System Failure

[Your energy level remains... 3%]

[Make an immediate recovery to extend your life span]

"Damn! Roe, Josh! I'll leave it to you now, my energy level is only enough to last until the mission is over!" Ian said breathlessly, his intestines were being torn apart by the steel claws of this Sapphire-level Apex, and he knew his position was very unfavorable.

"Yes, but I haven't found the right opportunity to deliver a single fatal blow!!! Josh is trying to hold him back, but that won't take long either, his energy level is also dropping!" Roe replied from the communication line with the same panting breath.

From where he lay in the back of the battered old car, Ian could peer at the battle between Josh and the Apex predator wearing an iron cloak, giraffe-sized but walking on two legs because its main body was a Gorilla.

Ian regretted taking his two friends along this time, tempted by the huge reward because he was in debt. He dragged his two friends into danger, and if they didn't survive this game, he would never atone himself.

Unfortunately, after successfully tricking the Apex for the last 22 hours, in the remaining 2 hours, the Apex found them, and a fierce battle was inevitable. The predator with the Polar Wolf's snout was able to detect their scent because of Josh's sudden urge to pee.

The snow was piling up, so fast that it buried half of Ian's body. He didn't realize it because he couldn't feel his numb lower body.

The sound of the collision between Josh and the Apex was deafening. Josh, who this time took the Bison trait with the Asian Rhino horn, stuck the horn right into the Apex's chest, while both hands were busy holding back the claw attack from the rampaging Apex who wanted to launch a counterattack on Josh.

"Well done, Josh!" Ian and Roe shouted in unison to encourage their friend who was struggling with all his might.

"Roe, you can go in now!" Ian ordered.

"Okay!" Roe leaped from his hiding place on the roof of the cathedral right into the fierce battle below, his Ice Gull wings expanding to resist the pull of gravity. His body, taking the form of a Snow Leopard, landed right on the Apex's shoulders, the grip of his sharp nails digging deep into his armor. The Apex let out a powerful roar that shook the entire strange ecosystem they had entered this time.

Strange because, as the giant dome opened up and revealed the entirety of their game location, Ian immediately felt something odd. If he usually fought in a natural ecosystem away from human interference and civilization, then this time was different.

Abandoned buildings, covered with 2 meters of snow. Mannequins with the exact shape and activities of humans were scattered in various places as if they were real humans who did not have time to save themselves and were caught by the sudden extreme cold temperatures. There was even one mannequin in a chef's uniform that seemed to freeze while cooking, the ice resembling flames that snatched from the pan even like real.

Why did the game they entered this time seem to depict the end of the earth due to climate change like the old movie The Day After Tomorrow? Although Ian and his friends wondered, they couldn't do anything about it.

22 hours had passed smoothly, within that period, several other players totaling 5 people died one by one, leaving only three of them.

[Time remaining: 10 seconds]

Roe roared to show his strength then his snow leopard snout with extremely sharp fangs pulled off the apex's head from its neck.

'Yes! It worked! Hurry up and get us out of this game once and for all, I'll repent and start counting on normal work.' Ian pledges with little consciousness left. His body collapsed in a pile of snow.

[Congratulations! The players who emerged victorious are]

[Ian Worth]

[Roe Walsh]

[Josh Toure]

[Congratulations! A reward of £100,000,000 has been deposited into the players' bank accounts]

[Congratulations! Your energy level has been restored to... 100%!]

[Ding Dong Ding Dong]

The distinctive sound of the system as the surviving players exited the game sounded, Ian, Roe and also Josh were relieved beyond words. The three of them had agreed, after this, they would take a hiatus from the game, escape to the Bahamas, and spend the huge reward money that they had gotten.

[Ding Dong Ding Do... Zzzt... Zzzt...]

The music suddenly made a strange noise, like a broken record.

[DING! Welcome host Ian to this Sapphire 3.2 level game!]

[The reward you will get in this game is .... £10,000,000,000,000,000]

[Press agree to continue. Or press back to exit the game]

"Hey, hey, hey!!! What the hell!!! Why aren't you taking us out of the system?!" Ian yelled, now sitting up from his lying position.

"Yeah, what's going on Ian? I don't want to play anymore!" Roe responded with a heavy sigh.

"Me too, I want to go back and have a very long sleep," Josh added.

Then they jointly pressed the back button.

[Congratulations! You have been registered in the game]

[The apex predator you are facing this time is...]

"Hey!!! No! We want to quit the game!!!" Ian frantically pressed the back option on the screen repeatedly.

[Sorry. System failed]

[Sorry. System failed]

"No way... What's going on?!" they scream in unison.

Desperation was depicted on the faces of the three of them.

While the system kept running and displaying the figure of the next Apex Predator they were about to face.