The atmosphere in Beginner Town grew tense.


    There would be one yer only out of the thousands of yers who could own such an amazing-legendary pet.


    Their adrenaline spiked, their throats felt dry, and their necks started to feel sore from having to look up at the sky.


    “I will definitely be the winner,” Hiro muttered while clenching his fists. He secretly stole a nce at where Liberty was standing in the front row.


    The girl was seen staring at the silhouette of a dragon in the sky of Beginner Town with apletely unexpected expression.


    Her gaze was empty and she seemed disinterested.


    What happened to her?


    “The warp will be out within a minute. Before that, you are all free to form a party. But, if you couldn’t find your party here, don’t worry. You still have time to create the partyter after being teleported to the special venue for the game.”


    Game master Juno had just finished her exnation for now.


    At the same time, an extremely dazzling light appeared from another direction. It appeared right at the center of the Beginner Town square.


    A warp resembling a giant glowing gate had also appeared at that point.


    Its surface was abination of silver and white. It didn’t give any clues to yers who were getting more curious to peek at what was behind it.


    “Don’t worry. It’s just a normal gate. Go on and walk through it.”


    Hiro’s eyes returned to focus on the front row. The five of them seemed to have formed a party even before the event started.


    Liberty and the yer named Ace walked first, stepping into the light gate without the slightest hesitation. Then, in a matter of seconds, they both disappeared.


    The others began to line up in an orderly manner to enter the gate of light. Meanwhile, an elf girl who had been talking to Hiro had turned around to whisper something to him.


    “Sorry, Cutie. We already have five girls here, we can’t adopt you at our party. So, see you there!” The girl blinked her beautiful rounded eyes before walking along with the party she was referring to.


    Hiro let out a long breath, feeling relieved. At least he didn’t have to think about how to refuse if the girl actually asked him to join their party.


    After all, Hiro already knew what kind of game to yter. And it was true that ying in a party will be more helpful than ying solo in the game.


    Even so, strong party members were required to increase the win percentage.


    Hiro would decide who could join his partyter, at the venue that had been prepared for the first major event in the LSO.


    He walked into the giant light gate that was in front of him. He kept staring at the light steadily. Hiro had no other choice but to be victorious.


    The light from elsewhere behind the gate was too dazzling. Hiro couldn’t keep his eyes open.


    He walked away with his eyes closed.


    This time, he didn’t get that very annoying feeling, the feeling of being teleported to unknown ces. Instead, he could feel the warmth.


    Sadly, that feeling onlysted for three seconds.


    Right after that, an extremely cold air greeted him.


    Fwoosh!


    And suddenly, his body felt very light.


    [The Haunted White House]


    The first thing Hiro noticed was that his body felt like it had no weight at all.


    And when he touched his back, the greatsword was not there anymore.


    Even so, he remained calm.


    “Damn—survivors, huh? Bad luck.”


    Hiro looked around. He and the thousands of yers who had passed through the gate of light before were now standing in the open courtyard, in front of an imitation building of The White House, but this time it was a version of the building usually found in horror movies.


    The light source in that ce was from a giant bonfire in the middle of the courtyard which had been covered by a thickyer of snow, causing Hiro’s boots to sink slightly in it.


    “That Anonymous was right. Everything I’m seeing right now was exactly like he told me. Who the hell is he? Ninecent’s employee?”


    “Hiro!”


    Jacob turned out to be in the same ce. He immediately surprised Hiro with his ever-inspired greeting. Embracing Hiro’s shoulder who was busy guessing Anonymous’ true identity in his head.


    “Jacob, are you on the survivor team too?”


    “Eh—?”


    “Ahem…I mean, I’m d to see you here.” Hiro almost forgot that he was the only one who knew the leaked information about the event, while Jacob didn’t.


    “Can I join your party, Bro? Everyone seems to have their party already.”


    Jacob grinned expectantly.


    ‘Should I let Jacob in? Indeed, when I first met him, he was terrible at fighting andpletely unreliable. But now, since I taught him the basics of how to y, he has progressed a lot. Even his current level was above the average of the other yers.


    He’s very easy to manage, and one positive thing about him that I can’t beat is… his ability to convince other people. That skill is very important for this event, especially since I have to be on a survivor team like this.’


    [You have sent a party invitation to Jacob]


    [Jacob joined the party]


    “Thank you, Bro. I promise I won’t be a burden to you this time. You can count on me, teehee.”


    Jacob looked pleased and he couldn’t hide his excitement after Hiro invited him to the party. Meanwhile, Hiro just smiled at that.


    ‘Jacob was stillcking in many things. I have to recruit other reliable yers for the sake of victory. But– who?’


    Hiro didn’t see Liberty and the four unfamiliar male yers around the ce. They should have arrived earlier because they were the first to pass through the gate of light.


    At that moment, Hiro suddenly realized the reason why they weren’t there.


    In fact, they had already been gathered elsewhere, in the forest.


    Hiro nced at the very dark forest far in front of The White House. He couldn’t see anything in the forest. Even though the trees had no leaves as they withered due to the map’s winter setting, still, only darkness remained in the forest.


    “They’re on the hunter team,” Hiro muttered to himself.


    Jacob somehow could hear it.


    “Did you say something?”


    “Jacob, we have to find another yer to join our party. Just three other people. Would you like to help me find a suitable person?”


    “You should look for the strongest yers. Maybe one rogue will be great, they are very fast. Do you understand?”


    Jacob looked at Hiro with a confused expression. But he then nodded.


    “We only have five minutes. We’ll meet here again.” Hiro gave themand clearly.


    “Aye, Sir!”


    Jacob immediately rushed off, running towards the people who had just arrived. Meanwhile, Hiro remained standing where he was and looked around. He could search for potential people more quickly by checking the levels listed above their heads.


    But before he could find one, suddenly someone approached him from behind.


    “Yo, Nightfall! It’s been a while.”