At the edge of the human no-go zone—
just as Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw resumed their march toward the forbidden forest—
two competitors from Shambles Nation stumbled onto a D-rank resource.
It lay inside a deep, pitch-black cave. The interior swallowed light and depth alike—impossible to read at a glance.
Neither of them dared to rush in.
And by sheer coincidence, they ran into two competitors from the Eastern Isles passing nearby.
A quick exchange later, both sides struck a deal: a temporary partnership. Enter together, probe the unknown D-rank site together, leave together.
Carefully—step by step—the four of them moved deeper into the cave.
Then—
they discovered something that made their hearts nearly burst with joy.
There was no guarding Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone creature.
No ambush. No lurking beast. No "resource sentinel."
A D-rank resource… free for the taking.
Both livestreams erupted.
"Blessings upon the Eastern Isles! A D-rank resource—just like that?!"
"If we claim this, we can climb the rankings fast!"
"Hahaha—this is insane luck!"
"But… we said we'd split it with Shambles Nation…"
"Yeah… that means…"
Their discussion didn't even finish.
A shriek tore through the cave.
"AAH—!!"
Before anyone could process it, a second scream followed—ragged with disbelief and pain.
"YOU—!! AAH!!"
The sudden cries yanked both livestreams back to reality.
"What happened?! I thought there was no guardian creature!"
"Did something hidden inside the cave attack them?!"
Panic flared—until the cameras caught up.
And when the picture became clear…
both nations' viewers went dead silent.
On-screen, the two Shambles Nationcompetitors were already down—each with a blade pinned clean through a thigh, blood spreading beneath them as they shook with shock and fury.
There were no beasts here.
Only four humans.
Two of them had just been crippled.
Which meant—
the attackers could only be the remaining two.
The Eastern Islescompetitors.
And sure enough, the two from the Eastern Isles stood over them, wearing thin, crooked smiles—the kind that didn't belong on any human face.
For half a second, Shambles Nation's viewers couldn't accept what they were seeing.
Then the meaning sank in.
And outrage detonated.
"What are you doing?! Why are you attacking our competitors?!"
"You were cooperating—why would you betray them?!"
"Do you have no shame?! No fear of punishment?!"
"Stop—STOP RIGHT NOW!"
No one answered.
The two Shambles Nationcompetitors clenched their teeth so hard it looked like they might crack.
They stared up at the men who had been smiling at them moments ago—now grinning like strangers wearing familiar faces.
"Why?!" one of them roared, voice breaking. "We agreed to work together—watch each other's backs! What is this?!"
The two Eastern Islescompetitors exchanged a glance.
Then laughed.
Not nervously. Not awkwardly.
Like it was the funniest thing in the world.
"Heh… hehehe… HAHAHAHA!"
"Watch each other's backs?" one of them sneered. "What dream are you living in, idiot?"
"This is the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone. Only the law of the jungle matters. You didn't seriously think we came here to 'cooperate,' did you?"
He leaned in, eyes sharp as blades.
"You're weak—fine. But weak and naive? That's pathetic. I don't even know how you've survived this long."
The second laughed again, too loud in the cramped cave.
"This D-rank resource? We'll be taking it. Consider it tuition for today's lesson—how about that?"
Their laughter bounced off the cave walls and came back wrong—hollow, cold, inhuman.
The two Shambles Nationcompetitors looked at each other—one brief glance, wordless and bitter.
They both understood.
With blades pinning their legs, they couldn't fight. They could barely move without blacking out from pain.
And the moment the Eastern Isles chose betrayal…
there was only one ending left.
So they set their jaws and forced the words out—grim, steady, almost defiant:
"Fine. Then kill me."
"If you're going to do it… do it clean."
For the first time, the two Eastern Islescompetitors stopped laughing.
They stared.
Then one of them blinked, as if he'd heard something ridiculous.
"Kill you?"
He tilted his head.
Then his mouth split into a grin again—wider, uglier.
"Kill you? Hah… hah… hah—HAHAHAHA!"
The other one's smile sharpened into something openly cruel.
"You have any idea how long I've been holding it in since entering the Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone?" he hissed, voice trembling with something that wasn't fear.
"Do you know how hard it's been to endure?"
He stepped closer, eyes bright with a sick kind of excitement.
"Kill you? That's what you want? You think you get to ask for something that merciful?"
…
…
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