Chapter 71: Anger and Envy

"Damn it!"

Victor punched the tree trunk next to him, sending it crashing to the ground.

Kael, Thomas, Jason, and the others standing beside him could only bow their heads in fear.

Not a single one of them dared to look up at the enraged Victor.

"Raven..." Victor growled through gritted teeth. "Well done. You actually managed to outsmart me... hehehe..."

A terrifying grin spread across his face.

"I’ll get you back a hundred times over—no, a thousand times over," he swore.

This was the first time he had experienced failure since the test began. Usually, he was the one in control, manipulating the flow of events around him.

But Raven was the exception. That man had managed to outmaneuver him and make him look like a fool.

"Everyone!" he shouted in a thunderous voice.

"Yes!" Kael, Thomas, Jason, and the others replied in unison.

Victor looked at them one by one before giving his order.

"During this break, I want you to search every corner of this place for Raven. No matter what it takes, bring him to me. Understood?"

Kael furrowed his brow.

"But Victor, is that okay? I mean, we’re not allowed to kill each other unless the gods decree it, right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

Victor let out a cold chuckle.

"Who said I want to kill him?"

Kael, Thomas, Jason, and the others widened their eyes in surprise. They exchanged glances before smiling knowingly.

"So that’s it. I get it."

Kael burst out laughing as he patted his chest.

"Don’t worry. I’ll contact the other groups. I’m sure they’re furious about being tricked by Raven too."

Victor simply nodded and said nothing. But the fire of vengeance burning inside him had not died down at all.

"Raven... I want to see how you’re going to escape me this time," he whispered, licking his upper lip.

...

"Mhmmm..."

Rose and Claire let out soft groans as they slowly opened their eyes.

An unfamiliar scene came into view. They were inside a dark, quiet cave.

The only sounds were the occasional drops of water and a faint light coming from somewhere in the distance.

The two exchanged confused looks.

"Where are we?" Claire asked as she slowly got to her feet.

Rose looked around before shaking her head.

"I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure—this isn’t where we were before we disappeared and started the third mission."

Claire stayed quiet for a moment, trying to calm herself down.

"By the way, where’s Raven?" Rose asked.

Claire quickly looked around as well, but she couldn’t find Raven anywhere.

Suddenly, a cluster of light particles appeared in front of them and slowly took the shape of Raven.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, they thought they had been separated from Raven, but luckily, that wasn’t the case.

"Ughh..."

Raven rubbed his aching head.

"Where am I?"

"You’re finally back."

Claire walked over to him and immediately wrapped her arms around him.

"I thought we were going to be separated."

Feeling the embrace, Raven’s tense body began to relax.

He patted Claire on the back to calm her down. "It’s okay."

Once she had calmed down, Claire let go of him and explained, "We’re in a strange cave. It’s possible we appeared in a different place from where we disappeared."

"I understand."

Raven nodded slightly and stood up.

"Let’s figure out where we are first. I’m worried that being in an unknown area might leave us open to attacks from other players."

Soon after, the three of them walked out of the cave.

...

"Ouch!"

Leo groaned in pain as he rubbed the back of his head.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a tiger monster staring coldly at him.

"D-Damn it!" he shouted in panic.

He tried to dodge, but the tiger had already swung its claws.

Slash!

A slash severed the tiger’s head from its neck.

Leo had already closed his eyes in panic, so he was startled when nothing happened.

When he cautiously opened them, he found the tiger’s lifeless body lying on the ground.

"Are you okay?"

A woman’s voice came from behind him.

Leo turned around and saw Reyna holding her spear in her right hand.

"Reyna!"

Leo’s eyes lit up as relief washed over him.

"Thanks for your help. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me just now," he said happily as he slowly got to his feet.

Reyna simply nodded, but deep down, she was actually mocking him.

"I was such an idiot for letting him manipulate me before," she muttered to herself.

Still, she couldn’t blame her past self. Back then, she had been truly weak and afraid to face threats from monsters or other players.

Leo had come to her rescue, but in the end, she was nothing more than a handyman who helped him level up quickly.

"By the way, did you level up, Reyna?" Leo asked.

Reyna nodded.

"I leveled up and got a new common-rank weapon."

"So it’s not just me, huh?" Leo gave a slight nod. "Not bad."

The gods’ distribution of rewards was fairly equitable. Since Reyna had helped boost Leo’s group to fifteenth place on the leaderboard, the rewards she received were quite substantial.

Still, thinking about the rewards given to the top ten made Reyna a little annoyed.

If only the gods hadn’t organized that damn hunt, she might have gotten a weapon far better than the one she had now.

But on the other hand, she was also somewhat grateful.

If she had gotten a good weapon, Leo would have gotten one too.

This guy was already annoying enough, and Reyna wasn’t about to let him get even stronger without lifting a finger.

"That damn Raven... I’m sure he must’ve gotten a really powerful artifact for taking first place," Leo grumbled, clearly irritated and envious.

The man was far more cunning than he’d thought. Not only had he managed to evade being hunted by all the other players, but he had also maintained his position at the top of the leaderboard.

Leo could only imagine how huge the rewards Raven’s group had received.

Reyna rolled her eyes at Leo’s jealousy toward Raven.

Only she knew just how much danger Raven had faced to maintain his group’s points.

In contrast, Leo hadn’t done a thing. If it weren’t for Reyna hunting so many monsters alongside Raven, there was no way Leo could have earned the reward for fifteenth place.

"Don’t be jealous. It’s better to focus on ourselves," Reyna said coldly.

She spun her spear before pointing it forward.

"Use this free time to hunt as many monsters as possible. Before the fourth mission starts, we need to level up at least once."

Seeing the determination in Reyna’s eyes, Leo felt a strange feeling he couldn’t quite understand.

It was as if the timid woman who had always followed him from behind had transformed into someone brave enough to challenge him at any moment.

"No..."

He quickly shook his head.

"That must just be my imagination... Yeah, that’s all it is!"