Chapter 50: The Opening
Mr. Rat was holding a trembling 'Lalata Star' cute girl, who was already on the verge of tears, hoping for a hero to come and save her. Unfortunately, those 'heroes' renowned throughout the void all silently turned their heads away, pretending not to see.
"Truly a life of hard work."
Mr. Rat took a gulp of strong liquor, his gaze shifting to the contestants' viewing area.
Su Xiao spotted Mr. Rat and recalled who he was. Back when he was advancing from the first rank to the second rank in the survival trial world, Mr. Rat had been something like a referee.
Now, seeing Mr. Rat appear in the Void Arena, Su Xiao sensed a different meaning behind it.
Mr. Rat was also scanning the contestants' viewing area. Soon, Su Xiao and Mr. Rat locked eyes. Mr. Rat's eyes lit up, a smile spreading across his face as a few black whiskers on his lips twitched.
As they faced each other, Mr. Rat pointed at Su Xiao, then raised his arm, revealing a temporary mark engraved on the back of his hand.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's pupils contracted sharply. Then, understanding dawned on him, and the constant tension in his heart finally eased.
What was engraved on the back of Mr. Rat's hand was a temporary Reincarnation Paradise mark. In other words, Mr. Rat had likely accepted a commission or transaction from Reincarnation Paradise to come to the Void Arena.
What this signified needed no further explanation. Reincarnation Paradise had sent Su Xiao, Pi Pang, and the others to the Void Arena. For them, who had yet to advance to the third rank, it was still too early to come into contact with the void. Even after advancing to the third rank, they still wouldn't be qualified to roam the void.
Therefore, Reincarnation Paradise had taken a precautionary measure—Mr. Rat.
If contractors or hunters died in the arena combat, Reincarnation Paradise wouldn't intervene. But if they faced danger outside the arena, Reincarnation Paradise wouldn't stand idly by.
Reincarnation Paradise seemed reluctant to overly interfere with the rules of the void, so Mr. Rat was brought in.
Seeing Mr. Rat here, Su Xiao felt relieved. It seemed he didn't need to worry about being ambushed after leaving the arena. Mr. Rat's strength was unknown for now, but as a temporary representative of Reincarnation Paradise, would he be weak? Of course not.
"I'm so sleepy, massage my legs."
Mr. Rat crossed his legs, and the tearful little cutie beside him immediately began massaging his legs.
Mr. Rat's appearance didn't affect the arena's atmosphere. The audience was still roaring with waves of cheers.
On the sandy field, six cute girls, about 1.5 meters tall, were brawling. In Su Xiao's view, they were indeed brawling, not fighting to the death.
These 'Lalata Star' girls had flashy moves, with smooth and crisp combat motions. Rather than fighting, they seemed to be putting on a performance.
"Ha!"
A cute girl's chubby hand slapped another cute girl's belly. Both of these little cuties had some animal features—one had rabbit ears, and the other had cat-like paw pads on her hands.
The rabbit-eared girl took a slap from the paw-padded girl. While the audience wasn't paying attention, the rabbit-eared girl glared at the cat-paw girl.
"That hurts~ too much force."
The rabbit-eared girl expressed dissatisfaction, and the cat-paw girl secretly stuck out her tongue.
As the rabbit-eared girl flew through the air, she pressed a mechanism on her wrist.
With a tearing sound, her outer garment burst open, leaving only her underwear. With a thud, her fair body landed on the sand, looking pitiful. This clothing-tearing performance drew strange laughter from the audience.
"Oh ho ho ho~"
The 'gentlemen' in the audience cheered. Watching the pre-match performance was a pleasant pastime.
Soon, the performance match concluded. The rabbit-eared girl who had her clothes torn off won. Since her belly was red from the slap, her teammates decided on the spot to compensate her with the victory.
"Dear audience, the performance match ends here. I wonder how you all felt about it. Personally, I'd give this performance match a 9 out of 10, leaving 1 point so these little cuties don't get too proud."
At the highest commentary booth diagonally above the arena stood a demon tribe member with red skin and two horns on his head.
There's a difference between the demon tribe and the devil tribe. The demon tribe is generally lawful evil, advocating for 'fair' transactions and usually disliking using force. Therefore, demons in the void are mostly merchants.
This demon commentator was hired at a high price by the Void Arena and was a celebrity in the void.
"Everyone, remember me? I am..."
The demon commentator aimed his round microphone at the audience.
"Hark, Hark..."
The audience began chanting in unison.
"That's right! I am the spokesperson for lawful evil, Hark. Void Arena audience, Hark misses you all. Enough chit-chat, let's start the match directly."
Demon Hark's commentary style left the organizers somewhat puzzled. Hark didn't drag out the audience's anticipation and directly announced the start of the match, which was very different from other arena commentators.
The audience suddenly fell silent. In the past, commentators would waste at least half an hour introducing various 'sponsoring' factions or boasting about the organizers—the most boring part.
"Roar!!"
The audience's reaction surprised the organizer's representative. It was too enthusiastic. Even if other commentators exhausted themselves trying to stir up the audience's appetite, they wouldn't get such a strong response.
The organizer's representative signaled to his subordinates to start the match immediately and keep up with Hark's commentary rhythm.
Boom, boom, boom...
The war drums above the Void Arena sounded. After seven drumbeats, the match began.
"Everyone, as the opening match of this Void Arena event, Hark wants to state in advance that this match will be very exciting. First, let's welcome the mechanical tribe warrior, Mr. Oler, who prefers not to reveal his name."
Hearing the phrase 'Mr. Oler, who prefers not to reveal his name,' most of the audience looked bewildered. The sentence just didn't sound right.
A burly, pitch-black man walked into the sandy field. His eyes were mechanical, or rather, his entire body was mechanical in structure. But he wasn't a robot; he was from the mechanical tribe.
The birth of the mechanical tribe dates back many years. The exact process of their creation is unknown. One day, they suddenly appeared, then gradually grew, and now they are one of the major tribes in the void.
The mechanical tribe has independent subjective consciousness. Although their bodies are metal, it's living metal. Strangely, the mechanical tribe has senses like touch, though much weaker than those of biological beings.
The mechanical warrior Oler didn't seem very happy. He had originally planned to reveal his name after winning a match, which would gain him more attention.
But the audience's focus made Oler on the sandy field pause. This warrior didn't know that Demon Hark had seen through his intentions and helped him out. 'Mr. Oler, who prefers not to reveal his name' was far more memorable than revealing his name after a win.
"Next, let's welcome the opponent of our 'Nameless' contestant Oler, contestant Pi Pang. By the way, Mr. Pi Pang comes from some mysterious major faction—so mysterious that even Hark doesn't know what faction it is."