Chapter 77: Mission Four Begins! (1)

The next morning...

Rose and Claire stood at the entrance of the cave, looking anxious and nervous.

Today was the day their fourth mission would begin. They had no idea what kind of mission the administrator would give them.

Would it be even harder than the previous ones?

Or maybe the opposite?

While the two of them were nervous, Raven, standing beside Claire, remained calm as usual.

Last night, he had talked with Reyna about the fourth mission. It turned out that Leo had received insight into the mission through a dream.

Most likely, the gods were involved.

"Just as expected of the protagonist—truly amazing," he sneered inwardly.

Previously, he had wondered why the gods weren’t helping Leo. But now, there was no need to ponder that question anymore.

They had finally intervened to give Leo a chance at winning the fourth mission. ℴ

But whether Leo could actually pull it off was another matter entirely. In any case, Raven wasn’t going to let him have it easy.

Second by second, time passed. When the clock display in front of them finally showed 12:00 PM, the administrator’s panel appeared before them.

[The fourth mission is about to begin!]

Claire and Rose tensed up. They quickly composed themselves and listened carefully.

[The fourth mission is different from the previous three. This time, we’re going to play a game!]

"A game?" Claire asked in surprise.

[The game is called "Guess the Identity." You know what I mean, right? It’s exactly what you’re thinking! Alright, I’ll keep this brief. Basically, I’ll give everyone in each group an identifying mark called a Kyoshi. The rules of the game are...]

Administrator Muria then explained everything in detail to the players at the test site.

Fifteen minutes later, the explanation was over, and everyone’s expressions turned serious.

"This fourth mission is truly terrifying," Rose muttered, trying to calm her racing heart.

If the first and second missions had difficulty levels ranging from C to B, then the fourth mission was clearly at level A.

This mission was designed to drastically reduce the number of players.

Claire swallowed hard before looking at Raven with concern.

"What should we do?"

Raven patted her on the shoulder.

"Don’t say anything. Just listen to the rules until the end."

[That’s roughly how the rules work. Oh, right, there won’t be a ranking system like before. However, there is something called a shadow leaderboard. In short, rankings will still exist, but they won’t be visible like before. You’ll only be able to see them five minutes before the fourth mission ends. One more thing: there’s a side mission hidden within this fourth mission.]

"A side mission?" Rose and Claire exchanged glances.

[Given the Raven group’s outstanding performance earlier, the gods have decided to make things more exciting. Whoever manages to take down that group will receive an incredible reward—four rare-tier weapons.]

Upon hearing this, all the players in the test area immediately erupted in excitement.

In the previous third mission, the reward for defeating the Raven group had been just one rare-tier weapon.

And now, they could get four for the same task!

The increased reward naturally fired everyone up.

"Hahaha! That’s amazing... amazing!"

Kael couldn’t hold back his laughter when he heard the administrator’s words.

"Finally, we have a reason to go after the Raven group! I can’t wait to kill that damn guy!"

He clenched both fists, his expression filled with determination. The memory of Raven’s taunts was still fresh in his mind.

He and his teammates had been searching for Raven like fools, unaware that he and his group had been hiding right among them.

Every time he thought about it, he felt deeply humiliated.

Victor, Jason, and the others laughed along. They were just as eager to kill Raven as Kael was.

"Victor, I promise I’ll kill Raven this time! Just you wait and see!" Kael said enthusiastically, turning to Victor.

But strangely, Victor didn’t look happy at all.

"What’s wrong? Why do you look so indifferent?"

Victor shot him a cold glance.

"You’re so stupid."

Kael flinched at his words. Before he could say anything, Victor continued.

"Do you think it’ll be that easy to find Raven’s group?"

Kael frowned, clearly dissatisfied.

"But we have Varen! With his help, we’ll definitely find them!"

"You’re dreaming too big," Victor sneered. "Varen was willing to help us before because he likes a strong opponent. He’s a solo player and doesn’t want to be tied down to anyone, including us."

Kael was at a loss for words. After a few seconds of silence, he asked irritably, "Then what are we supposed to do? This is a rare opportunity!"

"That’s right, Victor! Don’t you hold a grudge against Raven? He humiliated you in front of everyone!" Thomas chimed in.

The others immediately joined in, offering their support and throwing out all kinds of opinions.

But Victor seemed unfazed.

"Don’t try to persuade me. This fourth mission is extremely dangerous—far more dangerous than I initially thought. Instead of worrying about Raven, you’d better focus on surviving against the other groups. Whether they agreed to it or not, we forced them to submit through my threats and your actions during the third mission."

Unlike the third mission, which had a "red zone" where killing other players was allowed, the fourth mission had no such area.

The no-kill rule was still in effect, and breaking it was strictly forbidden.

The problem was that he or his friends could be killed without being able to fight back.

Victor didn’t care if he died in battle. But dying in such a ridiculous way, simply because he or one of his friends had a Kyoshi Mark and was identified by another group, was something he couldn’t accept.

Victor’s firm and cutting words silenced Kael, Thomas, and the others.

They had been so caught up in their excitement that they’d forgotten about that terrifying possibility.

"I-I..."

Kael wanted to say something but didn’t know what. He was too embarrassed to admit his mistake.

Noticing his unease, Victor waved his hand.

"Don’t worry about it. Now, go get the others. Don’t let them wander around alone, or another group might find them and summon them into the game zone. That would be dangerous for all of us."

Kael didn’t dare argue. He hurried off to gather Jason, Thomas, and the others so they could find their remaining friends.

...

"Hahaha! What did I tell you yesterday, Reyna? I was right, wasn’t I?"

Leo laughed heartily as he looked at the panel in front of him.

Reyna remained silent, her expression more serious than ever.

"Leo..."

She glanced at him warily.

"This man is very dangerous."