There are more than fifteen hundred contestants in the Twin City Cup! While we thank you for your passionate participation, we could not show you the most exciting scene of the tournament with so many contestants! That is why the qualifiers will now begin, and eighty percent of the contestants will be eliminated! Only the best of the best would have a chance to enter the second round! "
Mayor Corinth only announced the objective of the first round after the citizens calmed down a little.
Surprised, the spectators whispered to each other in surprise, and the scene became noisy at once. On the other hand, the contestants did not react much.
While it sounded serious to dissuade eighty percent of the contestants in the first round, it would only eliminate around three hundred contestants from fifteen hundred, which was not out of the contestants' expectations.
In fact, apart from the smaller churches who came to watch the show, the larger churches and the Players were all aiming for victory. They could not wait to eliminate all their useless opponents in one go, so that they could save their stamina and strength for the later rounds.
The only thing that surprised them was that they had assumed that the Twin City Cup would be held by drawing lots or some sort of under-the-table manipulation, with the contestants fighting each other in pairs until the victor was decided.
But now, it seems that was not the case.
The noise soon died down, and only then did Corinth continue to explain the specific rules of the tournament.
"The first round will be held on the maze island, and you will be randomly distributed to different parts of the maze. Do you see the tokens on your bracelets? One token was counted as one point, and one bracelet could only be embedded with a maximum of five tokens! Collect five points and find the exit of the maze to clear the first round! While injuring or stealing tokens is not prohibited, intentional murder is prohibited. We will randomly select contestants and broadcast them live in this square with magic mirrors, and disqualify you if you break the rules and pursue legal responsibility, so don't even think about trying to fish in troubled waters! "
"The first round of the Twin City Cup will last for three days, and anyone who is still in the maze after three days or fails to collect five tokens would be disqualified! Is there anything else you don't understand? "
Corinth explained loudly to the crowd in the square below.
Several contestants raised their hands, intending to ask some questions.
Corinth pretended not to see it.
Don't be ridiculous. Corinth wouldn't simply change it even if there was something wrong with it, since the Lord God of the Church of Games had personally set the rules.
"Since there are no problems, let's get ready. On the countdown of three … two … one!"
"Begin!"
As Corinth announced the start of the competition, the bracelets on all the contestants' wrists shone brightly.
Though the people of other churches and the citizens of Lancaster were unaware, the Lifestone in the Underground Hideout of Lancaster was also shining with a blinding light, as if resonating with the bracelets on the contestants' hands.
In the next moment, all the contestants disappeared in the light.
The onlookers were in an uproar because they couldn't understand what was happening.
After making sure that the contestants had left, Corinth returned to the castellan's mansion and nodded at the mages who had been waiting in the mansion.
Hence, the mages he had hired began to use the magic mirrors they had prepared over the past few days, projecting the sights they saw with their Mage Eyes onto the square.
Though the arena was called Maze Island, it was essentially the Living Dead Cellar, a fragment of Rotten Bones' Divine Kingdom that Xi Wei had reorganized and remodeled.
The Living Dead Cellar dungeon had been temporarily disabled by Xi Wei two days ago in the name of maintenance.
After all, Xi Wei didn't have the ability to simply take out an island for a thousand people to explore … the truth was that teleporting a large group of people to the Living Dead Cellar had left Xi Wei half dead, and it wasn't because he had used up much divine energy, but simply because he didn't put in enough effort.
To make an analogy, it was like a person moving over a thousand bottles of mineral water. Though each bottle was light, it was quite heavy when they were combined. Although he didn't lose any money (divine energy) after moving them all, he was very tired.
Of course, if Xi Wei wanted to, he could create a path for himself. Using the analogy above, it would be like buying a small trolley. It would save him a lot of effort, but it would cost him a lot of money (divine energy). Considering that he wouldn't have the chance to use it on such a large scale in the future, Xi Wei decided against it.
Be that as it may, the mountainous piles of monster corpses in Xi Wei's Divine Kingdom were cleared. Most of them were used to build various mechanisms on the maze island, as well as the special bracelets worn by the contestants.
It was worth mentioning that Maze Island itself didn't have an exit. The so-called exit was a structure similar to a Lifestone that would teleport anyone who found it back to the square in front of the Lancaster castellan's mansion. Of course, that person would be disqualified if they didn't collect enough tokens …
From a certain point of view, finding the exit was the first test in the entire process of conquering Maze Island.
It had been a long time since Xi Wei did something like a dungeon, which was why he had excitedly made the venue for the tournament for a long time.
That was why the contestants and the Players were shocked by the sight and atmosphere when they were teleported to Maze Island.
The sky was pitch-black, and not even the stars could be seen. The walls of the maze separated the entire divine kingdom from the rest of the divine kingdom by black bricks covered in crimson cracks. There was even lava flowing through the cracks, and the dim crimson light was the only source of light in the entire maze. But the strange thing was that the temperature of the bricks was not high, and they were no different from ordinary stones to the touch, so they could not be used as a source of warmth.
In addition, the bricks were not indestructible. It was possible to destroy this kind of wall with enough strength, but when attacking the wall, it would be counterattacked by a force. When the brick was broken, it would explode with great power. Moreover, it was only effective on the participant and would not affect the surrounding bricks …
Corpses and skeletons of various creatures could also be seen on the ground around them, making the atmosphere of the entire scene incredibly oppressive.
There were also treasure chests that stored food, water, and other convenient items in the maze, although they were few in number.
Unless he could quickly gather enough tokens and leave the maze island in a short period of time, it would be crucial if he could replenish himself and conserve his stamina and energy in this space. It could be considered the second test of conquering the maze island.
If an Earthling directly transmigrated to this space, they would probably believe that they had transmigrated to a world like Dark Souls or Diablo II …
Therefore, to fit in with the atmosphere, Xi Wei specially went to the monster nests that the Players found in the wilderness of the Prime Material Plane, uprooting them and throwing them into Maze Island.
After surviving two days of fear, the monsters that Xi Wei had chosen, which were around Level 10, began to explore their new home. It was obvious that they would run into the contestants who were also searching for an exit, and that was the third trial of the maze island.
Along with the classic traps that Xi Wei had set up in adventure movies, as well as the competition between the contestants for their numbers and survival supplies, the seemingly simple Maze Island dungeon actually contained five tests!
Satisfied and even a little proud, Xi Wei nestled himself in his now clean and tidy divine kingdom, preparing snacks and soda for himself, intending to admire the performance of the Players and other contestants in the maze he was tinkering with.
Still, Xi Wei had a weird feeling for some reason when the contestants appeared in the maze and began to carefully explore it.
He only realized it after thinking for a long time.
"Isn't this a reality show from Earth?!"
Of course, it wasn't a reality show.
After all, most reality shows wouldn't kill anyone, apart from sudden death.
And this place called Maze Island was a truly dangerous place.
"What bullsh * t for peace? I'll believe you like a fool …"
A young disciple of Grimund, the God of Art and Travel muttered under his breath as he poked a two-headed gray jackal to death, panting and sweating as he sat limply on the ground.
Being the God of Travel, Grimund didn't have a fixed church, although most relay stations would have statues of his deity so that travelers could pray for a smooth journey.
While Grimund's believers weren't particularly strong in combat, almost every one of them was an expert in wilderness survival. Even so, his companions who came with him had all died in various accidents.
He rose to his feet and looked at the corpse of his companion, whose head had been bitten off by the two-headed gray jackal. He should have been the one to die in the beast's jaws, but his companion had pushed him away at the last moment and saved the youth.
That person was a boorish middle-aged man who was straightforward and bold in everything he did. It was only in the moment before the beast's kiss that the iron-blooded man finally showed a gentle expression he never showed before, and answered the youth's pained question. 'Why did you save me?'
"Because I love you!"
After a moment of silence, he pushed the memory to the bottom of his heart and bowed slightly at the man's corpse in farewell.
"Go in peace. Your efforts won't go to waste, and I won't stop." He said solemnly. "I will leave this place alive, and expose the Lancaster mayor's hypocrisy to everyone!"
With those words, he turned and left with a solemn expression, his windbreaker flapping loudly despite the absence of wind. Together with his weather-beaten and determined face, he had the air of a tough man!
That was when he stepped on a floor tile with a trap mechanism, and was riddled with arrows from both sides.
The God of Travel believer who was shot to death stood dumbfounded in the square in front of the mayor's residence, staring at his companions who had died in battle.
"Y-you're all alright?" He asked in surprise.
"It's not exactly fine. Those who died in the arena seem to be missing something in their bodies." The iron-blooded man who had his head bitten off by a monster on the maze island showed his ear, and sure enough, it was missing a small piece.
On the other hand, the youth who had just come back to life was pale-faced, clutching his buttocks and silently pulling away from him.
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Chapter 287:
Maze Island
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