"You're too noisy, Juan," a deep voice resonated loudly as Roan slowly pulled back his hood.

Suddenly, a man wearing a black mask with hair as white as snow appeared gracefully in the air.

"Is this Roan, the legend?" Some players who had never seen Roan's appearance murmured in awe.

"Cough, cough!" Juan, lying on the ground, coughed heavily and struggled to rise.

His gaze brimmed with hatred as he fixated on Roan in the sky.

"Roan, you scoundrel!" He attempted to channel his mana, but Roan's kick had left him with only one HP, and acting recklessly might result in him being instantly logged out of the game.

Seeing how helpless he was, Juan tasted defeat for the third time when facing Roan.

The first defeat occurred during a ranked battle, where he was soundly beaten by Roan, despite being a Paladin while Roan was a Warlock.

This should have been Juan's advantage against a warlock who uses black magic!

The second loss happened during the siege of the top ten guilds, as they attempted to eliminate Roan in hopes of lowering his ranking.

Instead, it was a complete failure, and the top ten guilds suffered tremendous losses, losing many players.

And now, for the third time, Juan lost the final hit, silently executed by his nemesis, Roan William.

"Shit! Can you please stop your incessant babbling? Honestly, my ears ache every time you speak like that, Juan," complained Roan from above the sky, covering both his ears.

Hearing this, Juan felt like he was going to vomit blood due to Roan's nonchalant attitude.

"Cough! Damn Roan! You already landed the final blow on the Demon King, and now you're insulting me! I can't believe I've had the misfortune of meeting someone as annoying as you!" Juan gritted his teeth in frustration, contemplating whether logging out of the game was a better option than enduring further insults from Roan.

Roan simply shrugged, displaying no concern, and then his attention shifted to Leona, who glared at him with anger and hatred.

"Oh? Miss Pretty, it seems we're reunited once more."Roan chuckled and greeted Leona in a playful manner.

In response, Leona snorted coldly and turned her face away with an air of arrogance.

"Hmp! You jerk! After what happened between us, do you still have the nerve to confront me?" Leona muttered irritably.

Roan continued to smile and look at her playfully.

"Well, I'm sorry for my past mistakes. Honestly, I never meant to abandon you," Roan said, his expression reflecting a trace of regret as he lowered his head slightly.

Seeing his earnest expression, Leona inexplicably yearned to hear his explanation.

However, her pride as one of the strongest players in the inaugural game prevented her from conceding.

"Hmp! I don't care," Leona retorted dismissively, ending communication with Roan without further ado.

"Well, at least I've offered an apology. It's up to you whether to forgive me or not," Roan chuckled, not dwelling on Leona's reaction.

"You..." Roan's indifference ignited an inexplicable anger within Leona.

As the two seemed to exchange teasing remarks, suddenly, one of the guild leaders, who belonged to the assassin class and had failed to secure a top-ten ranking in the raid, materialized behind Roan, brandishing two sharp black blades.

Stolen story; please report.

"Damn it! Die, Roan!" he exclaimed, consumed by madness and anger due to Roan obstructing his path to a top-ten ranking.

It was a matter of pride, not just a reward, to be the player who defeated the game's mightiest boss.

And now he had failed because of that individual who had snatched the last hit without even participating in the battle!

One could say that his anger surpassed even Juan himself.

Roan, sensing the sneak attack from behind, remained composed and swiftly teleported upward.

"Whoosh!"

His movement outpaced that of the assassin, and he casually gestured with his hand.

"Whoosh!"

Instantly, a black, spear-shaped flame surged toward the assassin.

"What?" As he attempted to vanish into the shadows, Roan had already immobilized him with darkness magic, preventing him from activating his assassin class escape skill.

"Boom!"

The black flame spear punctured him rapidly, and without delay, the black flames consumed him so swiftly that his body and existence vanished.

[Player Dale, a level 500 assassin, has been disqualified from the leaderboard for quitting the game, and his raid rank will be taken by the player above him!]

[The reward will be transferred to player Roan!] In an instant, a systematic voice resounded, causing everyone who witnessed it to shudder in fear.

"Crazy! Dale, the strongest assassin in the entire game, was killed in a single attack!" All the players who witnessed this exclaimed in shock and disbelief, hastily retreating out of fear that Roan might target them next.

Roan himself maintained a cold gaze behind his mask, fixing a sarcastic glare on Juan and the other eight guild leaders.

"How about it? Would you like to venture forward together and meet the same fate, or shall we consider making peace?" Roan chuckled playfully, his tone filled with amusement.

This caused the other eight guild leaders to hesitate and take a few steps back, wary of the possibility of being PKed by Roan.

Juan, on the other hand, could only grit his teeth.

When he noticed that his HP had dwindled to just one point, he reluctantly surrendered.

"You win, Roan." Juan sighed helplessly, accepting defeat without resistance.

Leona and the other seven guild leaders followed suit.

"Hehehe, then I graciously accept the offerings from all of you." Roan smiled slightly, slowly removing his black mask, which left everyone who witnessed it in shock.

"This... is this Roan's real face?" Everyone who gazed upon Roan's unmasked visage exclaimed in astonishment.

Roan revealed snow-white hair and blood-red eyes, strikingly similar to the previous Demon King!

"Roan..." Leona gasped in disbelief as she witnessed this man remove his mask for the first time.

Observing everyone's reactions, Roan simply smiled.

"Why? Are you all surprised by everything?" His face, identical to that of the former Demon King, left everyone even more bewildered.

Roan's gaze swiftly shifted to the sky, and he pointed upward with his index finger.

"Damn game developers! How dare you use my real face data for your event theme? Just watch how I take you down, you assholes!" Roan shouted in anger, leaving those who heard him staring at each other in astonishment.

"This..." Everyone exchanged puzzled looks because this was the first instance of an event like this where a game developer had used a player's real data, a practice strictly prohibited by the rules.

Suddenly, in the sky, the holographic data display transformed into a radiant golden light, illuminating all the players who had achieved a ranking.

"Whoosh!"

[Congratulations to the players for completing the raid, and your rewards have been sent directly to your mailbox! Please check!] A systematic voice announced it, prompting players to quickly review their rewards.

"Wow! These rewards are unbelievable!" Someone exclaimed in astonishment, and others who had received their rewards echoed the sentiment.

Juan and the other eight individuals also accessed their mail systems to examine their prizes, and their expressions shifted to sheer shock.

Even those who were big spenders in the Initium game couldn't help but be amazed by these gifts.

Mythical-level weapons, rare materials for equipment upgrades, and other legendary-level potions were simply astounding.

Roan couldn't resist checking his mailbox and promptly clicked on his rewards.

--------------------------------------------------------

[Rewards]:

1x Divine Item (Void Magic Ring)/Rare [Open/Save]

1x Opportunity to Explore a New World/Unknown [Open/-]

--------------------------------------------------------

As Roan examined his rewards, a furrow creased his brow in confusion.

"Opportunity to explore a new world? What does this mean?" Roan hesitated to click on it, but then, unexpectedly, the [Open] option for the "Opportunity to Explore a New World" item clicked on its own.

Roan, oblivious to this, suddenly realized that everything around him had frozen, as if time had come to a standstill.

"What's happening? Is this a bug?" He muttered cautiously, growing anxious in the frozen environment, where both players and objects had ceased to move.

"This is insane! I sense something terrible! Status!" Roan extended his index finger to search for the log-out button, but to his dismay, the log-out button was completely absent from his status column!

"What?" As he grappled with confusion, a golden light suddenly materialized above him and sped towards him, enveloping his entire body.

"No!" Roan attempted to break free, but the light restrained him, lifting him into the sky and causing him to vanish from his location.