31 Muspelheim[18]

Inside the Calpheon Military base, spectators from several different gaming organizations gathered, all of them looked at the floating screens in the air, although some specifically used a cash item to spectate their favorite player, particularly a hooded middle-aged man who stared at a familiar figure in the screen.

If Khan was here, he would immediately recognize the man as the same man who sent him a strange gaze, currently, he looked at Khan with an amused smile on his face.

Khan approached a nearby wooden door with silenced footsteps, in this event, virtual inventories were disabled so Khan needed to find a backpack to place every item that he needed.

Inside the house that looked like a shack, Khan felt overjoyed when he found a Crossbow with ten bullets, he picked it up and registered it as his item, he wore t like a sling bag, he also found a Level 1 backpack where he placed the other bullets.

Khan tapped the additional information and found the way on how to load the Crossbow with bullets, he then moved towards the kitchen and found a Pan that was classified as a weapon.

Even though he felt that it was strange for a cooking pan to be named as a weapon, since it was there and he could change it later anyway, he just picked it up.

[Move to the marked area in the map in five minutes!]

Khan tapped on his left wrist and a hologram floated before him. A huge white circled covered half of the map, so I am supposed to move inside this circle? Khan thought and scrutinized the terrain of the area according to the map.

After pondering for a while, he tapped on a location and marked it before closing the map and moving to loot for more items.

'What the fuck, where are the items here?!' Khan cursed, he had looted every house and looked in every nook and cranny but found nothing, in the end, he only saw a first aid, five grenades, and a Revolver1895 with seven 7.62mm bullets.

After loading the bullets to the gun according to the instruction prompt, Khan started to sneak his way towards the circle which was according to the guide, about three hundred meters away from his current location.

A strange silence lingered in the air, the rustling of the trees and the smooth calming wind enveloped Khan's body. But instead of feeling relaxed, he became even more tense, for his body had felt a stare from behind.

Khan's internal alarm rang, he immediately leaped forwards and prone as a whistling sound passed by, the resounding echo of a rifle destroyed the tranquility of the place.

Khan gave an excited smile. 'Finally, an enemy!' He unsheathed the pan around his waist and stared at the direction of the shooter with a cold smile on his face.

Back at the military base, because that gunshot was the first engagement since the game had started, the system displayed the fight and saw Khan standing on the grassland with a Pan on his right hand.

"Hahahaha, what the hell, that guy actually has a Pan for a weapon? Look at his waist, a goddamned crossbow! Hahahaha" The crowd exploded into a fit of laughter, the middle-aged man's stare became even more filled with an interested light.

"He doesn't even have an armor or helmet on his body, it looks like the first engagement will end as a disappointment." The crowd commented and nodded in unison, in every Last Standing game, the first engagement always became the spotlight of the entire game, for the first sign of a better player was about how fast they could loot.

But seeing Khan's loot, and the opposite party's loot, they could only shake their heads in disappointment, for the other party had a Level 2 Helmet and Armor, an M416 rifle and a pack of grenades on his waist.

"Hey, look at that, that guy can't take it any longer and wants to commit suicide!" The crowd turned their gazes and found that Khan had lowered his upper body and furiously ran towards the source of the gunshot.

However, the several team managers hidden within the crowd weren't laughing, for they stared in shock at the movements that Khan made.

"He lowered his body to increase his speed? No- That isn't so simple..."

Gunshots echoed and they saw Khan twisting his body mid-running, evading the bullets in one fluid motion.

The crowd stared in shock, and so were the team managers, however, their shock didn't end there, for Khan scoped with his crossbow and fired a shot which completely destroyed their composure.

Khan's shot flew towards his opponent's waist and struck the fist-sized grenade causing it to explode and burst into flames, swallowing his enemy in the process.

Every player inside the area saw a system notification of his death.

[Player #83 killed Player #45 with an explosion; 99 Left]

Somewhere inside a residential area, Lily wore a sweet smile on her face as she glanced at the notification. She resolved her mind as she thought.

'I won't let you beat me!' Retracting a sidearm, Lily's figure flickered towards a nearby house as several consecutive gunshots resounded.

[Player #84 killed Player#42 with a P18C; 98 Left]

Khan wiped the beaded sweat on his forehead, he looked at the system notification and thought.

'Hoooh, Lily really is doing a great job, as the husband, I can't let myself be defeated.' Khan looted the poor guy's items and took everything except for the rifle, now Khan got himself proper endgame items.

"T-t-this girl is..." A figure of a trembling young man could be seen inside a small rundown shack, his eyes peeking on a small crack on the wooden walls, his eyes narrowed in fear as several miserable shrieks echoed in the area.

The pools of blood colored the ground with a crimson red hue, several player corpses scattered around the area, and in the center of it all was an aquamarine haired girl who looked like she was on her late teens.

She swung the military knife that she looted in her hand skillfully and uttered.

"Was that all, hmmph, how boring..." Upon hearing that cold and indifferent voice, the young man had the urge to immediately log out. But he despaired when he remembered that once you were registered in the game, there was no way to escape death.

The young man held a Winchester 94 on his hand. His hand trembled as he pointed it at the aquamarine-haired figure who happily skipped and looted the corpses.

He stared at her through his iron sights and found that his assist reticle was madly fluctuating, he was sure that he would never hit the girl. But he had no choice, he would rather kill than to die.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled the trigger as a deafening sound echoed, a whistling wind passed beside the girl and struck the pavement on the ground. The girl frowned in displeasure before she looked at his direction.

For the young man, her indifferent gaze looked the same as the Death Reaper, the girl raised her sidearm and pointed, towards this poorly equipped small fry, she didn't need to move her body.

With a bang, the young man's body collapsed amidst his despair. By the look on his face, it could be said that he was scarred for life.

The crowd back at the Calpheon Military Base gulped in fear. How ruthless! Even the team managers who exclaimed in praise for the young girl shook their heads, although she was clearly a good seed, no one would dare to hire such a bloodthirsty girl. Who knows when she would lose control?

Khan helplessly sighed as he looked at the chain of system notifications, he was sure that several people would be scared out of their wits if they saw her in real life.

Khan continued to walk towards the direction where his mark was placed, after about a minute, he finally arrived and saw a trench, but instead of hiding inside the trench, Khan moved towards a place where the soil was loose and started picking grasses in a fast place.

The crowd stared in shock, what kind of tricks is this kid, trying to pull? Amidst their amazement, Khan pulled out the several grenades he had looted and wrapped them with grass.

He then looked around the area and went to a nearby tree, and took several fibers, he weaved the fibers together to form a small rope that was about twenty meters in length. It was so thin that it looked invisible in the eye. he then pulled the camouflaged grenades and knotted it together.

Khan gave a small smile and laid the camouflaged grenades on the trench, he prone and tested the strength of the rope that he created, upon confirming its strength, Khan nodded and prone, he tied the end of the rope to his left wrist as he laid there, waiting for his prey.

Several consecutive gunshots echoed in the area, a car could be seen closing in towards a nearby trench, the person inside the car gave a joyful smile upon seeing the trench.

Although he wanted to speed through, because of the terrain and the health points of his car, he decided to stop near that five-meter wide trench and consolidate all of his loots.

Looking at the hologram map, he found that the game was already in its latter stages, with only twenty people alive somewhere inside the circle.

He hid his car inside the trench and counted all the equipment he obtained, he threw everything that he didn't need and prone down, waiting for other enemies.

His eyes shone as he saw that at a distance the figure of an aquamarine haired girl could be seen running towards his direction, he quickly scoped in sighed in regret.

'Damn this girl looks so beautiful, it would be a shame to k-' A groan escaped his mouth, before he could pull the trigger, a crossbow bolt protruded from the backside of his neck, due to the fact that his helmet wasn't able to negate any damage, he cursed before immediately dying.

'Fucking camper...' Fortunately, Khan didn't hear his final thought before he died, if not, Khan would've fiercely retorted.

The aquamarine haired girl had, of course, noticed the prone young man. She sweetly smiled upon noticing that the young man had died, her gaze momentarily stayed at an unassuming crowd of bushed before staring right ahead.

Khan only smiled, although he felt that what he did was quite dirty, towards the people that wanted to kill his wife, he, of course, wouldn't have any mercy.

"Sorry, bud, it's your fault for pointing your gun towards my little wife." Khan's face became filled with regret that he even patted the young man's corpse, sending the spectators on the outside in a fit of laughter.

Several notification bells echoed and found that people were being killed one by one until only ten were left. Fortunately for Khan, the trench where he laid down was included in the final circle, and so he didn't even bother to move.

[Player #84 killed Player #12 with an M416; 9 left]

[Player #84 killed Player #15 with an M416; 7 left]

The final notification bell echoed inside Khan's mind as an eerie silence enveloped the plain. The size of the second to the last circle only covered a mere five hundred meters, and it would once again shrink in thirty seconds.

Judging from the last circle, everyone including Lily would have to relocate towards Khan's trench. Khan raised his head to scan the area but he stiffened as he felt a hot pain coursing through his head, and his helmet dissipated into nothingness.

Looking towards the source, he found a prone figure rechambering his rifle, Khan quickly aimed with his crossbow and shot. Unfortunately, the shot didn't seem to kill his enemy.

Reloading his crossbow, he froze as he found the figure of the hooded middle-aged man that brazenly talked about remembering his face earlier. The man revealed a triumphant smile and said.

"See ya ki-"

Bang!

Before he could pull the trigger, he was interrupted by a gunshot from a side and had to run for cover, Khan turned his head and found Lily's figure crouched near a huge rock.

'Thanks...'

Khan thought in his mind, but in the next instant, he leaped in the air and shouted.

"But that wasn't needed!"

Because he blew his cover, almost everyone turned their heads towards Khan. The middle-aged man froze for a moment before giving a vicious smile.

"Since you're that eager to die, then I shall help you!" He pointed his sidearm towards Khan's head and pulled. A roaring sound echoed followed by a sound of metal clashing metal as sparks flew across the plain.

"I-Impossible!" He wasn't even able to scream as Khan stabbed his neck with a crossbow bolt. His figure stared at Khan with an unwilling light in his eyes. But the reality was cruel, eventually, he fell to the ground and lost his life.

"He-hey... Did you guys see that? T-that kid actually dared to block a shot with a Pan?!" Everyone exclaimed in disbelief, although they knew that the Pan was sturdy, thanks to its unpredictable durability where they didn't know when it would be pierced through, they didn't dare to use it as a cover.

But now, each and every one of them was eager to buy a Pan and use it as a shield. The middle-aged man whom Khan met earlier in the Military Base gave a small smile towards Khan's ruthless attitude. He looked towards him and his eyes shone with a light that looked like he had just decided on something.

"Damn, thankfully, I wasn't wrong, this Pan really is sturdy, if not I would've died right there."

Several consecutive bells echoed in his mind as Khan looked at the system notifications

[Player #93 killed Player #2 with a Karabiner98k; 5 left]

[Player #93 killed Player #12 with a Karabiner98k; 4 left]

[Player #84 killed Player #43 with an M416; 3 left!]

Khan gave a small smile, due to the fact that Lily had a Karabiner98k as her main weapon in the game, Khan knew about the distinct sound that it made. He looked at the trench that he abandoned and indeed, he found a young man prone with a Karabiner98k on his right hand, judging from the direction that he scoped, he was looking for Lily.

"Tcch, to try and point your gun towards this one's little wife is just asking to die..." Khan shook his head in regret, before pulling the rope attached to his left wrist.

Several seconds later, the earth trembled as an explosion occurred in the trench. The young man had a confused look on his face as he wondered about the way that he died.

[Player #83 killed Player #93 with an explosion; 2 left!]

Khan sighed and walked towards Lily who also started walking towards her. Looking at the slightly bedraggled appearance of her little wife, Khan gave a small smile before speaking.

"Damn, you actually hid your true abilities from your husband! You even annihilated an entire area by your own." Khan praised the young girl to which the latter replied with her arms crossed and a smug smile.

"Of course, I came from the noblest and strongest Race in the entire universe, that was child's play for me." Seeing the Lily who acted smugly, Khan's smile became gentle as he embraced her amidst the shocked and despairing faces of the crowd.

'Damn! How did such a talent become the wife of a bastard camper?!' They repeatedly cursed Khan in their minds hoping for him to die while in bed.

Khan sneezed and murmured.

"Damn, I bet those guys are cursing about me right now..." Khan complained in a wronged tone.

"Why would they curse you?" Lily asked in doubt.

"That's because they're jealous that I have such a cute little wife." He pinched her cheeks and murmured in the young girl's ear, sending her into a blush.

"Do you remember what I said, earlier in the plane?"

"Wh-what the hell are you saying... There are people looking towards us." Lily desperately tried to find an excuse to dodge Khan's question. Khan smiled in mirth upon noticing that the young girl didn't have an ounce of rejection within her anymore.

Khan teased her for a while before they were interrupted by a system prompt.

[Game will end in 60 seconds]

[59]

[58]

A countdown counter materialized in the air before the two, Khan scratched his head as he looked at Lily.

"Ermm, what should we do now?"

Lily turned towards him, pulled a grenade from her waist and suggested with a smile as she pulled the pin.

"A double suicide, of course!"

Amidst Khan's horrified eyes, Lily placed the cooking grenade on the ground below them as she embraced Khan and waited for their demise.

"So we're literally going out with a bang?"

A deafening roar echoed as a system announcement materialized in the air before the Calpheon Military Base.

[No winners!]

It took about several seconds before they regained their calm amidst their shock. In a Last Man Standing Event, it was the first time in history that no one had won the game. They didn't even have the energy to exclaim as they stared at the system notification with an incredulous look on their faces.

Eventually, Khan and Lily would be known as the Ice and Fire duo, one had a fiery temper that engulfs everything in its rage, while the other had an icy cold temperament that could freeze everything in its path.

Together, in this day April 30, 2090, they made the very first history of the last man standing game where no one had won, and with their deep love to each other that they would rather die together, than kill each other, even in a virtual game, touched everyone's heart.

And it would become a legend that would forever be told.