[ Clara: The rules are simple, so listen up! Our irreplaceable Guild Master, alongside two other members of Phantom Seekers, are lost in this swamp. So go and rescue them! By the way, one of the lost guilders knows the exact location of our leader, and the other doesn’t. So good luck finding the correct one! ]

[ Nebuline: During the competition, the system will prevent you from accessing your inventory and regular equipment, but at the beginning, you’ll be able to choose a single item from a curated list. Make your choice count. Lastly, it goes without saying that if you get eliminated by an enemy, you’ll be disqualified. There won’t be second chances. ]

[ Clara: We don’t need a healer that can’t take care of themselves, do we? ]

[ Nebuline: You will be evaluated according to your actions during the match, and additional points can be awarded by a panel of judges. That includes us, and two other special guests. Isn’t that right, Alan? ]

[ Alan: Hi, everyone. Thanks for coming, Nebuline. I’ll be joining you as one of the judges. Good luck to y’all. ]

[ Nebuline: And last but not least, Phantom Seeker’s most powerful and experienced member, Amelia Laflamme. ]

The participants focused on the stadium’s giant virtual screen. Although Amelia had only been featured on a few occasions, she was quite popular among the Phantom Seeker’s audience. The stream chat was immediately flooded with passionate comments and heart emoticons.

“What a beauty,” someone said behind Nicholas.

“Hottie,” said another, beside him.

Nicholas watched his niece too, before narrowing his eyes. What is she doing?

A long silence had dominated the stream since the attention had fallen on her. Everyone in the stadium, and through the Navinet stream, watched as Amelia seemed to freeze in front of the camera. There she was, watching the void, lips sealed.

[ Clara: Um… Cue to Amelia? We’re live. ]

[ Amelia: …Yes. ]

“Is she nervous?”

“A head-turner like her? No way.”

Nicholas chuckled, amused. You're still struggling with stage fright, huh?

[ Clara: A-Anyway! Miss Nebuline, would you do the honors, please? ]

[ Nebuline: On it. But before we begin, let me remind everyone that besides this being a competition, it’s also entertainment. So give us a good show, okay? Now, without further ado… Let this healing competition… Begin! ]

The field in front of them transformed. Rocks emerged from the barren ground, entire trees sprouted from beneath their feet, and the air became thicker by the second. A swamp… huh, Nicholas thought as the terrain under his feet finally materialized.

His boots quickly found moist mud beneath them, and when he gazed back, the whole stadium and its noise had disappeared, as if a giant bubble had isolated them from the rest of the Novus.

“What’s that smell?”

“So what now? Do we start searching with no clues?”

“I can’t equip my Epic-grade staff. What a pain in the ass.”

“Didn’t they tell us we would get a…?”

A virtual window popped up in front of everyone, urging them to pick from a list of three items: a red potion, a mana potion, or an Advanced-tier staff.

Nicholas reviewed the items for a moment before opting for the red potion. Confident in his choice, he swiftly stored the bottle that materialized in his right palm. Glancing at the rest, he saw that everyone had made a different choice.

“What did you get?” one asked another.

“The mana potion. What if we run out of juice before saving the GM? You?”

“The staff. Given the circumstances, we need it to face anything they may throw at us.”

A minute had passed, and no one had made a move yet.

Someone will step forward any moment now. In the meantime, what do we know so far?

If Alan is currently one of the judges, that means there’s someone else reprising his role down here.

We will constantly be evaluated. Although this is a competition, I bet that teamwork will be rewarded handsomely.

What else? Hmm... If one of the lost guilders knows the objective’s location, we may end up finding the other, which I bet everyone sees as a loss and a waste of time. So, once people start moving, we will end up divided into at least three large groups. Two that will try their luck finding the correct guilder with the GM’s whereabouts, and a third group that...

[ Clara: Do you see this, Miss Nebuline? None of the participants dare to make a move. I know this test is not for the faint of heart, but… ]

[ Nebuline: I’m sorry, Clara, it’d be a real shame if you guys end up recruiting a gutless healer. What a pity.]

Every participant heard it. Although communication with the outside world had been severed, they could hear the commentators’ voices through a shared open channel.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Nicholas only snickered. And here we go...

“Without a map or clues, our only option is to go forward, isn’t it?” a large, bulky man barked aloud. “So stop being a bunch of pussies and start working already!”

He made his way forward, stomping at every step. The ones closest to him seemed to have snapped out of their anxiety and followed him blindly.

As for Nicholas and the majority of the participants, they stood rooted to their spot and waited.

Having traversed just a few feet away, the large man’s boots quickly got sunk into a pond. “Just great,” he grunted, trying to find his foothold while two others helped him. Then it happened, swiftly and without notice. He was pulled by multiple purple tentacles that sprouted out of the mud. With his hands and legs immobilized, he could only turn back and yell at the others. “Don’t stand there like idiots and do something!”

“Guys, please!” screamed another. “Can’t you see we need help?”

But the rest of the group stood silent and only watched as three got eliminated from the competition by a hidden monster that never bothered to show up.

[ Serves them right! ] a woman spoke through the open audio channel, but it was neither Clara nor Nebuline.

So this was your doing, huh? Diabolical...

Nicholas could picture his niece crossing her arms and legs and looking at the camera with a smug expression on her face.

[ Amelia: ‘Life Check’ is one of the basics for healers. With it, you’re able to easily determine the health and location of every member of your group. That’s how you know who to prioritize healing, isn’t that right? It’s also a good quick spell to scan the area for enemies. In a real-life situation, these fools would have sent their vanguard to their death. For their stupidity, they’ve paid the price. Good riddance! ]

Nicholas’s irises glowed for a couple of seconds as he used Life Check to see his surroundings. There were dozens of Swamp Slimes awaiting any unsuspecting prey to fall into their vicinity.

Once it was settled that in this competition there was no room for errors, the large group finally started marching, making sure not to disturb any of the monsters resting under the murky waters.

Nicholas looked into the distance, finding nothing but a dense foliage of twisted trees. This place is way bigger than the stadium. Maybe ten times larger. Something only Virtual Reality could accomplish. He looked down at his legs that cut through the mist clinging to the ground. Everything about this scenario was designed to obscure visibility. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was the one behind this map’s layout.

As the group progressed, they could hear the distant croaking of frogs and the occasional rustle of something moving through the underbrush. Which, during this test, only means danger.

“Stay alert, everyone,” a female healer whispered.

Nicholas looked in her direction. She was young, just like the majority of the group. A reflection of the Novus’ population. Look at you, poor little thing. You’re asking caution from a bunch of healers that let three other contestants get swallowed by flesh-consuming monsters. You included. You also let it happen.

“I detect three monsters in front of us. Bigger than the Swamp Slimes,” another healer informed aloud.

And I bet he will do nothing to help the group. As if he was stating: ‘There, I’ve done my part. Now you deal with it while I save my precious mana.’

Well... I don’t think Amelia would let everyone reach the deepest corners of this map without getting our hands dirty.

A creature leaped from their left flank, breaking the dry tree branches that stood in its way. Another croaked from the opposite direction before pouncing over them.

“What the hell is going on?! Why didn’t anyone say anything about those!” the healer who had just alerted them shrieked as he pulled out his borrowed mage staff.

The answer is simple, my temporary friend. The ones at our flanks let it happen.

The pair of eight-foot-tall creatures quickly released whip-like tongues and trapped two healers by their waist, pulling them with a tremendous force that easily broke their spines. Only seven seconds had passed since their attack, and they had already swallowed two victims whole.

“Quick-Status,” Nicholas whispered, and a System Window appeared in front of his eyes. His current level was 40 and colored in red.

As expected. This place is nerfing us hard.

“What am I doing?! Standing idle in the presence of evil! I shall not let another innocent fall in front of my eyes!”

Nicholas looked at a person clad in white robes dash against the frog, holding his staff fervently. A Role Player, huh? Haven’t seen one in ages.

“Begone, you fiend!” the Player exclaimed as he started casting mana. “Mid Light Crafting, Radiaaance!”

A shot of light in a concave shape, similar to that of a shotgun, struck the frog’s belly, exposing its entrails. It was a good thing that the Novus’ system had already disposed of the previously swallowed healer, or everyone could have seen a mess of human gray matter and an exposed skull too.

“Rest in peace, you unfortunate soul,” the Player in white whispered as he gestured a prayer.

Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, the other frog had been eliminated by a female healer wearing a military uniform. The cannon of her rifle was fuming, and the expression on her face looked deadpan. “I’m done here. Okay, you don’t have to ask, I’ll watch our rear. Whoops, that sounded dirty, hehe.”

A Combat Corpsman, huh? That’s even rarer than seeing a Role Player. But what about our vanguard?

The pair of previously detected frogs charged at the group, and their first move was to throw their 20-foot-long tongues and eat two new victims. But the Users at the front were already waiting for that.

“Nature’s Defense System!” a man invoked while placing his hands on the ground. Roots as strong as steel then grew and sprouted from beneath, binding the two frogs at the same time and preventing their tongues from reaching their maximum length.

With the enemies restrained, another healer took the opportunity to channel mana and recite, “Water Crafting - X - Lesser Familiars Calling...” As he concentrated, the muddy water from the vicinity was magically pulled and formed a floating liquid sphere that quickly shaped into a translucent buzzing insect the size of their master’s head. “Hydrolon Wasp!”

The elemental creature came to life and shot multiple stingers made of water at the frogs’ heads with a force akin to bullets, leaving them disfigured. And with that, the danger had been neutralized.

A Druid and a Shaman... Now I see that this competition managed to bring all kinds of wackos! Including me, ha!

[ Clara: Well done, everyone! Only 30 contestants remain. We will grant 20 points to the Users that helped take down the monsters. ]

“Did you hear that? They’re already rewarding points!”

“Imagine if we survive all the way to the end but manage to get 0 points. And worst of all, this is being broadcast! No one would want to hire us again.”

That would be a real shame, isn’t it?

“Let’s get going! Before we get surrounded again,” the Druid said, taking the lead.

As the group resumed their quest, something pulled Nicholas by the ankle. Looking back, he saw a pinkish tongue, as one of the monstrous frogs was holding onto the last portion of its HP.

This thing has ‘Iron Will’ as a passive, huh?

Nicholas crouched, as if to obscure what he was about to do from the others. He grabbed the tongue tightly and began absorbing the frog’s life. The monster did not let out a final agonizing cry and fell silent instead, as if that little moment had ever happened.

Nicholas glanced back at the group, making sure no one had seen him. If his method of healing was going to be revealed during the test, so be it, but it was not the time just yet.

I’m sorry, Amelia, but if a monk is what your guild needs, I have terrible news for you…