out to a different. At least he was still thrown off with the girl he was trying to protect when that horrific apocalypse-like explosion happened.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Spyro asked, looking a little worried. The dragon flew around Hiro to check his condition, and it didn¡¯t seem like Hiro had suffered any damage.

    ¡°Alice, can you check on her condition?¡± Hiro moved to touch Liberty¡¯s body, which felt very cold right now. Her body still didn¡¯t move an inch. However, one significant change that made Hiro instantly feel relieved was, this time the girl clearly seemed to be breathing normally as if she was just sleeping.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m a doctor? I¡¯m just a dragon, Hiro,¡± said Alice, making Hiro feel disappointed.

    ¡°What just happened? Where¡¯s everyone?¡± Hiro looked at his surrounding, and still the same, there was no one there but the three of them. Whereas, just a moment ago before he lost consciousness, he was very sure that all the yers were jostling in this ce. But, where had they all gone now?

    Hiro had nothing in his head to guess how they all got lost. Were they all killed in that huge explosion? Or were they all thrown far away somewhere like Hiro was right now? Hiro decided to check his HUD system.

    The first thing he wanted to confirm was the fate of the people who meant the most to him. Evesting members, what had happened to them now?

    When Hiro checked the chat group for the guild, he only managed to see an empty chat group with no sound. All his members in the chat group showed the same status. Offline. Even Jacob and Noah, who had never been offline before, their status had changed to offline. It made Hiro feel like something bad really had happened.

    However, he was a little relieved when he saw that all the names on his friend¡¯s list were all offline, including Liberty. It was clear that the girl should be online, but it was considered offline by the system, as if the status detection system was no longer functioning properly.

    ¡°This game is broken.¡±

    Hiro opened his GPS system and his eyes immediately widened when he saw that all the familiar maps, the global map for the world of the Last Shelter Online suddenly seemed very foreign to him because everything had changed. The most striking change was it showed the same color.

    The dominance between ck and red was like being scorched. There was no longer an ocean that separated the inds from the big cities in the world. Everything was the same color as if there was no water in this world anymore. And even though there was no water, one thing that stood out was that all thend seemed connected to each other and could be essed easily without the need to fly or swim through the ocean.

    [Last Shelter Online: The Dark War]

    The name appeared when Hiro tried to disy the map onto the transparent screen that had just appeared in front of him, so that he could examine it further easily.

    ¡°What was going on here?¡± Hiro looked at Spyro. He really needed a very detailed exnation for what had just happened.

    ¡°It¡¯s him, Hiro. It¡¯s him. All of this was his n with someone who imed to be the game master. I can¡¯t believe that he would actually do something like this. This has gone too far. I feel like I don¡¯t know him anymore.¡± Alice¡¯s voice changed, sounding slightly trembling as if there was a deep sense of disappointment in her heart. However, Hiro didn¡¯t know the reason for the girl¡¯s disappointment.

    ¡°Tell me. What did I just miss?¡±

    ¡­

    It was a while ago when Alice was kicked out of the Last Shelter Online.

    The news portals all over the world suddenly shouted at each other to update the breaking news. The content they read over and over again was the same thing until even Alice could remember it very clearly now.

    ¡°Last Shelter Online server has been attacked by unknown hackers.¡±

    It was a headline that kept popping up all over the country.

    The chaos did not only ur in the game world, but extended directly to the real world opposite it. Everyone talked about it. From yers who couldn¡¯t log in to ess their game ounts, then moved to people who worked at the gamepany. All of them were affected. Dr. Jeff Johnson, as the person whose voice was most eagerly awaited by people, did not immediately present himself in public with the reason that he needed to deal with the problems that had urred right away.

    The Last Shelter Online had locked its servers from the inside, and everyone in thepany couldn¡¯t open them. They seemed to have lost the game in the hands of a thief who knew very well how the game¡¯s security system was, so the hackers could prate it very easily. It looked like the culprit was someone from the system security administrator, and Dr. Jeff Johnson immediately investigated them.

    As if they needed someone to me for the problem, the developers of the Last Shelter Online issued a list of suspected perpetrators ording to their version. And one of those lists made Alice forget to breathe for a while.

    Because it was her.

 Chapter 236 SUS?

    ¡°This is the following list of people who are suspected ofmitting crimes against the security system of argepany.¡±

    Alice heard her name mentioned on the list. Even the photo recorded on her ID card was disyed on the news. She didn¡¯t know how many million people were looking at her photo right now. Besides, her photo was the most striking among the others. Because the other suspect was a man, while she was a woman.

    Alice swallowed her saliva with difficulty. Luckily, she had changed her identity and her photo in the hotel data that she was currently staying with Hiro. She would be safe there for a while. She couldn¡¯t move, especially after checking the condition of Hiro who seemed to be locked in the game.

    Alice moved her body to lock all the doors in the room, then closed the previously open ss window, which directly faced the main building of the Last Shelter Online¡¯s control office. She had to raise her guard or someone would arrest her.

    Even though this wasn¡¯t her doing, still if the IT FBI worked hard and managed to uncover the historical record of her android bracelet, she would still be counted as a vitor for what he had done for Hiro so far. Whatever the reason, she must not be caught.

    ¡°This is a mess.¡± Alice checked the refrigerator, and she was relieved to find that there was still plenty of packaged food in there. It was enough tost a month. She hoped that the real culprit would be caught within that time.

    Alice sat back in her chair, facing the superputer that was still working on processing the data. She recently made modifications to the system she used to break into the Last Shelter Online¡¯s security so that she could temporarily rece the AI ??of Spyro.

    Alice realized that the Last Shelter Online¡¯s data had just been scrambled. However, the one who scrambled the data didn¡¯t destroy anything in it. It was so neat that she could guess that a new world had formed in the game. Everything was as easy as turning the palm of the hand. All data was just an array of numbers that could be scrambled to create something new. It was like the evolution that urred in humans ording to Darwin¡¯s theory, only the process was much faster.

    ¡°Who did it? It can¡¯t be an ordinary person.¡± Alice thought while tapping her finger on the table anxiously, waiting for the process to finish. She felt that the assumption of Dr. Jeff Johnson was right. Only the insiders could do that. Only the insider could scramble the Last Shelter Online¡¯s data so quickly without damaging it one bit, as if he had a copy of it.

    Alice realized something. There was only one name that popped into her head. And she was very sure that the man was the culprit.

    ¡°Gary.¡±

    The reason Alice became one of the suspects was her work history. She used to be a worker in the game¡¯s security development department long before the game was announced to be released to the public. However, Alice resigned shortly after Yuujin¡¯s death. That alone was a solid reason to suspect someone.

    There was one person who once asked her to make a deal. He was also an employee of the samepany, Gary.

    ¡­

    That incident happened several months ago. It was before Alice decided to resign and flew to Japan to find someone who could help her uncover Yuujin¡¯s death.

    ¡°You¡¯re just going to leave after what happened?¡± Gary, the young man who became Dr. Jeff Johnson¡¯s favorite because of his intelligence in masteringputers and everything in it, so that they could create their own world using. He came to Alice who had just packed her things that night.

    ¡°You think I won¡¯t do anything after everything that has happened? You think I¡¯ll just shut up?¡± replied Alice in a snarl. She even threw her employee card at Gary who reflexively caught it with his right hand.

    ¡°Is this an insult? You don¡¯t know how I struggled to get this employee card?¡± Gary smacked the empty table in front of Alice. It surprised the girl. The two of them were in a room filled withputer screens of various shapes, from thin, convex, and even sticking to the wall.

    Alice closed her eyes to calm herself. She didn¡¯t want to stay in that ce any longer. ¡°They killed him. They killed Yuujin,¡± the girl hissed furiously. Her pupils quivering with hatred as she stared at Gary who stared back at her with a calm and t gaze.

    ¡°Is that the reason you left? Didn¡¯t I warn you not to be with that guy? He doesn¡¯t even care about himself.¡± Gary¡¯s hand moved to stroke Alice¡¯s hair, which had fallen over her face. His gaze softened again. From the start, he did have special feelings for the girl. Long before, Alice knew Yuujin.

    ¡°We¡¯re the murders, Gary. You know that, don¡¯t you? I don¡¯t want to be here just to kill people. I¡¯d rather be unemployed and live on the street than have to do this dirty job.¡± Alice snapped Gary¡¯s hand away. To her, Gary had always been her best friend. No more than that. Even though she knew Gary wanted more than just friends. Yet, she never returned his feelings.

    ¡°Not. I didn¡¯t kill anyone. That¡¯s their business. I just work in front of myputer.¡± Gary dodged Alice¡¯s words.

    ¡°And you let Yuujin die by working in front of thatputer of yours.¡± Alice couldn¡¯t hold back her tears anymore. Her heart was already being pressed hard. She hated herself so much for not being able to do anything.

    ¡°He killed himself.¡± Gary¡¯s reply made Alice look at him in disbelief. She shook her head reflexively.

    ¡°They have also brainwashed you, huh? Gary, we were both there. We hear what they¡¯re up to. Now you think it¡¯s all just a suicide? Did you identally scramble your own brain memory while working?¡± Alice walked past Gary, hitting him roughly on the shoulder on purpose. However, Gary still tried to stop her. He pulled Alice¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Stay. If you want to take your revenge for Yuujin¡¯s death, you¡¯d better do it with me,¡± said Gary again, forcing Alice to look at him. He had brought his face closer to kiss the girl forcibly, but the tomboyish Alice couldn¡¯t just stay still. With all her might, she kicked Gary¡¯s genital until the man rolled onto the floor.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you, Gary.¡± The girl walked back to the door. However, Gary shouted at her just before she passed through the sliding ss door.

    ¡°Fine! If you don¡¯t want my help, don¡¯t ask for my forgiveness when I beat youter, Alice! This is myst warning!¡±

    ¡­

 Chapter 237 The New Beginning

    Hiro was taken aback by Alice¡¯s story. Everything he experienced in the game, all the disasters that quickly destroyed this world from within, could also have an impact in the real world. Even the news had spread everywhere.

    Now, when he checked the world map again, everything was still foreign to him. He didn¡¯t even know where the Beginner Town was and where the cities of the bloodlines were right now.

    There was no clue at all until Nyx suddenly appeared in front of him.

    ¡°Nyx, is that you?¡± Hiro doubted if he could summon the fairy who had just appeared before him with the same nickname. Although the size was the same, the appearance waspletely different.

    Nyx, who was more like a tinker bell, looked like a scary little monster right now. Its eyes had been reced with a pair of buttons and were dark. Its body waspletely robotic with no skin all over its body. And it had changed its cloth into something that looked like an old sock with holes in it at the first nce.

    ¡°Hello again, Nightfall yer. My name is Nyx, I am the asdroid from the Last Shelter Online.¡±

    Even its voice had changed to that of a very stiff robot right now. No more adorable little girl¡¯s voice. Hiro arched an eyebrow. Even Nyx was affected?

    ¡°Hiro, I think it knows something.¡± Alice told Hiro to listen to the asdroid a little longer.

    ¡°Wee to the Last Shelter Online: The Dark War. Here, I bring you something important to read before you y the game.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have obtained a guide book]

    A thick, hardcover ck book appeared in Hiro¡¯s hands. He then opened the contents of the book, and his eyes widened when he saw the first page.

    [The world of the Last Shelter Online has been devoured by 10 demon kings who have great power. With their power, the world was destroyed and became a very terrible ce to live in.]

    [No yer will be able to leave this world without eliminating the 10 demon kings that caused the damage. Challenge them in a life and death battle at the deadly tower located in the Dark Zone. That¡¯s if you know how to get there without getting killed on the way.]

    [Your possessions, houses, bars, residential buildings, marketces, have all been taken over by a monster working under the influence of the demon king of the kings, Lord WynterRain. Defeat the monster to im yours, if you are capable of doing it.]

    [Every weekend,e and gather at the ruined town square for a chance to challenge one of the demon kings without having toe to the deadly tower. Every victory would bring an enormous and unfathomable reward, and every defeat¡­ only eternal death awaited the challenger]

    ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Hiro turned back to the second page, and he was once again surprised to see the avatar image in the form of a ck silhouette with a name written underneath.

    [The demon king of the kings, Lord WynterRain]

    [Bloodline: Dark Elve]

    [Level [Unknown]]

    [Power level [1st]]

    Hiro raised an eyebrow. Dark Elve. So, the person who met Sathanas at that time was Yuujin? He was an elve who had defiled her own bloodline with the addition of demonic powers? Hiro didn¡¯t know that something like that could happen, but¡­ did that mean he was an elve who had the power of a bloodline demon as well?

    Power level. What did it mean?

    Hiro touched the question mark next to the word and a new piece of information appeared above the book. It was a transparent screen.

    [Power level is the level of power possessed by the 10 demon kings who upy the deadly tower]

    Thus, Hiro then knew that Yuujin was the strongest, and that didn¡¯t need to be seen through the power level.

    ¡°There is no more penalty for yers killed in the game. All areas were now categorized as non safezone. And every yer who dies, will really die. Just be careful not to be killed by the monsters or worse, the yers.¡± Nyx told extra information which made Hiro and Spyro look at each other questioningly.

    [Nyx time has run out]

    [the asdroid must return to its house]

    Poof!

    Hiro blinked his eyes. Nyx then disappeared, leaving behind a painful sh. It made him have to adapt again to the current dark lighting.

    The orders written in the book were very clear. Hiro instantly drifted off to read whatever was there without missing a single page. The rules for getting LSC and increasing progressive stats were still the same, no significant changes. The notable change was just about the monsters. They were everywhere now, and that made Hiro feel that his current position with Liberty was not safe.

    ¡°We have to move right away,¡± Hiro said to Spyro who had just returned from flying high in that ce to take a wider view.

    ¡°They¡¯re everywhere. You¡¯re so lucky to end up here, Hiro. I can see some people are already fighting monsters that you don¡¯t seem to have seen before,¡± Spyro exined, providing thetest updates. Hiro nodded in understanding. It seemed that the difficulty level of the monsters that roamed around in the game was also increasing. There was no time to rx now.

    Just as he was about to lift Liberty¡¯s body, the girl suddenly moved and almost made Hiro drop her.

    ¡°Libe?¡±

    Hiro brought his face closer to examine Liberty more closely. He lowered the girl again on the hard, dry ground below.

    Liberty¡¯s eyes seemed to move, and she slowly opened her eyelids. Hiro was very relieved to see that the girl was fine. He waited while holding his breath when the girl tried to adjust her eyes with the surroundings light.

    ¡°Hiro, what happened?¡± Liberty groaned and tried to sit up. Hiro didn¡¯t stop her. He also needed to make sure that the girl was okay, and it seemed his guess was right. The girl was fine. Liberty could move easily, as if she had just woken up from her sleep.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Hiro asked to confirm what the girl was feeling right now.

    ¡°Yes yes sure. I am all right. But what¡¯s going on here? Where are we?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t answer right away, instead he pulled the girl into his arms. He¡¯s fine. I hope the others are fine too. I don¡¯t want to see anyone else die in my life.

    ¡°I thought I had lost you, Libe.¡± Hiro tightened his embrace until the girl felt suffocated and repeatedly patted Hiro¡¯s hand to release her.

    ¡°No, you won¡¯t lose me, Hiro. What do you mean? Don¡¯t confuse me even more,¡± she said in annoyance, then pushed Hiro¡¯s body away. ¡°Now you have to exin what really happened right now. Don¡¯t cover anything up!¡±

 Chapter 238 Monica

    Hiro briefly exined to Liberty everything that had happened while the girl listened attentively. Her face was very serious, and she could understand it right away. Liberty had great faith in Hiro, and she didn¡¯t doubt a single sentence. After hearing what Hiro had said, Liberty looked at her surroundings. She felt that her life had just been transferred from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.

    ¡°What should we do now? We have to find Ace!¡± Liberty didn¡¯t even know which direction was north and which direction was south.

    Meanwhile, Hiro had just checked his friendlist again and realized one thing. Liberty¡¯s status had not changed. It was still offline. It seemed that the friendlist system could no longer work normally.

    Hiro looked at Liberty, then tried something.

    [You have added Liberty to your friendlist]

    The girl looked at Hiro questioningly, but she didn¡¯t say anything because she was still confused by the huge change. She only epted the friend request that appeared from Hiro.

    Ding!

    [Liberty is now your friend]

    A new menu that didn¡¯t exist before suddenly popped up on Hiro¡¯s homepage. There was an icon in the form of a silhouette of a human head, and Hiro clicked it.

    [Friendlist]

    [Liberty (F) is online]

    He didn¡¯t know the purpose of disrupting the connections with the people he had known before. Hiro guessed that maybe it could happen because of an imperfect system when it was formed again, or there was an error during the modification process. With that one bug, Hiro would need a little time to connect with the Evesting members again.

    [You have added Noah to your friendlist]

    [You have added Jacob to your friendlist]

    Hiro started to get busy, adding the names he remembered. For a name with a simple username, Hiro could remember it easily. However, for a username with abination of letters and numbers, Hiro only remembered a few. Even so, he still tried hard to add all of them one by one.

    ¡°Hiro, I can¡¯t contact Ace. Can you contact him? Aren¡¯t you already friends with him?¡±

    Hiro was already friends with him, but it was the same as the others. Ace¡¯s name also showed offline status. However, he suddenly remembered something. Ace was definitely offline when the attack urred.

    ¡°He¡¯s not here,¡± said Hiro, while looking at Liberty. His gaze showed certainty. Liberty stared at him, slightly disbelieving this time.

    ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s not here, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°He was offline, logged out of the game when the incident happened. He¡¯s safe, but he¡¯s not here,¡± said Hiro, telling the meaning of his words. Liberty was taken aback. The girl looked confused again. She already knew that this world was just a game, and unlike herself who couldn¡¯t leave this ce at any time, her older brother, Ace, could do it as easily as a wink.

    ¡°Can hee in here again, Hiro? I have to call him. I have to tell him I¡¯m fine.¡±

    This one, Hiro didn¡¯t know what to answer. He really didn¡¯t know. Based on what happened to Alice when the incident happened, Hiro was sure that it would likely be difficult to ess the game for a while. Until the Last Shelter Online developers could get back the stolen system from the hacker.

    ¡°He can¡¯t, Princess. But for calling him, I think I can give you a little help.¡±

    Liberty was surprised when Hiro¡¯s dragon suddenly spoke to her in the voice of a young boy who had just hit puberty. Liberty looked at Hiro questioningly, but Hiro only signalled the girl to believe in the dragon.

    ¡°You think you can do that, Alice?¡± Hiro asked, not hiding his voice anymore while talking to Alice. Because it looked like it was no longer needed.

    ¡°Wow. The dragon can talk! I just know that.¡± Liberty was distracted easily after Alice nodded her head, as if she understood what Hiro had just said.

    ¡°Sure. Even without me inside, the pet can talk. Have you ever been talking to your cat, Princess?¡± Alice asked, repeatedly calling Liberty as Princess. It suited her very well.

    ¡°How could you know that I own a cat?¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I know everything about you more than just your cat, Princess. So, why don¡¯t you show us?¡±

    Hiro looked at Liberty questioningly. Was now a good time to talk about a cat? He already knew that Liberty really liked cats because the password chosen by the girl to lock her special room in Johnson Hope Hospital was her cat¡¯s name.

    ¡°What for? My cat is very shy and hates strangers,¡± Liberty replied while looking at Hiro as she spoke. Hiro pointed to himself. Did she just call me as a stranger?

    ¡°Just summon it. I am going to have a chat with the cat,¡± said Alice confidently. Hiro didn¡¯t know what Alice already knew while he didn¡¯t know. But, Alice kept forcing Liberty to get her cat out like it was the only important thing to do right now.

    Liberty looked doubtful. Her eyes moved to Hiro and waited for the man¡¯s giving her the best advice. She couldn¡¯t even decide for herself what to do until Hiro nodded.

    ¡°Just show the cat, Libe. I will make myself invincible if it¡¯s needed.¡± Hiro only needed to use the Void Phantom to hide himself.

    Liberty took the Hellsing Whisper out of its holster. At first nce, Hiro thought the girl would point her gun at him, but his guess was wrong. The girl was holding a keychain in the shape of a white cat with thick fur. It looked like a Maine Coon.

    Liberty squeezed the small object while closing her eyes. Her lips moved to chant something in anguage Hiro and Alice couldn¡¯t recognize. It seemed like a beastnguage?

    FLOP!

    In an instant, a white Maine Coon Catrger than thergest horse breed Clydesdale appeared before Liberty. The cat straightened its fur when it suddenly summoned in a ce that was far from beautiful.

    Rawwrr!

    Its ck pupils ttened, and the cat growled while baring its sharp teeth.

    Neither Hiro nor Alice really thought that Liberty¡¯s cat would be that big and quite scary if they stood too close.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Monica. I have to summon you to a bad ce like this. I know you¡¯re mad at me for getting your fur dirty, right?¡± Liberty approached the cat¡¯s front paws, then wrapped her arms around its neck, which was exactly the same height as Hiro.

    Rawr!

    ¡°See¡­ The cat can¡¯t talk. I don¡¯t even understand what the cat is saying even though I¡¯m using the beast tongue.¡± Liberty looked disappointed with that one feature. She evenined to Alice who had given her false hope.

    ¡°Well¡­ you have to work a little harder to talk to a majesty.¡±

 Chapter 239 Scattered

    Rawrr!

    ¡°Oh damn, that¡¯s why I prefer dogs over cats. Let me get close to you, naughty cat!¡± Alice¨CSpyro flew up to the giant cat. However, she was surprised by the cat because it kept attacking her with its ws countless times. Alice really wanted to attack the cat back, but Hiro seemed to have realized her intention. The man then stopped her before she could do anything.

    ¡°Monic, it¡¯s okay. She will not hurt you.¡± Liberty tried to calm her cat down.

    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to be a very long time.¡± Hiro sighed feeling that he would be stuck there longer.

    ¡°Alice, I¡¯ll leave the cat to you. I have to read more about our condition. I also have to study this chaotic artificial world before making a decision.¡±

    Hiro walked away a bit to get the peace he needed right now. Just as he opened the new manual book again, a notification popped up through his HUD system.

    Ding!

    [MyPhantom is now your friend]

    Hiro immediately contacted Cara using a direct dial without waiting for a second, and the girl picked up the call right away.

    ¡°Hello-¡°

    ¡°Cara! Where are you? Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Nightfall. I thought that you were dead by now. But look at you, calling me and worrying like a mother losing his child in the park or something.¡±

    Hiro arched an eyebrow suspiciously. The girl babbled as if she was very drunk.

    ¡°Where are you? Can you share your location?¡± Hiro had checked again the friendlist feature, but it looked like some feature had been removed, such as information on where the yer¡¯s current location was. The feature that had really helped him so far, they deleted it.

    ¡°Well¡­ I am afraid that I can¡¯t do that right now. I mean. I don¡¯t even know how to do that?¡±

    ¡°Just do like a norm¨C¡±

    It disappeared. Even the feature for sharing the current location that Hiro was looking for didn¡¯t exist anymore. It was the same with the information on the current location of the yer. Everything had been deleted. ¡°Damn it!¡±

    ¡°All right, can you describe the ce where you are at right now? Maybe I will recognize something.¡± Hiro still hadn¡¯t given up. Even though it would be very troublesome, he still needed to gather the others.

    ¡°Anyway, where are the others? Tell me if you stay with them or one of them.¡±

    ¡°Nope. Only me and some random guys who are busy beating strange-shaped monsters. They have even killed most of them!¡± Cara screamed, as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she had said.

    Her words made Hiro a little confused. ¡°Who do you mean by those who kill and those who are killed, Cara?¡±

    ¡°The monsters, of course. They are much stronger than those random yet narcissistic guys.¡±

    Hearing the words that Cara had just said made Hiro¡¯s body stiffen. If those yers had been killed by the enhanced monsters, then it meant they were ¡­ really dead?

    ¡°Cara, stay away from those monsters. Hide yourself in the cave or home or something. Don¡¯t try to fight any of them. Do you understand what I said?¡± Hiro suddenly turned very protective.

    ¡°Why? What happened?¡±

    ¡°Cara, maybe it¡¯s really hard to believe this, but please, you have to trust me. If you get killed in this game, you will never be revived here nor in another world that we called home!¡± Hiro lowered his voice for fear of drawing the monsters closer.

    Cara didn¡¯t respond directly. She tried to grasp what Hiro had just said. Then, she swallowed her own saliva with difficulty. She looked back very carefully, checking that she was still safe behind the fallen tree.

    ¡°You are kidding, right?¡± Of course, she couldn¡¯t immediately believe it. Just how could that be possible? Dying in the game meant dying in the real world? Cara still could not imagine how it worked. But, even though Hiro¡¯s words sounded doubtful, her small heart believed in the man. Hiro wasn¡¯t someone who would lie for something serious like this.

    ¡°I¡¯m not. Okay. Just do what I said and send me the description of your hideoutter. I will find you and the others. I promise.¡±

    Ding!

    [Wheelie is now your friend]

    ¡°Cara! Cara! Listen to me, I will call Wheelie and ask the same thing like I asked you. Please be careful.¡±

    Beep!

    Hiro contacted Wheelie right away. In contrast to Cara who was very rxed about everything, Wheelie sounded like she was sobbing heavily in fear. Besides, the girl said that she was hiding in an empty cave alone. Hiro asked the girl not to go anywhere, and he promised to look for her because there was nothing else he could do other than looking for his friends right now.

    After receiving two pieces of information about hisrade, Hiro still couldn¡¯t calm himself. He even felt more restless. He couldn¡¯t let everyone be in danger. Not after knowing that all of this was his brother¡¯s n. ¡°Yuujin, you are¨C¡±

    ¡°It worked!¡± Liberty shouted with joy and pped her hands.

    Hiro was curious about what had just happened, so he ran over to Liberty. He could see that the dragon had managed to approach the giant Maine Coon Cat, and the two pets were pressed against each other¡¯s foreheads right now.

    ¡°What did they do?¡± Hiro asked Liberty. The girl looked more cheerful than before.

    ¡°The dragon tried to contact Ace.¡± Liberty looked at Hiro with an excited look.

    ¡°By a pet? How does that even work?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I trust him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s her, not him.¡±

    ¡°B¨Cbut your dragon is a male, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well, in that case, yes, it is a male. But the voice you heard, it was a female, a woman. Her name is Alice. And she is the reason why I can meet you in the Closed Beta Test.¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t have time to say anything when suddenly a very elegant female voice came out of the giant cat, greeting Liberty with a typical greeting that only Hiro and Ace use.

    ¡°Libe, oh my¨C are you all right?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Ace? Is that really you? B-but why did your voice sound like granny?¡±

    Hiro nced at Alice. The girl had already raised her dragon head arrogantly. She had just done something that was beyond Hiro¡¯s line of reasoning.

    ¡°What did you do?¡±

    ¡°Well, I told you that I know everything. I just need to copy my third app and insert it into the AI ??of Monica. The next thing that I need is Ace¡¯s yer ID so I can connect to his VR machine and make a call.¡±

 Chapter 240 Keep Moving

    ¡°Libe, are you really alright? I am so worried about you. Geez, this hacker, just who the hell is he?!¡±

    Liberty tried not tough at the voice that came from the cat in front of her who imed to be her brother, but she couldn¡¯t. With her brother¡¯s style of speech and a voice that she thought resembled a grandmother, Liberty¡¯sughter finally broke out.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha. Ace, you are so funny! Your voice is.¡±

    Hiro felt that the girl would not be able to speak seriously for a while. So, he took over and talked to the cat who was now in Ace¡¯s control just like Alice controlled Spyro.

    ¡°Are you able to enter the game using your ount? If you can, log in, I need your help,¡± Hiro exined without beating around the bush because they were in a dire situation right now. ¡°About Liberty, she¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll protect her no matter what,¡± he added.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. If I could do it, I would have done it long ago. But I can¡¯t, the server has been locked by someone. What do you need from me? Since when did a NightFall who could always do anything on his own need help from someone like me?¡±

    ¡°I need to gather my friends, my mates. They¡¯re in danger. Did you know that the game has changed, especially for the death penalty rules?¡±

    The cat turned its neck to the side and sat while still wagging its tail. It looked like Ace didn¡¯t know anything yet.

    ¡°If they die, killed by the monsters or someone out there, it means that they¡¯ll die in real life too.¡±

    Hiro exined briefly what he had learned to Ace. This time, he had memorized some of the important parts so he could be even more careful.

    After hearing everything, Ace became worried about the fate of his friends.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back. Please wait.¡± He left without exining anything.

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t want to waste any more time waiting for Ace. He had to move quickly. From the information he got from Wheelie and Cara, he guessed that the three of them weren¡¯t really that far apart. A ce with scorched and very barren ground, also cracked as if it had been burned, and with no trees showing, it seemed they were far from the forest. Hiro was certain that they were currently in the territory of the Underworld City.

    However, because he didn¡¯t find any ruins, Hiro was sure that it was quite far from the city.

    ¡°We have to keep moving, Libe. And prepare your weapons.¡±

    ¡°How about Monica? Can I put her back?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No, just let her be with you. She¡¯s your pet. She will protect you when I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Uhmm¡­ Monica, are you okay with that?¡± Liberty sounded a little apologetic. It seemed like she really thought of the pet monster as a substitute for her real cat, so she spoiled it.

    ¡°Meoww¨C¡± The cat didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by that request.

    Meanwhile, Alice still wondered why the cat¡¯s AI still refused to talk and kept meowing like a real cat even though the AI ??was able tomunicate with its master. Well, maybe because it is just a cat¨C.

    Hiro checked the global map of the ce. In contrast to the original world, which was round, the world in the Last Shelter Online game was depicted in a rectangr shape so that there were outer limits of the world that cannot be crossed. And with such a form, Hiro could easily guess that as long as he walked east, southeast, or south, he would be brought closer to the position of the Underworld City where it was impossible not to leave any ruins behind.

    Hiro used the help of his GPS System to check where he had to go if he wanted to go to the southeast.

    ¡°This way is correct. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    They just walked at a brisk pace. Meanwhile, Liberty still couldn¡¯t believe the sight in front of her. She thought the world had ended. Instead of seeing the surrounding area, Hiro checked his progressive status to see if anything had changed there.

    ¡°System calls.¡±

    [NightFall] [Raider] [Underworld Baron]

    Base Level 101

    Job ss Advance Level 55

    Health 105.075/105.075

    AP 21.890/21.890

    Energy 250/250

    Fame 55.575

    BR 209.915

    Basic Stats (Points 0)

    STR 297

    AGI 175

    INT 80

    VIT 145

    DEX 131

    LUCK 109

    ¡°All sets.¡±

    Nothing had changed. It was still the same, and it seemed that the regtions on the progressive status were still in effect right now. ¡°Good. This way, everything will be fine. I hope so.¡±

    ¡°Hello, I am back!¡± It was Ace talking through Liberty¡¯s cat.

    ¡°Ace, you¡¯re back here!¡±

    ¡°Libe, can you help me contact my friends? I mean only Dimitri, Nius, and ric. I need to know that all of them were fine. I have called them, but ording to their family, they are not home yet since the attack from the hackers.¡± Ace¡¯s voice sounded very worried. Hiro also could feel the man¡¯s feelings right now.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°They stay at the hospital, Libe. The same ce as you. They are still ying the game.¡±

    ¡°No¨Cwait, their status is offline right now, Ace. Don¡¯t make me confused.¡±

    ¡°No¨Chow could they be offline if they never log out?¡±

    ¡°Okay guys! Guys! Listen to me!¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t stay silent after hearing themotion between the two siblings. Their voices grew louder and louder so that he was afraid it would attract the attention of the monsters nearby.

    ¡°The old friendlist system has broken. You can no longer use that one. You have to add them as friends again. I have done this before and trust me, if they¡¯re okay ¡­ they will ept your friend¡¯s request in seconds or minutes.¡± Hiro exined. It made Liberty look at each other with the white Maine Coon Cat for a few seconds.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Ace asked, still needing further information.

    ¡°Yes, I did it twice. Contacting my two friends. Actually, I tried to contact more than that, but until now, only two of them epted the friend request.¡±

    ¡°All right, I will add them as friends. Just you wait, Brother.¡±

    Just as they had to stop to wait for Liberty to add the three names to her friend list once again, they suddenly heard a scream from a distance not far from their position.

    ¡°Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!¡±

    Hiro looked at Liberty, and the two of them nodded without saying anything. Then, they ran towards the source of the sound, which they could easily guess where the location was.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    ¡°Libe, get your gun ready. Be careful, don¡¯t get too close.¡±

    ¡°But¨Chow about you? No healers here, Hiro!¡±

    ¡­

 Chapter 241 Dont Kill!

    A girl was seen falling on the dry ground. Blood was flowing out of her chest, which was cut deep enough to tear the dress she was wearing. Seeing that the enemy was a yer, Hiro felt a little relieved. He got over it quickly.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Three bullets from the Hellshing Whisper had lodged in the arms of the three yers that nned on harming the girl. They shouted and turned around right away. However, Hiro had already dashed forward using the Void Phantom skill, hiding in his own shadow so that no one could notice his appearance.

    Saaaat!

    Raw!

    Hiro managed to sh his sword at the three injured people while thest one behind the girl¡¯s body became Monica¡¯s prey. The giant cat had shot forward and attacked the man without being ordered.

    ¡°Taste this giant cat ws you idiot!¡±

    St!

    Ace seemed to be enjoying his role as the manual controller for the Liberty pet now.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him.¡± Hiro gave a warning to Ace who had made the yer¡¯s body lying on the ground helplessly. The man was also full of scratches and fresh blood. Ace stopped his action and jumped to Hiro¡¯s side.

    ¡°If he dies here, he dies in the real world, remember?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t want to make himself a killer. Games were games, and killing was not included in the game. Ace nodded in agreement. The cat wagged its long, bushy tail at the yer¡¯s already helpless face.

    ¡°Forgive us, please forgive us. We are just hungry!¡± yers who were injured from the gunshots and sword shes had already knelt before Hiro. They even cried as if they had forgotten what they had just done to the girl.

    ¡°Hei, you¡¯ll be okay. Drink this.¡± Liberty approached the female yer and brought out her one magic item, which was always unexpected. [Healing Potion].

    After drinking all the contents of the small bottle, the wound on the girl¡¯s body healed without a trace, and she could no longer feel pain. Hiro snatched the empty bottle from the elf girl¡¯s hand and looked up the item¡¯s price information.

    [Item Name: Healing Potion]

    [Quality: High]

    [Description: it heals everything like magic. If only this item exists in the real world, everyone will have no scars]

    [Price: 10,000 LSC]

    ¡°10,000 LSC? For one item of this?¡± Hiro couldn¡¯t believe what he had just discovered.

    ¡°Libe, how many healing potions do you have in your inventory right now?¡±

    ¡°Well, I just bought it before we entered that haunted house, but I never had a chance to use it so ¡­ It¡¯s still 98 bottles by now.¡±

    Hiro gulped his saliva with difficulty. Just how rich was she actually?

    ¡°All right, keep it up. Don¡¯t use it frequently. Ask me first before you give it to anyone.¡± Hiro¡¯smand made Liberty pouting her lips in displeasure.

    ¡°Everyone is in need of help, Hiro. Why are you so picky?¡±

    ¡°Libe, the marketce has been destroyed. We don¡¯t have any resources left here. The only way out from this messy world yet broken game is just by defeating my brother!¡± Hiro reflexively spoke in a slightly high tone, causing Liberty to suddenly sob and cry on the spot. The girl had never been treated so rudely before.

    Scratch!

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    [Health -1500]

    Ace reflexively swung his ws slowly towards Hiro¡¯s back because of what the man did to Liberty.

    ¡°All right, I am sorry, Libe. I didn¡¯t mean to be such a meanie to you. I am really sorry. Please, stop crying.¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t me Hiro. She just couldn¡¯t control herself from crying. Then, she forgave Hiro quickly without wasting their time.

    ¡°No, no no. You¡¯re right, Hiro. I am just being stupid and waste everything.¡±

    The girl hugged Hiro and rubbed his back then smiled again. Hiro was relieved, and his gaze turned to the girl yer.

    [Level 75. Nicoleasz. Rangers. Dream Queen]

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Hiro asked while holding out his hand to help the girl up.

    The girl took his hand and stood up. ¡°I am okay. Thank you for saving my life. You¡¯re so sweet,¡± she said, exaggerating a little too much. The girl even gave Hiro an unexpected kiss on the cheek. It made Liberty, who was standing in front of her, get angry.

    ¡°Hey! He¡¯s mine!¡± she eximed.

    ¡°Oops sorry, I didn¡¯t see that you both have rings,¡± said Nicoleasz while covering her own lips.

    ¡°A ring? Why should we have a ring?¡± Liberty was still annoyed. She pulled Hiro away from the girl.

    ¡°Well, in my country, to dere someone yours, you have to wear a ring. You know what I mean right, girl? A marriage.¡±

    Liberty frowned, feeling regretful after sharing her Healing Potion with the ignorant girl.

    ¡°All right, enough. We have to keep moving. You can join us, Nicoleasz.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Hiro walked again in the same direction. He focused on the direction shown by his GPS and repeatedly monitored his friendlist to see the status of MyPhantom and Wheelie. He wished both of them were fine until he managed to see them again.

    Wheelie was trapped in a cave while Cara had found a hiding ce, some kind of hidden path leading to the underground.

    ¡°Wait a sec¨C¡± Hiro suddenly stopped in his tracks.

    ¡°Did I just realize that Cara seems to be under that giant tower? I hope she¡¯s really there. The path to the Voiceless Abyssal?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, hurry! My friends are waiting.¡±

    Then, they ran fast. However, after they moved only 100 meters from the starting point, seven wolves that were the same size as Monica suddenly appeared before them with a savage growl, baring their fangs filled with saliva.

    Those wolves¡¯ bodies were like clones. Their fur looked very rough and dry, and it was an overall dark purple, as if their body had only one color.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [Abyss Wolf (Level 110)]

    [Race (Demon)]

    ¡°You girls stay behind me!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Honey!¡± said Nicholeasz, suddenly looking excited. Her eyes were sparkling when she saw Hiro draw his sword out.

    Meanwhile, the elf girl¡¯s attitude managed to annoy Liberty even more. She had taken out the Hellsing Whisper. ¡°You can just watch, weakie!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°No, Libe! What did you do?!¡±

 Chapter 242 Underworld City (After)

    Meanwhile ¡­

    At the Last Shelter Online¡¯s main office, Dr. Jeff Johnson gathered all his workers in the great hall, especially those who worked in the game development department. This was the first time they had simultaneously left the game surveince room because the game they used to supervise was now out of control.

    ¡°Tell me, what do you all know? Just one small clue would be very precious,¡± said Dr. Jeff Johnson on the podium, sweat dripping down his body even though there was AC in the room. His face looked very exhausted because the recent incident made him unable to remain calm even for a minute.

    Even so, with the same question over and over again, there was no answer. Everyone remained silent and lowered their heads. Mostly inside their heads right now was probably the fear of losing their jobs as a result of the game that had been stolen by someone.

    All the efforts made by Dr. Jeff Johnson hadn¡¯te up with anything so far.

    The hall door opened again, and three people joined in this very important meeting. They were people who were fully tasked with investigating how the game could get its data and servers stolen.

    ¡°Dr. Johnson, I have tried to recover the data, and it worked well. However, I need more new storage data to keep it when it finishes.¡± The one who was talking was Gary. He had just returned with two other young men who served as his right and left hands. Gary, the 28-year-old genius, spoke from the other end of the room, raising his hand to get Dr. Johnson¡¯s attention.

    Dr. Jeff Johnson nced at him then nodded his head. The information he had just received made him feel a little relieved, even though it had actually been said by Gary three times and failed in the end. But this time, at least the man said something that he needed to steal back the game.

    ¡°You can talk to my secretary about that, Mr. Mitnick.¡± said Dr. Jeff Johnson regained hisposure. ¡°Are you avable right now?¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Doctor. For now, until the next 30 minutes, I am avable. Do you need my help?¡± Gary walked over to the podium at the front of the great hall, approaching Dr. Jeff Johnson who just nodded slightly.

    The meeting continued, and within 15 minutes, the questions raised by Dr. Jeff Johnson remained unanswered, so he ended the meeting because he felt it was useless.

    Meanwhile, in the great hall, there was only Dr. Jeff, his secretary, and Gary.

    ¡°I need you to go with me to the Heaven,¡± whispered Dr. Jeff Johnson, who seemed afraid his voice would be heard by prying eyes. Gary looked a little surprised, but he regained hisposure.

    ¡°Only me?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Three of us. We have lost many souls in instance due to the hackers or whatever their name is. I need you to check the security system there and upgrade it.¡±

    Gary smiled before nodding briefly, ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡°Hiro, watch out! Moreing!¡± Liberty shouted from a distance while she kept shooting the Abyss Wolves that tried to stop them.

    Since the girl had shot before Hiro did anything, the wolves instantly marked the girl as their first enemy. Without a tank and their special provoke skill, it was hard to steal the aggro from the monsters.

    However, Hiro quickly ran towards the wolves with Monica before they got close to Liberty. The two of them managed to block the wolves froming close. The Abyss Wolf had a higher level than Hiro¡¯s level, so it took quite some time to finish them off.

    Even though the damage generated by the wolves was quiterge when they prated Hiro¡¯s armor, the wolf¡¯s armor was still bnced with the damage, so they were difficult to kill in a short time.

    Hiro and his spontaneous party had already spent over ten minutes battling the seven monsters, and they had only managed to kill three of them so far.

    St!

    And the dead wolf immediately came back alive with full HP, making the monster seem endless.

    Ding!

    [Base level up!]

    Hiro wasn¡¯t nning on grinding, but being stuck in that ce made him level up. He used the swordbo skill so many times that his potion¡¯s energy consumption was high. Hiro wasn¡¯t sure if he could buy the potion in the current system marketce.

    ¡°We have to escape!¡± he shouted, suddenly giving an unexpected suggestion.

    ¡°Why?!¡± Liberty was still eager to show off her weapon that had just managed to kill a wolf to Nichesz. Meanwhile, the ranger girl had already pulled out a curved-bow to attack the wolves with little damage of hers. However, at least it helped.

    Everyone was busy fighting the seven wolves that kept respawning when Hiro suddenly ordered them to run away. It seemed that the monsters would only stay in certain areas, so when they were out of the Abyssal Wolf monster¡¯s area, the monsters would stop attacking. That was what Hiro hoped, because he knew that the grinding system was still in effect in the ruined game world.

    ¡°Libe, Nicho, both of you can run first. There!¡± Hiro raised his sword for a second to point in the direction the girls should go.

    ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°After you!¡±

    Liberty and Nichesz immediately ran in the direction Hiro had pointed, while next¡­ Hiro, along with Spyro and Monica, ran after them.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    Hiro did not know to what extent the wolves were able to chase them. However, after running for 200 meters at high speed, like they were doing a sprint, the monsters finally stopped and turned around. They ignored Hiro and his party who were exhausted from the sprint.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good thing. We better not waste the potions before we know how to get them,¡± Hiro exined, then checked his inventory. There were no drop notifications even though he managed to finish off the monsters, as if the reward for defeating monsters was only limited to EXP.

    However, when he checked his inventory, items that didn¡¯t exist before had already been gathered there. Some new items that Hiro had never even seen in the sale list of NPC merchants.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hiro? Why are we stopping here?¡± asked Liberty curiously.

    ¡°Wait, I want to check something.¡±

    Hiro checked the potion-shaped items with the same purple color as the Abyss Wolf.

    [Item Name: Abyssal extract potion]

    [Quality: medium]

    [Description: Can be consumed inside the deadly tower only to get buff attack from darkness type. It is efficient to fight against holy targeted monsters]

    [Price: (Not for sale)]

    The next item that seeded in making Hiro curious was an item in the form of a coin like LSC coin, but it was ck and shiny.

    [Item Name: distorted Last Shelter Coin]

    [Total amount: 150 dLSC]

    [Quality: Normal]

    [Description: Can be used for transaction with monsters]

    [Price: (Not for sale)]

    ¡°Transaction with monsters?¡± Hiro repeated, unable to believe what he had just read.

    ¡°What happened, Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Did they just create new money for this game?¡± Hiro asked Spyro who just shook its head briefly.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know, but it could be.¡±

    Hiro exined what he had just found to everyone, and they were immediately interested in checking their inventories. Liberty and Nichesz get some dLSC too from fighting the wolf, but it wasn¡¯t much.

    Hiro still didn¡¯t know how to deal with the monsters in the game unless the monsters were tame or used to act as quest givers like an NPC. However, now, he couldn¡¯t possibly try it with the Abyssal Wolf that would attack him first before he even said anything.

    ¡°All right, we continue walking.¡±

    They went back on their way until finally they began to see something enormous towering above the half-destroyed ground in front of them.

    The three towers in the Underworld City seemed to be standing firmly in front of them even though the other buildings around them had been turned into ruins.

    ¡°What happened? How could those three towers stay like that?¡± asked Liberty, still bbergasted at the destroyed sight before her.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange, even though we couldn¡¯t see everything before, but¡­ those gigantic towers should be visible from where we were before.¡± Hiro muttered, then continued walking towards the remaining ruins of the Underworld City.

    Strange, there wasn¡¯t a single NPC in that ce. The ce was as quiet as a cemetery. There was no sound, only the wind blowingzily.

    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Hiro, feeling the need to raise his level of vignce.

    ¡°Libe, any news from my friends?¡± asked Ace. Actually, he had repeated the question more than ten times now, and the answer he got was the same. There wasn¡¯t any information from them.

    ¡°I hope they¡¯re okay,¡± Ace said worriedly. His voice sounded more like a grandmother¡¯s right now.

    Hiro was silent. He was also worried about his two closest friends in the game. Jacob and Noah. There was still no word from them. And if they were okay right now, the two of them definitely wouldn¡¯t have ignored Hiro this long, especially after that world-shattering incident.

    Even so, just like what Ace did, Hiro could only wish they were safe and sound.

    Finally, Hiro and the others entered the area that could previously be called the Underworld City. He was standing on the ruins that he had previously believed were the gigantic wall that divided the very sturdy city. Everything was level with the ground.

    ¡°Where did the NPCs go? Are they reprogrammed? Or were they just deleted?¡±

 Chapter 243 Zombie NPCs

    Hiro, Liberty, Nichesz, Spyro, and Monica walked through the ruins that had been the walls of the Underworld City. They walked close to each other while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

    They really didn¡¯t know if something they never imagined was waiting for them secretly behind the ruins of that building.

    ¡°It¡¯s too quiet. It just gives me goosebumps,¡± Liberty muttered as she tried to lean on Hiro¡¯s shoulders while repeatedly ring at Nichesz with mocking eyes. She still couldn¡¯t ept Nicheszing with them because of what the girl had done to Hiro.

    ¡°Ssst!¡±

    Hiro heard a faint rustling sound. The voice came right after Liberty said that the atmosphere in that ce was strange. Out of curiosity, he approached the source of the rustling sound that had been recorded in his head. In front of him now towered a pile of ruins that looked like a hill as if most of the rubbles of the ruined city had been moved to that ce.

    ¡°Mmm Hiro, I have a bad feeling. Shouldn¡¯t we just go straight to the tower you¡¯re aiming for?¡± Liberty pulled Hiro¡¯s hand from behind. The girl was very sensitive to her surroundings, and right now she could feel the dread surrounding her. And, whatever Liberty predicted was usually true.

    Suddenly, the pile of the ruined building in all directions moved at once. They came from all the dozens of points. The rubbles were pushed from below as if there was a giant cockroach hidden under the pile, trying to get out.

    Hiro didn¡¯t run. His legs just walked backwards when he realized that something familiar appeared from under the ruins of the building. However, even though he firmly believed that he had seen the forms of some of them, right now ¡­ he couldn¡¯t recognize any of them.

    Dozens of NPCs with demon bloodlines emerged from the pile of ruined buildings. Their bodies were covered with wounds, and their skin darkened like rot from the inside. Some of them had horns that were broken or partially missing while leaving blood that was still pouring out profusely.

    Not only were their appearances far different from what Hiro remembered, but the foul smell that suddenly filled the air in the ce made him want to spit out his stomach.

    ¡°Oh, no! My nightmares, Zombies!¡± Liberty¡¯s voice trembled when she said that. It seemed the girl had a certain fear of the sci-fi creature.

    This time, Hiro agreed with the term called by Liberty. The demon NPCs who were supposed to be the guardians of the Underworld City did look like zombies right now. They walked in strange footsteps. Their bodies gave off a foul odor, and their gazes were nk. In fact, it seemed that most of them were already blind. Not because their eyes were loose or stuck in the rubbles, but because of something imnted in their bodies.

    Growl!

    They began to utter meaningless growling sounds. The NPCs who appeared close to each other suddenly pushed one another, causing not a few of them to fall down from the hill of the ruined buildings and break their bones. Even so, no one was killed by the incident.

    ¡°Hiro, we have to run,¡± cried Liberty with a choked voice. She didn¡¯t dare to raise her weapon this time because the monsters she had to face were one of her nightmares.

    ¡°Run!¡± Hiro eximed without thinking.

    However, it was toote. He should have run a long time ago. Because this time, two hands suddenly appeared from the ground beneath his feet and gripped his ankles.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    Liberty screamed as three dirty, half-rotten hands with blood still perfectly attached suddenly grabbed her legs and tried to pull her down.

    St!!

    Hiro cut off the hand that was gripping Liberty¡¯s leg first. ¡°Run! Libe!¡±

    Liberty nodded and ran away, while Hiro was being pulled to his knees on the ground as more and more hands appeared from underground. ¡°Damn!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with her!¡± Ace, who was still recing Monica¡¯s AI brain, immediately ran after Liberty and ignored Hiro who was still trapped there. Nichesz had run without even being ordered. She followed Liberty¡¯s footsteps because the girl didn¡¯t seem to be able to run as fast as Liberty.

    [Night Bombing]

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Five ck mes shot out from Spyro¡¯s mouth, burning the hands holding Hiro¡¯s legs and causing them to squirm, like they were in pain.

    St!

    Hiro cut off the hands that were holding him in one sh and then stood up. ¡°Thanks, Alice.¡±

    However, now the two of them were trapped. The NPCs who had turned into zombies had already advanced to surround them. When they opened their mouths to growl or just make scary sounds, it was not saliva that came out of their mouths but rotting and ck blood.

    ¡°That¡¯s so disgusting.¡±

    St!

    Hiro shed the NPCs¡¯ head without a second thought due to the close range and what they had just done. Their heads were cut off just like that, but the one thing that made Hiro feel something bading was¡­ they didn¡¯t issue a health point bar. Not even information about new monsters existed, as if they hadn¡¯t been registered.

    And Hiro¡¯s fear was proven when the heads of the NPCs that had been cut off and fallen under his feet suddenly floated into the air. They moved towards their body and rejoined with it perfectly.

    [Warning!]

    [Immortal Object]

    This time, a notification popped up. However, it wasn¡¯t a notification that Hiro wanted to see.

    ¡°Damn.¡±

    Crash! Boom!

    [Health -15,000]

    ¡°Ugh! That hurts!¡±

    A ck fireball suddenly hit Hiro¡¯s back from behind,ing so quietly that he didn¡¯t even notice it. Ambush attack. And the iing damage was sorge that it felt quite painful.

    Groaa!

    St! St!

    Hiro immediately shed down the zombie who was now very close to him because he was pushed by the fireball. As Hiro looked towards the source of the fireball, he saw a silhouette he recognized as NPC Lucille, the NPC who served as a Chief for the Halfblood Demon Student Council. He was right. The woman even carried the exact same type of weapon, even though the fireball didn¡¯te from there.

    ¡°What is NPC Lucille doing here? Shouldn¡¯t she be at the academy?¡±

    Lucille raised her left hand again, and a ck ball of fire appeared there, from the size of a marble, growing to the size of a basketball before being fired at Hiro.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dodged it quickly.

    Boom! Kabooom!

    The fireball blew up dozens of other NPCs who couldn¡¯t dodge the attack. However, even though their bodies had been shattered to the point that their organs had popped out, they were back in shape again in a matter of seconds like disassembly.

    ¡°Hiro, we should run!¡±

    Hiro was about to search for a gap to escape. But, the sound of the heavy engine charging at him suddenly sounded in his ears. And the source was a giant Gatling gun machine, which has been activated right now. NPC Lucille had pointed it at Hiro.

 Chapter 244 A Shining Tree

    Dratatatataatata!

    The Gatling gun machine was a very troublesome weapon.

    [-5100] [-4500] [-3750]

    There was a reason why NPC Lucille¡¯s attacks hurt so much.

    Dratatata!

    Hiro had to jump back and forth to dodge the continuous bullets from the Gatling gun machine while Alice decided to fly high to avoid the explosion, as she wasn¡¯t Lucille¡¯s target.

    NPC Lucille continued to attack even though only a few shots hit Hiro before Hiro darted into his shadow and then appeared right behind the half-dposed girl. He broke her neck, causing her to fall to the ground.

    This time, Hiro¡¯s position was even deeper with the NPCs who had turned into zombies. ¡°Damn.¡±

    Hiro nced at the NPC Lucille¡¯s weapon that had fallen on the ground. It had been separated from her body, which still hadn¡¯t revived because it wasn¡¯t the time yet. Without a second thought, he took the weapon and aimed it at the zombie NPCs.

    Ding!

    [Congrattions!]

    [You have obtained a Vulcan Gatling Gun Machine Level 70 ¨C (Tier A) from looting]

    [Special weapon ¨C Unlimited ammunition]

    ¡°Wait, what? Can that happen?¡±

    There was only one way to prove it.

    Dratatatata!

    ¡°Jackpot!¡±

    Hiro used the new weapon he just got to destroy the bodies of the NPCs while moving clockwise on the spot. The weapon was very effective at bringing down the enemy at once. In a very close attack range, the explosion from the gun¡¯s bullets could blow the head of the bloodline demon¡¯s NPCs easily.

    Dratatata!

    NPC Lucille had revived. ¡°Sorry for this, Lucille.¡±

    Bang!

    Hiro kicked the NPC¡¯s head until her neck broke and she fell back on the ground. This time, Hiro shot to finish off the NPCs that got in his way. They were just NPCs, although some had already helped him. But still, right now, they were very wild. It was best for him to destroy thempletely.

    Dratatatat!

    Hiro continued to walk backwards, away from the zombies who quickly respawned back and kept following him. They ran fast when they were revived.

    ¡°Hiro, over there!¡± Alice pointed out the direction where Liberty and the others managed to find a safe location. Hiro nodded and followed Alice¡¯s instructions.

    However, no matter how far Hiro stepped away, the zombies continued to chase him as if the rules regarding the monster¡¯s area zone didn¡¯t apply to them. They still followed Hiro and tried to attack him.

    ¡°Come to me if you are addicted to dying!¡± Hiro didn¡¯t need to save the bullets from his weapon he just got.

    Even so, Hiro couldn¡¯t possibly bring the zombies into the hideout of Liberty and the others. He couldn¡¯t possibly let Liberty frightened again by being beaten up by those ugly monsters.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± Hiro turned a corner to buy time and then ran again. However, the zombies quickly chased after him at the same speed, as if they had been equipped with a bnced speed buff.

    Hop!

    Hiro jumped into a ruin that was high enough to be able to see over the area. He was looking for something that could be used as a clue, but his effort was in vain. Nothing looked reliable.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Dratatatata!

    However, the more they were crushed, their running speed increased again, and Hiro just realized that when he was almost caught by one of them. They could keep up with the speed of a Raider.

    ¡°Damn, this is getting bad.¡±

    Knowing that made Hiro put his Gatling gun into his inventory, and he focused on running away. It was useless destroying zombies that couldn¡¯t die. It would only make them get stronger, as if they mutated into it.

    ¡°Hiro, over here!¡± It was Liberty¡¯s scream. The girl¡¯s voice was so loud that it managed to summon all the zombies that were chasing Hiro, enough to make half of the zombies distracted from Hiro and change their target.

    ¡°No no no, what are you doing, Libe?!¡±

    This time, it was not Hiro who was being chased by zombies, but Hiro who ran very fast to catch up to the Zombies. They had run to target Liberty who was standing behind one of the towers of the Underworld City.

    ¡°Not my girl, b*tch!¡±

    SPLAT!

    Hiro managed to cut the body of the leading zombie in two after catching up with it.

    ¡°Libe run, they¡¯reing!¡± Hiro was already standing with his back to Liberty and then pulled out his Gatling gun again. Ready to destroy the zombies running towards it.

    However, something surprising happened.

    Crash!

    As if there was a giant invisible wall 10 meters from before Hiro and Liberty stood up, the Zombie who was running really fast was suddenly bounced back in unison, as if it hit something hard.

    Hiro reflex lowered his gun and saw the zombies revived again, then lunged in the same way, but to no avail. They didn¡¯t manage to break through the barrier.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro waspletely clueless until Liberty pped her hands.

    ¡°I think I found something interesting Hiro, but Ace forbade me to touch it.¡± The girl said as she looked into Hiro¡¯s eyes and nodded confidently.

    Once again, Liberty¡¯s luck, or could be considered as a skill to find something unexpected still could be relied on today.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe you know something. Ace said he didn¡¯t know about it either.¡±

    ¡°Show me.¡±

    Hiro walked after Liberty. He nced back and saw that the zombies were still doing the same thing. ¡°They are really persistent, huh?¡±

    From the zombies¡¯ attacks, he could at least find one new piece of information. That was, he could take weapons from NPCs right now. He just needed to try to take the weapons from the yers now. And if it worked, it looked like the game had turned into a giant battle arena.

    The air that Hiro felt suddenly changed drastically. The stench was gone, and the wind was blowing against his face. It was really refreshing.

    As he looked towards the source of the wind, this time he could see something extremely beautiful in beauty amidst a miserable devastation.

    Its shape resembled a tree but did not have a single leaf. It wasn¡¯t so big that it was covered by the giant tower. It was no more than three meters tall and was full of metallic green Tosca, so it stood out from the other buildings. Its surface looked like a tree made of paraffin. Green light seemed to glow from within it.

    It reminded Hiro of one of the old games Yuujin had yed when he could only watch and y a joystick that wasn¡¯t connected to the game.

    ¡°The Genesis Tree. I¡¯m sure about it.¡±

 Chapter 245 Meta: The Demon

    Hiro and Liberty immediately ran towards the strange-looking tree, while Spyro followed the two of them, flying low above their heads. As he got closer to the tree, Hiro became even more convinced that it was the tree in his memory. It was from an old game that was quite entertaining for his childhood, even though he could only watch it.

    ¡°They can¡¯te any closer,¡± Liberty exined, telling Nichesz and Monica who were already waiting for them near the tree. The air near the tree was very cool, and the lighting was bright. The atmosphere made Liberty instantly miss the warmth of the Moonspire city at night.

    ¡°I want to go home soon. Was our house destroyed too, Ace?¡± sighed the girl. It was clear that there was disappointment in her words. Hiro noticed it. In fact, the game world was created as a paradise to live in, but that paradise just turned into a hell. This time, Hiro felt a little sorry for the fate of the Last Shelter Online, which was still unclear.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Libe.¡± Ace replied, still worried about his friends who still had no news until now. He was more worried about their fate than the house he had bought at a very cheap price, even though he bought it from his own father.

    Hiro approached the tree and looked at it from a very close distance. He lifted his head to examine in more detail what was above the highest peak of the tree, but he found nothing. The shape was the same, like a decoration. However, surely the tree had meaning.

    ¡°Are you going to touch it?¡± asked Liberty as she appeared by Hiro¡¯s side. She noticed the man¡¯s intention from Hiro¡¯s raised left hand that moved slowly toward the tree trunk.

    ¡°Genesis Tree, touching it should be fine, right?¡± Hiro sounded like he was talking to himself and ignored Liberty. However, just as his hand was about to touch the trunk of the strange tree, a very strong electric current suddenly made him flinch.

    Zzaap!

    [-50,000]

    Hiro reflexively pulled his hand away. ¡°Shit, why is the damage here getting bigger? And what was that?¡± he grumbled in his own head. Until a familiar voice appeared, startling him.

    ¡°It was me. I hope you don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m here, NightFall.¡±

    It was Meta. Her voice had grown more mature after consuming the food in the form of the curse that Hiro had given her, either intentionally or unintentionally.

    ¡°You just made me lose 50% of my health points? Don¡¯t you have any work to do?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go near that sacred thing. I won¡¯t let you.¡±

    Hiro could hear Meta¡¯s voice suddenly change to a threatening tone. Meta banned him from touching the genesis tree? Seriously, it was Hiro¡¯s favorite tree since he was a child.

    ¡°Are you okay, Hiro?¡± Liberty looked worried after seeing Hiro grimacing just a moment ago. Hiro nodded, and he moved his hand again to touch the tree. This time with the right hand, because he knows that Meta was in the cursed sigil in his left hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. You won¡¯t be able to do it until you beat me.¡± Hiro could hear Meta¡¯s voice very close to his ears like a whisper. Before his hand touched the tree, his vision suddenly turned dark and he could no longer feel anything.

    One secondter, Hiro could see something again. He needed to adapt first to be able to see clearly what awaited him.

    Ding!

    [You have entered a special domain]

    The notification was still very new to Hiro.

    When he looked around, he found himself in a very quiet ce, and the only source of light in that ce came from the dark purple mes that zed silently, circling the room. It formed a wall.

    The room with the red y foundation was circr and was no more than Hiro¡¯s apartment in Japan.

    ¡°Wee, Nightfall. Finally, we see each other in person.¡±

    It was Meta¡¯s voice, a voice resembling that of an elegant grown woman. However, this time, the voice didn¡¯te from inside Hiro¡¯s body. Then, Hiro reflexively moved his neck and turned towards the ce where the woman was sitting on a throne, like an iron chair standing on top of a pile of human skulls.

    From her face, the girl looked like she was in her early 20s withrge breasts and her most noticeable feature being the tworge ck-looking horns protruding from the sides of her head and pointing upwards. Upon her head was a red band which separated her purple hair, framing her bangs from her hair below the band. Worn upon her forehead was a ck color sigil of pride of Lucifer and surrounded by several dots around the top. Tied around her neck was a small red-colored strap. Meanwhile, Seh¡¯s attire consisted of a very revealing ck-colored leopard-printed kimono, bearing the demon very marks all over her body skin. The kimono was wrapped around her torso with a thick, decorative red ribbon tied behind her back, and her outfit wasplemented by thigh-high socks that revealed her heels and toes.

    ¡°What ce is this?¡± Hiro asked, really confused right now. How could he see Meta¡¯s form if the demon was supposed to reside within his body? Hiro guessed that he was being temporarily transferred to a special folder to be able tomunicate directly with the demon.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what tree you¡¯re trying to touch. As far as I know, I can detect the immense divine power of that thing, and I don¡¯t want to lose the body I¡¯m guarding because he desperately wanted to touch the sacred object,¡± exined Meta, then stood up from her throne and walked over to Hiro.

    The girl¡¯s posture was very good, and her walk was straight. If he didn¡¯t remember going out with Liberty, Hiro would have been distracted by the girl¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Is this really your true form, Meta?¡±

    ¡°My true form? Ah¨C you mean this girl you are looking at in front of you?¡±

    Hiro nodded, even though Meta was very different from the seductive subus, just standing in front of Hiro with a t and calm expression, he was still tempted.

    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m currently living inside your body. And I always get a new form ording to what my master wants. Since you are my master, it seems that you want my form to look the way it is now. So, here I am.¡± Meta didn¡¯t even show the expression that a normal girl would do. Her face remained t.

 Chapter 246 Macro Curse

    Hiro swallowed hard. No wonder he felt that the girl had an appearance that was 100% his type. It turned out that the form was made based on what was inside his head. But, how could that be? Wasn¡¯t this just a game? Why was there no limit? Hiro was once again amazed by the game he initially hated.

    ¡°How can I get out of this ce? I have to do something.¡±

    ¡°What? If you mean touching that tree, I won¡¯t let you do it,¡± Meta replied, then turned his back to Hiro so that Hiro could see her exposed and very smooth back.

    Well. It looks like staying here a bit longer is fine too.

    However, Hiro immediately shook his head and brought himself to his senses. ¡°Is that thing going to kill me?¡± he asked, trying to ask another topic that might be useful.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. There are two answers. Maybe yes, maybe not. It depends on your current abilities.¡± Meta looked back at Hiro. Her beautiful, round eyes seemed to be empty. As if she was the only AI creature who was not equipped with the slightest feeling by the developer.

    ¡°How do I know if my current ability is enough to not get me killed while approaching that tree?¡± Hiro changed his question.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to find out.¡±

    ¡°Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You have to defeat me. If you can win against me, I¡¯m sure you can touch the tree without any problems.¡±

    This was the first time Hiro had been challenged by an AI who was like a summon, or even his own pet. Usually in games, challenges like this often urred between MCs andpanions who had a quarrel, orpanions who just wanted to test their strength ording to the storyline. But this time, it was the demon who imed herself as a guardian who actually challenged him.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem too difficult,¡± Hiro replied, then pulled out the Blood-eater Vampire from his back.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to fight me?¡± asked Meta to confirm, still wearing the same expressionless on that charming face.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The empty air above Meta¡¯s head suddenly had a glitch, and the next second, a dark green full HP bar appeared above her head. This time, Hiro could see the HP bar that he couldn¡¯t see before. And with that bar, Hiro felt even more confident that he could beat Meta.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro dashed forward without waiting while swinging his sword with both hands. The target, Meta, didn¡¯t move and just stood still in her ce. Her eyes locked onto Hiro¡¯s de and¡­

    Bang!

    Hiro felt his hands suddenly tremble as if he had just hit a blunt object so hard that there was an ufortable current, like an electric shock that he could feel from his wrist to his shoulder.

    An invisible wall seemed to block Hiro¡¯s attack, stopping his sword, which was only an inch away from Meta¡¯s face. Yet, the demon didn¡¯t move in the slightest from her position.

    ¡°Macro Curses,¡± said Meta casually, while Hiro exerted all his physical strength until the muscles in his arms bulged to the surface. He was still trying to move the sword through the invisible wall in front of him and hit Meta, but it failed.

    ¡°MacroMake: Reverse.¡±

    St!

    Blood gushed out from Hiro¡¯s shoulder as the sword that should have hit Meta after breaking through the wall stabbed into his left shoulder instead. He had changed positions, swapping positions with Meta who was now standing where he was before.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±

    Hiro immediately drew the sword from his shoulder. Even though it was painful, he didn¡¯t see any health point notificationsing out, as if the attack he had just received was an illusion.

    The power possessed by Meta was the power of the curse, and she had only one skill. Macro Curses. By consuming the curses that existed from various forms of objects in the game, such as the things Hiro found in illegal marketces, Meta¡¯s Macro Curse could be enhanced.

    Hiro knew what Macro Curses was. It was the power that could control anything, like mind control. He had often encountered such power users in other games. And with that, Hiro realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight the demon. Not before he discovered the skill to counterattack the Macro users.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even if you¡¯re injured more than a hundred times. You can¡¯t die in your own body, Master,¡± said Meta in the same t tone, not changing one bit.

    Hiro understood now. That was why his health points didn¡¯t decrease. But still, the pain he received from that incident was really painful.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m not strong enough yet. You can get me out and I won¡¯t touch that tree now,¡± Hiro said in the end.

    ¡°You chose the right thing, Master. See you in the near future.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have entered the normal world]

    [Location: Unknown]

    ¡°Hiro!!!¡±

    The first thing Hiro saw was Liberty whose face was already filled with tears and half swollen. The girl was crying hysterically because Hiro¡¯s body, who was in front of her, suddenly fell backwards even though there was nothing out of the ordinary.

    ¡°Libe?¡± Hiro blinked and sat up. The surprised Liberty immediately hugged him tightly, as if Hiro had just risen from the dead.

    ¡°What happened? Why are you crying?¡± Hiro asked while patting the girl¡¯s back. She was still shaking and sobbing on his shoulder. Hiro nced at Spyro, Monica, and Nichesz who surrounded him with strange expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Well, you told her that dying here meant dying in the real world. She already thought you were dead in both,¡± Ace replied. He even breathed a long sigh of relief after seeing Hiro was fine.

    Hiro didn¡¯t have time to ask what the fate of his real body was when he was transferred to another room within his own body. It looked like he fainted or seemed to be in a torpor so Liberty cried over him.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m here. Don¡¯t cry. I won¡¯t die so easily, Libe.¡±

    ¡°I¨C I thought that you got a heart attack.¡± Liberty sobbed, still in shock from what she had just seen. Hiro just grinned at the attention that Liberty had just shown. It seemed like Hiro had at least one person who would always wait for him right now. It was much better than having no one, right?

    ¡°Libe, I have something to ask you,¡± Hiro finally said it, pushing Liberty¡¯s body away gently and then wiping the tears on her cold cheeks.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°You have to awaken that Genesis Tree.¡±

    ¡°The tree? Awaken it, but how? Is it asleep or something?¡±

    ¡°The Genesis Tree is a tree that can erase all darkness and evil in certain areas that are still within its radius of protection. Apparently, if Yuujin participated in creating a new world in this game, he adopted the same system. I¡¯m sure, even the NPCs we met earlier, the curse they got will disappear once you awaken the tree.¡±

    Liberty didn¡¯t really understand, but the girl nodded in agreement. It was because Hiro was the one who asked for it, so she was willing to do it without asking for further exnation.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±

 Chapter 247 The Guardian Tree

    Liberty approached the tree very carefully. However, just in case, Hiro had included the girl and Nichesz into his party first.

    ¡°Do it,¡± Hiro said while nodding his head as the girl looked at him with her hands raised upward.

    The others had gathered very closely in one ce, as Hiro ordered. Ace was very displeased with the idea, but Liberty insisted on doing it.

    Ding!

    A transparent rectangr screen suddenly appeared in front of the tree trunk as Liberty lightly touched it.

    [The Guardian Tree]

    [Location: Former Underworld City]

    ¡°The guardian tree, huh?¡± Hiro muttered,menting on the name of the tree.

    There was an inscription under the brief information.

    [Do you want to wake up The Guardian Tree?]

    [Yes] [No]

    Liberty pressed [Yes] without hesitation.

    Then, a dazzling light appeared from within the tree¡¯s body. Hiro and the others had to cover their faces with the back of their hands to peek at what was going on until a notification popped up in their HUD system simultaneously.

    [To awaken The Guardian Tree, a contract with a sentinent being of the great sage is required. Without it, The Guardian Tree would not be able to be resurrected. Currently, the owner of the contract is counted as 0 in the world. Are you interested in volunteering and getting the contract?]

    Hiro blinked. He got the notification, and the others were the same. Liberty had told him without being asked.

    ¡°Being a volunteer, but it looks like there¡¯s going to be a test to do, huh? They even use the pronoun ¡®you¡¯, a singr. It seems it can¡¯t be done with a party. I can¡¯t let you do that, Libe,¡± Hiro said, exining what had formed inside his head.

    ¡°Meta, I¡¯m sorry, but I have no choice.¡±

    Meta didn¡¯t say anything because she already knew Hiro¡¯s character and what the man was going to do. She also had an AI brain that was different from ordinary NPCs.

    ¡°I will do it. You don¡¯t have to do anything. If they move me, you just have to wait for me here and don¡¯t go anywhere,¡± Hiro told the others who were clearly throwing disapproving looks at him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± said Ace. He had already stood beside Hiro on all fours. However, Hiro shook his head.

    ¡°You are Libe¡¯s pet. There is a certain radius that must be obeyed. Besides, I don¡¯t want to leave Libe unprotected,¡± Hiro exined, then patted the cat¡¯s back. This time, Ace didn¡¯t say anything and just nodded his head. It looked like he was in a bit of a dilemma.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll go with him!¡± said Alice, who had flown by Hiro¡¯s side and patted her chest proudly. Hiro nodded in understanding.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what awaits me but¡­ see youter.¡±

    Ding!

    [You have agreed to volunteer to sign a contract with The Great Sage. To get the contract, you must sessfullyplete a test. Do you want to do it now?]

    ¡°I thought so.¡±

    Liberty hugged Hiro before he answered the question in his HUD system. ¡°You have toe back no matter what. I will continue to wait for you. You know that, right? I will not forgive you if you do note back, Hiro,¡± said the girl softly.

    ¡°Of course. I wille back.¡± Hiro stroked Liberty¡¯s back, then pushed the girl¡¯s body away gently. He couldn¡¯t waste any more time.

    [Yes]

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported to the dungeon]

    Hiro could feel the sensation of his body being pulled backwards very suddenly and quickly, then crammed into a long, narrow pipe. His head was spinning and the contents of his stomach seemed to go up to his neck. It all went on in a matter of seconds until he could feel his feet again on something solid and wet.

    [The Great Sage ¨C A Dreamcatcher Dungeon]

    Hiro was standing on a wet and cold swamp. The high water in the swamp managed to sink his knees, and it was quite difficult for him to move. From that ce, he could see into the distance. The sky was cloudy, but he could still get some light from there.

    The ce resembled an empty in without trees. It was wide enough. When Hiro realized it, there was a giant nt sticking to the ground ten meters away in front of him. The shape of the nt spread in its very long stems. The color of the stems was green and looked juicy.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check that one.¡±

    Hiro trudged through the swamp with great difficulty. Luckily, the ground near the giant tree trunk was no longer watery, and he could walk normally even though his feet were still wet and dripping with water.

    There was nothing that was suspicious other than the trunk of the giant nt. As Hiro approached it, he realized that he had to climb the trunk. Because it was impossible for him to get past the bottom, which was so short that it looked like it was sticking to the ground from a distance.

    ¡°Dreamcatcher, huh? What should I do with this thing?¡±

    Hiro walked on the stem of the nt with ease because of its t surface. It seemed it was indeed used as a pathway. He continued to walk straight after the stem of the nt until his eyes found something red that looked like it was moving very slowly, opening and closing.

    A giant flower petal. The shape made Hiro remember the Rafflesia flower. After knowing his destination, Hiro ran to reach the ce quickly.

    ¡°Be careful Hiro. This could be a trap,¡± Alice warned him. After all, she knew about the well-known insectivorous corpse flower.

    However, Hiro didn¡¯t care. His eyes remained on that ce. He knew what was strange about the flower.

    One, when he got closer to the flower¡­ he could smell a very alluring fragrance, but it didn¡¯t make his nose feel weird. Contrary to the real world, the flower should smell bad. Its scent seemed to be calling him to get closer. Two¡­ there was only one flower in that ce, and its position, if he reckoned with it, was in the middle.

    ¡°What are you going to do with that flower, Hiro?¡± Alice asked curiously. Hiro was already standing in front of the flower and staring at it, opening and closing the red flower crown with giant white spots.

    ¡°Dreamcatcher,¡± Hiro muttered to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll get into it,¡± he added confidently.

    ¡°Hah? Have you gone mad? This is clearly a trap, you will be eaten by that flower, Hiro. Don¡¯t you know that it also uses its smell to attract its food?¡± Alice protested. She was already flying in front of Hiro¡¯s face, trying to block his already desperate attempt.

    ¡°No. I know what I¡¯m doing, Alice. You just have to wait for me here.¡±

    Hiro pushed Spyro from in front of him, then jumped into the center of the flower, as it was almostpletely closed.

 Chapter 248 The Dreamcatcher

    The fragrance of the flowersbined into one was so soft. Hiro was curled up inside the flower that was already closed perfectly. The inside turned out to be quite sticky and slimy. However, when Hiro examined the slime, he was very sure that it smelled very sweet, like honey.

    When he was inside, it turned out that the flower was no longer opening its crown. It kept the crown closed and trapped Hiro inside. Until Hiro suddenly felt that his body was very rxed andfortable. Even his heart rate seemed to slow down near the resting scale.

    Slowly, the scent of the flowers made him drowsy, as if its effect was to make someone fall asleep. Hiro closed his eyes without hesitation, and in a matter of minutes, he fell fast asleep.

    ¡­

    Hiro opened his eyes and found himself in a very familiar room. However, everything was ck and white. In front of him was a little boy who was sleeping soundly on a long sofa. The boy was him.

    ¡°Hiro¡­ Hiro! Wake up!¡±

    Then, a man who was not that taller than him suddenly appeared into the room and ran over to the young him. The boy rubbed little Hiro¡¯s head gently to wake him up. A wide smile spread across his young face.

    That man was Yuujin, and he was already wearing his high school uniform. He was neat and ready to go to school while little Hiro was still asleep.

    ¡°You have to go to school today, Hiro. It¡¯s your first day at the new school. Come on, wake up. The world is waiting for you to act!¡± Yuujin said, then picked up the little Hiro who had just woken up and carried him into the bathroom.

    While viewing all his past memories like a television, Hiro could only stiffen on the spot with his mouth tightly shut. Shouldn¡¯t he have seen one of his dreams in his sleep? Why was he shown with one of the memories in his life? Was Hiro dreaming?

    Hiro walked into the living room. It was the first apartment that Hiro and Yuujin lived in for the first time since their parents died. The apartment was very small and cramped, but full of love.

    ¡°You must look very handsome, Hiro. Let the girls fight over you!¡± Yuujin rubbed little Hiro¡¯s still wet hair to dry.

    ¡°No wonder my hair is falling out easily now. It turns out you¡¯re that rough, Yuujin,¡± Hiro thought while watching it.

    ¡°Lie! How can girls like me if every time big brotheres, the one in their eyes is brother,¡± replied little Hiro while looking at Yuujin with an annoyed look.

    Yuujinughed at him. At that time, for him, there was no other entertainment in his difficult life other than his brother¡¯s funny and too frank attitude. He really enjoyed the expression on little Hiro¡¯s face with a satisfiedugh.

    ¡°What the hell is that crazy narcissist?¡± Hiro frowned at his brother¡¯s expression.

    Ding!

    [One happy memory has been obtained]

    [1 out of 3 happy memory]

    ¡°Huh? That one is a happy memory? Seriously, I don¡¯t even look happy there!¡± Hiro protested before he was moved again to a different scene.

    Suddenly, the scene in front of him changed. From a narrow room that only contained two people, it swiftly changed to a ssroom that was bustling and full of cheers.

    Bang!

    One boy hit the table hard because he was thrown by his three much bigger friends. The fallen boy was Hiro. His body was indeed smaller than the others because his above-average intelligent brain made him have to move ss faster, and he had to be in the same ss with the older children.

    ¡°You poor, stinky, dirty! When was thest time you showered, huh? Don¡¯t talk in ss. I want to throw up!¡± snapped a man standing in front of little Hiro in a loud voice. Little Hiro just huddled near the table while crying. Meanwhile, Hiro, who was watching all of this, clenched his fists in anger. ¡°That bast¨C¡±

    ¡°Hiro!¡±

    Yuujin suddenly entered the ssroom and hugged little Hiro who was still shaking. Yuujin was still wearing his school uniform when he entered the ssroom. ¡°Hiro, are you okay? Don¡¯t be afraid, Brother is already here, okay? Remember, you will be a future hero. The world is waiting for you to grow. Don¡¯t cry.¡±

    Hiro was astonished to see and hear the words Yuujin spoke to him when he was a child and became the subject of bullying by his friends because he was very poor.

    Meanwhile, little Hiro seemed to be trying hard to stop crying even though his breath was already hitched, and he was clutching his own chest.

    ¡°Brother Yuujin, Brother Yuujin, he¡¯s the one who beat up Hiro!¡± eximed a girl in Hiro¡¯s ss, calling Yuujin¡¯s name repeatedly and standing by him as if they were already familiar.

    Hiro still remembered who the girl was. She was Hinami. She used Hiro to approach Yuujin and ended up being tly rejected by Yuujin when she came to Yuujin¡¯s graduation ceremony.

    Yuujin lifted Hiro¡¯s small body and sat him down in the chair. He then turned away with a bright red face, his eyes moving to find three young boys who were only as tall as his chest.

    Yuujin clenched his fists tightly. His body was shaking. He looked like two different people from the one who hugged Hiro earlier.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t. They¡¯ll put you in jail. I don¡¯t wanna be alone. Don¡¯t do that, brother.¡± Little Hiro knew very well what was going to happen, and he immediately jumped onto Yuujin¡¯s back to stop his brother. Yuujin, who had been ovee with anger, suddenly got back his logic. He immediately lifted Hiro¡¯s body, lowered him onto the floor, and hugged him gently.

    ¡°I am really sorry¡­ I am sorry¡­ I am sorry, Hiro, my little Hero.¡±

    This time, it wasn¡¯t Yuujin who wasughing at little Hiro¡¯s words. But, it was Yuujin who was crying like a child in Hiro¡¯s chest with a half-shaking body.

    [One happy memory has been obtained]

    [2 out of 3 happy memory]

    Hiro didn¡¯t know how his past memory selection system was. What was obvious now, his lips were tightly shut, and his chest felt really tight when he saw the scene. He seemed to be reminded of his life journey, and two of the three happy memories had Yuujin in them.

    ¡°This is not fair. What actually happened here?¡± Hiro could feel transparent liquid flowing out of his nose and eyes. He quickly wiped them both before someone saw him even though he wasn¡¯t actually there.

    The next scene¡­

    Hiro felt that he had to prepare his heart now. The test was much more difficult than he had imagined.

 Chapter 249 3 out of 3

    Hiro saw himself looking at the mirror. His face looked very sad and disappointed. He instantly remembered when that memory happened. It was the night of his 17th birthday, and he was alone.

    His friends had gone back home after celebrating a simple birthday party at the luxury apartment. They had even packed up everything, and cleaned up all the things they ate that night except for one, the birthday cake.

    Hiro walked towards the living room and stared at the birthday cake with a puzzled look on his face. Even though he didn¡¯t say anything, the current Hiro knew what was going on in his head and heart. He was disappointed.

    A special birthday without a special person.

    However, all of that did notst long. Because the next second, the doorbell rang and Hiro now knew who had rang it. Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Hiro walked to the doorzily, thinking that his friend had forgotten something. It waste at night. The clock on the wall showed 23:45. Fifteen minutes until the day changed.

    ¡°I¡¯ming!¡± said Hirozily, then opened the manual door knob. When he looked up, his expression suddenly changed. In front of him was Yuujin who was carrying a big box, a nendroid box? It seemed the man didn¡¯t even have time to wrap it up.

    ¡°Happy Birthday, my sweet little brother!¡±

    ¡°Yujin?!¡±

    Hiro hugged his big brother who was smiling weakly at him. The man¡¯s face showed that he was very tired, but he still came for his beloved little brother. A moment that Hiro never thought would happen. After three years of long distance rtionship with his brother, who decided to have a career in America, now they were finally reunited again.

    ¡°Ohooo¡­ look how big you are now, Hiro! You¡¯re even bigger than me! What have you been eating all this time, huh? Sushi, ramen, okonomiyaki?¡±

    Yuujin returned Hiro¡¯s hug tightly. Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Hiro was sobbing in his brother¡¯s arms. In just one second, his mood changed drastically. He was so happy that night that he couldn¡¯t sleep.

    ¡°You¡¯ll break my bones if you continue hugging me like that, Hiro. Come on, you¡¯re all grown up. Aren¡¯t you afraid that your girlfriend will see the two of us now?¡±

    Hiro shook his head. Even though his body was much bigger and burlier than Yuujin¡¯s at that time, he still acted like a child who refused to grow up. Yuujin didn¡¯t mind that though.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for beingte. You know¡­ I really had to finish my work beforeing here. My schedule is so tight. I don¡¯t even have time to eat on time. Look at your brother, he¡¯s so skinny, Hiro.¡±

    The current Hiro was standing still while watching the two brothers who missed each other. He remembered that day very well. It was still vividly engraved in his memory. A very special night for him. Even though Yuujin only stayed for one day in Japan that day, still¡­ Hiro would never forget about it.

    Because that was thest time he could hug Yuujin¡¯s body. Alive and breathing.

    Hiro never knew that night would be thest night for him to see his brother. If only he knew it, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have let her brother go and force the man to stay at home with him. Even if he had to go back to living a hard life and be a poor person, Hiro didn¡¯t mind at all.

    [One happy memory has been obtained]

    [3 out of 3 happy memory]

    Clink!

    A blue crystal that glowed like the ocean when exposed to sunlight suddenly appeared in front of Hiro. It was floating and spinning in ce. When Hiro touched the object, he was transported to a different ce again.

    [All good memories are the reason why a person can still act like a human]

    [The power of all good memories is a pure power that is always possessed by everyone in the world.]

    [However, what will happen if that pure power is removed?]

    ¡­

    Hiro opened his eyes and realized that his body was floating in a crouched position. Spyro was waiting for him there.

    He had been vomited by the giant Rafflesia flower without remembering anything that had just happened in it.

    ¡°Hiro, are you okay?¡± Alice looked worried, but she also looked relieved that Hiro had finally returned without losing a limb.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Hiro asked, looking dazed. He waspletely unaware that his memory had been partially stolen. Memories of the most memorable happiness in his life, they were gone.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha.¡±

    The boomingughter made Hiro and Spyro gasp in surprise. Beneath their feet, the nt stem suddenly moved and vibrated, causing Hiro to slip and fall down. However, he quickly took out the Demon¡¯s ws from his hands and stuck them into the tree trunk as a handle.

    ¡°What sound is that?¡±

    Ding!

    [Dreamcatcher has been fed up]

    [Dungeon has been activated]

    [yer must clear the root of Dreamcatcher]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Crack!

    The tree trunk that Hiro held suddenly shattered, and he fell to the ground. However, when he inspected the ground below, which had been covered by the nt¡¯s body parts, he only saw darkness. It was not an ordinary ground, as if there was a very dark abyss underneath it.

    ¡°Arrghhhhh!¡±

    Hiro fell into the pit of darkness. Alice, who was in Spyro¡¯s body, was no different. She couldn¡¯t survive even after flying for a certain radius. Then, she was pulled into the abyss, falling with Hiro and losing her bnce.

    Even though his eyes were wide open and Hiro could feel all of his senses, all he could see right now was darkness. He kept falling down at full speed, while his hand suddenly felt very hot like it was burning. Meta. It seemed Meta realized something that could kill him was getting closer.

    ¡°Alice!¡± Hiro eximed, trying to summon Alice from the darkness. Even his Demon¡¯s eyes were useless.

    ¡°I am here!¡± Spyro replied. The voices were very close, yet the two were separated by a distance they didn¡¯t know.

    Then, they ended up in a deepke, falling into it before being pushed back to the surface of theke as if the water pressure possessed by theke was far greater than the energy of gravity.

    When Hiro¡¯s body plunged into the water, his health points suddenly drained quickly and it really tortured him.

    ¡°It¡¯s hot.¡±

    [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [- 500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500] [-500]

 Chapter 250 Puzzle

    ¡°Hiro, wake up!¡± Spyro tried to p Hiro¡¯s face hard until the man woke up. She managed to pull the man¡¯s body out to thekeside with great difficulty.

    Hiro finally woke up. His body was still wet with water, which continued to reduce his health points until it turned red, showing that he was dying now.

    ¡°Damn, that was close. Is that holy water?¡± Hiro immediately consumed his health potion before any monsters attacked him. When he looked up, he could see nothing but darkness. It was impossible to get out of that ce by flying back up. There must be another way.

    Hiro checked the map through his HUD system and noticed the name of the ce had changed.

    [Dreamcatcher Dungeon (Underworld)]

    Hiro got up to finish his task right away. The test turned out to be quite long, and he couldn¡¯t remember how long he had been in that ce because the clock didn¡¯t move, as if the time had stopped.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Alice.¡±

    Hiro drew the Blood-eater vampire¡¯s sword and walked away from theke. He looked for another way until he saw a cave at the end of theke. He immediately ran towards the cave and entered it without hesitation. As usual, the cave ended in a long passage with very minimal lighting. Hiro could count how many pairs of torches that lightened up the ce. Well, it was better than nothing at all.

    Hiro continued to walk deeper until he saw another turn on his left. This time, there were two paths: stay straight or enter into the dark passage. He didn¡¯t know what awaited him in it. In the end, Hiro chose to continue to walk straight. He walked until there was a dead end in front of him. However, it didn¡¯t just stop there because arge iron gate that was locked tightly was before him.

    On both sides of the iron gate were a pair of torches that functioned as light. Then, the moment Hiro touched the surface of the door, a notification appeared.

    [Move the lever to open the gate]

    This time, Hiro was sure that the previous turn had the lever he needed to open the gate. He immediately turned around to run towards the turn and entered it without hesitation.

    However, it wasn¡¯t just the lever that he found in that ce. From quite a distance, Hiro could see a figure of a dwarf whose height only reached his thigh was waiting for him there. The dwarf wore a red shirt from top to bottom.

    ¡°What do you want, Traveler?¡± said the dwarf in a squeaky voice like a mouse.

    ¡°I have to move the lever in the other direction to open the gate,¡± Hiro replied briefly.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you do it!¡±

    Crash!

    Suddenly, the little dwarf¡¯s body expanded into arge size until its clothes were torn apart. Within seconds, the dwarf had turned into an angry red wolf.

    Howl!

    The fight was unavoidable. Hiro had to defeat the monster to activate the lever.

    St!

    In that very narrow room, Hiro actually benefited greatly. He managed to sh the wolf¡¯s body and then stabbed its heart with the tip of the Blood-eater vampire. The wolf monster was instantly killed because its HP was drained quickly. Then, it shattered into shards of pixel crystal and vanished without a trace.

    Hiro immediately ran to the lever and pushed it forward. He moved it to the corner so that the gate would open.

    Ding!

    [The gate has been opened]

    Hiro could see the scene instantly change. The ground beneath him moved like there was an earthquake happening in that ce. However, it happened because the iron gate he had seen earlier was pulled up and opened the previously locked gate.

    However, when the gate was opened, five wolves of the same red color as the wolf he had just defeated earlier jumped out and started to howl loudly.

    Hiro immediately ran to where the monsters were. He attacked them with the help of Spyro who attacked using her fire breath and physical attacks from the air. The two of them managed to defeat the monster quickly without getting any significant damage.

    ¡°We have to hurry!¡±

    Hiro ran in through the already opened gate.

    Dap! Dap! Dap!

    Another long passage awaited him ahead. However, from a distance, he could see a portal. Its shape resembled a tube without ss, where there was a red light that continued to move like an electric current. It was a teleportation portal.

    Hiro was sure he had seen its form in a game. And without hesitation, he jumped through the red electric current and stood in the middle of the tube-like object.

    He wasn¡¯t hurt.

    Ding!

    [You will be teleported to the puzzle room]

    Hiro¡¯s guess was correct. His memory didn¡¯t lie to him. It was a portal to a special room resembling a square-shaped room that wasn¡¯t big but filled with mirrors of various positions. A puzzle room. He had to solve a puzzle to get out of that ce.

    Ding!

    [You have obtained the ring of light]

    Hiro looked at his middle finger on the right hand. A ring just appeared there with a crystal at the top. As Hiro clenched his right fist, a red light like a toyser, suddenly emerged from the crystal and disappeared in midair.

    Looking at the room filled with mirrors and given an object that could produce light, Hiro could already guess what he should do this time.

    There was a one meter high crystal rock that was located at a ce higher than the ground beneath him. It looked dim, as if it had lost its original light.

    Ding!

    [Light the crystal to activate the exit portal]

    ¡°Gotcha. My guess was right.¡±

    Even if he knew what to do, igniting the crystal was not as easy as he had imagined. Hiro had to adjust his position properly and take advantage of the mirrors in the room. If he shot directly at the crystal with his ring, the red light would disappear before it hit the crystal because the distance was only one meter while the crystal was five meters away from his position.

    Hiro had to climb up the uneven walls and try his luck to aim at one of the mirrors until theser reflected in the mirror could reach the crystal.

    One mirror was not enough. He had to use a reflection of at least three mirrors. And to reach the mirror, he had to calcte the angle of his shot, because even a slightly different angle would make his shot miss.

    There was no time limit in that room, but staying there too long was really unpleasant.

    ¡°Hiro, do you need my help?¡± asked Alice, starting to get annoyed that Hiro¡¯s shot was missed even though the man was so close to reaching the crystal.

    ¡°No, a little more. I can do this by myself.¡±

    Clink!

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Hiro had to climb up on one of the mirrors to position himself on the same level as the other four mirrors. The light he shot managed to bounce in a zigzag way through the four mirrors until it finally made it into the crystal.

    Ding!

    [You have sessfully ignited the crystal]

    [The exit portal will open]

    Hiro saw the wall below him suddenly glitch before it disappeared. He immediately ran there to get out of the puzzle room.

    ¡°Easy.¡±

 Chapter 251 Power of Buff

    Hiro walked towards the portal that had just appeared, and he was back in another passage. This time, the floor in the passage had a motif like the fossils of the insect. It was really different from the previous ce.

    ¡°Insect, huh?¡± Hiro guessed what monster he would have to face after this. Then, he walked down the passage, which was only onene. He could feel the air in that ce was different from before. It was very cool, as if such arge supply of oxygen was packed in that ce.

    At the end of the passage, he saw three other tubr portals. Each of them had three different colors. There was a wooden nk near each of the portals, and Hiro immediately approached from the center.

    Ding!

    [Power of Water]

    [Description: Power of Water will give you a healing buff every 30 seconds. Healing buff including up to 10,000 HP recovery in 10 seconds if only you do not get hit by the monster/boss.]

    [Enter the portal to activate the buff]

    Hiro turned his head to the tube on the right.

    [Power of Earth]

    [Description: Power of Earth will give you an additional armor effect. The effect of every ultimate skill that gives physical or magical damage will be reduced up to 10% (CD = None).]

    And thest one was¡­

    [Power of Wind]

    [Description: Power of Wind will give you a resistance against all kinds of disable skills and negative effects. (CD = None)]

    Ding!

    [You can only choose two types of power before entering the elevator]

    ¡°Elevator?¡±

    Along with the notification that had just appeared, a stone elevator slid up from the previously level floor. It had a scribble in the shape of the famous Illuminati logo. Hiro knew where he was going next, and two choices were much better than just one. Even so, Hiro had to think about the buff power he would choose carefully.

    Seeing the description on the Power of Wind made Hiro 100% sure that the monster or boss waiting for him must have a skill that had a negative effect or disable skill. Only people who didn¡¯t know how to y the game would ignore the Power of Wind. In a solo y like this, having the ability to be immune to negative effects was something that was mandatory and should not be missed.

    Hiro¡¯s first choice fell on the Power of Wind. Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped into the portal to the right, the Power of Wind.

    Ding!

    [You have been blessed by the power of wind]

    A very strong wind swirled within the narrow portal, blowing Hiro¡¯s clothes and hair for a few seconds before finally disappearing again. Then, Hiro saw a new symbol appear on his avatar profile.

    [Buff : Power of Wind]

    Next, the second choice fell between the Power of Water and the Power of Earth. Both of them would provide a defensive effect. Hiro felt a little unlucky that there was no damage buff in his selection. So whether he liked it or not, he had to choose between healing or damage reduction for the ultimate monster/boss.

    The healing buff would really help him save healing potions which were now running low, and he still didn¡¯t know where he could get it againter. Even so, defending against the attack of the monsters for 10 seconds was not easy, especially if the monster was an insect monsterter. They would definitelye with the colony. It was rare for an insect-type monster to appear alone. Besides, Hiro also didn¡¯t want to waste his precious 10 seconds to gain 10,000 HP.

    Another option was damage reduction for ultimate skill. Well, it was 10%, quite tempting for the size of the ultimate damage reduction skill. He would never know how the ultimate skill appeared. If the ultimate skill possessed by the boss turned out to have the power equivalent to instant death, then with a 10% reduction ¡­ that instant death would never happen. Instead ¡­ Hiro might be dying and the remaining HP was only 10%. Well, that was better than dying right away.

    Hiro immediately stepped into the Power of Earth portal and received the buff he had chosen.

    Ding!

    [You have been blessed by the power of earth]

    This time, his body felt like it had been hit by a very gentle sandstorm before he could finally step out of the portal again.

    Whoosh!

    rr!

    The Power of Water portal suddenly exploded when Hiro had just left the Power of Earth portal. He was quite surprised because he did not expect that such a thing would happen. Even so, the explosion only destroyed the unselected portals without harming Hiro, who was standing very close to them.

    Next, Hiro looked at the waiting elevator and found the elevator door automatically opening widely. He approached the elevator right away. His heart suddenly thumped as if he couldn¡¯t wait to face the monster that was waiting for him.

    ¡°Well, are you ready now, Hiro?¡± Alice asked curiously. Hiro nodded his head.

    Ding!

    [Are you sure you want to go now?]

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The elevator was moving downwards. Since the walls were made of stone, Hiro couldn¡¯t see anything other than the narrow space inside the elevator. Even so, his journey down to the lower world was not smooth. After moving for about a minute, the elevator finally hit the ground hard and made the passengers in it stagger against the wall.

    Bang!

    Ding!

    The elevator door opened. In front of Hiro, there was a kind of abandoned ntation. It was very dark and had stone walls overgrown with vines. The air in that ce was very humid.

    ¡°Hiro, I really feel something is off right now,¡± Alice said as she pressed herself against Hiro.

    The moment Hiro got out of the elevator. The elevator suddenly closed and went up again to the surface, leaving him alone. It showed that there was no other choice but to win.

    Whoosh!

    The wind blew from the front. It was very cold and made the atmosphere even more tense. The ce was very dark, reminding Hiro of the maze that he had almost conquered back then. However, in the next second, three bright green dots of light suddenly flew towards Hiro. The light darted on the spot, then moved as if inviting him to follow them.

    Hiro¡¯s hand moved to touch one of the lights, and as he touched it, suddenly a loud, ear-splitting scream startled him.

    ¡°AaAaaaaArghhh!¡±

    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Hiro immediately took his index finger away from the light, and the painful scream disappeared. Next time, Hiro didn¡¯t want to touch that thing again and just followed them in silence.

 Chapter 252 Rotten

    The three lights were like three fireflies, and following them made Hiro go deeper into the ce. By being near the three fireflies, at least Hiro could see the surrounding area with their light. It was much better than seeing in the dark and groping like a blind man.

    During the journey, Hiro could hear the rustling sounds in the bushes as if a creature were watching him silently. Hiding, but walking after him from all directions. Hiro couldn¡¯t predict their number and just kept walking, while gripping the Blood-eater vampire in his hands tightly.

    Hiro opened his inventory using the HUD system and chose the buff he would use before fighting against the boss monster. He firmly believed that in a moment, he would have to defeat the monster or the dungeon boss.

    Without wasting time, Hiro used the buff in his inventory. It was a buff to increase damage because he knew that the current monsters in the Last Shelter Online had increased a lot in power.

    Ding!

    [You have entered the boss area]

    Hiro¡¯s steps suddenly stopped when the notification appeared. In the next second, the three fireflies that had been guiding him flew away and then merged in the air.

    Hiro could see a tree that was simr to The Guardian Tree, but it had rotted and was dark brown in color. The tree had lost its light. And when the three fireflies stopped on the tree, Hiro suddenly could hear a very noisy sound from all directions.

    The sound of animals pping their wings with various rhythms and the sound of animals moving through the vines of nts, they were packed in that ce. When Hiro looked down at his feet, he saw insects ranging from beetle-like to hard-shelled insects that seemed to be walking in an orderly fashion. They lined up in one direction and passed Hiro as if he wasn¡¯t there.

    Hiro didn¡¯t move, because if he did, he might have stepped on those insects.

    Meanwhile, in the air, the insects such as mosquitoes, beetles, grasshoppers, and other garden insects that had wings to fly flocked together.

    The creatures were moving towards the same ce. It was The Guardian Tree that looked like it was dead.

    Ding!

    [The Guardian Tree has guarded all beings during its lifetime from almost the entire generation as long as they were created. But this time, with the absence of The Guardian Tree, the creatures could no longerst long. All diseases kept popping up and killing them slowly. Until now, after The Guardian Tree hadpletely lost its protection, they had given up their lives to die with the Guardian Tree. A sacrifice for the thing they regard as god.]

    A scene appeared like a story. After that, all the insects that were around him suddenly turned into light. The light was very bright because there were so many of them. Hiro even had to close his eyes to see what would happen next.

    The lights seemed to be absorbed into The Guardian Tree before turning ck, as if rotting with it.

    And finally, a transformation urred.

    The size of The Guardian Tree¡¯s trunk grew almost double its previous size. Then, a pair of red eyes with ttened pupils like cat¡¯s eyes suddenly appeared on the tree trunk.

    ¡°Groaaaa!¡±

    An intimidating growl along with a powerful gust of wind shot out from the mouth that had just formed in a zigzag fashion on the trunk just below those red eyes.

    Ding!

    [New monster information has been unlocked]

    [The Guardian Tree (Rotten) (Level 125)]

    [Race: The Unholy]

    Hiro was just reading the text that appeared when one of the branches of the tree suddenly spread out towards him very fast.

    Crash!

    [-5,000]

    It was only a scratch on his left arm, but the damage was quiterge. Realizing that, Hiro decided to use predicio by relying on the cursed sigil of his. However, when he tried to use it, nothing happened, as if the sigil had defected.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Even Hiro¡¯s usual eleration buff from the sigil was inactive.

    ¡°Meta, it¡¯s your doing, right?¡±

    Meta did not give any answer.

    Realizing that one of his mainstay powers couldn¡¯t be used in the boss area, Hiro racked his brain again. He had to attack.

    Whoosh!

    Hiro shot forward, using the stone wall nking him for a foothold and making his jump even more powerful. His target was the trunk of the tree. However, as he hovered in the air, one of the tree branches that had been spreading suddenly swung towards him.

    Bang!

    [-7,650]

    Hiro twisted his body andnded with his feet first despite being thrown quite far away. He immediately got up and aimed for the back of the tree.

    The tree couldn¡¯t move from its ce, so Hiro benefited from it. Still, the tendrils of the twigs were really troublesome.

    St!

    Hiro managed to sh two tendrils off the branches that were pointing at him and cut them down. However, it did not weaken the tree. The branch that was broken and still connected to the tree spread again while the branch that fell on the ground suddenly turned into two snakes, which hissed and hurled ck liquid at Hiro.

    Szzaah!

    [-1,500] [1,500]

    Hiro immediately shed the two snakes. This time, both of their bodies were burned by the ck mes and vanishedpletely.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    ¡°Spyro, attack the rear with your fire breath. I¡¯ll distract it.¡±

    Hiro went into void mode and made the monster confused because it couldn¡¯t detect its opponent. As a result, the monster was now aiming for Alice who was struggling to dodge all of its attacks.

    Whoosh!

    Stab!

    Hiro managed to distract the monster as well as Alice. He took advantage of it. He needed a diversion to be able to appear in front of the boss before the void ran out. At the same time, Hiro thrust the de of his sword into the shaft at the mouth of the monster while activating the Blood-eater vampire¡¯s unique skill. And, it worked!

    [Boss HP has been revealed]

    [159,900/500,000]

    Hiro was just about to draw his sword, which was stuck in the monster¡¯s throat when suddenly a puff of smoke emerged from the gaping hole. The ck smoke was a bad sign if only Hiro didn¡¯t choose the Power of Wind.

    [You are immune to the ck Smoke (Toxins)]

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think this would be much easier than I thought.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t pull his sword out. Instead, he used all his strength to sh the tree trunk from the inside. Hiro¡¯s legs were already standing horizontally on either side of the monster¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Hyaaat!¡±

    Stt! Stt! St!

    Ding!

    [The Guardian Tree (Rotten) has been defeated]

    ¡°What? Is that all?¡±

 Chapter 253 Free Pass

    After defeating the monster, which Hiro thought was quite weak, the three lights had suddenly left the monster and hit his forehead. It was absorbed into him.

    Hiro fell backwards. However, instead of hitting the ground hard, he could feel his body floating in the air, and a bright light began to appear around him. There was only one ufortable feeling Hiro was having at the moment. His cursed sigil was really hot, as if it was burning.

    In the next second, a transparent screen and text that moved as if speaking to him appeared before him.

    [Dear yer NightFall, thank you for sacrificing three of your happy memories as an offering to the creators of The Guardian Tree. With your sacrifice, you will never be able to remember what you have sacrificed again. However, in return, I, The Great Sage, will grant you a sacred power that you can use to save many lives in this ruined world.]

    Ding!

    [Absorbing the Guardian Tree in progress]

    Hiro¡¯s right hand moved by itself, hovering higher than his body, and the three lights that had hit him earlier seemed to circle around his hand. It formed a very transparent green thread, then slowly thickened and turned dark red.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t fully formed, Hiro was sure that it was a sentinent shaped like a robot bracelet attached to his wrist.

    Ding!

    [Contract with The Great Sage has been made]

    [Contract name: Merra]

    [Elemental power: Fire]

    [Please, use this power wisely. Many lives are waiting to be saved]

    After thest text appeared, Hiro was transported again out of the exam map portal again.

    His feet stepped on familiar ground, and the faces of those who had been waiting anxiously for him were now visible before him.

    Those people who knew Hiro had returned got up and ran over to him right away.

    ¡°Hiro!¡± Liberty hugged Hiro tightly, then sobbed. The girl was a bit of a crybaby these days. ¡°You¡¯re back. Why did it take so long?¡± asked Liberty, finally willing to let Hiro go.

    ¡°Am I really gone that long? How long have I been missing?¡± Hiro was really curious about this one.

    ¡°It looks like more than 6 hours,¡± replied Ace who faithfully stayed in the body of the Maine Coon Cat. Hiro was surprised. He didn¡¯t expect that his solo journey would take quite a long time. He felt that everything was very fast and short, even the test was so easy that he was sure even Liberty could finish it.

    ¡°Did you seed?¡± asked Nichesz who had been silent all this time. Hiro nodded and raised his right hand, showing a new piece of equipment that he got from inside the test map.

    ¡°I got this. Let me try this stuff.¡± Hiro walked over to The Guardian tree behind his back. Spyro was waiting for him by the side of the tree. She also couldn¡¯t wait to see what would happen if Hiro activated it.

    ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡± Alice asked, still having some doubt.

    ¡°I¡¯m certain. I¡¯ve yed games like this before, and the concept is exactly the same. Maybe I also need to imitate what the MC did in the game to activate this tree,¡± Hiro exined, then stretched out his right hand in front of The Guardian Tree.

    ¡°Hiro, are you sure?¡± Liberty asked once again to confirm it.

    ¡°Well, as long as no one gets in my way because of her own fear.¡± Hiro replied while ncing at his cursed sigil, which was still hot and throbbing, making him feel ufortable. It seemed Meta still refused to talk to him.

    Hiro touched the trunk of The Guardian Tree with his right hand and the dark red sentinent in his hand suddenly showed a reaction. It gave off a faint red glow that slowly thickened as the time went.

    Ding!

    [Merra has detected a Guardian Tree]

    [Merra has requested the host to use his energy to activate The Guardian Tree]

    ¡°My energy?¡±

    Hiro felt that his stomach contents suddenly seemed to be pulled to the same point. It was to his right hand. He was very nauseous and dizzy for a moment. The surge of power then centered on his right hand.

    Ding!

    [Energy is very low 0/250]

    ¡°What?¡±

    Hiro¡¯s energy had been used uppletely and converted into light that appeared through the sentinent. Using his 250 points of energy, the red light was able to expand, and it was as big as the tree in front of him right now.

    [Merra has requested the host to release the energy]

    The light moved from the sentinent in Hiro¡¯s hand, then floated and enveloped The Guardian Tree until itpletely surrounded the tree. As the light moved away from his body, Hiro suddenly felt his legs were very weak and he fell unconscious. This was the first time Hiro¡¯s energy was taken for grantedpletely.

    He had never been this careless before.

    ¡­

    ¡°Hiro, wake up!¡±

    It was Liberty¡¯s soft voice.

    Hiro blinked his eyes. When he managed to open his eyes again, he felt much lighter than before. He immediately sat down from Liberty¡¯sp. This time, the girl seemed no longer worried about him. Liberty even smiled very broadly.

    ¡°What?¡± Hiro asked in confusion.

    Liberty only moved her index finger to point at something behind Hiro¡¯s back.

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened when he saw a giant tree that looked like an old banyan tree growing in very healthy conditions. Even some birds seemed to be perched on the branches.

    Everything felt like a dream. Hiro reflexively stood up to examine the tree until he forgot that his left hand still refused to touch the object that was considered sacred because it had sacred power.

    Crash!

    ¡°Argh.¡± Hiro pulled his hand away. Meta still didn¡¯t say anything.

    Whatever he had just done had seeded in making the tree transform into its original form. However, it was not only the tree¡¯s life that was saved by Hiro. Liberty tugged at his shirt from behind to get his attention. When Hiro turned around, his eyes widened again. He saw dozens of bloodline demon NPCs who were lined up in front of him while waving their hands happily.

    Their forms had returned to normal, even some of them that Hiro had known before, including the subus girl named Milly who immediately ran away from the line to rush to hug him.

    ¡°Thank you, Nightfall. You saved us all,¡± said the girl sincerely, as if she was no ordinary NPC robot.

    ¡°How did you know it was me?¡± Hiro asked curiously, ignoring Liberty¡¯s annoyed look who didn¡¯t seem to expect that a sexy, seductive girl like Milly would hug her boyfriend in front of her eyes.

    ¡°We can see that. When the power of The Guardian Tree erased all the evil that existed in this ce and turned life to its proper, the hero who sacrificed his energy to do so was instilled in the memory of us all,¡± Milly exined in detail. It made Hiro believe that the girl was actually not an ordinary NPC.

    Being considered a hero in the NPC world was an exaggeration, especially for the size of an online game like this. An MC being a hero in offline games might be mainstream, but this was an online game that should have a more global story concept.

    Even so, Hiro enjoyed the ttery and title given to him.

    Ding!

    [You have unlocked a new title ¡®Underworld Hero¡¯]

    [You have obtained a free pass card for all features in Underworld City]

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Hiro took out a card that reminded him of a credit card in the real world. The card was the same size as the credit card, except that it only had one color, metallic ck with ¡®Free Pass¡¯ engraved on one side.

    ¡°What is it, Hiro?¡± Liberty asked curiously.

    ¡°Free Pass Card, as the city hero, the residents are obliged to give whatever the hero needs without asking for anything in return. The hero can use it to get absolutely anything that the residents of the Underworld City have,¡± replied Milly, suddenly functioning like Nyx, the asdroid informant.

    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s amazing Hiro. Can you try that stuff?¡±

    Hiro agreed with Liberty. With the free pass ¡­ he would no longer have to think about his daily needs, and how much LSC was needed per day. However, for him, it was just too good to be true, so he decided to give it a try.

    ¡°What do you want now, Libe?¡± Hiro asked while ying the card in his hand.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m really hungry. I really need to eat now, Hiro. Do you know the best food they can make here? I¡¯m really curious about the food the demon race eats because I¡¯ve never been able to visit this ce before,¡± Liberty exined honestly.

    ¡°Just swipe it up and you¡¯ll see the magic that the card brings.¡±

    Hiro raised an eyebrow doubtfully, but he immediately gave it a try. Swiping up the card in empty air made him look a little stupid, but¡­

    Ding!

    [Tell me, what do you need, Underworld Hero?]

    ¡°Is there a daily usage limit?¡± he asked Milly.

    ¡°Every day, the daily pass points that will be avable are 100 pass points. Each request will cost a number of points that vary depending on the level of difficulty. As long as you can manage how to use the point, you can use it many times a day.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the pass point will be back to 100 in the next morning.¡±

 Chapter 254 Anti-Cheat

    Hiro decided to ask the Underworld City¡¯s resident NPCs for food in exchange for 10 points of his free pass. Even though it was only 10 points, Hiro got a banquet like a small feast. Not only one person who gave him food but several people at once. They were friendly to Hiro but indifferent to Liberty and Nichesz because those girls were not from the demon bloodline.

    Besides, Hiro still hadn¡¯t grasped the situationpletely. Besides, Milly, the subus, was really clinging to him right now. She was so clingy that he had to sneak out from the prepared feast outside the perfectly reshaped building.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to leave them for a while. I have to go to the tower,¡± Hiro muttered after he managed to slip away from the crowd. He nced at Liberty and Nichesz who were eating so voraciously that they didn¡¯t even notice Hiro had disappeared.

    ¡°Where are we going, Hiro?¡± Alice asked, following Hiro in silence. She flew near him because she was getting bored.

    Hiro couldn¡¯t stay still and enjoyed the dinner party while the world around him was still crumbling. Besides, he also couldn¡¯t calm down because there was still no information from his trusted people.

    Hiro checked his friendlist again and found many friend requests. Almost all the names that appeared were the names of the yers he knew. They were from Evesting, and it seemed they were starting to notice that something was wrong with their old friendlists. The people who were trapped in the same world as Hiro immediately added him as a friend to connect with each other.

    Hiro epted the friend requests one by one as he continued walking towards one of the closest towers in the Underworld City. It was thest tower he went to with Milly the subus. He was sure that one of hisrades was hiding in that ce.

    MyPhantom, Cara.

    Ding!

    [BigShow has tried to connect with you]

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Boss! Finally, it¡¯s connected! Are you all right, Boss? Where are you now? It¡¯s a mess in here, Boss!¡±

    Hiro frowned when he heard BigShow¡¯s heavy voice screaming right inside his ears. He should have been the one worried about BigShow, but this time his position was reversed.

    ¡°BigShow, I¡¯m fine. How about you? Are you with the others? How many people are with you?¡± Hiro asked quietly. He didn¡¯t need to shout to speak through the dialing system that connected like a telepathy.

    BigShow told Hiro that he was currently with seven yers. Three of them were the members of the Evesting guild who were still interns. They were in a very cold ce and covered in snow, even though everything felt like it had ttened off the ground. That was from BigShow¡¯s exnation.

    Hiro was sure that they were in the Moonspire City. Yet, he still didn¡¯t know how to gather with them again.

    ¡°Wait a sec, teleportation.¡±

    Hiro had just remembered about the teleportation NPCs that should always be avable in all cities. Given that the Underworld City had been rebuilt, wasn¡¯t the teleportation of NPCs back to normal as well? But still, Hiro wasn¡¯t sure that the feature would still work after the ocean was removed from the map.

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you back, BigShow. Don¡¯t die and take care of each other. Be careful with strangers. They could have the intention of robbing you. You know, the yers can loot other yers now, right?¡±

    Hiro almost forgot to share that important information with the people he knew. It was not to tell them to hunt other yers and loot their belongings, but rather a precautionary measure, so they could be careful of the yer killer who had increased drastically.

    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll be careful. Don¡¯t forget to keep me informed, Boss. I¡¯ll also give the update information every time I find anything.¡± BigShow¡¯s response was calm again.

    After disconnecting from BigShow, Hiro checked his friendlist again. Jacob and Noah, they still didn¡¯t respond.

    If Jacob didn¡¯t notice a new feature, it might note as a surprise, but Noah? There was no way the man didn¡¯t notice the massive system change in the game.

    ¡°Is this the ce?¡± Alice asked curiously. Hiro was already standing in front of a tower wall that had been guarded again by the bloodline demon NPC guards. Threerge demi-human demons approached Hiro. Their gazes looked displeased. Indeed, it was not easy to ess the tower without permission.

    It seemed that rule one hadn¡¯t changed.

    ¡°What are you looking for in this ce, Traveler?¡± asked the demon in a fully red body like a Hellboy.

    Hiro took out the free pass card that was in his inventory and showed it to the guard. ¡°How many points does it need to allow me to enter the dungeons of this tower?¡± he asked. He was sure the card could be used for anything, including permission to ess the tower.

    ¡°30 points,¡± replied the guard demon with a snort. He looked disappointed after seeing Hiro take out the card and show it to him.

    ¡°Well, make it free or I am gonna kick your ass,¡± Hiro had drawn his Blood-eater vampire sword, showing the guards that he was serious about his threat.

    The threerge demons in front of him looked surprised at the unexpected offer. Yet, the one who had spoken to Hiro tly refused.

    ¡°30 points means 30 points,¡± he said, remaining firm. He didn¡¯t move at all from where he was standing.

    Hiro swung his sword swiftly, shing empty air until a spark of light emanated from the de, as if something had just been shed by it.

    ¡°You know how I got this free pass card, right? Well, if you¡¯re still curious about the shing power of a mighty Underworld Hero, I¡¯ll give it to you and your men for free,¡± said Hiro with a faint smile on his face, trying to bring down the opponent¡¯s mentality. And it worked.

    The two guards standing behind seemed to retreat in unison and shook their heads. Their eyes focused on the de of Hiro¡¯s greatsword, then gulped in horror at the thought of it shing at them.

    ¡°All right, 10 points will be enough. I give you a discount, Underworld Hero,¡± said the guard demon, starting to falter. His eyes kept watching Hiro¡¯s sword as if the guard was afraid that the sword would suddenly sh his neck.

    ¡°Free,¡± Hiro hissed, repeating his request. After all, he only needed to invite a subus to enter the tower¡¯s undergroundst time, although he also had to give her some LSC. But now, possessing an item more magical than LSC, Hiro felt that it was time he took advantage of his position.

    However, before the demon guard could say anything¡­ a woman suddenly shouted in a loud voice.

    ¡°Aaarrgghhh!¡±

    Hiro felt that the voice was familiar. Without saying anything, he immediately swung his sword vigorously towards the neck of the guard in front of him until it was cut off from his body.

    St!

    ¡°Hiro wait!¡±

    Hiro was already running towards the hidden door. He was lucky to find the hinge of the door seemed to have been broken, so he could easily open it. Even as he pulled the door open, Hiro identally broke the metal door from its hinges.

    Hiro jumped into the very dark ce and used his demon¡¯s eyes because this time he forgot not to bring a torch.

    Down underground, Hironded beautifully without hurting himself. He could feel the presence of someone in that ce because the passage was slightly warm. It was very different from thest time Hiro entered that ce.

    Tap! Tap! Tap!

    ¡°Meta,¡± called Hiro, still trying to get back the demon inside him.

    ¡°Stop ming me or I¡¯ll never feed you again,¡± Hiro exined deliberately to lure the demon out.

    At the same time, the sigil on his left hand thickened. When the power locked in his left hand activated, Hiro¡¯s right hand now felt like it was burning. It was very hot and ufortable.

    [Movement speed has been increased]

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Hiro sped away quickly, his legs spinning like wheels. Until he saw a sight that he didn¡¯t expect at all.

    ¡°Nightfall! Hurry up, save me from this disgusting monster!¡±

    Hiro stopped walking. Before him, he could see Cara being entangled by a monster right in front of the gate to the abyssal. The monster looked like ck vomit that had piled up. It was alive and kept moving against Cara, pulling her body until the tight armor she was wearing was torn in the abdomen and thighs. The girl was even half naked when Hiro came.

    ¡°What are you looking at, NightFall? Hurry!¡± shouted Cara, looking very angry but helpless.

    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Even though Cara called it a monster, it didn¡¯t have a HP bar like a special NPC. Besides, why was it wrapped around Cara like it was giving her a punishment?

    ¡°It is an anti-cheat terror. A demonic thing that can only appear when someone is trying to break the rule made by the demon lords,¡± Meta, as a demon, gave Hiro the answer.

    ¡°That girl must have done something,¡± added Meta confidently.

    ¡°What should I do to get rid of it?¡± Hiro asked. He was sure there must be a way.

    ¡°Simple. Just do as the rule said, and do not break it twice otherwise the terror will be more powerful.¡±

 Chapter 255 Create the sins

    Hiro still remembered what he had to do to open the gate of sins which was now covered by that disgusting object. He didn¡¯t know what Cara had just done until it was considered an act of cheating.

    ¡°What have you done, Cara?¡± Hiro asked without beating around the bush. He couldn¡¯te up with a solution to save the girl without knowing the original cause.

    ¡°Well, I saw a closed gate then a bang it using all of my power. That¡¯s all, and suddenly this thing came out. Are you going to just sit there and do nothing to this thing, NightFall?¡± Cara was really already very upset. Her hands and feet were tied up. She could only squirm a little.

    Thest time Hiro opened the gate, he had to activate the seven deadly sins. That was the condition. However, before he could do that¡­ Hiro had to knock on the gate three times.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight. My demon said that the more you fight, the more you will be considered cheating, and the anti-cheat will punish you longer,¡± Hiro exined, then cautiously stepped forward. He tried his best not toe into contact with the disgusting object.

    Hiro was already leaning so close to Cara that it made the girl re at him, ¡°What are you doing, NightFall? You¡¯re too close!¡± she hissed with her face turning red.

    Hiro ignored her. He had no other choice but to do it. Either way, his hand had to touch the gate. Then, he knocked on it.

    Knock ¡­ knock ¡­ knock

    Ding!

    [The Gate of Sins is being essed by another yer at this moment]

    [Only one yer can ess the gate at the same time]

    There were no other yers in the ce apart from Hiro and Cara, so it was clear which yer was still connected to the gate. This time, Hiro realized that he had to use n B to save Cara.

    ¡°What? Stop looking at me like that, NightFall. Just release me from this dirty stuff!¡±

    Hiro¡¯s n B was to help Cara create the seven deadly sins because that was the condition for opening the gate. Based on what Meta had said, Hiro was sure that it would be the only way to break free from the anti-cheat restraints.

    ¡°Listen to me. There is only one way to free yourself from this thing. This thing works based on the program. It¡¯s like the security system. Maybe this thing didn¡¯t crash because of the current attack by the hackers. So, do you trust me?¡± Hiro asked carefully, repeating something he had done was not difficult.

    Cara looked at him in confusion. She frowned for a second, and then her expression softened. The girl noticed that Hiro¡¯s eyes were serious. The man wasn¡¯t joking. After all, she knew best about Hiro. He was not someone who easily made jokes, especially at times like this. If it had been Jacob, it might have been a different story.

    ¡°All right. Fine. I trust you,¡± said Cara who had no other choice. She was already annoyed by the slimy and disgusting thing that wrapped around her. She wanted to be free and clean her sticky body.

    ¡°Well, what should I do?¡± Cara asked in confusion.

    ¡°Have you ever heard about the seven deadly sins? Gluttony, wrath, sloth, vanity, pride, greed, and lust?¡± Instead of answering the girl¡¯s question, Hiro asked another question. Cara then nodded her head.

    ¡°Of course I know about that. What do the seven deadly sins have to do with my situation right now? Just be fast, Nightfall.¡±

    ¡°You have to open the gate of sins. In order to open that gate, you have to act like you have all the seven deadly sins in your soul until the gate gives you ess,¡± Hiro briefly exined.

    ¡°Act? Are you kidding?¡± It wasn¡¯t easy to convince Cara, who was getting more and more upset right now. Hiro had no choice, so he decided to use another n. Improvised.

    Hiro brought his body closer to the surface of the gate again. This time, he deliberately used his hands between Cara¡¯s head to support his body, and the girl was immediately shocked by Hiro¡¯s sudden action.

    Hiro looked at Cara with a look she had never imagined before. The man suddenly acted like the Hiro she didn¡¯t know.

    Cara¡¯s position, which was tightly restrained by the anti-cheat, made it easy for Hiro to touch her without getting any attack or resistance. The girl couldn¡¯t move at all when Hiro deliberately whispered right in her ear. He did this with the goal of freeing Cara from the terror of the anti-cheat.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you. The key is in your head.¡± Hiro touched Cara¡¯s head from the side. The girl suddenly felt goosebumps at the gentle touch and whispers.

    ¡°And¡­¡± Hiro moved his hand that hadnded on Cara¡¯s head, down the girl¡¯s cheek, then to the bridge of her nose, thick lips, until it finally arrived at the left side of her semi-revealed chest. ¡°Your heart.¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you doing, NightFall?! Did you just touch my b¨C¡±

    Cara¡¯s screams stopped when a notification suddenly popped up on her HUD system. It distracted her from the embarrassing situation a bit.

    Ding!

    [The sin of wrath has been activated]

    ¡°It seems it works well. Tell me, what sin do you just get? Wrath, I guess.¡± Hiro was still leaning against the gate with both hands, while Cara just nodded like she had just seen something she didn¡¯t expect.

    ¡°It worked. You¡¯re right, it was the sin of wrath,¡± Cara said, suddenly sounding enthusiastic. At least she could finally figure out something that could really help her to break free from this disgusting, slimy thing. ¡°What¡¯s next, Nightfall? Do it fast. I can¡¯t stay like this forever.¡±

    ¡°You can just simply curse the door with the words that represent all the remaining sins and see if they can ept it or not.¡±

    After Cara understood, Hiro got back on his feet and let Cara do her own thing. That way, the girl would get new experiences that she might need to solve a puzzle like this againter.

    Cara nodded and started spouting obscenities ording to the sin that still hadn¡¯t been activated. Each time she managed to activate the sin she had to do, the smile on her face grew wider. Cara seemed to be enjoying the challenge now.

    Hiro just watched her until the girl gave up. He hoped for one thing. The sin of lust, thest time he needed someone else¡¯s help to activate it. This time, he wasn¡¯t sure that Cara could also do it alone.

    ¡°Hoooff ¡­ Now I am really thirsty. Can you give me some water? Don¡¯t just stay there like a statue and do nothing, NightFall.¡± Cara looked starting to run out of words.

    ¡°So how was it? How many sins can you activate?¡± Not knowing the progress that was going on made Hiro a little frustrated.

    ¡°Well, six. I know I am cool, right? But, thest one is¨C¡±

    Hiro covered Cara¡¯s mouth before she finished her sentence. He knew thest sin the girl had to do because Cara hadn¡¯t uttered any obscenities that could rte to it.

    Cara still couldn¡¯t move. Only her two eyeballs were able to move freely after Hiro covered her mouth.

    ¡°This onest thing, you can¡¯t do it by yourself. You are lucky to have me here to help you,¡± Hiro said. He already knew what he would do next.

    Cara swallowed her saliva with difficulty. She still didn¡¯t know what Hiro was nning until the man started his act.

    Hiro kept Cara¡¯s mouth shut so that the girl couldn¡¯t scream. It was also because her jaw was caught by his big hand. After telling Cara what he was going to do, Hiro bent forward against the girl¡¯s body, which was still restrained by the anti-cheat.

    Without giving a hint, Hiro moved his face to Cara¡¯s neck and gave the girl a kiss. He could feel Cara¡¯s body jolted a little as he touched her on the neck, trailing on a thin blood vessel that looked like it was throbbing weakly. It seemed Hiro already knew where the girl¡¯s weak point was.

    After giving enough kisses with a few sucked in that part, Hiro moved further down, towards the part of Cara¡¯s chest that was slightly exposed due to her clothes being damaged by the anti-cheat. He could feel Cara¡¯s skin, which was very soft and plump. It also felt a little warm in that area. Hiro kissed her so gently that Cara¡¯s body reacted strangely again.

    After that, Hiro raised his face to look at Cara who just seemed to have closed her eyes. ¡°Does it feel good?¡± he asked, wanting to tease the girl a little after seeing the expression on her face. Cara just blinked her eyes.

    Hiro was curious about the answer the girl would utter from her lips, so he let her lips free from his hand. However, Cara suddenly turned quiet. She just looked at Hiro with a reddened face.

    Hiro touched the girl¡¯s face gently. It felt warm. Feeling that his action was still not enough to activate the sin of lust, this time Hiro brought his face closer to kiss Cara¡¯s lips. The girl didn¡¯t refuse at all. She opened her lips slightly and allowed Hiro to stick his tongue in. And then, she yed it. The gentle kiss had turned into a passionate kiss. Cara started to bite Hiro¡¯s lips as if she had been waiting for it for a long time.

 Chapter 256 Hes back

    Hiro opened his eyes again when he heard the sound of the gate sliding from inside. He pulled back his body and saw the exact same ck smokeing out of the gaps in the gate. It enveloped the anti-cheat terror as well as Cara¡¯s body, making them both invisible.

    [The gate of sins has been opened]

    As the smoke disappeared, Cara sat on the ground with her face down. She covered the part of her body that was exposed because of the anti-cheat. Since Cara had done what she was supposed to do from the start, the anti-cheat had vanished and set her free.

    ¡°Get dressed. We still have many things to do,¡± said Hiro, then turned his back to the girl. Alice, who hadn¡¯t said anything, just looked at him from the side. Hiro ignored her. He knew that she was judging what he had just done.

    ¡°Well well, look at you.¡±

    Hiro could hear Alice¡¯s voice inside his head. He had already changed themunication mode back to using telepathy.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Cara said after getting up on her two feet. She walked past Hiro with her chin raised. She didn¡¯t want to talk about what had just happened with Hiro, so she kept walking down the only passage in the ce.

    ¡°Did you defeat the zombies?¡± Cara asked curiously. Just a moment ago, before the gate was fully formed again, the passage was just an underground cave filled with ruins.

    After Hiro managed to resurrect the Guardian Tree, everything was suddenly reprogrammed. It returned to their respective positions before being destroyed by the hacker power who called himself the GM.

    ¡°They are immortals. I¡¯m sure you already know that, Cara.¡±

    Hiro walked behind Cara until the two of them arrived near a very steepdder. Going down by jumping was something easy, but going up¡­ it took more effort and time.

    ¡°I can fly her I guess,¡± Alice said in Hiro¡¯s head.

    With her current strength, Alice was confident that she could bring Cara flying up from the underground, and she really wanted to try it.

    ¡°What have you done? I saw a light before everything returned to normal.¡± Cara turned her head. For the first time, she dared to look at Hiro with her two eyes without showing a strange expression on her face. She no longer felt awkward or embarrassed, and that made Hiro relieved. He could leave all traces of what had just happened between the two of them at the bottom of the ground. No need to take it out.

    ¡°They use the Guardian Tree system. I just activated the tree and everything within this city area returned to normal.¡± Hiro took out his free pass and showed it to Cara, letting the girl read the words embedded there.

    Underworld Hero.

    ¡°How could you get that? And what is this card for?¡±

    Hiro walked past her, patting the girl¡¯s shoulder to calm her down. She suddenly turned very enthusiastic in a short period of time.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you againter when we get out of here.¡± Hiro gestured to Cara to look at the light above the ceiling of the ce. The light showed that it was the exit. It was only a speck because the light came from the gap in the door that was just formed after Hiro destroyed it, and it was now tightly closed again as before.

    ¡°My dragon will carry you,¡± he added, then nodded at Alice who was waiting for him impatiently.

    Without waiting for Cara¡¯s approval, Spyro was already pping its wings and gripping Cara¡¯s shoulders with its hind legs.

    ¡°Kyaaa!¡±

    Hiro was surprised when the girl suddenly shouted quite loudly. It wasn¡¯t like her at all. The two of them had already shot up to the surface straight away while Hiro started going up thedder, more like he was climbing because of the upright position.

    The guard who had been badly treated by Hiro was already standing outside the door. The three of them stared savagely at Cara and made the girl reflexively draw out her two daggers. She wasn¡¯t afraid at all if the three of them attacked her at the same time.

    But¡­ before themotion broke out, Hiro jumped out of the same door.

    ¡°Ah¨Cyou guys again?¡±

    Seeing Hiro¡¯s appearance made the three NPCs seem to be stepping back slowly. Their cruel eyes also softened in a short time.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Cara asked. She was a little confused by the reactions of the three NPC guards.

    ¡°Well, it seems they don¡¯t like being around me,¡± Hiro replied briefly while patting the girl¡¯s shoulder, signaling her to follow him.

    ¡®They¡¯re really scared of you, Hiro.¡¯ Hiro could hear Alice squealing inside his head.

    The dragon had flown again, following Hiro. Its current size could no longer fit into his robes.

    ¡°I really need to buy new armor. That disgusting thing really put me at a disadvantage,¡± Alice grumbled, still not epting what had happened earlier. Currently, she only wore armor that was in different types, not a set. It was the only armor Hiro could find in his inventory right now.

    ¡°In that case, I am afraid that you can not. The marketce can not be essed. You should wait a little longer.¡±

    Then they walked back to the ce where the feast had taken ce. When they got there, the ce was still bustling and people gathered around at a big bonfire like they were doing camp.

    ¡°It¡¯s him! He¡¯s back!¡± eximed one of the NPCs when he realized Hiro hade back. He was standing by the bonfire.

    Liberty, who was curled up while leaningzily on Monica¡¯s body, immediately got up and ran to Hiro, just like the others did.

    ¡°Hiro! Where have you been? I thought that you would leave me alone!¡± Liberty hugged Hiro very tightly, as if the two had been separated for a very long time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Libe. I purposely did not tell you. I just don¡¯t want to take you to a dangerous ce.¡±

    Liberty pouted her lips as she was still annoyed because Hiro left without telling anything first. Then, she just realized that behind Hiro was a girl she knew.

    ¡°Cara? How¡­? How did youe with Hiro? Are you all right?¡± Liberty had already run up to the girl and held her hands. Both of them were of the same height. Only Cara was thinner and a little more muscr. Cara noticed that Liberty¡¯s gaze was genuine. The girl really looked worried about her, and that made her feel even more guilty for kissing back Hiro a few minutes ago.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sorry. I mean yes, I am all right,¡± Cara said, suddenly stuttering.

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful! Did Hiro find you? He was so worried about you!¡±

    Liberty hugged Cara and patted her back gently. Cara really did not expect it. This was the first time she had spoken to Liberty so much. Her eyes moved to look at Hiro.

    Hiro nodded.

    ¡°She¡¯s indeed adorable. Not only just her look.¡±

 Chapter 257 Special Event

    Hiro¡¯s return was warmly weed by the bloodline demon NPCs. Milly, the subus, had also stood near Hiro again.

    Until suddenly a transparent screen appeared in front of him.

    Ding!

    [Wee!]

    Hiro nced at Liberty and Cara. Both of the girls also got the same notification screen in front of them.

    Liberty immediately ran over to Hiro again and peeked at what was on the screen. It was the same. There was only one word.

    [Wee!]

    ¡°What happened, Hiro?¡± The girl was sure that something must have happened again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    They could only wait for the writing to change with new information while holding their breath in anticipation.

    [Do you miss me? -GM]

    [Well, let me talk to you directly]

    At that moment, the ears of Hiro and all the yers who were still alive and trapped in that world suddenly buzzed at the same time.

    ¡°Argh!¡±

    They reflexively held their ears together as the ufortable buzz could be heard. The next second, the voice they remembered as a robot sounded again. It really could be heard right in their heads, as if the one who called himself as GM was actually speaking to them directly.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait until the weekendes. Do you know? It¡¯s so boring just watching you guys kill each other or get killed.¡±

    Liberty and Cara looked at Hiro reflexively with questioning eyes. However, their mouths were locked tightly, and they focused on listening to what the GM said.

    ¡°What if I held a game?¡±

    Ding!

    The transparent screen disyed a different text again.

    [Game of Challengers]

    ¡°Do you like the name of the game? I know, it sucks a little. I¡¯m not good at using words when I¡¯m on duty. My favorites are just the numbers 0 and 1.¡±

    ¡°Well, you will have 30 minutes before the draw begins. Just check the screen to see how you have to y. I am quite busy right now. Hoammm¡­ sorry, I yawned. See you again! Ha ha ha ha.¡±

    The GM¡¯sughter grew farther and farther away until it disappearedpletely. Liberty looked very annoyed. She didn¡¯t like the sound of the GM, even though she fainted the first time that person introduced himself to all the yers in the world.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that? Is there a GM who really doesn¡¯t have an attitude like him?¡±

    Cara stared at Liberty who justined. She then nced at Hiro with a look that seemed to mean, ¡°Didn¡¯t she see anything when this world was destroyed?¡±

    ¡°She fainted. I don¡¯t know what happened, but she suddenly passed out before the game was stolen by the hackers,¡± Hiro exined.

    This time, Ace seemed to have just been pped with something very hard in the face. He almost didn¡¯t notice it before.

    ¡°Is it true? Did Liberty suddenly faint again?¡± Ace asked, trying to make sure his hypothesis wasn¡¯t wrong.

    Hiro nodded firmly. There was no slightest hesitation sh in his eyes.

    ¡°Did you faint too, NightFall?¡± Ace asked again, making Hiro feel slightly offended.

    ¡°Of course not.¡±

    ¡°Ah, shit ¨C it means it wasn¡¯t because of that,¡± Ace muttered, suddenly feeling disappointed. He scavenged the ground using Monica¡¯s forelegs. It looked like he was used to being a cat now.

    ¡°What do you know?¡± Hiro asked curiously. He didn¡¯t want to miss anything. All theories from different people would help him to figure out their current situation. And he really needed any kind of information now.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know anything.¡±

    Ding!

    [Game of Challengers]

    [Win the first ce to get special ess to challenge the demon king without getting the death penalty]

    ¡°Hmmm?¡±

    The sentence that appeared on the transparent screen was very clear. It was the reward promised by the GM. Hiro raised an eyebrow, feeling interested in knowing more about it.

    [special item: anti-death will be given to the yer who can win the game. This item is very rare. yers can get it from anywhere in the Last Shelter Online: The Dark War]

    [Anti-death item given from this game will be directly used when the winner is teleported to the boss room to challenge one of 10 demon kings and taste their power]

    Hiro read the announcement carefully. In his mind, he was already curious about the type of the game event that would beunched soon. From the name alone, it was clear that the game was made to fight for the position of the first challenger of the demon king.

    With easy ess.

    Besides, it was equipped with an anti-death item which seemed to show the main goal of the event. They wanted to show how strong the 10 demon kings that were still keeping a secret.

    Currently, only WynterRain had his identity revealed as the king of the demon kings. He even got a new name, Lord WynterRain.

    Based on what had been written in the game¡¯s new manual book, Hiro and all the yers had to try to defeat the 10 demon kings. So, they could be free from the game that had be a virtual prison for them.

    Hiro clenched his fists tightly. If there was only one winner in that event game, he would have to be that person, no matter what.

    Gaining experience to fight against the demon kings would give him an insight to find a strategy to defeat them all.

    Hiro looked into Liberty¡¯s eyes. The girl also looked back at him with slightly watery eyes. She was so real in front of him that Hiro repeatedly forgot that the girl was the first person who needed his help.

    Ding!

    [All interested yers can register without any minimum requirements to join the game. But still, the GM will only guarantee the winner¡¯s safety once when facing the demon king. The rest, it¡¯s all at the yer¡¯s risk]

    The GM said that he couldn¡¯t put words together. However, Hiro knew that the GM was very cunning with his trap words. Although he was not sure if everyone realized it, Hiro knew the meaning of thest sentence uttered by the man. It indicated that there would be many deaths that couldn¡¯t be saved during the game.

    ¡°You two don¡¯t need toe. I will do it myself,¡± Hiro said to Cara and Liberty. Liberty nodded in agreement. She wasn¡¯t really interested in the challenge games. However, Cara had opened her mouth toin.

    ¡°This is an order, not a request.¡± Hiro eximed before the girl said anything.

    Cara, who knew very well the meaning of Hiro¡¯s serious expression, gave up. She just nodded slowly.

    Ding!

    [Sign this contract if you are ready to join the special game event]

 Chapter 258 Special Treat

    Hiro wrote his name on the screen as requested. Meanwhile, Liberty and Cara, who were already very curious, were peeking beside him. Nichesz was also there. She felt that there was no need to participate in the event like the two girls by Hiro¡¯s side. Even though she had only been with them for a short time, she knew who the leader was.

    What would happen next? Hiro only needed to wait ording to the time given by the system.

    [You have registered as a yer NightFall]

    [Please wait until all the participants register]

    [The registration will be closed after 15 minutes]

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s still a lot of time left. What can we do while we wait?¡± Liberty asked, while looking at Hiro expectantly. She then turned to Cara and waited again.

    ¡°Cara, don¡¯t you feel hungry? We still have some leftovers if you¡¯re hungry,¡± Liberty said, being friendly again. She had no idea that Cara was still so eager to register for the event. Even until this second, Cara continued to stare at the transparent screen in front of her, as if telling her to register.

    ¡°Cara.¡± Hiro patted Cara¡¯s shoulder and took the girl by surprise. Cara looked at him in confusion. She didn¡¯t seem to have heard what Liberty had just said. Liberty, who finally understood the situation, pulled the girl away from that ce.

    ¡°I will give you the demon food, which is quite unique but delicious. You can ignore the screen like I did, Cara,¡± Liberty said casually, as if she could handle it. She wanted to help Hiro to focus on the event that was waiting for him.

    Hiro nodded as Liberty nced at him. He thanked the girl for giving him some time to himself.

    The NPC demons had returned to their respective ces. However, those who were still eating their food were still there, sitting by the fire and greeting Liberty and Cara as they came.

    The food served managed to distract Cara. She really needed to fill her empty stomach.

    Meanwhile, Hiro walked away to a fairly quiet ce. He sat on a cobblestone pavement while looking at the screen that was still showing the registration countdown.

    As usual, Hiro took the time to open his friendlist to see if there was any news from his two close friends who suddenly disappeared as if swallowed by the earth. He really wished them well. However, the longer he didn¡¯t get any news, the more certain he felt that something bad had happened to them.

    Hiro clenched his fists, feeling helpless. If only he could talk to the GM, or at least his brother one more time right now, he would ask his friend¡¯s whereabouts for the first question. What they had done seemed to have something to do with the fate of his two friends.

    ¡°Alice.¡±

    ¡°What? It¡¯s rare for you to call me. Do you need anything from me?¡±

    ¡°Can you find out where Jacob and Noah are now? You don¡¯t need to log into the game for a while. Can you find any information about the two of them?¡± Hiro asked, making a request that was enough to take Alice by surprise.

    ¡°Are you worried about the two of them? Wow. I didn¡¯t know you could care so much for them. Maybe they just want to try new things without you.¡±

    Hiro just stared at Alice. He knew Jacob and Noah wouldn¡¯t be like that. Even though Noah was annoying sometimes, he was sure something must have happened. He didn¡¯t agree with what the girl had just said.

    ¡°Can you do the game alone without me?¡± Alice asked, making sure Hiro was fine before logging out of Spyro¡¯s body. She realized that she had said the wrong thing and immediately wanted to act ording to Hiro¡¯s request to atone for her mistake.

    ¡°I can do it. I will win anyway. That way the person who calls himself GM will acknowledge my existence,¡± Hiro exined while ying with his fingers.

    ¡°What¡¯s your n, Hiro?¡± Alice asked curiously. She knew Hiro would definitely win, but she didn¡¯t know how the man would win the game.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what the game will be like yet. If it¡¯s just a duel game, I¡¯m sure I can do well, Alice. I just need to strategize during the preparation process. They can¡¯t just start the game without an exnation, right?¡± Hiro exined, while looking at his shoes.

    ¡°Besides, they also haven¡¯t announced who the demon king will be fightingter. If they choose it randomly, even though it¡¯s very unlikely to appear, I can meet Yuujin and talk to him if it¡¯s him.¡±

    Alice realized that her worries for Hiro were unnecessary. Hiro already knew what he was going to do without waiting for her opinion in the slightest.

    ¡°I will go now,¡± said the girl while flying in front of Hiro. She looked into Hiro¡¯s eyes onest time before leaving him.

    ¡°Don¡¯te back until you get something useful, Alice.¡± Hiro was really serious about his request.

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Kwaakk!

    Spyro was back with its unique voice, kwak! Hiro stroked the dragon¡¯s head gently, and it seemed the dragon liked it too. It acted very spoiled to its master because Hiro spoiled the dragon like that.

    [Registration time has ended]

    [All yers will be teleported to a special ce]

    [All yers]

    Hiro raised an eyebrow. The system went so far as to repeat it twice, as if they wanted to emphasize the two words. Not only the participants of the game event, but those who didn¡¯t register as well? What exactly was the GM nning?

    This time, Hiro looked at his hands, which suddenly felt hot like they were burning from the inside. Then, slowly, from his fingertips, they seemed to split apart from his body and turned into pixels like when a monster was killed in that world.

    The process was so slow that Hiro could see it until his eyes also turned into pixels. And everything turned very dark.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Hiro could still breathe and speak, but only his voice could be heard. He couldn¡¯t see anything, and his body felt like it was floating in the air. It was dark, very dark, and quiet. The atmosphere turned gloomy. He really didn¡¯t know what was going on until he could see a faint light appear in front of his face.

    The light then widened to form a screen. As if someone was contacting him, he could see an inscription appear. It seemed like it was being typed right now.

    [Game Preparation]

    [All demon bloodlines will get a special power injection]

    [Beware! This might sting you a bit!]

 Chapter 259 Negative Effect

    ¡°Aarghhhh!¡±

    Hiro could feel a cold iron needle suddenly piercing his neck. His hands could not move, neither could his legs. It was as if all four of his body parts were being restrained by very strong ropes.

    It was very painful. He felt like his brain had suddenly frozen.

    Hiro shouted his lungs out. Tears were already flowing out of the corners of his eyes. Slowly, his once clear vision turned blurry. He couldn¡¯t even see the warning words on the screen.

    ¡°What did they do to me?¡±

    Hiro had no idea what the GM was nning. But this one, he clearly didn¡¯t like it. It was very painful. One second, his brain was frozen, and the next second, he could hear his own heartbeat. It beat faster with a loud thud.

    At first, Hiro was afraid that his heart would explode. However, he regained hisposure when he remembered that all of this only happened in the virtual world. Hiro tried to hold it in.

    Even when the needle was being pulled out again, his heart still reacted strangely. He had never experienced something like this in his life.

    ¡°Am I going to die?¡±

    Ding!

    [The special injection has been given]

    Hiro could see the writing on the screen again. But, his head ached and throbbed violently. How could he fight under these conditions?

    As if starting to surrender to the current situation, Hiro closed his eyes slowly. A few secondster, the faint sounds of apuse and cheers could be heard very loudly. It was very lively.

    The sound managed to make him interested in peeking. The bright light blinded him. He was already somewhere else, and his back touched something rough.

    The sky above suddenly turned very bright. It was as if he was dreaming of being in the old world of the Last Shelter Online. However, that was not what made him reflexively get back to his feet. Around him, thousands of people cheered so loudly that their voices melted into one so that Hiro didn¡¯t know what they were really saying.

    Deg¨C

    Hiro felt that his heart had just stopped beating for a second, and he reflexively grabbed his left chest and stumbled to his knees once more.

    ¡°What¡¯s in that injection?¡± Hiro didn¡¯t find any strange icon in his status. He was in good condition. No negative effects were recorded by his avatar status. This situation made him even more worried. He was a little afraid his n would fail.

    Kwak!

    Spyro even noticed that Hiro wasn¡¯t doing well. However, seeing as the dragon was still nearby, at least Hiro wasn¡¯t alone now.

    ¡°I am okay, don¡¯t worry,¡± he said, while rubbing the dragon¡¯s head.

    Hiro turned his head back to look at the surrounding area, and he just realized that he was standing in a battle arena that looked like a Colosseum. It was exactly the same as what he saw on the inte. The Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

    Meanwhile, what made him wonder was the whereabouts of the other yers.

    The other yers were outside the battle arena as if they came here just to watch, while not a few yers had also appeared in the battle arena section. Those in the battle arena seemed to be divided into two.

    In Hiro¡¯s ce, he could see the yers with red eyes. All the yers with demon bloodlines were in the same arena as him. Meanwhile, at the other end, with an invisible barrier that kept experiencing strange glitches that were showing its existence, there were yers of various races. Their number was almost double that of the yers near Hiro.

    ¡°Yo, Pal, did you get that shot too?¡± a yer with the username RedDevilz29 approached Hiro. A blond-haired man who seemed to be the same age as him pointed to a mark on his neck. It was like a scorched ck circle.

    Hiro nodded. Wasn¡¯t it already told by the system that all bloodline demons got it? But for what?

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what it does. I felt nothing but shock as the iron needle pierced my neck. Do you think it¡¯s an empty injection?¡± he asked casually.

    Hiro frowned. He realized there was something strange about what the yer had said. No reaction whatsoever he said? Hiro¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t even work normally anymore. It was beating strangely. Sometimes, it beat very fast then suddenly stopped, as if someone was controlling and ying with it.

    ¡°Ughh¡­¡± It happened again. Hiro squeezed his chest and staggered to the side. He clung to Spyro who was struggling to support him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Spyro. I didn¡¯t mean to trouble you.¡±

    ¡°Pal, are you okay? You look so pale. Are you sure you want to y this game? You could have been killed, you know that, right?¡±

    Hiro nodded. He already knew that. He was even sure he would win before he got that unexpected shot. But now, he even doubted he couldst long in the arena.

    ¡°Damn, this is bad. What have they done to me?¡± Hiro walked away from the yer RedDevilz29. He still wanted to see who he knew in that ce.

    Then, his eyes easily found Liberty and Cara who were standing in the audience area. They both shouted at him as if they had long realized where Hiro was and tried to call out to him. However, the voices of the two girls were drowned out by the other people¡¯s voices.

    ¡°Libe, Cara? So it¡¯s true that all the yers were transferred to this ce?¡± Hiro looked around again. From splitting the yers into two major groups, he believed the GM had prepared a scenario.

    And whatever the scenario, he was sure that it was closely rted to a fight between the two groups.

    Ding!

    [Wee!]

    The transparent screen appeared again in front of all the yers, including those who were just the spectators.

    [Are you ready for the game of challengers?]

    [Look up!]

    All the yers who fell silent again immediately raised their heads up after reading the words that appeared on the screen.

    At the same time, the very clear sky was now surrounded by giant ck clouds that asionally emitted shes of light and thunder. In a matter of seconds, the atmosphere turned a little dark again. The shes of lightning that kept popping up in the sky became the only source of light.

    The atmosphere turned really gloomy right now.

    ¡°He¡¯sing.¡±

 Chapter 260 Game of Challengers

    From above the sky that had turned very dark with thunder and lightning shing, the ck clouds seemed to keep moving and then clumping together until they resembled a human face with a pair of long straight horns sticking out in front of his forehead.

    The lightning continued to strike and made the face that had just appeared look even more sinister. The yers who didn¡¯t know each other even got themselves closer to one another because they felt threatened.

    Neither of them had ever seen the silhouette of the face formed by the ck clouds. It was the first time he had shown himself. After being perfectly formed up there, a very heavy and deep voice and no less thundering than a lightning strike suddenly boomed in the sky as the clouds that framed a mouth seemed to move.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be watching the Game of Challengers from up here. My body is currently in the deadly tower, but my eyes can see wherever you are. And today, whoever wins the game will be my first opponent.¡±

    Hiro swallowed hard. Just from the look on his face, it showed that the demon king¡¯s appearance was even more intimidating than WynterRain¡¯s. However, it was not rare for games that had bosses with intimidating appearances to lose to bosses with high intelligence like WynterRain¡¯s.

    Even though his body still felt very strange, Hiro kept trying to focus and fight to survive in this game, or he would end up being miserably killed.

    ¡°I am one of the demon kings in the Last Shelter Online: The Dark War. I hold the power that you will never be able to imagine.¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha.¡±

    Zzzapp!

    Hisughter was apanied by lightning strikes from all directions. The lightning sh spread all the way down to the Colosseum arena where the yers were now gathered and waiting for the game to begin. It was very terrifying. Not a few of them screamed in fear and wanted to be free from the disaster immediately.

    ¡°Let the game begin.¡±

    At the same time as the face in the sky said hisst words, hundreds of orbs suddenly appeared around the Colosseum area. It gave off an additional bluish-white light that was bright enough for anyone to see the surrounding area clearly.

    Ding!

    The transparent screen appeared again in front of all the yers now. New information was received by them simultaneously.

    [The Game will begin shortly]

    [There are two challenger teams at this time.]

    [The Demon team with the total number of participants is 1,051,099 yers.]

    [The Human team with the total number of participants is 2,157,094 yers.]

    [There are two power generators in this battle arena.]

    [One belongs to The Demon Team, and the other belongs to The Human Team]

    [The Power Generators will bring special buff for the team that can steal the special orb scattered and hidden in this Colosseum]

    [To stop this round, one of the power generators should be destroyed]

    [This is a free-to-kill game of challengers, but killing yers are only for fun and no point will be granted]

    Hiro frowned. He had already marked two big sentences that made him racked his brain out. First was the sentence that orbs were scattered and hidden in this Colosseum. That sentence made Hiro think that the spectators¡¯ area was also included because it was still in the Colosseum¡¯s territory.

    The second sentence that made Hiro sure he had to save his energy as best as possible was the word to stop this round. He believed there would be a second round that had not been mentioned by the system in front of him.

    Ding!

    [To all spectators]

    [You are here not only to enjoy the game by watching them dying or being ughtered]

    [You have to put a bet on participants with a maximum two yers¡¯ names]

    [Your fates are in their hands]

    [You can purchase any item and buff every 15 minutes from the floating markets and give them to your selected yers]

    [When one of your yers gets killed and dies, you are free to bet on a new surviving yer on the battle ground]

    [But, when you don ¡®t have any yers surviving left, you will follow them to the darkest section of this world and never be able toe back.]

    Everyone immediately whispered to each other. Those who had been cheering loudly because they thought they came for just watching the game were now silent and had pale faces. Their lives were in danger even if they just stood there and watched.

    There wasn¡¯t a single yer who wasn¡¯t transferred to that ce, and not a single of them could run away from the ce and the game. All the Last Shelter Online yers seemed to have participated in the first game since the attack.

    Hiro reflexively looked at Liberty and Cara. The two girls seemed to be discussing with each other with serious faces for a few seconds before both of them simultaneously looked at Hiro and nodded their heads at the same time.

    Ding!

    [To All spectators]

    [Now is your time to choose your own fate]

    On the transparent screen of the spectators now showed a list of yers participating as challengers in the game. Both Liberty and Cara already knew who they were going to vote for. The two of them showed their screens to each other and nodded when they managed toe up with a name.

    [NightFall]

    [You are choosing NightFall as your fighter, are you sure with your option?]

    ¡°Yes.¡± Liberty and Cara didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest.

    [NightFall is now your fighter]

    [Please choose one more fighter to guarantee your life!]

    ¡°I do not need the other. I trust my whole life only to him,¡± Liberty said, making Cara, who had previously seen other yer profiles and sorted them by battle rating, cancel her intentions on pressing the select button to one of the names that appeared on the screen.

    ¡°Liberty, are you sure about that?¡± Cara asked in reflex.

    Liberty nodded, then smiled at her. ¡°Absolutely. Besides, my life has no meaning if he gets killed. I will die with him.¡±

    Seeing the confidence on Liberty¡¯s face made Cara immediately close the page she was opening.

    [You have decided to not choose one more fighter at this moment.]

    [You can only choose one more fighter when the game has passed 15 minutes.]

    [Make sure that your fighter will survive before the time runs out]

    ¡°This machine can not stop babbling,¡± Cara grumbled while rolling her eyes in annoyance.

    Ace was there too, but he was sure that Liberty would not listen to him if he gave her advice to register one more name. Besides, he was busy scanning the yers and trying to find his missing friends.

 Chapter 261 All in

    Meanwhile, the transparent screen in front of Hiro kept beeping whenever someone chose him as a fighter.

    Ding!

    [999,551 spectators choose you as their fighter]

    Hiro looked back at the spectators in the Colosseum. From a quick scan, it was very clear that there were far more of them than the challengers. And the numbers listed in front of Hiro¡¯s transparent screen continued to grow.

    The spectators that had chosen him knew who he was and followed him from the start until now. However, as the number increased, the burden Hiro carried on his shoulders grew heavier.

    And most importantly of all, apart from the lives of the more than a million yers that were now entrusted to him, the lives of Liberty and Cara who kept staring at him and asionally nodding encouragingly were of the utmost importance to Hiro.

    Even though his current condition was getting more and more strange, as if the cells in his body were starting to be programmed to end his life slowly, Hiro couldn¡¯t take the two girls to death with him. Because he knew from the look in Liberty¡¯s eyes, that silly girl would only put his name on the list of fighters.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other choice but to win. No matter what, I have to win this game.¡± Hiro patted his left chest, which felt very painful like a hand was squeezing it from the inside.

    Ding!

    [All spectators have chosen their fighters]

    Ding!

    [1,219,709 spectators choose you as their fighter]

    The selection process had ended, and that was the number of lives Hiro would be responsible for. Although he couldn¡¯tpare with other challengers, Hiro felt that one million lives was too big for him.

    ¡°Holy shit, pal. Is that even the real numbers?¡± RedDevilz approached Hiro again. This time, he even peeked at Hiro¡¯s screen, which was disying the number of spectators who had selected him as their fighter.

    Hiro only nced at him, but he was also curious topare his own with that man.

    ¡°What¡¯s your number?¡±

    ¡°I got only 29, pal. Wow, you must be a famous pro yer, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Hiro couldn¡¯t argue with that one thing. He and Alice had made NightFall¡¯s name deliberately rise to the surface to attract the attention of the world, especially Yuujin¡¯s attention who didn¡¯t know what he was doing right now.

    ¡°I wonder how many buffs and items that you will get from them.¡± That yer RedDevilz really talked too much and liked to intervene with other people¡¯s affairs. But, the man was right.

    Hiro had almost forgotten that most important part. The more spectators who chose him, the more items and buffs he would get during the game. So, even though his current state still felt strange, those buffs and items would help him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see,¡± Hiro said. His eyes looked straight at Liberty and Cara. Liberty waved her hand excitedly. The girl¡¯s reaction lookedpletely different from the others. She always radiated positive energy whatever the conditions and threats she received.

    ¡°Well, at least I am lucky to be a demon bloodline and be your teammate here, pal.¡± RedDevilz threw a fist at Hiro¡¯s shoulder as if the man already felt familiar with him. Hiro wasn¡¯t upset. RedDevilz¡¯s talkative and friendly attitude actually made Hiro think about Jacob¡¯s fate again.

    Jacob was nowhere to be seen. She was not in the spectator¡¯s area or in the battle arena. Noah was the same. It made Hiro even more restless and distracted.

    ¡°Can I join you guys? All my friends are my enemy now.¡± A thin man who wielded a giant boomerang as a weapon joined Hiro and RedDevilz. His gaze was hopeful and his face slightly pale, as if hecked iron.

    ¡°Well, we are on the same team, so ¡­ wee, buddy!¡± RedDevilz was still friendly and weing to everyone.

    Hiro just nced at him. He didn¡¯t give anyments. Because the next second, suddenly the contents of his stomach, which was in the process of digestion, seemed to be pushed up and hit his stomach.

    Burp!

    ¡°Nightfall, are you really okay?¡± RedDevilz had been patting Hiro on the back when the man suddenly moved like he was about to vomit in front of him.

    Hiro brushed the man¡¯s hand away and then wiped his own mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Hiro still didn¡¯t know what was going on inside his body. He felt more and more ufortable as the time for the battle began to draw closer. It was really bothering him now.

    [The preparation has been finished]

    The transparent screen glitched out again.

    [The game will begin shortly]

    [All teams must prepare themselves]

    Hiro stood, facing the dividing line where the opposing teams started moving in their chosen positions and prepared for the game. Now they could see each other more clearly because of their positions that were facing one to another.

    [The Power Generators will start to operate]

    Ziiingg!

    An extremely loud sound like an engine generator suddenly appeared at the two points of the Colosseum.

    One generator appeared in the form of a steel cylindrical tube that kept rotating in ce. For the Demon team, the power generator was engulfed with a red glow like hellfire. It was located behind them, directly adjacent to the spectators in that ce.

    Meanwhile, the power generator of the challengers was covered by green light like trees that lived in the forest. It was also located at the back of their lines so they could protect it from the enemy attacks.

    This game reminded Hiro of a traditional game that had been modified into a game of killing and destruction.

    To destroy the power generator, of course, they had to pass the guards and protectors. Neither team wanted to lose the game. Everyone wanted to win. That reason was enough of a reason to start killing anyone who got in the way of their victory.

    [All yers are allowed to use any kind of weapons in this battle]

    Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

    Hiro and the others could hear clunking sounds from all directions within the Colosseum. It resonated in the air. However, they couldn¡¯t see where the sound came from until the transparent screen appeared again. It provided new information.

    [Special orbs have been scattered in this Colosseum]

    [Go get them and you will be surprised by its power!]

 Chapter 262 Game Start!

    [Countdown started]

    Hiro looked at his surroundings. Everyone had taken out their weapons. No one discussed, and no one had time to make strategies. What was the point of splitting them into two big teams if the yers were not given time to have a discussion? Hiro was sure it was all because there would only be one winner from that game.

    [3¡­]

    [2¡­]

    [1¡­]

    [Game started!]

    The thin translucent barrier that had been glitching in front of them suddenly broke with a loud boom and turned into pixels that vanished in seconds. No one attacked before one of the human team members shouted loudly.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    A middle-aged man holding a long sword in his left hand up high managed to make the others shout and ran to attack their opponents.

    ¡°Attack!¡±

    The people who had been at the front, side, and behind Hiro had already rushed forward to attack the opposing team as well, while Hiro watched the situation from where he stood for a bit longer.

    A sh of forces between the demon team and the human team ensued, and the sound of weapons colliding with each other and the loud thud of explosions filled the Colosseum.

    Not a single one of them wasn¡¯t serious about fighting their opponents. They fought as if they were in a real war. Some who weren¡¯t strong enough were instantly killed on the spot and simply vanished after their bodies turned into pixels in the air.

    Hiro wasn¡¯t interested in those who were fighting on the front lines, instead his eyes moved to where the spectators were and looked for a possible point where the special orbs were hidden.

    [Demon¡¯s eyes]

    ¡°Argh¡­¡± Hiro felt his head throb violently as he activated the demon¡¯s eyes. When he looked at a point in the spectators¡¯ area using the demon¡¯s eyes, his vision seemed to move like zooming in and out continuously. It was not normal, so it was a bit of a hassle.

    While the others continued to fight against each other with the aim of destroying the power generator, Hiro instead drew back the Blood-eater vampire to his back and then ran towards the edge of the battle arena.

    Kwak!!

    Spyro followed Hiro, not joining the fight like the other pets.

    Boom! Kabooom!

    A huge explosion managed to make the ground of the battle arena vibrate for a second, and Hiro checked who the culprit was. He saw someone he knew, and that person was on the human team. LostSoul, that powerful knight just stomped arge coffin shield from underground and made the ground with a radius of 10 meters around him seem to fall down. It made anyone who was considered an opponent by him in the arena staggered down.

    Besides LostSoul, Hiro saw that all the Immortal Knights guild leaders were on the human team. Although he was relieved to see that they were all right, remembering that this time his position as their opponent made him feel a little difficult.

    However, Hiro focused on his goal, and he was sure that the demons on his team could stillst a little longer.

    Out of everyone¡¯s attention, Hiro had already jumped onto a high wall, walking there horizontally using his buff dash eleration until he managed to jump to where the spectators were. It made them suddenly startled and walk away, as if they thought Hiro came to kill them.

    ¡°Ahhh! What are you doing here, demon? Hurry down and get back there!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t run away from the game or you will be punished!¡±

    Hiro ignored the ignorant people who only focused on that ssic mode battle. They had probably forgotten that there was a power they could gain by searching for the special orbs scattered in the Colosseum. That was right, in the Colosseum, not just in the battle arena.

    [Demon¡¯s eyes]

    Once again, Hiro felt an extremely ufortable throbbing as he used the skill. Even his vision was still abnormal. However, Hiro still forced himself and broke his limit.

    With the help of Demon¡¯s eyes, everything he saw now looked different. And Hiro finally saw objects that were invisible to the normal eyes or deliberately camouged with the environment so that they were difficult to find.

    ¡°Got them.¡±

    Hiro saw three dots nearby which gave off a strange thin aura like smoke. It kept appearing from nothing. The three points were close to each other, and Hiro immediately approached the former. The dot was under the feet of a female spectator who was restless because one of her chosen fighters had just been killed.

    ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Hiro said, then lifted one of the woman¡¯s legs without waiting for her to respond.

    ¡°Kyaaa! What are you doing? Perv!¡±

    Hiro tried to feel the dot that continued to emit smoke, and his hand suddenly gripped something small, like a marble.

    Ding!

    [You got a special orb]

    [Critical Hit has increased by 25% (physical damage only)]

    [duration 10 minutes]

    Hiro immediately went to the second dot. This time, it was located in front of three men who were cheering for the fighters they had chosen.

    Ding!

    [You got a special orb]

    [Kill enemy using any type of guns will give you extra HP for 10 minutes]

    And the third special orb was hidden under the ear of a girl who was already anxious and pale when Hiro suddenly stood in front of her and stared at her .

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for this, but it¡¯s on your hair.¡±

    Hiro reached the dot to retrieve the third orb.

    Ding!

    [You got a special orb]

    [uracy for ranged-attack has been increased to MAX]

    [duration 3 minutes]

    ¡°What?¡±

    Not wanting to waste thest buff he had just got, Hiro suddenly jumped onto the wall in front of the girl who was still in shock at his appearance. He faced the battle arena and observed the ongoing battle. He searched for a point where the human team was. They were far more numerous and dominant than the demon team, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard to find them. And he found it.

    ¡°What are you doing?! Hurry down! You¡¯re blocking the view!¡±

    Hiro turned to see the person who had just shouted at him. He saw arge man who seemed to be very lousy, so he didn¡¯t dare to join the fight in the duel.

    ¡°System call.¡±

    [Vulcan Gatling Gun Machine Level 70 ¨C (Tier A) has been equipped]

    When the huge Gatling gun appeared in Hiro¡¯s hand, the people behind Hiro who were annoyed fell silent.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try this out!¡± Hiro muttered with a faint smile on his face. The three buffs he got from the orbs really supported the weapon. And he wanted to try it right now.

    Hiro raised the weapon in his hand, facing the spot he had marked. He was ready to shoot, delivering a surprise attack that none of the targets noticed that they had been locked as targets.

    Dratataataatata!

 Chapter 263 Special Orbs

    Dratatatataata!

    The shot from the Gatling gun waspletely unnoticed. Those people were immediately shot on the spot without having time to dodge or check who had just attacked them from a distance.

    Hiro didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest. He shot them non-stop until their bodies shattered into pixel shards and then vanished in midair.

    The demon team, who noticed a rather powerful and shocking attack from their team reflexively looked at Hiro who was standing on the wall in front of the spectators. No one stopped him.

    However, as if they knew Hiro well and the potential within him, the members of the Immortal Knights who were surprised by Hiro¡¯s attack from the wall immediately shot towards Hiro simultaneously. They ignored the point they were guarding to stop a person they thought was dangerous.

    Hiro realized that, but he didn¡¯t stop shooting before the distance between them and him decreased.

    ¡°Here we go.¡±

    Whoosh!

    Hiro jumped off the wall at the same time King_Val jumped onto the wall to knock him out. He wanted to avoid a one-on-one fight or against a strong opponent for the beginning of a game like this as much as possible, because it would be a waste of time.

    To win, the demon team had to win the first round, and as the team with fewer participants, Hiro had to work hard.

    ¡°Spyro, attack them!¡±

    Kwak!

    Hiro allowed his dragon to hinder the Immortal Knights slightly because they had already chased after him.

    [Demon¡¯s eyes]

    Hiro still hadn¡¯t given up on hunting the orbs. He needed an orb that gave a special buff to the team and could only be activated through the team¡¯s power generator. It was not an orb that only worked for individuals.

    Dratatatata!

    The Gatling gun was enough to slow him down because he kept attacking while running away, but Hiro continued to use it as the human team approached.

    ¡°How can you do that, pal?!¡± It was RedDevilz again. Hiro was a little relieved to see that the person was still safe so far.

    ¡°You, close this road for me. I¡¯ll do something for us,¡± Hiro replied while patting him on the shoulder before removing his Gatling gun and returning it to his inventory, so he could dash back up to the spectator¡¯s area that was on the other side of the Colosseum.

    ¡°Hiro! Over here!¡± Liberty waved to Hiro.

    At the same time, Hiro saw a dazzling glint of light hiding behind Liberty¡¯s hairy ears.

    ¡°You really picked the best ce, huh?¡±

    Hiro looked around and noticed the human team near the edge of the wall were starting to target him and climbed up on the spectator area. Thus, he had to hurry and run faster.

    ¡°Meta, dash eleration.¡±

    The sigil in Hiro¡¯s hands thickened, and his legs seemed to spin like wheels. He sped up so fast that the spectators he passed by couldn¡¯t see him.

    However, suddenly LostSoul, Dominic, The Immortal Knights Leader appeared before him and swung an axe at him.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Crash!

    Hiro jumped back at just the right time, so the axe ended up stuck on the stone floor between his legs.

    ¡°Hello, I am d to see you again. But sorry, I can¡¯t talk to you right now.¡±

    [Void Phantom]

    Hiro suddenly disappeared from the sight of LostSoul and hid into the ck shadow that walked past under the feet of the spectators. It dashed forward until the shadow found Liberty¡¯s feet.

    When he appeared in front of the girl again, Liberty almost screamed in surprise. However, Hiro already knew that she would react like that, so his hand was ready to cover her lips.

    ¡°Shh¡­ it¡¯s me.¡±

    Liberty looked at him in surprise, but she nodded slowly. She didn¡¯t scream.

    ¡°You better win, Nightfall. We only choose one fighter for this sucked game,¡± said Cara who was standing beside Liberty, giving Hiro a warning.

    Meanwhile, Ace, who was sitting next to Liberty, didn¡¯t want to miss giving Hiro a message.

    ¡°Just don¡¯t kill too many innocent people. Did you forget that they too will be killed if you do that?¡± Ace chimed in. Hiro nced at him then nodded his head. He knew about it. But still, he had no choice but to win the game.

    ¡°Libe, I am sorry.¡± Hiro suddenly moved his hand to Liberty¡¯s left ear and held it. He knew that the girl was very sensitive in that area, so when he touched her, Liberty stiffened on the spot. She had goosebumps all over her body for a moment.

    Hiro managed to get what he was looking for.

    Ding!

    [You got a special orb]

    [Bring this orb to your power generator to activate the buff for your team]

    ¡°Thank you, Libe. Just wait for me to finish this game.¡±

    Dap! Dap! Dap!

    LostSoul had returned with a bright red face, feeling cheated by Hiro¡¯s actions a few seconds ago. However, before he got close and couldunch another attack, Hiro had already jumped backwards with his acrobatic skill. The man descended from the giant wall and returned to the battle arena.

    Dratatataata!

    Hiro still had time to shoot and use the buff he got. He managed to make the people who were targeting him run away, avoiding the attack.

    He hid the stolen weapon again and ran quickly to his team¡¯s power generator. His hand was still holding the orb the size of a marble when his heart suddenly stopped beating again for a second and made his legs unable to move at the same time.

    Thud!

    Hiro fell to the ground as if he had just tripped over something invisible. No one realized that the cause was his heartbeat that kept ying with him.

    ¡°That damn injection!¡± Hiro hissed and got back to his feet, but it was toote. He was caught off guard for a second, and people had surrounded him in a circle.

    ¡°You will end up here, NightFall. Stop running around. Do you think this is a game of chase?¡±

    Hiro had no other choice but to face them. At such close range, he couldn¡¯t possibly have had time to shoot with his Gatling gun.

    ¡°Well, I ran because I didn¡¯t want to kill you guys. But it looks like all of you came to me on purpose to be killed,¡± Hiro muttered, deliberately using his signature provocation to make them angry and attacked him furiously.

    nk!

    Hiro lowered his head to knock three people down at once using his sliding feet. He still hadn¡¯t pulled out any weapons, yet he managed to knock the three people down.

    Three people fell enough to clear the way, and Hiro ran past them again.

    [Void Phantom]

    He disappeared again into the ck shadow so no one could see him. At least the skill couldst for a few seconds before it could be used again.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what kind of power will be obtained from this power generator.¡±

    Hiro jumped out of his shadow. Now he was standing in front of the power generator, which was making a very loud noise. He then put the orb in his hand near the power generator.

    Ding!

    [NightFall has added a special orb to the power generator for Demon Team]

    [Generating the power for demon team will begin shortly]

 Chapter 264 Floating Market

    [Magic Damage Protection: All magic damage will be reduced by 55%]

    [The power willst for 5 minutes]

    Zziiing!

    The power generator in front of Hiro suddenly emitted light, and the light seemed to summon the aura in the bodies of all yers in the demon team, so that they began to emit the same light. It onlysted a second before disappearing again.

    ¡°Yahoo!¡± The members of the demon team suddenly cheered loudly because they were satisfied with getting additional buff. This was the right time to attack the magicians, especially those with high damage per second.

    Boom! Kaboom!

    Hiro was also not going to waste that opportunity to try to break into the opponent¡¯s defense. This time, he nned to use his Void phantom skill to hide in the shadows repeatedly, so there was no need to kill those yers who participated in the game.

    Hiro moved in a zigzag. Sometimes, his shadow walked through the barrier vertically. Due to what the demon team had just obtained, not a few yers from the human team had already left the battle arena and spread out in the spectator¡¯s area to look for the orbs scattered in that ce.

    However, it wasn¡¯t easy to find the hidden orbs without using a special skill. And no one seemed to have realized it until now.

    ¡°I have to destroy that generator to win.¡± Hiro started counting the number of people on guard at the generator on the human team. There were so many of them that they looked like a human wall from afar.

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to kill them all. But, with this Gatling gun, I¡¯m sure most of them can be taken down easily.¡±

    ¡°Got you!¡±

    nk!

    Hiro jumped out, leaving his shadow that stuck to the wall when someone suddenly threw arge sword at him who was peeking out to see the situation.

    ¡°Long time no see, Nightfall.¡±

    Dominic. He was really aiming for Hiro from the start, ignoring the others because he knew who would be a threat to his team.

    ¡°Dominic.¡± Hiro had no other choice but to draw the Blood-eater vampire¡¯s sword from his back.

    However, as if Dominic knew that there was no way he could beat Hiro in a one-on-one duel. He whistled to summon the people around him.

    In a matter of seconds, Hiro became cornered by them. Behind him was only a wall, while in front of him was a semi-circle from the human team that Dominic had called.

    ¡°Nightfall, it was you!¡± said one of the female yers in annoyance. She remembered the name that managed to activate the buff on the demon team¡¯s power generator.

    Hiro didn¡¯t respond. He was thinking hard about solving the situation right now. More than twenty people were standing before him within three meters. He couldn¡¯t possibly take out his Gatling gun now. It was ineffective and too short to use in this condition.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, NightFall, I won¡¯t let them kill you. But, maybe you¡¯ll be made to die and unable to move until we win,¡± Dominic exined. He was getting more and more confident seeing Hiro not doing anything.

    Hiro had thought of a way. Actually, the easiest way to do it was by attacking them with abination of Void phantom and swordbo skills. However, his Void Phantom was still on cooldown. He needed a few more seconds to use it again.

    Besides, he had promised himself not to kill too many of them, or he would be a psychopath, as Ace told him.

    ¡°Why, Dominic? Are you so afraid of me that you summoned these people to be your protectors?¡± Hiro tried to buy time by uttering provocative sentences.

    ¡°Ha ha ha ha.¡± Dominicughed.

    ¡°I know what crazy things WynterRain¡¯s brother can do. I¡¯m just a logical old man, NightFall. I know when to call for help and to go down alone,¡± he said calmly, not offended in the slightest.

    Before saying anything, in his HUD system suddenly appeared so many notifications that piled into one.

    The game had passed for 15 minutes. ording to what the system had stated, there would be a floating market around the spectators¡¯ area and the spectators could buy any item sold in the floating market to give to the fighter they had chosen.

    And seeing the notifications that suddenly piled up and bothered him a bit made Hiro reflexively nce at the spectators. In front of them were now seen hovering drones that flew as if they had their own routes.

    When the spectators wanted to buy something, a drone would stop in front of them to serve them.

    ¡°So it¡¯s the time,¡± Hiro muttered to himself. The item notification given to him moved so fast that he did not have time to read the name of the item he got because it piled up on the name of the other item.

    Even so, the game system was very well prepared. So that something like this was expected to happen beforehand by the game¡¯s event developers.

    The items received from the floating market onlysted in a special inventory for 5 minutes. If the items were not used, they would expire in 5 minutes. Besides, there was a categorization of items based on their function.

    Such as weapons, armor, equipment, items, buffs, and others.

    This time, all Hiro needed was one, and he found it in the item selection.

    ¡°Rockabye6, thank you for your gift,¡± said Hiro in a voice so small that only he could hear it. A faint smile spread across his face. That smile managed to make the human team that was blocking him look at each other in confusion.

    At the same time, Hiro¡¯s Void phantom was ready to be used again. Fortunately, luck was still on his side.

    [New Year Firecrackers have been used]

    Dratatatatataata!

    Hiro immediately threw the firecrackers that appeared in his hands to the front, then he went back into his shadow and ran away. Letting go of the firecrackers caused the crowd to split up and back away in surprise. Only Dominic quickly regained hisposure, although he was also surprised and dodged away from the firecrackers thrown by Hiro. He shook his head in surprise that Hiro had escaped from his sight once again.

    While continuing to move towards the opponent¡¯s power generator, Hiro skimmed the items he got from the spectators¡¯ gifts. He saw a lot of items that were quite useful, and he became more confident about destroying the generator alone.

    The impact of purchasing the special items through the floating market made the atmosphere in the battle arena instantly turn chaotic.

    The sound of explosions from all directions also made anyone unable to stay at the same point in a matter of minutes. Most of the items purchased were explosive bombs, from smoke bombs of various colors, fireworks, and also firecrackers because the four items had low pricespared to other items.

    Wheeee Crack Crack Crack!

    The fireworks in the dark sky distracted the spectators.

 Chapter 265 Stun Gun

    While the atmosphere in the Colosseum arena was getting more and more chaotic, Liberty was actually talking to her brother and asking for suggestions on what items that might help Hiro right now.

    [Floating Market will disappear soon (2 minutes remaining)]

    ¡°Brother, please tell me. What should I do?¡±

    Ace still hadn¡¯t given an answer. His eyes focused on the battle arena and tried to find Hiro, but he was having a hard time. It was very difficult to see Hiro even from the spectators¡¯ seats. He couldn¡¯t give a suitable suggestion if he didn¡¯t know what Hiro was nning to do right now.

    ¡°MyPhantom, haven¡¯t you been with NightFall for a long time? What do you think he¡¯s up to now? Did you find it?¡± asked Ace, finally giving in. Liberty, who was ignored could only frown and waited in silence.

    ¡°NightFall, he will focus on the main objective of the game. It won¡¯t be a waste of time just to ughter other yers or fight against them.¡± Cara muttered. She was very sure of what she had said earlier. She had even studied Hiro¡¯s characteristics since the first time they met during the maze event.

    ¡°In other words, he must have infiltrated the opponent¡¯s side.¡± Cara squinted her eyes to look at the human team. With thebination of her assassin speed and beast bloodline, she was also very sensitive when she saw a suspicious shadow moving on the ground quickly in a different direction from the others.

    ¡°Over there!¡± Cara pointed at the ck shadow and made Ace and Liberty, who had lost track of Hiro, know where the man was right now.

    ¡°What is he doing alone there?¡± Ace asked in disbelief because the shadow charged to the opponent¡¯s den alone without any help or escort. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s him?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s him, I knew it. I trust Cara.¡± Liberty firmly wanted to get an answer from her brother before the time ran out.

    Ace thought hard. If what Cara said was true, even though Hiro was very desperate to go to the opponent¡¯s den alone, he still had to provide assistance by shopping through the floating market.

    ¡°Weapon ¨C Stun gun,¡± Ace said, making Cara and Liberty reflexively look at him with the same expression.

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± they both asked in unison.

    ¡°Give him two.¡± Ace didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest. His eyes were already moving to find the ce that would be Hiro¡¯s target. The power generator with very tight human walls.

    [Twin special stun guns (Disabler weapon ¨C no damage) has been gifted to NightFall]

    Meanwhile¡­

    The gift notifications had stopped, and some of the earliest items received had expired. However, Liberty¡¯s name notification managed to appear atst,pleted with the name of the item the girl had just sent.

    ¡°Stun guns?¡±

    It was only for a second that Hiro thought the girl was just giving him an item. However, the next second, he then caught the meaning of the stun guns given.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s the best.¡±

    Hiro jumped out of his ck shadow on the ground just three meters away in front of the human wall that was guarding the human team¡¯s power generator. He managed to surprise those who continued to focus on observing the front line even though it was quite far from them.

    ¡°How did you get here?¡± They were already preparing to attack Hiro who appeared alone. His two hands only yed with a pair of small red pistols that looked like a toy. It didn¡¯t look like a very dangerous weapon at all.

    ¡°Surprised!¡± Hiro raised the two red pistols and pointed them at the human team walls before him. He pulled the trigger before they could say anything.

    Zaaapppp!

    Three shes of light shot out from each of those guns. The further they flew away, the light was getting longer and wider like a mini lightning that was positioned horizontally. It was so fast that even those who were lining up didn¡¯t have time to dodge.

    Zaaapppp!

    A horizontal line of lightning formed like a long rope of restraint that hit the line of human yers guarding the power generator. A painful shock made their brains suddenly freeze and stop working. All parts of their bodies automatically lost their function.

    At the same time, they fell on top of each other without being able to do anything, not even making a sound. They could only stare and see whatever was about to happen without blinking.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± said Hiro before dashing back towards the power generator, which was now free from the guard.

    He immediately drew his sword out and swung it at the power generator using his swordbo skill.

    Critical hit!

    Critical hit!

    [-55,180] [-102,101]

    The HP of the power generator still didn¡¯te out. Then, even though the HP bar had appeared, Hiro noticed that the green bar didn¡¯t reduce at all.

    ¡°Damn, how could I destroy this thing?¡±

    Critical hit!

    Hiro continued to collect full points for his maximum swordbo skill, but the HP power generator still hadn¡¯t shifted one bit.

    ¡°What? Is there a system error? Impossible, but how can I destroy it?¡±

    Hiro was still trying even though there was no visible change. The resulting damage points kept popping out, but the generator¡¯s HP bar didn¡¯t move an inch, as if everything waspletely useless. Or the HP was just too thick.

    Critical Hit!

    ¡°Spyro attack!¡±

    Spyro used its fire breath to attack the power generator, but it was the same. There was no movement of the HP bar at all. Only the HP points kepting out every time it was attacked.

    ¡°There must be another way.¡± Hiro muttered. In the end, he stopped attacking the power generator for a moment.

    At the same time, his heart suddenly beat so slowly that he couldn¡¯t stand on his own two feet. Hiro fell to his knees on the ground. His sword also fell from his hand because he was unable to move his hand.

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what was going on. He only knew that it must be rted to the injection he received at the beginning before the game started. However, the effects were getting worse. Then, the people who were previously unable to move due to his stun guns¡¯ attack earlier were slowly starting to get their brain function back.

    They moved and immediately turned around to surround Hiro who was still kneeling behind them.

    ¡°Your time is up, dude.¡±

    ¡°That stun gun sucks.¡±

    Hiro gulped. He was still trying to move his legs and arms that were still locked in a kneeling position, but he couldn¡¯t. His body suddenly felt very heavy.

 Chapter 266 Alone

    Deg¨C Deg¨C

    Hiro clutched his left chest again, which felt very painful, ignoring the people who were already furious with his attacks a few minutes ago.

    Kwak! Kwak!

    Spyro pped its wings briskly to signal to Hiro that the two of them were in a dangerous situation right now. However, Hiro, who was still trying to beat the pain, ignored his pet.

    A few seconds ago, he was very sure that his whole body suddenly felt like it was frozen, and he was unable to move ording to his will. Until now, he didn¡¯t know what caused it other than the injection he got before the game started.

    ¡°How many people on my team got it? They look fine.¡±

    The special effect of the injection given to the demon team was still not visible, as if it was still trying to show its effect slowly.

    ¡°What are you doing, boy? Do you think we will forgive you if you kneel like that, huh?¡±

    Hiro looked at the source of the voice. A man over two meters tall with a very stout body and a potbelly was ying a pair of greatswords in both hands like doing a warm-up.

    With great difficulty, Hiro forced his body back to his feet. He touched the wall of the power generator that he had not managed to destroy and used it as a grip.

    Hiro took his sword, which was lying not far from where he was standing then put it back behind his back. This time, he was empty-handed. Even so, the people who looked very angry stood two meters away in front of him.

    It was as if they weren¡¯t brave enough to close the distance.

    ¡°I won¡¯t let you get away this time!¡±

    ¡°Huaaaaah!¡± The man with the potbelly and bald head swung his tworge swords at Hiro ahead of the others. And because he threw the two great swords at once, even though the yer¡¯s body was veryrge, it seemed his STR points weren¡¯t strong enough to control both of them, so his uracy was poor.

    Hiro dodged the attack easily and made the two greatswords snag against the protective wall of the power generator.

    Crack!

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°You destroy the power generator!¡±

    Hiro saw the same thing. The protective wall he had beaten earlier using the swordbo skill didn¡¯t show the slightest sign of physical damage. However, with a single mid-tier weapon hitting it, the wall actually seemed to have cracked.

    Some fragments of the wall fell as the man pulled out his stuck swords.

    Hiro suddenly had an idea. He didn¡¯t know the purpose of the game system that allowed the fighters to destroy their own power generator easily, but it was much easier this way than when the opponent destroyed it. Hiro would take advantage of other people¡¯s emotions as usual.

    ¡°I am not going anywhere. Catch me if you can, Titan!¡± Hiro hissed while jumping back near the power generator. He was really stuck with the opponent¡¯s power generator now.

    ¡°You son of the bitch!¡±

    The man¡¯s emotions were very easily provoked. Hearing Hiro¡¯s call and provocation made the man get even angrier. Without thinking about the risk, he used his tworge swords to attack Hiro again.

    This time, he attacked with the same movement. It was by stabbing horizontally because his position was very close to the target.

    Crack!

    After all, the Raider¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t be matched by a half knight-half barbarian like him.

    Hiro managed to dodge the attack, and the tips of the two great swords had now pierced into the cracked part of the power generator, causing more and more damage until the generator engine, which had sounded stable suddenly slowed down strangely.

    ¡°You idiot! What have you done?! Stop it! He only used you!¡± eximed a female bloodline beast who realized Hiro¡¯s trick. She couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. She wanted to curse the man who still intended to attack Hiro even though he had damaged his team¡¯s power generator twice.

    ¡°Somebody please stop him!¡± the girl shouted, asking someone for help. However, because the size of the body they wanted to stop was indeedrge, and the man was on a rampage, no one dared to stop him.

    ¡°Nice try, but well, try again! I will give you one more chance. What do you think?¡±

    Hiro jumped over to the power generator again. He purposely walked around the object so that no one could guess his goal. He had actually marked the first damage as the beginning of the destruction of the power generator.

    ¡°Stop jumping, you coward!¡± the big man hissed, ignoring the screams of the woman behind him. Hiro liked him a little because of his stupidity.

    Crack!

    Bzzz ¡­ bzzzz ¡­

    The swords damaged the power generator too deep, making the engine sound even more strange. Hiro deliberately didn¡¯t jump far from his starting point, but he still managed to trick the man and dodge easily.

    ¡®One more time,¡¯ Hiro thought, convinced that something would happen if one more stab went into the damaged hole in the wall of the power generator. He couldn¡¯t wait to see it.

    ¡°Ah¨C you almost caught me. Maybe if we try for one more time, you will definitely catch me.¡± Hiro deliberately convinced the man by ying with his provocative words to make the man even more furious.

    ¡°I will kill you¡ª¡±

    Zaaapppp!

    The man had not finished his long sentence when a woman in a beautiful set of golden valkyrie armor suddenly appeared and raised a wand into the air.

    She created a bolt of lightning that swiftly struck the man¡¯s body, causing him to copsepletely. He was burnt to ck. Then, he turned into pixels and disappeared from before them all.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need a muscle-only idiot like you here. May your soul rest in peace,¡± said the woman in a deep and calm voice. She didn¡¯t seem to tremble despite knowing that she had just killed someone.

    Hiro studied the woman from head to toe. He was sure of his guess. The armor that the woman was wearing was definitely legendary armor. Hiro only needed to take a peek at her equipment to confirm that. And his guess was absolutely correct.

    ¡°You must be the famous yer with the highest battle rating point from the NA server, NightFall.¡± Even though her face was half covered by a golden helmet, the girl¡¯s full lips were free of anything, and she wore a very charming red lipstick.

 Chapter 267 Magic Resist

    An opponent that looked promising had appeared before Hiro. A beta tester? That was the only way to get a legendary set in a very short time.

    Hiro checked the profile of the female yer in front of him.

    [Level 105. Diana. The War Goddess.]

    Even from the level and title that the woman was currently using, Hiro could tell that she was far better than the line of yers who served as the guard wall for the human team¡¯s power generator.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that our second meeting would be in a ce like this. In the battle arena, as an enemy? Truly, the future is unpredictable.¡±

    Hiro raised an eyebrow. The woman just gave him a sweet smile, as if she was speaking in amazement. Besides, one thing that made Hiro have a pile of questions in his head was, when was their first meeting?

    ¡°When did I meet you before?¡±

    The sweet smile on the woman¡¯s face instantly disappeared, and the corners of her lips seemed to be throbbing slowly. Her tone then changed to a very disappointed one. ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡±

    ¡°Hahhhh¡­ it turns out you¡¯re the same as most men I¡¯ve ever met and known. Forgetting everything, including the importance of meeting someone for the first time so easily.¡±

    Hiro really sucked at understanding women.

    Diana suddenly pulled out her other weapon. She hid the wand, and now in her hand appeared a round shield and a spear that was the same color as her armor. It was in gold and looked expensive. Even so, Hiro was a little relieved when he found out that the two weapons were not legendary weapons.

    ¡°Are you going to attack me, or do we need more time to talk?¡± Hiro was still trying to buy time. Based on his calctions, the floating market would appear again in five minutes, and he hoped Liberty woulde back to save him with her unique idea.

    ¡°You broke my heart, NightFall. Don¡¯t you know what a woman can do when they¡¯re heartbroken?¡±

    Ptarrr!!

    Hiro¡¯s eyes widened in surprise when suddenly a whipnded right in front of his feet until sparks shot out from above the ground. The whip came from the spear that Diana carried. It could turn into a whip, and Hiro really didn¡¯t expect it.

    ¡°How can I break your heart?¡±

    One more question and the woman got even angrier. Not giving Hiro any chance, she turned the whip into a spear again and threw it at him quickly.

    St!

    [-25,100]

    ¡°Ughh¡­¡±

    Another attack that Hiro couldn¡¯t dodge. The weapon suddenly disappeared as it shot through the air.

    Hiro¡¯s left shoulder was already gushing blood as the spear¡¯s de plunged into it. It was so deep that it pierced through behind his back.

    Hiro pulled out the spear and seeded, but the pain he felt was unbearable. He realized that he should not underestimate an angry woman.

    ¡°She¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Hiro had no other choice but to focus on fighting against the woman.

    Diana walked gracefully towards Hiro. Now the distance between them was only one meter, and the spear that Hiro had just released returned to the woman¡¯s hand just like that.

    She was quite tall. From her stature and graceful demeanor, Hiro was sure that she might have registered as a Miss Universe candidate or something before focusing on ying games as a beta tester.

    Wait¨C a beta tester?

    If that was the case, did that mean the woman was a beta tester who survived the attacks of the hackers? Like what happened to Liberty?

    Hiro was about to ask the woman something, but the spear suddenly turned back into a whip and wrapped around his body before he realized it.

    In the next second, Hiro¡¯s body seemed to be pulled so tightly towards the woman that their faces were now almost touching.

    ¡°Hmmmm¡­ such a pretty boy. I wonder why I fell in love with you at first sight. Andter on, I can¡¯t stop thinking about you like a madman. But you never ept my friend¡¯s request, don¡¯t you?¡±

    The woman spoke with different kinds of emotions that melded into one. Hiro shut his lips tightly. He didn¡¯t know what to say at a time like this. He had never met a girl who was so frank with him when she liked him.

    However, luck was on Hiro¡¯s side again. Suddenly, a notification appeared in unison. It announced that someone managed to find a special orb for the team buff and activate it using the power generator like before.

    Ding!

    [RedDevilz29 has added a special orb to the power generator for Demon Team]

    [Generating the power for demon team will begin shortly]

    ¡°What?!¡± The Human team eximed the same words in unison. They couldn¡¯t believe it because the demon team managed to get one more orb now.

    Hiro made good use of the opportunity by releasing the demon ws from his left hand and tearing the whip apart with one try.

    St!

    Hiro turned back to take some distance. His unexpected action took Diana by surprise. The expression on the woman¡¯s face was between admiration and anger.

    [Magic resistant, no magician can stop us for 5 minutes]

    [kill them all]

    Only the demon team could know the type of buff they got from the power generator.

    Hiro smiled. At least he had an armor strong enough to deal with the troublesome and unexpected attacks from the magicians.

    Diana, who got very upset again, immediately threw the whip once again at Hiro.

    However, Hiro already knew the trick for that unique weapon now. Even though it was not a legendary weapon, it still seemed to be included in the special weapon category because it had a unique skill that could change shape and disappear within a few seconds when attacking.

    [Demon¡¯s eyes]

    There was nothing that couldn¡¯t be seen with the demon¡¯s eyes.

    Crack!

    Hiro managed to catch the whip that was aimed at him. When it was caught like that, the whip that had changed to invisible mode appeared again, showing its presence.

    Diana, who was holding the tip of the whip, tried to pull it with all her strength, but it was in vain. Hiro was stronger, and he was ready to take down the woman.

    ¡°Let it go or I will make it worse!¡± Diana hissed, getting angrier at being trapped like that.

    Hiro didn¡¯t let it go.

    ¡°Are you challenging me?¡±

    Zzzaaaaappp!!!

    Hiro could feel an electric shock startling him, and he reflexively held his breath. However, because of the buff he got from the power generator, the damage from the electricity flowing through the whip was zero.

    ¡°I warned you already about that.¡± Diana smiled again with satisfaction when she saw Hiro¡¯s body covered in thin blue electricity.

    However, that smile vanished in an instant as Hiro suddenly smirked while looking at her.

    ¡°Well, it was very ticklish. Was this your strongest attack?¡±

 Chapter 268 Little Help

    While trying to recall the appearance of the woman standing in front of him, Hiro started to remember something. As the expression on the woman¡¯s face changed from angry, annoyed, to a little scared because the electric attack didn¡¯t kill Hiro like the piggy man before, Hiro remembered where he had seen the girl.

    ¡°Come here.¡± Hiro pulled the whip with his right hand. It caused Diana to be pulled closer, hitting his body.

    Hiro held onto the woman¡¯s waist as she nearly fell over after hitting him hard.

    ¡°I remember now. You¡¯re the girl who got lost in the woods, huh?¡± Hiro said while looking at the woman¡¯s round eyes fixedly.

    ¡°You hid on a big tree branch and couldn¡¯t get down. I even remembered what you said to me before I caught you from the top of that tree.¡±

    Hearing what Hiro said made Diana gulp nervously. She didn¡¯t move and just stared at him earnestly. Hiro had no idea that the woman¡¯s heart was beating faster than before. She really meant it when she said she liked Hiro and tried to find him.

    ¡°You were afraid of the night monsters that roamed on that spot, and you were also afraid of jumping down even when morning hade. So, you just sat in the tree and prayed for someone to find you. And that person was me.¡±

    Diana nodded in amazement. She didn¡¯t expect that Hiro would remember that detail even though at the beginning the man said he didn¡¯t recognize her.

    Hiro made the woman stand up straight and looked back at her.

    ¡°You arepletely different from before. How could I have realized that you two are the same person?¡±

    The frightened woman used to only wear a dress from an expensive brand that could be purchased through the Marketce. There was no need to ask about their social status, because it was certain that the Beta Testers were indeed from rich people.

    ¡°What do you mean? Did you just insult me? I didn¡¯t change my visual one bit,¡± muttered Diana. She got annoyed again and pouted her lips cutely.

    ¡°Do you always judge people that way?¡± Hiro asked. He couldn¡¯t believe the reaction he got from thepliment he had just given to the woman.

    Diana was silent.

    ¡°I mean your courage. Look at you now, killing a huge man with one hit. Meanwhile, back then, you didn¡¯t even dare to jump down from a height of two meters.¡±

    Diana suddenly blushed. She just realized that Hiro wasplimenting her.

    ¡°Well, are you going to stop me now?¡± Hiro asked, returning his focus to the game he was ying.

    Diana stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged her shoulderszily. ¡°From the start, I was just ying this game for fun. I¡¯m not interested in winning. You can destroy the power generator, NightFall,¡± she said, making the human team who gathered at the ce protested and disagreed.

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Has that woman gone mad?¡±

    ¡°Kill them both!¡±

    After the time had passed since the huge man had been killed, the human team lineup surrounding the ce had grown rapidly. Even all the leaders of the Immortal Knights were already standing there. Dominic was leading them as usual. Only their assassins were not seen on the team. It didn¡¯t seem to be seen in the demon team either.

    ¡°This time, you won¡¯t be able to escape, NightFall,¡± King_Val growled, getting tired of chasing Hiro and running from here and there around the arena.

    Hiro really had toe up with an idea to be able to escape from that ce. He doubted he could destroy the generator without getting someone killed.

    Moreover, the only weapon that could be used to kill hundreds of people at once was the Gatling gun. With that weapon, he wasn¡¯t sure he could control his power. So, the chance he couldn¡¯t kill other people was high.

    ¡°Do you want to destroy the power generator now orter?¡± Diana suddenly asked in a very small whisper. Hiro could read the movements of her lips easily due to their full shape.

    ¡°Not now,¡± Hiro replied. He was confident with the decision he made. He didn¡¯t need to rush, especially when he was stuck in a situation like this.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll give you a little help.¡±

    Hiro didn¡¯t know what the woman meant until she turned her back to him and looked at the line of her team who were surprised at her action. It was clear that the woman nned on betraying her own team.

    Hiro backed away. He knew that the woman would do something unexpected once again as she started pulling the whip and turning it back into a form of spear.

    She then spun the spear through the air like a long de before mming it firmly onto the ground.

    Crack!

    ¡°Lightning sphere,¡± she muttered, then a line of cracks suddenly spread out from the spear¡¯s tip. Within seconds, a giant dark blue sphere appeared, blocking the human team in front of Diana. It made them look like they had turned into mannequins because they didn¡¯t move an inch.

    It even looked like no one was breathing.

    ¡°Now run!¡± she said to Hiro.

    Hiro immediately dashed away from that ce. In the next second, a very frightening roar of lightning suddenly emerged from behind him.

    Kraakkk Booom!

    Inside the sphere, it seemed as if a terrible storm had emerged, making everyone in that area hit by the attack.

    However, the damage given was not too big because it was influenced by the number of people trapped in it. The more people in the sphere were, the damage done was divided into that number of people. So the attack was very less effective for mass murder. However, the disabler that stopped the time in that area was very useful for assist.

    Ding!

    Hiro had reunited with the demon team when he was suddenly flooded with items again that could be purchased through the floating market. That meant thirty minutes had passed since the game started, and he still couldn¡¯t destroy the power generator.

    ¡°Damn it!¡±

    Hiro still didn¡¯t know any other way to destroy the power generator other than using his opponent¡¯s power.

    Most of the items he received were firecrackers or fireworks, which he didn¡¯t need at the moment.

    ¡°Nightfall, are you all right?¡± RedDevilz29 had returned in front of Hiro. It surprised him a bit.

    However, before Hiro could say anything, the man suddenly vomited blood from his mouth and copsed right in front of his feet.

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