Finally, the game master ended his lengthy explanation about the game's rules.
Otto took a very small sip from his cup of water.
His body instantly felt refreshed.
He looked around.
Still all alone.
There were no contestants around him.
In the next instant, a robotic voice spoke, and a tool appeared in front of him.
It was a long, stick like object, made of wood.
Otto could feel muted mana waves emanating from the object.
"Please use the given magic wand by placing your hand on it."
Otto [Analyzed] the item.
[Wand of the Cassian]
Consumable Tool
Disguises the user.
He placed his hand on the wand.
"Chant the following words: 'Geirsha Leset Ivincumel' immediately."
Otto rolled his eyes but chanted the words.
The wand disappeared.
Otto felt a thin layer of mana cover his body.
But this thin layer of mana was very strong.
Otto attempted to cast a [Wind Blade].
An invisible blade emerged from his finger.
But before it was cast, suddenly, the thin layer of mana surrounded it.
The [Wind Blade] suddenly turned visible, with a pale blue covering.
Otto's eyes narrowed.
It looked like a more powerful version of a [Mana Bolt].
He had a thought.
Was this tool disguising him as a Throskart? And disguising his spells, too?
Was this what it meant when he became a 'participant' rather than an enemy to the game?
Well, if he looked like a Throskart and cast magic like a Throskart, in the eyes of others, wouldn't he basically be no different from a participant?
Thinking of this, Otto unconsciously revealed a smirk.
This round might be more fun than he'd imagined!
The robotic voice spoke again.
"As a service to the contestants, all participants will be disguised before entering the next stage. Your family background and reason for entering the show will be hidden."
"Perhaps only the viewers will still be able to find some clues."
With that, Otto's disguise was complete.
The thin but seemingly impenetrable mana barrier surrounded him completely as the robotic voice spoke once more.
"Please wait. Randomizing."
In the meantime, Otto attempted a few actions.
He first tried to cast a [Water Ball].
This time, he received a notification from the [Tower].
[Water element spells will be forcibly altered on this floor.]
The ball of water turned into a mana bolt.
But unlike the [Wind Blade] Otto had cast, this alteration was not cosmetic in nature.
The properties of the magic itself seemed to shift as the mana exited Otto's body.
It could only be the [Tower's] doing.
Otto, as usual, tried to learn something from it as he felt the nature of the mana in the spell shift.
As usual, the [Tower's] means were completely inscrutable to him.
Well, the reason it restricted water element spells in the desert was obvious.
Otherwise, couldn't a water mage completely avoid all of the hardship and struggle associated with this game?
They could simply come in, guns blazing, and give water to everyone.
Otto also tried to take out a couple potions from his spatial storage ring.
And received a different message.
[Potions will be forcibly evaporated and condensed into powder on the second floor.]
The bottles were no longer filled with liquids of varying colors.
In fact, the liquids inside the bottles had evaporated entirely, leaving a 'potion powder' at the bottom.
Otto analyzed the health potion.
[Basic Health Potion: Powdered Condensed Form]
Highest Quality
Restores 500 Health upon use.
Otto marveled at the [Tower's] means.
Normally, if he wanted to condense potions, it was impossible to get rid of the water that served as the solvent.
The solvent dissolved the herbs within to make the solution.
It wasn't possible to get this kind of beautiful, colorful, uniform powder merely by letting the water evaporate.
Let alone evaporating the water while keeping the potion's effect!
At least, it wasn't possible with alchemical means.
Otto simply shook his head without bothering to try and understand the process further.
He put the powders back into his spatial storage and soon started to sweat from the blazing heat of the sun.
Suddenly, with no warning, a small card appeared out of thin air and hovered in front of him.
It was completely black, hovering in stark contrast to the pale golden sand below.
The robotic voice returned.
"Randomization complete."
"Please turn over the card to receive your special mission."
Otto's brows rose.
Special mission?
He actually received a special mission!?
This game was tough enough already, wasn't it?
Was he just unlucky, or…
Was it done on purpose?
Otto shook off his thoughts, and flipped the card in front of him around to reveal a small paragraph of text.
It read:
"Congratulations on receiving a special mission!"
"If you wish to pass this round, you must complete your purpose."
Below, in large silver lettering read a single word:
{Assassin}
{Kill every member of your group other than yourself.}
{You have three opportunities to directly attack.}
{Your time limit is 10 days.}
Otto's eyes widened.
His mind spun.
Then, he sighed.
At least he could still had three opportunities to attack using his strength.
But before he could finish the thought, Otto's hopes were dashed.
As, immediately following this, a [Tower] notification emerged.
[Your mission is being selected.]
[Mission Selected]
[Kill the 99 other participants without directly attacking.]
Otto just gazed at the notification dully.
He was totally speechless.
How was it possible to kill 99 people without directly attacking once?
The best option was poison.
Alas, both his poison magic and his poison golem were immediately under his command.
Using them would be a 'direct attack.'
Actually, Otto had already planned on using one of his 'direct attacks' to slowly fill the entire area with poison.
The poison would infiltrate the Throskarts even faster when everyone was dehydrated and sweating…
Otto's gaze happened to land on the glass of condensed water in his hand.
An idea formed.
His eyes lit up.
Soon, they carried a familiar fire. A fire thick with fighting spirit.
He would have to use his brain for this one.
A grand scheme began to unravel in Otto's mind.
The robotic voice spoke once more,
"Please proceed to the second floor stage."
"Stand by for teleportation."
Otto's chin was held high as his body slowly disappeared.
His vision shifted once again.
This time, he was surrounded by what looked like 90-some Throskarts.
The desert hadn't changed in the slightest.
But here, there were a few markings that indicated something was different.
In a few places, the sand was marred with darker colors, in others, runes protruded out from it.
Otto looked at the sky.
The sun was hanging in a slightly lower position.
He'd obviously traveled quite a significant distance.
Suddenly, among the murmurs of the surrounding Throskarts, an argument loudly broke out a dozen meters away.
The first speaker was a man with a deep, gruff voice.
"Well, it's obvious the strongest fighters should get the most water, f*cking idiot."
"How does everyone else survive if they don't block the monsters' attack?"
"If idiots like you suggest that we 'share the water' equally, won't we just die like chickens if they don't bother to defend us when the monsters attack because they're too dehydrated to move?"
Otto could practically hear the man rolling his eyes.
The second speaker was a woman, her voice equally snide and venomous.
"I'm not suggesting we share the water equally. You're the f*cking idiot."
"I'm saying we do a rotation so that everyone gets the chance to have water at all."
"There's a difference."
"Do you even know what that is? Yeah, ro-ta-tion must be a difficult word for you, huh?"
Now the man was truly angered.
"You bitch!"
He raised his hand to send her a tight slap.
But at the last second, retracted his hand, remembering the warning from the game master about not directly harming each other.
"You just wait."
He stalked off in anger.
A louder murmur ran through the crowd.
It wasn't long before a second argument broke out.
"What? Do you WANT to be in the first ten people to get kicked off this round?"
"Do you even know what happens to them?"
"No, do you?"
"But anything would be better than fighting monsters in this environment."
Otto felt the temperature of the air around him and raised an eyebrow.
It was no wonder that everyone was so irritable.
It had to be at least 170F (76C) over here!
The desert was WAY too hot to live in.
Otto was lucky that his suit also came with basic temperature controlling features.
As a silver grade suit, he would probably have to be dunked into a pot of boiling water before he really started to sweat.
Still, that didn't mean this temperature was comfortable: the suit couldn't perfectly regulate the temperature of his whole body, and Otto's face would always be exposed to the sun without protection in any case.
Otto glanced around and discovered that after a mere few minutes in this sweltering heat, a few folks were already starting to get thirsty.
Perhaps it was a good moment to speak…
Otto raised his voice and used one of his new favorite spells.
[Imbue Persuasion]
Level 10
Adds persuasive charisma to your words. Caster's words will unconsciously shake the minds of listeners to make them 50% more likely to agree to follow your suggestions.
Significant chance that caster's words will also soothe minor hostilities between the caster and the listener.
Mana Cost: 125
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: 1 hour
No Cooldown
Otto smirked, hidden from the view of the crowd.
His master 'plan' was about to swing into action.
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