The enormous gray dome in the sky had now shrunk to a visibly terrifying size.
The once-vast island now had less than two kilometers of safe-zone diameter remaining in its center.
Outside this tiny area, the gray lazy aura pressed inward like an insurmountable wall, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression as it slowly yet steadily closed in.
For the monsters at the top of the food chain, this was a hunting ground.
But for the "ordinary people" in the middle ranks, those holding a few golden tokens yet lacking the strength to challenge the top-tier monsters,
This place had become a pressure cooker straight out of hell.
BOOM!!
A commander who had just "respawned" behind a boulder hadn't even steadied his footing or opened his eyes before a terrifying gravity force slammed him directly into the dirt.
THUD!
"Aw hell… again?!"
The commander looked ready to cry.
He originally had three golden tokens. Earlier, Blake had cut him down once and taken one. After teleporting, he somehow got dropped directly beside that blind old man!
"Benefactor, since you've arrived, please leave one more token behind."
Issho sat cross-legged atop a rock, holding a bowl of tea from who-knows-where. One hand gently rested on his cane sword while he spoke with the warmth of someone asking a neighbor to borrow soy sauce.
But the gravity pressing down was real enough to crush bones.
"I'll give it! I'll give it already!!"
The commander tearfully threw over another golden token.
DING
The moment the token left his hand, he transformed into white light once more and was randomly teleported elsewhere on the island.
However, barely ten seconds later, "AAAAAHHHHH! HELP! THERE'S A TREE DEMON!!"
The commander's miserable scream echoed through the entire arena broadcast.
This time, he had landed inside Aramaki's forest zone and got bundled into a human dumpling by thorny vines before even touching the ground.
Not only did he lose his final token,
He almost lost his underwear too after Aramaki tried using it as fertilizer.
"Eliminated! Contestant No. 44: token count reduced to zero, out!"
Rehn's merciless voice rang through the broadcast.
…..
Scenes like this were now happening nonstop inside the tiny safe zone.
Because the activity range had shrunk so drastically, the so-called "random teleportation" had become meaningless.
No matter where you teleported, there were only two outcomes: Either you landed beside a top-tier monster and got extorted on the spot, or you landed amidst a pack of bloodthirsty wolves and got beaten senseless.
This wasn't "respawning."
This was an infinite death-delivery simulator.
"Damn it… this game is impossible now!!"
Behind a pile of rubble, the centipede-scarred brute who earlier led the twenty-man ambush on Shelby was now panting heavily, drenched in blood.
Of the twenty-plus men originally following him, fewer than ten remained.
All wounded. All terrified.
"Boss… we only have two golden tokens left…"
One subordinate spoke with tears in his voice.
"In the last wave, Third and Fourth Brother teleported in front of Aramaki and got knocked out before they could even move… this is impossible!"
"Yeah, Boss! That blind guy, the tree guy, the swordsman, and that pretty boy, those four practically monopolized the whole area!"
"The moment we show ourselves, even just to breathe, they find us immediately!"
"At this rate our remaining tokens are gonna get stolen sooner or later! Then not only will we miss the top ten, we'll lose even the guaranteed money!"
The centipede-scarred brute tightly gripped the two remaining golden tokens.
They were the group's last hope.
Their ticket to wealth for the rest of their lives.
If they weren't eliminated, their current ranking would still place them within the top fifty, worth tens of millions of berries each.
But if they stayed here…
RUMBLE!!
Another explosion sounded in the distance as Aramaki's wild laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"LAHAHAHA! WHO ELSE?! GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE!!"
That voice sounded like the grim reaper himself.
"Boss… what do we do…" the subordinates asked in despair.
The brute looked at the glowing tokens in his hand.
Then at the slowly approaching gray curtain.
At that moment, his eyes went through despair…
Then struggle…
"Brothers…"
The centipede-scarred brute suddenly spoke.
His voice trembled, yet carried a strange determination.
"What if… we get eliminated right now?"
"Would these two tokens still get stolen?"
The subordinates froze.
"Huh? If we get eliminated… our points should lock in, right? So… probably not?"
"Exactly!!"
The brute suddenly slapped his thigh, wisdom blazing in his eyes.
"The rules say tokens can only be stolen from active participants!"
"If we voluntarily leave the field… then this becomes our final score!"
"But Boss…"
One subordinate weakly asked,
"How do we leave? There's no surrender button. And if those monsters catch us, they'll steal our tokens before throwing us out…"
"IDIOT!!"
The brute pointed dramatically at the gray, sleep-inducing zone behind them.
"THERE!!"
"THAT'S THE EXIT!!"
"That's Lord Renzo's domain! The moment you go in, you instantly fall asleep!"
"As soon as we pass out, the system judges us unconscious and eliminates us! Then the helicopters come pick us up!"
"And…"
The brute swallowed hard, his face showing an almost religious expression.
"That's Lord Renzo's domain… they say sleeping in there feels amazing."
"We don't need to get beaten half to death!"
"We just need to…"
"Run in! Lie down! Sleep!!"
These words struck the commanders like divine enlightenment.
'That's right!'
'Why stay here getting beaten up?'
'Why wait to get robbed?'
'If I lie down now, my money stays my money forever!'
"Boss is a genius!!!"
"Boss is amazing!!!"
"Then what are we waiting for?! LET'S GO SLEEP!!"
The next second, a scene unforgettable to audiences worldwide appeared.
The commanders who had just been desperately resisting suddenly turned around like lunatics.
Instead of charging toward the safe-zone center,
They launched a full sprint toward the gray sloth zone representing "elimination" and "defeat"!!!
"CHARGE!!! I WANNA SLEEP!!!"
"NOBODY STOP ME!! I'M GOING TO SLEEP IN LORD RENZO'S EMBRACE!!"
"DAMN SLOTH ZONE, HERE I COME! PUT ME TO SLEEP ALREADY!!"
…
The previously intense commentary abruptly stalled.
Rehn stared at the screen, microphone in hand, mouth hanging open in a perfect O-shape as his diamond-studded sunglasses slipped down his nose.
"Th-this… what kind of strategy is this?!"
"A suicide charge?! No… a self-sleep charge?!"
The audience was equally stunned.
"What are they doing? That's the sloth zone! Entering means losing!"
"No, wait! Look! That centipede-scar guy rushed in! He collapsed! He… he fell asleep!"
"And then?! Then the rescue helicopter came and carried him away! His tokens are still with him!!"
"HOLY SHIT!!!"
At that moment, everyone understood.
"GENIUS! THIS IS FUCKING GENIUS!!"
"Protect your current score by voluntarily eliminating yourself!"
"Instead of getting robbed clean by the monsters, just run away with your existing money! THAT'S TRUE EFFICIENCY!!"
"I'VE LEARNED SOMETHING TODAY!"
After a brief moment of shock, Rehn immediately reverted to his profiteer persona and gave this behavior an extremely prestigious title:
"Ladies and gentlemen!! This is a historic moment!!" Rehn roared.
"This is the ultimate understanding of the word efficiency!"
"When facing unbeatable enemies, blind persistence is stupidity!"
"Only those who know how to cut losses in time, who know when to lie flat at the perfect moment, are the true winners in life!!"
"Let us applaud these wise men who know when to retreat bravely!!"
…
This "suicidal sleeping" tactic spread across the battlefield like a plague.
Contestants who had been desperately fleeing from Aramaki and Issho suddenly awakened to enlightenment after witnessing this scene.
"DAMN IT! I QUIT!!"
A swordsman who had literally run out of his pants while fleeing Aramaki looked at the monstrous tree demon ahead,
Then decisively turned around and leaped straight into the sloth zone behind him.
"Aramaki! You'll NEVER steal my tokens! I'm going to sleep! BLEH!"
THUD!
He closed his eyes midair and was already snoring when he landed.
A rescue hook perfectly snagged his belt and lifted him off the battlefield.
"I'm quitting too! I've got two tokens already! Enough to buy a house!"
"Take me with you! This damn tournament is exhausting! I wanna eat meat in my dreams!"
For a time, the battlefield's entire atmosphere changed.
What had been a brutal death arena became, a sleeping competition.
Groups of contestants rushed eagerly into the sloth zone, each trying to fall asleep faster and more stylishly than the last.
Two people even fought over a "good sleeping spot" closest to the sloth zone.
In the end, they rolled into the gray mist while hugging each other and fell asleep smiling.
…
"…"
Aramaki stopped chasing.
Countless vines still danced violently behind him, yet his prey willingly dove into the gray domain that even he found unpleasant.
"These bastards… they'd rather go sleep than fight me?!"
Aramaki felt insulted.
"Am I really that terrifying?! HUH?!"
Meanwhile, Issho was equally stunned.
He had just prepared to unleash gravity suppression when the contestants opposite him bowed respectfully and said:
"Uncle, thank you for your hard work. We'll sleep first in respect."
Then they turned around and ran into the sloth zone.
"Uh…"
Issho scratched his head and sheathed his sword again.
"The younger generation nowadays…"
"They really do understand healthy living…"
…
On the viewing platform, Renzo stared at the absurd scene unfolding on the screen, his cola freezing halfway to his lips.
"Heh…"
He laughed and not just lightly, he laughed harder than when Blake sliced apart the giant mech.
"Not bad."
Renzo nodded approvingly.
"Now these are G-5 soldiers."
"Compared to idiots who only know how to fight to the bitter end, I prefer people like this…"
He pointed at the centipede-scarred brute sleeping while drooling over his tokens.
"People who understand their own limits."
"Who know when to work hard…"
"And when to give up."
"That's what it means to truly understand life."
Beside him, Kizaru clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Maa~… this kind of tactic is a first even for an old marine like me."
"If you can't win, just go sleep…"
"Is this what you always mean, Renzo-kun, when you say 'as long as I lie down fast enough, the sickle can't cut me'~?"
"Correct."
Renzo pulled down his eye mask again, clearly in a good mood.
"Now that the fodder's all cleared out…"
"The only ones left…"
His Observation Haki swept across the final safe zone, now compressed to barely one kilometer in diameter.
Only a handful of people remained.
Issho.
Aramaki.
Blake.
Shelby.
"The real finals…"
"Are finally beginning."
…
Final Circle, Central Zone.
The gray curtain had closed in right before them, compressing the final living space into a circular gladiator arena.
The air felt heavy like molten lead.
No more fodder.
No more opportunists.
Only the true top-tier powerhouses of this sea remained.
"Ladies and gentlemen."
Rehn's voice echoed through the final broadcast, trembling with excitement.
"The trash has left the stage."
"Now the gods begin their battle!"
"Before you lies the final step toward ultimate glory!"
"The chest containing the Dark-Dark Fruit is right at the center of this arena!"
"Who will claim it?"
"Who will become the final victor?"
"G-5 First Annual Genius Efficiency Martial Arts Tournament, FINAL SHOWDOWN!!"
"BEGIN!!!"
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!
Four terrifying auras exploded simultaneously in that very instant.