At the moment, it seemed as though the world itself slowed down significantly.
Akhil poured all his energy into his legs, pushing off the ground with as much energy as he could.
’We’ve already come this far... No lives have been lost. No one should die now! Wait!’ he screamed inwardly, but no matter how much more energy he tried to draw forth, he couldn’t match the speed of the beast.
With each step, Akhil went through all the decisions he had made so far.
The hopeful gazes the orcs had in their eyes when he presented his ideas.
How they diligently listened to him.
Everything had worked out so far, so why now?
Why didn’t he think of the beast attacking any of the orcs that were fighting with the other beasts?
He’d been so focused on protecting the settlement, he forgot the beast could turn on the others.
His oversight. His arrogance — it was about to cost a life.
And Akhil felt great regret at this moment.
It took a long time to make his decision—the decision to stay and help these orcs, even while he knew nothing about them.
He wasn’t a born leader, but someone who decided to take on the role solely because he felt like the orcs deserved better.
Living among them and seeing how much they cared for each other, Akhil had also grown attached to these orcs.
While he didn’t interact with them all, the moment he took up the role, he had ultimately taken up responsibility for everything else.
’If I didn’t decide to lead these orcs, I wouldn’t be so worried right now! Why did it have to happen now?!’
Everything he had done so far was this close to falling apart.
It wasn’t just about him; it was about the impact one death could cause the entire orc camp.
The hope he built would be extinguished in an instant.
The supposed joy that would’ve come with the end of the first horde would vanish.
Most of all, the people’s faith in him would reduce drastically.
Even while they wouldn’t show it, he knew that would easily be the case.
This one death would carry so much weight that it would affect the entire orc camp.
"I should’ve gone solo from the start," Akhil cursed under his breath as he watched hopelessly as the beast’s claws descended downwards.
{BOOYAH!}
{You have survived the first beast horde!}
{Congrats to all the players!}
{Rewards will now be granted based on contributions!}
Just as the notification came, the beast suddenly stopped as though held back by a supernatural force.
It glided past the two orcs, moving to the edge of the forest that stood in front of the mountain.
All the other beasts that were still alive stopped their onslaught all at the same time.
They turned their gaze back to the mountain and started moving towards it, almost as though nothing had even happened.
The two orcs who had been frozen in place, seeing the beast change its course from them, could finally breathe.
They fell on their butts.
After a short minute, J burst into laughter.
"Why the heck are you laughing! We almost lost our lives just now!" the orc who was with him scolded.
"Yeah, it’s amusing, right... We actually survived," J replied back, clutching his stomach as he laughed even louder.
His laughter quickly reduced the tension that had built up.
Akhil felt relief hit him like a truck.
He slumped down to the ground on his butt, his gaze still fixed on the two orcs.
Just then, the system notification winked into existence once more, its blue font blocking the periphery of his vision.
{Major Contributor: Nexus}
{Here are your rewards!}
{+10,000 MUT coins}
{+10 to overall battle strength!}
{Ding! You’ve leveled up 6}
{Ding!... 7, 8, 9, 10}
{Your strength has grown significantly}
{Your thirst grows stronger}
{Next evolution: 10,000 Blood Essence required}
Akhil looked at the barrage of notifications, slightly taken aback.
While he did expect the increase in strength, there were a few things he didn’t quite understand.
One of which was the words of the system, "Thirst for what?"
The cryptic message left him confused.
Aside from that, though, he had pretty much expected everything else.
In the game, surviving the horde could be done in several ways.
One might even decide to find the safest place to hide and wait for it to end.
But the system didn’t reward cowardice—or, to place it in a lighter tone, it didn’t give rewards to those who didn’t face any casualties. At least those who put their lives on the line earned more rewards than those who didn’t.
And the rewards were further shared based on one’s contribution to the scenario.
It calculated everything—plans, strategies, and even kills and overall importance.
Every risk taken was accounted for and rewarded.
It only made sense that he was the main contributor to the first horde after everything he had done so far.
Akhil looked at the notification, checking if he missed anything.
Seeing that there was nothing left, he cleared the notification, focusing his gaze on the field again.
"We did it!" Nibo said excitedly as he caught up to him.
Akhil turned his gaze to the gigantic orc. "Yeah, we did."
Aria walked up to the two. "You two really did a lot of work out there. Heck, I thought you would’ve died back there. It’s a good thing you didn’t."
"Yeah, it was a really close call," Akhil said calmly, standing as he walked back to the settlement.
Aria stared at his back, her brows furrowed.
"You don’t look happy. Why?"
"I don’t?" Akhil turned to look at her with a forced smile. "Hmm, maybe I’m just tired... I need to rest," Akhil said calmly.
As he reached the settlement, the old hulky, sick orc quickly smiled as he saw him.
"Thanks so much, boy. We couldn’t have made it without you," the man said with a bright smile.
Akhil gave a warm smile back. "It’s nothing. None of us asked for this." With that, he walked towards one of the orc tents.
The old orc stared at him for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
"I survived! I’m still alive?!" The old croaked voice echoed through the settlement.
Gon said, his expression a mix of shock and excitement.
Hearing the old geezer’s voice, they all shot their gaze at him.
Feeling the dangerous stares on him, the old orc gulped hard.
"I mean... cough cough we survived! We’re all still alive!"
The orcs stared at him blankly for a moment but quickly began celebrating.
At the same time, under the underbrush, two figures who had witnessed everything stood in shock.
"The orcs dealt with the first horde... They actually survived?" Hale said with shock on her face.
On the other hand, Samxon’s face hardened, his fist clenched tightly.
’He actually did it. The orcs survived the first horde... And it was because of him. Hmph, let’s see if it’ll be the same for the next one.’
"Let’s head back. We have to prepare for the second horde as soon as possible," Samxon said.
"Huh? Shouldn’t we try to work with them? I mean, since they’re not weak, we might be able to pass through the first scenario together," Hale voiced her thoughts, wondering why Samxon suddenly wanted to leave.
"Work with them?" Samxon’s brows arched with disgust. "Over my dead body. These things aren’t humans anymore. Working with them? Who knows what they could do. I don’t know if you hit your head or something?" He paused looking at her quizzically.
"They’re beasts in skin, Hale. Don’t mistake survival for humanity. I’m leaving. I think I’ve seen what I wanted to see," Samxon said coldly, making his way back to the human settlement.