As William jogged the streets of Shanghai, he savored the crisp winter air, feeling it flow in and out of his lungs like a mint.
He walked with his hands in his pockets, observing the area around him. Streets filled with the homeless and the forgotten. Where he would have ended up if not for...
'It's in your best interest not to bring that up, Narrator. A person's past is like a scar, a symbol of what they went through. '
Heh, that was my bad. Sorry.
Seeing all of the poor people, William's eyes would glaze over, and the corners of his mouth would curl slightly.
He'd then slap himself in the face to snap out of whatever that weird trance was.
'The...heck?'
It was a nice morning, the sky was clear, and the sun beamed down amidst the cold winter air, his favorite type of weather.
Suddenly, a loud sound permeated the area. Like some sort of medieval warhorn being blasted through a massive speaker. It would be immediately followed by a deep, snarky-sounding voice.
"Welcome to Salvation, you sorry little sh*ts!"
'What the f***********?'
"Consider this a little gift from us, a Fame Game hehe!"
"You're all about to have the time of your lives, for however long they'll last anyway!"
At this moment, a screen would appear in front of William and every other verifier in the city.
[New Mission Received!]
[Name: Sinner's Salvation]
[Details: The Heavenly Sinner Sect has initiated its grandest Fame Game yet. In this game, participants will fight for the chance to gain Fame and Notoriety and other prizes!
Here's a basic rundown on how the rules work!
Contestants will be able to do a series of actions to gain Victory Points. These Points are the core of this game, as they decide who wins. That is, the first to reach 10000 Victory Points will be crowned the Champion of this Fame Game.
Here is the list of actions one can take:
- Killing another Contestant will result in you stealing all of their Victory Points.
- Claiming a Safe Point, such as a CVA Building in the outer ring, will grant the claimer 10 Victory Points per day that update at Midnight.
- Each Safe Point will have a High-Ranking recruit of the Heavenly Sinner Sect guarding it. This Game serves as their first initiation to the sect. Defeating them will grant you ownership of that Safe Point.
Besides these actions, each person inside the city will start with 1 Victory Point. By collecting a suitable number of Victory Points, one can enter into the center ring and eventually the inner ring of the city. In which the real battle will begin.]
After reading this monstrosity of a rule list, William would look around himself at his surroundings. Thanks to his [ Reader ] Attribute, he managed to finish reading it all much quicker than everyone else, so he decided to start making plans.
'Alright, so from what Kael showed me, in the outer ring, there are a total of 8 CVA Buildings and 4 Government Offices. Speaking of which, did they lure everyone out of the inner and central rings? How does this game even function? Shouldn't the current leader of Shanghai be in the Inner Ring? Oh, they probably assassinated him...yeah, definitely. I'm surprised I didn't get a vision of the leader getting assassinated, honestly, it seems like a common trope.'
He'd then realize how off topic he was and resume planning amidst the murmurs in the crowd around him.
'Alright, because most people are probably just going to murder innocent civilians, I should kill those people after they've fattened up a bit. The first step should be heading towards the nearest CVA building, though, but if I remember correctly, the outer ring is larger than most countries on its own. It'll take me a while to get to one. I'll have to start making my trek nonetheless, occupying a safe point will secure a steady flow of Victory Points.'
By the time the rest of the people around him had finished reading the instructions, he could tell this because of their adverse reactions. Stunned voices, mouths agape, a cacophony of negative emotions exploded out. More importantly, the anger, greed, and selfishness brewing within them were so potent you could feel it brush against your skin like a flurry of blades.
Taking his phone out, he would check the Maps app on it and set the course for the nearest CVA building with GPS on.
[Walk 1340 feet forward, then turn left.]
'Eugh, the Imperial system. Let me just change the settings on this real quick...'
[Updating Settings...Please Hold.]
As he was busy changing the settings of the maps app, a sudden hand would grab William's arm.
A person who looked fresh into adulthood was frantically grabbing William with obvious fear in his eyes. He had light brown hair and hazel colored eyes. He wore a t-shirt and jeans despite the cold weather.
"H-hey, you're a verifier, right? I saw that screen appear in front of you! Y-you've gotta help me! Save me...PLEASE"
William, who was a full head taller than the boy, would stare at him for a second emotionlessly.
He'd then smile, take the young man's hand off his arm, and say:
"Sure! Come along, kiddo, we're going to the nearest CVA building."
Internally, he thought:
'Free Meatshield!'
He'd then realize that the young man was currently being chased by 5 grown a** men wielding axes, swords, bows, and a gun. The men were all dressed rather savagely, too.
'Ah, the classic being targeted by overconfident bastards trope.'
'Well, I'm too lazy to go after the small prey; they haven't even been fattened up yet. Guess I'll just....
[408.432 meters forward, then turn left.]
"Run Away!"
William would grab hold of the young man and start full sprinting in the direction the map app was guiding him towards. He could hear the men yelling behind him.
All of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain in his back, a medium-sized gash being inflicted on him with a longsword. As he turned his head to see what had hit him, he was promptly punched square in the face and sent flying.
'Ouch! What the! Aren't these guys supposed to be fodder? F*cking hell!'
One thing he had forgotten was that these battlefields weren't even balanced, like in video games or web novels. This tournament had people ranging from Normal Civilians to Elites. Although he had rather strong skills and abilities, his opponents had time. Their stats were far stronger than William's, and they outnumbered him by a considerable margin, making it rather disadvantageous for him.
Seeing this unfavorable position, I must ask, would you lose?
William would groggily sit back up, still in recoil from the punch. In front of him was a terrifying sight. One of the men was in the middle of impaling the young man from before, while the rest were charging at William.
As he stared at the incoming attackers, his eyes would glaze over as a Two-Pronged spear bearing the aura of the underworld manifested in his hands, and as it did, the surrounding air turned frigid. A cat-shaped shadow would appear on William's shoulder before transforming into an unfathomable mass of darkness plastered with eyes behind him.
He would tilt his head slightly and reveal a cold, cold smile before declaring:
"Nah, I'd Proclaim Victory."