Chapter Ch54.1 - Underground Match
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Underground survival show arena.
The Byzantine dome was like an inverted bowl. Inside the majestic temple-like building, other than the main venue of the underground arena that was so big one glance wouldn’t be enough to see the edge, the rest of the s.p.a.ce was divided up like a beehive.
Each hexagon was a separate arena, the walls covered with dark curtains.
In the center of the arena were the red-eyed, constantly raging contestants.
The luxurious audience stands extended from the second floor up to the top and surrounded the contestant and performance areas, appearing a retro light brown color under the dazzling crystal chandeliers. Each level had its own name: ‘Elder, Chief, Ancient, Aristocrat’, and the different regions represented very different ticket prices.
Light and shadow danced on the walls that were engraved with scenes of gladiators, chariots, fierce beasts, and the theme of the arena––
“Colosseo Colosseum (B.C. 72~)”
The stands were filled with people from high society dressed in gorgeous, elaborate attire. These aristocratic ladies and gentlemen, who had come to Azure Cosmos from all parts of the Federation, talked softly amongst themselves in low voices, their eyes shining brightly whenever the conversation took an exciting turn.
Waiters shuttled through the crowd, delivering tea, c.o.c.ktails, and three-story tower snacks. Youths in light colored uniforms would occasionally pa.s.s by with gambling chips in their hands.
A group of smiling aristocratic ladies beckoned to a waiter who approached immediately and bowed politely.
“Yes, beautiful lady, bets can now be placed.”
This corner of the audience stands was filled with enthusiastic chatter and excitement.
“When will the next contestant come out––”
The curtains suddenly pulled open.
A youth wearing a white mask walked into the arena, his slender body pale like honeyed water in the warm lighting. He held a gun in his slender arms, his muscles taut and revealing their slight curves under the light.
The young lady who’d been hesitating over whether or not to place a bet stilled slightly, then quickly opened up her terminal, “Excuse me, I’d like to place a ten thousand credit bet on this little brother.”
There was a commotion from all around her, but the young lady smiled generously.
“k2026; He’s indeed not as buff as his opponent, but he’s very cute, like the little cheetah we keep at homek2026;”
“Rather than winning, I’m more curious about his appearance beneath the maskk2026; If it’s possiblek2026;”
“Can I send a drink to him later? Of course, price isn’t an issuek2013;k2013;”
The waiter shook his head regretfully, “Apologies, but it’s not possible for this player. You can consider the other contestants if you want to send a drink…”
The lady seemed puzzled, but as the lights went out and the center of the arena lit up, the audience stands quickly returned to a silent state.
Performance area.
Wu Jin took a deep breath. He stood at the starting point, his gaze quickly locking on the opponent in front of him.
That man was more or less similar to him, with a powerful body and st.u.r.dy arms. He had several indistinct wounds on his body, and was also holding an a.s.sault rifle. The distance between the two of them was about 100 meters, and sparks flew when their gazes met.
Only one of them could stay until the end.
His opponent suddenly bared his teeth and gave a low, threatening roar, like a beast driving its enemy out of its territory. There was clotted blood on one side of his teeth, like he had just bitten someone’s throat––
Wu Jin suddenly thought of the b.l.o.o.d.y smell that had wafted over through the curtains, and the bitter scream of the defeated contestant when they’d been carried back. On the other hand, when faced with these b.l.o.o.d.y, bared teeth, the audience was boiling with excitement once again, bursting out with cheers for the beast-like gladiator.
As soon as the lights went out, shelters as high as a wall quickly rose up within the performance area, overlapping like a maze and blocking the line of sight between the two people who stood 100 meters apart.
Wu Jin set his index finger against the trigger, then narrowed his eyes and calmed himself, gradually adapting to the noisy sound of voices from the audience stands.
He remained thus until the lights came on again.
The originally wide open arena was now split up by walls and bunkers made of brick and earth. The field of vision was narrow, and the sound of the opponent’s breathing was too light to be heard as both sides did their best to hide.
Within the next 15 minutes, the shelters would continue to descend into the ground until both sides were no longer able to avoid each other. When the stage became flat––if neither contestant had been taken out, they would both enter a pure, direct confrontation where neither party would stop until one of them was down.
There were sudden cries of exclamation from the stands.
The youth, who everyone had thought would take a defensive stance, had actually taken the initiative to attack first, pushing towards the other side with his a.s.sault rifle.
The eyes of the lady who’d just placed a bet on him lit up, “Very courageous, clear judgement. He must have guessed the previous contestant’s ending and chose to attack first during the first ten minutes instead of engaging in direct combat with the crazy one after the bunkers disappear––wait, they’re about to meet!”
The youth and the crazy gladiator both arrived at opposing ends of a narrow corner from different directions. The two men were only separated by a bunker, their footsteps inaudible. It seemed as though neither was aware of the existence of the other.
Until they turned the corner––
The gladiator who had bitten his previous opponent suddenly charged in around the wall and launched an ambush. He looked both fierce and contemptuous as he stared at the place where Wu Jin would emerge.
Almost everyone held their breath at this moment. There was no doubt that the gladiator had discovered the other party, and the initial balance of this street battle had tilted into that of a trap and ambush.
Wu Jin really did step into the trap.
The lady in the stands suppressed her screams, and there were others who even covered their eyes with graceful gestures. The next moment, the sound of a gunshot rang out, and the eyes that were peeking out between the cracks of fingers suddenly stilled––
To everyone’s surprise, the first person to shoot had been the youth in a white mask.
Even the person in charge of the cameras didn’t respond in time, the camera zooming in on the opposite direction after the shot.
The pale, white mask gave off a metallic, inorganic glint under the chilly lights, the exposed eyes a warm amber, but because they were filled with vigorous fighting spirit, there seemed to be dazzling sparks ignited within. His loose footsteps had successfully fooled his opponent when he neared the ambush, and even his arms had been extremely relaxed up until the moment before he stepped in.
The youth’s movements changed dramatically.
Due to his quick actions, the milk and honey colored skin of his lower back was exposed beneath his combat uniform, flashing in front of the camera. In the next second, he shot his gun––
Sharp, fierce.
The camera was now aimed at the chin that the youth had raised up, and he was like a proud leopard as he leapt up to launch a counter-ambush. His body was clearly slender and flexible, yet he burst out with a powerful and brutal ferocity, his eyes ignited with cl.u.s.ters of fire.
He leapt up, shot, and landed a hit all in one breath!
His face under the mask was cold and tense, the warm amber eyes indifferent as they stared straight ahead. He seemed to pull all of the stage lights towards him, and made people unable to stop themselves from watching––
The audience stands finally broke out in shrill cheers.
Inside the arena, the situation had been reversed.
The prey had taken on the ident.i.ty of the hunter. The winner of the previous match was shot in the right rib, Wu Jin’s mind processing at lightning speeds in the moment the bullet left the gun.
These weren’t the usual solid bullets used by the Crosson Show.
The bullet’s axis was connected to the bottom, causing the shock resistance of the bullet head to be greatly reduced. The initial speed was very high, but slowed down rapidly. The bullet head was sharp, and the front 1/3 of it was thickened beyond expectation, causing the bullet to stop the moment a wound was created––
The barrel had also been converted.
Wu Jin’s violent heartbeat finally calmed down.
Floating City’s training base ultimately still ensured the safety of their contestants. The modified gun barrel greatly reduced the speed and penetration of the bullets, and only the first third of the bullet would cause damage. Even if there was no life-saving capsule, any bullet that landed would only cause superficial damage.
In the dim lighting, the shelters had already dropped down to a height similar to that of the two people within.
Wu Jin raised the muzzle of his gun and pointed it at his opponent’s throat––
The gladiator’s pupils contracted abruptly, and judging from what he heard, the gladiator rolled toward the bunker beside him to dodge. He unhesitatingly drew his gun.
In just three short minutes, the opponents were within a 20 meter distance from each other, and the direct confrontation battle would begin ahead of time.
The heart rate of all spectators accelerated at the same time. In the previous ten games, there basically hadn’t been any other match where the battle situation had progressed so quickly. However, the development of the situation seemed logical and reasonable, as though everything had been calculated beforehand.
A street battle, ambush, counter-ambush––the masked youth who was obviously not good at close combat had made use of almost all his advantages in order to turn his original disadvantage in a tug-of-war battle into a rapid a.s.sault.
Even though the winner of the previous match was still physically stronger, it was obvious that he was now at a disadvantage at this time. The masked youth aimed and fired into the bunker that he’d just retreated into. Blood bloomed on both their bodies during the exchange of bullets, but it was the youth who kept the upper hand the whole time.
The modified bullets still caused Wu Jin to suffer and feel pain, but it was within the limit of what he could endure.
The pain even served to push his reasoning and prediction ability to become more alert than usual. The a.s.sault rifle seemed to be integrated with his arm, the originally unpredictable bullet trajectories finally linking up with his line of sight and judgement.
Bang––
Simple and direct.