The Gamer's POV

"That’s a surprise." Leon spoke with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the pavilion. "The Monarchs never show up for this sort of thing. But your father’s suddenly decided to grace us with his presence." He turned to Cedric, his brow furrowed. "Could he be here because of you?"

Cedric didn’t even glance at him. "I don’t know. And frankly, I do not care."

By now, he had regained his composure and calm demeanor.

But contrary to his words, he did care a bit.

Although he knew that a monarch could technically show up to this occasion, he had not expected that his father would actually be the one to do so.

But you see, his challenge earlier was not a reckless outburst. It was entirely calculated.

Cedric was tired of constantly worrying about when his father would take action against him, or if the man would still try to kill him again. So he decided to do something about it.

He decided to issue a direct challenge to this overwhelmingly proud man, promising that he would eventually become powerful enough to come confront the man himself.

This way, the Monarch’s own morbid curiosity would be piqued. And he would leave Cedric be, simply to watch what he would become and see if he could actually live up to his arrogant promise.

Well, since that was done, Cedric exhaled deeply and returned his attention to the master of ceremonies, who was now laying down the rules for this year’s games.

"As most of you already know, the Games are different every year." The announcer’s voice boomed across the stadium. "This year’s format is quite simple."

He paused to create some kind of suspense before finally letting out a loud shout.

"For this year, the theme is Treasure Hunting!"

Suddenly, murmurs erupted in the crowd, with people repeating "treasure hunting?" curiously, and wondering what kind of twist they would see this time around.

The master of ceremonies simply chuckled at their reaction, clearly enjoying the widespread confusion.

"Yes, Treasure Hunting!"

He raised his hands, revealing what looked like a golden chalice. The image of the chalice was projected on the screen so everyone could see it clearly.

The man waved it and then continued, "Scattered in various locations in Isola Bella are ten different relics just like this Golden Grail. The rules are simple. You cadets will be teleported to different locations in Isola Bella. The objective is to find these relics." He smiled, and his voice grew mischievous. "It does not matter how you obtain them. At the end of twenty-four hours, the bastion with the highest number of relics wins!"

Murmurs rose again, and the announcer followed up quickly. "Simple, right? All you need to do is find the relics while avoiding death by the creatures up there."

Well...

Despite the announcer’s cheerful delivery, it was anything but simple.

The secret behind the trial lay in the words: "It does not matter how you obtain them." Which meant, they could kill each other to obtain the relics. That right there was a hidden green light for wholesale slaughter during the execution.

Cedric exhaled and raised a small whisperglobe that he had been given before coming here.

Everyone here was given this magi-tech device. It served as a map and highlighted where the creatures were so that one could avoid those places. The clues for where the relics would be would probably also be in this small glass orb.

While he was still looking at the device, the master of ceremonies yelled out once more, "This concludes the briefing. And oh, don’t worry. There will be clues provided so that finding the relics won’t be entirely impossible!"

He paused, and at this moment, the entire arena floor where the cadets stood began to light up with dense array circles. "Now, I wish you all good luck!"

The lights grew brighter, and the noise in the arena grew distant until suddenly, the world twisted and Cedric found himself somewhere else.

***

"Urgh... God, it stinks!" Cedric muttered with a deep frown as he appeared in the ruins of Isola Bella.

As he quickly looked around him to gain his bearings, he could see crumbling stone structures overgrown with twisted, blackened vines. The air itself was thick with a heavy, damp fog that smelled strongly of stagnant water and decaying vegetation, typical of a place left to rot for centuries.

Once he had gathered himself, rather than use the whisper-globe he was given, he muttered in a low voice.

"Gamer Privileges... pull up the map."

In response, a massive holographic map appeared in front of him. On the interface, he could see the location of the other cadets, who had all appeared scattered in different sectors across the island.

He could also see that in certain places north and south of him, dozens of vicious monsters were densely clustered together, forming massive nesting colonies.

Cedric smiled and his heart began to thrum in anticipation.

Those were probably the places the cadets were meant to avoid. And of course, many of the cadets would indeed try to avoid those high-risk zones as much as possible.

It wasn’t smart to waste mana fighting large groups of monsters here when there was the possibility that a fight between dominants might be inevitable.

Unless there was no other way out, purposely engaging the beasts was a useless expenditure of energy.

However, Cedric’s objective here wasn’t this damn game. He was here to farm exp and, luckily for him, he had an Essence core and a summon who could rejuvenate him.

So he planned to use his mana core while hunting, and reserve his essence core for the game.

While he was still studying his map, Aika appeared beside him in her long kimono, conical hat, and menpo mask. She was hugging her katana, and her eyes kept darting around the ruins.

After a few seconds, Cedric turned to her and proposed a strategy. "I think it’s best if we split up. You go with Redd and I’ll go with Athena."

Aika stared at him briefly before nodding. "Alright. I’ll see you later then."

She turned to leave, but Cedric reached out and held her hand, then added with a hint of worry in his tone, "Be careful... and uh... come back to me if anything goes wrong."

Aika smiled behind her mask. "Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself, you know."

Cedric smiled, feeling slightly relieved. He let go of her hand, and her usual stoic expression returned as she turned away.

Then, as she began walking, she called out, "Come, Redd."

Suddenly, a portal opened up beside her and the Oni walked out holding two bone blades in his hands. His body was deep crimson, and a matching red Oni mask was firmly fixed on his face.

After stepping out of the disappearing portal, he looked around, and when his gaze settled on Cedric, he stared for a few seconds before giving a curt bow. Then, he turned and followed Aika, who had already walked a fair distance.

Meanwhile, Cedric turned, and as he began heading north, he called out authoritatively.

"Come, Athena."

Another portal appeared and the high elf walked out, looking strikingly regal in her body-fitting armor that transitioned into elegant sashes at her waist. Her right hand rested naturally on the hilt of her sword, and a sturdy shield was strapped securely to her left arm.

"What’s the occasion, my lord?" she said after a bow.

Cedric turned to look back at the looming ruins.

"Monster hunting..."

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