The nausea was gone.
His hands weren’t shaking anymore, his heart wasn’t pounding, and the girl’s face was no longer forcing its way into his mind.
Only moments ago, the memory had left him curled up on the ground. Now he could think about it without feeling anything at all.
But before he could even think about what kind of spell Tim had used, or at least guess what the fuck he had done to him, his surroundings caught his attention.
He stood in the middle of a massive white-marble square surrounded by enormous pillars.
"The Immortals..." he whispered as he realized exactly where he was.
It was the Square of the Immortals.
A place dedicated to ten Players who had left the greatest mark on Eldoria’s history.
Founders of legendary guilds, victors of major wars, and Players whose actions had permanently changed the game.
But there was one major problem.
"Where are... the statues?"
There wasn’t a single one.
The massive hundred-meter-tall statues that had towered over the square when Eldoria was still just a game were completely gone, leaving only their enormous golden bases behind.
But before he could walk over to them or even begin to wonder what the fuck all of this meant... it happened.
[WORLD EVENT]
[Bloodmarked Fest]
Before Rafael could even react, a flash of light erupted several meters away.
A man appeared, then another even more began erupting across the Square of the Immortals one after another as people were teleported into the square from all across Eldoria.
Some appeared in full armor with weapons already in their hands.
Others arrived wearing ordinary clothes, looking around in complete confusion.
One man appeared butt-ass naked.
More and more continued appearing until the once-empty square was filled with voices.
But those voices were quickly drowned out by the System’s robotic voice.
[Participants: 100]
[50 Bloodmarked Players.]
[50 Clean Players.]
"Oh, no..." Rafael whispered as he already knew this shit was going to be bad.
[Each Bloodmarked Player will be randomly assigned one Clean Player.]
Another notification immediately followed.
[Your lives will be bound for the duration of Bloodmarked Fest.]
[If your assigned Clean Player dies, you will die.]
[Event Points are shared between paired Participants.]
[Victory Requirement: Obtain 100 Event Points.]
[Eliminate a Clean Player: +20 Event Points.]
[Eliminate a Bloodmarked Player: +10 Event Points]
"Twenty?!"
"You want us to kill each other?!"
"What the fuck kind of event is this?!"
Rafael didn’t say anything as his eyes remained on the rules.
Then another notification appeared.
[Upon reaching 100 Event Points, both members of the Pair will immediately complete Bloodmarked Fest.]
[The successful Pair will be teleported back to their previous locations.]
One hundred points.
That was all they needed.
[Death during Bloodmarked Fest is permanent.]
[The Event Area cannot be left.]
[Assignment will now begin.]
"Wait!" a man shouted from the crowd. "What does that mean? Can Clean Players become Bloodmarked?!"
[If a Clean Player successfully completes Bloodmarked Fest, kills committed during the Event will not result in Bloodmarked Status.]
[3]
[2]
[1]
It happened fast, without any further explanation or time for questions.
Rafael didn’t even have time to blink before he found himself standing in the middle of a town.
People were walking through the streets as if nothing unusual was happening, and among the humans were elves, along with races Rafael was seeing in person for the first time, including dwarves and lizardmen.
The town itself was developed.
Large buildings lined paved stone roads, shops and market stalls filled the streets, and even lamps stood along the roads, glowing with mana instead of electricity.
He had no idea where the fuck he was. Eldoria was huge, and there were thousands of places he had never even visited when it was still just a game.
But one thing was for sure... he wasn’t alone as he felt something grab his hand.
He immediately turned, and there she was.
What the fuck...?
Rafael stared at the person holding his hand, trying to process what the fuck he was looking at.
"I-I’m... your pair," she stuttered, her entire body trembling and her eyes already filled with tears.
Rafael was fucking speechles... she was fucking glowing.
She wore an oversized neon-pink hoodie over a short skirt, matching thigh-high socks, and white boots with pink straps.
Even the small backpack hanging from her shoulders was neon-pink.
And sticking out from her hair were two enormous bunny ears.
"I-I don’t understand this Event," she stuttered while Rafael continued staring at the absurdly colorful person holding his hand. "What even is a Bloodmarked Player?"
"Huh?"
Rafael finally looked into her eyes.
"Bloodmarked," she repeated. "What does it—"
[Predator’s Instinct]
Rafael suddenly threw his arm out and pushed her backward.
At the same moment, a massive lance tore through the space that had been between them, passing only inches from Rafael’s face before slamming into the building behind them.
"Whoa! That was a nice dodge!"
A man’s voice came from the side, and Rafael’s eyes immediately snapped toward him.
What he saw was another anomaly.
The man wore nothing except a pair of boxers, while his long hair reached down to his waist.
"Come here! Let’s kill them quickly!" the man shouted, and there she was.
A woman appeared too, and she looked like anything but a Clean Player.
She was massive, towering over the nearly naked man in a full set of blood-red plate armor that covered almost her entire body.
Resting in her hands was an enormous battle axe, its blade the same deep red as her armor.
Even her long hair was red.
"You better stay right there so I can kill you without wasting too much time," the man said as he eyed Rafael. "So just stan—"
"Pop!"
"Uh...?"
The man’s right arm burst apart at the shoulder, spraying blood across the street as the severed limb spun through the air and hit the ground several meters away.
He barely had time to look at the bloody stump.
"Pop!"
His left arm exploded next, torn clean from the shoulder as blood poured down both sides of his body.
"Pop!"
His head burst apart.
Blood sprayed from his neck as his headless body remained standing for barely a second before his knees finally buckled and he collapsed onto the pavement.
[Bloodmarked Player Eliminated.]
[+10 Event Points.]
Rafael immediately looked to his right.
The fucking neon-glowing bunny girl was standing there with one hand raised, her fingers shaped like a pistol.
"Pop!" she said again.
[Clean Player Eliminated.]
[+20 Event Points.]
[Current Event Points: 30/100.]
[Player Count: 48/50]