CHAPTER 707: DELIBERATE TARGETTING?

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The 2nd round ended. As expected, Dawnbringer once again dominated the rankings. The gap between him and the second place was a chasm, putting him extremely far ahead compared to everybody else.

They were given a weeklong rest after that. The organizers knew that they needed it, considering what the majority of the participants looked like after they came out of the test.

And so, the participants did just that: recover.

Everyone’s rate of recovery was different, but one week should be enough to get them back in shape for the 3rd and final round.

While most did their best to recover to their peak state in time for the final round of the preliminaries, the few lucky ones who weren’t as exhausted already recovered enough energy to at least review their recent experience.

"Man, someone like him should be banned from joining tournaments like this," one complained as they reviewed the footage of the 2nd round.

He wasn’t the only one; there were a couple of people who were doing the same, and coincidentally, they’re all gathered in place, discussing the same thing.

"Right? Like, where did he even come from? He should’ve been a seeded participant instead. People of his caliber shouldn’t be allowed to bully commoners like us."

"It’s absurd, though. How does he learn that fast?"

"I know! His draws were unlucky too because the skills he got were all complicated and tricky to learn and use, yet it didn’t even matter to him. He could’ve gone faster if his draws were lucky."

As they reviewed the footage, they discovered that almost all of the skills Dawnbringer learned were at the peak of the difficulty level in each room he ended up with.

Take the very first room, for example; the Silk Vine Entanglement skill was indeed a simple and easy skill to learn, but even in the easy category, its difficulty was hard since the requirements to learn and use this skill have a high ceiling.

This scenario applied to every single room and skill he got. Making everybody assume that he’s being targeted on purpose. But like somebody mentioned earlier, it didn’t even matter. Dawnbringer strode forward like they’re nothing anyway.

"Damn, this is unreal. I also got the [Blood Seal Twisting Murder] skill, but the progress I had after six months of hard work and effort was only comparable to a day’s worth of his effort. It took me even longer to discover the real trick behind it, yet he only spent a week to discover it. I hate it here."

"Same."

They felt truly awful for comparing themselves to such a monster. His talents were off the charts, completely way above them.

At this point, everybody was convinced that they’re all competing for the 2nd place only; there’s no way they could take the first place away from Dawnbringer.

Unless, of course, the organizers change the contents of the final round to give them a chance, that is. But this happening was very unlikely, especially since people were already questioning the fairness of the tournament.

Obviously, no tournament could truly be fair across the board. There will always be inconsistencies and flaws here and there. But the stunt at the 2nd round was too damn obvious.

Once or twice, especially if it’s spread out, would’ve been fine. But Dawnbringer only got the most difficult and most complicated skills in each room, while everybody else had fluctuating luck in their draws? Now, that’s just too much.

It wouldn’t even be surprising if people were already protesting against this.

**

"Sir, I’m afraid we can’t do this."

Somewhere within the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm, a man wearing a fancy uniform bit his lips as he warned the man in front of him, who’s obviously his superior.

"Why not? Did the contents of the final round get leaked or something?" The man asked, his voice cold and indifferent.

"No such leaks happened, Sir. But people have already noticed our actions in the 2nd round. Our inboxes are already being flooded with threats and warnings from all sorts of people."

"And are we afraid of them, hm?" The superior’s eyes narrowed, and a little bit of his aura leaked, causing the atmosphere within the room to shift into something heavier.

Most of it was pressing down on the man whose head and back were bent, talking to him.

"..." The man gritted his teeth, doing his best to remain standing under the pressure. However, it’s too heavy; even breathing has become difficult under this pressure, much less talking.

"This is the grandest event this realm witnesses only once every millennia. You have to understand, Boot, an event like this can’t be boring! People need flair, drama, and tension! They thrive off of it, and we, as the organizers, need to deliver!"

"So what if we’re targeting him? It wasn’t us who forced him to dominate the tournament this much. We’re working under the assumption that he can take it since he’s willing to paint a target on himself."

"Everybody already assumes that he’d end up in first place, and for a tournament like this, that’s not good, you know. That removes the tension and drama. It’s boring, and we can’t have that! An event like this won’t happen again in another millennium, and I refuse to be the organizer of the most boring Heavenly Star Millennial Tournament in history, you got that, Boot?"

"Just do as I said, Boot. If you get in trouble later, just dump all the blame on me and everything will be fine. But if we succeed, then hell, you’d thank me a lot for this."

"Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that."

"Who!?"

The supervisor was greatly alarmed after hearing a new voice. He looked around frantically, using all of his sensory techniques to discover who talked just now but failed.

There should’ve been only him and his junior in this room, nobody else. Anybody who dared to intrude should’ve been detected even before they came real close to this door at all, yet the alarms and the security system weren’t triggered at all.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." A set of disapproving sounds echoed through the same room, making the supervisor nervous.

"You know, I don’t really blame you. You’re just doing your job, after all. I wouldn’t have cared at all, but unfortunately, you’re messing with the wrong person," the unseen person stated.

"What do you mean? Who are you? Show yourself immediately, or else I will send the Space Marines to hunt you down, and there will be nowhere in this entire chaos realm you can go!"

"Ooh, scary!" The unseen person sounded amused with his threat. "Damn, I don’t really want to be hunted down to the very end of this chaos realm, so I guess I have no choice but to show myself."

Fwoosh!

And so, accompanied by nothing but a soft breeze of air, a person suddenly appeared right next to the supervisor. He even draped an arm on the nervous guy as soon as he appeared.

"Y-You are...Starscourge Adam!" The supervisor blanched upon seeing who this person is.

"Yes, it is indeed me. I’m so happy that some people can still recognize me." Adam wore a wide but soul-chilling smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

His presence here meant that this place was under immense danger. The supervisor has to be very fucking careful of his words from here on out because one wrong move and Adam will erase this place from existence and history.

"Why are you here? What do you want? This shouldn’t have anything to do with you at all!"

"And under normal circumstances, you’d be right," Adam responded cheerfully. "Alas, you’ve picked the wrong target this time. Because you see, Dawnbringer is one of our very dear and important clients."

"He’s a Scarlet VIP of the Golden Bangle Bank...which is, you know, one of the major sponsors of this entire event? And you see, we aren’t really fond of your recent machinations, especially since you didn’t even bother informing us in the first place."

’Fuck! Seriously!? What bullshit luck is this? ’

The supervisor wanted to cry but had no tears. He truly didn’t know, but now that he does, it’s no wonder why Adam was sent here.

What’s worse is that the supervisor had no one else to blame but himself. He calls himself the organizer of this event, yet he wasn’t even aware of the background of the most popular participant.

He’d be so ashamed of himself if he wasn’t so terrified right now.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know."

"Yeah, I had an idea that you didn’t. Thankfully I got here fast, huh?"

"Yes. Yes. Thankfully, indeed." The supervisor nodded frantically; he’d agree to everything Adam says if it means living to see the next day.

"T-There will be no changes, then. The final round will take place as it’s originally intended."

"Well, don’t be hasty now." Adam chuckled and strongly patted the supervisor’s back. "I mean, I also agree that the tournament couldn’t be boring. Your only real mistake is not informing us of your decisions first. Everything could be discussed, you know."

"W-what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, instead of you manipulating things behind our beloved VIP’s back, why don’t you ask for his opinion first?"