Five battle royale contests are about to commence!
Each contest will take place in a special-purpose arena that’s identical to Starting Town, with each contestant beginning in a random location.
All contestants will receive 20 Event Recovery Potions from event management. These powerful potions will fully restore either your HP or MP. No other healing items can be used during the contest.
You are free to participate in as many contests as you wish. Alternatively, you may choose to spectate.
A live video feed will be displayed in the sky above Starting Town, where minigames will be provided and players may bet on how long individual contestants will survive using in-game currency. I hope everyone will find a way to enjoy the event.
There will, of course, be rewards for those who perform well! Players who are part of the final ten percent of contestants left alive will receive a rare item. Players who are part of the final one hundred contestants left alive will receive an ultrarare item. Players who are part of the final ten contestants left alive receive an item of even greater rarity. And for the final player left alive when all others have fallen, I, Odin, will present you with a special reward.
There are also additional rewards that can be earned by defeating higher numbers of players. Please use your most devastating attacks without holding back!
* Since footage of the battle royale will be broadcast on our website to promote the game, we’d really prefer it if players refrained from camping in a corner until the end of the contest. - Event Management
“Okay, I see, I see. In other words, I’m good to raise hell.”
The little request at the end made it sound like the devs were new to this sort of thing, but the rest of the rules made perfect sense.
I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t compete in all five contests. I’m gonna win every single one!
My brother-in-arms was still by my side. I poked his shoulder. “Hey, Baldy, I probably don’t have to ask, but are you gonna join the first contest?”
“You bet. Any contest you’re joining, I’m joining.”
“Well, that means all of them. Me and you are gonna spend the whole day fighting.” It was nice to know Baldy was just as fired up.
We both grinned as we each hit the “YES” button where our screens said “Do you wish to participate in the first battle royale event?” and then we were each bathed in a pale blue light.
As countless people around us also registered for the event, Odin spoke in a booming voice. “Now begins a lawless battle royale! Contestants, show me the full extent of your might!” It was the last thing I heard before I was spirited away by the brightening light.
✦ ✦ ✦
⬧⬨⬧
When I opened my eyes, I found I’d been transported to a back alley somewhere in Starting Town—or more precisely, into a special arena made to look exactly like Starting Town. I couldn’t hear any of the usual NPC hawkers in this version of the town, and the sky above it was crimson red.
While I was looking around and trying to get my bearings, I heard a voice from somewhere overhead. “Here we go! It’s the PvP event you’ve all been waiting for! From here on out, you can count on me, Navi the guide fairy, to provide the commentary! Hello to all players! We haven’t seen each other since character creation!”
“Oh, it’s Navi. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.” I thought back to when the little fairy had helped me out at the start of the game. Now that they had her doing commentary, it was like she was trying to be the game’s mascot character.
“I’ve got a little extra info for all you contestants currently in the arena! Hopefully, you can all see the number 30,036 at the edge of your vision! That’s how many players are left alive! As time passes, the arena boundary is going to shrink! You can’t leave the boundary, so all contestants need to keep moving toward the center of the town throughout the battle. Make sure to check your position on the map, otherwise you’ll find yourself saying, ‘Oh man! The boundary’s right on me and I’ve got nowhere to run!’”
I took Navi’s advice and checked my map. I was in the center of town near the edge of a familiar fountain. They’ve put me right in the middle?! I’m gonna have players coming at me from all sides!
“That’s all the info I can give you for now! Battle royale contestants, try to conserve your recovery potions, and good luck!” Navi then shifted her focus to building some excitement among the gambling spectators. “Now to everyone watching, I see a lot of you made bets on the ultimate winner already! Looks like Zansword’s the current favorite!”
Navi sure hasn’t lost any of her energy.
“It’s time I got moving.” I figured I’d walk straight out onto the plaza since camping in a back alley the whole time wasn’t my idea of fun...but I only managed a few steps before a hooded player in a mage outfit appeared between me and the exit. They spotted me and gave me a contemptuous grin. “Oh, nice! I was just gonna hide in here, but it looks like you’re nearly dead! I don’t know who you ran from, but I’m glad I found you first!”
“Nearly dead?” I replied. “You can see my HP?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a rare skill called Lifeforce Perception that gives me a rough idea. Your HP bar’s empty save for a tiny dot. Time to take you out before you get a chance to heal!” The mage aimed their staff at me and launched a firebomb. Trapped between the walls of the narrow alley, I had no way to dodge to the left or right.
“Gah ha ha!” the mage laughed. “Die!” He was confident he’d already won.
I quickly wiped the smile off his face. “Hup.” With a backhanded fist, I swatted away the incoming firebomb, erasing it completely. The God-Killing Fist skill had made my hand invincible on impact.
The mage was stunned—he’d never seen anything like it. “H-H-How you’d do that?!”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? Let’s go, Mor!”
“Hrrr!”
Next I relied on my familiar’s skill, Flash, to close in on the confused mage at the speed of sound and channel my speed into an uppercut!
“Ghhfuuuggh?!” the mage cried as he rose into the air.
Before he could hit the ground, I materialized my bow and hit him with a hazy arrow. The shot pierced his heart, and a bunch of my damage-boosting skills triggered thanks to my focus on the luck stat.