My Garbage Collecting Cheat-Skill in Survival Game

'Team Death Match?'

Ray found himself alone in a virtual waiting area, with the words "waiting" displayed above. Ahead of him was the arena which wasn't clearly visible and obscured by a virtual wall.

Beside the waiting sign, a display showed "Blue Team (5) VS Red Team (5)".

Confirming it was a random team death match between ten players. One by one, his teammates spawned beside him, though the virtual wall still blocked their view. He noticed that only one of the three players he'd met earlier was on his team; the other two were together on the opposing side.

"Hello, I'm Jack," one of his five teammates introduced himself. Ray was next, introducing himself as well. Then there was a girl named Paige, and two other men named Saud and Satoshi.

Another notification popped up. followed by the rules.

[Prepare for the team death match]

-Kill the opponent and earn points; the team to reach 30 points first wins.

-You can respawn back to the base if you are killed.

-The MVP of the match will be given the special reward.

Once they all read the rules, Saud was the first to arm himself, taking out a crossbow from his inventory. Paige made some hand gestures and a magic circle manifested in her hands.

After her was Satoshi who drew a katana, then Jack nodded to the others and pulled out a SCAR-L gun. Lastly, Ray also took out his magic gun, ready for the mini-game.

[Match begins in 10...9...8...]

[Survive or Die]

As the counting ended up in zero. The veil in front of them vanished, showing the alleyway, broken cars and destroyed houses.

Jack spoke before rushing ahead, "We don't need any strategy, just make sure to survive and kill as much as you can."

He was the first to ran towards the left alleyway, followed by Paige and Saud. Then Satoshi took the right alleyway with a speed which surprised Ray.

"This must be his passive skill." Ray thought, then decided to follow Satoshi.

Almost immediately, the sharp crack of a gun and a distant scream echoed from the left alleyway.

The battle had begun on the other side. 'Looks like Jack and the others wasted no time,' Ray thought, tightening his grip on his magic gun. 'Good. Less targets for me to worry about for a moment.'

Just then, a searing fireball erupted from around a shattered car, streaking directly towards Ray.

He reacted instinctively, with a fast motion of his body, he sidestepped. The fireball shot out through the air where he'd been a split second before, impacting the wall behind him with a small explosion.

Fire magic user, huh? He remembered the guy whom he met during waiting for the mini-game.

…

Satoshi, who had been moving with focused intent to target the fire mage, suddenly found his path blocked.

A hulking figure, radiating immense power, lunged from behind a debris pile.

"Body hardening technique!" Satoshi yelled in panic.

Though he met the charge head-on, his katana with silver light, going against the hardened skin, but the impact sent him skidding back, unable to pierce the defense effectively.

While Satoshi was occupied, the fire mage capitalized, launching a rapid succession of fire blasts. Ray dodged the first two, but the third grazed his arm, and a fourth hit his side.

Notifications flashed in his vision. [HP: 90%]

[HP: 85%].

The heat was intense, even though his gear. 'Damn, that stings!' he cursed silently.

He aimed his magic gun, a glowing green energy charging at its tip. He took a quick shot, not at the mage directly, who had retreated behind a partially destroyed building, but at the structure itself.

The blast ripped through the concrete, sending shrapnel flying and partially collapsing the wall. He saw the fire mage stumble, clearly injured by the debris. It wasn't a kill, but still succeeded injuring him.

Seeing the opportunity, Ray yelled, "Satoshi! Now!"

Satoshi, despite being engaged with the body-hardening opponent, instinctively reacted to Ray's shout, making a sudden, powerful leap.

[Boom!]

This time, the magic gun blast tore through the man with the hardened body, obliterating him into pieces. It was a confirmed kill, but not the first for their team.

[Red Team: 3 Kills] [Blue Team: 1 Kill]

Ray saw the score and inwardly cursed Jack and his group for dying. Just then, the kill count for the Red Team skyrocketed.

[Red Team: 4 Kills] [Blue Team: 1 Kill]

[Red Team: 5 Kills] [Blue Team: 1 Kill]

[Red Team: 6 Kills] [Blue Team: 1 Kill]

Satoshi and Ray exchanged bewildered glances. "How is this possible?" Satoshi asked, standing beside a equally shocked Ray who couldn't comprehend the reason for the sudden surge in enemy points. "Have they met someone they can't handle?"

Just then, Paige arrived, her voice laced with defeat. "We can't win this."

Satoshi's eyes widened. "Why? What's wrong?" he demanded.