"Martin! You useless idiot!" Piper screamed, her voice breaking. "You took all my marks, wore the gear I paid for, and you couldn't even kill one single creature! "You deserved to die!" Her throat burned from shouting. She didn't actually care that he was gone. What killed her inside was that the equipment—her investment—had vanished with him. Now everything was gone. "What do I do now?" she whispered, her eyes blank as she stared around the grimy apartment that looked more like a shelter than a home. She had believed that even without Aiden, she could still make it big in Doomsday. She thought her charm, her wit, her ambition would be enough to take her to the top. Reality hit her like a sledgehammer. Even after joining forces with Martin, they hadn't made it past level ten.The truth was a cruel punch to the face. "Aiden…" "Yes. Aiden! I can still go to him. Martin was nothing but a leech. I was blind to ever trust him." "When I was broke, he couldn't care less. But the moment I had money, he came crawling back, pretending to be noble. He said Aiden used money to humiliate me, but he was the greedy one all along. How could I not see that? "He's the reason everything fell apart between me and Aiden. "Now I get it. Aiden was the only man who ever truly cared about me. He loved me. I can still fix this." After a long silence, Piper clenched her teeth and pushed herself off the floor. "He loves me. I know he does. If I find him and apologize, he'll forgive me. We can start over. "No. It'll be better than before. He always wanted me to be his girlfriend, and I kept turning him down. "This time, whatever he wants, I'll give it to him. If I humble myself, he'll take me back. I know he will."Aiden, wait for me. "You'll wait, won't you? You always said you loved me." Her hands trembled as she pulled open the warped wooden door. The hinges groaned. Her face looked pale and wild. Fear, exhaustion, and desperation had driven her beyond reason. She looked like a ghost moving on instinct. One of her shoes slipped off as she stumbled out, but she didn't notice. The splinters cutting into her bare foot didn't matter. The only thing in her head was his name, echoing in her mouth again and again like a prayer she couldn't stop saying. ... And Piper wasn't the only one consumed by obsession. There were many others. But they weren't looking for Aiden. They were searching for Nighthale. That night, everyone lost count of the casualties. The world had drowned in fear. Except for one man—the mysterious name that topped the Global Leaderboard.While everyone else ran for their lives, he cut through the endless flood of eerie creatures like a storm. He killed two Lord-level bosses on his own. His level soared higher and higher, and he stopped the Leafport invasion before it could finish. Most of Leafport's players lived because of him. Guided by Greenwhisper and the others, they escaped to Westhand and survived. Because of that, even though the eerie creature invasion hit Leafport harder than any other main city, it ended up with the highest number of survivors. Now, one out of every ten players in the top thousand on the global leaderboard came from Leafport. Everyone understood one thing. Even when facing those monstrous creatures, Nighthale never lost his composure. The afterglow of his victories spread like sunlight after a storm, giving others the chance to survive. While players from other cities were being torn apart, the survivors from Leafport wandered through Westhand, picking up silver gear and rare items scattered everywhere. No one dared to keep any of it. Everyone agreed that it all belonged to Nighthale. Whether he wanted that "trash" or not was up to him. 'I've made up my mind. Tomorrow, I'm moving to Leafport. The other cities are a nightmare. Nighthale's the only one who can keep us safe.' 'I'm going too. Anyone want to form a team? It'll be safer that way.' 'Count me in.' 'Same here.' 'Same!' 'I'm buying a hub transfer scroll. Name your price.' 'I'm already on my way to Kroger. If I meet Nighthale in person, I'll survive for sure.' The chat exploded with messages. Across Grendola, players were preparing to migrate to Leafport.Transfer scrolls, already rare, were now being sold for astronomical prices. Every surviving official and millionaire was scrambling to find a way to the city. With so many players heading there, most of them rich and powerful, Leafport's value was bound to skyrocket. The first thing to change was real estate. Prices went through the roof overnight. Meanwhile, Aiden had no idea that the world outside was losing its mind over reaching Leafport. There were still two hours left before the end of the session. It was too late to reach the Trial Temple.