"Fuck…"

Everyone watched as the pillars of light surrounding the Outer Crystals flickered in the distance, the invisible walls trapping the creeps dissolving. Of course, they couldn't see the other lanes clearly, but it didn't take long for them to make out the rising clouds of sand from their march.

It's… happening again.

Adam closed his eyes, shaking his head as memories of his first Game flooded back. People trampling each other in panic. Bodies burning as Creeps fled without thinking. The screams and chaos.

Right now, the same thing was probably happening in those distant lanes. If the desert were any quieter, they might even be able to hear their desperation from here.

Adam clutched his chest, his mind wandering back to Grace and Samantha. He shook his head violently, not wanting to remember.

Not now. Not yet.

It wasn't hard to redirect his thoughts, though. Like everyone else, his mind wandered toward a single thought—not a single Hero had passed through their position.

"Oh… Oh no."

"What… what do we do?!"

The panic started again, whispers turning into stuttered screams.

"Maybe they're just being stealthy!" someone suggested. "Heroes can move fast, right? Maybe they already went through, and we didn't see them."

"No way. We would have noticed something."

"What if they're coming from a different direction?"

"They always come through the Middle Crystal first. That's basic strategy."

"Oh God, we really are in a Sacrificial Lane."

Most of the crowd curled in on themselves as the reality sank in.

They'd been abandoned.

But even with their situation growing more desperate by the minute, none of them started running around or throwing themselves against the invisible barriers to try and flee.

Instead, they all kept glancing at Adam, watching what he would do, wary of provoking him. But Adam… Adam remained motionless; only his hair moved.

A second.

A minute.

An hour. All they could do was whisper prayers and wait.

But then… the second hour drew close.

"Fuck this!" One of the veteran thugs from earlier raised his voice. He stood up, drawing his weapon again. "I'm not dying a fucking virgin because some midget with a big sword told me to sit still!"

"T-that's right!"

The others started to join in, emboldened by his outburst, but before they could stand, Adam lunged.

He slammed the man's head into the sand with enough force to bury his head completely.

"F-fuck you!" The veteran tried to resist, clawing at Adam's arm, but Adam simply lifted the man's head and drove it down again.

Adam looked at the others who'd been planning to join this silly rebellion… and they slowly sat back down with a single glare. He swept his gaze across the entire crowd, meeting the eyes of anyone who looked like they might cause trouble, shutting down their plans without uttering a single word.

According to the IBAA, almost half these people should be veterans, most in their second Game. They were all stronger than normal humans—and if they realized that and attacked him together, it would force his hand to actually hurt them.

He didn't want that. Not at all. He could only trust that most of these people were still good, if they ever had been. But why was it that when people gained power, so many of them turned to abusing those weaker than themselves?

Adam's hand started trembling as the man beneath it continued struggling. Was violence really just human nature? Was it lust? Greed? The corruption that came with power? It—

[The Enemy's Left Outer Crystal has been destroyed! Good work, team!]

Before his thoughts could turn dark, the Administrator's voice echoed through the battlefield again.

Adam quickly released the man and looked toward the violently flickering pillar of light in the distance. It pulsed once, twice, then burst and faded away completely.

Oh… they were right.

Their Heroes had decided to sacrifice this lane to blitz another in just under two hours.

They have officially been abandoned.

Not good. This is not good! I told you to just mind your own business, Adam! What point is there in being good when no one else is?!

Adam placed his hand on the hilt of his blade, certain the others would start causing trouble now that their worst fears were confirmed.

Hm…?

To his surprise, however, no one moved.

Instead, they all slowly turned to look at him again, wondering how he would react. Waiting for him to speak again.

Unbeknownst to Adam, while they feared him… many of the creeps had also started to look up to him.

After all, with his weapon, his intimidating appearance, and the way he'd effortlessly handled multiple Game veterans—Adam might as well be the Hero they had been waiting for this entire time.

It was a ridiculous thought. After all, Adam had the same halo as everyone else. But still, that thought lingered.

As for Adam, well, he was completely unaware of this.

He scanned the crowd in front of him, thousands of people sitting in orderly silence like they were in church.

It… still works?

He looked back at the veterans who'd wanted to make trouble, and when he saw they were doing nothing, he just shook his head and walked back to his original position at the front of the crowd.

His only goal for being in the front was to rush at the enemy, taking on the full brunt of their force alone to try and deter them. But of course, the others completely misunderstood this.

And just like that, even with their situation as dire as it was…no one caused any disturbance at all—all because of a single Creep.

And of course, the drones flying above the Dome captured this unusual scene. How could they not, when everyone expected them to panic? After all, the creeps at the Crystals in front and behind them had actually been in chaos since earlier.

But not them.

<Look at the red mid mid... they're not panicking at all.>

<What... is happening? Look at that single dot in front of them! Is that also a Creep?!>

<Can a better station cover the red mid mid?! We want to see what's happening there!>

<Are we sure that's not a Hero? Maybe the broadcast just forgot to put a name!>

Everyone had different opinions, theories, and whatnots. But the comments really all boiled down to one single thing.

<What… is happening there?>

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