The Chosen were clashing with the orcs, the battlefield drowning in carnage, when suddenly—
YO! BUFFOONS!
The voice tore through the thick battle sounds. Though only reaching those nearby.
The Chosen and orcs stopped briefly, drawn by this.
They turned to the direction to see Yuin, a player with a generic code name.
A big, exciting grin stretched across his face. His eyes were wide with thrill as he pressed the orc's severed head beneath his foot.
Seeing this, the orcs' eyes flared red in anger and indignation.
They weren't oblivious to Yuin's gesture. They understood the insult perfectly.
In burning rage—
STOMP!
STOMP!
The ground trembled as a horde of orcs surged toward Yuin.
"What's he doing? Drawing them to himself like that."
"Is he about to commit suicide?"
The Chosen murmured in confusion.
An orc in front of a Chosen; Mindless Sapien, turned to head toward Yuin, abandoning the fight.
But the Chosen pulled it back by the arm.
"How can I clear the quest if you go?"
"Let's continue," he begged, smiling with closed eyes.
_ _ _
Deep in the midst of the raging battle, Cola Bear was struck still in awe.
Her eyes were enchanted with surprise and amusement as she gazed at a Chosen.
This Chosen, drenched in blood from head to toe, stood tall in the midst of the battle. Surrounded by corpses and blood.
His strands of black hair fell forward as he cast his face low, wiping blood and sweat from his face.
This was Zero, the player with the highest kill count in the zone currently. In his grip was a black sword, matte and unreflective.
It was a heavy, single-edged blade with a slight forward curve, thick-spined with a simple grip built for control.
Drenched in blood, it spilled onto the ground in gentle drops.
From up front, a horde of orcs marched toward him, angry and riled up.
Zero lifted his gaze to the approaching horde, barely any expression on his face.
Not allowing them the liberty of even drawing near, he raised his sword, and softly…
"Fangs of the United."
WWHHOOOSSHH!
The air split.
Two shadow-coated arcs shot forward at blinding speed, following each other in a line. Before the orcs could react, the first sliced through the front line, cutting bodies in halves.
And just a breath behind, the second followed.
It passed through the gap the first had carved, reaching the orcs beyond that thought they were safe and untouched, and cutting them down in the same silent strike.
"Ha!" Cola Bear gasped with her jaw ajar.
This was what had stilled her in awe in the first place.
She was also a sword user, although with a Katana, it was still a sword. Yet the best she could do with it was stab and decapitate at best.
She hadn't even gained any skill through it, and had only been relying on the Iron Coil skill she had learned.
Met with such talent that wielded a sword with excellent finesse, her pride was hurt.
Yeah… I'm not cut out for a sword.
"I should give it away."
She loosed the sheath from the side of her waist, put the sword back in and tossed it behind her.
It didn't even hit the ground before a female player snatched it.
"Thanks," she said with a smile.
"Master! A weapon!" She yelled giddily as she ran toward a male Chosen with it.
"They don't even waste any time with it," Cola Bear muttered. "I should've given it away from the start."
The battle to clear the quest continued, fierce and ever raging.
The field was filled with dinging alert interfaces that displayed their level ups, learned skills, coin gains and so on.
_ _ _ _ _ _
Back in the real world, outside the Paths.
The leaderboards displaying the progress and statuses of every Chosen had long since started to shift. The ranks were being rearranged, the kill counts were updating and even some of the Chosen's code names that showed 'Active' had turned into 'Eliminated'.
The code names of the Chosen that once glowed green had turned red after changing to 'Eliminated'.
The people needed no one to tell them what that meant. The majority of them there knew how games worked, and most with knowledge caught on quickly.
Delusion would give them hope that 'eliminated' meant disqualified,not death. But with how clear things were, there wasn't any delusion.
All they could do was pray in tears, hoping it wasn't their relatives.
Even those without any relatives in there sympathized deeply with the families of the Chosen.
_ _ _ _ _ _
At the tree where Yuin and his player were, the clash was everything but simple.
Yuin's eyes were bloodshot with intent, face carved hard in tension as he cut through the weakened orcs.
Time was running out.
Even though he'd killed many due to the help of his player making it easier, he was still not at the kill count.
Looking at the remaining time, it was barely over 7 minutes.
Other Chosen who hadn't been able to reach the kill count also panicked, driven by the desperate desire to live.
Not completing the quest meant death. It was a do or die situation than it ever was.
The pressure was now thicker.
Those who didn't realize they still had it in them awakened a will that was fueled with fire and strength.
They had just now started to see the orcs as barbecues like cola Bear said.
Time: 00:07:19 remaining.