Crule and company left the wild after their week of hunting. With treasures in hand, they headed toward the Lawks’ clan headquarters.
Meanwhile, the open beta event was starting. Even after the press covers, people were still skeptical. The first batch of open beta players are those who were hyped enough to join without fear.
Eighty thousand people gathered at the huge gate leading to the wild. A huge festival was taking place with a ribbon tied around the entrance. It will be cut by Grimly when the event officially starts.
Street vendors were selling their goods and fireworks whistled into the sky. The eighty thousand people were extremely eager and the festival just further increased their euphoria.
Everyone who came was handed a blue vial. Those who saw the press event knew what this was. It was the Nano-burst drink. With excitement in their eyes, everyone who got it drank it immediately. They could feel their strength increasing already.
Along with the vial, they were handed their wristband. Many have already checked their stats and were either pleasantly surprised or disappointed at their current stats. But with the festivities, those who were disappointed cheered up and could not wait to get stronger in the future.
Soon, the main event was about to take place.
Eighty thousand people gathered at the giant gate waiting for it to happen. Several bands had played their songs and have finished their routine. Suddenly, everything stopped and you could only hear the sound of mumbling from the audience. From the sky a metal disk descended with Grimly stood on top of it.
Wearing a silver suit and tie while having a grin plastered on his face, he floated toward the gate. Everyone watched in awe at the amazing spectacle. It was just a simple metal disk but it could carry his entire weight and fly.
The disk stopped about a foot off the ground next to the ribbon. Grimly stepped off and with a wave of his hand, the disk turned into a sphere of metallic liquid. He pulled out a flask from his pocket and the metal liquid poured itself into it. With a rubber stopper, he plugged the flask after all of the liquid was stored in the flask.
With such a display, everyone was already cheering. This kind of magic was what they came for. What they desired. Greed filled their eyes and pride clouded their judgement. They would do anything to get that power.
Grimly saw the way everyone looked at his little performance and his grin got bigger.
[Grimly]: Good to see everyone is so eager to get started.He took out another flask, this time with a gold colored liquid. He popped the rubber stopper off and with a twist of his hand, he poured the contents onto the floor. After half of the flask was emptied, he quickly plugged it back up and put it back into his pocket. The liquid was now a puddle on the floor. With a wave of his hand, the golden liquid turned into a large pair of scissors and floated into his hand.
The crowd “Ooo” and “Ahhh” at the performance.
They were eating it all up and are now just puppets dancing in the palm of Grimly’s hands.
With the scissor, Grimly firmly cut the long ribbon that stretched across the entire gate.
[Grimly]: I declare the Antagonist games, OPENED!He cut the ribbon.
Like a flash mob, nearly everyone in the crowd of eighty thousand rushed toward the gate. It looked like a black Friday sales mob.
Grimly quickly got out of the way as to not get trampled on.
It looked like a colorful tidal wave as it poured into the large gate.
With their strengthened bodies, no one was actually hurt from the mob mentality but it was still an amazing sight to behold. Imagine if people were not skeptical and the mob was larger than eighty thousand. It would have caused problems…
Now that the sheep have entered the slaughter house, it was time for Grimly to relax, sit back, and enjoy the carnage.
[Grimly]: Hahaha, everything is going according to plans. Soon, everyone else will see how profitable the games will be and join as well. The eighty thousand will pave the way for millions. Millions of sheep for the slaughter.No one could hear him over the shouts and roars of the mob.
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Upon entering the gate, the mob finally calmed down and separated. The creatures near the gate were all low leveled beasts. Most were below level twenty which was acceptable for the newly achieved strength of the participants. The weakest participant was at least lvl 6 due to having been born and raised in the energy of the world.
People were looking at their wristband at their attributes and skills they could use. Many were already trying out their new found powers. Fire, Ice, electricity, rocks, wind, even metal, were flying everywhere as people started to throw them at the beasts.
Alarmed at the sudden mob, the creatures tried to run, only to get slaughtered by the sheer number of people.
This went on for hours until practically every creature within a five kilometer radius have either been killed or escaped.
People finally started to explore the Wild and they tread on.
Few people have found small towns that the company have established in the Wild for the game. These towns offer shelter during night as well as a place to shop, forge, and do business.
The towns themselves were small but well protected. Beasts below a certain level threshold could not even get near it. A firm barrier protects these towns and they block beasts up to lvl 70s. Due to the territorial nature of monsters over lvl 70, the towns didn’t have to worry about it as long as the town was not built within the territories of such beasts.
These small pockets of safety was a haven for the open beta participants who were extremely fatigued after an entire day of excitement and hunting. The inns were immediately filled and some adventurers just directly slept on the floor since it was safe to do so in the towns.
Within these towns were also the adventurer’s guild. Although pretty much every single participant is considered an adventurer, some people were not. These were the usually company representatives, nobles, aristocrats or their guards who happen to need something done or require a certain something.
The Beauxi auction house and other companies post quests for the participants to do.
Since many people use to be farmers and people from rural areas trying to make money, the food supply would go down quick and there might be food shortages in the coming future. In order to counter this, quests for hunting meat have the highest priority and are the most accepted quest.
Hundreds and thousands of tons of Wild beast meat will be shipped from these towns dotting the wild to the seven islands of civilization. This meat will sustain the people who stay behind instead of participating in the games.
Wilderness beast meat have strange properties and one could survive off of them alone with just water. It was considered a super food almost and its health benefits actually far outweigh the penalties.
Other companies ask for rare ores, valuable herbs, and many more. Some even ask for pictures of the landscapes of the wild for postcards and other aesthetic purposes.
Business was booming and riches were made. The true nature of the Games was soon revealed to be a new hope. It was like in ancient times when the Europeans first set foot on the Americas. The dream of making it rich quick and the bountiful treasure that lies across its vast lands.
This enticed many others to join, even the most skeptical of people could no longer resist the temptation.
The games was on its way, and nothing could stop it.
