Chapter 84: The Gods’ Self-Confidence

The Hall of the Gods...

Four giant figures sat around a round table—three men and one woman.

Two of the men were shirtless, showing off their muscular physiques.

The third man wore white robes, similar to what people in the pre-Christian era used to wear.

The woman, meanwhile, wore a beautiful white gown. Their faces were hidden behind white clouds, making it impossible to see their features.

"So, why did you summon me here, Aureon?" Eryon, the God of Destiny, asked.

Aureon gave a small smile.

"I called you here to discuss something important. It’s about the specimen we sent for testing."

The Sun God, Solvar, frowned.

"Did something happen to him?"

"No, nothing happened to him. We’ve just run into a small problem. There’s an anomaly that’s messing with our plans."

"An anomaly?"

Elara, the Goddess of the Moon, raised an eyebrow.

"Who is it?"

Aureon chuckled softly.

"A unique human named Raven. I’m sure you’ve seen the results of the last three missions, right? He and his group have managed to take first place three times in a row. That’s never happened before in the history of the tests."

The hall instantly fell into tense silence.

"But it’s okay," Aureon continued with a relaxed smile. "The fourth mission will change everything. Our specimen will turn things around and become the champion of this test. That way, he’ll become a pawn on the chessboard of the Alvas World. What do you all think?"

"I understand, but are you sure it’s okay to let Raven live? He’s already messed up our plans, hasn’t he?" Elara asked do

"Pfft!" Aureon laughed. "Relax. I’ve already taken care of it—oh, no. That should be Muria and her subordinate, Enka."

He tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair and continued calmly, "That man and his group will be eliminated during this fourth mission. Trust me..."

...

"Ugh..."

Raven let out a long sigh as he opened his eyes. Three strangers were standing in front of him.

The man in the middle was tall and well-built, with blond hair and blue eyes.

A name appeared above his head: Charles.

The two people beside him—a man and a woman—also looked similar to Charles, especially their hair and eye color. They were most likely from the Blue Continent, which was Europe.

"So, you’re Raven, huh? The guy everyone here is hunting."

Charles smiled slightly.

"Let me introduce myself. I’m Charles. These two are my best friends, Elissa and James."

He pointed toward the woman and man standing behind him.

Claire and Rose were a little surprised.

This was their seventh time entering the game zone, and whenever they encountered other players, they were always incredibly annoying and arrogant.

For the first time, a player had actually been polite enough to introduce himself and his friends.

Raven was also a little surprised, but he wasn’t too fazed. He simply accepted the polite greeting.

"I’m Raven, and these two are my teammates, Claire and Rose."

Charles seemed satisfied with his approach.

"By the way, Raven, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, right? Almost everyone in this testing area has been targeting you. Varen is the main culprit, with Victor and the others helping him."

Raven gasped in surprise. He had been slightly surprised before, but now he was genuinely baffled by Charles.

"Why are you telling me this? Are you afraid of me?" he asked suspiciously.

"Afraid?" Charles was taken aback before bursting into laughter. "Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not afraid of you. No, not just you—I’m not afraid of any of the players here, including Victor and Varen."

His voice was filled with disdain.

"Then why are you telling me this?"

Charles smiled faintly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because you’re interesting."

Raven: "..."

Claire: "..."

Rose: "..."

Realizing how his words sounded, Charles quickly laughed and waved his right hand.

"Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m straight. I like women, not men."

Raven breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t imagine being liked by another man. Just thinking about it made him uncomfortable.

"Raven, you’ve made it this far through your own strength. Victor, Varen, and all the other powerful players who’ve been after you have failed to stop you. Don’t get me wrong—I witnessed it all firsthand. From the way you evaded everyone’s pursuit at that ancient site to how cleverly you outwitted Victor in that hall."

Charles’s smile widened.

"That’s why I don’t want to make you my enemy. It’s not worth it. How about we just be friends?"

He held out his hand to Raven.

Raven glanced at his outstretched hand but didn’t accept it right away.

The rule of this test was simple: no one could be trusted, not even the gods.

Raven could only trust the women chosen by the system. Even then, they needed to have an affection score of at least 80% toward him.

As for Charles?

Raven didn’t even know who this man was, let alone his motives or whether he was telling the truth.

Noticing Raven’s silence, Charles didn’t get angry. He simply pulled his hand back.

"I know you’re hesitant, but my stance hasn’t changed. I hope you can still open your heart to me and my friends."

He looked up and declared, "I abstain!"

[Are you sure? You only have three chances.]

"I’m sure!" Charles replied without hesitation.

[Request accepted. The game ends without a winner.]

All six of them turned into bright white lights. Before disappearing completely, Charles gave Raven a thumbs-up, which Raven returned with a shake of his head.

"What a strange guy..."

...

Raven, Claire, and Rose opened their eyes. But before they even had a chance to catch their breath, invitation notifications started popping up one after another.

[A group has been detected within 100 meters. Do you want to accept their challenge?]

[A group has been detected within 100 meters. Do you want to accept their challenge?]

[A group has been detected within 100 meters. Do you want to accept their challenge?]

"Should we keep going?" Claire asked uncertainly.

She wasn’t afraid that they would lose. Raven had already proven that he could protect them all.

Still, entering the game zone was incredibly exhausting, both physically and mentally.

Raven shook his head.

"No. We’re not going to continue."

"Huh? Do you mean we’re going to use all three of our chances to decline?"

The written rules stated that any group invited by another group had no choice but to accept.

If they ran away, it would be considered a refusal, reducing the number of chances they had left to decline.

"Who said we’re going to run away?"

Raven laughed, then reached into his pocket and pulled out three blue charms.

He handed one to each of them.

"What’s this?" Rose asked curiously.

"Teleportation charms. Break them, and we’ll be teleported to a predetermined location."

He had used 7,000 Love Points to buy them. They were quite expensive, leaving him with only 8,000 points.

Even so, he wasn’t upset. That was what Love Points were for.

Rose and Claire were surprised. They hadn’t expected Raven to have something like that.

But they didn’t ask too many questions. Instead, they broke the charms together.

Just like that, their bodies turned into light and vanished into thin air.