In front of the arena's luxurious grand entrance, Shadyna the tragic hero makes a promise to her lost friends, and herself.

_ Shadyna: Hessy, Elri, please watch me from above. I am definitely going to win big!

_ Not-so-dead Elri: Don't randomly kill us off! And how are you going to win without even participating in the event?!

It appears that the last boss who destroyed my hometown failed to kill everyone. Dammit last boss. You had one job~!

_ Shadyna: By gambling!!!

_ Evidently-still-alive Hessy: *Sighs* She's already in delusion mode. Let her be.

But but… what else should a pacifist do in this place to get a lot of money?! Joining the brawl is a no-no, being janitor doesn't pay well, and is not hiring MCs anymore. Only by betting on the winning underdogs can I get rich while barely putting in any effort whatsoever!

Totally not the thinking of a chronic gambling addict who inevitably turns against the hero party in order to have their debts cancelled by the bad guys~

But seriously, since such characters die horribly more often than not, I hope I will not get into debt at least, even if I don't intend to get involved with murderous heroes usually.

_ ???: Hey, are you done yet? We need to reminisce the past too.

For some reason, there's a whole line waiting for their turn at gaining flashback power-ups behind us! Just how many villages did you destroy and leave exactly one person (or three) alive to make a point, you idiotic imaginary last boss!!!

As we go ahead, the waiting gladiators start to enter their own flashbacks one by one. I wonder if they will ever realize that they can just, I don't know, form a circle around the place instead of a single spot on the main road?

Not that I am in any position to complain, having done the same thing~

The moment we enter the arena, a new menu icon appears in the corner of my vision and begins to blink. Although I have received words from , having the game's admin promote and provide direct support to our little get-together event still feels a bit surreal. For all of her complaints about my endeavors, she certainly did not voice her annoyance at the organizers after adding all of these fancy new features!

"Special treatments" my cute butt! Sateri, you bully~

_ Elri: Looks like we have to part ways here.

_ Shadyna: I'll watch over you from above and…

_ Elri: You know you don't need to off yourself either right?

_ Shadyna: The atmosphere is important~

Before us stand two reception desks. Both the desks themselves and the wall behind them have a sign to help players navigate, and possibly to spare the clerks from answering the same question over and over again.

The signs on the left say "Spectators", while the ones to the right are "Gladiators". Needless to say, the majority of the players go to the left, then proceed down the hallway. Do they not need to show their tickets?

On the other hand, the combatants are presumably introducing themselves to the clerk, who in turn tells them where to go next. They are talking in PM though, so they could be exchanging questionable media links for all I know!

As for why I have to separate from these two, well…

Hessy and Elri are 's participants for this tournament event after all!

I never said that MY GUILD in particular would not join, did I~? Feel free to tremble in fear, degenerates with impure motives, for the mistress of the tavern won't date you without a literal fight! Commence laugh in technicalities~!

And so, jaws were dropped, pants were changed, combatants were fainting, and spectators broke into tears saying that they had a wife to feed.

The majority of you aren't even fighting anyone though?!

____________

For the first time since its construction, the Great Arena is operating at full capacity.

50 thousand seats are occupied by an audience coming from various backstories. They are here to enjoy a good fight, cheer on their favorite ido… gladiators, or throw coins into the zero-sum gamble in hope of coming out on top at the expense of others. Regardless of their motives, they are in high spirits and having a good time.

Down there on the ground, four smaller arena rings are in place instead of the single big one like in the prelims. A young lady stands on each, facing their closest spectators with a smile.

Originally, it was planned to have muscular men at peak physical performance do this, but after various (overwhelming) feedbacks from the service workers and participants, the guildmaster relented and outsourced the personnel management to the professionals. Even the receptionists were selected based on their appearances, as well as their experience in service work.

The same cannot be said for the guides in the gladiators' waiting area, since there were not enough beautiful and kind ladies in willing to do this work. As such, half of the participants have to settle with handsome and kind macho men instead. Their work quality is still top-notch, so it will be fine.

Probably.

While the gladiators' cries of despair were echoing in the basement, the brunette archer is delivering the opening speech for the event to her audience from above.

_ Cinrald: Everyone, I thank you for coming to join us at Blood Sacrifice Battle Royale today. I am not one for words, so let's get this over with right now. Good luck, and good fighting!

_ Spectators: OOOOOOOHHHHH!!!

Stepping away from the platform after her record-breaking short speech, the guildmaster retreats back to her seat next to , one of the few guests of honor for the day.

_ Vladina: Why did you even come out if you did not have anything to say?

_ Cinrald: Those two said something about main organizer's obligations, and… Ah! I was supposed to advertise the arena too!

_ Vladina: *Facepalms* How in the name of little girls does your guild survive with you at the helm…?

Truly a mystery that no one knows the answer to.

Back on the platform, two commentators are in position. Because it is hopeless to ask a professional sportsman to do sport commentary, even if it's the same sport…

_ Commentator #1: I'm .

_ Commentator #2: I'm .

had to hire the experts to do the job.

_ Choruse & Melodyn: We will be your commentators for today. Hope you all rest in pieces~!

_ Spectators: WHY?!?!

Whether these two's expertise is sport commentary is another question altogether though.

____________

At the front row, an otome heroine and a devious ladykiller are watching the tournament unfold. They are 's guards for the day, but that brat handed them 500 gold coins, asked them to bet in the tournament in her stead, then teleported to this place before anyone could accept or decline her request.

Said brat is apparently fooling around underground at the moment, for some reason. Why even bet if she won't be sitting here to watch the fights, silently complains .

_ Choruse: If you want to bet who will die a horrendous death in the next five minutes, you can find the option in the "Event" menu. Due to privacy rules of this event, you will only see their avatar, attributes and statuses. Skills and equipment are off-limits.

_ Melodyn: Because of our time constraints, we will have four matches at the same time until the quarterfinals. Don't forget to bet on all of them. You will be dead financially by the end of this anyway, so might as well make our cuts from your hard-earned money as high as possible~

Players of the first four matches are making their way to the rings while the commentators "explain" the rules. A few tried waving at the audience as if they were famous celebrities, but the majority are too busy looking at the stats on the Event menu to cheer them on in return.

_ Thelia (Party): Who was the idiot that hired those two…?

_ Helen (Party): Now now~ Let us focus on guessing who would win the coming fights.

The ladies on the rings promptly guide the neglected gladiators to their starting positions, then steps off so as not to get in the way of the fighting. Although these referees, who are all powerful players on their own right, can shrug off stray shots without problem, letting combatants fight without worries is at higher priority than dramatically slapping the floor next to a downed player, especially when [Inspect] can check if someone is dead just fine.

The fact that they are also bloodthirsty maniacs who will jump into the fray given the first chance is absolutely irrelevant.

_ Thelia (Party): Guildmaster, you sure you want us to waste these coins right?

It is often said that you should only gamble with what you don't mind losing. Thing is, the poor delivery girl has no idea if these 500 gold coins are 's tip spend, or what's left of her coffer after she burnt it though a sponsorship, a mini sun, and just recently, a whole wardrobe of mass destruction.

Both are equally terrifying.

_ Shadyna (Party): I'd prefer it if you actually win some money but yes, please use that fund to bet as you see fit. My savings are all gone except for those coins I got from back when I fought , so if you lose all of it… Well, I'll probably have to eat fish and only fish for the next few days~

Both at the same time is the most terrifying!

_ Thelia (Party): …I'll treat you to a pizza later today.

_ Shadyna (Party): Thanks~ I love you too!

_ Helen (Party): So do I~

_ Thelia (Party): Be quiet and place the bet already, damn lecherous womanizer!

____________

Now that the getting rich part has been taken care of, I can leisurely chill here underneath the main stage until the killing begins.

Why am I not betting on my own? Well, I have no idea what the meta is for one. That means I may as well toss a coin, having not the slightest idea on how the fight would go. Sure, I have seen worse odds, such as wearing a suit and sitting in front of a screen waiting for numbers to go up. Doesn't mean I want to risk (what's left of) my fortune that way however.

_ Thelia (Party): Slow tank against mage, that guy's dead. Never met these guys before, just bet on the one in a guild.

Contrary to my luck-based approach, was a respected member of . She is a fighter as much as she is a chef, both less than a delivery girl as far as I can tell by the way. Point is, she knows her way around a fight, so her intuition on average is better than the collective judgement of the player base, which is reflected in the current betting odds. Combined with her decisiveness as part of being a protagonist (?), she will not hesitate to bet on underdogs as long as she believes they could win. Few people are as capable at high-risk gambling as her, I have to say.

Would be nice if it was her money at risk rather than mine though… Oh well, no pain no gain and all that.

_ Helen (Party): Okay~ You are sure about this one right? If you guess it wrong, there will be a punishment ju~st for you, got it~?

Then there's this ladykiller who just happens to be good at handling (and embezzling) money to prevent from wasting all of the fund in futile endeavors. I would be surprised if her work as an accountant for did not include throwing outrageous bills or even conspicuous embezzling plans back at 's face. Taking a risk is fine, putting everything at risk for little rewards is not.

Especially when that "everything" is actually MY money!

Anyway, with these two working together for the greater good that is my own enrichment, I'm sure the gold coins are in good hands. Let's not to prod around while the capable people are already bringing in the materialistic tributes!

_ Thelia (Party): You are in this as well you damn maniac!!!

_ Helen (Party): Ow~

After they finish their lovers' quarrel that is!

Wait, I don't have anything to do until the gladiators are dead. Sure, it is only a few minutes at most, but it's kind of lonely sitting here by myself…

I know! Lutena, come here please~

As commanded, the little fairy jumps out of the dangling lantern and onto my lap. So cute~

She is heavily armored, therefore not exactly cuddle material like Gelly. Thanks to the many hours of mind-numbing crafting with nothing else to do however, I have found out that her cheeks are the heavenly soft, so much that she and Gelly were the reasons why my sanity is still perfectly intact!

One thing to note though. If I poke or pinch her too much, she will pout and run away from me for some time. While she is cute doing that, I feel bad for upsetting her. Remember, it is important to do everything in moderation!

_ ???: Huh? What brings you here, Lady Black Mantis?

Poking a cute girl's cheek to keep myself sane… is probably not what I should say out loud as a totally sane person huh.

For some reason, has this weird tendency to use "Sir" and "Lady" for players they think are strong. They don't know my name either, hence the use of title instead.

What am I, some royalty?

Looking at the direction of the voice, I see a muscular man in skintight working clothes. Along with the oversized broom and dustpan, there is no doubt about it.

He is a janitor from .

I refuse to comment any further about this guild's skintight fetish!

_ Shadyna: Hello~ I am just waiting for the matches to end to do my work. Please don't mind me~

_ Janitor: I see. Our room over there has a [Projection Board] to watch the fights live, if you want to of course. Now then, duty's calling!

Pointing at the door behind him with a "Staff only" sign, the janitor departs as quickly as he appeared. The security is pretty lax, isn't it? Not that I'm complaining.

Since I have nothing better to do, I bring Lutena into the staff room to enjoy the show. I stand out a lot sitting in the middle of a party consists of men at the pinnacle of fitness, but there's no one else and they are a rowdy bunch so it's a-okay!

I could also watch from the Event menu, but that is something I never realize until much, much later. Oh well, the noisy atmosphere is important too~

____________

_ Melodyn: In the first match of Block A, we have the abusive mistress of the tavern, !

_ Spectators: WHAT THE HECK?!

_ Hessenria: Who the heck are you calling abusive?!

*THWACK*

A [Dark Bolt] blasted through the air and went straight to the ill-mannered commentator, who in turn ducked as if she had been waiting for that. As a result, the bolt mercilessly smashed a poor sod in the back row right in the face.

_ (Un)lucky bastard: Thank you very much for your service!!!

Meanwhile, the majority of the audience who did not witness her arrival earlier are busy picking up their jaws. That is to be expected, as most were too busy worrying about Black Mantis to notice that there was nothing preventing the mistress herself from making sure no one gets the grand prize.

No wonder why she agreed to become the figuratively dangling carrot for this tournament.

_ Choruse: And in the other corner, we have some generic random player who happened to win the prelim, applause please.

_ Generic random player: HEY!!!

Ignoring the protest from the player, turns to her sister as if the previous assault attempt did not happen.

_ Choruse: It looks like most are betting on . What do you think, ?

The current odds are 1-24, to be exact. In other words, if the other player wins, someone betting 1 gold coins on him would get 25 gold coins as their payout.

_ Melodyn: The fact that some of them still bet on her opponent is already telling. Due to a private agreement, one condition for to join the tournament was to participate without using any gear crafted by our guildmaster. Any stalker worth their salt would have noticed that her combat statuses took a big dive.

_ Choruse: Not to mention she is not wielding her [Artifact] dual sword as it's in our warehouse waiting to be upgraded. Equipment-wise, she is about as good as her opponent, which certainly does not bode well. Please lose horribly, . If you are out, we won't have to worry about the grand prize staying unclaimed.

_ Hessenria: I'm going to sew that mouth of yours shut after this!!!

_ Melodyn: Thank you for your opinion on the organization of the tournament. Up next in the second match of Block A, we have…

The audience doesn't think that was what the harsh mistress was talking about, but decides not to say anything for the sake of the mood. Besides, a lot of them have to look at the menu again after receiving such vital intel for their "business" after all.

The odds became 1-4 by the time the first four matches started. While still not exactly good odds by any means, it is a massive improvement.

…

_ Choruse & Melodyn: Let the massacre… BEGIN!

The two commentators shoot an [Elemental Bolt] into the sky, signaling the start of the duels.

Gladiators on all four rings waste no time engaging their opponents. There are [ Reinforced Glass Barrier]s made by the one and only sprouty girl between them, so there is no need to worry about stray shots affecting the outcomes of other pairs. Not that these players would when they have their own fight to win to begin with.

The arena explodes in more than one way as its spectators shout the name of their favorites and stray shots fly all over the place. apparently forgot to commission the same indestructible barriers around the stage itself, and now the attacks that did not land on their intended targets are blowing up their bettors. Not a good way to impress investors, unless you are an attractive lady like that waitress over there.

Nevertheless, dead spectators are promptly revived by nearby players so the situation is still under control… for the most part at least.

_ Melodyn: And is the winner! For all the prep talks and flags we made for the generic random player, he unceremoniously died to [Dark Bolt] without landing a single hit in return.

_ Generic random player: I have a name! It's…

_ Choruse: Yeah yeah, you are already out. Good luck next tournament.

The referee drops the defeated player through a trapdoor in the middle of the ring before he could finish his sentence, along with the crushed hopes and dreams of the players who bet on him.

Such despair brings warmth to the commentator sisters, though they will never admit to that.

_ Vladina: Why did that guy fight without a countermeasure to ranged playstyles anyway…?

_ Cinrald: I wonder. Maybe he thought preferred melee based on her weapon?

Remaining battles rage on.

____________

The arena is not the only place crowded with people watching the tournament.

In fact, why go there when they can enjoy the show with food, drinks and beautiful waitresses right here at the cafeteria? It's not like the harsh mistress uses AoE or misses her target a whole lot anyway.

_ Choruse: For the last match of Block B, we have 's greatest stalker, the cavalry elf!

_ Fuelri: Who the hell are you calling a stalker?!

By capitalizing the real life culture of watching sport events in bars, crafted many [Projection Board]s in advance which are pretty much flat boards that act as the fantasy-version of a television. As expected, the patrons poured in to spend their coins for a good time. Even the branch restaurants are packed to 250% capacity, and yet it is still not enough to accommodate all of these (non-)alcohol and gambling addicts.

may get a small cut from the betting money, but will not lose when it comes to profit from this event!

_ Swordsman: That girl, is she strong?

Unlike the majority of the guild, is not customer-facing, hence the relatively low popularity despite her high-spec appearance and… assets. She is still trying her best to compete against the lead waitress, not knowing that the key to success was simply working the counter for two weeks so that the patrons come to remember who she is.

And with the guild members being the same players who left to her own devices for their own amusement… Let's just say they wanted to let the elven knight find her own path to stardom, and supported her along the way like the good friends they are.

Definitely not because these sadistic maniacs enjoyed seeing their friend struggling to the fullest.

_ Magnemi: We chose her because she was the most eager to fight against .

_ Swordsman: That reason?!

As the short exchange was taking place, the match was already over.

_ Choruse: Winner is .

_ Swordsman: TOO FAST!!!

_ Magnemi: I didn't say she was weak though?

Casually preparing the refills, ponders if she should start betting on seriously in future matches.

The bloodless war among the gamblers is already in full swing.