‘…’
All the participants of the trial looked up when the timer showed that only one minute remained as another panel had appeared.
[Introducing the ‘Kill Bonus’ perk… =)]
It wasn’t long until all participants read it.
And to even Stark, who had already participated in a [Death] difficulty trial, this seemed… unreasonably cruel.
…
[‘Kill Bonus’ will be active the moment the gates of sublevel 4 open!]
[‘Kill Bonus’ is an advantage that the participants can get inside of the trial, increasing their odds of survival!]
[Basically: if you kill someone, you will be allowed to spin the ‘Perk’ wheel, granting you an advantage!]
[Note: monster kills don’t count, a human needs to be the one to give the fatal blow to another participant to receive the reward]
…
Basically… the moment that timer reaches zero, then if you ever manage to kill someone, you will be allowed to spin some sort of wheel to receive a reward that could massively help you.
Of course, on paper, this seemed like a dumb perk as if you ever killed someone and got found out, then you would be the next to be hunted.
And yet… as if knowing of that, that shitty system actually showed the possible rewards you could get…
At that moment, the atmosphere of the room went from friendly to hostile almost immediately.
…
[There are 10 possible rewards if you manage to kill another fellow participant to aid you in the trial!]
[Key Location Map: You will receive a map that shows you which exact monster holds the key that will allow the group to head to the next level]
[Instant Use Key: Will give you a key that you can immediately use to go to the next level without fighting anybody, one time use.]
[Healing Spring: A special spring that will instantly heal all your injuries, one time use.]
[Revive Token: A token that will allow you to revive yourself once in the event of death, one time use.]
[Instant Level Up: Will make you level up by five levels immediately!]
[Skill Viewer: Will show you a list of all the skills of the other participants]
[Invincibility Token: Will grant you invincibility for the next five minutes following the usage of this token, meaning that no participant or monster can do any damage to you, one time use]
[Monster Scent: Upon usage, all monsters will ignore you as they recognize you as their own, even if you kill many of them, this lasts ten minutes, one time use]
[Aura Blocker: Target a participant and be able to block their powers for thirty seconds, one time use]
[Killing Spree: ??? (only becomes available once five people have died!)]
…
‘…’
This was absolutely terrible, an actual disaster.
In a room filled with people who would do anything to survive, these overpowered rewards could truly change everything in the trial, plus no one would really blame them for killing if they said it was for the ‘greater good’ as some of these rewards could truly be useful for the group…
And the worst: these rewards seemed to advantage the culprit that actually killed.
[Aura Blocker], [Healing Spring], [Invincibility Token] and many more would make it so that any of them could kill anyone that tried to avenge the death of another.
Basically… being a killer has way more advantages.
It was truly well-thought-out, and even Stark had an urge to kill one or two people to get rewards.
Plus, in addition to all of this, there was the presence of the [Killing Spree], which only appeared once five people died, and its goal was obvious: making people wonder just how good it was, resulting in more deaths to unlock it.
‘Killing game…’ was Stark’s first thought as he closed the panels and stared the other participants, all of their eyes were widened in shock, except for Leader as he kept his composure.
The little crowd that was in front of the metal door immediately separated, feeling that their trust in one another was instantly gone: they didn’t know who could kill, and even worse, maybe even they had some urges to do it?
[27… 26… 25…]
In the end… everyone know that the moment that timer was up, it was everyone for himself.
[10… 9… 8…]
[Oh, and by the way; if someone dies from a monster, it will be specifically said who died]
[But… if they are killed by one of you…]
[Then this message will appear: “Participant has been slain by a player”, without specifying who died or who did it!]
And so with that…
[2… 1… 0!]
[Good luck!]
~FWISH, CLANG~
The giant metal door, at least fifty meters in height, slowly but surely opened, revealing the interior of the sublevel they were in.
~BOOM~
~DASH~
~FVIOUM~
Immediately, he heard the sound of lightning as one of the people that hadn’t come out of their cells left the hallway the moment the door was big enough to fit: they were like a flash of lightning, so their body wasn’t visible, plus too fast anyway.
‘…’ Stark sighed, as he began heading toward the metal door, he also had gone inside of his own cell, observing the white-haired woman in the cell in front of him as she just walked in circles.
But the moment he left his cell…
[A participant has been slain by a player!]
It already happened.
Of course, Stark didn’t care about that, but the fact it happened so fast meant that there truly was no hope in cooperation.
All the other participants had already dashed through the metal door as it had mostly opened, meaning that the only people that remained were Stark, the white-haired woman, and…
‘…’ Stark turned his gaze as he heard sounds coming from a cell, and he was met with a disgusting sight.
The man with the silver blade, Akira, the one who had already killed someone, was in front of the beheaded body of Bang, the tanned man in a tracksuit.
Sensing his gaze on him, Akira turned his head toward Stark, his expression still calm as he smiled, doing this was nothing to him it seemed.
“What can I say,” Akira shrugged, “Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same…”
“I never said I wouldn’t, and I didn’t judge you,” Stark didn’t care much as he continued walking toward the metal door, “But…” suddenly, his aura became much more powerful, and even Akira was taken aback, “Don’t try that shit on me…” Stark smiled, and Akira smiled back.
[You have entered the ‘sublevel 4’ area, try to find the monster with the key to escape!]
[Oh, and by the way, remember the second punishment you were supposed to get for not reaching level 50?]
‘…?’ Stark rolled his eyes, they were trying to fuck him over even in this situation where some of his skills had already been revealed.
[Well… you don’t get a map, so maybe killing another person doesn’t sound so bad now… =)]
Not getting a map of the floors was a massive disadvantage as he wouldn’t know the layouts, but it didn’t matter much for Stark, whether he killed or not completely depended on the situation, and for now, he didn’t feel the need to.
[Good luck!]
[8 participants remain!]
This trial was cruel, but in the end, survival all depended on your instinct, information and strength, and Stark was confident that he would live.
Even if he was the only one left by the end… he would make sure to survive.
