While JohnWillStab was offline, Bonifacius and Foxly were let go since blaming them for John’s absence was a stretch, even for ♛.

Meanwhile, northwest of the capital city of Glumington in Lokle, a large grassy zone filled with wide, grassy terraces and large valleys.

To its west, it clashed with the wild jungles of Mournwood,

To its north, a wide river separated it from the rolling plains.

Nothing but the sea lay south of Lokle.

The human calmly walked down the cobblestone road; the whole zone looked empty except for the man himself.

A massive ball of flames erupted from the ground as several explosive charges were detonated along a cobblestone road.

A shallow crater stood where there was once a road.

Water, mud and dirt rained down as the smoke began to clear.

A group of ten jGuardians stood in the distance, with them, a wide assortment of ranged weapons.

From behind a collection of carved stones, displaying various runes and symbols, charged out a group of well-equipped players.

They were from a guild of fighters simply called “Mercenary Guild”.

It was an organisation dedicated to combating players who became too much of a threat without the watchful eye of moderators, this sometimes-included cheaters as well.

Unlike the jGuardians, the Mercenary Guild never enforced any laws or rules, they were simply mercenaries with a preference for killing villains.

As the smoke cleared out, a man wearing a blue robe, blond hair styled like cat ears and round glasses, walked out from the blast unharmed.

“Alexander: Hello!” he exclaimed as with a snap of his fingers a massive, inescapable ring of fire manifested around him.

The twenty players were trapped and almost certainly doomed to be banned.

“Alexander: Rejoice! Your bannings will bring the others one step closer to a perfect game!” he exclaimed.

“???: What the f#*k are you on about?!” demanded a cloaked figure, it looked like a human, though every inch of their skin was covered up.

They wore a white mask with a smiley face drawn on.

Alexander turned to face the speaker.

“Alexander: What’s up with your name?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“Alexander: Never mind…”

He selected the character with the “???” name and used the ban ability he created.

Nothing happened.

“Alexander: Oh?”

“Alexander: Another moderator account?” he questioned.

No reply came.

“Alexander: No, that wouldn’t make much sense…”

He scratched his chin.

“Alexander: If you were a moderator you could have just banned me…”

He smiled as the finger-snapping continued.

One after another, all players got banned except for the player called “???” and another masked player who hasn’t spoken.

“Alexander: Oh, I get it, it’s the masks that disguise your name!” he exclaimed.

He nodded along to his own words.

“Alexander: That’s a cool mechanic!” he remarked.

“Alexander: But it’s also easy to combat…” he smirked.

With another snap of the fingers, everything in the ring of flames turned into azure fire. The ground itself looked like the sun for a few seconds before the fires went out.

Alexander breathed a sigh as he updated his tally to include twenty more people.

That’s when it happened, a strike from behind.

“???: Pulling out your trump card already?” they asked, holding two daggers.

Alexander’s back was sliced open as blood spewed out from him like a blood-fountain.

The mysterious figure used a skill called [Spatial Shift] allowing them to become immune to damage temporarily.

Once again, the makeshift arena burst into flames as Alexander’s wound healed and his clothes fixed themselves in an instant.

“Alexander: I’m not sure how you’re doing this… but I would appreciate it if you just stopped!” he exclaimed, audibly upset.

Once the flames disappeared, he was once again slashed from behind by the same person.

He stumbled forwards and landed in the mud left over from the explosion that was meant to take him out in the first place.

“Alexander: Hey! What’s you f#*king problem?!” he demanded.

Knowing this strategy didn’t work, Alexander instead launched a ball of flames at the foe.

It screeched like a death-whistle as it flew through the air towards the disguised attacked who dodge it effortlessly.

“???: Why are you banning everyone?!” demanded the assassin, not taking their eyes off Alexander.

“Alexander: You make it sound so bad! I’m just making sure the server can handle the game when its released!”

“???: Game? Released? What do you mean?”

Suddenly “???” could see the blue ball of azure flames making its way towards them from behind.

They dodged the projectile and allowed it to bore into the ground.

“Alexander: You’ll see soon and when you do… you’ll thank me!” he exclaimed.

“Alexander: I’m a little tired of playing glorified bullet-hell games with you, how about finishing you off for good?” he asked.

Alexander began to type his command.

In a single string of text, he wiped the inventories of everyone except himself clear within the fire ring.

“AHA!” he targeted the player before him seeing it was in fact a nude ogre.

All the fun parts were pixelated out, even so, Alexander couldn’t help but turn red.

“Avocadont: S#*t!”

Alexander averted his eyes, turning his camera to the side.

“Alexander: M-My apologies! I was not aware you were a woman!”

Avocadont was, in fact, a man – He as just playing a girl in-game.

“Avocadont: Yeah, no, I get you, stripping guys naked is ok…” he replied in a mocking tone.

Alexander shook his head.

“Alexander: Of course not! I simply expected this game to be less… graphic…” he explained.

“Avocadont: Riiiiight…”

The two players stood there awkwardly.

“Avocadont: So… you gonna ban me or what?”

“Alexander: Yes, of course!” he targeted Avocadont and snapped his fingers engulfing the trap in flames.

“That was awkward…” he thought.