Kill The Old Ones!

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**

[Current Imperial Ranking]:

#1. Heavenly Bronze Empire: 11,510 points (Lead Contributor: Soren Marek Vire)

#2. Burning Firmament Empire: 5,025 points

#3. Deep Blue God Empire: 4,150 points

#4. Free Heavenly Paradise Empire: 3,810 points

#5. Berserk Mountain God Empire: 2,505 points

**

The comparison between empire rankings was, frankly, outrageous.

While the other empire teams have, indeed, finally earned enough merit points to finally enter the rankings, the gap between them and the Heavenly Bronze Empire team was enormous.

The first place had double the amount of points the second place had, and it’s still increasing.

Other teams found this ridiculous and outrageous. They even started accusing the Heavenly Bronze team of cheating. But no matter how dissatisfied they were, the system remained indifferent to their complaints.

All of them were completely unaware that the powers behind them were watching everything unfold, and they could confirm that the Heavenly Bronze Empire team wasn’t cheating. They’re just scarily efficient.

With their doubts and uncertainty gone, they combed through their initial environment with ease and clarity.

Sure, they don’t have a unified goal just yet; most of them are still hunting for the sake of supporting themselves, but this was already more activity than the other teams were having.

While others were still huddling together, being scared, exposed, and terrified of their new environment and hadn’t completely adjusted yet, the Heavenly Bronze team were already doing things to improve their situation.

The imperial ranking board updates every midnight, and seeing how the 1st place team was so far ahead, other teams were feeling the pressure.

They knew what’s at stake here, and the competition was forcing them to move it or suffer the consequences.

Fortunately, it hasn’t been a week yet since they arrived here. But the longer this goes, the more precarious the situation becomes, especially for the last-ranked team.

**

The situation within the temporary camp of the Heavenly Bronze Empire team was charged.

The shop list was still nailed on the board at the center of the camp, and some people are still perusing it from time to time.

A few people have already discarded their ugly shelters and replaced them with tents—the cheapest ones available, for now. Almost everybody has tools, a new set of clothes, and food to eat—since the forest nearby seems to never run out of monsters to kill.

Nobody has something that would really qualify as a weapon just yet. Most of them were just wielding large bone clubs to hit and kill their prey; some preferred bones with an edge, etc. Nobody could afford the weapons being sold at the shop just yet since even the cheapest one costs 5000 merit points.

The atmosphere in the camp has eased up. Since they now have the initiative, and earning merit points doesn’t just come from killing monsters, some of the weaker participants stayed near the camp and decided to build fortifications to make it more secure.

Wooden fences, traps, markers, campfires, paths...anything just to prevent them from being idle and feeling useless.

The points they earned weren’t as high as exploring the forest, but it’s decent enough to buy some things in the shop. And because of their efforts, the camp was looking more and more lively and homey.

People also weren’t too segregated by teams anymore. Some were taking initiative to talk, discuss, or team up with other participants from other kingdom teams, breaking the ice barrier and improving the team cohesion.

They’re not a single unit just yet, but they’re getting there, at least.

"Bro, I’m like...I think I’ll need a break from hunting."

"Why?"

"I died today; my free respawn has been used up. I’m low-key terrified."

"...shit, I’m sorry to hear that. How’d you die, though?"

"Some monster I couldn’t recognize ambushed me from underground. I still can’t believe it; I didn’t sense anything. One second, I was walking silently and cautiously in the woods; the next thing I knew, my lower half was gone. By the time I realized it and felt the pain, I only saw a giant maw from below swallowing me up."

"Yo! That’s some scary shit, man! You’re not tricking me, are you?"

"Bro, I wouldn’t mess around like that. I’m serious."

"Yikes! Where did it happen? Tell me so I can avoid going there."

"Screw you, dude!" The man chuckled. "It’s on the east, about 10-15 miles away from here. Honestly, I can’t guarantee if that monster will stay there, or if I just unwittingly entered its lair like a dumbass—I swear I saw no signs—but if it roams, then we’re in danger."

A few people were listening to their discussion, feeling a bit apprehensive at the gruesome details of this guy’s death.

That’s when a flat, and almost cold, voice interjected.

"What killed you was most likely a Deep Earth Demon Worm."

Heads turned to the owner of the voice, and it came from Princess Diana, walking towards the bonfire at the center of the camp with her arms crossed and her face thoughtful.

"I’ve read entries about monsters on the first floor, and there are only very few who burrow underground to ambush their prey. Deep Earth Demon Worms are one of those."

"What makes them formidable is that they’re born with the Earth’s Blessing. They’re not very smart, but their bloodline allows them to basically, albeit crudely, control Earth Laws. That’s why they can move underground without causing tremors or aftershocks despite how quickly they’re moving."

"They’re like fishes in the sea when they move underground."

"Earth laws!? That’s crazy!" The man exclaimed. "No wonder I died so quick!"

"How the hell do you fight something like that, though?" The other guy asked.

"By their smell," Diana revealed. "Deep Earth Demon Worms have a strong scent of wet grass, which contains fishiness; they don’t know how to blend in or mask their scent."

"They go where they please, so as long as you’re paying attention, you’ll smell them before they get to you. Their stench can’t be hidden even if they’re underground."

"They’re pretty weak, all things considered. The only tough part on them are their maws. The rest of their body is just fleshy, which is vulnerable to sharp things. They’re pretty stupid; you can bait them out so long as you’re aware of where they are."

"They’re edible too. If you know how to eliminate the fishy smell and the gaminess, they’d almost taste like fatty beef. Pretty nutritious, too. I heard that they’re common food on the 1st Floor."

Nobody was expecting her to say so much, yet they listened anyway since everything she said was valuable.

They believed her too, because why wouldn’t they? It’s not like she’d get anything from lying to them.

And Diana was telling the truth. Deep Earth Demon Worms were, indeed, common food on the 1st Floor. They are fatty, meaty, and nutritious. Even a young one was huge enough to satisfy a martial artist’s diet for a whole day.

There are dozens of recipes created with their meat as the main ingredient, all available and served on the 1st Floor.

However, the reason why Diana spoke so much wasn’t just because she was enlightening these ’commoners’ of what they didn’t know. She spoke because she wanted to establish her personality and be a reliable figure here too.

She’s the princess of the empire, and these people will be her loyal subjects in the future. This was her networking effort.

This trial wasn’t just a competition for her; it’s an opportunity for her to establish herself as the future empress of the Heavenly Bronze Empire.

Since she sat down next to them in the campfire, she created an image that she wasn’t as aloof as they thought she’d be. And that encouraged people to talk to her more and ask her more questions.

She did her best to answer them all from what she knew, offering descriptions, solutions, and options.

Eventually, she said, "I’ll try to compile a list of monsters that may or may not appear here. It’ll take some time, but you can all look forward to it. I’ll make another bulletin board so that everybody gets access to it."

Of course, her intentions were completely saintly or selfless. She recognized some of the mechanics of how this game should be played and confirmed that when she received streams of merit points, she offered her knowledge about the monsters.

This little session of hers netted her about 1500 merit points. A pretty large sum considering how early it still was in the tournament, and it’s certainly a huge bump for their team’s overall points.

Thinking about this, Diana decided that she’d take a look at the rankings the first thing after she wakes up tomorrow.

Unbeknownst to her, this gathering before the bonfire at nighttime will eventually turn into a routine they will follow for the rest of this tournament’s duration.

A debriefing of some sorts...

One that will, at some point, be crucial to the team’s performance for the remainder of this game.

For now, though. It’s as casual as it can be, and it’s enough to build the atmosphere and slowly cultivate the team’s cohesion.