Shatei Kyokufuri Yumi-Ojisan

ould be applied to the spawn points.
If you always started the battle at the same place, then players who could attack the spot immediately would have too much of an advantage.
For instance, players who have increased their range…

Yes, this was to stop me…!
If I knew where the enemy was, then I could camp up on Floating Cloud Herd and attack them.
And even if they ran away, I could monitor their route.
Things would be too easy for me!

Well, perhaps it was too egotistical to think that the rule had been made for me alone.
But it was true that it was restricting my movements.

‘And lastly! The items used and cool downs for charge attacks and miracle effects will be reset after every battle-nyon! So there is no need to save them for later! You can fight each battle like it’s the last-nyon!’

That was good to hear.
It would hamper us if we had to keep thinking about the future while fighting.
Focus on what’s ahead of you! That was the best.

‘Now, now! It’s time for the first battle of the tournament! Gaming Crocks VS VRHAR! And the field that was selected is…the Holy Forest!’

A forest bathed in mystical light appeared on the viewing monitor.
It was the kind of forest you’d expect to see giant deers and spirits…!

‘Both parties to the battlefield!’

More screens appeared so that they could show individual players.
This way, you could watch all of them.
This battle…I could not just watch it without thinking.
I had to get as much information about VRHAR as I could…!

　◆　◆　◆

Thinking back now, the outcome had been obvious even before it started.
I was focused on trying to learn more about VRHAR.
In other words, without really thinking about it, I knew that Gaming Crocks were going to be defeated.

“8 minutes…”

So in the end, VRHAR had won.
And they finished in 8 minutes.
And not one of their members had died.

Not only that, but the only member of VRHAR that had actually fought was Nord.
The other players had just wandered around the field.
They hadn’t even drawn their weapons.
There was one member called Gullinkambi, who played a silent flute the whole time, but it didn’t seem like an actual attack.

“While it wasn’t an attack, it must have been sending information to Nord, and supporting him somehow…”

I felt that my guess was right.
But I had no proof.
I hadn’t expected to learn everything about them in just one fight, but I expected more than this….
I didn’t even see the Unisons.
However, I would not be discouraged, and would continue to watch all of their battles.
I wanted to learn as much as I could about potential opponents.

And like this, we continued to watch the fights to gather information.
But…they were also very entertaining!
Sometimes they were one-sided, and other times they were excitingly neck and neck.
At some point, I forgot my original purpose and became an ordinary spectator who was enjoying the battles.
To the point that I almost forgot that I was participating in it too…

However, I had more of an athlete’s readiness than I thought.
And so when the time drew near, my focus started to shift to that naturally.

“Are you all ready?”

My comrades who were striving to reach the top all nodded quietly.
It was about to start.