Aaaaaaaahh!

Roth's second time falling down the gravel slide was no less thrilling than the first. Even his new friend Molegana shrieked loudly.

Squeeeeeeak!

Molegana was younger than Molly, and her shriek wasn’t a sound made out of dread. She sounded like a happy child going down a water slide.

Finally, both splashed in the lake of gravel. Roth hung on to Molegana’s fur as she swam upward, breaking through the surface. Hearing the echo of the gravel fall and seeing the massive columns and gargantuan cavern, Roth smiled. He was back at the Molympic Coliseum.

The atmosphere was different compared to the last time he'd been here. Lanterns covered in yellow paper hung from threads tied between stalactites and stalagmites all over the giant cavern. Since the animals were nearly blind, Roth wondered if this was a poor decision by the design team in charge of this map. Even so, it was pleasant to the eye and allowed Roth to gauge the vastness of the underground space better.

Another notable difference was the number of moles present. The first time he’d been here, it was rare to run into another mole. Most of them were off digging somewhere. This time, the coliseum was packed! Moles shrieked and squeaked as they talked to each other, never interrupting and always listening attentively.

Seeing Molegana pass so closely to other moles, Roth’s heart skipped a beat. What if she got caught up in a never-ending conversation with one of the other moles? However, his fears were for naught. He had his new friends’ undivided attention. "Do you want to sign up for the games right away?"

"Please, Molegana. According to what you said, the games start at midnight, correct?”

“You were listening!”

+5 reputation with all molians.

“I want to get a good feel for all the Molympic sports. I was hoping you could tell me about each one of them again. You explain them so well."

"Of course, of course. We have to head to the amphitheater for each sport to sign up. Let’s start with the burrowthon arena.” Molegana turned sharply to the left. “Are you a fast digger?"

Roth shrugged. "I'm not bad."

"Very well.”

“Any hints?” Roth asked.

“The biggest one is that traveling straight does not always get you to your destination the fastest. If you run into a metal vein, you might as well dig your way around it and save yourself some time.”

“Makes sense.”

“Another one is that if you need to rest or are too far behind, you can just enter one of your competitor’s tunnels. Of course, you have to get past them, and that’s practically impossible if they know what they’re doing.”

“And is this the first sport?” Roth confirmed.

“That’s correct.”

Molegana took Roth through the tall gate and into the gravel-filled tunnels leading to the arena for the first burrowthon. After twists and turns, they arrived at a straight wall. Lines marked the lanes where diggers must start their tunnels. Given how moles would follow the game using their hearing, there were no seats for the audience making the setting for the first competitio a little anticlimactic.

“From here, first across the finish line wins,” Molegana explained.

“How do I know where the finish line is?”

“Just follow the bongos.”

Roth scratched his chin. He had to use his hearing to guide him, then. “How do I sign up?”

In answer to his question, a window popped up.

Would you like to sign up for the Burrowthon? Admission costs 1000 gold.

Roth promptly paid the fee.

Congratulations! You are now a participant in the Molympic Games.

The games will start in 07:43:12. Be here by then, or you’ll be disqualified.

The system window did not explain the sport's rules. Roth considered the skills and items in his inventory. He had to check with Molegana if using consumables wasn’t considered cheating. “Molegana, can I…”

Roth felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. His senses were sent on overdrive, and the old Slayer roared within him. He was in danger. There was an enemy nearby. He whirled back to find a giant staring down at him.

He was thin and pale. Most of his gear had undergone a complete makeover compared to when Roth had last seen him. Instead of a black armor set with intricate white patterns, he now wore light armor the color of sand. His two daggers looked the same, though. His turban hid his face except for his doll-like, lifeless, dark eyes.

“If it isn't little Roth?”

Roth gulped but stood straight, not backing down. “Zin.”

“I had a feeling you were the broker messing up with Eron. I can't say I'm surprised to see you here.”

Roth regarded him silently. “So that's why you wanted to join the Union. Did you need the extra stats to guarantee your victory in the games?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Zin exasperated with a wheezy breath. Only after a moment did Roth realize it was the man’s version of a chuckle. “No offense, but I don't need to put in that much effort to beat the likes of you.”

Roth felt a vein pulsing on his neck. His dormant rage bubbled up. The heat spreading from his chest was the only thing preventing him from becoming frozen by fear of this man. “I don’t know, Zin. You have needed the likes of me multiple times already. First, to distract your boss, then to hunt your boss, and recently, you’ve even come begging me for bonuses only I could give you.”

Roth canceled the miniaturized buff and grew. He became taller than Zin and looked down at him. “You might need a little effort to beat the likes of me.”

Zin kept observing Roth. His eyes didn’t change, but his hands started moving. He unsheathed one of his daggers and rolled it on his fingers playfully.

“What?” Roth asked, seeing the calculating look in the assassin's eyes.

“Nothing. You’re gutsy. I'm just wondering if it wouldn't be simpler to just kill you.”

The coldness with which he said it brought shivers down Roth’s spine. Molegana snarled at Zin and squeaked furiously.

“Hey! You! No fighting is allowed in the games! He’s a contestant in the Molympic Games and will NOT be harmed.”

From Zin’s clueless look, Roth gathered he didn’t get any of that, but the tone in the mole’s warning had still given him pause. Zin’s eyes went between the mole and Roth a few times. “That sounds rather protective. Hmm… I wouldn't want to be disqualified. Oh well. I'll kill you later.”

Zin's figure faded into wisps of smoke, and he was gone. Roth gulped drily. All the dots started connecting in his mind. Zin spoke about an Eron guy. That had to be the enemy broker. He hadn’t expected that Zin’s paths and his would cross again so soon. Winning the games just got a whole lot trickier.

Suddenly, Roth felt desperately alone. He was under a ton of rock and rubble, about to measure his strength against the number one player in the ranks. How he wished that at least Lin was here. He thought of his family, friends, and Mel and clenched his jaw and fists.

He needed every advantage he could get if he were going to make it out. This might be a game for Zin, a way to get rich for Loki, or a job for the other guilds. But this was his life. He would give it his all. He was in it to win it. If he backed away from every challenge that came his way, he would never break into the top 10 places in the ranks and leave his booby-trapped capsule. He would give Zin a run for his money.

“Molegana, what’s the second sport? I want to go sign up.”

“I-I’m sorry, Martyr, but you’re too big for me to carry.”

Roth smiled. “No problem.”

Mole Form!

Roth’s height slightly decreased, his arms growing, his legs shrinking, and his nails becoming sharp claws. His nose became a long, flexible snout, and his beard and hair became scruffy gray. To Roth, it felt like he was wearing large gloves and walking hunched.

All stats have been halved.

You’ve unlocked [Digging Dexterity], [Earth Ripper], [Sonar Compensation] and [Turbo Tunneling].

Digging Dexterity (Rare)

Description: All forms of movement are interconnected. Swimming, climbing, or jumping aren’t that different from digging.

Effects: Passive. All bonuses to other forms of movement (running, flying, swimming, climbing, jumping) are converted into increased digging speed.

Earth Ripper (Epic)

Description: Your claws possess unmatched power, slicing through rock and metal effortlessly, transforming even the toughest obstacles into dust.

Effects:

Passive. You can dig through any material, whether tough or unyielding;

Active. For 5 seconds, all your attacks bypass any damage resistance, dealing true damage.

Sonar Compensation (Epic)

Description: With a heightened awareness of your surroundings, you train yourself to rely more on your other senses, adapting to the subterranean darkness with enhanced auditory perception.

Effect: Passive: Sacrifice half of your eyesight to significantly enhance your hearing.

Turbo Tunneling (Rare)

Description: Unleashing an extraordinary burst of energy, you transform into a blur of motion, tearing through the earth with unrivaled speed and efficiency.

Effects:

Passive. +200% digging speed.

Active. Double digging speed for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 3 minutes.

Roth’s vision shifted. Everything became involved in a purple hue. Across the rock, he could now see the shapes of other moles digging or moving through the gravel. Perceiving the world in [Mole Form] wasn’t too different from telepathy, but there were two significant differences.

Firstly, while with telepathy, he could perceive the presence of other creatures, whether they were still or moving. For him to feel the presence of others in [Mole Form], they had to make noise, or he wouldn’t know they were there. Secondly, [Sonar Compensation] also helped him perceive objects. Roth could feel that the density of the soil changed 10 meters above him, for example. There was probably a boulder or an ore vein of some kind.

[Mole Form] was a form that converted strength into one thing and one thing only: digging prowess. It was only thanks to this form that he’d been able to dig a tunnel between the 82nd and 83rd floors of Sapphira. Now that he knew that burrowthon was the first sport, he could change into the appropriate form, letting the cooldown on his zoomorph forms reset and letting him change into another form for another one of the sports if needed.

“I’m ready to dig,” Roth told Molegana. His voice sounded a little squeakier in this form.

“Very well! Follow after me!”

Molegana took off through the gravel, and Roth followed her as she left the burrowthon arena and headed toward an amphitheater on the other side of the cavern. “We’re now heading toward the whack-a-nole arena. Do you have a team?"

“Nope," Roth said promptly.

"In that case, you can sign up as a whacker. You can win a gold medal either way."

Roth and Molegana swam through the gravel until they passed an arch and reached an arena inside the main cavern of the Molympic Coliseum. Moles wearing matching uniforms performed warm-up exercises on one side of the arena. Each team was made up of nine moles. They dove into mole-sized holes, appearing in others, performing complicated, fast sequences that made their heads appear briefly.

Instead of practicing for the sport, other teams huddled together in corners, discussing strategy for the upcoming games in low whispers. Eavesdropping was probably dangerous when one’s enemies were moles with keen hearing.

Large hammers hung from the walls. Bulky, strong moles swung them with visible effort. With each swing, Roth could feel the wind blow past him.

SWOOSH!

“T-those things are huge!” Roth observed.

“Hihi. Three meters tall. Only the strongest moles can become whackers.”

Roth swallowed dryly. Even though he was quite tall, the hammer was still twice as large as him. Wielding that thing wouldn't be easy. “Mind if I try it?”

“Sure!”

Roth walked toward a stalagmite, grabbed one of the hammers hanging on the wall, and groaned as he picked it up.

You are carrying too much weight. You are [Heavy].

You move 50% slower.

“H-how h-heavy are t-these things?”

“A ton.”

“Are you kidding me? If you hit a mole with one of these, won't you kill them?”

Molegana laughed. “Try hitting me.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Please.”

Roth blinked his eyes a few times and studied the animal. She didn't look like she had a death wish, so he decided to try hitting her very gently.

The hammer touched her and seemed to give. “Uh?” Roth lifted the hammer and felt its head. It almost felt like jello. “What in the world?”

“It's a special type of rubber!”

“Then why make it so heavy?”

“Duh. To make it more challenging to the wacker.”

Roth murmured complaints under his breath. Did the moles make this game more favorable for the digger teams than the whackers? Sighing, he paid 1000 more gold and also signed up for this sport.

“What’s next, Molegana?”

“There’s the undercover mole arena.”

“Lead the way.”