...

After that a few more minutes of waiting, the invited participants of the Shadow Ranking Cup finally got that system notification that they were impatiently waiting for.

*Ding*

System: Attention all of the players participating for the Shadow Ranking Cup! The First Stage of the tournament is about to start in-…

5

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4

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3

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2

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1

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And the moment the countdown hit zero, almost everything turned into an absolute slugfest. Some of the designated battlefield even turned into a total slaughter house the instant those system notifications sounded on the ears of the players.

Some arenas were being dominated by a few individuals; it was a battlefield where there was a single player that other participants wanted to take down first, or a battlefield with a single player that was trying to kill all of the other participants on their own.

On the other hand, the other battlefields were being overwhelmed by a total chaos as every player present those arenas were trying to immediately take down whoever the first player entered their sight.

But unlike these chaotic battlefields, there was a certain battle arena that was unusually quiet. And that was the Battle Arena no. 25.

The silence on this battlefield was not because of the participants being dead, but it was because each player present on this place were either too confident about their strengths and didn't care even if they got attacked, or too afraid to become the first target if they made the first move.

Seeing all of these from the side, Shin couldn't help but shake his head as he knew that he was assigned into a quite bright batch of players.

"Looks like I am in a batch of good-headed guys, huh? Some are taking advantage of the loophole of the rules which is to survive until the stage is done while the others are just going with the flow.

"

Then he got a quick thought whether he was going to continue waiting or not.

"Hmm… Should I do the opening move to start the fiesta, or should I stay idle?

"

And he rejected that idea almost immediately.

"Nah~! I should stay like this for now and see how things will develop. I refuse to believe that all of these players are really patient people.

"

It didn't take long to prove that Shin wasn't wrong. Some of the players standing in the battle arena were starting to show some impatience. Especially the participants standing in the middle of the battlefield; they were cautiously looking at the players beside them.

After a few more moments, one of these players finally failed to hold his patience and started attacking the nearest players beside him. And the players in the direction where he was heading immediately reacted to his movements and started throwing their attacks at him.

The poor guy failed to get near his target as he was instantly deleted by the bombardment of range skills and spells. And with his death, the battle arena suddenly got the spark it needed to turn the whole place into a real battlefield.

At the same time, the participants suddenly turned into hunting mode after seeing his death. It was as if they were like sharks in the sea that suddenly turned agitated after smelling the metallic scent of the blood.

And just like that, the clam place earlier suddenly turned into a chaotic battlefield as everyone started attacking one after another.

In the meantime, Shin remained seated on the secluded corner while calmly watching the players in the distance. They failed to notice his presence since they were too focused at trying to kill each other. What's more, he was completely suppressing this aura which made it hard for the others to notice him.

Even if he was quite eager to fight against these strong players, it was still not too late if he made his move a little later. Plus, he didn't want to reveal some of his cards in this early stage of the tournament.

While he was watching the others fight with each other, he was also observing the battlefield at the same time. And as he swept his gaze at the whole place, he also noticed some guys watching the chaos on the sideline.

After a few more moments, the other players fighting at the center of the battle arena finally regained their composure and started to calm themselves. And that was the time when they suddenly noticed the other guys leisurely watching them as they tried to kill each other in the middle of the battlefield.

When this reached this point, the players busy battling one another suddenly stopped fighting and cautiously looked at the others watching in the sidelines. And with that, the battle arena suddenly went back to its unusual silence once again as these players stayed still and glared at their opponents.

At this point of time, the number of players present in the battle arena was cut in half. And given that they survived that early chaos, it was obvious that these guys have some skills. But compared to the players watching on the sideline, they looked like a bunch of moving meat that needed to be hunted.

Those 'onlookers' were like a group of hunters patiently stalking their prey. And due to the immense threat coming from these guys, the players in the middle of the battle area were starting to break out in a cold sweat; some of them couldn't even help themselves but gulp a mouthful of saliva as the warning signals that they were getting was becoming more intense the more they tried to look back at their 'hunters'.

And in the midst of this unusual and uncomfortable silence, one of the onlooking players suddenly opened his mouth and said.

"So, what do you guys plan now? Should we take care of these pests first before going to the main event, or should we go straight at fighting each other?

"

His voice was quite soft and quiet, but since the whole battle arena was in absolute silence, everyone managed to hear what he had said.

This guy was a TigerKin Master Berserker wearing a full set of leather armor with a huge greatsword hanging on his back. He had a somewhat bulky body, making his leather suit to be fitted with his body.

At the same time, a Naga Master Spellcaster with a lean body suddenly replied at the previous guy's words.

"I have no problems even if the things go either way.

"

"Then let's go remove the nuisance first before deciding who is the strongest on this battlefield,

" said the Specter Master Assassin sitting not far from the Naga.

Hearing that, a guy with a Human race and Guardian class couldn't help but nod his head and said.

"That is right. Having an appetizer first before going to the main course is the righting to do.

"

And with all of those, the other guys also started standing up from their respective positions as they were also tired of watching these weaklings clowned with themselves. The exposure that they gave to these guys was already enough as it was their turn to make their moves now.

At the same time, some of the guys in the middle of the battle arena couldn't help but become furious as they heard that they were being belittled by these 'onlookers'.

One of the guys even charged at the bulky TigerKin, full with anger.

"Don't you dare underestimate us! We are also invited players for this Shadow Ranking Cup! We are not weak people!

"

Seeing that this guy was foolishly charging at him, the TigerKin Master Berserker couldn't help but smirked at him. And before the foolish guy could even reach him, the TigerKin reached the hilt of his greatsword hanging on his back before suddenly disappearing from his current spot.

On the next instant, the TigerKin suddenly appeared right in front of the guy that was charging at him earlier while also swinging his great sword downwards. And when the latter saw a shadow casted upon him, he couldn't help but raise his head out of instinct.

Then he was frozen in place as he saw the TigerKin's figure in front of him. The sight from his perspective stunned him and made his mind go blank for a moment; he seemed to see a figure of the gigantic guy swinging a huge sword towards his way.

Bang!

A moment later, the TigerKin cut the body of the guy in front of him with that single swing of his, which also instantly killed that guy in the process.

After that, he raised his greatsword and rested it on his shoulder before saying.

"It seems that you guys are having a false impression here. This Shadow Ranking Cup is specially designed for someone like us, who has the strength to surpass the others.

"

Then he paused for a moment and formed a smirking look on his face before adding.

"As for all of you? Heh! You are just a bunch of supporting characters to showcase our strengths.

"

The players in the middle of the battle arena suddenly become even more furious after hearing his words. But they couldn't do anything about it since they already saw the difference in strength between them and these absolute freaks. And all they could do for now was to do their best to survive for as long as they could, until the first stage came into an end.

Unfortunately, the reality was too cruel for them as they were getting killed one by one by the stronger guys in a leisure manner. And this slaughter fest lasted for a few more moments before there were only a total of 20 players remaining in the battlefield.

After all of that, the remaining guys suddenly turned their heads at a certain corner of the battlefield and looked at the two guys silently watching their battle.

One of them was a person leaning in the wall of the battle arena while having his arms crossed in front of his chest. The was donned with a full-body armor with a cape that had a deep blue color. There was also a longsword hanging on the left side of his waist while a round shield was leaning on the wall beside him.

One the other hand, the other guy was a hooded person who remained seated on his spot from the beginning of the battle up until this point. His left arm was resting on his knee while also embracing a sheathed katana at the same time.

It was obvious that this guy was Shin. He remained seated in his place because he was too lazy to deal with some weaker guys. What he wanted was the main event.

The TigerKin Master Berserker couldn't help but become annoyed when he saw their 'not so interested' attitude. So, after dealing with all of the 'side characters', he immediately said to them.

"How about you two? Are you just going to remain watching there and continue to leech off on us?

"

Hearing this, the two guys started making some movements. The guy with full-body armor suddenly leaned sideways to pick up the shield beside him before holding it with his left hand.

At the same time, the hooded guy not far from him picked up his sheathed sword before standing up from the ground.

When the other guy saw that, he turned his head and looked at the hooded person before saying.

"Looks like we are the same type of player. Should we take care of them before exchanging blows with each other?

"

Shin suddenly started chuckling before giving his reply.

"Good idea! So, should we divide the word evenly? Nine for you and nine for me?

"

When the other guy heard that, he also released some chuckles and agreed with Shin's proposal.

"Exactly my thoughts. I'll take the right side; you take the left. Just make sure that you will stay alive until the end.

"

"That should be my line,

" said Shin before turning his head at his targets with a look similar to how a predator looked at his prey. 'So, should I start having my warmup now?'

....