"I guess you can call me the Great Dragon now," the Hunter smirked, as the earth stopped shaking beneath him.
Maxim's face turned red with fury. His men thrashed against the magical restraints, trying desperately to break free.
Maxim screamed, demanding the Hunter release his squad. But the so-called Great Dragon didn't even glance his way.
Moments later, all of Maxim's men were dead. Hunter vanished without a trace, and the earth returned to normal. The sky cleared.
Maxim and his remaining minions respawned at a random location—stripped of all achievements, all gear gone, reset to Level 1.
Dark clouds rolled overhead, and lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder roared in the distance.
"Whoever that guy was… he saved us," Zack whispered, helping Steven sit up.
Steven was barely hanging on—his HP bar flashing red.
Both of them would have died if help hadn't come.
Meanwhile, David and the others were searching frantically.
Eventually, they found Zack and Steven lying unconscious, side by side amidst scorched rubble. Alice rushed over and began healing them immediately. Once they were stable enough, she shook them awake.
As they regained consciousness, Lisa asked what happened.
The battlefield was eerily silent—no sign of their enemies. The ground was charred, trees blown apart.
"They wanted our guild's password," Steven said weakly. "They planned to take over our hideout."
Zack clenched his fists, tears streaming down his face. "That bastard… He made Steven suffer so much! If it wasn't for that mysterious Hunter…"
"A Hunter saved you?" Lisa asked, stunned.
Zack and Steven nodded and explained everything they had seen.
David, still new to all this, turned to Lisa. "Wait—what exactly are Hunters?"
Lisa sighed, then explained.
"They're part of an elite group called the Hunter Guild. Hunters are the highest-ranked players in System Ascend. Only thirty players hold that title. Some work solo; others operate within the Guild."
Steven chimed in, "I think the one who saved us was Hunter Xero. He's known as a vigilante. Saves the innocent, punishes criminals. The way he fought… it matched his legend."
The group headed back to their hideout. It had been a long day.
As the clock ticked toward the log-out time, everyone prepared to disconnect.
But something went wrong.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
System Ascend is under emergency maintenance. A critical error has occurred. All 30 million remaining users in the US region must wait while we resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience.
The message flashed across everyone's screen.
Most players had already logged out. Only the U.S. server region remained online.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened—so at first, no one panicked.
David, however, looked uneasy. "I have class in the morning…"
"Relax," Lisa told him. "Let's take a break for once."
The Kitty Kat guild decided to pass time in nearby Xangzai City.
That's when they heard a man shouting in the marketplace, panic in his voice.
"We're all going to die! We're trapped here!"
Some people laughed, others ignored him. But a few stopped to ask what he meant.
"I worked at Z-Corp, the company that created System Ascend," the man ranted, hair disheveled, eyes wide with fear. "The system was hacked a day ago. This isn't just maintenance. We're locked in—permanently."
Several people tried calming him down, but he only grew more agitated.
"Z-Corp can't fix it! The hacker took over everything. We failed to contain it. The only reason the world still functions is because we disabled the system's control protocols. Now it runs on its own. He can't manipulate it—but no one can fix it either."
The crowd laughed nervously, but David's eyes widened.
He recognized the man.
"Wait… You're Mr. Kenley. From the Z-Corp onboarding meeting."
The man turned—and recognized David as well. His face lit up.
"David! Yes, yes, of course! You remember the briefing. About two founders, right? One of them went rogue. He's the one who hacked the system. He wants to use us as hostages—thirty million of us!"
David stepped closer.
Kenley continued, frantic. "We don't know what he wants, or when he'll act. But there is one hope. A failsafe."
"What kind of failsafe?" David asked.
"If a single player—or a guild—can reach the final stage and clear it… the system will crash. Everyone will be logged out. But… it's almost impossible. We designed it to take ten years to complete."
He placed a trembling hand on David's shoulder.
"But you… You have the YYY Chip. You level up twice as fast as any normal player. You were selected as part of a Z-Corp experiment—but now, you might be our only chance."
The man broke down crying.
"Please… Save us."
Three days later…
Word spread fast.
The panic grew slowly, but steadily. Most players had accepted it—this wasn't just a bug.
They were trapped.
Back at the guild hideout, David gathered with the others. They had heard everything.
Lisa crossed her arms, eyes narrowed.
"David… You lied to us. You said you worked at a restaurant. But you were part of Z-Corp this whole time?"
David sighed. "It's… complicated."
Lisa didn't let up. "Why lie at all?"
"I didn't want to. I'm not even an employee. I was a last-minute test subject—barely knew what was going on. You can ask that old man when we go back to Xangzai. I didn't choose any of this."
He sat down, exhaling heavily.
Lisa's expression softened. "Maybe I overreacted…"
She looked at him, serious. "Just… don't lie to me again. If we're going to survive this, we need to trust each other. Understand?"
David nodded. "I do. And I won't."
With nowhere to go, and no way to log out, the Kitty Kat guild made a decision:
They would keep going. Keep growing. Keep fighting.
Because the only way out—was forward.
And if David truly held the key to saving everyone…
They'd follow him to the end.