The next day on the test islands, Gun's team kept playing their roles.
They had learned the hard way that the floor rewarded patience, and punished anyone who looked eager.
So Gun kept acting like the obvious strength leader.
Jack kept moving like a scout with information to spare.
And Luna stayed in the middle, helping both of them enough to look useful everywhere without becoming tied to one obvious job.
That was the whole point.
To make every team guess wrong.
Jack was the first to leave.
He had a new assignment now.
Team C.
Gun had told him to keep an eye on them more closely, and Jack returned a while later with a confused expression.
"They're acting even stranger now," he said.
Gun looked up from where he had been stacking supplies. "Stranger how?"
Jack crossed his arms.
"One of their members is missing."
That made Luna pause.
Gun stood still for a second, then frowned.
"Missing as in dead?"
Jack shrugged. "I didn't see a body. Just… one person isn't with them anymore."
Gun was quiet for a moment.
That was odd.
Team C had been all about speed and information before. If they were missing a member now, either something had gone wrong, or they were changing their setup.
Jack continued, "I didn't get too close. They're still moving fast, still scouting, but they look more cautious now."
Gun nodded slowly.
"Okay. Leave them for now."
Jack tilted his head. "You want me to check Team D again?"
Gun immediately answered, "Yeah."
Jack turned to go.
But Gun added, "And be careful."
Jack gave him a look. "I'm always careful."
Gun smirked. "That's not true, but go anyway."
Jack left.
Luna leaned against one of the stone walls of their base and watched him disappear into the distance.
Then she glanced at Gun.
"Do you think Team D is still the weird one?"
Gun folded his arms. "More than weird. I think they're hiding something."
A little later, Luna pulled out the scroll she had saved from the King Slime.
Gun noticed immediately.
"Oh?"
She held it up. "I think I'm ready to use it."
Gun nodded once. "Do it."
Luna crushed the scroll.
Light spread through her hands, then slowly formed into a warm floating fire orb above her palm.
A new message appeared in the air.
Ability Unlocked: [Graceful Flame]
A floating fire orb may be granted to one chosen ally.The orb slowly heals the target and slightly increases their defense while they remain within range.The orb will disappear if the caster moves more than 100 meters away from the target.
Luna blinked at the system message, then looked up at Gun.
He stared at the ability for a few seconds, then nodded.
"…That's actually really useful."
Luna smiled a little. "Really?"
Gun pointed at the orb.
"That's basically a soft tank buff and a heal at the same time. We've been missing something like this."
He looked at her more seriously now.
"This might fix our lack of a tank."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"
"I know so."
He didn't say anything else, but the way he looked at her made it clear he meant it.
Luna would not be taking hits like a Tank class.
But with that orb floating near him, she could keep him alive longer than before.
That mattered.
A lot.
Then Jack came back in a hurry.
He was moving fast enough that even Gun immediately noticed something was wrong.
"What happened?"
Jack didn't waste time.
"I found the missing Team C member."
Gun straightened.
"Where?"
"On Team D's island."
Luna blinked. "Wait, what?"
Jack nodded, breathing a little harder than before.
"They weren't hostile. Not at all. They were acting like they already knew each other."
Gun's eyes narrowed.
"…An alliance."
Jack nodded again, grim.
"Exactly."
For a second, the base went silent.
Gun's mind started racing immediately.
If Team D and Team C had allied, then that changed everything.
It meant one team had been convincing the other they were cooperating.
Or one team had already figured out the other's leader.
Or both.
Gun muttered, almost to himself, "That explains the coordination."
Luna looked at him. "What coordination?"
Gun didn't answer right away.
His attention was locked on the problem now.
Two teams working together meant one thing:
they were going to hit from two directions.
And it was going to happen soon.
Too soon.
Gun's expression hardened.
"Too late," he said.
Luna blinked. "What?"
Then she heard it.
Footsteps.
Many of them.
From more than one direction.
Gun had already moved.
He turned toward Jack. "Get ready."
Jack's hand went to his blade.
The attack hit seconds later.
Team C's remaining members came in first.
Two mages.
One Voltbrand.
One Ignivar.
The moment Gun saw them, his stomach tightened.
Mages.
And not weak ones either.
The Voltbrand mage flicked lightning between their fingers.
The Ignivar mage's palms glowed with heat.
Gun clicked his tongue.
"Of course."
Luna stepped beside him instantly and lifted her hand.
The floating fire orb she had summoned earlier drifted closer to Gun as she placed it on him.
The orb settled near his shoulder, glowing softly.
Gun felt the warmth of it immediately.
His defense lifted.
His body felt a little steadier.
"Good," he muttered. "That'll help."
Then he moved.
He used [Flash Step] and closed the distance toward the Ignivar mage in a blur.
The mage reacted fast enough to dodge sideways and run directly toward the Voltbrand mage.
Gun saw it instantly.
It wasn't fear.
It was positioning.
They were trying to cluster and bait him into the center.
Gun smiled.
"Yeah, no."
Because that was exactly where Jack appeared.
Right behind them.
[Thunder Bolt]
Jack's body surged forward in a lightning-charged blur. His blade came down in a storm of fast slashes, electrifying both mages before they could properly separate.
The Voltbrand mage tried to escape, but every movement slowed from the shock.
The Ignivar mage staggered under the pressure.
Gun took the opening and hit hard.
Jack hit harder.
Together they tore through the pair before they could regain control of the fight.
The remaining Team C members backed away, but the lack of support and healing was already killing their momentum.
Gun stepped forward, ready to finish with [Avenger's Cut]—
Then the world changed again.
A huge block of ice crashed up between him and the target.
Then another.
Then another.
Gun stumbled back as a wall of frozen barriers sealed off his path.
His eyes widened.
"…What?"
Three mages.
No. More than that.
The rest had arrived.
Team D.
The other four players reached the base at the worst possible moment.
Gun looked up sharply.
Above them, he saw the danger immediately.
Three separate mages had taken position for a ranged attack.
If they got their spell off, he was done.
And then he realized something that made him grin instead of panic.
They didn't know about the Slimy Boots.
Gun bent his knees.
Then jumped.
He shot upward with terrifying height, the boots launching him high enough to clear the ice wall completely.
The mages above didn't have time to understand what happened before he was already through their guard.
Gun landed with force and immediately used [Avenger's Cut].
The Ignivar mage dropped at once.
Jack moved in right after, triggering Flash and blinding the other enemies in a burst of lightning-bright afterimage.
The Aqualith mage screamed in surprise and got cut down before they could even fully react.
Gun turned toward the Voltbrand mage.
One slash.
Two.
The mage fell.
The whole ambush had broken apart in seconds.
Only one person remained standing.
The commander.
He stood at the back, watching everything with a look that was more measuring than shocked.
Gun froze for just a moment.
There was something about that expression.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
As if he had already expected this to go wrong.
Then the commander spoke for the first time.
"My name is Waver."
His voice was calm.
Completely calm.
He looked at Gun like he was assessing a tool, not an enemy.
"I have a proposal."
Gun narrowed his eyes.
Waver continued, "Team C is no longer useful to me. The only person remaining there is clearly their leader, and they will betray me if you reveal who your leader is."
Gun said nothing.
Waver smiled faintly.
"Give me your leader's identity," he said, "and I'll give you the rest."
Behind him, Jack appeared with a flash of lightning at his back.
[Thunder Bolt] was already forming.
Gun thought he had the advantage for half a second.
Then Waver smiled.
And the entire field flashed white.
Every climber on the island vanished.
Teleported.
The time limit was over.
Gun staggered as he reappeared at the starting platform with the others.
For a second, he just stared.
Then he understood.
Waver had played him.
Or tried to.
Gun's jaw tightened.
The commander had been baiting them, watching them, and using the battle itself as part of his strategy.
Waver waved from across the island.
His expression was almost amused.
"That's disappointing," he called out. "You should stop wasting your potential on losers like them."
His gaze flicked toward Jack and Luna.
Gun's eyes narrowed.
He didn't answer.
He wouldn't give Waver the satisfaction.
But the message had landed anyway.
The voting stage came next.
Teams gathered around the giant wall screen as their choices were recorded.
Gun's team voted immediately.
They chose the only remaining person from Team C as Team C's leader.
And Waver as Team D's leader.
That was the decision.
Clean.
Confident.
Correct, Gun thought.
At least for now.
Then the giant screen flashed.
The votes appeared.
Gun stared as the results came in.
The last remaining knight from Team C had voted for Gun as the leader of Team B.
And the Ignivar assassin had voted for Waver as Team D's leader.
Gun blinked.
"Why me?"
Before anyone could answer, the screen shifted again.
Waver chuckled from across the voting floor.
"That was the deal," he said. "Team C and Team D told each other who their leaders were. Then they turned on each other after that."
Gun's eyes narrowed further.
Then Team D's vote appeared.
They had voted the knight as Team C's leader.
And for Team B…
They had voted for Luna.
Gun's expression changed.
He actually looked impressed.
"…They figured that out?"
Luna turned to him, stunned. "How?"
Gun looked back at the screen.
Then his mind clicked.
Of course.
She had been everywhere.
The support magic.
The healing.
The movement between them.
The visible role in every major event on their island.
To an observer, Luna was the easiest person to read as the one holding everything together.
Waver laughed softly.
Then looked at Gun.
"Do you really think you can fool me with such petty tricks?"
Gun said nothing.
Because he was already realizing something unpleasant.
Waver had not just been watching.
He had been reading every step.
Every movement.
Every lie.
And for once, Gun had been the one playing in someone else's field.
The screen flashed one final time.
Final points appeared.
Team C: 80 points.
Team D: 160 points.
Team B: 240 points.
Gun stared at the scoreboard, then slowly exhaled.
So that was it.
Team C had been played by Waver from the start.
Team D had gotten outmaneuvered.
And Gun's team had won the round not because they were louder or stronger, but because they had seen more than the others expected.
Waver gave Gun one last small wave.
Gun didn't wave back.
He just watched him carefully.
Because now he knew the truth.
The commander was not just a problem.
He was the kind of enemy who smiled while setting the board on fire.
And Gun liked that less and less the more he thought about it.