The Blood Sacrifice Battle Royale concluded its first round without too many civilian casualties.

Only three times the deaths compared to that of the gladiators. That's gotta count for… something. Not safety, but something.

And don't even think about the wounded.

_ Choruse: A reminder to all losers: Please remain dead and do not respawn. You can still use the menus while dead so feel free to throw the rest of your money away like you did your life, or not. You are dead to me either way.

Most likely because they are already dead.

_ Melodyn: We will enter a short break before the second round. Our guest of honor, , will join us for the analysis segment. Welcome to the party, .

_ Vladina: Can I start with an advertisement for our guild?

_ Melodyn: Denied~

It was worth a try at least.

The little guildmaster of is always struggling with expanding her hare… payroll, despite the (kind of) lax requirements on paper. As it turns out, she subconsciously gets turned off by most players who are not of her… preferences, hence the lack of anyone that is not a cute young girl in their group.

It is pretty much like impossible requests for marriage, and the first one is being a loli!

The guild of the lolicons remains perpetually understaffed as long as their oblivious leader continues to personally interview their applicants. Not that they seem to mind much.

_ Melodyn: So, aside from underage girls, did anyone catch your interest in the first round?

_ Vladina: You want a fight or something? Anyway, I try to stay neutral in this event, lest my bias get the better of me, and my wallet.

Or as anyone with the slightest familiarity with this pervert understands it, she does not care who wins when there is no little girl involved, as per usual.

_ Choruse: I expected no less from our lolicon. Do you think certain playstyles have an edge in this tournament?

_ Vladina: Participating as a guild gives the biggest advantage. Guild members are split into two blocks so they do not have to fight each other until the final, effectively doubling the winning chance for the guilds. They also have better economic backings than unaffiliated players, which translate to better equipment and skills.

_ Choruse: Hmm… Aligned players certainly won the majority of the fights against the non-aligned…

_ Vladina: I'm not saying that their guilds are the only thing that matters by the way. Summoners' pets giving a huge numerical advantage in duels for example. Yes, I'm judging you guys, and the cavalry girl. At least both of you are in Block B so we won't have a summon mirror match in the final.

>

It appears that the gladiators in the underground waiting area are totally within earshot. They should be preparing for the upcoming matches instead of listening to the analysis filled with information already known to them and complaining with [World Voice] though.

_ Vladina: On the same level is abusing OP items like a debuffing [Artifact] sword or overly-enchanted stick. Good luck, Block A, you're gonna need it against these two monsters.

_ Melodyn: did not use his rod in the first round, but he surely has it ready in his pants…' pocket, ready to fire at a moment's notice. I wonder if it will be longer than the previous one~?

_ Choruse: It will be. What else can he do when his ability to shoot more than once is a lost cause anyway?

The rich guildmaster's chance to win the tournament: Not impossible. His reputation's odds of leaving the arena intact: Zero.

_ Vladina: Big toys aside, the worst ones are those who use no special trick, don't you think?

No surprise, no trickery. In other words, no weakness to be exploited after a countermeasure is found. The only way to beat such brute force tactics is to have your own trick, or apply greater brute force yourself.

As someone whose main specialization is attacking weak points, might have a strong bias against this type, since her options are limited. That does not mean her opinions on the matter are invalid though.

The playful discussion continues with the knowledgeable sage providing helpful insights while the waitress duo verbally abuses pretty much everyone on the roster the moment their names come up.

What the commentators and their guest did not do, however, is to give away any info that skews the betting odds too much, mainly by the means of omission.

They did not reveal that the guild affiliation is already largely irrelevant when most without a guild were already defeated in the first round, and the ones who managed to win were good enough to render the argument moot.

Nor did they say anything about the finer details of the strengths and weaknesses of the winning playstyles, their interactions with each other, or countermeasures. Everything was kept at a surface level, so even newbies can understand, but unable to do much with it. Veterans who can already know all of this anyway.

In the end, although the audience feels like they have learned something from the experts on the speaking platform, there's barely any new information that will change their mind in their bets. If anything, they will double down, thinking that they are making an informed choice.

Surely that cannot make their financial situation any worse, right?

While the chat was ongoing, a certain guildmaster of popped out of a hidden trap door used for disposing dead players, then proceeded to nonchalantly jump over the transparent barriers to place new ones in front of the seats as if she owns the damn place.

Appearances win in the end once again however. Who could scold an earnest little girl with a bright smile working her hardest for their sake? A few raised their eyebrows, but soon approvingly waved at her for the good work.

She even returned the gestures in kind, which melted the hearts of many degenerates in view. Figuratively, of course.

Except for the ominous dark glows, inhuman physical abilities, and a hyperspace inventory that somehow contained enough barriers to surround a stadium, Black Mantis was no doubt a good girl in today's event.

Not that she was ever a bad girl. Perish the thought!

_ Melodyn: Thank you for you inputs, . We shall see how many homes and families you will destroy with your predictions today.

_ Vladina: Why me!?

_ Choruse: The second round of Blood Sacrifice Battle Royale will begin shortly. Please do not forget to place your bets.

Leaning back on her chair, tries to sip her tea after a job well done, but find herself in quite a cramped space. Must have been the chair.

_ Vladina: By the way…

_ Melodyn & Choruse: Hmm~?

_ Vladina: How long are you two going to sandwich me like this?

Or the two busty waitresses pressing against her from both sides using their body fat.

_ Melodyn: Oh my~ Is this still not enough for you?

_ Choruse: Full frontal assault it is then.

_ Vladina: Are you trying to suffocate me to death?! Go explode, you damn balloon monsters!!!

The psychopathic at the back has a good laugh as the guest of honor gets squished to death by her biggest arch-nemesis.

Going down in glorious "combat", indeed.

____________

The next three rounds were intense, but ultimately did not reveal any new promising newbies rising to power. A bit disappointing, yet unsurprising. It's not like they are in a comic in which a nobody randomly appears and wrecks one of the biggest guilds on her second day or something along those lines.

In Block A, mowed down all opposition by superior firepower. The battlemage from put up a good fight in the last match and got the waitress's HP down to half. Still got murdered soon after though.

, guildmaster of , wielder of Extra Long Rod MkII (dubbed by ), began showing off his scepter as he faced against a surprisingly strong butler in the third round. His opponent used a [Fishy Dumpluck], so it's no wonder why the merchant had such a rough time despite his superior equipment.

On the other hand, the ordinary knight 's fights were abnormally normal. His quirk is engulfing his enemies in a thin black smoke, which is not that different from other debuff effects. Otherwise, nothing stood out in his fights as he valiantly struck down weakened opponents, this time without dying in the process.

The last one to join the quarterfinals in this block is the haughty leader of the Blue Blood Federation alliance, . With no [Artifact] grade equipment of his own and a glass cannon build, the player base is treating him as a discount , with melee weapon, and cat ears.

Apparently, the audience cares more about the last part than his skillsets or potential tricks up his sleeve.

As for Block B, , the macho ringleader of Unity of Mankind, and also 's sworn enemy, was eliminated by a maid in his own alliance. Whether by bad matchup, underestimation of his (formerly) poor subordinate, a delicious dumpling, or a combination of those, the maid defeated him in the name of after a brutal battle.

Everyone decided not to ask which side she was actually on.

and his fiery bird Etena had it almost too easy. His last enemy barely managed to defeat the bird once, after which the guildmaster promptly cast [Resurrection] like it was no big deal. Compared to what he usually goes through, it really wasn't.

Next one to join the quarterfinals was , pincushioning everyone on his path to greatness. Even some AoE attacks were thrown his way to no avail. It would only take one attack to kill him. Unfortunately, or expectedly, that one attack never came.

And last but not least, the cavalry elf. Saved for a close [Slam] that almost knocked her off the stage for a ring out, she won quite handily in the same manner as . That being said, this reckless elf was way too close to her enemies instead of staying back and let her pet do the killing.

The game-winning strategy of a no-death summoner run is going strong as ever.

____________

_ Melodyn & Choruse: Thank you for the wait~ The quarterfinals will begin shortly. For the first match…

With 120 out of 128 participants dead or knocked off the stage, mostly dead, the stadium heats up like never before. Eight players against each other, most are big names even before this tournament, and their prowess proven in their previous fights. The stakes are high, and the betting money higher. One wrong move can be the difference between wealth and poverty for a good chunk of the players sitting here and around the game world.

And as statistics goes, the majority of them would make the poverty line look like a luxury by the time this event is done, if it has not already.

_ Thelia: They really are going to let just… pick up all of the dividing barriers, four arena rings, plop down a new one bigger than all combined in their place, and not batting an eye huh? Oh, this squid is good.

For reference, each small ring is more than 20 meters in diameter, which is more than most buildings' height in Tyrel. The big ring itself is the original one used in the prelims, which takes up most of the stage area. Their weight must be a few tons at minimum, and the little girl was skipping around with such baggage, totally unencumbered.

Physics is taking a nice vacation today as well.

_ Helen: I'm pre~tty sure it's a bit too late to worry about that? Hmm~ The steak is not half bad either. Here, say "Ah~".

_ Thelia: Ah- *Nom* Un, it's good.

In hours-long events, snacks are indispensable. Whether steaks can be considered a snack is up for debate though.

Around the brazenly flirting couple, most are also enjoying their own snack, in tears.

It's because the food is delicious, okay? They are definitely not upset about not having a cute girlfriend to enjoy it with, which that oblivious couple over there is totally not helping!

and cooked the food themselves, but it wasn't the case for the rest of the audience. Players here can do many things, but cooking is not one of them. Cooking alone in the wilderness is time-consuming, and sad. Mostly sad, really.

So, the solution is a no-brainer: They bought the food, like any sane person would do upon entering a theatre.

There was no way the cafeteria crew would ignore the golden opportunity to provide their services in this place full of players with money to burn. As such, speed demons of are blazing through the crowds with their food carts, selling an amount of food that is comparable to their guildmaster's inventory weight. They might not have the STR to carry all of it, but they have the numbers, and more importantly, [Recall] to go back and forth between runs.

It is reassuring to see the popcorn being delivered by logistic on a scale normally seen only in warfare.

Their hard work was for a reason. This is a time when patrons eat food for the atmosphere rather than the buffs. Therefore, no one would mind if their meals were made from cheap and numerous low-quality materials which do not provide good buffs. The virtual taste buds' satisfaction is all that matters.

It is also a time when a price hike does not raise questions. Of course, blatantly charging double would be too obvious, so they did not. However, since the cooks' monetary and time expenses are reduced to half by crafting with the low-level materials in question, the result was pretty much the same.

And because more sales mean more profit, they even put in a 10% sale. To the spectators, having the cost staying the same in a big event is already a miracle. A sale appears borderline suicidal in the economic sense, until one looks at their actual profit margin gained by cutting corners and realizes that the sale was only a façade. The price was increased all along, just in a subtler way.

The cafeteria is already raking in cash even before the climax of the tournament, regardless of each member's gambling effort.

So is , for their cutthroat services as analysts for gamblers. Their representatives in the tournament are already out, so this is the only thing left for them to do for profit, really.

is not getting much out of this, surprisingly, except for a notable surge in sales of cheap cooking materials. If the busty managers were hired individually as consultants by a certain former bartender, they certainly did not inform their busy superior.

____________

On the other side of the arena, behind the commentators, two guildmasters are casually crunching their popcorns while discussing the current situation of the tournament.

_ Cinrald: Out of the big four guilds, two were eliminated. Two only have guildmasters left. On the other hand, two new guilds have both members in quarterfinals… Well, this is embarrassing.

The archer is laughing heartily, as if she expected this outcome. Then again, this is also the person who laughs when the odds are against her. She is simply enjoying the fights and cares not about the winner's identity.

_ Vladina: I would not call or new guilds per se. Their core members are as old as us. Our guild was not combat-oriented so it's understandable, although I was hoping they could make it further for more dumplings…

_ Cinrald: Mine were good soldiers, but they were outclassed by and . Haaa~ I wish I could have joined too~!

Judging by the performance in the past rounds, and might have had a chance if they had been put against the lesser-known players, namely the players from the new alliances. Instead, they had to face the strongest killing machines in their blocks early on, and suffered a predictable defeat.

The two are not upset by it though. was never one to cry over spilled milk, and thinks that they had already lost if they needed a good matchup to win to begin with.

_ Vladina: Why didn't you? It's not like someone hired you to stay here, unlike me.

_ Cinrald: I have way too much information on the participants as the organizer. Will join the fray when someone else rented the place and hold a new tournament.

_ Vladina: Why the heck are you always so obsessed with a fair fight when yours opponents don't even understand that concept!

She was talking about a particular sprouty girl, but considering that all of 's recent major enemies, except for the Nox, were involved with that cutie and never had a one-versus-one proper, one way or another… The statement was not wrong, technically.

_ Cinrald: *Shrugs* That's just how I am. Oh, why don't you call your dead members up here? To have more variety during the analysis.

This woman is already being influenced by the balloon monsters and whoever in charge of the event planning, silently thinks . It is draining to be the only sane person sometimes.

_ Vladina: They are still dead down there because you asked them to stay dead. What kind of administrative nightmare do you have that requires them to stay there for so long anyway?

None of the dead players have come out, or at least the ones that she's acquainted with. For what is supposed to be some bookkeeping and possibly distribution of rewards, whatever is doing with them is taking forever.

To her surprise, is tilting her head in confusion as well.

_ Cinrald: No idea? That's 's job.

_ Vladina: Eh?

_ Cinrald: She asked for the job in exchange for the sponsorship, so I just leave a party of janitors down there with her to help with whatever she wants to do.

_ Vladina: …I think my ears are failing me. I thought you said something about my sprout girl PAYING you to WORK for you.

_ Cinrald: I didn't say anything about her being yours, but you got the rest correctly.

facepalms.

Not what a high class gothic lolita should be seen doing, but she has to do that anyway.

_ Vladina: And you just accepted that without any question whatsoever?!

Knowing the cute pacifist girl, there is probably no complex hidden scheme filled with backstabbing and betrayals in the work. It was way too obvious for one. Unless the maniacs in her guild were involved, she most likely only wanted something and overdid the compensation one way or another.

The consequences of her trying to achieve that "something", however, are another question altogether. One does not have to be a perverted loli sage to know that after a few run-ins with the person in question.

_ Cinrald: What else was I supposed to do? If it weren't for her, I doubt we could even fill the stadium…

_ Vladina: Have normal people accompany her! What if you guys' obsession with muscles spreads to my dear little girl?!

_ Cinrald: That point?!

In fact, not being a perverted loli sage and having sane priorities may just be the better choice to foresee the incoming troubles.

The dead gladiators of and were ordered to keep an eye on Black Mantis soon after. Unfortunately, sneaking around in a cardboard box was rejected as dead bodies have a hard time sneaking, or do anything for that matter.

--- Topic: Recall network monopoly ---

## Big Hammer

A delivery girl just Recalled next to me for the third time in five minutes. This begs a question, the spell is a logistician's dream comes true, so why is everyone letting Sapling Cuisine have monopoly on the Recall network around the world? (?_?)

##

## Deeply Intelligent

We are not though? (°_°)

Contrary to gossips and rumors, we Phoenix Ashes do not reinforce our encampments on foot. Admittedly, our Recall infrastructure consists of a big container filled with Recall stones in a corner of our guildhall, but it does the job of bringing our members to the frontline without burning half of their MP casting the skill.

##

## Manly Warrior

I think Pathwrecker was doing the same during their expeditions.

Not sure why BB Conglomerate did not try to make money off a public network though. We don’t have towns outside of Tyrel yet, but there is a lot of demand for quickly moving around hunting zones.

##

## Silver Merchant

We did, and it didn't work. (^_^;)

Even with Blueprint to somewhat protect the destination constructions, a raid will destroy them, rendering them unavailable for a few hours until respawn. Cafeteria's network is immune to this somehow. We cannot reverse-engineer this since no one, probably including the monsters, knows where the heck their constructions are!

Efficiency for hybrid Recall items are ridiculously bad. Those of you who complain about the pricing of the cafeteria, the estimated minimum price in our plans just to break even will give you a really, really bad time. (;_;)

Consumable Recall items are not better. We can't afford to have an army of crafters churning out those orbs without making the cafeteria's menu look cheap in comparison.

As you can see, there was no way to make a profit from such a massive project. We were still bickering with other guilds back then, so there was no incentive to lose money on something that would help the enemies, even if it would also help ourselves.

Now that we have a common enemy to fight against, said enemy is already offering that very service at a price and quality we cannot refuse. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

##

## CuteIsJustice

So money talks in the end. (ーー;)

I'm not disagreeing with your reasoning but… How dare you consider our angel an enemy!!!

(＃ﾟДﾟ)

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