( Leo's POV )
The second game that Leo chose to play was 'Darts', however, it was with a slight twist.
The absolute bullseye at the center was worth +100 points. However, the darker black circle, just outside the red dot at the center, was worth -200 points.
This theme ran throughout the board with all the black stripes being minus and all the white stripes being plus.
The distance between the contestant and the dart board was a whopping 25 meters and there were strong air-currents blowing between the player and the board, whose speed and intensity changed every 5 seconds, making it impossible for a player to study its pattern for long.
[ Dart Game, Rules & Winning Conditions :
→ The player will get 3 perfectly streamline darts to throw towards the board.
→ A player must score a minimum of 100 points, to be eligible for rewards.
→ The player must take all three shots within a time limit of 60 seconds.
Reward list :
Score : - 100-125 ( 1x participation bet )
Score : - 125 - 200 ( 2x participation bet )
Score : - 200- 225 ( 4x participation bet )
Score : - 300 ( 10x participation bet ) ]
To be eligible for any rewards, the minimum requirement was to score 100+ points, however, with the maximum points value of a white strip being only 25 points, the only way to win anything in the game was to hit the bullseye at least once.
After thoroughly reading the rules, Leo stepped into the throwing area with his presence causing the air currents to activate.
*WHIRRRR*
Once the strong air currents began blowing at him from all sides, Leo realized that the currents were not weak in terms of intensity at all and were changing direction precisely every 5 seconds.
"Holy shit, this game is impossible…. With such strong currents it's impossible to take a proper aim.
This is not a cute leaf blower type current, this feels like a proper tornado…..
Who the fuck plays darts in a tornado?
The previous game was much easier compared to this one.
This game is a scam!" Leo cursed, as he felt cheated by the system.
Had he known that the dart game would be this difficult, he would never have chosen to play it. However, with his bet already placed, he now had no choice but to continue.
"Alright, I'm ready, begin the clock–" Leo said, hitting the red button beside him, as a massive clock hanging just above the dart board began ticking down from 60 towards 0.
59…58….57….
Taking in a deep breath, Leo prepared his first throw, as using all his dagger throwing skills and accuracy, he threw the dagger towards the dead center of the board with as much power as he could.
"Here goes nothing–" he said, releasing the dart from his hand as it covered the distance of 5 meters without being affected by the wind current, before starting to deviate from its path.
For a while it veered a bit to the right, then it lost a bit of elevation, before veering slightly to the left and gaining slight elevation because of uplifting air currents.
*Bam*
+12.
The dart finally collided with the dart board near the absolute edge, thankfully falling into the white strip which gave Leo +12 points.
"Ho—, this game is indeed as impossible as I thought it would be, the dart is veering too much due to the air currents…. It's impossible to take a proper aim under such circumstances" Leo murmured to himself, as the clock kept running down.
50…49…48…..
"Hmmm…. This doesn't make sense… they shouldn't make such a difficult game that's near impossible to win.
There must be something that I'm missing.
There must be some obvious cheat that makes this game passable" Leo muttered, using the logic that the game developers should not make a game that had such strict winning conditions if it wasn't equally easy to achieve it.
"What if… I release my arrow at the exact moment that the air currents switch?
If I unleash it precisely at the 5th second, will it fly straight?" Leo wondered, as although he had no actual science to back this logic up, he decided to try it out since it seemed to be his only option.
45…44…43….
Counting down alongside the clock, Leo set a mental timer to sync his next throw with the change in air currents, waiting patiently as he mock swung his arms a few times, replicating the motion of a dart throw.
37…36… 35!
'NOW!', he thought, unleashing the dart precisely at the 5th second, as he watched it's trajectory with bated breath.
*BAM*
+100
To his absolute shock, the dart did not ever in any direction and flew absolutely straight when Leo synced his throw with the change in wind pattern as although Leo himself could not notice it, the change in wind pattern always happened in a way that for a brief second during the change the streamline path towards bullseye was left unaffected.
"HAHAHA! THE GENIUS ME CRACKED THE CODE YET AGAIN" Leo muttered in joy, as coupled with his precise dagger throwing skills, the game of dart became an easy endeavor for him once he figured out its secrets.
27…26…25!
*BAM!*
+100.
Hitting the bullseye twice in a row! Leo achieved the total score of 212 points, making him eligible for a 4x payout!
[ System Notification :- The dart game is over…. Final score '212'.
Entry bet is '5' levels.
Calculating final rewards….. ]
[ System Notification :- Congratulations player 'Leo Skyshard' for gaining +20 levels. ]
Just like that, Leo won 20 more levels bringing his aggregate victory total to a whopping 42 levels when added with his strategic battle win.
"Muahahahaha…. I have gained 6 months worth of levels in under 60 minutes. This event is awesome!" Leo said out loud, as at this moment he felt completely high on his achievements.
After returning to the lobby, he could not control his internal giddiness and giggled like a little girl in front of the loli bartender, who asked him if he wanted a drink for the third time, only to be rejected brutally for a third time.
"I'll quickly go and play the third game, then once I know which game is the best for me, I'll spend the rest of my time playing that same game over and over again" Leo muttered to himself, as he decided to check out the final game he had picked for himself, the 'Monster Battle'.