18 A Show of Power!
[ Doyle's POV ]
'Shadow', the 2nd ranked player in YGGDRASIL, right after me on the leaderboards. To think he would choose Muspelheim to participate in... In all honesty, I had expected someone high on leaderboards to show up, but not him. Well, this confirmed a suspicion of mine quite early. It's a good thing I joined this world.
Looking up towards the top center of the room I watch as the timer finally reach zero. As soon as it reached zero the biggest virtual window in the room grew even larger- large enough for everyone present in the room to see what was happening on the screen without any issues. Everyone looked towards the virtual window, it focused on a humanoid who wore a tight-fitted tuxedo. The humanoid's face and hands were all plain white, the best way to describe his face was that although he had eyes and a mouth, his face was featureless. Within the large virtual screen window, he was currently in a huge arena with countless players sitting inside of the seating areas. It looked similar to a Colosseum. The humaniod spawned a microphone out of nowhere then smiled widely. Seconds later his loud energetic voice rang out for everyone to hear.
"AND WITH THAT, THE WORLD TOURNAMENT HAS FINALLY COMMENCED! STARTING NOW ANYONE WHO HASN'T JOINED ONE OF THE WOLRDS LISTED IN THE MESSAGE SENT WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO JOIN."
He paused allowing the statement he just said to be processed by everyone present. Then a couple seconds later he continued.
"NOW, WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY ALLOW ME, ONE OF THE ANNOUNCERS, TO EXPLAIN THE RULES OF THIS TOURNAMENT. AS YOU CAN TELL THIS COMPETITION WILL DEPEND ON YOUR COMBAT ABILITIES. IF YOU LOOK AT THE RANKING BRACKETS PROVIDED YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE WHO YOU WILL BE FIGHTING." he announced pointing in the direction of the large virtual windows.
"IT MAY LOOK LIKE ALOT, BUT DO NOT WORRY..." he puased and with a small movement of his arms multiple other virtual windows appeared around the room showing several other arenas with their respective announcers. Without wasting too much time he continued on.
"THERE ARE OTHER WAITING ROOMS AND ARENAS AVAILABLE FOR MULTIPLE FIGHTS AT A TIME. SO THINGS CAN PROCEED AT A GOOD PACE. AS I MENTIONED BEFORE THIS COMPETITION IS BASED ON COMBAT ABILITIES, EACH CONTESTANT WILL BE HAVING A 1 ON 1 BATTLE AGAINST THEIR OPPONENT. THE FIRST PLAYER TO EXIT THE ARENA OR REACH ZERO HP WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. BUT DO NOT BE ALARMED, NO ITEMS WILL BE DROPPED UPON DEATH DURING THE TOURNAMENT. HAHA! IM SURE YOU ALL CAN UNDERSTAND THE REST RIGHT? NOW LET THE WORLD TOURNAMENT START!"
After the announcer finished his long speech the crowds went crazy, screams of excitement and expectation were in everyone's voices. The announcer spread his arms and started to float above the arena smiling. A couple of seconds later he snapped his fingers and the timer in the top center of the room reset to 15 minutes. Additionally, multiple players were teleported to the arenas.
The announcers quickly announced the players' names and rank on the leaderboards however I didn't care for these guys' ranks since it was below the top 100. As soon as the fight started the timer started counting down. Hmm? So there is a time limit as well, I see…
Some time passed and I got to see Shadow fight. He fought against a archer. The fight didn't even last 2 minutes before the archer was defeated. I can see why he's so popular, his strength is definitely something to be proud of. However... It's definitely not enough to beat me.
About 9 minutes passed before it was finally my turn to fight. I was teleported into a huge stadium arena. I looked around, and I could see the barrier that was protecting the audience from being hit by any stray attacks. Soon my attention was caught by the other player who was teleported into the arena a couple of meters away from me. He was a magic caster.
***
[ Shadow's POV ]
I watched as the weird looking announcer continued to talk. His energetic voice is really annoying to be honest. He continues screaming when there's no need to. He literally has a microphone in his hand, so I don't get why he is screaming so loud.
Anyway my first fight was easy and quick. I seriously doubt that anyone in this tournament will put up a good fight in the end. I look around the waiting room. Well... it's not like it's all bad, I've already recognized some high-ranked leaderboard players so ill be able to have some sort of fun at least.
Looking back towards the large virtual screen I listen to the announcer.
"OUR NEXT TWO CONTESTANTS ARE-" the announcer paused looking at the information window that only he could see that was in front of him. Then his smile widened even more than it already was before he continued.
"HOHOHO! ONE OF OUR NEXT CONTESTANTS IS QUITE UNIQUE, IM SURE THIS FIGHT WILL BE VERY ENTERTAINING TO WATCH!" He said smiling while peeking back at the info tab in front of him. This also got the audience interested as they listened to the announcer with curiosity.
Hm? Unique? What is he talking about? Is there someone I haven't spotted? That's highly unlikely but it is a possibility since there are a lot of players here. My thinking was cut short by the loud shouting of the announcer.
"ON MY RIGHT HERE IS THE CONTESTANT 'FLAX' RANKED #546 IN THE LEADERBOARDS!" screamed the announcer.
Eh? Is this really what he was so excited about? The player in particular was a human magic caster. He wore robes that hung all the way down to his feet, I wouldn't even be surprised if he slipped while walking with that on. Is this it? A low leveled magic caster? Wait... Let's not jump into any conclusions just yet. There's still another player who needs to be announced. I narrowed my eyes and stared at the screen to listen to the announcer's next words.
"NOW FOR OUR NEXT CONTESTANT....THIS PLAYER IS INDEED VERY SPECIAL." as the announcer spoke a player appeared in the arena a few meters away from the magic caster.
The player looked... weird? I'm not even sure what race the player is. He/she had something that looked similar to a huge blanket being thrown over it. Though you couldn't see the player's body, you could see his/her arms when they revealed it. I could clearly see the radiating glowing white eyes through the cloth-like material. Well yes this definitely is unique. I wonder how strong this player is. As I looked at the virtual screen I could hear the questions the crowds were throwing at the announcer.
"Hey, is that a player? It looks more like monster to me."
"Hey! Mr. Announcer what race is that?!"
"I've never seen a player like that before."
"HOHOHO! ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE- THE CONTESTANT 'DOYLE', THE #1 PLAYER OF YGGDRASIL!". Hearing this the whole arena was engulfed in screams of shock and excitement.
I was stunned. That is Doyle? I have always wondered how he looked. All this time I have been trying to overtake him on the leaderboards. My one goal has been to become #1 but even after all my hard work and grinding, even after hundreds of hours invested in the game I am still ranked 2nd. It is infuriating, but what irks me the most is that I can't even see what I'm up against because for some reason his level is hidden. It's like trying to climb a long ladder, but you can never see how far it is until you reach the end.
I sigh heavily. This is troublesome... I have never seen his strength, I have to make sure to concentrate completely on this match to see what I am up against. This way I can make a counter-plan against him when we face each other. I tune out all the chaos around me as I focus on the screen in front of me.
[ Narrator's POV ]
"NOW WITH BOTH CONTESTANTS PREPARED, YOU MAY BEGIN THE MATCH." declared the announcer.
Hearing the announcer give the go to start, Flax immediately went to cast a spell however within a second Doyle appeared directly in front of him casually placing his sword back into the sheath. As Flax fell to the ground he was completely confused. 'Why am I falling?' he thought. He became even more confused due to the notification he read.
[ WARNING! You have lost -100 HP ]
[ You have died! ]
Confusion clouded his mind. 'Huh? I-I'm dead? How?!'
The audience grew completely silent. Even with over one hundred thousand players in the audience, it was so quiet that one would hear an pencil drop even from across the arena. Everyone doubted their eyes. No one even saw Doyle move towards Flax, even players with high perception abilities couldn't believe their eyes. The only thing that played in their mind was 'How did he get over there?'.
Within a couple more seconds the audience screamed with excitement. The excitement grew from 0 to 100.
"What the hell was that?! Just how fast is this guy?!"
"I didn't even see him move. When did he get there?"
"The match didn't even last 2 seconds! No wonder he is ranked #1!"
The only person who didn't have a confused expression was the announcer. Instead, he floated above the arena with his hands behind his back smiling.
***
[ Shadow's POV ]
What. The. Fuck. Did he even move? Did he teleport? I couldn't see any movement. Is this a skill? Or a spell? My brain started to hurt trying to process exactly what just happened.
I had planned to take note of his abilities, you know, judge his strength and abilities so I could make a countermeasure against him. However, I seriously didn't expect him to pull off something like this! How am I supposed to make a counter against that?! I mean, is that kind of ability even legal? Did he just cheat in front of thousands of people?
I look around the waiting room and it seems everyone is the same as me. No one saw what happened or how he got there so fast.
My heart starts to beat fast due to my excitement. Although I feel deep in my heart that I have no chance against such a person, I can't help but have high hopes for our fight. Oh man, this guy...what the hell is he?!
(A/N: 'Overlord: The Orgin' just dropped a chapter, which means today is going to be a good day. Hope you guys enjoyed yours. Anyway, until next time my fellow readers.)
