Finally, a new chapter.

We arrived last night, and the drive was so tiring. I wrote the draft on paper during free times at the beach, and was ready to type it all down after arriving, but heck, I fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed.

And there's something about it totally different from the other chapters. The first one to post the answer, I'll give a +reputation. Woot woot!

Without further ado, here's the chapter.

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It was last period, and Kristine was dutifully taking down notes as the professor discussed the lesson presented on the projector screen. It was about the importance of recycling and reusing materials, and the gradual decrease of salvageable resources outside the cities.

A paper plane flew across the classroom and landed on her desk. She turned to look to the side and found Rayhlee from across the room making a thumbs up and raising her notebook with something written on it in huge letters: Bow Skill Rank Up!

With a wry smile, Kristine unfolded the paper plane. There was a note on it, "The seniors mailed me to meet on the school gates instead of the clubroom!"

'You could have told me later,' she thought as she folded the paper and tucked it under her desk. Looking back up, the professor was glaring at her.

"I'm sorry!" Rayhlee said while walking behind Kristine. "I'm really sorry!"

Because of the paper plane, the professor scolded Kristine after class. He didn't see Rayhlee throw it. He only saw Kristine 'enthusiastically' unfolding the plane and reading it while class was going on. She had to spend 20 minutes listening to him point out the importance of listening in class which soon deviated to the topic of recycling paper and the lack of resources to produce them. Since it was last period, the classmates who were vacating the classroom were giving her entertained looks and small chuckles.

Ignoring Rayhlee, she walked towards the school gate and found the two seniors already waiting there.

"Oh? You look like you're in a bad mood," Catherine said.

"It's my fault," Rayhlee said while drooping her shoulders. She then explained what happened.

"That professor is a real stickler about those kind of thing," Anna commented while fiddling with her phone.

"Putting that aside, we called you out here actually because we're in a hurry," Catherine said. Rayhlee made an apologetic look, realizing that because of her actions, she had also delayed the seniors from their business. Anna whispered an 'It's okay' to her and patted her head. "We're going to meet offline with other members of the guild. We'd like to invite you two, but you should focus on ranking up."

"With permission from the Guildmaster, we gave you two limited access for the guild vault. You can find one on any big town with a bank. Feel free to take some items that can help you in ranking up."

"Do you need anything else?"

Kristine was about to decline when Rayhlee suddenly cried out as she remembered something.

"Yes! Earlier Kristine dueled a member of the Shining Glory. I think his name was Magu-something."

"Did you mean Magnum Max? So who won?" Catherine asked interested.

"I did," Kristine said curtly. "I pushed him out of the duel area."

"Hmm. That's pretty good, although that would be a big blow to his pride. You two should be careful. Magnum Max is quite infamous for his notoriety, and Shining Glory, despite its name is actually a guild with a lot of dark rumors about it."

"O-okay." Rayhlee was visibly frightened. "Did he see my face, he saw right? Oh no." she murmured.

"Well, then, we're going." The two seniors left after advising them to take caution. Kristine decided to stop by the convenience store to buy dinner. Rayhlee followed after her and continued to apologize.

* * *

"It's them. Based on the screenshot you gave me, there's no mistake." Two figures dressed in black clothes were talking in a dark alley not far from a convenience store. One of them was a short guy wearing glasses, the other one was average-looking. "You're guess was right that they were still in high school. I was disappointed by the one with the hair. She had those huge knockers in the image, but they're actually flat in real." He leaned out of the alley and looked inside the convenience store. There was a girl paying at the counter, and another girl reading a magazine by the shelves.

"This is great," the other figure said as he also leaned out to look at them. "They're stupid enough to use their actual appearance in the game. It makes hunting them in real easier."

"You sure you want to do this? I know you haven't been caught before, but I think this is a bit too much." The short guy looked behind him and saw three other people there. They were equipped with a bronze knuckle, a knife, and a taser.

"Nothing is too much when it comes to Magnum Max. I'll make them suffer. I'll beat them up, rape them, and take pictures and post them online. I will ruin their entire lives." The three other figures behind him cheered while saying, "Don't break them too much, we want a try, too!"

The glasses guy shook his head and said, "I did what you told me to. I gave you what you wanted, now give me what I want. I want nothing else to do with this. Don't involve me if you get caught later on."

"Sure, sure. Business as always." The average-looking guy, Magnum Max in Tataria, handed the other guy a bundle of paper bills. After receiving the money, he quickly fled into the alley without turning back.

"Let's get ready for some fun," Magnum Max said as he walked out of the alley followed by the three figures.

Kristine was about to leave the store when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She could feel that something was off. Looking outside, she found four figures attempting to hide in the shadows. Their figures were hard to notice, but the evil intent they were emanating could be clearly felt by her.

"What's wrong?" Rayhlee asked who was standing behind her. Swiftly, Kristine turned around and grabbed Rayhlee's arm and dragged her to the back. The four figures outside saw this and they hurriedly rushed to the store, discarding any attempts to hide themselves.

"Let us use the back-door!" Kristine told the storekeeper as she ran past the counter. At first he was surprised, but seeing the commotion outside, he understood.

"Turn right after you go out the door. It will lead you near the shopping district," he advised.

"Thanks!" Kristine was glad that the storekeeper was quick to catch up with the situation. She had been going to this convenience store almost every night to buy dinner for take out, so she was already a familiar face to him.

After leaving the door, she turned right following the advice of the storekeeper. It was a long straight alley heading for the shopping district. After a few minutes of running, Rayhlee behind her was already out of breath.

"What's... going... on?" she asked between her gasps for air.

"I don't know. But someone's chasing us, and they're clearly out for blood." Being slowed down by the short girl, she heard clamors behind quickly getting closer.

"Don't run, bunny! Let's have a good time!" Voices echoed behind. They were getting closer and closer.

'Almost there,' Kristine thought as she rounded a corner only to find that two people were blocking the path. They held metal tubes and sneered at her.

This was bad. Although Kristine can handle multiple amateurs in close combat, she does not know the combat capability of the people she's facing now. There was also the presence of Rayhlee, who doesn't seem to have any sort of athletic ability. She will have to protect her while fighting against a group of people.

"Stay back," she whispered to Rayhlee and gently pushed her to the corner. This way, the opponents would have a hard time reaching her.

"We meet again, bunny." A figure walked out of the path they ran from. He was followed by three figures who were licking their lips. "You sure can run, huh? Pity the other girl dragged you down. You should have just left her behind for us to have fun with. Thanks to her, I was able to call for back up." He motioned toward the two people holding metal tubes.

"Six people to hold down two girls, huh? That's very manly." Kristine said with a provocative town.

"You owe me big time, bunny. I'll shame you so much you'll regret messing with me." Kristine tilted her head. She did not know who this person was.

"I'm Magnum Max." She finally connected the dots.

"How despicable. Resorting to violence in reality just for a game."

"You know nothing, girl. Tataria isn't just a game. It's a whole new world."

"You're just crazy."

"You'll never understand. Let's get this over with." With a wave of his hands, the five other people slowly approached her. The first one to attack was the guy with a knife. With a quick clumsy motion, he made a wide slash at her.

Kristine stepped back and parried his hand holding the knife, making sure that the guy will lose his balance to a direction away from Rayhlee who was crouching in the corner behind her. Her back was exposed to the two guys holding the metal tubes, and they took the chance to attack. Their swings were met by the bag she held, and were pushed back.

"She's pretty good even in real. I'm sure she'll feel really good once she's been tied down," Magnum Max said as he watched the battle. He was visibly excited as he imagined ravishing her and make her admit that she was just a weak and frail girl.

After a while, the guy with the taser saw an opportunity and rushed in. He lurched forwards and stabbed the taser to her side, switching it on. Magnum Max and the five assailants had wide smiles on their faces as they saw her crumple down powerlessly. Rayhlee shouted from the corner in fear and despair.

The guy with the knuckles dashed and said, "I'll knock her out!" and prepared to hit her on the back of her head as she fell down.

Kristine's hand touched the ground, her open palm flat on the concrete. With a buzz, electric currents suddenly surged around her body surprising everyone, then the thin bright sparks snaked around her arm and spread through the ground.

"Wha--!" Before the knuckle-guy could react, his feet were hit by a leg swipe knocking him down. Before he could land, Kristine pounced on the guy with the taser, grabbing his wrist and twisting it. With a yelp, he crouched down in pain while grabbing his broken wrist.

"Die!" Outraged, the knife-guy began swinging wildly. Kristine dodged with the smallest distance possible and then dashed towards him. The sight sent shivers donw her spine. Her face was so close to his, and he unwittingly stared at his eyes. They were red. Her eyes were so red it was like that of a demon in the game. He lost his breath as a knee blow landed squarely on his abdomen.

Before the two metal tubes that were swung down on her defenseless back could reach her, she raised her arms and grabbed them from behind. Pulling with all her strength, she lifted the two and threw them hard on the ground. She then turned around and stepped on the knuckle-guy's stomach.

This all happened in an instant.

"Wh-what the hell!" Magnum Max seeing the scene was shocked. It was too impossible. This was reality. Five guys assaulted a single teenage girl, yet they were all defeated. Not to mention that they were all equipped with an assortment of weapons and the girl was barehanded.

"Who, what are you!" He fell down on his butt upon seeing her face. She looked calm. She was taking long deep breaths, and her disheveled hair hung on her face, but her glaring red eyes were terrifying beyond compare. She also had red eyes in the game, but that was just the iris color. Now, even the whites of her eyes were red.

Slowly, she walked towards him. With each step, he could feel the reverberation on the ground. No, it was his heart beating madly in fear.

Run away, he thought. I need to run away or I'll be killed. But his body would not move.

With a feeling that it took forever and at the same time it took only an instant, Magnum Max froze as the figure stood before him. He looked up at her face, and saw a smile slowly formed. It was a demonic smile that almost reached ear to ear, almost splitting her face apart.

Magnum Max fainted while wetting his pants.