Those five people walked closer and closer to Hiro’s hideout. When they arrived in front of the wall where Hiro was holding his breath, they stopped an inch away near Hiro and had a very serious conversation.
Hiro’s focus on eavesdropping on their conversation was distracted when he realized that one of them had a blinding light amidst the night.
Liberty was standing in the back row with a grim expression on her face. Her beautiful eyes had turned slightly red and watery. She yawned with a bored face repeatedly.
“So, can we start with plan B?” one of them, a man who hid his face on a hood, asked.
[Level 23. Dimitri. Rogue. The Maniac]
“Yeah. It’s time,” said the one who acted like the leader of the party, Ace. Hiro remembered his appearance very well.
“Great! Let me kill them all. Tsk Tsk Tsk.”
“Dimitri, be a little friendly. You’re getting more and more like a real demon.” It was the mage who commented, an african-american man who held a magical staff in his right hand.
[Level 23. Alaric. Mage. Top Spender]
“Shut up, Alaric! Do you want to taste my poisonous katra?”
“Come on, boys. Stop fighting!”
[Level 23. Niklaus. Knights. Noble Knight]
Hiro absorbed their conversation in his mind, and he realized that the time had come.
As Anonymous said, the hunters would start to kill the survivors instead when they realized that there was no rule prohibiting them to do that.
In fact, when they killed the survivors, the survivor who had died would be assumed as eliminated from the game. Thus, more kills, more points for hunters.
And now was the time. Hiro knew that this would happen soon. That was why he gathered the survivors before it was too late.
He was lucky to find how it would begin.
But—his mind suddenly froze when the beautiful girl he missed so much yawned cutely out of the blue.
“Libe, are you okay?”
Ace, the leader of the party in front of Hiro, turned his back to talk to Liberty, who remained silent since their arrival.
But wait—
Did he just call her by ‘Libe’ just like me?
“I just want this to end soon. I am really bored.” murmured Liberty in her distinctive, soft voice.
Hiro gulped his own saliva reflexively hearing Liberty’s voice for the first time since he was separated from her in a way he would never forget.
But–his gulping voice was heard by Ace, who suddenly twisted his neck towards the giant plant wall where Hiro was hiding.
However, he wasn’t the only one who immediately became suspicious of the voice from the wall.
“Did you hear that?” Dimitri narrowed his eyes.
“What happened?” Niklaus, a knight with his back covered by a shiny silver two-engrailed top shield, seemed not aware of the sound Hiro made.
“Shh!” Ace pressed his own index finger against his lips to tell the others to be quiet.
Hiro could feel cold sweat suddenly dripping down his body. He tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword he was carrying.
Damn it! This is bad.
Ace walked over to the wall where Hiro was hiding. His brows arched in alert. The man beast’s ears seemed to twitch, trying to catch the slightest sound around that area.
Hiro completely stopped breathing. His face had started to turn a little blue from the lack of oxygen. His very existence was in jeopardy right now.
And if his guess was right, the five of them were party closed-beta test players. Although Hiro was a CBT King, still… fighting against their party alone would be a tough battle. Plus, he still couldn’t counter Liberty and her Hellsing Whisper aside from just dodging it.
At that moment, when Hiro had resigned himself to the situation, his eyes shifted to look for Liberty, who was looking at him. Straight into his eyes.
Even though it was only a glimpse, Hiro was certain the girls’ pupils widened as if they reacted in surprise to see him hiding within the plant wall.
And suddenly…
“Ace! Looks like I dropped my precious thing on the spot earlier. I have to get it before someone else finds it!”
Liberty shouted with a loud voice while patting Ace’s shoulder. Making Ace startled, and turned his head towards her, ignoring the wall of plants in front of him that was only inches away.
“What? Again, Libe?”
“I am so sorry, Brother. You know I am clumsy sometimes.” Liberty raised her eyebrows like a pitiful Pomeranian dog.
Hiro’s heart skipped a beat when he stared at her adorable facial expression.
But–
Wait a second,
Did she just call him brother?
Hiro could feel his chest, which had been stuffy before, felt lighter.
No–way, did I get jealous? With her own brother? Crap! Hiro frowned at what had just happened to him for the first time in his life.
Ace tilted his head while looking at Liberty with a suspicious expression.
“Are you really okay? You act weird, Libe.”
If it was true that Ace was Liberty’s brother, he indeed had such a contrasting personality compared to his sibling.
“Okay, I can go alone. I will find it by myself.” Liberty crossed her arms in annoyance. Pouted her lips.
Ace sighed. It looked like he was tired of her behavior. In the end, as a big brother, he needed to throw away his suspicions.
“Alright. It’s not just sometimes, but you’re always clumsy, Libe!”
“Humph.” Liberty looked away after being ridiculed by her brother.
“Well, if you said so, I’ll go with you. Dad will cut my credit card limit if he watches me let you go alone.” Ace had no choice.
And thus, Liberty’s plump lips curved into a beautiful smile.
“Deal! Let’s go, Hurry!”
Hiro observed how the girl pulled her brother’s big hand to quickly get away from where Hiro was hiding.
Did she just save me? Did she get back her memory?
In the end, the five of them went together, heading the same path as before.
Hiro waited while hoping for the girl to turn back to look at him one more time. But she never did.
As the five of them drifted away from where they were, Hiro was finally able to refill his shrinking lungs with fresh air.
“Pyuuh. It was really close!”
He patted his chest, feeling relieved.
However, there was no longer time for him to rest. If he really wanted to win this game, Hiro had to move faster than before.
At that time, 90% of fire torches had been lit up. Even so, Noah’s game points did not increase significantly. It was still safe to be under Hiro’s point.
It looked like the survivors had arrived at the maze covered by snow and found the fire torches were untouched in that very cold part.
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