Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Three minutes later.

Zane raised his hand lightly to cast Voice of Renewal!

A soft light enveloped Elna, and her near-empty HP bar recovered partially. The pallor on her face faded, replaced by a faint flush of life.

Windblossom looked at the two of them in speechless amazement. “…”

It was no wonder, except for their clothes, they looked almost identical, as if they’d been carved from the same mold.

Still shaken, she pressed a hand against her chest. Forgetting her embarrassment, she managed to stammer, “B-Brother… he’s still alive…”

“Is it him?”

At that voice, everyone turned. Starry was pulling an arm from a pile of corpses; with a firm tug, she dragged an entire person out from beneath.

Elna’s expression tightened as she ran toward him in panic.

“Agh—cough, cough, cough!” Blood spilled from Aegis’ lips as he struggled to breathe, gasping desperately for air.

Seeing that, Zane felt certain, if Starry had been one second slower, General Aegis would have suffocated to death.

Fortunately, with Invoke: Revival available, there was little need to worry. After all, there were two Wishkeepers here.

Just to be safe, Zane shifted back into his Swiftshadow Wolf form. Although the nearby players had already seen it, it was better if Aegis didn’t.

“Brother… Brother!” Elna cried tears of joy as she threw herself into his arms.

Aegis was too weak to speak, merely patting her gently on the back.

The heavy weight in Zane’s heart finally eased.

‘The Shadow Overlord… is heavily wounded? It’s finally over?’

A killer’s ring!? With Starry’s attack power, if she stacked all sixty layers… no one would be able to withstand even a single strike from her! Too bad the effect only lasted thirty minutes.¹　

A flash of golden light burst forth, Starry’s level rose to 31. The first-place reward not only came with a rare Unique equipment but also granted a full level of experience. As for the Reputation Points… It was the first time Zane had ever seen them. He had no idea what they were for.

Aside from Starry, Zane himself had received the tenth-place reward: a Lucky Charm, 100 Reputation Points, and 50% experience.

Though his score hadn’t been high initially, the massive points from when Morthar devoured the Rotten Worms had pushed him into the top ten. The Undead Centaurs and Dread Knight that followed hadn’t been slain for nothing either.

A consumable equipment? That was a first.

At that moment, Windblossom also received a notification, and she had reached Level 30.

“Maintenance will start soon. Go claim your loot first,” Zane said.

Starry nodded and collected three pieces of equipment along with two skill books. The first item was a pink necklace.

It appeared to be a defense-type necklace, not only granting a hefty boost to Vitality but also a fixed bonus of 1,500 HP, a true blessing for mage classes! After all, spellcasters had pitifully low Vitality growth. With this necklace, combined with its Heart of Renewal skill, it would become an absolute nightmare for any opponent!

…

In the sky, a massive countdown appeared: 00:27.

Compared to the previous maintenance, players were given only one minute to react this time.

“I’m logging off first, bye-bye,” said Windblossom, waving her hand.
“Yeah, see you,” Starry replied.

A moment later, the silhouette of the Twilight Ranger faded away into nothingness. Why had Windblossom appeared here only now? Perhaps, just like Zane, she had done something extraordinary.

But more importantly…

“Starry…”
“Hm?”
“It’s time you told me.”

***

The forums were as lively as ever.

However, unlike the usual chatter, today’s discussions were dominated by a single topic, the monster siege. Several posts pinned by the administrators had already amassed tens of millions of views, with numbers still climbing rapidly.

The post, written by a user named **oxgenque**, complained about how they had spent days grinding quests to raise favorability with an NPC, only for everything to be ruined when the city suddenly got attacked and the NPC died.

Many players agreed with the sentiment. The intensity of the siege had practically wiped out every frontline town! Several cities had come dangerously close to sharing Flowerdance City’s fate and being completely overrun.

If not for the Shadow Overlord’s mysterious injury, the number of destroyed cities would have been far higher.

At the moment, no official statement had been released, but if this situation wasn’t handled properly, a major player backlash was inevitable.

Aside from complaint threads like that, two other types of posts were trending.

The first post featured a complete recording of the battle, captured from perfectly positioned angles, as though the cameraman had been standing right beside the fight. The video’s release instantly sent the community into chaos!

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a pure one-on-one fight, but that didn’t stop players from arguing furiously. More than half of them insisted the player must have been cheating. Others took a more analytical stance, breaking down the fight step by step to prove it was indeed possible. Though by that point, the entire comment section had turned into a war zone.

The final trending thread had a far eerier tone.

The post contained several timestamped screenshots of Silverglow City. From the very beginning of the world announcement to the end… not a single monster had appeared there at all!