Data.167 – Old Bowman, The Finals Begin

‘Now, I will explain to you the detailed rules for the finals-nyon!’

Charin reappeared before the tournament began.
It was kind of crazy that there were still unexplained rules with so little time left.

“Though, that does make things more interesting…!”

I muttered as if confident and unfazed.

‘That being said, none of the rules are complicated-nyon! The condition for victory is to annihilate the opposing party! The time limit is 30 minutes! If neither party is annihilated by then, the party with the most survivors will win! If they are the same number, then it will be sudden death! You will have to keep fighting until someone dies-nyon!’

“Oh. Things should move at a good tempo then.”

When it came to sudden death, you would be able to use the map, which would show the positions of friends and enemies alike.
So the battle would not be prolonged because of any running and hiding.
However, this did not apply to situations where you used effects from skills to hide, so stealthy strategies will still work.
Furthermore, clones and dummies appeared on the map as well, so it would not expose the real player.
If anything, it would help confuse the opponent even more.

That being said, it would be better for our party if we defeated the enemy before entering sudden death.
I was a sniper, and so I would not be able to shoot once my position was compromised.
Unless someone like Anne protected me, I would be at a great disadvantage in head-on fights.

I had to attack from a distance where there could be no counter attack.
And kill them before they discover my position.
My basic strategy would not change here.

‘There are several fields where the battles will take place, and they will be selected at random-nyon! They will range from forests, rivers, mountains, ancient and futuristic cities! But don’t worry, none of them have any special gimmicks that can turn the tide of battle-nyon! And there are obviously no traps or monsters either-nyon!’

So the field will change for every battle…
On top of that, the starting point would also change.
Sometimes you might spawn near the other party members, and sometimes you will be scattered out.
Regardless, you would still spawn at a decent distance from the opposing party. But it would still be possible to run into them before reuniting with your comrades.

A lot of that would be based on luck…and so some people might say that it wasn’t fair.
But I thought that if anything, it was more fair this way.
For instance, say there was one type of field and it was flat.
As there aren’t many obstacles, it would be difficult to hide or launch an ambush.
But someone like me would not be able to make the most of their power without a high platform.

On the other hand, parties that were good with head to head clashes would have an advantage.
With high firepower and high defense, it would be easier to use brute force.
And so if it was the same field the whole time, this party would have the advantage until the final fight.

Because of this, it would be more fair to have random maps.

And the same thinking could be applied to the spawn points.
If you always started the battle at the same place, then players who could attack the spot immediately would have too much of an advantage.
For instance, players who have increased their range…

Yes, this was to stop me…!
If I knew where the enemy was, then I could camp up on Floating Cloud Herd and attack them. And even if they ran away, I could monitor their route.
Things would be too easy for me!

Well, perhaps it was too egotistical to think that the rule had been made for me alone.
But it was true that it was restricting my movements.

‘And lastly! The items used and cool downs for charge attacks and miracle effects will be reset after every battle-nyon! So there is no need to save them for later! You can fight each battle like it’s the last-nyon!’

That was good to hear.
It would hamper us if we had to keep thinking about the future while fighting.
Focus on what’s ahead of you! That was the best.

‘Now, now! It’s time for the first battle of the tournament! Gaming Crocks VS VRHAR! And the field that was selected is…the Holy Forest!’

A forest bathed in mystical light appeared on the viewing monitor.
It was the kind of forest you’d expect to see giant deers and spirits…!

‘Both parties to the battlefield!’

More screens appeared so that they could show individual players.
This way, you could watch all of them.
This battle…I could not just watch it without thinking.
I had to get as much information about VRHAR as I could…!

　◆　◆　◆

Thinking back now, the outcome had been obvious even before it started.
I was focused on trying to learn more about VRHAR.
In other words, without really thinking about it, I knew that Gaming Crocks were going to be defeated.

“8 minutes…”

So in the end, VRHAR had won. And they finished in 8 minutes.
And not one of their members had died.

Not only that, but the only member of VRHAR that had actually fought was Nord.
The other players had just wandered around the field. They hadn’t even drawn their weapons.
There was one member called Gullinkambi, who played a silent flute the whole time, but it didn’t seem like an actual attack.

“While it wasn’t an attack, it must have been sending information to Nord, and supporting him somehow…”

I felt that my guess was right. But I had no proof.
I hadn’t expected to learn everything about them in just one fight, but I expected more than this….
I didn’t even see the Unisons.
However, I would not be discouraged, and would continue to watch all of their battles.
I wanted to learn as much as I could about potential opponents.

And like this, we continued to watch the fights to gather information.
But…they were also very entertaining!
Sometimes they were one-sided, and other times they were excitingly neck and neck.
At some point, I forgot my original purpose and became an ordinary spectator who was enjoying the battles.
To the point that I almost forgot that I was participating in it too…

However, I had more of an athlete’s readiness than I thought.
And so when the time drew near, my focus started to shift to that naturally.

“Are you all ready?”

My comrades who were striving to reach the top all nodded quietly.
It was about to start.