Chapter 76: A Glimpse into the Fourth Mission

"The fourth mission is about to begin."

Victor looked at the panel in front of him and laughed.

"It’s happening much sooner than I expected."

He’d thought the fourth mission would take place next month, but he was wrong. It would begin tomorrow.

"I’m curious. What kind of mission will the gods give us this time? Will it be another game like before, or maybe..."

He narrowed his eyes.

"A bloodbath among the other players? That’ll be something to look forward to."

...

The announcement of the fourth mission immediately caught the attention of all the players.

Many were excited, but quite a few were panicking. The chances of becoming the next victims were extremely high.

In the third mission alone, more than a hundred people had died in various ways—some ridiculous, others brutal.

They didn’t want to die. Unfortunately, they had no choice. Sooner or later, they’d have to complete the fourth mission. The same went for the fifth, sixth, and finally, the seventh.

"Reyna, the fourth mission is about to start!" Leo said excitedly.

Reyna merely nodded. She stared blankly at the notification panel in front of her.

"Will I see Raven again?" she muttered, biting her lower lip.

It had been over a week since their last encounter, but she still couldn’t forget the face of the man who had taken her first experience.

Her body sometimes grew warm whenever she imagined his face or remembered his skilled hands and the way they had touched her.

"Reyna? Why are you so quiet? Are you in trouble?"

Leo’s worried voice came from behind her.

Reyna snapped out of her reverie and shook her head slightly.

"No, I’m fine."

She couldn’t tell him that she was thinking about her first experience with Raven.

Leo was a little suspicious, but he didn’t say anything and chose to change the subject.

"By the way, do you have any idea what the fourth mission will be like?"

His silly question annoyed Reyna.

"How would I know? Do you think I can see the future?"

Leo smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry, I was just talking without thinking."

Ever since he noticed the change in Reyna, Leo had been careful not to act arrogant around her. She gave him a strange feeling that made him uncomfortable.

It was as if Reyna would leave him if he dared to act presumptuously toward her.

Not to mention, Reyna was the one who had kept their group in the top fifteen during the previous mission. Leo, on the other hand, hadn’t done anything, and he still felt ashamed of it.

"Ahem!" Leo cleared his throat before saying, "What if I told you that I know the pattern of the fourth mission?"

Reyna was startled by his words. Seeing his serious expression, she immediately realized he wasn’t joking.

"What do you mean?"

"Long story short, I had a revelation in a dream last night about the fourth mission. Most likely, the gods told me," Leo said smugly.

Reyna smiled derisively.

"You’re way too confident. How could—"

Before she could finish, Reyna suddenly froze. Memories of Leo’s incredible luck flashed through her mind.

As she’d mentioned before, Leo was always lucky.

No, calling him "always lucky" might actually be an understatement. Perhaps "lucky bearer" was a more accurate term.

No matter where he went, he never seemed to encounter any misfortune, such as running into powerful monsters.

Reyna had always followed him, so she knew the situation better than anyone.

Then, during the third mission, Leo obtained a blue crystal just like Claire’s—and he did it with incredible ease.

Meanwhile, Claire had once told Reyna and Raven that she’d had to cross an endless meadow and was trapped there for eight whole days before finally escaping.

"Could my suspicion be right? Is Leo simply a lucky person? Do the gods favor him?"

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

Suppressing her unease, she asked, "So, how does the fourth mission work?"

Leo was taken aback.

"Do you trust me?"

Reyna crossed her arms over her chest and nodded.

"Besides me, who else would trust you?"

The words sounded cliché and embarrassing, and Reyna hadn’t even expected herself to say something like that to Leo.

"Hahaha!" Leo suddenly laughed. "Just what I’d expect from my partner. You really get me!"

Reyna rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Stop rambling and tell me already!"

Leo nodded and began telling her about his dream.

Reyna listened with a serious expression.

Five minutes later, Leo finished his story.

"That’s about it. Do you think my dream will come true?"

Reyna didn’t answer right away.

"Does the fourth mission really follow that kind of pattern?"

According to Leo, the fourth mission would be very different from the first, second, or third.

The mechanism was quite simple. The administrator would send a tattoo or mark to each group, and it would appear on one member.

The game itself was pretty unique. Take Group A and Group B, for example.

The two groups wouldn’t fight each other. Instead, they’d play a guessing game.

Group A would pick one of its members to guess which person in Group B had the administrator’s mark.

If they guessed correctly, the marked person would die instantly, while the other two would be safe.

However, the mark would then move to one of them, giving the opposing group another chance to guess who had it.

If they guessed correctly again, the second person with the mark would also die, leaving only one member of the group.

The mark would then pass to the final member. If another group confronted them, their death would be certain.

After all, they would be the only person left in their group.

"If the fourth mission plays out like that..."

Reyna swallowed hard.

"Isn’t this dangerous?"

The third mission hadn’t even been this dangerous.

Trying to suppress her racing heartbeat, she feigned calm and said, "I need to use the bathroom first."

Without waiting for Leo’s response, she turned and walked away.

...

"Do you like it?"

"Kyuu!"

"Ahh..."

Claire felt like she was about to faint from how cute Altair was.

"Come on, eat plenty so you can grow up big and strong!"

She picked up a piece of grilled chicken thigh and held it out to the little one.

Altair looked excited and gobbled it down.

A short distance away, Rose watched the scene, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"Don’t you think her behavior is... a little strange? It’s like she’s treating Altair as her own daughter."

Raven laughed.

"It’s fine. She’s probably missing something."

Claire’s profile description said she liked cute and adorable animals. Altair had an innocent face, nothing like the terrifying monsters out there.

No wonder Claire had taken such a liking to her.

KRRR!

A ringing sound came from Raven’s pocket.

He patted Rose on the shoulder and said, "I’m going to take a quick piss."

Rose was startled and turned toward him, as if she wanted to say something, but Raven had already left the cave.