Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  The final battlefield looked like a combination of Isythre and Gouve. The earth was Isythre-like, but the sky was filled with floating isles. On each island, one would find a nerd’s complete compendium of classic enemies — zombies, mummies, mutated bugs, aliens and more; however, that was not all. The local NPCs were there, but this time, they were incredibly hostile to the players. They seemed hell-bent on lynching the players; it was as if co-existing with the players was not an option.

  This seemed too similar to the way the mortals of the world perceived the Voidwalkers.

  Not only that, all the bosses they had faced in the previous rounds were all present. The Voidwalkers were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of dangers they faced in this level; not only were they supposed to defend themselves against local NPCs, mobs, and powerful bosses, but they also had to fight the other teams to death.

  The only thing good about this high-stakes finale, for Baiyi, was that it was taking place in one location, so the previous pressure and computing load he had to endure previously had subsided in spades. Because of this, the quality of the map and its monsters improved greatly. The NPCs were no longer entirely poorly designed; they now boasted the same quality as the bosses that the as the Walkers had faced previously.

  The game’s stature leaped from a crappy freemium game — where one would pay cash for a Level 999 blade— to an AAA-grade big-budget game, at breakneck speed. The game now seemed fully capable of bringing out the most realistic and immersive visual, audio, and tactile experience to the players; something the best virtual reality gaming device hoped to achieve.

  However, it was unfortunate that the remaining Voidwalkers were not at their best states after the last bloodbath. The extremely lucky Axis of Evil— which now consisted of only the Lich Walker and the Shadow Walker — spawned in the middle of a city, unfortunately. This time, the aboriginal NPCs did not waste any time surrounding the two.

  Not only were the Lich Walker and Shadow Walker surrounded by local NPCs, mobs, and bosses, but their combined numbers was too much for both Voidwalkers to tackle, due to the unholy amount of time and energy they would need to overcome the mob; there was also the possibility of one of their opponents sneaking an attack on them while they were occupied! Thus, after a brief discussion, both Voidwalkers began to run away from the mob like embarrassing, headless chickens.

  As they fled, they managed to rescue the Charlatan from another mob. No one could understand their reason of doing so, but absolutely no one would believe that their heroics was for a humanitarian cause.

  The Voidwalkers who spawned in the middle of nowhere were considered lucky. One such lucky team was the Connection Cronies. They spawned in the middle of nowhere, and without facing any assault from hostile NPCs, the team had the time to gather intelligence and formulate strategies. They also managed to save the Paladin and the Blacksmith, who were both fleeing from a boss that had donned a wide-brimmed witch hat.

  Seeing as they were saved, the Paladin and the Blacksmith could not possibly defy the Connection Cronies. Hence, both of them had to pledge their allegiance to the Connection Cronies and suck up to them.

  On the other hand, the members of Shonen Shoguns got reunited again. Their luck held even after that, and the entire team spawned in a barren wasteland, giving them ample time and zero distraction to plan their next move, such as accumulating as many resources they could.

  Apparently, in an attempt to revive their fellow comrades, the two surviving members of the Shonen Shoguns, who made it through the third level, had offered all of their reward points and the points they had gathered by selling all of their tools……

  Now that was the real will of fire that shonen heroes are famed for! They do not abandon hope and bravery, and they don’t abandon their comrades, either!

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  However, despite all four members of the Shonen Shoguns now being well and alive, the loss of weapons, gears, and other tools they had sacrificed, left them in a bind. If they were to meet an enemy at that moment, they may not survive……

  Fortunately, Baiyi was so impressed with them, so he decided to lend them a hand in secret. As a result of this, they were able to obtain some basic weapons like cleavers, frying pans, and mysterious berries — which was enough to serve them for that moment. Baiyi even had a boss wait for them; it was a maiden who had with a long, pale blue hair and donned armor and a short skirt of the latest fashion.

  The Shonen Shoguns proceeded to curb-stomp this gorgeous boss until she submitted, then she left a black obsidian armor and a large stash of gold coins before fleeing. With this loot, the Shonen Shoguns were finally able to regain some fighting power, enough to stand a chance in their upcoming battle……

  As a result of various alliances, the players were moving in 3 groups, with each group containing members of more than 1 team. On their journey forward, these three groups defeated every monster they could find, kept every resource they could find, and completed smaller side-quests, which had been given to them by the aboriginal NPCs so that they could build up a name for themselves. They also strove to battle different bosses so that they could more equipment and gain the allegiance of NPCs, who would then act as their back-up.

  The Connection Cronies gained the allegiance of one such NPC. They came across a young female dragon, who had a bear cub 1 striding by its side. After defeating the young dragon, the Cronies took the cub in for themselves. Wanting her child back, the dragon agreed to join their party.

  Meanwhile, the Axis of Evil was able to earn the allegiance of one NPC to act as their back-up. This was only possible due to the Charlatan’s techniques, which fooled a Boss into working for them. This boss was a saintess wearing a kinky armor set. At the same time, while braving a skirmish in the wild, the Shonen Shoguns accidentally rescued a rich, young female NPC, who had the face of a loli and a very mountainous torso. In order to reward the Connection Cronies, the pink-haired rich NPC showered them with money and gifted them a sorcerer’s staff that had Saint Quartz embedded in it. Additionally, she even sent her maidpPosse to aid the team.

  Since this was the final battle royale, everyone was very careful and reserved in their action and the route they took. This resulted in them not running into each other. They took their time to grind and gather intel.

  “We should strike only after the other two factions have wasted each other. Before that happens, we should consider concealing our tracks,” the Scholar said as she cuddled the cub in her arms.

  The Warrior Walker did not seem to share the Scholar’s fondness for the cub; she only threw a dirty glare at it. However, she nodded at the Scholar’s strategy in approval.

  After that, the Warrior Walker joined the Assassin Walker in bullying the young female dragon. The poor female dragon NPC had no idea why it was the subject of their ire 2 , so it could only whimper pitifully.

  “Our biggest enemy is that sonuvab*tch — the Lich!” The Paladin Walker, who had just joined the Connection Cronies, gritted his teeth and added.

  Surprisingly, even though the Connection Cronies contained three gorgeous belles, who were each flaunting different moe aspects, the Paladin Walker never once gave them any more than a passing glance. His attention was fully focused on the battles— like an actual paladin would. Was it because he knew that if he dared harass the girls, his ending would be much harsher than getting ‘muted’ in the void?

  “Here. This is an armor I just made. It is a little less sturdy than my usual work, but you can still use it. I added a special enchantment that increases the armor’s resistance to necromancy,” the Blacksmith said as he tossed a set of armor to the Paladin. Curiously, despite using all the materials he had gathered, thus far, the Blacksmith was only able to make one armor set, which he gave to the Paladin Walker. Although the Blacksmith defended this action by stating that the Paladin Walker would be the primary force against the Lich Walker, his intentional negligence of requests which the others made for similar armor sets suggested that he had some other motive……

  The Lich Walker was not an idiot. Ever since the Charlatan joined them, the Lich Walker realized that his trust in the Shadow Walker was reducing. The two of them had, at least, trusted each other implicitly before the Charlatan came along, but now, the Lich Walker realized he had grown more suspicious of the Shadow Walker.

  This was not good from any perspective. To make matters worse, the Shadow Walker shared the same distrust for the Lich Walker. Her mind nagged her that the Lich Walker would definitely look for a chance to devour her to order to gain her power and EXP, making him become the strongest player in the game.

  Eventually, the Lich Walker discovered that the Charlatan had been brainwashing the empty-headed Saintess Boss. In a fit of anger, the Lich Walker killed the conman and enslaved his soul.

  “You idiotic, insignificant liar! I was originally planning to kill you last, yet you dared do something this foolish under my nose?”The Lich Walker said in a hoarse and low voice.

  “Suck it, you disgusting, contemptible bag of bones!” The Charlatan’s soul shrieked. “You murdered all of my teammates and killed the only few people who still believed in con artists like me! I am never going to ally myself with you!!”

  Just like that, the Lich Walker had snuffed the Charlatan’s soul out of the game. The last candlelight of the Support Team was now gone completely.

  However, the Lich Walker’s problems did not just go away with the death of the Charlatan. At this point, both he and the Shadow Walker no longer trusted each other at all, and the Saintess Boss, due to the conman’s death, rebelled against them. The two managed to subdue her, but the fight had cost them heavily.

  With their accumulated supply running dry and their most useful technical support member, the Charlatan, gone — the Lich Walker and the Shadow Walker found themselves at the mercy of the local parishes and churches.

  These Demigod-level Voidwalkers did not seem to be affected by the downhill turn of event, however. The Lich Walker just calmly muttered to himself, “Hmph hmph hmph. Now, this is the life a Lich should be accustomed to. Hee hee hee……”

  The game continued with the three forces reinforcing their foundation. A casual glance at the time informed Baiyi that day was about to break, so he had to execute his masterstroke immediately, forcing the champions to reveal themselves sooner.

  A system notice flashed before each player in the game; it said: “A top-tier boss will appear at the center of the map. The reward from maiming this boss will be weapons and tools powerful enough to tip the balance in your favor. All players are advised to hurry over there before the others.”

  After the players did as told and arrived at the designated area, the boss — or rather, the bosses — had already spawned. One boss was a beautiful maiden who had a single golden-haired horsetail and wore a short skirt and white silky socks. Beside this boss was another boss — a loli sporting black twin-tails hair, who wore the same outfit as the Maiden boss.

  Cooperating Bosses? Bosses like these were infamous for possessing too many techniques as well as being a general nuisance. No one — not even from a Random Guild, a G-rank Guild, or a Tagalong Guild — would be delighted to see two bosses at the same time.

  Soon, a chaotic battle began. The players threw themselves forward, attacking the bosses as much as possible to gain EXP, and at the same time, attacking their opponents. It was an exciting battle of wits and mettle!

  In a high-stakes battle royale like this, the Shonen Shogun’s boldness in fighting their hardest quickly became a tremendous advantage. Even though they possessed only they loot they picked from the maiden they defeated previously, they managed to hold their own against both the Connection Cronies and the Axis of Evil! Meanwhile, the Connection Cronies directed most of their attention to the bosses, and this caused them to be the primary target of attacks from the other two teams. The Cronies found themselves cornered……

  At this critical moment, the Archmage awakened.

  His lone figure braved the Knight Walker’s and the Hitman Walker’s relentless onslaughts by itself, all the while keeping a vigilant eye on the Shadow and her shady techniques. He was essentially battling three fighters by himself, yet he was more spirited than he ever was, even managing to pilfer a lot of time and space for his teammates.

  The old geezer may have been an embarrassing noob in games, but when he started treating the games as though they were real life, he became a force that reminded everyone of his original identity.

  “Now that’s His Royal Highness, the Sage-Emperor of the Magi. Even without his opulent heavenly robe, whenever he gets serious, a terrifying opponent would be unleashed……” the Lich muttered quietly.

  The Archmage’s sudden awakening rocked the battlefield’s atmosphere. His teammates, who were fully motivated by his powerful performance, became even more dedicated to their tasks. The HP of both bosses’ HP rapidly reduced amidst the chaos, almost getting lower than ⅓ of the original amount.

  Was the night-long game finally coming to end…… right before the sun rises, bringing about dawn?

  Chapter 290: Life Goes On Even After A Game Has Ended Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  As the HP of both bosses drew infinitely close to one-third of their original values, an impatient strike snaked out from the Lich Walker’s hiding spot; he had unleashed pelts of devastating necromancy on the two bosses, reducing their remaining HP by a huge amount!

  Suddenly, a small, black meatball-like monster with a blue headband began to pursue the Lich Walker relentlessly. The ensuing onslaught left the skeletal Voidwalker no choice but to run in any direction, screaming; he had no idea on how to retaliate.

  As he fled like a dog being stoned, the Lich Walker whimpered, “Why does this always happen to me?!”

  With a nuisance like the Lich Walker gone, the skirmish took a leap in an optimistic direction for the Connection Cronies. The Assassin Walker, who gripped an eccentric dagger that looked like a claw engulfed in red hot flame and blue icy flame, hurled herself at her senior, the Hitman Walker.

  “Wait…… this weapon!” The Hitman Walker mumbled as he dodged her attacks while looking at the strange weapon.

  “Frost Fire Warp Claw — pretty expensive stuff!” Lady Assassin grinned before charging at him once again.

  At the same time, the Paladin Walker suddenly stopped attacking the bosses. He looked at both bosses and noticed that not only had their HPs each dipped below one-third of its original value, but their silky socks had also been torn apart in the classic sense of clothing damage, leaving their fair skin exposed. Both bosses wore plaintive, pleading expressions.

  Hence, the Paladin Walker decided to lower his weapon.

  “What the hell are you doing?! Now’s the time to hurt them as much as you can!” The Blacksmith panicked.

  “Enough…… is enough……” The Paladin Walker muttered to no one in particular. He stood still, tanking the bosses’ weak fisticuffs.

  “What the hell are you saying?!” The Blacksmith was beyond surprised.

  “I said…… Enough is enough!” The Paladin Walker raised his voice in dejection as his own HP fell steadily. “I’m done going against my beliefs and conviction! This…… This is just a game, after all!”

  “Why—the—f*ck did you go mental now?! You think this is Dunkirk in 1940?!” The Blacksmith exclaimed, using a reference that no one there actually understood. However, he could only watch as the Paladin’s HP hit the floor.

  “My teammates! My comrades! Please…… Forgive my betrayal…… I’m coming…… back……” The Paladin Walker looked into the eyes of the beautiful bosses and used his last strength to utter, “So…… kawaii……”

  The Paladin Walker left the game, and the League of Gentlemen was no more. They may not have had a colorful game report to present, but they were men of conviction, men of beliefs 1 !

  As the game continued, the Lich Walker returned to the main battlefield after running in a large circle with the black meatball monster in tow. Although the Lich Walker was unable to fend off the little meatball devil, who had been hot on his heels in a chase that had caused many of his bones to burn away, the Voidwalker was still a powerful fighter — a dangerous threat, to be precise.

  As soon as the Lich Walker arrived back at the battlefield he instantly killed the Scholar, who had been standing at the back line, providing technical support. He also easily repelled the Caveman Walker’s and the Sorcerer Walker’s assaults!

  To make matters worse, the only remedy that was able to curb this killer, the black meatball monster, had somehow changed its target to the Blacksmith. Now the poor working-class Voidwalker had to flee from its restless oncoming attacks……

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  Was the Lich Walker now the boss that the other players would have to contain?

  The Knight Walker instinctively recognized the danger which that threat posed, despite the fact that he was currently fighting the Warrior Walker. He stopped fighting her and declared loudly, “My friends! The real enemy is this immoral, demonic heretic! He will only spit on your face if you fight him with honor and knightly courtesy, so no quarters and defeat him!”

  “What’s the matter? Itching to return to your pretentious role of the Arbiter of ‘Justice’? What shall I do now, dearest Knight? Lower my weapon and beg for your forgiveness and mercy?” The Lich snarled in his signature low and hoarse voice.

  “The only mercy I could show to an unrepentant sinner like you is to make your death come quicker!”

  “Look me in the eyes, and tremble before the force of death! You and your idiotic ragtag band will never be able to lay a hand on me!”

  The battle had officially escalated into an epic showdown. Two sides threw themselves into the fight with reckless abandon. The powers emanating from their sudden clash tore the air apart and ignited the sky with flames. The world trembled at the force of their attacks!

  Hence, every one of them forgot about the two bosses that were already on the verge of dying.

  As the Voidwalkers cast all of their skills and utilized all of their battle philosophy in this civil war, the smaller boss of the two suddenly looked at the sky. Her mouth opened and closed; she was mouthing a countdown. Understandably, the Voidwalkers who were already absorbed in their last showdown did not notice her.

  Suddenly, the smaller boss took out a strange trinket. This trinket was a fluffy, friendly-looking hammerhead shark plushie……

  Upon its emergence, the plushie began to spin and soared upwards to the stratosphere. Its size quickly expanded and blocked out the sun, the clouds, the sky, and—

  — everything was no more. The game had ended, and every player had died.

  “Hey, what gives?! We haven’t even finished our last showdown!” The Knight cried oud in lividity.

  “Didn’t you notice that bosses for this level actually had a time limit in which you had to defeat them? Of course, they would go berserk when the time was up!” Baiyi replied indignantly. At that moment, the sky in the real world had already brightened up. Upstairs, sounds of the students waking and sitting up from their bed could be heard.

  The game really did have to end.

  On the flip side, the Archmage was not bummed at the sudden climax of the game. He laughed heartily, “Hahaha! Well, sure, none of us actually won, but wasn’t the game terribly stimulating? We should enjoy the journey of the game, not the end result, after all.”

  “I agree! I had hella fun!” The Caveman Walker added, feeling satisfied.

  “Thank you so much, Sir Hope,” the Hitman Walker was more upfront about his gratitude to Baiyi.

  Seeing his teammates’ responses, the Knight did not want to look like he’s the only one who could not let go. He mumbled his thanks to Baiyi before returning to his normal taciturn self.

  “Well, that’s all folks. Have fun chatting; I gotta torment the little kids out there.” With that, Baiyi took his leave, and sure enough, none of the Voidwalkers seemed to mind or care. They were still absorbed in discussing the previous game, analyzing the strengths and weakness of their strategies and stats modifications. On top of that, the members discussed the lessons they had learned and the issues they had faced while working together. This continued until they started laying out tactics for another round of a similar game in the future.

  “Friends! Our team was never weak, neither were we not apt for combat. We were just wrong strategically. We should have used our buffs and boosts on Sir Apprentice, not on those unreliable NPCs. Also, you guys should really have trusted me more with enough reward points so that I can concoct stronger elixirs……”

  “You crappy bag of bones! You actually got fooled by that conman, instead of believing in me! Haha! How ironic! His title is the Charlatan, and yet, you still chose to believe him. Has your brain been eroded into bone dust?”

  “Ahahahah! Dude, have you ever seen a Lich with brains? I mean, they are all bones!”

  “We were a great team! In fact, all of you were indispensable to me, for I was able to fight comfortably with the knowledge that my back will always be covered by my most trusted nakama! But, of course, we got some of our strategies a little messed up, too. For example, the roles which Sir Hitman and Sir Sorcerer took on were not properly managed. You two were tanks, so the roles the both of you played had overlapped. Next time, Sir Hitman could try upgrading himself to become a berserker. Meanwhile, Sir Sorcerer…… you can do even without magic, so next time you should not spend your reward points on strengthening your magic. All you need is to use ‘Lumos’, me-thinks.”

  “Alright! Order, order! The Gentlemen’s meeting for today is to give out judgment on Sir Paladin; he betrayed us! Although he did repent and remembered who he was at the last moment, I still think we have much to discuss……”

  With everyone engaged in their own enthusiastic discussion, Baiyi found himself feeling a little lonely. He shook his head in mild dejection, and his hand went for the door.

  Suddenly, a trademark chilly voice echoed in his ear. “I had a lot of fun today. Thank you so much.”

  The owner of the voice, the Warrior Walker, poked him with her consciousness; the poke seemed made to resemble a very soft peck.

  Another voice chimed in peppily. “I! Haven’t! Had! This! Much! Fun! For a loooong time! Gosh, that was so exciting…… So fine, thank you, Dum-Dum!”

  After that, the Assassin Walker followed the Warrior’s example and gave him a very soft peck with her consciousness.

  ‘Huh? What happened to these Salty Sisters today?’ Baiyi thought as he turned his attention to the Scholar.

  Seeing Baiyi look at her, she began to panick. “W-watch where you cast your gaze, okay? Y-you still have m-m-many conditions to meet if you desire one from me! I-I’m not as easily impressed as they are……”

  ‘Lady, I just wanted to ask you if you had fun. I have no idea where you’re going with this,’ Baiyi thought to himself, feeling amused. He ignored her and went to prepare his lessons.

  After a peaceful day in the real world, the Voidwalkers were still discussing the game that had undergone. Even when Baiyi was about to obtain his ranking result from the Sorcerer Association and receive his exam mission, the Voidwalkers did not show any interest. Even after a day and a night, the enthusiasm some of the Voidwalkers felt had still not died out……

  ‘Uh, I’ll just let them be.’ Baiyi stepped onto a hoverdisc, which was headed for a meeting room. When the hoverdisc reached its destination, Baiyi saw the Joseph waving at him. Baiyi acknowledged the greeting and walked into the meeting room, sitting next to his future employee.

  “My wife agreed with the proposal, and she would like you to know that she is very grateful,” Joseph whispered. His face was bright — the look of someone had when they were excited about the future.

  “That’s good news! If you have time, you can come and check my place out. I can also help to arrange accommodation for you and your family so that your wife and your daughter could both be around you,” Baiyi pleasantly said. He handed the class schedule that he had worked on the night before to the young lad. “Tell me if you face any problems.”

  “Understood.” Joseph took the letter respectfully, then tucked it into his pocket meticulously. “However, my wife and daughter also manage the family farm and mill, while I…… I’m used to staying with them there. So you really don’t need to worry about me.”

  “Well, whatever floats your boat.” Baiyi was not the type to fixate on the personal preferences of others.

  Other candidates slowly trudged into the room as Baiyi and Joseph continued chatting. One of them took notice of the Fifth Walker and suddenly sighed in sympathy. He shook his head and said, with concern, “Hey, don’t think of ranking exams as too big of a deal, alright? Your true innate capability is your real strength, okay?”

  Meaning…… he was sure that Baiyi would not pass……