MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to be your host for our inaugural global event." Zero said, with his arms outstretched, the backdrop revealing a myriad of videos running simultaneously, showcasing the diverse biomes of the Mythical Island.

After unveiling the continent, Zero took his time to detail its diverse biomes and the creatures dwelling within, showcasing not only the rare and legendary species but also numerous clans representing various Races.

"Now that I have introduced you to the island, let me share what the event entails," Zero declared, capturing the attention of every player, especially the teams who were kept in the dark about the challenges that awaited them.

"The event will be divided into four stages, with every stage lasting a week," Zero continued, his voice echoing through the virtual expanse.

"The island will have 16 hours of light and 8 hours of night cycles, which will last for the whole month, and in the first stage, both the day and night will present their own challenge,"

"In the day, each team will be on a quest to earn event points by killing creatures ranging from 1★ to 7★, and as the sun goes away and night arrives, they will need to return to one of the three safe zones given to them,"

"In the night, A Crystal of unrest will be teleported to the safe zone that has the most team members or to a random if none are occupied, and it will attract all creatures up to 7★ in unending hordes,"

"If the team could safeguard their crystal till morning, they can cash in the crystal for 1 million event points and could choose to use the points to buy a one-night protection,"

"However, if a team fails to protect the crystal, then they will lose that said safe zone, and once all three safe zones are gone, then three team members at random will be marked with unrest, being chased by creatures till the dawn,"

"Once one of the marked members fell, one of the remaining two members will get marked, with the process repeating again and again, till the total elimination or dawn." Zero said and took a pause, giving false hope that the shitshow was about to be over.

"A Player must enter his team safe zone and rest for an hour to save his earned points, and should a player fall before securing his points, the killer will claim 30%, leaving the rest of the points to be wasted."

"A teammate can instantly resurrect a fallen player by paying a fixed price of 100k points, but if all five members are eliminated, they must either rely on lucky respawns or endure the remainder of the week in dismay."

"As many of the lovely viewers could have guessed, if all three safe zones are destroyed, no new safe zones could be created, meaning the team without a safe zone will have no place to save their points,"

"The safe zones are safe, as no outsider team can enter, and the team that will stay at the top in points will be given a million points every twenty-four hours, without the test of the unrest," Zero said, a bright smile like it was supposed to make the teams feel good.

The audience absorbed the details, the gravity of the upcoming challenges sinking in, building anticipation among the viewers and worry among the teams as everyone knew there would be hidden challenges.

Alex, with his team and every other team, stood suspended mid-air above the island, with the virtual screen telling them what they were going to face on the magical island below.

Everyone was calm and unaffected by the challenges because each team was the cream of the crop, with the 500 players present being 0.01% of the player base.    

However, Alex knew that after a day, every team would realize that they had more on their plate than they could handle, as Zero had not told them the 7★ creature held strength equal to Beast Kings, meaning they could even ragdoll most peak Sixth Rank creatures.

There would only be one 7★ creature that would come near the dawn, and while it was impossible to defeat it, it was easy to guide him away, but before the teams figured that out, 100% of them would have lost one safe zone.

The Corpse Eater was the first surprise, but not the last, as there were services one could buy from the competition shop, namely the team trackers, false location, failed respawn, and various other ways for the teams to mess with the other teams.

Besides that, the clans of various Races living on the continent were not truly peaceful, and if one clan decided to hunt a team, then the team would be like rats hiding to save their lives.

Alex was not worried about the challenges as he had joined the event to enjoy and wash out the bad image his organization had been given.

As his eyes scanned the list of qualified teams, Alex saw many unknown names, and while it was not surprising to change because of the time shift, the surprising thing was that he knew a few big names that should not have come to the main stage this early.

'Magnus The Magician, Killian the Dragon Butcher, Evangeline the Celestial Arcanite Empress,'

'Why did these hidden giants join the event, and did their team members always work for them, or is this a change of this timeline,' Alex questioned as he looked at three groups that were ranked closer to fifty, but he knew each of them could dominate the top guild players, at least the players he remembered.

Alex was not worried but just surprised at the presence of the three of the Eleven Kings, who made their presence known two years from now, but besides testing his skills against them, he couldn't care less about their presence.

As the explanation ended, Zero appeared before the teams, the broadcast screen shifting from one team to another, showing a mix of carefree, anxious, and excited expressions evident on players' faces.

Zero began with a few words of congratulating the teams, introducing the top ten teams, which were ranked based on the overall points earned in the qualification, which had made the top thirty to be dominated by guilds, with the organization being ranked at thirty-first.

Zero told how only the focus of the live stream would shift between each and every interesting event, with the priority of screen time being given to those who ranked higher, while viewers could watch their favorite team on one of the hundred live streams exclusive to each team.

Zero further shared about the updated competition shop and how they could spend even their previously earned scores in the shop, as well as a tidbit of other details, before finally telling them to get prepared for a month of competition.

"Pick your friends carefully, but your enemies even more cautiously." Zero said, with a smile, as the competition finally began and every team was teleported to a random location on the vast island.

The broadcast had gained over 4 billion viewers in a matter of minutes, and the number was growing by the moment, so every team representing a power or a guild was having an advertisement of their lifetime, and no one was willing to not take advantage of the opportunity.

So the moment everyone landed, it was a race to gain attraction and become the favorite of the viewers, as most groups had joined the competition to gain fame and not win it.