End Of The First Nightmare

Not waiting for Logan to attack, Marco swung his fist first. However, Logan dodged it as if it was nothing. Unable to believe a weakling like Logan could dodge him, Marco went berserk, throwing punches everywhere.

But no matter how much he tried, Logan effortlessly dodged the attacks. If someone could see their stats, they would know why it was like that. The total stat points Logan had were double that of Marco's.

Despite their physique, only stats mattered within the game, and there was no way Logan would lose to Marco as long as they were in the virtual world.

However, that wasn't all. Logan was confident because he had turned [Crazed]. It was a rare status effect that boosted one's stats by 20% at the cost of their health being reduced by 50% for five minutes.

The players didn't use the [Crazed] effect often because it had too many downsides. But for Logan, things were different. After all, he wasn't up against pros, just beginners.

The criminals weren't good enough to come close to him when he got serious. Besides, Logan had his scores to settle with Marco.

"Why can't I hit him!?" Marco gritted his teeth.

In Marco's eyes, nothing could've changed in a few hours. He was still strong as before and the boy before him should be weak. Yet, why was he feeling inferior to him?

"You're too slow."

Logan closed in on Marco while he was lost in his thoughts and grabbed him by the neck. The people around them gasped. They couldn't believe a scrawny-looking guy could overpower a raging hulk like Marco.

Slowly, Logan's grip tightened around Marco's neck. Marco tried to push him off, but Logan didn't budge from his spot. Soon Marco's face turned red, unable to break free.

"What are... you... freak!?" Marco asked, gasping for air.

But Logan didn't answer. He didn't need to. The look in his eyes was enough to convey his thoughts. Those weren't the eyes Marco had seen mere hours ago.

Just then, one of Marco's loyalists brought out a crossbow, aiming it at Logan.

"Let him go!" the man shouted. "Or I'll shoot!"

Logan glanced at the man with the crossbow and smirked. Even bullets would have a hard time piercing through the [Gaunt's Robe], let alone a wooden arrow. Instead of releasing Marco, he only tightened his grip.

"Shoot him!" another one of Marco's men urged.

The man with the crossbow hesitated. He didn't want to miss and accidentally hit Marco. But he knew if he did nothing, Marco would die. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

"Fucking idiots," Logan smirked.

In the blink of an eye, Logan moved and brought Marco before him, using the large man as a human shield. The bolt from the crossbow struck Marco square in the chest. He let out a gasp before going limp.

"God damnit!" the man roared before turning the weapon on Izna. "I'll kill her if that's the last thing I do--"

"No, you won't," Logan whispered in the man's ear.

It all happened in a flash, and no one even saw Logan moving from his spot. But there he was, standing next to the man. Before the man could do anything about it, Logan swung his kukri. A moment later, the crossbow fell on the ground, along with the man's severed arm.

"Arghhh!"

"Too loud."

Logan swung his blade again, this time slicing off the man's head. As the man's blood splattered all over Logan's face, the criminals saw him in a new light. He wasn't the pushover they had tortured, but a beast waiting to swallow them whole.

"Anyone else?" Logan asked, wiping the blood off the blades.

No one dared to move, let alone speak. They had seen what happened to those who challenged Logan, and none of them were foolish enough to make the same mistake.

"Good."

The crowd parted as Logan walked towards Izna, kneeling beside her. While everyone else seemed scared of him, Izna didn't flinch or move away. She stayed where she was, her eyes fixed on him.

"Tell me where it hurts."

"I'm fine," Izna shook her head. "A bit tired, maybe."

As the two sat quietly, the people surrounding them made a run for it. Snake wanted to chase after them, but Logan told him not to bother. Unlike him, Izna and Snake didn't have stat buffs. Even if they killed someone, it would only give them one stat point per kill.

Sure, they received a free stat point, but it wasn't worth the hassle, especially when they were injured.

With nothing else to do, Snake sat beside them. But unlike Izna, he wasn't going to act tough and extended his arm towards Logan.

"Med...kit..." he hissed.

"...Really dude?" Logan rolled his eyes and bought him one from the shop. "Next time, buy one yourself."

Snake bowed and used the kit on himself. Meanwhile, Izna sat there, glancing at the bodies strewn across the ground, then back at Logan.

"You didn't have to do all this, you know."

Logan smiled and shook his head. "You two didn't have to save me, either."

Izna studied him for a moment, then sighed, "Touche."

For a while, neither of them said anything. The sounds of fighting gradually faded away. Finally, the counter reached ten, signaling that the last test was over.

[Congratulations on surviving the trial!]

[Please wait patiently for the rankings to be announced.]

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The Rankings are as follows:

1. Logan Colt

2. John Slick

3. Izna Petrova

4. Shinoda M. Snake

5. Hiroshi Tanaka

6. Amina El-Sayed

7. Lars Johansson

8. Priya Patel

9. Sofia Rossi

10. Amara Diallo

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[See you on the other side.]