As soon as the news was released, both the forums and the people in Solaria immediately exploded with excitement.
Some residents of the Moon Elf territory were already familiar with Alto's generous prize events since it wasn't the first time he'd organized something like this.
Last time, he held a Stardew Valley competition with substantial rewards. It's just that no one expected the prize pool to be so terrifyingly huge this time around.
"Am I seeing this right? One, two, three, four... eight zeros?"
"One hundred million Bailey? Am I dreaming?"
"What hundred million? What are you guys talking about?!"
A passing elf looked at the crowded group with confusion, and someone nearby immediately explained it to him enthusiastically.
"Look at what's written on the poster! A survival competition with a prize of exactly one hundred million."
"What? Move aside, let me see!"
Everyone was startled by Alto's grand gesture of wealth.
[Holy crap, I just woke up and saw the huge news! (Dazed)]
[A thousand players total, even if it's split equally among everyone, that's still a hundred thousand Bailey each! (Shocked)]
[More than that, though, what if I'm the only one left standing at the end? One hundred million! I couldn't spend it all in a lifetime! (Drooling)]
[Can't spend it all, simply can't spend it all!]
[What are you dreaming about? Let's see if you can survive a hundred days first! It would be hilarious if you got killed by a Dodo at the very start!]
[Sign up quickly, sign up quickly!]
[Great Master Alto is giving out benefits again, I'm so moved!!]
[I'm up to my ears in debt right now, so I finally have a chance to turn things around. I'm signing up!]
[I wasn't very interested in these action games before, but now I have to buy a copy. My child is still growing up, and I want it to have a better life than me!]
[Is this Great Master Alto you're talking about reliable? It's not a scam, is it? (Shy)]
This person seemed to be a newbie from Solaria who didn't know about Alto too well.
[Where did you come from? You don't even know Great Master Alto? Let me put it this way: Your own father saying he'll give you a million isn't as reliable as Great Master Alto saying he'll give you a million!]
[Whoa, a user from Solaria! Everyone, come look!]
[Where? Where? Let me take a look, how rare!]
The news spread like wildfire across the empire, and many people who were originally uninterested were now attracted by this massive gesture.
Some hadn't paid any attention before, but now heard about this survival competition from their family or friends.
And the players who were already playing ARK were even more frenzied with determination.
The probability of being one of the 900 randomly selected players was still too low for comfort.
After all, the number of players signing up this time would likely exceed ten million across the empire.
Randomly picking 900 from that pool was practically like winning the lottery.
But the first hundred players to clear a boss room were guaranteed entry, so now it became a contest of everyone's understanding of ARK and their raw strength.
With the players' exploration efforts, most of the ten Artifact Caves on The Island had been discovered already. Some of the stronger players had even found some Artifacts through skill and sheer luck. And these Artifacts were the keys to opening the Obelisks for boss fights.
Even the more casual players couldn't sit still anymore and began exploring the world of The Island one after another.
Another evening came, and Lake passed by the entrance of the internet cafe again on his way home.
He was immediately attracted by the poster at the door that glowed in the lamplight.
"One hundred million!"
His breathing quickened at the number.
How much money is that?
As long as one could survive until the last day, they could share the massive prize pool.
"If I can get this prize money, I'd have enough to treat my mother's illness!"
If he could get even a million Bailey, he could buy a bottle with water of the Fountain of Life, and his mother's illness might finally be cured.
After thinking for a while and wrestling with the decision, he finally made up his mind and planned to give it a try.
However, he still went home first. After cooking dinner and feeding his mother her medicine and putting her to bed comfortably, he snuck back out.
He returned to the internet cafe entrance with determination.
"Two Bailey per hour, top up 100 for a membership, and get 20 hours for free. Overnight from 10 PM to 8 AM is only 10 Bailey!"
Behind the counter was a female elf, since Alto had gone back to sleep by now.
Lake's eyes lit up when he heard the price. He hadn't expected the overnight rate to be so cheap.
So he directly chose the overnight option for maximum playtime.
Now, with more and more internet cafes opening across the city, the foot traffic here had been greatly eased. Lake quickly found his seat and impatiently entered the world of ARK to start exploring.
Jose and Boshita also received the news about the competition.
Now, Jose couldn't be bothered to seek revenge on Boshita anymore. Instead, he planned to secure a spot in the top hundred first.
His goal was to become number one and then severely humiliate Boshita in front of everyone.
There are three major bosses on The Island, jokingly known as the "Three Idiots of The Island" by experienced players.
To fight the bosses, one first needed to obtain different Artifacts from caves scattered across the map.
The Broodmother Lysrix, Megapithecus, and the Dragon each corresponded to different Artifact sets.
According to normal progression strategies, the Broodmother Lysrix was the weakest, followed by Megapithecus, and the Dragon was the strongest by far.
The materials needed for the Broodmother Lysrix boss room were also relatively simple compared to the others.
But even for the simplest one, the three Artifacts of Wisdom, Hunter, and Massive were not easy to obtain.
The current players' progress wasn't very high overall. Most couldn't even tame a Tyrannosaurus Rex yet.
Various game mechanics were still being explored and discovered.
Many wouldn't have even known that ARK had bosses if it weren't for the competition announcement.
But as more information was revealed through the forums, many also learned that these caves and Artifacts were related to the boss rooms of the Red, Green, and Blue Obelisks.
The time to announce the player list would be when the first hundred qualifying players emerged.
At the same time, to accommodate a thousand players simultaneously, Alto made significant changes to the map.
The entire map of The Island was enlarged by dozens of times. What was originally just an island had completely turned into a sprawling continent.
Alto also made modifications to specific areas for better gameplay.
For example, the Redwood Forests truly became a massive forest, and Griffins would appear in the towering mountain range of Far's Peak.
Combined with various realistic environmental processes, a world filled with a truly ancient and mysterious atmosphere was created.
As the first networking experiment of this scale, Alto attached great importance to this competition.
After this event succeeded, players could experience the fun of true online gameplay.
Before long, a leaderboard appeared on his homepage for all to see.
Currently, this leaderboard was still blank and waiting.
It would be updated in real time to announce the qualifying players' rankings.
However, it didn't take long for something unexpected to happen.
Because a name had already appeared on the leaderboard despite the competition just being announced.
Some people browsing the forums immediately noticed the change.
[What the hell? I've only just touched my first Artifact, and you're telling me someone has already cleared a boss room?]
[That's incredible! Could this person be some prodigy in reality?]
[Everyone's progress is so fast compared to mine. I'm still researching how to tame Raptors!]
[Does anyone know how to get down into the Swamp Cave? The poison inside is simply unbearable!]
[Who is this person? I've never heard of this ID before!]
On the leaderboard, a single name appeared in the number one position.