Chapter 119 - Explaining The Rules and Q&A!
"Let's jump straight to rules explaining." After taking care of Felix's situation, Zoe teleported back to the podium and said, "We already wasted enough time. So I will try to make my explanation quick."
She immediately jumped into explaining the games' rules instead of talking about the streaming revenue like Marlion did in Felix's first game.
If Felix was playing in a bronze game, he wouldn't be spared from hearing the same explanation. However, since this was a silver game that didn't have a single player on his first game, there was no need for the MC to waste their time.
"Those are the rules of the game that you were given before." She pointed at the 11 rules, which were displayed on the screen, and began to explain the vague ones, so they wouldn't ask too many questions later on during the Q&A.,
"First let's start with the shuffling mechanism and what you should expect from it."
She highlighted the 3rd rule and 4th on the screen and put them above a massive towering maze, that spanned over 20 square kilometers.
Just like the imitation that Felix used to practice with, this maze was made out of a smooth silver alloy that had multiple complex formations, words, and pictures drawn upon them. Some were colorful while some were just straight-out written sentences in black. They were cl.u.s.tered on every wall and ground, creating a mysterious breathtaking atmosphere.
But for the players, they found nothing beautiful about it, as they knew that those formations and words were the keys to either activate traps or open up hidden compartments within the walls or the ground.
Just the sight of their numerous numbers sent a chill coursing through their back. They understood that one wrong step might lead to their downfall.
Felix was not despairing as much as the others, as he still had a trump card that helped him successfully avoid those traps in his training room.
"Every 30 minutes, the entire maze's walls will shuffle, like this."
Madam Zoe didn't let them continue dwelling on those key formations, as she showed them on the screen, the entire maze's walls shuffle randomly, changing the entire layout into a completely different labyrinth. The process didn't take even 10 seconds!
The only thing that remained stationary during the shuffle was the exit position that was in the very center of the maze.
"That's it; I am giving on reaching the exit. I will focus on collecting points."
"Same, chasing after the exit is but a wishful thinking."
"True, after all, by the time you figure the path forward and begin treading it, the maze will shuffle ruining your efforts."
Immediately after the demonstration ended, noisy murmurers engulfed the hall, as the players kept sharing their own views on the shuffling mechanism.
"Sign, I pity those simple-minded apes." A smart looking tall man, wearing a dark business suit, a blue marine tie, pointy black shoes, and thin glasses, eyed those players in a piteous manner.
No one knows if he pitied their low chances of winning the game or their intelligence.
"Can you please be quiet?" Madam Zoe requested gently, not raising her voice or scolding them as Marlion did on Felix's first game.
However, the results were the same, as everyone stopped their chatter and refocused on Zoe with enchanted expressions.
'Tsk, if those are the men I am fighting with, I doubt I would lose this game.' A charming brunette woman, wearing only a thin black veil to cover her assets, mused while sizing up the male players.
"Please don't interrupt me again with your chatter. I still have a long list to cover." Zoe requested and continued at the same pace, "You will be immobilized for 10 seconds each shuffle. The only thing you would be able to move is your eyes." She paused, "Before the shuffle happens, there will be a 10 seconds alarm to warn you about it. Understood?"
The players only nodded their heads. Not a single one raised his hand, as they knew that questions should be asked only in the Q&A segment.
After Zoe mentioned all the important details about the shuffling mechanism, she removed those two rules from the screen and highlighted the next 6th, 7th and 8th rule.
"Moving on to hidden compartments, treasure chest, and beasts."
Without waiting for them to interrupt her again with their chatter, she began clarifying those rules as much as possible.
"Firstly, the treasure chests." She extended two fingers and said, "There are two types of chests in the maze. Ones are in the open and others hidden. The difference between them is their content." She paused, "The chests in the open, rewards you with only game points, and the amount found inside is represented by the rank of the chest."
She showed them 4 chests with different colors and sizes on the screen.
"Starting off from uncommon, rare, epic to finally Legendary."
She opened them, showcasing a varied amount of points in each one.
The uncommon chest had green color and 150 GP inside. The rare chest was blue and had 400 GP inside, as for epic and legendary both of them had three question marks.
"Those treasures are guarded by beasts, and the lower the rank of the chest the weaker its guardian, and vice versa. Killing those beasts also rewards you with game points."
After seeing that they understood what she meant, she changed the content of the chests from game points to items, abilities, and scrolls.
"Meanwhile, in the hidden compartment's chests, you will find items from the prize pool, abilities that will help you greatly finding the exit, and lastly treasure scrolls that will lead you to an open chest guarded by a beast." She smiled and added, "And of course the higher the chest rank is, the better the rewards."
Although the players were quite excited about it, they still didn't get fully baited to commit to a treasure hunt. They were not fools to not figure out that those hidden compartments would contain tons of traps just to obtain those treasures.
The worst part was the fact they might actually end up finding an uncommon chest inside after surviving the traps' salvo.
So it was much better if they focused on the chests guarded by the beasts than the ones hidden. At least, the only thing they would worry about was defeating its guardians.
"I know that you are thinking that those hidden compartments are not worth the effort." She shook her extender finger slightly and said, "You should not forget about the teleportation circles you might find inside." She enticed, "Those circles can teleport you 1 km near the exit, helping you clinch an unexpected win."
"What's the catch?" A random player yelled.
Abashed, Zoe played with a lock of her silky smooth caramel brown hair while informing them with a mellow voice, "There is only 1 in 100 chances that using the teleportation will take you near the exit."
"Tsk thought so."
Instantly, everyone lost their interest in relying on them. This vixen wanted them to use those teleportation circles so she could mock them with the audience after they fail miserably. She only cared about doing her job as the MC, and that was entertaining the spectators.
As for the fate of those poor players? She didn't give a crap if they get eaten by a beast or nailed to the wall by a trap. Hell, she might even prefer seeing that.
That's why she was overselling those hidden compartments. But the players were not fools to be led by her.
'Bunch of cowards.' She cursed them in her mind while still having that gentle smile.
"That's all there is to know about the rules." After seeing their disinterested expression on hearing more about the hidden compartments, she quickly wrapped up the rules explanation and told them to begin the Q&A session.
"Madam Zoe, I want to know if the 10 seconds stun during the walls shuffle is just for us or the beasts will be stunned as well?" The man from earlier, who was wearing a business suit and glasses was the first to lay down his question.
"The beasts are free to move during the entire duration of the maze. So don't start a fight, when the maze is about to shuffle." She advised.
"'What can we expect in terms of abilities inside the chests?" Another one asked.
"See for yourself. Next!" She shooed him away with a hand wave.
"Is the game going to be concluded the moment one exits the maze or only after the duration ends?"
"The moment a champion emerges, the game will be concluded. Are you expecting the champion to wait for you until you finish farming points?" She glared at him for asking such a retarded question.
Hahahaha!
"Cough, forget what I said." The player squirmed inside the crowd and hid under the mocking jeers of those around him.
"Are we going to get teleported randomly, or dropped from mid-air during the start of the game?"
"You will be dropped from midair for 10 seconds. Use it wisely and try to memories the path towards the exit." She advised them in a solemn manner.
"Are we allowed to pass through walls?" A player asked with a hint of worry in his eyes.
"You can use whatever abilities you have to win. If you can run in a straight line towards the exit, do so, no one stopping you. Next!" She shrugged her shoulders and pointed her finger at another player.
"What's the name of this game's unique title, and what are we required to do to obtain it?" A well built big man, holding two sharp axes above his shoulders, fired off two questions with a c.o.c.ky smirk on his face.
"This game title is..." She paused for a few seconds to build some tension, yet everyone was still eying her expressionlessly. She sighed a bit downcast and said that the title name was going to be >The Wealthiest of Them All!<.
"To obtain it you just need to collect 10.000 GP." She gave a harmless smile, like the number she just mentioned wasn't a big deal.
"Might as well keep it." The players murmured under their breaths and stopped thinking about the title.
"Oh! speaking of titles, if you want to obtain my MVP title and recommendation letter to join the Hall of fame." She tucked a hair strand behind her ear and said, "You just need to hunt down 70% of the beasts inside the maze solo."
If the unique title still had a tiny chance to obtain it, then this one was definitely out of question. There was simply no way a player had enough energy and strength to hunt down that amount of beasts within two hours and a half.
There was just no way. The players knew so as well, thus they acted like she never mentioned it in the first place.
During the game of Wally, he received an MVP title and recommendation letter from the MC Titus. However, it wasn't because he fulfilled Titus's objective like the one Zoe just gave them, but because he won using an unorthodox method that no one dared on using. Thus, he deserved to get the title.
"That concludes the Q&A session." She glanced at her bracelet and said, "You have one hour to socialize. Good luck!"
Just as she planned to teleport to the stadium, a clear polite voice stopped her, "Madam Zoe, Please just one moment of your time."