Gamers of the Underworld

The Teleport Portal flashed with brilliance, and Dragonborn found himself standing on empty ground.

He was half-naked, and the surroundings were bare. There were a few rows of houses in the distance.

Though Dragonborn hadn’t played any Sole Survivor kind of games, he had seen them previously. He would have heard about such an exhilarating game even if he hadn’t tried it before.

Dragonborn surveyed the environment. After ensuring there was nobody, he ran towards the houses.

Before he ran for long, he came up to a small slope and saw two other gamers running to the houses and beating each other violently with their fists.

However, the damage of fists was limited. Nobody was a master in martial arts. There was a large difference between wielding a weapon and not.

Dragonborn didn’t care about them. He dashed into one of the houses and used his body to bash open the door. He knocked into another gamer and lifted his head to observe. It was a Gnome from the Guild FriendlyLiloAlliance. He hadn’t heard the name before, and it looked suspiciously criminal.

“Holy cow!”

That Gnome, who was wearing tight pants, held a Short Sword. After being knocked into by Dragonborn, he cursed at Dragonborn and stabbed him with the Short Sword.

Dragonborn didn’t have any weapons. He collided with the Gnome and felt the sword slash his stomach. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep. He didn’t feel much pain, but if he let the Gnome stab deeper, he wouldn’t make it.

Dragonborn twisted the Gnome’s finger and bit the Gnome’s ear while using his knees to crush the Gnome’s crotch. When Dragonborn recovered, the Gnome was motionless. In the chaos, Dragonborn snatched the sword and stabbed the Gnome to death.

Before Dragonborn had the chance to breathe, another nearby gamer dashed towards him.

…

In the spectator stand of the Northern Underground World Gladiator Arena, there were densely packed spectators who took up half of the seats.

And the number of spectators kept increasing.

Compared to the miserable tens of spectators two months ago, where a Lich had to make use of Mana to create a fake crowded atmosphere, it was almost a miracle to have that many spectators watching the tournament.

A middle-aged Orc couple brought their three kids and sat in the spectator stand to watch the arena that had a huge Mana crystal ball with four screens. The screens used countless Mana eyes to capture the brutal fighting of the Gladiators in the newly constructed area. The Gladiators were fighting viciously to become the sole survivor.

One of the images showed Dragonborn fighting for his life.

Bloodshed, violence, and the killing of the gamers were all grotesque images that overwhelmed the senses. The cutting off of limbs, close up execution, and hunting novelties were wildly popular in the Underworld.

“That’s awesome!”

“I want to be the sole survivor too.”

“Are Gladiator Fights so fun? Why didn’t I know about it?”

The kids of the Orc couple were chatting excitedly as they jumped up and down in their seats. They were showing the true nature of kids.

The male Orc of the couple was TinyMeatball, the Garrison Guard Captain, who was troubled by many strange cases.

“Hubby, aren’t you very busy recently? Why did you bring us to watch a Gladiator Fight?” TinyMeatball’s wife was a virtuous female Orc called SteelEgg. She smiled gently at TinyMeatball and said, “If you’re busy, I can ask our neighbor Wang to bring the kids and me to watch the Gladiator Fight.”

TinyMeatball waved his hand and said, “Even if work is busy, I have to take care of the family. The security of Winterfell has improved tremendously, so there’s not much work.”

“You’re so nice, hubby.”

SteelEgg leaned blissfully on TinyMeatball’s shoulder.

TinyMeatball’s eyes focused as he gazed intently at the images on the screen. His eyes were glimmering with the brilliance of wisdom.

Was it believable that TinyMeatball was enjoying the bliss of being with his family? He was there to investigate!

By chance, he discovered that his wife and his neighbor Wang had come to watch a Gladiator Fight at the Northern Underground World Gladiator Arena. The Gladiator Fight was about a group of creatures who had green symbols above their heads and were fighting each other viciously. His wife frequently stayed out at night and watched the Gladiator Fight. TinyMeatball frowned and discovered that things weren’t that simple.

After some intense investigation and using his excellent skills, he discovered an important lead. His wife and his neighbor Wang…

They were watching Gladiators from Eternal Kingdom!

TinyMeatball would have a splitting headache whenever he heard mention of Eternal Kingdom. After the creatures of Eternal Kingdom appeared in Winterfell, he came under immense pressure at work. Then there were bizarre events that happened.

TinyMeatball intuitively felt that these creatures with green symbols weren’t simple and weren’t easy to deal with.

So, TinyMeatball found a chance to bring his family to watch the Gladiator Fight in order not to arouse suspicion. He was quite successful in his plan. The creatures of Eternal Kingdom didn’t discover him.

“Wah, that’s pitiful. That creature was carrying a large pack but was killed.”

“That Gnome is very powerful. He’s had four consecutive kills. Is he invincible?”

“That’s hilarious. Can’t he use a bow? He’s better off using a Short Sword with his lackluster archery skills.”

The spectators were enthusiastically discussing the images on the screens.

The spectators watched the new Gladiator Fight with excitement. Each raiding of a house was like a lottery. Most importantly, the chaotic and novice way of fighting displayed by the gamers made the spectators want to join in the fray.

As for the problem of safety and risk, the walls of the arena were covered with disclaimers, such as: “The highly trained Gladiators are strictly supervised by professionals. The Mana special effects created are highly dangerous. Please don’t imitate. If you do, we won’t take any responsibility.”

Though it looked dangerous, it was fun to watch and very tempting too.

The gamers didn’t realize that while they were playing the game, the Underworld residents were entertained by their brutality.

Dragonborn leaned on a door. He held his breath and focused as he picked up the footsteps outside the door. The coma-causing ring of Mana-mist started to shrink. The radius was only the size of a few houses. According to Dragonborn’s sense of hearing, there were only five Gladiators left!

Victory was within his reach!