Chapter 68: Gathering Everyone

"An order to assemble? What’s going on? Why all of a sudden?" one player asked in surprise.

"I don’t know either. The order came out of nowhere. But everyone has to show up. If you don’t, Victor will kill you himself."

"Whoa! Isn’t that a little too scary? And cruel?"

"Tsk! What can we do? Victor is incredibly strong. Fighting him would be suicide. All right, enough talking. Let’s go."

The two players walked away.

The others followed them.

Only Raven, Rose, and Claire remained where they were.

"Victor is really desperate now. He’s even called all the players to the hall to question them directly," Rose said coldly.

"You’re right. Looks like it’ll be hard for us to escape. What do you think, Raven?" Claire asked.

Raven didn’t answer right away. He had already expected Victor to take desperate measures, but he hadn’t thought he would go this far.

"We’ll leave too," Raven replied casually. "Today is the last day. There are only two hours left before the third mission ends. We’ve also changed our appearances, so I doubt they’ll be able to find us."

Despite how confident he sounded earlier, Raven didn’t dare let his guard down.

He had already come up with at least ten ways Victor and the others could use brutal methods to track them down.

"Aurora, open the system shop," he ordered.

While Raven prepared for the worst, Rose and Claire exchanged glances.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Rose said coldly.

Claire nodded in agreement.

"But Raven’s right. There are only two hours left before the third mission ends. We just have to hold out."

Rose took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"You’re right..."

...

Hundreds of people had gathered in a vast and magnificent hall. They were the remaining players, their numbers far lower than before the third mission began.

Meanwhile, Victor, Dariel, Erina, Varen, and the top ten stood on a raised platform.

They looked down at the players below as if they were nothing more than a swarm of ants.

"Has everyone gathered yet?" Victor asked.

Kael shook his head.

"Not yet. We’re still a hundred short."

"A hundred more?"

Victor’s expression darkened.

"How many players survived the third mission?"

Kael opened the leaderboard and began counting them one by one.

Thomas rolled his eyes and answered, "Six hundred and twenty survivors."

Victor’s eyebrows rose slightly. Just as he was about to say something, Erina cut him off.

"That’s so few! Weren’t there more than seven hundred and seventy people who participated in the third mission?"

Everyone’s expressions changed.

They didn’t care about the lives of the players who had died.

The more people who died, the greater their chances of being among the hundred chosen to go to the world of Alvas.

Even so, the situation served as a reminder. On the next mission, they might be the ones to fall.

"I understand. We’ll wait for everyone to gather. And Thomas..."

Victor’s piercing gaze shifted toward Thomas.

"Take the other teammates and explore this area. Ask the other groups for help if necessary. If you catch any player hiding..."

He drew his thumb across his throat.

Thomas grinned widely.

"Don’t worry, Victor. I can guarantee they won’t have a good end."

He grabbed Kael and walked off.

Victor glanced at the anxious-looking players before closing his eyes.

Time passed, and half an hour later, the hall doors were shut tight.

Everyone looked up at Victor and the top ten players standing proudly on the raised platform.

"Thank you all for coming voluntarily."

Victor stepped forward with a faint smile.

"The third mission will soon be complete, and I congratulate you all."

The players clapped, though reluctantly.

"I’m sure you all know why I gathered you here, don’t you?"

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"That’s right—the Raven Group!"

At the mention of the "Raven Group," everyone’s expressions changed.

"As you’ve already realized, the Raven Group is a menace. They’ve used underhanded tactics to secure their position at the top of the leaderboard. Even the gods have issued a mission to eliminate them, which shows just how dangerous they are," Victor continued, folding his arms across his chest. "Unfortunately, you and I have failed to find them."

His voice turned cold.

"There’s only one hour left before the third mission ends, and we still haven’t found them. Because of that, I have no choice but to resort to such harsh measures. I hope you can understand."

Everyone’s expressions gradually softened.

At first, they had indeed resented Victor’s actions—forcing them to gather, not to mention threatening to kill anyone who refused to follow his orders.

But when it came to the rare-tier item reward, they immediately understood what Victor meant.

"Don’t worry, Victor. We don’t hate you. Just relax."

A bald male player reassured him with a laugh.

"He’s right! We’re more than happy to help you!"

The others quickly followed suit, and the once-silent hall soon became noisy.

Raven, Claire, and Rose were among them.

When they saw the people around them fawning over Victor, Rose and Claire’s faces twisted in disgust.

"They’re total trash," Claire muttered.

Raven simply smiled without saying a word.

This was the first time he had seen Victor in person. He had to admit, the man was incredibly clever and cunning.

He had deliberately put psychological pressure on the players by threatening to kill anyone who disobeyed him.

But just now, Victor had softened his stance and apologized to everyone while presenting them with the very thing they all wanted—a mission from the gods to hunt down his group.

"Tsk! Things are getting more and more interesting. Among those outcast humans, there’s actually an intriguing opponent. I wonder why Earth cast Victor out. Could it be that he committed some grave crime in the past?"

The more Raven thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense.

"All right, everyone. I won’t keep you waiting any longer."

Victor stomped his foot on the ground.

The very next moment, the ground beneath them shook violently, and everyone nearly lost their balance.

Suddenly, a two-meter-tall tower appeared in front of them.

"This is an artifact given to me by the administrator. It can identify the three members of the Raven Group," Victor explained with a faint smirk. "So..."

His eyes slowly swept over everyone.

"I want each of you to step forward and touch it. Let’s see if there are any members of the Raven Group among you... hehehe..."