Tap! Tap! Tap!
Hiro rushed back to run towards the path to the south.
This time he put all his strength into running and again relied on his GPS system, which had recorded all the paths of the maze that he had passed before.
Behind him was Noah who was also running, trying to catch his speed with some difficulty.
The two of them ran with no longer care about the sound of their footsteps.
.
.
Within minutes, Hiro and Noah made it to the south of the maze. No one followed them behind and no hunter seemed to know where the survivors were hiding at that moment.
From a distance, Hiro could see a group of survivors who were also running towards the south.
Most of them were women. And for that reason, Hiro could guess who directed them all.
Hiro and Noah outrun the female players in front of them so the two of them could catch up quickly.
Hearing the footsteps of the two, the group of survivors looked back to make sure that it wasn’t the hunters who had come.
But suddenly–
A figure jumped from the vanguard in a zigzag before pointing a dagger right at Hiro’s neck, which hastily made him stop.
“Yo! It’s me!” Hiro raised his hands in the air in surrender. If he moved just a little, his throat would be slit apart.
The figure that stopped Hiro was Cara, the rogue. His guess was right.
Cara immediately pulled back the dagger she was pointing at after realizing who’s coming.
Hiro didn’t blame the girl, instead he was more impressed by her. Her speed was indeed praiseworthy.
“We stuck to the plan. Let’s go!”
Hiro passed Cara and then ran to the front to lead the line of survivors who were rescued by Cara or accidentally encountered her.
Noah dashed past Cara and the others, trying to stay ahead of Hiro.
They ran again without saying any words.
While a bit far from where they were, there were hunters who had also gathered troops. Together moving towards the survivor’s hideout, they suspected.
.
.
Hiro arrived at a place that extended as wide as a field with the ground covered in thick snow. Even the snow kept falling from the sky in that place.
However, that wasn’t what surprised him. Because there were already tens of thousands of survivors gathered and some sticking their bodies together, trying to share warmth.
A huge, bulky man came up to Hiro, BigShow. He was a survivor.
“I thought this must be your plan, Boss.”
He brought along four thug-faced male players who were carrying machete-shaped weapons in their hands. Hiro remembered them as BigShow’s subordinates who were often seen with him.
“Hiro, you came!” This one was Jacob, who ran towards Hiro from a distance.
“I really didn’t expect that there would be so many survivors here.” Hiro ignored the two of them. Meanwhile, the survivors who had been sitting rose to their feet.
Most of them did not have any weapons.
“BigShow, do you and your team have more weapons?”
“Yeah, we managed to find a lot of hidden chests. Some contained a dozen kitchen knives.”
“Give it to me.”
BigShow already considered Hiro his master, and he gave Hiro the loot he had got with his party, without expecting anything in return.
“Jacob, how many of them?”
“103,080, I guess.”
Hiro was really surprised to hear such a large number. However, he immediately shouted in a loud voice. Order those who had weapons or were able to fight empty-handed to get out of line and came forward.
At that moment, some of them started to move according to Hiro’s orders.
And those who moved forward were no more than a thousand players. While others seemed to show objections if they had to fight along with the others.
“Boss, what happened?” BigShow was bewildered to see Hiro looking restless after seeing such a small number of combat survivors they had.
Hiro sighed. But then he could sense some figures coming.
Five people came from the corner that Hiro and the others had just passed.
A survivor party.
They consisted of five large men of the same height. In the front row was a man with a shield and a gigantic sword whose size were able to protect two or three people at once.
Hiro’s eyes widened when he saw that person’s face.
[Level 25. LostSoul. Knights. The Defender]
This player was a very famous professional gamer from America.
He was known as a knight legend because he had always been a knight in all the MMORPG games he had played.
Not only that, he was a party leader who was very strong and loyal to the point of having a special name for their party.
[Immortal Knights]
Behind him was none other than a barbarian who also wielded a greatsword with a shiny golden blade. The armor he was wearing was pitch black metal.
[Level 24. King_Val. Barbarian. The Barbarian]
Next is a wizard wearing thick armor who did not keep his feet on the ground, his body floating in the air with a pair of turbo flames blazing out from under the boots he was wearing.
[Level 25. RemusDrac. Mage. Dark Magician]
The one who’s steps couldn’t be sensed was walking beside the barbarian.
He was a rogue who wore a long cloak and put on a mask to cover his true face. A mask resembling a Japanese demon. Looks scary but kinda cool.
[Level 25. The Ninja. Rogue. Killing Spree]
The last one of Immortal Knights was a cleric who walked right beside the leader.
He was a bespectacled man with the friendliest face. He carried a shield in his left hand and a magic staff in his right.
[Level 23. TheWitchDoctor. Cleric. The Alchemist]
Seeing their arrival with full armor and weapons created a great hope in the minds of the survivors.
Most of them knew who the five of them were. What they didn’t know and only just realized was the fact that the five of them had played with them in the event as the members of survivors.
The legendary ‘Immortal Knights’.
Only players who didn’t really follow the development trend of the MMORPG world didn’t know who they were.
“Holy shit! We got the Immortal Knights.” Hiro immediately ran towards them.
He couldn’t hide his admiration for the five of them.
“Hello, Kid. Did you plan all of this?” the leader of the Immortal Knights spoke to Hiro, who immediately nodded nervously.
Hiro even knew the real identity of the five of them. He even had a poster of them playing another MMORPG posted in his room, at Yuujin’s apartment.
This party was very famous even though they built the party without any sponsor. They are independent, and thus make them different from most professional gamers.
“I am a big fan, Wow! I can’t believe this. Where were you guys? I didn’t realize that we have such a professional gamers party in our team. Are you going to fight with me… I mean with us?” Hiro felt his head go blank for a moment.
The man in front of him chuckled.
“Yeah, we were busy looting. One dragon as a reward would not be enough for my party. So, all this time, we only aimed to win the survivor team and received the same reward.” The leader explained the reason why they seemed to be invincible.
“But not only that.”
Hiro arched an eyebrow in surprise because suddenly the leader turned around to make way for the mage to advance forward.
“Draco, your turn.”
The mage walked by floating out of line, nodding at Hiro before raising his right hand to do something.
An exceedingly bright silvery light emerged from the mage’s palm.
Clink!
The light suddenly turned dazzling and blinded all eyes in that place.
However, after three seconds had passed, their eyes could adapt again.
The light had vanished, while a pile of weapons of various shapes suddenly appeared on the vacant ground in the snow before them.
“We bring a gift.” continued the leader of Immortal Knights.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l