"Forget Hades and Lucifer for now. They aren't going to come. So listen to what I have to say. I'll tell you the rules so that you guys can leave and mentally prepare yourself," Director Ion chimed in, getting the players out of their own separate conversation.
His voice attracted the attention of people towards him as everyone started focusing.
"That's better. So, as you may know, you all have different levels, but that won't matter. In the battles, your levels won't give you an advantage or disadvantage."
"Because you'll be given separate tasks of your own, depending on your level. And the one who finishes his tasks the fastest will be the winner of the Tournament and will take home the Billion Dollar Prize."
As for the individual trials, they will be broadcasted live before the world. Moreover, nothing is banned in the tournament. You can use anything to your advantage. Since you know the trials of your opponents, you can even try to obstruct them or kill them if you can," Ion explained.
"Will the player who died be disqualified?" Naomi asked, curious.
"That's right. If you die, you're out. It doesn't matter if you're killed by an NPC, a monster, or the other players. So be careful," Ion replied.
"So there are two ways to win in that case. Finish your trial fastest or leave your goal and try to kill all other players. The latter sounds like a better option for the stronger players but finding the other players in itself would be a tough task. I doubt our tasks will be near each other," Vein chimed in, finding it fascinating.
"That's right. Personally, I'll say the chance of winning by killing other players is really small. So I would suggest that you all focus on your trials instead," Ion agreed.
"So I'll tell you about your trials now. Come with me," he said as he started walking towards the door, which was on the other side of the room.
The ten players started following after Ion, but he suddenly stopped as he glanced back.
"You are Alice's guardian, right?" He asked, observing Ryder.
"Yes, I am," Ryder answered.
"I don't know why but I find you a bit familiar. Have we met before?" Ion asked as he squinted his eyes.
"I don't think so. I would have remembered if we did," Ryder answered, shaking his head.
He was sure he hadn't met Ion before. Only Shu had met this guy.
"I suppose you're right," Ion nodded before he left the hall. Ryder and the others also went after him.
They were taken deeper inside the facility inside what seemed like a movie theatre. There was a giant screen in the front while many chairs were placed before the screen.
"Select a seat and enjoy the show," Ion told the players before he also sat on the seat at the front.
Each of the players took a seat they preferred.
Soon, everyone was sitting.
"Alright, Maya, show the first Trial," Ion commanded after everyone was settled.
After his words, a hologram appeared in the room, seeming like a young girl.
'Maya? So she's not just the System of the game, but they use her algorithm here as well. Pretty interesting,' Ryder thought as he recognized Maya.
The hologram of Maya looked towards the massive screen and gently flicked her fingers, making the screen turn on.
"The trial for Rank Three Player, Death of Emperor Luke," Maya declared as a map showed on the massive screen which was pointing at one of the Empires in the Game.
"Player Number three needs to assassinate the Emperor of Lukedonia without dying."
The screen also showed the stats of the Emperor, which was pretty shocking.
Even Ryder was amazed. He remembered that guy. He was a powerful NPC. He was level Two Hundred and Thirty in the original timeline, and it seemed like he was the same in this timeline too.
Moreover, Ryder also remembered getting some quests from this guy. Overall he liked that guy.
'Strange. Why do these people want to kill Luke? If I were naive, I wouldn't have cared. I would have just thought that he's an NPC, so it didn't matter. But now I know that world is real."
"So is Emperor Luke. Why does Necrosis want him assassinated? What would they achieve? Is this really as innocent as it seems?' Ryder thought as he stared at Emperor Luke on the screen.
Not only Ryder but others were also frowning at this revelation. They needed to kill such a powerful guy? This really was tough. It looked like it wasn't going to be easy to get those Billion Dollars.
"I'm sure you understand your Trial now? It's as simple as it can get. I don't think we need to explain more about this. Still, if you have any confusion, you may ask," Ion asked the person who had received this task.
As he received no response, he understood that it was fine.
"Alright, next," Ion said.
" Trial for Number Four," Maya again took the lead. "Clear the Dungeon of Yamina."
The visuals on the screen again changed as it showed the map of the dungeon and the level of monsters inside.
It didn't seem like this trial was any easier than the previous trials. In fact, it only seemed tougher.
"The minimum level to enter the Dungeon is Level 200! How can I even think about clearing it? It's impossible!" Vien exclaimed as he stood up. This Trial was crazy.
He even wondered if they were intentionally giving them Trails that were impossible so that none of them could win? It seemed to be highly possible.
"Are you intentionally making it impossible?" He couldn't help but ask. "If all the trials are like this, then none of us would win."
"Don't worry. We have a measure against that too. If none of you win, the Billion Dollar Prize will be equally distributed amongst you all. It's so that you don't think we made the Trials impossible to save our money," Ion replied, smirking.
"There's no benefit to us by making it so that none of you win. The trials are hard, but they are how they are, and they won't be changed," he further added.
"Maya, move on to next," he commanded Maya.
"Rank Five Beming. Your Trial is to infiltrate the Demon Realm and kill the maid known as Miyali," Maya declared.
'What the f*ck!'
Hearing the next mission, Ryder had almost stood up in shock, but he controlled himself. He couldn't expose his identity.
Still, he was even more confused. 'They want to kill Miyali? Why? They knew she was close to Hades. Could it be that they want to use this mission to achieve some scheme related to me?'
'With each passing second, it seems to be getting too confusing. I wonder if I should just use force and ask Ion about everything," he wondered.
"Don't even think about this," Ryder had only thought when he heard the voice of Janus.
'Why?' Ryder asked Janus.
"Don't do anything before you absorb Aluren's strength tomorrow," Janus said. His tone sounded especially strict this time.
'Fine. I'll wait one more day then,' Ryder replied.
While Ryder talked to Janus, Maya explained to the other players about the Demon Realm.
She told them that it was a special realm which was a part of Divinity, hidden from the main world.
"Next Trial, Number Six. Your task is to create a war between the Empire of Estrus and the Empire of Tiano. You can choose any method or try anything. As long as there's an official war, your trial will be successful," Maya said, moving over to the next player.
As she told this mission, the players that had received the mission before her seemed upset.
"She is lucky. She got such an easy trial. All she needs is to create one big enough misunderstanding, and she wins. This is annoying," Vien muttered under his breath as he heard this mission.
Unfortunately, his complaints didn't achieve anything as Ion had already declared that these missions were final. In any case, it was their money and their tournament. He couldn't tell them how to give trials, no matter how unfair they were to some players.
"Number Seven, Your..."
The briefing continued as Maya kept telling everyone their mission before it was finally the turn of Alice.
"Next, wildcard entry Alice," Maya said as she glanced at Alice.
"Your task is to go to the Special Realm of Undead Region and kill the niece of Vampire King," Maya said.
'What the heck? Do you even know how strong the Vampire King is? He is literally as strong as the High Duke! To ask Alice to kill anyone close to him, are they crazy?' Ryder thought as he clenched his fist.
He wanted to curse them out loud for giving such an impossible mission, but he again controlled himself.
If he told his mind, he was sure that they would ask how he knew about the strength of the Vampire King.
