CHAPTER 9: "The Last Stand Begins"

 Ajib said to himself, "Wow, this ability is amazing. It will help me a lot in this tournament."
He got up and started to leave, but something on his notification panel caught his eye. It read:

If ten players remain alive, the tournament will end. The maximum duration of the tournament is three days. If the time runs out and more than ten players are still alive, those with the lowest points will die.

Ajib thought for a moment, then opened his weapon inventory, considering whether to buy something useful.

Meanwhile, Rax was riding his bike past a deserted house. Out of the original one million players, only 1,000 were still alive. Suddenly, his bike was shot at, causing him to crash. He quickly ran inside a nearby house, but a man with a gun appeared in front of him.

The man smirked and said coldly, "That's it… you're dead too." He fired, but Rax dodged just in time and shot him in the head.

Rax sighed. "It was easy to survive until now… but things are getting scary." He had killed ten people so far and had only 200 coins left. Suddenly, another man appeared behind him with a sword, calling out, "Free kill!" But before he could attack, his head was blown off by someone else—Ajib.

Ajib noticed Rax’s HP was only 10. He rushed over and handed him a potion. Rax’s eyes widened. "The Mortal Revive Potion? How did you get this?"

"Just drink it," Ajib replied, feeding it to him. Rax’s health began to recover instantly.

Ajib nodded and took out his dagger, ready to move forward. Suddenly, the roof above shattered, and a heavily armored man landed in front of him, holding a Desolator. Ajib quickly checked his details—his HP was at 2,000, already half gone. Ajib tensed up.

A notification popped up:

ABILITY: Blood Poison

The armored man laughed. "Time for another kill!" He swung his Desolator at Ajib, but Ajib blocked it with his dagger. The impact drove Ajib’s feet into the ground. He thought grimly, "This might break my necklace today."

Then, without hesitation, Ajib pulled a gun from his pocket. "Goodbye, Kukolp," he said, shooting him in the head.

A new notification appeared:

ABILITY: Golden Defence

Ajib let out a breath. "Whatever happened, it’s over now." But then, a game-wide notification was sent to all players:

Ten players must survive for the match to end.

Another line appeared:

(Now only 11 players remain.)

Ajib turned to Rax. "I thought no more than three winners could exist in a tournament."

"That’s true in real life," Rax replied. "But here in THE GAME, the rules are different. Ten people will be rewarded and revived if they die, but only one will be the true winner—the last one standing."

Ajib asked, "What if time runs out?"

Rax smirked. "Then the player with the most points wins."

Ajib shook his head. "That’s… strange."

Before they could say more, both received a new notification:

(Now only 10 players remain alive.)

[Whoever survives until the end will be the winner. The others will be rewarded and revived if they die in the tournament.]