Chapter 1: Ice and Fire - Battle Royale
"Here's the contract for this tournament, Mr. Carter. If you have no questions, just sign here."
Jake Carter didn't answer, but silently took the contract from the woman's hand and began to read it.
[Regarding the Ice and Fire: Battle Royale Game Participation Agreement:
Party A provides Party B with a means of travel and a body to be used in the world of Ice and Fire.
Party B voluntarily travels to the world of Ice and Fire to participate in this tournament and assumes the corresponding legal responsibilities.
Rules Details
Prize Details]
The organizers of the game were an organization from a higher plane that had descended upon Earth over a decade ago, bringing with them extraordinary powers previously unknown to humanity.
Fortunately, their goal wasn't conquest, but... entertainment.
Even more valuable, they abided by local laws. For example, the game Jake was about to participate in required a signed contract beforehand.
It took Jake nearly half an hour to read through the relatively short agreement word by word.
The content of the agreement could be roughly summarized in the following four points:
Tournament Description: This is a tournament held in the world of Ice and Fire—the realm of Westeros and Essos—with a total of one hundred players participating. Victory Rules: After eliminating all players outside the alliance or when the alliance's total points exceed 10,000, victory is declared upon unanimous agreement by all players in the alliance. If the alliance players cannot reach a consensus, the alliance will automatically disband.
(Players can form alliances through the auxiliary system after entering the game. Each alliance cannot exceed 4 members.)
After the final victory is declared, all surviving players will be transported back to their original world one hour after the start of the game.
Prize Rules: A single victory earns $10 billion; a two-player victory earns $1 billion split equally; a three-player victory earns $10 million split equally; a four-player victory earns $1 million split equally. Risk Warning: A player's death during the game will result in actual death.
"So, Mr. Carter," the receptionist from the organizing company asked after seeing Jake put down the documents, "Do you have any other questions?"
"Of course," Jake nodded. "As far as I know, you've held similar competitions more than once before, but the prize money was always average. But this time, the prize money is unprecedentedly high. I want to know why."
"Did you notice the name of our competition?"
"Ice and Fire Battle Royale?" Jake raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I don't quite understand the name either. I've seen your previous competitions, and they were all lord-building competitions, so..."
"So the type of our competition this time is different from before," the receptionist said. "Our previous competitions usually focused on territorial expansion after the player becomes a lord. Therefore, we provided players with greater development support to help them quickly pass the early stages.
In the later stages of those games, the probability of player death dropped sharply. Because when a player found they had lost the chance of winning, they only needed to surrender, find a small village to hide in, and wait until the other players met the victory conditions. Then they could return to the original world as a survivor."
"But this time is different?"
"Yes, this time we've incorporated competition throughout the entire game. This means players will be caught in fierce competition, even to the point of killing each other, from the moment they land in Westeros.
Furthermore, this time we'll only provide players with extremely limited development resources, which they must fight for at great risk. In fact, I can tell you that a large portion of players may not receive a single resource from the support system throughout the entire game, but will instead be exhausted by certain mechanics.
Therefore, in this competition, the risks faced by players are greater than any previous ones. It can even be said that it wouldn't be surprising if only a single-digit number of players survived this competition."
"Can you tell me more specific information? For example, the mechanism you mentioned that will make players run for their lives?" Jake interrupted the receptionist.
"Of course not," the receptionist shook her head, maintaining an unchanging professional smile. "Players need to discover any specific game mechanics after entering the game."
"Okay," the receptionist handed the pen to Jake. "I've already informed you of the risks in advance. Before the final list is confirmed, you can choose to withdraw or... sign?"
"You know I have no choice," Jake smiled grimly and shook his head, took the pen, and signed his name on the agreement.
With stage four cancer and less than three months left to live, he couldn't afford the experimental treatments that might save him. No matter how risky this game was, it was his only choice. Even if he died in the game, as long as he could survive for three months in the other world, it would be a profit.
So when he received the invitation from the organizers to participate, he agreed immediately and participated in several preliminary assessments. The assessment was divided into written tests, situational tests, and combat tests, with admission based on the total score.
Although Jake didn't participate in the combat test due to his physical condition, he still stood out from nearly 10,000 applicants with his high scores in the first two categories and secured a spot in the main competition.
"Okay, Mr. Carter, your place in the competition has been officially confirmed." The receptionist operated her tablet. "Please take a rest, and I'll take you to the preparation room after our team has processed all players' participation."
Jake didn't answer, but closed his eyes and waited.
After a while, the receptionist spoke again: "Mr. Carter, a total of 27 players who obtained spots in the main competition have withdrawn. These players have been replaced from the waitlist."
"So few? Less than one-third withdrew?" Jake was a little surprised.
"Well, Mr. Carter, you should know that not all contestants come from stable countries like the United States. For those residents living in war-torn regions, facing a prize of hundreds of millions, even a 90% mortality rate isn't much of a deterrent."
Jake chuckled darkly.
"In addition, I have some not-so-good news for you. The two allies you had arranged beforehand have withdrawn, so you may be fighting alone in the early stages of this competition."
Jake's heart sank.
He had anticipated his allies' withdrawal. After all, both were Americans like him—college students from comfortable middle-class families. It was understandable that they wouldn't want to risk their lives.
But when he actually heard the news, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, because it meant his competition would be even more difficult.
"Mr. Carter, if you're ready, please follow me."
"Okay."
(End of Chapter)
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Power Stone or Review!
P@atreon/Soulforger (50+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01