Wolf

As I am pondering over what types of monsters could be roaming around the sand seas aside from the two I have already found, I suddenly find myself beginning to float up into the air.

“Guess it’s starting,” I mutter with a glance at the timer on the top left corner of my interface that is currently flashing red.

Looking around the arena, all of the monsters are completely focused on me as I float over their heads. They also seem to be more riled up than in any of the previous battles or challenges.

I guess they know that-

My thoughts are interrupted as a loud noise echoes throughout the arena stadium from the direction of the tunnel opposite to the entrance.

Soon after the loud noise, the roaring of the audience increases another level in volume.

Are the monsters for the star ranked challenge from the locked room?

By the time my feet touch the ground of the arena, a menu with the same orange color as before appears in front of me.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Your star ranked challenge will begin in ten seconds.

The star ranked challenge consists of three waves, with the third and final wave containing a mini boss.

Good luck, and may the moon guide your way.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Oh, so that’s how the challenge will work. Not that much different from the default one.

I look up again at the bleachers and find three desert warriors stepping out of the tunnel. The three warriors all have better looking gear than any of the other desert warriors that I’ve seen so far on this theme, and they all have a slightly different vibe to them. As if they are more experienced or something.

_-| Unnamed – Desert Gladiator – Level 452 |-_

So, they are an entirely different species of monster then? At least, according to the System that is.

Surprisingly, the three desert gladiators immediately jump straight towards the arena as soon as they reach the edge of the flat area of the bleachers. Of course, they don’t manage to jump far enough to make it into the arena, so they end up floating the rest of the way after the guardian slams its staff into the ground.

I raise an eyebrow at this before shaking my head in my amusement and spreading my claws.

Let’s see how much stronger these guys are than the ordinary desert warriors…

Sapphire rubs her head up against my neck whilst being careful not to scratch me with the spikes on it before jumping off of me and growing to her full size.

Two of the desert gladiators immediately turn their focus onto Sapphire, the light blue flame blazing in their eye-sockets growing slightly bigger in their attention. Meanwhile, the third gladiator retains its attention on me, breaking into a sprint straight in my direction as soon as its armored feet hit the ground.

“Oh?” I mutter with a slight amount of interest. These things are faster than their desert warrior counterparts.

I shift into my hunter form and break into a sprint straight towards the gladiator charging towards me before swerving around its blade and kicking it square in the gut. Or at least where the gut would be if it wasn’t an undead.

My kick sends the creature back a few meters before it lands on its feet, with the only sign of any damage being the snapping sound that echoed from the point of collision, and the dent in its armor that matches the shape of my sabatons.

They also seem to have more resilience than the warriors as well.

This might be fun.

Lucky Days

“Don’t ya think it’s a little bit strange to be an audience watching an arena fight with its own audience?” Sam asks, crossing his arms with a grin on his face and one eyebrow raised in amusement.

The stadium making up the Lucky Days viewing room has grown over time throughout the Administrator Dungeon Run. Whereas it was once only a stadium built for around thirty thousand people, it is now large enough to house nearly one million people. The stadium itself has various luck focused symbols from all around the System scattered throughout the stadium, such as four leaf clovers on some of the pillars, unicorns dancing about on the grassy plains beneath the three large screens, and even railings made entirely out of jade.

“Yeah,” Toby agrees, nodding his head without moving his eyes away from the main screen showing Wolf as he fights with the desert gladiators. “That it is.”

The audience laughs at the irony in the situation before pausing in surprise as a loud boom echoes throughout the stadium, followed by a large notification with bright red letters appearing above the screens.

Administrator Dungeon Notification

A Competitor has just entered the Viewing Room.

They have five minutes to remain before they will be automatically removed and placed back in the Administrator Dungeon.

5:00

The pause lasts for only a few seconds before the stadium is filled once more with ground-shaking cheers as the members of the audience, along with the commentators all look around in an attempt to find the Competitor.

“Who do you think our surprise guest might be, Sam?” Toby asks as he vigorously searches through the nearly one million viewers within the enormous bleachers.

Sam shrugs whilst doing the same as he answers, “I have no idea, but I’ll certainly let you know when I find out!”

Only a few seconds pass by before various shouts begin to ring out from one corner of the stadium.

“IT’S THE LUCKY LIZARD!!!” “Please shake my hand!” “It’s the lizard!!”

Both of the commentators quickly turn to look in the direction of the screams before finding a lizardman with dark green scales, a half-a-meter-long tail, and a snout full of sharp teeth as he looks around at the viewers around him with a slight grin on his face. The lizardman is wearing a green tuxedo – similar to that of what one would find on the planet Earth before the Initialization, except with some armor plating added in on the shoulders, elbows, and other important areas – along with a sword sheathed at his waist.

The two commentators both raise their arms towards the Competitor before Ahxul Kinich finds himself floating up into the air towards them, to the disappointment of the fans nearby.

“Hello, Ahxul!” Sam says at the same time as Toby says, “Welcome to Lucky Days!”

The lizardman looks around the stadium for a few seconds before focusing on the main screen right before he reaches the two commentators. At the same time, Wolf can be seen crushing the skull of the second of six desert gladiators within the second wave of the star ranked challenge, having already finished the first wave.

“Is that the next theme?” the lizardman asks, his words being translated by the System the moment they leave his mouth, making the movements of his mouth not match the words the people within the stadium are hearing.

“Yes, my good sir, it is!” Toby responds politely, floating over so that he is at eye level with the lizardman.

The lizardman glances away from the screen for a second to look at the two-foot-tall leprechaun in front of him before focusing on the screen again to watch Wolf as he clears out the remaining desert gladiators alongside Sapphire.

Sam studies the Competitors face for a moment before looking between it and the screen.

‘Interesting…’ he thinks before asking, “Are you interested in Sapphire?”

Ahxul doesn’t take his eyes off of the two-and-a-half meter long spider as he says, “Yes, and I would like to have my own soul-bound companion as well.”

Both of the commentators reveal surprised expressions before sharing a glance and simultaneously saying, “That might be difficult.”

It’s only after hearing this that Ahxul finally takes his eyes off of Sapphire to look at the two commentators as he asks, “How difficult?”

Sam looks at Toby again, but Toby just continues looking at Ahxul with his arms crossed as he answers, “There are only three places that you can find one outside of buying it from someone – which would be nigh impossible since no one ever sells them.”

“And those places are?” the lizardman prods, a grin slowly beginning to appear on his face at the prospect of getting something so rare that it can’t be bought.

“Loot boxes,” Sam answers this time, waving his hand to make three different holograms of loot boxes with varying appearances appear in the air behind him, “mythic, transcendent, and Pandora's boxes to be specific.”

“But the chances aren’t in your favor if you want to get a companion,” Toby adds, seeing the gleeful look in the lizardman’s eyes.

The Lucky Lizard turns back to look at the screen as Wolf finishes off the last of the desert gladiators with Sapphire and begins to wait for the final wave.

“That sounds like a plan,” he says, a grin stretching all the way across his face.

The two commentators share a look with each other as Toby telepathically says, ‘This man has a death wish.’

Sam nods his head in agreement before they both turn to look back at the screen.

Meanwhile, the audience – completely oblivious to the exchange between the two twins – roars its approval at the Lucky Lizard’s daredevil attitude.