Killing someone in the game will only bring that person closer to death. As long as they have a enough of kills and fans to bear the repercussions of the death, they won't die permanently. But that is not the same with killing people in real life so as to eliminate them as competition.
The absence of the 12 other competitors showed that the competition had already started a month ago when they were assigned for this game. This game is just a public conclusion to the competition.
He shrugged and said, "Not that I can complain. The lesser the competition, the better for me."
The moderator finally finished with the introductions. Then he said to the competitors, "You should know the rules by now. If you don't, then you have it up there for you to see."
He pointed to the sky, where a large screen had appeared with the rules on it. This was mainly for the spectators, as the competitors should already know what the rules are. And if they don't, they won't be looking at the large screen. They will be looking at the panel that appeared in front of them.
-Rule 1: The game will start after the moderator gives the go-ahead.
-Rule 2: The game will end after one hour.
-Rule 3: Only those who survive till the end of the game or acquire 3 kills, be they humans or beasts, will pass the game.
-Rule 4: Every participant can use any method to complete the objective.
-Rule 5: Game weapons and artifacts can be used.
The moderator continued, "I deem you properly introduced and ready for the game. The game will start in ten seconds. I wish you all good luck."
Then he turned to the audience and said, "By the power vested on me by the tower of destiny, I decree that this game can begin."
His decree made the competitors phase away and appear in the forest below. The forest expanded to fill up the arena while the platform shrank.
Large screens, numbering 88 in number, appeared above the spectators in the space where the platform used to be and showed what each competitor was currently doing.
Each competitor had four screens on sides of a cube dedicated to them. This way, their actions could be seen from various directions.
The largest cube with the largest screens was at the center. It showed what the moderator was currently focused on and commenting on.
The spectators could focus on any screen and make them enlarge in their vision until it fills it up. They could focus on two or more screens at the same time. They had the freedom to watch anything they wanted, however they wanted it.
Right now, they were all watching the competitors as the game started. Some of them cheered, and some of them booed. But a lot of them were nervous for their preferred players to win.
The players had been scattered throughout the forest. Kelvin found himself in what appeared to be an alley. It was a blocked space between two plant-infested buildings.
There were only two ways out normally. He either leaves through the only opening in front of him or he jumps up out of the alley. The abnormal way to leave would be to break through the walls on three of his sides or dig into the ground.
So he had a lot of choices about how to leave. But he didn't leave immediately. He first tested the consequences of not bowing to the Baron. Not that he had a choice in the matter.
The force pressing down on him couldn't be ignored. All he can determine now is if he had made a stupid decision by not choosing to pay his respects to the Baron.
The Baron has an ability called the Burden of Respect. Those who don't respect him will become subject to a force that weakens them as long as they are close to him once he activates his ability.
At first, people thought he had a null ability because it weakened people physically. But after 50 years, reliable information about his ability has been compiled.
The Baron himself has never explained his ability in full details, but it is believed that his ability belongs to the psychic class and is of the alpha caliber, so it gets stronger the more power rating the Baron has. His ability is also similar to telekinesis.
It manifests a force on top of the target and forces them to their knees. So people either have to bow willingly to the Baron or be forced to do so when the game starts. Unfortunately, it will be too bad for them to do so when the game starts.
There is no doubt about the information. He too can confirm it now that he is under the influence of the ability. His abilities haven't been weakened, but he feels like he is carrying a very heavy load.
The ability is not all powerful. It could only work on those that are close to the Baron and the total burden that he can output is constant regardless of the number of targets close to him.
So things would have been vastly different if everyone had decided to defy the Baron. All 87 of them would be sharing the burden. That way it won't be too much for them to bear.
But no one wants to bear the burden. They also want to gain an advantage over others by avoiding the burden. By opting to bow, they increase the burden that the other competitors have to bear. So it is like killing three birds with one stone.
This makes it so that as long as one person bows to the Baraon, all of the rest will also bow. The Baron becomes a source of literal peer pressure while the others act like sheep and fall in line. It will become more and more stupid for anyone to defy the Baron as more and more people cave to this peer pressure.