A little past 7 p.m. on May 19th.

With less than twenty-eight hours remaining before the second Future Ranking was set for release, Ashe found himself facing a crisis. He had been stood up.

Over the past few days, Ashe had finally assembled an elite raid team, serving as their commander. Together, they had pushed through stage after grueling stage until they reached the third phase of the Sovereign Blade-Carp. They were on the verge of clearing the raid tonight, but at the last moment, the team's tank had a real-life emergency. Work had called, and he wouldn't be able to make the session.

Ashe was left with two choices. Either he gave the entire team the night off, or he recruited a random player to fill the slot. Since most high-level raid strategies followed a similar logic, any "pickup" player with experience in the third phase should theoretically be able to slot in and help them secure a clear.

However,...