Chapter 87: The Last Day of the Fourth Mission

"I didn’t expect to run into you, Raven!"

A short, bald man burst out laughing when he saw Raven and his group.

Raven rubbed his temple.

"Can we just get this over with? I’m really tired of this nonsense."

The bald man froze at his words.

"Y-You..."

[Let’s start the game.]

Enka’s voice cut him off.

Buzz!

Two barrier walls suddenly appeared between the two teams.

[Heads or tails?]

"Heads!" the bald man replied.

"Tails," Raven answered indifferently.

The coin was flipped, and it landed on tails.

"Oh? Looks like my luck is pretty good."

Raven was slightly surprised.

Usually, he was the last one to choose, but apparently, that wasn’t the case this time.

[Please point out the Kyoshi Mark holder on the opposing team.]

Enka’s voice came from beside him.

Raven looked at the bald man, then shifted his gaze to the two people standing behind him.

Both were women. One was fat, while the other was thin.

He raised his hand and pointed at the thin woman.

"She’s the one bearing the Kyoshi Mark."

The thin woman’s face immediately turned pale.

[Are you sure?]

"One hundred percent sure."

[The answer is locked. The opposing team may now select one Kyoshi Mark bearer from Raven’s team.]

The bald man’s face went pale. His breathing became heavy, and his heart started pounding like crazy.

Just like everyone who had challenged Raven before him, all the arrogance he had shown earlier disappeared instantly, like a balloon losing air.

"I... I..."

He stared at Raven before shifting his gaze toward Rose and Claire.

Gritting his teeth, he pointed at Rose.

"Her—she’s the Kyoshi Mark bearer."

[Answer locked. Please wait a moment.]

Time seemed to drag on, and the bald man could barely contain his anxiety.

If he succeeded, his teammate would be safe. But if he failed, he didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to him.

Losing a single teammate was tantamount to death.

This test was meant to assess the camaraderie between teammates, so future missions would undoubtedly require them to work together.

[The results are in.]

Enka’s voice echoed throughout the altar.

[Congratulations to Team Raven. You’ve won this game.]

Boom!

Her words hit him like a bomb going off right next to his head. He stood there, stunned, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Impossible... This is impossible!" he shouted.

"Argh!"

A scream suddenly came from behind him.

He quickly turned around and saw his teammate, the thin woman, staring at him in terror.

"P-Please... I..."

Boom!

Her body exploded into mincemeat, which scattered in every direction.

The altar fell silent.

Raven smiled faintly and said indifferently, "Congratulations. You’ve lost your partner. Next time, think before you act."

"Raven!" the man roared angrily. "I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"

He was about to attack, but before he could do anything, their bodies instantly turned into light and vanished from sight.

...

Raven opened his eyes and was immediately greeted by pop-up invitations from the other teams.

His expression didn’t change as he turned toward Claire and Rose.

"Get ready. Today, we’re going to slaughter them all."

Both of their hearts raced wildly.

The word "slaughter" sounded incredibly domineering, but for some reason, they liked it.

"Alright!"

Whoosh!

The three of them turned into beams of light and returned to the game zone.

"Hahaha! Raven, we finally meet!"

This time, his opponent was a woman accompanied by two other female teammates.

Raven felt nothing. Whether they were male or female, they were all the same in his eyes.

[Tails or heads?]

"Tails!"

"Heads," Raven replied indifferently.

This time, the coin landed on tails.

"I choose her!"

The woman pointed at Claire.

Claire’s face went pale. This was already the fourth time an opponent had singled her out as the bearer of the Kyoshi Mark.

Even though Raven had always saved her, the feeling was still terrifying.

"In that case, I’ll choose you."

Raven pointed at the woman.

The woman froze.

"Y-You..."

[Answer locked. Please wait a moment.]

A few minutes later, Enka’s voice sounded again.

[Both answered correctly. There is no winner. You will now be returned to where you came from.]

The woman was both surprised and relieved. Fortunately, she had chosen correctly, so she was safe.

Before disappearing, she grinned and whispered, "I can’t wait to see how you’ll survive a little while longer..."

After returning, Raven received another challenge invitation.

This time, his opponents were two women and one man.

Raven didn’t hesitate and immediately pointed at the man.

The short-haired woman leading the group chose Rose, who ended up losing.

Her male companion died a gruesome death.

Time and again, Raven accepted challenge after challenge from the various groups.

They seemed endless, like a swarm of ants circling a piece of sugar.

Even so, Raven wasn’t afraid at all. He had a system. Nothing could escape his notice.

Before they knew it, two days had flown by. The final day of the fourth mission had finally arrived.

"Phew..."

Claire let out a long sigh.

"Finally, the day is here."

"You’re right."

Rose sat on a rock, looking completely exhausted.

"I’m really tired of all this."

For fourteen hours a day, they had spent the past two days dealing with one challenge after another from other groups.

The opponents just kept coming, and they were incredibly aggressive, like they wanted to kill them on the spot.

Raven chuckled at their reactions.

"Good job, everyone."

He patted Claire on the head and gave Rose a light pat on the shoulder.

"You’ve both been working hard."

Hearing his praise, they both smiled. Even though they hadn’t really done anything, being praised by him still made them happy.

"Raven, thank you."

Claire wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his stomach.

"Because of you, I didn’t die. Once again... thank you."

Although most of her memories of what had happened in the game zone had been completely erased, the fear of death seemed to have remained.

The faces of those who had died such brutal deaths still haunted her from time to time.

Fortunately, Raven had been by her side, protecting her from death.

Of all the challenge invitations they had received, at least twenty-five opponents had identified her as the bearer of the Kyoshi Mark.

"You’re welcome. Didn’t I promise to protect you? I’m just keeping my word."

Raven gently patted her head.

He glanced at Claire’s love gauge, which was still stuck at 99.9 points. He was certain that if he asked her to sleep with him, she would accept without hesitation.

But Raven wasn’t in a hurry. There was still Rose, whose affection was stuck at 70 points.

He was a little worried that getting together with Claire might cause Rose to distance herself from him.

Rose quietly watched the two of them. Without realizing it, a small seed of jealousy had already taken root in her heart.

The feeling was still faint, but as the days passed, it would slowly grow stronger without her even realizing it.

"All right, you guys get some rest. I’m going out for a bit."

Rose snapped out of her thoughts and hurriedly stood up.

"I’m coming too!"

Raven glanced at her casually.

"Why? I’m just going out to hunt for a while."

"No, I want to come!" Rose insisted. "We’re a team, aren’t we? Shouldn’t I go wherever you go?"

Her rhetorical question left Raven speechless.

"This woman..."

The corner of Raven’s mouth twitched. But he was too lazy to argue, so he simply nodded.

"Come with me."

Rose’s face lit up. She quickly walked over to Raven and left with him.

Claire could only stare at their backs as they slowly disappeared from view.

"So, what about me?" she muttered, pointing at herself.

...

"Failed, you say?"

Victor furrowed his brow.

"Y-Yes, Victor! This is extremely dangerous! Raven and his group are still undefeated. In fact, dozens of groups that challenged them have been wiped out by him!" Kael replied frantically.

He didn’t want to believe it either, but the evidence was right before his eyes. Every group that challenged Raven and his team returned with only two people.

That meant they had been defeated, and one of their comrades had been lost.

Victor’s expression remained unchanged. He had already suspected as much.

After all, Raven was someone even the administrator feared. There was no way he would lose so easily to a bunch of ants.

"I understand."

Victor gave a slight nod.

"Thanks for the information."

"Huh? Is that it? You’re not going to do anything?" Kael asked hesitantly.

The Victor he remembered was a man who refused to lose. He would do anything to achieve his goals. But strangely, he didn’t seem like that anymore.

Was something wrong with him?

Victor smiled mockingly.

"Don’t worry. I’ll take action. No, not just me. The others will act as well."

Three question marks seemed to appear above Kael’s head.

Victor had no intention of explaining.

He waved his hand.

"Go on. I’ll call you again later."

Kael simply nodded before turning to leave.

Victor gazed toward the horizon.

"Raven, you’re making me more and more curious. Just how many secrets are you hiding?"

He licked his upper lip.

"I’m dying to uncover them..."