Martial Online.

In the place where Shark and Jellyfish died, two batons dropped, as did a paper bag with food and a water bottle.

"It looks like the players with items who die drop everything they have in inventory." Moriarty said.

Ambrose picked up one of the batons and examined it closely.

"Finally water!" Moriarty picked up the water bottle and took a long sip, relieved to quench his thirst.

Before he drank it all, he stopped and handed it over to Ambrose. "Here."

Ambrose took the water bottle and drank from it, grateful for the refreshing taste.

After he finished drinking, there was still some water left in the bottle, so he put it back in the paper bag. He then checked what food there was and took one of the sandwiches for himself.

"I have thought about something." Moriarty sat on the floor and leaned against a wall as he ate another sandwich.

"What is it?" Ambrose asked while sneakily gazing out of the window towards the zombie-filled wasteland.

There was light coming from all the buildings in the town, signaling that there were players who were very much alive.

However, there was also clear fighting going on in these buildings, as shadows of figures could be seen moving frantically, weapons clashing, and screams echoing through the air.

"No one can survive outside now." Moriarty took a bite of the sandwich and said, "What about the ones who didn't make it in here in time? Are they all doomed?"

"Because they are stuck outside, right?" Ambrose asked, and Moriarty nodded.

"Well, I wonder what happens when a player becomes undead." Ambrose said. Are they unable to control themselves and driven by an insatiable desire for human flesh?

"That would be quite crazy." Moriarty said. "And traumatizing."

"There are millions of players, and that gives them a huge advantage." Ambrose said. "The undead can't kill everyone. If some players team up, they might very much survive."

"Yeah, true that." Moriarty said this and sighed. "Who will, though? Everyone is just thinking about themselves and their teammates."

"One option is just to wait till the sun is up." Ambrose said. "We can't be sure that we'll find any more buildings after we leave the town, so we must reach the mountain before nightfall.

"If we don't, we are fucked."

Moriarty nodded and pulled out the interface.

[Team: Phoenix Quill]

[Ranking: 99,657]

[Teams Finished: 0]

"There are so many teams in front of us." Moriarty noted. "There is no way that so many people fit inside this town."

"The ones who reached the town first must've scavenged their house quickly and continued their way to the mountain. They might not survive." Ambrose said.

"Also, I don't think everyone took this straightforward path here and might've found other towns near this place."

"I agree." Moriarty nodded. "It was very chaotic at the start, and some teams might've intentionally steered further away from this huge pack."

"Sigh." Ambrose sat on the floor, resting his tired legs. "We should rest. You first, I'll wake you up in about two hours."

"Nn." Moriarty crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he quickly drifted to sleep.

…

In a random household.

A fair-skinned woman sat on a pink gaming chair while her fingers danced across the computer as she was typing intensely in the chat section of ForeverChat.

She was part of Moriarty's community and was currently watching the tournament alongside thousands of similar-interested fans.

In her room, a TV showed the live broadcast of the tournament, with commentary voices providing analysis and play-by-play commentary.

At this current moment, it showed hordes of zombies attacking players, and it was very intense and thrilling to watch.

However, then the screen started to display a dark town with hordes of zombies circling each building, but they were clearly unable to enter.

'I wonder if he is in there.' The fair-skinned woman intertwined her fingers in prayer. 'Please be safe, little Mori Mori!'

She then returned to ForeverChat and checked some of the messages.

[TBC132: How come there is no news of him? [I wish we had a way of knowing whether he is dead or alive!]

[Alas: Of course he is alive; how can you doubt our beloved Mori Mori's skills?!]

[Kyoko-san: Does anyone have any idea of who he is teamed up with?]

[Rei-Kun: I heard rumors that he is teamed up with Evangelia!]

[Kyoko-san: Evangelia?!]

[TASE: Nah, that rumor is false! Evangelia is teamed up with Malach!]

[Kyoko-san: Malach the Infernal Beast?! That is a powerful team, but then who is with Moriarty?]

The fair-skinned woman browsed the messages and wondered who could possibly be Moriarty's teammate. He had kept them in the dark, but she was aware that the whole world would know once the first round was completed.

She was absolutely certain that he would reach the second round easily, and perhaps even the finals!

She then stood up from the computer and walked over to her closet. As she opened the closet, an altar with candles and pictures of Moriarty greeted her eyes.

After she lit up another candle, she gave a sacrifice of one of her hair strands and prayed. "Good luck, little Mori Mori."

She then closed the closet, and the altar was hidden from the rest of the world once again. The picture of Moriarty was lit up by the shimmering glow of the nearby candles, casting an ethereal light on his enigmatic smile.

…

In the tournament dimension.

On the roof of the building, a team of slender-looking woman and a cold-faced man created a hole in the roof and jumped down through the hole.

They gently landed on the floor and eyed their surroundings with caution.

On the bottom floor, Ambrose felt a little sleepy, but after hearing the strange thud, his ears perked up, and he slowly stood up to investigate the source of the noise.

He checked on Moriarty and saw him sleeping soundly.

He didn't want to wake him up, as he was clearly exhausted and needed the rest.

'It might not be nothing, but better be safe than sorry.' Ambrose pulled out the baton and slowly walked up the stairs to the second floor.

It was clear that the sound came right above him, and he soon found the room that he expected to be the source of the noise.

He slowly opened the door, revealing a dark and empty space with no sign of anyone or anything inside.

The door fully opened with a loud, everlasting creak.

Ambrose narrowed his eyes and slowly entered the room, cautiously looking ahead.

At that moment, he saw a shimmer of crimson moonlight filtering through the ceiling and noticed that there was barely a big enough hole for a person to fit through.

"What the…"

"Hiyaah!" A slender-bodied woman with flowing silver hair and piercing blue eyes emerged from the shadows, lunging towards Ambrose with a deadly grace.

Ambrose raised his baton, ready to strike it down, but then another hand appeared behind him, grabbing his arm.

Ambrose turned around and saw a cold-faced man with similar silver hair holding his arm.

The slender woman launched her kick, but Ambrose quickly used his other arm to tank it.

The cold-faced man then twisted Ambrose's arm and flipped him over to the ground.

Ambrose crashed to the ground, and then the cold-faced man put his knee against his back, pushing him down to the ground

"Good job, brother." The slender-looking woman said with a charming smile and crouched beside Ambrose with a cheeky look. "Well, we expected someone to be here. What is your name, handsome?"