Suddenly, the LED illumination went out, putting the entire plaza in serious darkness... However, before anyone could trip out, the lights blinked back.
Everyone was confused at first, but when they saw a blue-furred Squirrel in the center of the platforms, their expressions turned solemn and focused.
The squirrel had a white curly mustache like the old man mascot in the Monopoly board ga... he was also wearing a dark gray formal suit, and a classic watch on his wrist, resembling a ’007’ Jas Bond in any of his casino scenes... of course, the Jas Bond of Squirrels.
"Well, hello there." The Gamaster bowed his head in everyone’s direction and introduced, "I am Gamaster Gamble, and I am the creator of this new Ga Design... It’s a pleasure to et you, my lovely test subjects."
No one seed pleased with being called test subjects, but they weren’t stupid to take it on the Gamaster... they understood that their backgrounds ant absolutely nothing before the Gamasters.
Once annoyed or cursed during a Death Ga, only prison or death awaited them.
"As you know... creators of new Death Gas get to host them regardless of their rank." Gamaster Gamble smirked, "Aren’t you happy to have a blue-tailed Squirrel host your ga?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Levi and the majority of the Rifters gazed at him in silence... seemingly having no interest in inflating his ego. Though one of them did sound excited.
"Haha, I am a big fan of you, Gamaster Gamble... I have been obsessed with all of your ga designs since they revolve around mind gas and our nature as different species." The Dealer shared with a big smile.
"Is that so?" Gamaster Gamble rubbed his white mustache with fake shyness, "You’re already my favorite."
Although they heard this, no one seed bothered or worried that Gamaster Gamble was going to play favorites... the system was extrely tough on Gamasters to maintain fairness.
If they were found to have abused their powers, they could even be sued by the Cricetii Clan, responsible for the juridical system in the Boundless Expanse.
"We don’t have much ti before the ga starts... so, let’s get this over with quickly."
Gamaster Gamble kicked off the ground and hovered above everyone’s heads. Then, he extended his hand to the side, manifesting a dinsional screen with a list of questions and answers prepared.
Instead of letting them waste his ti with questions, he wrote the ones he had expected to make an appearance and answered them already.
"Everything you need is here... if you’re still not understanding sothing, feel free to ask."
Levi focused on the Q&A list, reading it internally. He found that the ga had no trap chanism since there weren’t many Rifters in it and the design was new and complex... Adding another challenge might ruin the ga.
’Good... I was worried about what they had prepared for us.’ Levi sighed in relief.
He wasn’t too scared of the ga’s design and details since he knew about them for fifteen days... enough to prepare his strategies. But, trap chanisms were different, either shared during the Q&A or found inside the ga.
Soon, he moved to the title achievent: The Hand of Madness.
’Oh? We have to gather all Joker cards before the ga ends... doesn’t this an we have to either kill everyone to claim their Joker cards in ten rounds?’ Levi frowned.
After what he earned from the Leviathan Slayer’s title, Levi was beginning to target those titles... whether he got them or not didn’t matter as much as trying.
Though even for him... he could see that such an achievent was too hard to complete. If it were just a simple killing of Rifters, it would be a different story. However, he understood that many rounds were going to be thrown, resulting in no deaths.
After all, when everyone was at peak... one should expect peak attack and peak defense.
’The only way to achieve this is to kill my opponent every round, regardless of the chosen cards... that ain’t a viable option against these monsters.’
It seed like the rest felt the sa, deciding to ignore the achievent for now and focus on getting promoted to a noble status.
Many of them already ca from noble status... however, since this status couldn’t be passed along bloodlines or bestowed by anyone besides Nocturn himself, it forced everyone from such backgrounds to participate in the Nocturnal Ring.
If they failed to claim their noble status... they beca a laughingstock back ho.
So, it was personal for every one of them.
Levi moved to the next important points... the dos and don’ts, also the extra rules like how long the break periods between rounds would last.
’We can’t trade cards, we can’t show each other’s locked-in cards’ picks, and we can’t challenge the sa person in two rounds in a row... but, a challengee can challenge back the Rifter who targeted them.’ Levi murmured inwardly, ’So, nothing new.’
These extra detailed rules were found within the ga’s details... but so Gamasters still chose to show them again before the ga started, since many questions were related to them.
"Stand before any platform... once the ga starts, you will be assigned a random combat room and a role: Challenger or a Challengee..." Gamaster Gamble said calmly, "You will find your personal deck of cards within the rooms... You can also decide your target on a screen you will find inside. However, if two or more challengers decided on the sa target, you will be given a die to throw. The Rifter throwing the highest number will be given priority of choice, while the others will need to choose again."
"You will have five minutes to choose your target and cards... once five minutes are over, the doors will open up, and the challengers can walk inside their targeted Rifters to start the Card Duel." Gamaster concluded, "I believe the rest is self-explanatory."
Seeing everyone nodding their heads, Gamaster Gamble clapped his hands once, and the entire LED roof of the building started flickering... then, under everyone’s surprised looks, millions of eyes started showing on the screens, gazing at them with looks of pure excitent.
"Ladies and Gentlen... Are you ready to witness one of the most highly anticipated low-ranked promotional gas on the platform?!"
Gamaster Gamble instantly switched to his hosting persona, addressing the hundred million viewers... his voice stern but comfortable, like an old, wise Englishman.
Whooooah!! Whoooah!!!
The watchers were hyped up to the seven heavens; their noise was thunderous enough that it made the building shake all over.
’There are so many... 405 million viewers in the first two minutes?’ Levi raised a brow, ’I am starting to think this ga might actually break the ’B’ barrier.’
Levi already anticipated the ga’s popularity as he had seen it within the network... the ticket prices were insane, and still, many viewers were buying them like there was a limited supply.
The reason for such hype? It wasn’t an everyday experience to witness a promotional ga involving ten infamous Rifters with high followings in the network, playing a completely new ga design!
’Good for , I guess... I just need to win it now.’
Knowing that the Rifters split up a percentage of the streaming revenue ant that having more watchers was always great for the participants.
’Good luck, Levi...’
Unbeknownst to him... one of those eyes belonged to Jasmine, and she was cheering him on silently, wishing for his success.
"You stand in the Arena of Gambits, where destiny is shuffled, cut, and dealt without rcy. So of you will draw triumph... others will draw your final breath." Gamaster Gamble brought the dice-decorated microphone close to his mouth and shouted while the countdown kept ticking on the screens, "Now... let us discover who fortune smiles on, and who she leaves to rot!"
"GAMBLE ON!"
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