28 - (Season 1) First day of exploration

Jim logged back on and decided that he needed more gold and this exploration was the perfect opportunity build his bank. Jim swapped out egos with Jake on the main body. He wanted to provide healing services for a fee. Jake thought that this was a scummy move but Sera didn’t mind it. She was a materialist and opportunist. Money was going to be needed in the future so getting ahead early is approved by Sera.

As soon as Jake’s ego took over the main body, the system welcomed the player.

System Notification: Welcome New player. Please select a new name.

Jake was dumbfounded that the system recognized him as a new player. To take advantage of this opportunity he named his character Golden Buddha. Everyone thought this name was befitting of Jake. To go along his new name, Jake wrapped himself with a piece of cloth using it like a toga. Jake looked like a monk. One piece of clothing was tied to his eyes to cover them. Sera asked why they should pretend to be blind. Jim explained that people are more sympathetic to and lower their guards against disabled people. Additionally, he said that his was a new training method he implemented. Jim took over Jakes eyes and ears. He was strengthening the eye junction by cutting off sight and replacing it with sound.

Jake walked around until he found one of the three priests. Jake introduced himself as a humble monk. The three priests also greeted him as believers of church Damian. After exchanging pleasantries Jim told Jake to ask for more gold for his services. Jake did not feel comfortable asking for more money so he suggested something else instead. He said that additional donations would benefit the temples of Mount hua. All three priests expressions shirked and ended their discussions prematurely. Jim and Sera thought that Jake did a good job of acting poor. Their idea was to play both sides and sell their services to the largest bidder.

Jake was in a pool of adventurers gathered within the church of damian. A total of 1,000 players joined the main hall in order to for teams. Large guilds made up 700 players and free players without any affiliation made up the remaining 300 players. Most players averaged level 20 and above. Jake was the only level 15 player there. Everyone was shouting over each other in the 300 player pool to be the head commander of the 300 player. Everyone agreed to have a battle royal in three arenas to select three commanders to reign each over 100 players. Jake decided to participate in the last 100 many royale to see his competition.

In the first 100 man royale arena, Players clashed fiercely and no one stood out among the 100 players other than 10 players who were above average, Once battlefield dwindled down to 20 players. One berserker stood out among the 20 players. Jim recognized him in the future. He made a name for himself as Giant Axe 5 years from now. His specialty was gigantization, increasing power and size until he was a 100 meter giant. Jim focused his eyes on him. As soon as everyone was about to clash, the Giant Axe shouted a war cry and increased three times in size. He swung his Axe with a mighty swing and chopped everyone in half. The winner of arena 1 was decided. Jim saw that Giant Axe did not bring out everything. He was calm and his mana usage was around 70%. While his body grew, he saw that Giant Axe did not increase the mana flow around his heart. Most likely, he has some sort of berserk skill that he is saving. Jim acknowledged his name to watch out for in the future.

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Once the second battle royale started, another whirlwind of battle started. The arena was a maelstrom of chaos, a swirling vortex of magic and steel. A hundred lives, each a gamble placed on the altar of ambition and survival. The crowd roared, their voices a distant thunder. Amongst the chaos, thirty figures began to emerge. Their movements were fluid, their strikes precise. They were the apex predators, circling the weaker prey before delivering the fatal blow. The second battle royale ended as a group of thirty players were familiar with each other and formed a temporary party as friends. While there was no alpha player, the thirty player team moved with synchrony. They announced themselves as Free Moon. As expected, the match ended in a dull mood with no exciting action as it was a team push to bully single adventurers. Jim wasn’t sure what kind of group they were and decided to watch them for now.

The third battle royale was about to start Jake humbly entered the arena with slow steps. Players instantly recognized the Jake as a healer who offered his services for a price. Players were detested at this fact and wanted to get him out of the ring first. As the battle started 20 players headed towards Jake. Watching the flock of players Jim started praying and placed his hands together, afterwards he slapped his right across his body. Out of nowhere a golden hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped all twenty players out of bounds creating a mountain of players stacked on the left side of the arena. The remaining players started at what just happened. The outside spectators were just as shocked as everyone. Especially berserker who won the first arena. He sized Jake up and found him to be a formidable opponent. He wasn’t sure if they dueled that he would come out on top. Shortly after, the remaining players formed a temporary alliance to attack Jake. This did not hamper Jake at all as he took a wider stance with his feet. In a horse like stance Jim slapped his hands together and them pulled them back. He started punching the air multiple times. Each punch created a smaller area than the previous golden hands. In return, the force was doubled after each thrust. Therefore, Jake had to throw multiple punches to make up for the lack of size from his palm attack as there were players behind players requiring more force to get them out of the arena. After 10 seconds, the only remaining player was Jake in the arena. Once announced, Jake got off the arena and assumed his position as one of the three group leaders and met with the church of Damian. Similarly, there were three groups at the church of Damian. The 1000 players split into 10 groups of 100 man teams creating 13 teams of 100 players except for the 60 man group created by the church.

Everyone was teleported to a cave nearby where demonic energy leaked out of the entrance.