"Since we have so first-tirs, I will be going over so rules, which were included in the contract, but many seem to have forgotten."
Everyone paid full attention to the Gamaster, understanding that his cutesy appearance was nothing but a trap to undermine his authority.
The mont he caught a whiff of disrespect, they might end up joining the fallen criminals in this exact graveyard.
The Murinori, and especially mbers of the Sciurani Clan, shouldn’t be ssed with.
The Gamaster Gadget went on and told them about the rules, which weren’t special...Just enforcing what everyone already knew, such as:
Do not curse or insult Sire Nocturn under any circumstances.
Do not swear at the Watchers or any other overseers of the ga.
Respect every ruling made by the Gamaster...no arguing nor calling their decisions unfair.
Do not talk back to the Gamaster or try to undermine their role.
When he finished, the Gamaster Gadget moved on to the ga’s description.
"As you all know, each ga is not the sa even if it shares the sa na and format...In this case, the Wailing Bone Pit’s structure will be new, so will be the hidden trap chanism."
The Gamaster Gadget extended a massive, visible spiritual screen, showing them the pit’s structure at last.
So gasped in shock, so narrowed their eyelids in concern, and so seed unbothered, like no matter what structure was chosen, their victory was granted.
Levi gazed at the pit, which was three kiloters deep and split into four sections:
Level 0 (Crystal Floor), Mid-Pit Tiers, Upper-Pit Gauntlet, Rim Escape.
At the very bottom, underneath the glass floor by a re ter, a well of horrifying, moving skeletons of myrdie races were reaching out their bony arms at the see-through crystal floor.
They were wailing and trying to escape, but alas, a sticky, boiling, acidic black tar was keeping them glued to each other at the bottom of the pit, unable to leave...
This sight wasn’t an illusion or crafted out of imagination. Levi could hear the agonizing screams and wails carried by the wind across the entire cetery.
He had tuned out their cries a long ti ago, incapable of continuing to listen to them.
"Starting with level 0, all of you will be positioned randomly on top of the crystal floor, and once the tir starts, the floor will begin to weaken and crack," the Gamaster Gadget warned calmly. "If you value your life, I suggest you glue yourself to a wall before it shatters fully."
’Interesting...’ Levi marked this piece of Intel and continued listening.
"As for Mid-Pit Tiers and Upper-Pit Tiers, there will be a series of staggered ledges and climbing pegs carved into the walls...Narrow vertical shafts where only one participant can climb at a ti, a middle tallic beam connected to two walls, broken beams, and moving crystallized platforms..."
The Gamaster Gadget created each ntioned tier, filling up the empty abyss in no ti. Now, the Rifters seed a bit relieved at the sight of many climbing areas, even for amateur climbers. Still, they knew that a hidden trap would be installed, and it might be in any of them.
"Lastly...The Rim." The Gamaster Gadget smiled, "Let’s say I have a surprise prepared for you."
The Rifters felt their skin tighten, realizing that maybe this ga’s trap would be related to the rim...A trap related to their only exit, they could only dread what awaited them.
"Is everything understood?"
"Yes, Gamaster." Everyone responded solemnly.
"Good, may Sire Nocturn’s Blessing be in your favor."
The Gamaster Gadget looked into the skies, and with a re gaze, the dark clouds parted ways, reducing so of the sinister atmosphere.
Alas, before the colorful skies could shine their light on the desolate graveyard, millions of eyes began to open up until the sky was packed to the brim with them, sending shivers down the spine of so of the newbies.
The sight was grotesque and trippy, to have millions of peculiar and different eyes so near each other...Yet, it was nowhere near as fearso as hearing most of them speak and cheer simultaneously.
–Will you look at that, we have quite a few first-tirs.–
–Haha, who do you think will get cold feet?–
–Wait, is that Webwalker and Ssek-Varr? Two Newbie Hunters in one ga? The ga’s integrity is already ruined, I ain’t wasting my ti on this.– An eye disappeared at once.
When many of the Watchers heard this, they did quick research on those two Rifters, and what they found wasn’t pretty.
They were referred to as Newbie Hunters, and there were many of them infesting the Nocturnal Ring.
They abuse the system by keeping themselves weak to join the lowest possible difficulty of gas with first-tirs or inexperienced Rifters with less than three gas.
Strength-wise might be similar, but the experience in the program was nowhere near that. The Newbie farrs usually played about ten gas or more.
Since they were experienced, most of them survived the gas even if they didn’t win them. Losses didn’t bother them that much due to the Nocrix credits earned by killing as many Rifters as possible in their gas.
In this manner, if they win, they get rewarded with a Map Fragnts Pot, but if they lose, they earn a hefty amount of credits to offset the lost map fragnt.
Fortunately, the program forcefully promoted them to the next rank if it noticed said pattern. This locked them outside of the program until they reached the minimum required power level of their current rank.
As they listened to many Watchers talking about them, Webwalker and Ssek-Varr showed faint, proud smirks, enjoying the attention.
anwhile, so of the Rifters’ expressions turned for the worse behind their masks, realizing that the ga had just gotten more difficult.
However, none of them voiced a single complaint to the Gamaster...It was within the ntioned recent rules, and none of them were dumb enough to test out his patience.
As for the two Newbie farrs? He paid them no special attention as if they were normal participants with no hidden agenda.
’You have to be wary of those two,’ Ash’Kral warned, ’they will definitely attempt to eliminate you at any given opportunity.’
’I can tell.’ Levi replied calmly while keeping his head lowered, ’They aren’t hiding their murderous intent in the slightest.’
Levi could feel it pointed at him and at the other first-tirs, too. It was quite easy to distinguish between them since everyone could summon each other’s profiles with a re glance at the other, or by voicing their na.
Since those profiles were public and couldn’t be hidden even by the owner, everyone was knowledgeable about each other’s nas, states, and such.
The program already protected everyone’s outside privacy; the last thing they would do was give the Rifters a chance to hide here, too. Otherwise, the Watchers would have no reference in the slightest to their idols or such.
After waiting one last minute, until he was satisfied with the Watchers’ viewership numbers, Gamaster Gadget clapped his paws once.
In an instant, Levi, Webwalker, Ssek-Varr, IronQueen, Starfall, Nixy’Rii, Mawgrub, and the rest of the Rifters found themselves teleported on top of the glass floor randomly.
So were placed near the middle, so near the walls...It was totally RNG, and Levi seed to have drawn the short stick.
He was placed right at the center, with all the walls at the sa distance from him.
Fortunately, the Rifters were positioned at least five ters away from each other, giving him space.
Levi didn’t even bother to glance in their direction as his ears were instantly assaulted by the high-pitched, painful, sorrowful wails.
As he kept his head affixed in place, the bouncing sound waves reflected a sea of wavy, mangled humanoid auras, reaching out to him...
’How bad were their cris to irk such a severe punishnt...’ Levi murmured inwardly.
’Enough to get their souls burned for eternity...’ Ash’Kral replied, his voice calm, but it carried a tint of admiration.
’Will the fallen Rifters suffer from such a fate?’ Levi asked.
’Of course not, it’s just for dramatic purposes...Though they will die for real.’
’That’s good...’
Levi lifted his head and gazed at Gamaster Gadget, who had already started the countdown to the ga.
Ten...Nine...Eight...
Then, he summoned his Judgnt’s Chainstaff, which graced the stage with a new look.
The shaft was as dark as the void itself, but the crowns changed...They were still thick and contained chains within them; however, their appearance transford.
A twisting line of Ithorien letters floated just above the upper crown, each rune radiating a warm, vibrant gold.
anwhile, a second line of fiery crimson runes coiled around the lower crown, forming intertwined bands of gold and red light reminiscent of twin serpents representing dawn and sunset.
Levi raised it and tapped it once against the glass floor, sending a single sound wave.
The sound wave instantly gave him a full, detailed picture of the Pit, from the position of the ridges, platforms, beams, and such.
Levi analyzed all the shown paths until he found the best one for him.
Three...Two...One.
"May victory favor the bold, the fearless, and the unwavering..." The Gamaster Gadget announced loudly, "CLIMB!"
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