Alex can’t believe what he and Rishi are currently doing. They are heading towards New Springville, taking the shortest route possible, which leads them straight through the golf course.

Suddenly, a group of men wearing animal masks jumps onto the road. They wield an assortment of menacing weapons—axes, bats with nails, and hammers.

Reacting instantly, Alex, with his superior AGI, draws his Glocks and executes the attackers on the spot. Four men drop dead in an instant.

Rishi laughs, kicking one of the bodies wearing a pig mask. “Aren’t these piggies cute?” he taunts. "These NPCs are a joke, the only people we need to be careful about are other players."

Rishi checks the map again. “Good, we’re almost through the golf course. Let’s get a ride and head further west. There are a bunch of banks clustered together. I doubt looters have hit them yet without explosives.”

As they finally leave the golf course and step onto the street, Alex barely has time to process Rishi’s mention of “getting a ride” when Rishi suddenly shoots at a passing car. The bullet shatters the windshield, causing the driver to swerve and crash into a nearby building. The panicked driver leaps out and bolts away.

“I see...” Alex mutters, a bit shocked by Rishi’s recklessness. "You seem disturbingly comfortable with all this chaos," he notes.

“Isn’t this exhilarating? I’ve always wanted to experience something like this. Let’s make the most of it before we return to our dull reality,” Rishi replies with genuine excitement.

They get into the damaged car, now full of bullet holes and with a shattered front windshield. Alex quickly takes the driver’s seat, thinking, "This guy is usually so composed and proper, but he’s gone full psycho. There's no way I’m letting this lunatic drive, or he’ll probably get us both killed."

“I wanted to drive… but fine, you go ahead,” Rishi says, pouting slightly, clearly offended.

"Tell me where to drive," Alex asks Rishi, keeping his eyes on the road as they leave the golf course and head deeper into New Springville.

"Take a look yourself," Rishi replies, holding up his phone's screen. "There are plenty of options: banks, supermarkets like Target, and even a damn mall! All great targets. Let's make the most of it!"

Alex gives him a skeptical look, to which Rishi quickly responds, "Relax, I'm just enjoying the moment. We’ll get through this mission, and I guarantee we’ll take the first and second spots."

"Fine," Alex concedes, "I suppose it can’t hurt to face this with a positive attitude."

They drive along Forest Hill Road, then onto Independence Avenue, eventually pulling up in front of a bank. "Haha, no way, this bank has a drive-thru ATM? I’ve never seen anything like this before. I love the US!" Alex laughs.

They immediately notice a group of looters trying to pry open the outdoor ATMs, but the inside of the bank seems untouched. As Alex steps out of the car, walking casually towards the looters, Rishi suddenly grabs his arm, pointing toward a group near one of the ATMs.

"Look at those three over there," he says. "Check out the weapons they're holding. One of them's got a spear, and the other has what looks like a saber. Doesn’t that seem like too much of a coincidence?"

Alex freezes, his face going pale. He whispers to Rishi, "I'll be damned. I’d recognize that weapon anywhere—that's my [Solid Marine Saber]! I sold it after my last mission. And look, one of the others is wearing my old Fur armor pieces! Those are players. They must be low-level if they’re still using those White and Light Green quality items."

Suddenly, one of the three players shouts a warning, and the others instantly dive for cover behind the ATM, blocking their line of sight. "Damn, too late!" Alex mutters, realizing they’ve been spotted.

Rishi, however, reacts quickly and manages to cast a Shadow Word: Pain on the player who screamed before he can hide. Though the target disappears behind the ATM, his pained screams continue, giving away their exact position.

Taking advantage of the situation, Alex pulls out another Annihilation Grenade. Adjusting the trigger, he hurls it precisely against a wall, making it rebound and land perfectly behind the ATM.

BOOM!

You have dealt 72 damage to Player 21

You have dealt 12 damage to Player 21

You have killed Player 21

Player 21 is already dead, no damage dealt

Player 21 is already dead, no damage dealt

…

Player 21 is already dead, no damage dealt

You have dealt 51 damage to Player 29

You have dealt 11 damage to Player 29

You have killed Player 29

Player 29 is already dead, no damage dealt

Player 29 is already dead, no damage dealt

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…

Player 29 is already dead, no damage dealt

You have dealt 28 damage to Player 25

You have dealt 10 damage to Player 25

You have dealt 7 damage to Player 25

Despite the chaos, Alex quickly checks his damage logs. From the information, he concludes that while two of the enemies are dead, one has survived, wounded but not yet finished off.

"Careful, Rishi, one survived!" Alex warns.

"Way ahead of you," Rishi replies confidently. He is already channeling his fire spell, this time targeting the ATM and its surrounding area, even though he has no direct view of the remaining opponent.

The spell goes off, and moments later, the third player's anguished screams echo through the air. The poor guy, barely clinging to life after the grenade, is now set ablaze by Rishi’s fire spell, his cries growing weaker as the flames consume him.

"I love this spell, Alex! Thanks for giving it to me," Rishi says with a twisted grin. "It’s so versatile. A small adjustment, and it changes from a focused attack to an area spell, igniting everything within range. You know the best part? Cast this way, the flames aren’t instantly lethal. It gives the target a few precious seconds to realize what's burning them."

Alex watches, half-amused and half-wary. "This pyromaniac is probably the last person who should have access to a spell like that," he thinks, shaking his head.

You received Bloody Chest (Player 21)

You received Bloody Chest (Player 29)

Alex picks up two more bloody chests, bringing his total to an astonishing 11. Rishi grabs the chest dropped by the man who died from his fire spell, taking a moment to inspect the charred remains up close, a disturbing fascination evident on his face.

Meanwhile, Alex feels a wave of nausea wash over him. Despite the satisfaction of success, the sheer amount of death and destruction around him is overwhelming. "This is the sickest and most twisted mission ever," he thinks. "The Realm is practically forcing us to kill each other, with no goal besides wealth and survival. If you refuse, you get a bad rating and risk death or stat penalties."

[Current ranking:

1. Player 13 - 13

2. Player 3 - 11

3. Player 1 - 5]

"Good," Rishi says, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. "The players are dwindling. If we keep this up, nobody can catch us without directly confronting us. They'll have to kill us to take our spots."

Their brutal assault has cleared the area of other looters, giving them the chance to loot the partially destroyed ATMs. A few loose bills are scattered by the wind, and they manage to collect a few thousand dollars with ease.

"Let’s head inside," Rishi says dismissively. "This is pocket change. I wouldn’t even spend an hour of my time for this kind of money. One hour of my life is worth at least $100,000!"

Alex, whose sense of money has been thoroughly warped by recent events, agrees. "Yeah, let’s get to the real prize."

They break into the bank, cutting through security doors with a combination of tools and Alex’s impressive 10 points of STR. Eventually, they reach the vault, secured behind a heavy steel door. Through the bars, they can see hundreds, if not thousands, of small safety deposit boxes.

Rishi produces a bundle of explosives, placing them against the vault door with a casual confidence that makes Alex nervous.

"Are you sure you know what you’re doing? You’re just eyeballing it. This could go very wrong," Alex warns, uneasily watching his friend work.

Rishi doesn’t answer, just sets the timer and they both scramble out of the vault. Moments later, the entire building shakes violently, the ground rumbling beneath them. Dust and debris rain down, and for a second, it feels like the bank might collapse entirely.

Returning to the vault, they find Rishi’s explosive gamble has partially worked, the vault door is blown wide open, but so are more than half the security lockers inside. Cash and valuables are strewn everywhere in a chaotic mess.

"At least it saves us the trouble of breaking them open individually," Rishi says proudly. "Not bad, huh?"

"..." Alex keeps his thoughts to himself, too stunned to argue.

"Let’s grab what we can," he says, forcing himself to sound positive. He knows he'd probably have done an even worse job trying to blow open a safe. Even with the chaos and destruction, there’s at least some semblance of success.

A few hours later, Alex and Rishi collapse onto a couch upstairs, intended for bank customers. Their inventories are packed with cash, gold, silver, some in bars and coins, as well as diamonds, jewelry, and expensive watches. Alex smashes a vending machine in the lobby, tosses a bottle of Coke to Rishi, and opens one for himself.

"That was exhausting," Rishi says, looking visibly tired while drinking. Compared to Alex, who still seems fine, Rishi’s lack of PHY is showing—Alex’s superior stamina gives him an edge in purely physical tasks. "Robbing a bank is exhausting, I guess!" Rishi admits, though he smiles. "It’s worth experiencing those kinds of things at least once. Next time, we’ll know how to do things better."

"...” Alex isn’t sure if he’ll ever get the chance to rob another bank, or if he even wants that chance.

He checks the current rankings:

[Current ranking:

1. Player 13 - 13

2. Player 3 - 11

3. Player 1 - 8]

"They’re catching up," Alex says, concerned. "Do we risk more, or should we lay low? It’s close to 1 AM. Only six more hours until this mission ends, and things are going to get ugly soon. The mass killings will probably start when the NFFA's hired gangs arrive."

Before Rishi can respond, a system message flashes before them.

[It is now 1 AM. Remaining players: 14 - Shrinking playing field. Please be sure to leave the outlined areas in 60 minutes or risk soul destruction. Players’ locations will be revealed for 60 seconds every hour starting at 2 AM.]

Alex quickly opens the system map and is shocked. The entire southern part of the island, including much of the southeast, has been removed from the active playing field. Thankfully, New Springville, located in the center of the island, remains a safe zone for now.

Rishi suggests they head toward the mall and wait for the player location reveal at 2 AM before making any further decisions.

"Why not stay here?" Alex asks.

"I considered that," Rishi replies, "but remember the rules of this mission? ‘Hiding in a safe place leads to a heavy reduction in mission rating.’ We’ve already looted everything valuable here. Staying here could easily be considered ‘hiding’ by the system. Let’s keep moving so we don’t get penalized."

Alex nods in agreement. "Makes sense. Let's go."

They exit the bank, and to Alex’s relief, the car they used to get there is still parked outside. They hop in and drive north, the massive mall already visible on the horizon.