Since hearing that another team had collected five keys, he had been visibly upset.

Knowing it was because of her, Ruela turned around and put her fist on Kite’s arm. Then, playfully rested her head on his shoulder.

“Alright, I get it. I won’t say things like that anymore. Besides, we’re going to be the first anyway, so what’s there to worry about?”

“I still don’t like it. Even as a joke, don’t bring up such things for a while.”

Ruela nodded quietly.
She thought that even if she were in Kait’s position, she wouldn’t want to hear it. When they entered the restaurant and took their seats, the in-game notice on the screen flickered. Clicking to open it, there was a new notification titled ‘The Journey to Capture Kurran Duke.’ Curious, she clicked on it, and it displayed the current rankings of teams based on the number of keys collected, from 1st to 10th place. Ruela examined the guilds listed in order. The 1st place was, as expected, the Legend Guild that had collected five keys. The 2nd place consisted of several guilds that had collected four keys, and the 3rd place was occupied by thirty-seven guilds that had collected two keys. Ruela discovered the name ‘Peroz Guild’ among the guilds listed below. With a thought of disbelief, she clicked on Peroz Guild. The description read ‘A team consisting of Peroz guild members,’ and below that, the team members’ names, classes, and current levels were listed. Ruela looked at her own and her teammates’ names with surprised eyes. She was initially shocked at how the system recognized them, but upon reflection, it seemed plausible. Since both the guild and quests were linked to their real experiences, it wasn’t that surprising. She clicked on the Legend Guild.
The total number was twenty. Each class was harmoniously distributed, and there were even four healers. Most likely, all twenty of them were skilled gamers. Ruela, out of curiosity, clicked on other guilds one by one. Most guilds were composed of fifteen to twenty members.

“Has any new information come up?” Kait tilted his head and asked Ruela in a small voice.

Today, in accordance with the word “party,” everyone at Peroz Mansion gathered around the dining table, enjoying food and conversation. New aides, costume room staff, Emma, Shuna, city residents, and even Zhenon’s family were all laughing and enjoying the party.

Ruela, to avoid people sensing anything unusual, greeted everyone naturally, engaging in conversations while discreetly checking the game screen. However, it still seemed noticeable.

“The rankings of teams that collected keys have been revealed, and we are in 3rd place. Of course, there are thirty-seven teams ranked 3rd with us.”

“If there are thirty-seven teams in 3rd place, how many are above us?”

“There are six teams up to the 1st place. Oh, don’t worry. It’s not as many as I thought, so I’m relieved.”

Kait’s forehead furrowed at Ruela’s words.

“Not as many?”

“Yes. This game is incredibly popular. Just considering the newly formed guilds for capturing Kurran Duke, there are an unimaginable number. Since every user playing this game will try to capture Kurran Duke, we, however, have secured the 3rd place among them. There are only six teams ahead of us, and we are doing exceptionally well.”

Why wouldn’t they?

Among the guilds she had joined while playing the game, none had achieved such outstanding results to be listed in the notice. So, it was something to be proud of. In fact, if it weren’t for the pressure to capture Kurran Duke first, she would have enjoyed this situation and participated in the competition.

Ruela reassured Kait, who still had a skeptical expression, that there was plenty of time and went to check the talk board.

She hoped to find information about the third monster. However, the talk board was buzzing with discussions about today’s announcement rather than details about the named monster.

People were comparing and discussing the class compositions of different guilds. Ruela clicked on posts that mentioned Peroz Guild among the rapidly rising talk board posts.