After the scuffle at the gates, the elves didn’t ss with Adrian. They knew only a few had the privilege of calling the admins at any ti and they didn’t want to ss with soone with such a privilege.
As such, Adrian didn’t have any trouble finding accommodations. Once he had settled in, he left to gather information about the next trial.
Surprisingly, the elves were unusually forthcoming with the details. Unlike the earlier levels where the player had to prove their own strength, this ti the test required teamwork.
The test was a siege.
The goal was simple. The players on the floor will be divided into two groups. Each group would be given a base. The first group to conquer the other’s base would win.
Sounds simple, right? Well, it wasn’t.
Instead of dividing the people into equal mbers, the tower judged every player’s achievents and made the groups on that basis.
It often happened that the teams were divided unevenly, and usually, the team with the most mbers would win. There was only one exception to this.
It was when Sun Wukong had to face an entire pantheon of gods by himself... and he erged victorious. That was the ti when he earned the title of Heaven’s Equal.
Having gone against one of Wukong’s clones, Adrian knew pretty well what they were capable of. Even then, defeating an entire pantheon by himself was a bit too much.
Besides, such distributions had been the reason so strong players were stuck to the third floor, as the numbers were always against us. Han Dauser was one such man.
Once hailed as the best A-ranked hero in Germany, he was one of the first to enter the tower. However, because of the screwed-up chanics, he was stuck on the third floor for years while his juniors cruised through the stage.
Even then, Han, known as Leopard after the German tank, never gave up and has kept trying for years to climb to the next floor.
’This ti... I can feel it. This ti I will qualify!’
Hundreds of players had assembled at the square, waiting for the tower to announce the next batch of teams. So were praying for better teams, while so were cluelessly staring on.
A bright flash lit up the screen, and the list of teams appeared. Cheers erupted from the crowd as most students celebrated their sure victory. Unfortunately, Han wasn’t one of them.
"Two against 287 people? How is that fair?" he muttered, staring at the list in disbelief.
A guy nad Arnold Ling and Han were on the sa team, while the rest of the players ford the other. Those who knew Han felt a twinge of sadness for him. He had spent years hoping for a miracle, and now that one had finally co, he felt left out from enjoying its rewards.
"So long, Dauser," a fellow player comnted. "It seems you’ll be spending a few more nights with the Elven beauties."
"Don’t forget to tip Tiana for ," another chid in. "She took good care of this past year."
"Piss off, you bugger!" Han pushed them off himself and walked to the other team’s side.
There he noticed a strange man in a hoodie waiting for the round to start. Dauser took one look at him and the man didn’t feel special to him.
’Tower screwed over, again!’
Han cursed to himself, already accepting his loss. But at least he wasn’t the only one who failed, and that gave him so comfort. Still, nothing made him feel better than visiting the brothel after losing the trial.
The girls there always welcod him like he was a hero. They had a way of making anyone feel better, and over the years, Han had beco a familiar face who was treated even more special than everyone else.
Without them, he was pretty sure he would have lost his mind and done sothing that could have got him killed. Now, he would have to end the ssy fight and return to their soft, feather-like bodies.
"You’re drooling," Adrian mumbled, snapping Han out of his dreams.
"Whatever," Han retorted, wiping his mouth. "It ain’t like we are winning this-"
"Why do you say so?"
Han found Adrian’s question laughable. Was the damn bastard blind? The odds were stacked against them. How the hell would they win the round?
"You’ll know when the test begins," Han replied, sitting on the floor, waiting for the tir to hit zero.
Adrian smiled but didn’t reply. He could read Han like the back of his hand. The German tank didn’t know, but he had grown accustod to defeat and the sweet reward waiting for him afterwards.
Even though Han pretended to fight hard in every round, he never actually gave it his best effort. Sure, the tower had a way of making things difficult, but Adrian knew sothing important about the tower that Han didn’t. It was a secret the entrance floor administrator had shared with him.
’The tower would never present the players with a challenge they couldn’t overco.’
If they were placed like that, then there must be a catch. It didn’t take long for Adrian to figure out what it was when they were told the rules for the next round.
There, in bright letters, was the phrase he had been searching for. Players could kill each other because none of them would permanently die. Instead, they would all respawn after the completion of the test.
As the clock hit zero, all of them were teleported outside the city, deep into the forest. While one base was overcrowded, the other was left barren, housing only two people.
Han didn’t bother standing or doing anything. Not until Adrian threw a mask at him.
"What’s this?" he asked. "A gas mask? Why did you buy it?"
"You’re asking too many questions for soone who seed uninterested in winning," Adrian shot back before adjusting his hoodie to reveal his altered face. "Put it on, you’ll need it. If you want to get to the next floor, that is."
Reviews
All reviews (0)