Chapter 90: A Landslide Victory

Whoosh!

Raven, Rose, and Claire appeared in the exact spot where they had disappeared earlier.

"We’re back," Claire muttered with a long sigh of relief.

Rose looked relieved as well. She turned to Raven, clearly wanting to say something, but hesitated.

Noticing her hesitation, Raven asked, "Are you curious about how Victor and his group managed to avoid getting the Kyoshi mark?"

Rose didn’t bother hiding it.

"That’s right. According to the rules of the third mission, every group is supposed to receive the Kyoshi mark. But Victor’s group didn’t. That’s really strange."

"Strange?" Raven chuckled. "Actually, it’s not that strange. After all, they got help from the administrator to put pressure on us."

"B-But how is that possible!? Isn’t that against the rules?" Claire protested angrily.

"Rules are rules. But remember, who created those rules?"

Raven looked deeply into her eyes.

"They did, right?"

Claire was at a loss for words. Raven was right. The ones who created those rules were the gods themselves.

"But... but..."

"It’s okay."

Raven patted her head before pulling her into a hug.

"With me here, you’ll be fine. Trust me," he assured her.

No matter how often the gods interfered, their power was still limited. He had learned from Aira that the gods were divided into different factions.

They hated one another. Raven was certain that the faction trying to bring him down in this test would face resistance from the others.

So, he wasn’t worried in the slightest.

After calming Claire down, Raven had the two women sit beside him and keep an eye on the remaining time. There were only a few minutes left.

Claire and Rose were both extremely nervous. They were hoping to take first place after working so hard for the past two days.

When the timer showed five minutes left, a black panel suddenly appeared in front of them.

[Congratulations, everyone! With that, the fourth mission will officially come to an end soon!]

Claire and Rose breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

[As I promised, I’ll reveal the leaderboard during the final five minutes before the mission ends. But before that, I have an announcement regarding the mission’s results. Out of all the groups, 166 people have died. That means there are roughly 500 players remaining.]

All three of their hearts were pounding. One hundred and sixty-six deaths was a staggering number.

"That’s way more deaths than in the third mission," Claire muttered sadly.

She wasn’t worried about those who had died. Seeing the number simply made her realize that she could have easily been one of them.

[By the way, the small "Team Raven" hunt mission has failed. The promised rewards will not be given to anyone.]

"Pfft! For some reason, I can just feel how frustrated the administration is," Rose said with a giggle.

"You’re right," Claire said, laughing along.

[I’ll now open the leaderboard. You can check it for yourselves.]

[Leaderboard]

1. Raven’s Group

2. Leo’s Group

3. Victor’s Group

4. Melissa’s Group

5. ...

Seeing that they were in first place, Claire and Rose smiled brightly and hugged each other.

"We did it!"

Raven nodded with satisfaction. The results were exactly what he had wanted.

Still, he wasn’t entirely happy. After all, the fifth, sixth, and seventh missions would surely be much more challenging.

The gods wouldn’t just sit idly by and let them continue doing this well, either.

"But I’m curious."

He looked up at the dark ceiling of the cave.

"What are they going to do next? I’m actually kind of looking forward to toying with those stupid gods."

A smile spread across his face.

"That’s definitely going to be a lot of fun. Hehehe..."

...

Bang!

Aureon slammed his palm down on the table.

"How could we still fail after all the effort we put in!?" he growled angrily.

Eryon, the God of Destiny, furrowed his brow.

"Isn’t this all your fault?"

"My fault!? What do you mean!?"

Eryon crossed his arms over his chest and sneered. "You’re too confident, Aureon. Just because Raven is an ordinary human, you didn’t take him seriously. You put too much faith in that specimen. And look at the result. Nothing but failure."

The Hall of the Gods instantly fell silent.

The Goddess of the Moon, Elara, let out a long sigh.

"I suspect another faction is involved."

"Another faction?"

Aureon, Eryon, and Solvar, the Sun God, were all taken aback.

"That’s right." Elara nodded heavily. "Who else could it be but the Luminus faction?"

Silence once again enveloped the Hall of the Gods.

Aureon seemed to have realized something. A cold smile slowly spread across his face.

"So that’s how it is. It all makes sense now." He laughed bitterly. "It must have been them who helped Raven overcome all those obstacles! I’m certain of it!"

Solvar folded his arms across his chest.

"Even if that’s the case, what are we going to do now? Their interference has already thwarted our plans."

Aureon smiled dismissively.

"Don’t worry. I have a plan. If I’m not mistaken, the fifth mission will be much harder than the previous ones. Just wait and see. That guy named Raven is going to die a gruesome death!"

The other gods said nothing, but they were curious about what Aureon had planned. One thing was certain—it would be interesting to see how things unfolded.

...

"Phew! We can finally relax again."

Rose stood up and stretched her stiff body.

The next mission would take place in half a month. That gave them plenty of time to prepare.

"Raven, what are you going to do next?" Claire asked excitedly.

"Leveling up. I haven’t made much progress yet," Raven replied as he opened his status panel.

[STATUS]

Name: Raven Draxel

Age: 27

Nickname: The Most Disgusting Bastard in the World

Level:21 (95/2500)

Talents: Strength (B), Endurance (B), Intelligence (S), Magic (D), Agility (C), Speed (C), Charisma (S), Vitality (A)

Class: Necromancer

Summoned Subordinate: Migel (12)

First Awakening: None

Second Awakening: None

Third Awakening: None

Skills: Gluttony (F) 3,000/5,000, Appraisal (S), Hypnosis (A), Shadow Movement (F), Slick Tongue (A), Woman Satisfaction Technique (S)

Storage: One box of XXL Condoms

Love Points: 8,000

Description: You have begun your journey as the most terrifying bastard in the world. Your very existence is an anomaly that should not exist. Your future is bleak, and no one can see it—not even the gods.

"Great! I’ll come with you!" she said excitedly.

"Hey, are you guys really going to leave without me?" Rose protested.

"Pfft! What are you talking about? Of course you’re coming with us."

Claire hugged her arm tightly.

Rose’s annoyed expression instantly disappeared, replaced by a beautiful, captivating smile.

Suddenly...

[An invitation has been sent. Do you want to accept it?]

A panel appeared in front of each of them.

"Huh? An invitation? Could this be a bug?" Claire scratched her head.

The fourth mission was already complete. There was no way another challenge invitation could have been sent.

"No, this isn’t a challenge invitation," Raven said seriously. "It’s an invitation from the administrator."

Claire and Rose were surprised.

"I see. I understand now. We’re the first-place winners, so we’re receiving a reward from the administrator."

Rose nodded slightly before turning to Raven and Claire with a smile.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"

...

"Damn it!"

Leo punched the tree in front of him.

"How is this possible? Why am I in second place!?" he roared angrily.

He had tried his hardest to surpass those people, but the results were far from satisfying. He had been aiming for first place, not second.

Glancing at the leaderboard again, Leo gritted his teeth as he glared hatefully at the top spot.

"Raven... I’ll make you pay a hundredfold!"

Behind him, Reyna remained silent, but the faint smile on her face revealed exactly how she felt.

Leo was panting as he slowly regained his composure.

"It’s okay. There’s still room to turn things around," he muttered, trying to calm himself down.

The fourth mission had relied entirely on luck, and he had been incredibly lucky.

Unfortunately, he still ended up losing. He couldn’t understand how that had happened.

After calming himself down, he turned to Reyna and looked at her gently.

"I’m sorry. I failed," he said as he stepped closer.

Reyna waved her right hand dismissively.

"It’s okay. I don’t blame you. Good job."

Well, she didn’t really care that much about the rankings. As far as she was concerned, Raven’s victory was a must, and she was thrilled that he had pulled it off.

Leo, unaware of her thoughts, was still grinning like an idiot.

"By the way, have you received your reward yet?" he asked.

"Yes."

Reyna nodded before opening the status panel that had just appeared.

Since she and Leo had placed second, they each received a rare artifact. Just one each.

The weapon she received was called the Poison Spear. It was long and black, with mysterious patterns wrapped around its shaft.

Its destructive power came from the poison it contained. There were at least eight different types of deadly poison sealed inside the spear.

"Great! Your strength is sure to increase significantly," Leo said with satisfaction.

Reyna simply smiled without saying a word. Leo’s expression seemed to say, "Come on, praise me."

But Reyna refused to take the bait. She simply turned around and walked away.

"Let’s go hunting."