It was Ken's first day participating in the survival competition.

As the day drew to a close, night fell.

Under the darkened sky, Raphne, who had spent an unusually lonely day, lay on her bed.

Since she saw Ken off in the morning, she had eaten all her meals alone.

Normally, these times would be filled with cheerful conversations with Ken.

Raphne spent the time listlessly by herself.

And now, she lay on her bed, hugging her pillow and sobbing.

“Ken…” She felt so lonely.

Perhaps today, a day without Ken, felt even lonelier than the year she had spent alone.

Knowing happiness through Ken made the present, without him, even more painful than when she had no idea what happiness was.

This was why Raphne wept sorrowfully.

“sob, please come back soon, Ken… sniff.” Raphne buried her face into the pillow she was hugging.

The pillow was covered with a shirt.

It was one of Ken's shirts.

As she inhaled Ken's scent from the shirt, Raphne spent another lonely night.

‘I wonder if Raphne is sleeping well.’ Staring blankly at the campfire, I thought of Raphne, who was probably alone.

‘It should be fine since it's only the first day, right?’ I couldn’t help but worry, knowing that Raphne gets lonely easily.

I wondered if the shirt she had stubbornly taken before I left might give her some comfort.

No, I shouldn’t think too much about it.

She should be fine.

It's only the first day, and if she’s struggling already, she’ll never make it through the five days.

Trying to ease my mind, I took out today's spoils from the Subspace Pocket.

Five badges lay in my hand.

‘It was easier than I thought.’ In this Survival Event, most battles are one-on-one.

My strategy was straightforward: whenever I encountered an opponent, I would use Calorie Burn to finish the fight quickly.

Of course, I was cautious when approaching, being wary of opponents with Innate Skills, especially since I don't have any magical skills.

Luckily, no one I faced today had Innate Skills that could debuff me.

The main issue was the food consumption after using Calorie Burn.

I had packed as much food as I could into the Subspace Pocket, but it's unclear how many battles we'll have in this event.

If I encounter someone with Innate Skills that restrict movement during battle, I could be in real trouble.

While I do have some countermeasures in place, ending up dead because I couldn’t move would be the height of foolishness.

Anyway, today’s achievements, earned with caution, amounted to five badges.

Considering it’s the first day, mainly spent exploring, it wasn’t a bad result.

I put the badges back into my pocket and threw some small branches onto the campfire.

‘The problem is, how do I find people from tomorrow…’ Without any skills related to searching, my only option is to walk around and look for people.

But if I get discovered first, I could become prey, so I need to think of an appropriate method.

While watching the campfire and pondering various concerns.

Rustle.

I heard something moving nearby.

‘Who’s there?’ I immediately switched to alert mode, watching the direction where the sound came from.

Is there actually someone moving around at night?

The forest after sunset is much darker than one could imagine.

Without a torch, it’s incredibly difficult to move around.

In the game, nighttime during survival events was typically a rest period, free from battles.

‘But this is reality...’ Thinking again, it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to be moving at night.

I hadn’t considered it because it’s so dark...

Swallowing dryly, I stared tensely at the dark underbrush, thinking it could be either a beast or a monster.

And then, “Ta-da!

Alicia has arrived!”

“A-Alicia?” The person who jumped out of the bushes striking a cool pose was Alicia.

“W-Whoa!”

"Wait, Ken!

I don’t mean to fight!

I surrender!" As I pulled out my Bone Sword at her sudden appearance, Alicia waved her hands frantically.

What’s this?

She doesn’t want to fight.

I never expected Alicia to show up here, but if she’s here, she must be participating in the survival event.

If not to fight, then why…

“Seriously, why did you jump out like that!” Another person appeared right after Alicia.

The familiar voice, coming from behind Alicia, belonged to someone holding a small magic light in her hand.

"Emily too?"

"Hi Ken.

Just like Alicia said, we really don’t mean to fight, so please don’t be too wary."

This unexpected meeting in the dark night caught me off guard.

"…So, you came to check who it was?"

Emily and Alicia were scouting the area around their campsite and, upon seeing my campfire, approached quietly.

"It’s important to know who’s near where we’re sleeping.

And then, it just so happened to be you, Ken."

"Thinking it was a fateful meeting, I confidently jumped out!"

"Sorry, we intended to approach more cautiously, but we ended up startling you." Emily apologized for Alicia’s bold behaviour.

The two of them had coincidentally met earlier today and decided to team up.

Emily had found Alicia crying after getting lost in the forest.

So, they’re a team now.

In the game, survival events were always solo missions.

But in reality, it seems like there are collaborative groups too.

From the beginning, it’s more advantageous to join forces rather than try alone if the number of winners is three.

“I owe Alicia from before.

I thought we could really help each other out.”

“Hehehe, I feel so reassured to be with Emily.

I love you, Emily!”

Alicia clung to Emily’s arm with a playful charm.

Emily didn’t seem to mind and gently patted Alicia’s head.

They almost looked like sisters this way.

A well-matched team.

Both Emily and Alicia aren’t physically strong on their own.

But they each have the ability to inflict critical debuffs on their opponents.

If they combine their powers, their odds of success aren’t bad at all.

“So, about that...

Ken, do you want to join us?"

“Huh?

That means…” In the middle of the conversation, Emily proposed the idea of teaming up with me.

“There are rewards for up to three people, right?

If you join us, that makes three.

We feel a bit uneasy with just the two of us…”

“Ugh, am I not enough on my own?

Sniff, am I just a plaything for Emily…

Ow!”

“Don’t joke around when we’re talking.”

“Sorry...” Emily’s proposal wasn’t bad.

No, actually, it was an opportunity for me.

For someone like me who can only exert fleeting strength, solo battles bring too many variables.

However, with Emily's sealing skill and Alicia's hypnosis skill...

'This could even work on Adrian, if we play our cards right...' Considering the most troublesome variable in this survival event, I pondered over the strategy for the Emily & Alicia combination.

Seeing me deep in thought, Emily seemed to interpret it as hesitation about the partnership and added, "Um, Ken, I know you're strong and you might think we're just baggage...

But I have something to offer you too!" With that, Emily showed me her Subspace Pocket.

"I happened...

purely by chance, to bring a ton of food.

You know, Ken, you...

need a lot of food, right?" Emily glanced at me as she held out the pocket.

Sure enough, it seemed Emily had planned to cooperate with me from the beginning of the survival event.

Her bargaining chip was a huge stockpile of food.

Indeed, it was a wise decision for someone like Emily, who thrives in a team setting rather than solo combat.

"Alright, I've got no reason to refuse.

Let's do our best together, Emily." I extended my hand to Emily with a smile.

At my positive response, Emily's worried expression turned into a bright smile.

"Yes!

Let's win this together!" She eagerly took my hand.

"Mmm, there's nothing more entertaining than witnessing a budding love story."

"S-stop it!"

"Ouch!" Alicia let out a groan as Emily gave her a playful flick on the forehead.

But now that I'm teamed up with Emily, a new thought crossed my mind.

The fact that we're cooperating like this means...

Could other people also be forming alliances?

‘I need to consider team strategies as well…’ The first night of the survival event, which I thought would be lonely, passed by bustling with activity.

Somewhere in the forest as night fell.

In an artificially created large clearing, several people lay fallen.

Only two people stood opposed, staring each other down.

One side was engulfed in a freezing cold and frosty atmosphere that could chill you to the bone.

The other side was enveloped in a searing heat and flames that seemed capable of melting your soul.

These two opposing forces split the large clearing evenly, without yielding an inch.

Staring sharply at her opponent was Mary Hyde.

And facing her with a relaxed smile was Adrian Faraday.

“Pretty violent for a lady, Miss Mary.” Hearing this, Mary was dumbfounded.

The people lying on the ground here.

The majority of them had been taken down not by her, but by Adrian.

“I didn’t expect to meet you so soon, Adrian.” Mary, too, regarded Adrian as the person to be most cautious of in this survival event.

Adrian Faraday wielded the opposite attribute to Mary's freezing magic, using it without incantations.

Mary didn’t doubt her own abilities, but if she fought him, she wasn’t confident she would win.

Therefore, she wanted to postpone any battle with him until the very last moment.

Yet here they were on the first night of the survival event.

“Don’t glare at me so much.

I have no intention of fighting you.”

“…What do you mean?” This was an individual competition with each participant aiming for their desired prize.

As badges accumulated, the stronger individuals would inevitably gather a large number of badges.

When that time came, those with more badges would hide, while those with fewer would chase them down.

Naturally, one would want to nip such troubles in the bud before they began.

Yet here Adrian was, saying he wouldn’t fight.

Could he be planning to run away?

Adrian?

Even if Mary was strong, Adrian wasn’t the type to run without a fight.

As if to answer Mary’s doubts, Adrian casually waved his hand.

Like a conductor’s baton, his gesture gathered the flames surrounding him into his hand.

“I’m not interested in the restaurant meal ticket." Soon, the flames that had covered half of the clearing condensed into a small mass on Adrian's hand.

Clenching his fist to extinguish them, he smiled and spoke.

“So, Mary, what do you say about forming an alliance with me?” It was a sweet proposal, just like his smile.

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