The arrival of a powerful and reliable party reignited the survivors’ fighting spirit.


    Without waiting for anyone’s cue, the survivors who had their hands empty immediately rushed to grab a weapon from the hundreds that just appeared in front of them.


    Their enthusiasm in preparing to battle against the hunters to remain as the winning team relieved Hiro. With their current situation, the possibility of winning against the hunters who were already fewer in number since the beginning increased.


    Even now, the number of survivors who were gathered there was more than the total active hunters in the entire maze.


    “How did you think of something like this, kid?” The leader of Immortal Knights, who was standing next to him, watched the survivors scramble to get weapons that suited them.


    “I just thought that hiding in a ce like this would make things hard for the hunters. I don’t think they’d expect that we would stay in a ce as cold as this for long, especially when we don’t have any warm clothes,” Hiro exined without taking his eyes off the other survivors.


    At that moment, King_Val came and stood next to Hiro on his other side.


    “Nice sword, kid,” Valplimented and patted Hiro’s shoulder after observing the greatsword on Hiro’s back.


    “Thanks. So is yours, Val.”


    Being a fan of Immortal Knights himself, Hiro knew the real name of the five members as well as their current ages. These veteran gamers were around 34–36 years of age, so it wasn’t strange that they thought of him as a kid. They were almost double his age.


    Val looked at him with a smile when he heard that, but all of a sudden, a subtle scrutinizing look appeared on his face.


    Even though Hiro wasn’t directly looking at him, it was hard to miss when someone looked at you longer than normal.


    “Is there something wrong?”


    “No, it’s just…” Val paused and stroked his chin. “It might just be me, but your face reminds me of someone.”


    Hiro couldn’t help but pause for a brief moment. Could it be that he saw the resemnce between him and his brother?


    “Is this your first time meeting an Asian here? A lot of westerners say that we Asians look almost the same.” He quickly brushed off the question.


    “I’m with you, Val. He reminds me of WynterRain.” n, also known as The WitchDoctor in-game, suddenly joined the conversation.


    “Right, WynterRain! West yed with him a year ago in Another World Online, didn’t we? I didn’t expect him to leave us so suddenly…” Val put his hand on his own head.


    Meanwhile, the leader with the real name Dominic suddenly looked into Hiro’s eyes. His eyes moved as if he was scanning Hiro’s face.


    “Are you blood-rted to WynterRain, by any chance? You really look like him,” the man added.


    Hiro sighed before smiling.


    “I wish. We’re not blood-rted, but we are from the same country, haha,” he awkwardlyughed and tried to divert the topic.


    The members of Immortal Knights looked at him strangely. His somewhat unnatural reaction made them suspect him even more, but the survivors saved him.


    The other survivors had finished picking up the weapons they could use until none remained. Even though the weapons weren’t enough for a hundred thousand people, the gift Immortal Knights brought and the help from BigShow’s party increased the number of survivors who could fight from a thousand to over two thousand.


    Still, none of them would be gathered there without him, so Hiro remained as the survivor team’s leader.


    In a rather short time, he had prepared a strategy to defeat the hunters. The survivors who had no weapons and were unwilling to join the battle would gather at the rear, far enough for magic attacks to be unable to reach them.


    However, this didn’t mean that they were just going to sit idly. While it was true they would be able to avoid magic attacks with the turns to the hiding spot and enough distance, rangers with bows or firearms would still be able to reach them.


    Because of that, the survivors who wouldn’t be participating in the battle were busy creating a fort made of snow and snowballs to throw as ranged attacks.


    Three parties stood at the forefront; Hiro’s party, Immortal Knights, and BigShow’s party. Right behind them were the survivors who could fight, both those who had weapons and those who decided to fight empty-handed.


    After getting into position, they could only patiently wait for their opponents. As they did, it wasn’t just once or twice that they looked at the remaining time of the game.


    [Remaining time: 00h 27m 45s]


    The atmosphere became tense, causing the air to feel even colder. They truly felt as if they were going to freeze anytime soon.


    …


    With the silence that filled the air, it was easy to hear the faint noises from afar. The more time passed, the louder those noises became.


    Not only were there vigorous shouts, but also heavy, irregr footsteps of numerous people.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    They ran at full speed. Just from the sounds of it, they seemed to have brought a mass of thousands.


    When the hunters began closing in, the ground they were standing on shook.


    An earthquake? No, it was the sound of hunters enthusiastically marching to wipe them out and achieve a quick and easy victory.


    “They’reing.” Hiro pulled out his greatsword from his back and braced himself. His eyes were looking straight at thest turn the hunters would need to go through before seeing the survivor team.


    In a matter of seconds, rows of hunters with their weapons up in the air began appearing from that direction.


    Four people were at the very front. As Hiro expected, they were the leaders of the hunter team.


    “Hiro, is that Liberty?” Jacob squinted his eyes with doubt. She seemed a little… different.


    Was his eyes deceiving him?


    Hiro only nced at him for a brief moment before looking back at the opposing team. At the front of the hunters were Ace, Liberty, ric, and Nius.


    ‘Hm?’


    Hiro scanned people in the front row again. Their number didn’t seem quite right.


    Their rogue wasn’t there.


    [Demon’s Eyes]


    Right at that moment, he saw a humanoid clump of dots dash to his side.


    CLANK!


    Hiro swung his greatsword toward Noah, who was standing next to him with his eyes on the rows of hunters.


    “What the hell, NightFall!?” Noah, whose heart almost jumped out of his chest, exploded with anger.


    Was he nning to cut his neck!?


    Before Hiro could respond, the figure that was previously hidden in the shadows with [Void Phantom] appeared with a smirk on his face.


    The person was none other than the rogue of the hunter team’s esteemed party, Dimitri.


    His w-shaped katars were stuck on the edge of Hiro’s de. A slightly thick, almost unnoticeable clear liquid was slowly dripping from the edges of those long and sharp katars.


    “So close,” Dimitri hissed with an amused grin. His sharp gaze was akin to an actual murderer’s.


    Shrug!


    Hiro swiftly flung Dimitri’s hand with all his strength, causing the rogue to jump backward, creating distance.


    “Going after my mage? You won’t have a second chance.” Hiro checked the clear liquid on his de. The Blood-Eater Vampire couldn’t absorb it.


    Upon touching it, its name was quickly disyed to him.


    Ding!


    [Ophiophagus Venom]


    “That bastard.” Noah clenched his fists in irritation. His anger was now directed at Dimitri.


    If Hiro hadn’t swung his greatsword in time, he would’ve died without knowing how. Especially with a deadly venom covering the opponent’s weapon.


    “You can’t even do that, Dimitri? Lame.” While Hiro’s attention was on the rogue, Ace and the others had arrived in front of him.


    The two teams were currently only 15 meters apart. However, unlike what Val and Dominic predicted, the hunters didn’t immediately attack. Instead, they stood still in an orderly manner as if they were waiting for orders from those at the front.


    “Liberty, long time no see!” Jacob, who Hiro previously ignored, suddenly waved his hand to Liberty.


    The girl instantly stiffened up. Not a response came from her, as if the person Jacob was greeting wasn’t her.


    Ace raised his brow and looked at his sister. Noticing her brother’s gaze, Liberty shook her head.


    Hiro silently observed the interaction.


    Does she also not remember Jacob?


    In truth, Hiro also wanted to do what Jacob did. He wanted to call her name, ask how she was doing, and show her just how much he missed her.


    However, everything he wanted to say was stuck to the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed it all back down in one gulp.


    Under the survivors’ wary gaze, Ace smiled and began speaking in a loud and clear voice.


    “Listen up, survivors! My fellow hunters and I will eliminate all of you in 10 minutes!”


    As Ace’s voice resounded in the maze, the hunters present all cheered.


    “But…” the hunter team leader continued, “Since we still have 20 minutes left, why don’t we have a duel? yer vs. yer, 1v1. Whoever can defeat Dimitri, ric, and me in two minutes can step forward.”


    “Let’s enjoy this game before it ends.”