"Why are there two rankers in our area, bro?"


    A man, hiding within a bush in front of a castle, muttered in confusion and frustration.


    "Why ask me? I''m wondering the same thing."


    There was another man with dark grey hair and black eyes, and he just stared up at the sky in loss.


    They were both from the ''rulers of the apocalypse'' group and right now, they are waiting for the humans inside the castle in front of them to come out so that they can rob them.


    "Both of them players are above the boss in the ranking."


    The first guy, with black hair and blueish eyes, slumped his shoulder as he recalled the grim look on their boss''s face.


    "The northern region ranking at that..."


    The guy added with a sigh, but the one with dark grey hair lightly punched the guy''s shoulder with a frown.


    "Don''t forget what the boss said: the ranking is based on coins, not power."


    When their boss discovered the issue, they just told them to calm down, as they believed that they were stronger than the other rankers.


    None of them wanted to believe them, but their survival was now in the boss''s hands as they had their everything taken away by the same person.


    "But the coins are power—!"


    The black-haired guy, however, shot back, his voice raised, but it was cut short the next second.


    *Pierce*


    *Splurt*


    His eyes widened and his body trembled as he felt the fresh blood splash on his face.


    "W-Wha..." S~ea??h the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His fingers touched the blood on his face, as if wanting to make sure of what it was, his quivering gaze still fixed on the dark gray-haired guy, whose head now had an arrow protruding out from the front.


    *Thud*


    It was when the body of the guy fell right in front of him that the guy realized: the guy he had been talking to was now dead.


    "A-AH-AHHHHHH—!"


    His body jerked as he started crawling backward, trying to run away from here, but his scream was cut short.


    "Don''t move."


    A chill ran down his spine as he heard those cold words next to his ears, along with the sharp and cold tip touching his neck, as if daring him to move an inch.


    *Gulp*


    His hair stood to the end as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva, sensing an immediate threat to his life.


    His head cooled down; all of the thoughts about running away vanished.


    "Get up and lead me to your hideout."


    The voice added, clearly not interested in getting a no for an answer, so the guy just bobbed his head slowly so as to not get pierced by the dagger.


    *Rustle*


    He stood up in a hurry, with the knife now touching the back of his head.


    "Move."


    The voice commanded, making him flinch.


    "Y-Yes!"


    He exclaimed, moving toward a certain direction, leading whoever it was to their hideout.


    There was this hope he had that once he reached the hideout, his captor would be dead at the hands of his companions or the boss.


    *Step**Step*...


    With such thoughts, he moved forward, only to pause the next second...


    *Squelch*


    The sound of flesh and gore getting mixed up and torn was heard, causing the guy''s head to move a bit, only to see a hand pulling the arrow from the dead guy''s head, but before he could get a view of the guy''s face...


    "Move. Turn again, and you will be the same as your friend."


    The guy trembled in fright, perfectly aware that his life was in his captor''s hands, so he just raised his hand up in the air.


    "S-Sorry! I-I won''t do it again!"


    He exclaimed in fear before he started moving forward, toward the hideout.


    *Snap**Crack*


    The sound of the twigs snapping below his feet now and then was enough for the guy to almost jump in fright, but the cold blade and the frosty gaze he felt on his back weren''t letting him do it.


    ''I-I just need to reach the hideout.''


    His hope now became his motivation, helping him calm down as he knew that once he reached his destination...


    *Woosh* X2


    "Akh—!"


    "Argh—!"


    ''What the hell?"


    ''T-This wasn''t how it was supposed to go...''


    The guy, who was dreaming of ways to get his revenge on his captor after he reached the hideout, couldn''t help but despair at the site of the two lookout guys being shot down by his captor.


    *Thud*


    He fell to his knees as he realized that things might not go as he thought they would.


    *Pierce* X2


    *Thud* X2


    The guy saw it all clearly as the arrow kept whistling around, killing anyone that came in their way as if they had eyes of their own.


    ''W-What will happen to me...?''


    That thought flashed in his mind as he was just like the guys getting killed—he was a part of the same group!


    "A-Am I going to die—?"


    He muttered out loud, but it was cut short by a voice colder than anything he had heard before.


    "Yes."


    The moment he heard that, the guy''s head snapped toward the owner of the voice, wanting to at least get a look at the captor''s face.


    As soon as he did that, his eyes widened in horror as he saw who it was.


    "A-Alex—!"


    *Slash*


    His body trembled as the one in front of him was the guy his boss had told all of them to stay farthest away from—Alex Fucking Matthew!


    But before he could even complete his words or realize why this was even happening, his head was decapitated by Alex''s dagger.


    *Thud*


    A low, soft thud was heard as the head of the guy rolled down to the ground before the body did the same.


    The last thing that guy''s eyes saw was Alex, the first ranker on the northern ranking list.


    Alex was finally here—the hideout of the rulers of the apocalypse.


    These guys had been active since the second scenario started; it was as if they were waiting for a quest like this where groups would be needed.


    This quest, although supposed to be cleared alone, could be done in a team as well.


    But that didn''t matter for the rulers of the apocalypse, as they didn''t even enter the castles.


    They just robbed the ones that come out, and then let those guys go off to collect more for them.


    It was a nice strategy, as the ones who are being robbed will have no choice left other than going inside the castle to get another artifact, only to get robbed again.


    *Step**Step*...


    Alex walked straight into the cave after killing off the ones on the periphery of the area and the lookout.


    *Woosh* X2


    His arrows finally came back toward him, dripping red blood as they landed in his hand.


    *Strain*


    Alex, instead of putting them back in the inventory, knocked them on the bow, charging up for an attack.


    He knew that there was a ranker among the rulers of the apocalypse, and if it was a ranker, then they would surely be contracted by a god.


    Alex, who had already seen two abilities of the contracted players, didn''t want to take risks in front of the guy who was strong enough to make all of these contracted players bend their knees.


    "Why did the ones on the outside miss the routine report?"


    Just then, Alex heard a stern voice, causing his eyes to squint and his steps to turn lighter.