Game Over

STAGE SEVENTEEN >> Tower Arena (Part One)

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are all products of the author's imagination used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

■□■□■□■□■□■

[TW: This part contains content that some might find disturbing, reader's discretion is advised]

■□■□■□■□■□■

The entrance of the Blood Princess in the Tower Arena made such a commotion among the other players joining in the monthly event. In fact, she felt the weight the moment she stepped foot inside the assembly room and her name appeared on the wide projector screen in front announcing the participants.

For her part, she decided not to talk to anyone since she didn't come here to make friends. She has one goal set in mind and that was to reach the top floor. Since the Wanderer was a former champion, it was only understandable that she will start on the 30th floor. There was no doubt in Princess's mind that the Wanderer will claim the top floor again, and she intends to be her contender.

As the number on the countdown decreased, another AI helper materialized in front of them. This one was a male wearing a military uniform and sporting a clean-cut hairstyle. His posture was straight and his hands were behind his back making him look even broader and taller.

"Welcome to the Tower Arena. My name is Takeo. I will be your AI helper in this competition." He spoke in a deep, well-modulated voice. "For first-time joiners, you will start at the bottom regardless of your level. There are four ways that you can get eliminated in the tower. One, we adhere to a point system depending on the damage of the hit. If your point is too low then your opponent and the system thinks the time limit does not permit you to hit back with a higher point, and you will be automatically eliminated. Two, if your Life Points (LP) get too low, the system will advise you to concede defeat. Three, even if your point is considered enough to return a hit but the time is up, it will be considered a defeat. Four, if you get thrown out of the battle stage that is considered an automatic elimination. And last and fifth rule is a KO. I believe I don't need to explain what a KO meant in a player-versus-player competition, right?

"As stated earlier, this is a time-limited battle. Each player gets 100 points on the starting floor. But as you progress, the total points will be added to your remaining points which means every player has different points the moment they reached the second floor."

A player behind Princess suddenly raised his hand and Takeo fixed his gaze on him. "But that also means that some players will start at a much higher point than their opponent, right? Wouldn't that be unfair?"

"And that's why this challenge is not for the weak of heart," Takeo spoke openly and everyone started doubting if this was an AI. As a matter of fact, Princess thought he spoke the same way as Eiko. "Every hit equates to a point. The more satisfactory the hit, the higher the point. Only the skilled survive."

Every hit corresponds to a point and the hit differs based on the player's statistics and built. It was just like what her friends has told her, all the best players in this game converge in this place. This was an opportunity for them to exhibit their strength. The built. On how well they understand the gameplay.

I'm not interested in showcasing my skill. Princess said to herself. I only wanted her...

Once there were no more questions the screen showed the distribution of opponents on the first set. Prince was assigned to go against a female character, a human assassin. They have the same level but Princess has no idea what kind of built the other has. Was she like Spectre? Her issue with the assassins was the invisibility skill, this was innate to their kind. However, she was a human race, just like her. Spectre who was a member of Wanderer's team was an elf-assassin and it gives him leverage when it comes to using magicka.