"Liam, shouldn't this be over soon?" Mia asked. On the contest floor, all the Crimson Abyss guild members were sitting side by side.
Out of the 80 guild participants now only 20 remained, but the rest of the crowd had also thinned down. Now only about 500 or so players were still present on the floor.
Looking at these players, Liam absent-mindedly answered. "It should soon be done. 200ish matches.. Each lasting barely a minute or so. It should be done soon. 5 hours… 6 hours… Hmmm…"
Mia nodded. She also thought the same, but she was more curious about what Liam was doing. He was eyeing the crowd as if he was searching for something.
"Is something wrong?" She couldn't figure it out and asked him again.
"Huh? What?" Liam smiled. "No, I am just doing some last minute window shopping. I am trying to see if anyone among this crowd is worth inviting into our group."
"Oh?"
"Mmm. You should be doing the same. Everyone who is a decent player in the entire Gresh Kingdom should be here. Let's assess our friends and enemies.
Mia again nodded. Alex who was sitting beside them and listening to their conversation also nodded, the two of them hurriedly beginning to do the same as Liam.
They watched all the players like hawks no matter how talented they were. Mia also began to make a detailed spreadsheet, coordinating with other guild officials.
The others, however, were more worried about their matches. The three at the top didn't have any issues, but everyone else was struggling.
Other than these three, the only ones having a smooth time were Shen Yue, Derek and Mei Mei.
"Bro, I am done. I won this one too." Mei Mei grinned and sat on the other spot beside Liam.
The emerald crown was shining brightly atop her head. No mask could hide this item. It was like a big shiny diamond jewel dazzling even in a sea of players and other shiny equipment.
And because of this, just like how Liam and the others were searching for other players, many players also had their eye on Mei Mei.
Luckily, as the crowd thinned down, these eyes were also reducing.
The group silently continued watching the matches and waiting, and soon the next couple of hours also passed by. Five more from their group were eliminated.
"Liam, did you notice something weird?" Alex suddenly mumbled. Right now Mia was fighting on the arena, so she was sitting beside Liam.
"What?"
"Every single one of us has been called to the arena at least three or four times but you alone… didn't you fight just that one match?"
"Hmmm…" Liam had also obviously noticed this.
"I am just saying you might be called soon. There aren't that many players around. Your match up is going to be very strong." Alex thought out aloud.
She thought the guy might want to discuss some things but Liam only smiled. "You think so? I really hope that is the case." He casually replied.
Alex rolled her eyes at the guy's arrogance but she also knew that he had the goods to back it up. Low key she was excited to see his match.
However… another hour also passed by and some more players were eliminated, the total now almost 200 and yet Liam wasn't called even once?
This guy was simply coasting through the preliminaries! What the hell is this? Just how lucky can a person get? Would he really be in the top 100 just like this?
Alex watched the rest of the matches with her mouth open wide. Time ticked by quickly and just like that, the number of players were reduced to 100.
Until the very end, Liam was also never called back onto the arena stage again! Not even once! He was the only player who participated in just a single match.
Lucky bastard! Alex sighed.
Soon, the last of the fights was also over, and the top 100 were quickly finalized.
From Crimson Abyss, there were a total of 8 members. Everyone expected only 6 but unexpectedly two more players also reached the top ranks.
Out of these two one guy was a paladin from the group Alex and Mia were coaching and the other one was the mage Liam had given pointers too.
"Not bad. You both did well." Liam praised them both. The group was about to start discussing things when suddenly another person also popped in.
"Surprise bro! I am also here!"
"Eh?" Everyone turned around to see Rey standing there. Almost instantly they were all shocked, including Liam. No one had expected him to make it.
He was out of the game for most of the time and he did not have any special items like Mei Mei or class like Shen Yue. So this meant that Rey was talented?
"No way." Alex loudly answered the question on everyone's minds.
"What no way? Only you are allowed to be a star? I can't do well?" Rey laughed and pushed her aside to stand next to Liam.
"You just got lucky probably like him. So stop talking back to me!" Alex immediately retorted back, pointing at Liam who only had to fight once.
"You two. Don't bring me into this." Liam quickly walked away. He wanted to do a couple of laps to look around the huge auditorium.
Unfortunately, most players were in the standard issue mask just like he was. No one wanted to deal with the government ban nonsense.
"Well whatever." Liam then turned to return back to the group.
It seems the only information he would be able to gather here would be from the matches and the skills and abilities the players used.
But one thing was clear, this contest was going to be very interesting.
As he walked back to the rest of the Crimson Abyss members, the second round announcement promptly dinged.
[Ding. All players are requested to form groups of 10; Everyone without a group will be eliminated]
