Chapter 192: Clearing the First Round; The Dejected Sora and Shiro.
....
Seito remained silent, his gaze fixed intently on the two players.
A moment later...
Pop!
The girl's head exploded instantly. The sight left the young man standing beside her utterly shell-shocked.
At that exact moment, Seito obtained the final piece of the puzzle he had been searching for. The youth had already confirmed that the rule wasn't simply "[Sitting Down]," as he had tested that himself and survived. Therefore, the common denominator among the dying players had to be something else.
It was the duration.
Yes! Time! It was an element so mundane that it was incredibly easy to overlook. However, once the elimination mechanism was triggered, deducing the rule became straightforward. Players were allowed to sit, but there was a strict time limit.
Recalling the timeline of the players' deaths from the moment they first sat down, Seito made a calculated guess. It had been approximately ten minutes since the bulk of them had taken a seat.
Thus, the rule had to be: [Sitting duration cannot exceed ten minutes].
There might be a slight margin of error, but Seito was confident in the ten-minute mark. In design logic, creators almost always default to clean, round integers.
Without hesitation, Seito raised his arm.
"Record rule: Sitting duration cannot exceed ten minutes."
[Recording Successful]
[Current Rules Recorded: 5/6]
With five rules secured, Seito only needed to uncover the final one to clear the stage. He already had a strong suspicion about what it was: the survivor count.
Seito rubbed his chin and attempted to record his theory.
"Record rule: One player remains."
[Recording Failed]
The result didn't surprise him. It was merely a calculated trial-and-error attempt to narrow down the possibilities. More importantly, he wanted to ensure Kuang cleared the round as well—every guild member he could save was a win for The Fatui.
Just then...
One player suddenly erupted into action, unleashing a massive burst of magic. In an instant, every player on the field was engulfed in the spell's radius.
"Die!"
BOOM!!
The player's attack power was staggering; by current standards, he was easily considered an elite among the Eastern's player base. A few players died instantly from the raw damage, while the majority instinctively tried to run—triggering the [Running] rule and causing their immediate elimination.
In the blink of an eye, only five players remained in the entire zone.
Seito looked at the aggressor impassively, retracting the Dimensional Cube that had been hovering protectively over Kuang's head.
[Player: High-Energy Mage Lord]
[Level: 61]
"That scared the life out of me," Kuang exhaled a long breath of relief. If Seito hadn't deployed his weapon to shield him, he would have been wiped out along with the rest.
"It seems your initial rule was that one as well," a female player named July remarked, looking at the mage with a smirk.
"I just prefer to be cautious," another player, Shadowless, added with a smile.
"Exactly," Mage Lord nodded. "I'm sure everyone has realized by now that one of the rules is [Maintaining Distance]. Now that we've seen the trigger for this final rule, we just need to cooperate and piece the rest together."
He glanced at the corpses. "The dead players won't be stupid enough to trigger the rules they already know in the next round, so thinning them out here was the right move."
Mage Lord had a very clear grasp of the situation. Once a rule was triggered, survivors wouldn't repeat the mistake. Their conversation, however, allowed Seito to confirm that these three held the piece he was missing.
"Record rule: Five players remain."
[Recording Successful]
[Current Rules Recorded: 6/6]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the stage.]
[You have one minute remaining in the instance.]
[Zone Announcement: Player 'Seito' has recorded six rules and cleared the stage.]
Hearing the system prompt, the other four froze and turned their eyes toward Seito. Seito simply looked at Kuang.
"I'm sending you the info now. Record the rules."
The event featured a local chat function restricted to the activity zone.
"Yes, sir!" Kuang nodded vigorously, raising his arm as Seito sent the full list.
Ten seconds later...
[Zone Announcement: Player 'Kuang has recorded six rules and cleared the stage.]
Flushed with excitement, Kuang looked at Seito with pure adoration. "Thank you, Guild Master!"
Seito waved it off and turned back to the other three. "I see you're all solo players. If you can figure out the final rule and clear this, how about joining my guild after the event?"
One can never have too many talents. If these three could survive this ordeal, Seito was happy to bring them under his wing.
"Great God Seito... are you serious?" July's eyes sparkled, searching for confirmation.
"I am," Seito replied with a faint smile.
The three were overjoyed. "Don't worry, Seito! We'll definitely clear this!"
Shadowless thumped his chest, brimming with confidence.
"Fine. We'll be heading out first, then." With those words, Seito exited the instance. Kuang followed suit.
God Domain: 30th Floor.
Inside the Imperial Palace.
The moment Seito returned, he was stunned to see the entire Executive roster already gathered and waiting.
"You guys cleared it that fast?" Seito blurted out.
"Oh, Seito, you're back," Sora muttered, looking incredibly dejected.
"What happened to you?" Seito asked, his curiosity piqued by Sora's gloomy aura.
"Sigh," Sora shook his head. "Shiro and I got back about two minutes before you. But Maple and the others... it seems they all got matched into the same instance and essentially speed-ran the entire first round."
Seito: "??"
Speed-run? How?
"Tell me the details." Seito sat down, his interest fully engaged. Sora and Shiro quickly began to recount the story.
.....
Thank you for reading.