Kill The Old Ones!

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This was terrible news, and everybody’s faces turned grim when they heard it.

Three teams were in this forest; two were already clashing with each other, and they were nearby. The likelihood of every team crossing paths was very high.

"How can they be fighting already? The invincible state hasn’t gone out yet!" Charles exclaimed.

"R-City reps didn’t care," Eric grunted. "They saw prey, so they started hunting."

"They were maniacs. They’re treating this as a game. They allowed the other team to create some distance before hunting them down. They even competed on who was going to take down more. They plan on eliminating that team immediately," Julius added.

"Where are they now?" Adrian asked.

"Away," Eric stated. "The team they’re hunting was practically running in the opposite direction to us, and the R-City repts followed them like a pack of hyenas. I think we should create as much distance as we can. It is still too early for us to clash with them."

"Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too," Adrian admitted. "We’ll cross paths with them eventually, but not now. Let’s move out of here; we distance ourselves from their fight."

Nobody argued with Adrian’s decision. Not just because he’s the de facto leader of this team, but also because it made sense.

Clashing with the reigning champions was a bad idea right now. Sure, the current representatives of R-City weren’t the same ones that won the previous tournament about a decade ago, but still, the foundations of Royal City were more than enough to raise formidable competitors.

With that decision, the C-City team moved in the opposite direction of where the R-City team was hunting.

Eric and Julie received sound transmission talismans too now that they rejoined the team.

Then, the first 15 minutes of Day 1 passed, meaning that the invincible state of the teams was gone. The hunt was on, and the competition will only get fiercer from here.

Adrian was leading his team to kill monsters to gain as many merit points as they could before they made their way out of this forest.

In the opposite direction of their team, however, a more fascinating scene was unfolding.

The R-City team gave their targets some time to create distance before hunting them down. The R-City team doesn’t know that their targets were from L-City, also known as the Lifestyle City, where the Lifestyle Guild was in full control.

Their targets, although weaker than they are in terms of overall strength and prowess, were experts in all sorts of craft and survival means.

They’re not beating the R-City representatives in a head-on fight; everybody in that team knows that, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t escape from them, especially when the fools gave them a head start.

When it was time for the R-City team to hunt, they were confused because it’s as if they never had the encounter in the first place.

They were expecting trails, clues, hints, and leads to where the other team had run off to, but there were none. It’s like they were never there, that what they saw earlier was nothing more than illusions or visions that this weird forest created for them.

But of course, they’re not going to give up just like that. They knew what they saw, and they don’t believe that the other team could’ve gone that far or simply vanished like that.

So, they began searching everywhere.

Eventually, they found a lead, which energized them. Just like that, the hunt was on again.

They followed the lead, which led them further and further. Eventually, the road forked, telling them that their prey went separate ways; the R-City also decided to split into two teams to hunt the other team down. They were more determined now that the invincible phase was over.

Eventually, the groups found the targets.

No words were spoken; the clash was immediate and violent. The clashing of steel and chakra eruptions ended the relative silence of this forest. To the surprise of the R-City Team, however, their prey was putting up more fight than they expected.

The fight intensified even more because of that. Now that they’re in this deep, the R-City Team simply can’t let go of their targets; they must be eliminated.

And eventually, the first group of the R-City team finished off their targets, which made them feel relieved...but not for long, because what happened next horrified them to their core.

Their targets’ faces suddenly changed just before they turned into specks of light, indicating that they were eliminated.

The faces they saw were of their own team, dead from their own hands.

Their elimination confirmed this too, because they received a notice from the system that five of their members have been eliminated.

One can only imagine the horror, the pain, and the confusion they now feel.

The audience who watched this all unfold felt pity for them. But beneath that pity was also mockery. Some people even declared out loud that they deserved this.

As it turns out, the trail they followed from the start was never real. It was fake, created by a clone who deliberately left it for them to follow.

The L-City Team didn’t run. They made the other team believe that they did, but they didn’t.

They hid just above the trees; their presence was suppressed, and their bodies blended in with nature. They watched the R-City team run beneath them, hunting for their trail, which they never actually left.

One of them created clones, which left the trail for the other team to follow. And they also set up an elaborate trap for these arrogant pricks to enjoy.

The trap sprung when the R-City team encountered the forked trail, and they didn’t even know it.

The moment they split up into two groups and followed the trail, they already failed.

Once they followed the split trail, an illusion draped over them without them realizing, changing their appearance, their voice, and their chakra signatures into completely different people.

The split trail eventually ends up as one, and with the illusion veiled over them, the results were clear.

Both teams fought each other thinking that they were their targets. They never even stopped to think. They didn’t bother confirming if their targets wore the same faces as the ones they’ve seen before. Had they done that, they would’ve immediately noticed something weird, but alas...

Their arrogance got the better of them. They thought themselves infallible since they were the reigning champions. Their hubris is what caused them to strike against their own, cutting off their team in half with their own hands.

Meanwhile, the L-City team was gone. Once the R-City team ran past their true location, they only waited for a minute before dropping down and running to the opposite side of where they led them.

As the R-City team basically demolished themselves, the L-City team hunted monsters to begin accumulating merit points to enter the leaderboard. Their main concern, though, was to leave this forest as soon as they can because if they were seen by the R-City team again, they wouldn’t be as merciful or as playful as before.

What a pity, though.

Because even though they eliminated half of the R-City team, they earned no merit points to show for their efforts. The R-City had none to begin with.

The path of L-City and the C-City wouldn’t cross since they’re going in different directions. They’re getting further and further away from each other.

Meanwhile, the R-City team was feeling downright enraged and murderous.

After a brief investigation, finally using their brains to think, they realized that they’ve been had and, more importantly, how.

Half of their team is gone, just like that. The worst part is that they were the ones who did it too.

The rules didn’t say that you couldn’t strike against your own teammates. A simple illusion basically cut their chances of retaining their title by half.

It was a great shame for them, especially since they hail from noble houses. It’s even worse when they realized that their folks, well...pretty much everybody at this point, saw their blunder.

Their folks punishing them was one thing that they were already dreading, but that’s not all. The Royal City is where the monarchs reside. It has no city lord because it’s governed directly by the king.

Seeing their ridiculous and laughable performance and this huge blunder will certainly provoke the ire of the king.

This wasn’t just a matter of their allowance or their freedom being restricted; their noble house title might very well be in danger because of it.

What a shame. What a great shame, indeed. And God forbid they perform so badly that they drop to the bottom half rankings. Or worse, the bottom rank. If that happens, it would truly be over for them.

Alas, this world doesn’t revolve around their feelings. Because while they stood here feeling ashamed of their blunder, the other teams were moving and accumulating merit points, leaving them behind.

And shortly later, the main event for day 1 was finally announced.

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