Chapter 149 - Giving Up On The Championship
The Green Mamba Clan elder Brandi was sitting as well in a VIP room, spectating Felix from the moment the game started.
"You forced me here, telling me that he would definitely underperform in his 2nd game." Elder Brandi turned his head, staring at the young man covered in green scales, and chuckled, "Is this what you call underperforming Mirage?"
"Tsk, he wasn't bad, I give him that. He is worthy to be an inner member of our clan." Mirage clicked his tongue in irritation over being teased like this by his teacher. "Still, the game is not over yet." He gave a half shrug with a smirk and added, "His high profile hunting already made the participants in the wager join forces against him. After he opens up that golden chest, they would definitely rush to snap his head."
"Indeed, what's even worse is that his condition is not optimal." The elder sighed, "He must have used most of his energy by now, leaving him exposed to their aggression."
"Heh, Don't forget his wound elder." Mirage quickly added.
Elder Brandi didn't respond, he simply shook his head lightly, as he gazed at Felix jumping from the Mother Spider who was breaking into light particles, leaving behind a number shimmering with golden light.
"1000 GP?" Mirage mumbled the number under his breath after his eyes were drawn to its blinding light.
A whopping 1k GP from just slaying the beast. He couldn't imagine how many points the chest that was guarded by it had in it.
A hint of jealously and envy couldn't help but begin to build up in his heart after he calculated Felix's total points.
'6700 GP without even opening the golden chest! F*cking hell, I don't even have half of it in my possession.'
To actually be a high tiered gold player, but have less GP than a player on his 2nd game ever, was truly a bit hard to swallow.
'Heh, don't get attached to them, since you won't live long to use them.' Mirage smirked and switched his vision to the middle of the maze, eyeing a gathering of 25 players or such, just standing around a sealed shut gate silently and patiently, resembling a bunch of guardian statuses.
One could only wonder what they were up to, standing near the maze exit like that without battling for the right to be the first to enter it.
The entire situation screamed with danger. Yet, Felix had absolutely no idea about any of this, as he simply walked towards the glittering golden chest with a hand gripping tightly his shoulder, applying pressure to minimize any further bleeding.
Although the Mother Spider left a gaping hole in his shoulder, Felix wasn't worried that he would bleed to the death, since his body recovery speed was enough to close the hole if enough proper rest was given.
Ultimately, he was an awakened human, who enjoyed some physical perks of the beast he merged with. Such as enhanced recovery. It might not be as good as unlocking an ability for it, but it was better than human's slow recovery speed.
That's why Felix's previous wounds caused by the sandstorm weren't giving him any problems during the fight, as they got healed properly overtime.
All awakened humans enjoyed those perks as well, just like in the case of Mastermania. Any commoner who had their body skin melted by Felix's acid aura would need concentrated care in a hospital to just stand up again. Meanwhile, Mastermania was seen walking normally like he wasn't exposed to such an attack.
If recovery speed was this good for lower stage bloodliners, one could only guess how good it would be for higher stage bloodliners.
'Are you going to continue hunting?' Asna suddenly asked curiously.
'Nope!' Felix shook his head, 'I am done for now. My energy has reached the red bar. I doubt I would be able to kill another epic beast with it.'
He tried to shrug his shoulders like he always did, but pain instantly assaulted him, giving him a reminder of his wound. 'Plus, my condition is truly not optimal for any more fights.'
'I see, I guess you give up on the championship then.' She said.
'Championship, huh?' Felix smiled bitterly while leaning against the chest.
If he wasn't hurt like this and had only 20% of energy, he might have gone for the exit now and blocked any moron who tried to use it. Alas, he would rather chill in his place and wait until the game ends than go risk getting himself killed by aggressively hunting others.
Felix knew that based on his current condition, he was nowhere near achieving championship unless by some miracle no one managed to find the exit throughout this long period.
But Felix wasn't that optimistic about it happening. He was glad that the game was delayed until he secured the legendary chest. He couldn't ask for more.
Although, not winning the game would deny him from having a wish and delay him from reaching the gold rank faster, still, Felix was more than satisfied by his earnings in this game.
6700 GB without opening the chest, or counting the GP of the players participating in the wager. He was damn certain, that his total GP was going to reach 20K or surpass it. So, as much as it saddened him to give up on the championship, he wasn't really that annoyed about it happening. He already achieved the target he set before the game.
For now, he just wished to take a break and relax a bit until the game ends. He fought for way too long during this game.
'Ahh! Well, I don't mind stopping now, I had enough fun.' Asna stretched on the bed with a satisfied smile.
'I'm glad' Felix smiled as well. However, it was soon replaced with a grin, as he tapped on the chest with his leg, sending shivers down the spine of the spectators, who knew what was coming. 'I guess it's time to open this big boy.'
Just as Felix raised his leg, planning to kick the chest wide open under the cries and wails of the despairing crowd, his AP bracelet suddenly vibrated and displayed a notification, alarming him about the upcoming 3rd shuffle alarm.
The timing was truly perfect, as Felix spent about 20 minutes to reach the chest and the rest was spent during the battle. He was quite lucky to end the fight before the 3rd shuffle, otherwise, he would have been forced to give up on slaying the Mother Spider.
"Damn, that was a close call." He sighed in relief and closed off the alarm notification.
he withdrew his leg and leaned back on the chest again, pausing his attempt at opening it up. The spectators didn't know why he stopped, nonetheless, they were happy that the inevitable was delayed for a few more seconds. They truly couldn't handle seeing that magnificent golden chest get ruined by his thuggish personality as well. Alas, it is what it is.
Meanwhile, Zoe knew exactly why he stopped, as she also made alarm for the alarm, to not get embarrassed over forgetting about the shuffles again.
However, she was still confused about his reason for doing so, since opening the chest wouldn't take him even a split second. There was no need to wait until the shuffle passes.
However, Felix unbothered by the resounding shuffle alarm that just went off, kept leaning against the chest casually.
Peep! Peep! Peep!...
'What the hell is up to?' Confused, she kept switching vision between him and the reverse countdown on the large screen.
7,6,5,...3,2!
Just as the countdown was about to reach its end, Felix swiftly turned around and kicked the chest wide open!
Immediately he froze in his kicking position, as the maze began to shuffle its walls, marking the start of the 3rd shuffle.
However, no one gave a glance at the walls, which were dancing around the maze harmoniously, separating into halves and connecting to each other randomly, yet with a sense of systematicness.
No one paid attention to them, as their focus was captured and entrapped by sudden golden fireworks exploding in the maze's sky. An explosion so big, that its bright lights displayed the players' smallest hair skin.
The entire maze was brightened up under those fireworks, adding extra beauty to the walls shuffling around continuously.
The spectators were stunned speechless by the high-profile way of announcing Felix's successful feat of slaying a legendary beast. They knew that the fireworks were going to be a pleasant and quite admiring view, however, they never expected to be this astonishing. Not in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the players were actually the ones who were dumbstruck the most by the sudden explosion. They were just preparing to take advantage of those free seconds of scouting that the shuffle was about to give them, yet those fireworks exploding exactly before the last alarm 'peep', removed any thought of scouting ahead, as their eyes couldn't help but get drawn to the bright light above them, resembling a sun.
Shock, disbelief, confusion, dread, and fear, bone-chilling fear, sending goosebumps coursing through their skin. A tide of varied emotions washed over them immediately after seeing a sentence written boldly and artistically in golden characters, like heavens sending down a decree to mortals like them.
>Landlord has obtained 3000 GP from a LEGENDARY Chest!<
They couldn't believe what their eyes were feeding them, and they honestly didn't dare to.
If Felix merely killed another epic beast, they honestly would have simply either respected his strength or envied him. However, when legendary was written boldly in caps, to further highlight the rank of the beast he slew, they had no thoughts of respect nor feelings of envy.
The only thing they felt was fear, fear of actually playing with such a humanoid creature without their realization!
Slaying a Legendary beast solo?!
Not in their wildest dreams, would they have believed that one of them was capable of doing it. Heck, they weren't even confident in achieving that feat by allying together. Yet here they are, seeing with their own eyes, Felix doing what they thought was impossible.
A sudden deafening silence descended in the maze. The spectators were speechless by the fireworks' beauty, while the players weren't able to speak, move, or express their overwhelming emotions. Only their eyes and thoughts were moving nonstop, and each had their own thoughts and views over the announcement.
'Damn it! How could he kill a legendary beast alone! Father definitely going to compare my battle with his!'' Annoyed, Princess Bird huffed through her nostrils, 'Bastard, continuously making my life hell.'
If before, she had a chance to talk her way out of her trashy performance, now she was absolutely doomed.
After all, in the eyes of everyone she and Felix, both had legendary bloodlines, yet he slew two epic beasts and one legendary. Meanwhile, she slew only one epic beast with extreme difficulty. There was just nowhere to compare their results! Hence, her irritation was quite understandable.
Just like before, the shuffle didn't take more than 10 seconds before the walls finished rearranging themselves randomly.
...
In the very center of the maze, a wide-open circular space connected to four paths, each leading to the four cardinal directions, North, East, West, and South, was packed with 25 players all standing stiffly around a medium-sized closed gate made of the same alloy as the walls, silver and smooth. However, it was shining brightly like a beacon.
It was hard to miss.
This was the exit of the maze! A closed gate that had to be pushed open in order to clinch the win. From its height and width, it was obvious that pushing it was going to take quite some effort.
The players, who were frozen stiffly near it, abruptly regained control over their bodies. However, their eyes were still gazing at the announcement that was fading gradually.