SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

Chapter 148: [Bonus Chapter] Simulation??

[This Chapter was sponsored by Count Dragon... Thank you for your support]

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After the observation hall’s giant screen fully lit up, the candidates below were also led by the tournament staff toward the true entrance to the first stage.

Many people had originally thought they would be entering some enormous arena. After all, a name like the Chosen Tournament sounded like it should have grandstands, an arena, roaring cheers, and a crowd of people fighting each other until only one remained.

But after they passed through the candidates’ passageway and truly entered the main facility, many of them slowed their steps.

What appeared before them was not an arena.

Instead, it was an enormous white metal hall, so massive that it was almost exaggerated.

The interior of the hall was extraordinarily spacious. The ceiling was so high that its details were almost impossible to make out. Both the walls and the floor were made of silver white metal intertwined with pale blue runes. Countless thin streams of light flowed across the floor, as though the entire hall itself were performing some kind of precise calculation.

The most eye catching feature was the countless pods arranged in perfect rows throughout the hall.

The pods were completely white, with silver patterns embedded across their surfaces. Each one was large enough to hold a fully grown adult lying down. They stood row after row in perfect order. They looked less like tournament equipment and more like some kind of advanced experimental facility.

The candidates gradually came to a stop. Their faces showed different emotions. Some frowned. Some whispered among themselves. Others showed obvious excitement in their eyes.

Standing among the crowd, Zich swept his gaze across the pods, and his expression changed slightly.

These didn’t look like magical arrays or formations. They looked more like simulation devices created through a combination of magic and technology.

"So... this isn’t an arena?" someone couldn’t help asking.

"It doesn’t look like one."

"Could this be some kind of spiritual projection battle?"

"If our real bodies aren’t going in, can that still be considered combat?"

While everyone was discussing it, an official wearing Central City’s tournament uniform stepped onto the platform at the front.

His voice spread throughout the entire white metal hall through an amplification device on his collar.

"Welcome, candidates, to the venue of the Chosen Tournament’s first stage."

The hall gradually quieted down at those words.

The official continued, "The official name of the first stage is the Thinning Stage."

The screen behind him lit up.

[Stage One: Thinning Stage]

As soon as those words appeared, the expressions of the candidates changed.

Thinning.

The name itself didn’t sound like a gentle test... after all, the meaning of thinning was reducing the number of participants.

Ignoring the reactions below, the official maintained his calm tone.

"Since the Chosen Tournament includes candidates from multiple races and numerous settlements, the number of participants is simply too large. Therefore, it is impossible to begin directly with the official ranking battles. The purpose of this stage is to quickly eliminate those unsuitable to continue while observing everyone’s survival instincts, judgment, adaptability, combat awareness, and reactions under pressure."

As he spoke, more rules appeared on the screen behind him.

[Total Candidates: 60]

[All candidates will enter the same large scale simulated battlefield]

[Deployment Method: Random]

[Time Limit: 90 Minutes]

[The stage will end early when the remaining candidates are reduced to 20]

[The final 20 survivors automatically advance]

[An additional 12 candidates will be selected by the judges based on their performance]

[Total Advancing Candidates: 32]

This time, no one in the hall spoke casually anymore. Instead, they tried to dissect what the official had said.

In simple words, the official was saying this wasn’t simply a contest to see who could kill the most people.

You could hide.

You could run.

You could judge the situation.

You could strike at the critical moment.

Even if you were eliminated early, outstanding performance alone could still earn you a place in the next stage.

These rules were far more complicated than a simple elimination tournament.

And far more brutal!

The official continued, "All candidates must enter a connection pod. Your real bodies will remain protected, but the simulated battlefield will reproduce pain, fatigue, fear responses, environmental pressure, and the oppression of real combat as accurately as possible."

"Dying in the simulation will not result in your death in reality."

"But you will be eliminated from the first stage."

Those words made quite a few candidates let out relieved sighs.

But the official’s very next sentence immediately made them tense up again.

"Do not mistake that for safety. The simulation’s feedback is more than enough to make the weak lose their judgment and more than enough to break those with fragile wills. What Central City wishes to observe is not your performance in a safe environment, but your reactions when faced with pressure approaching real death."

Hearing this, Zich’s expression remained calm.

These rules were even more interesting than he had expected because he didn’t need to hunt people everywhere, compete for the highest kill count or reveal too many of his trump cards from the very beginning.

As long as he survived until the final twenty, or performed well enough that the judges simply couldn’t ignore him, he would advance.

The screen changed again, displaying an introduction to the simulated battlefield.

[Battlefield Type: Large Composite Map]

[Environments Included: Forest, Ruined District, Swamp, Rocky Valley, Abandoned Camp, Old Defensive Fortifications, Open Plains]

[Map Information: Undisclosed]

[Candidates may only view the remaining number of participants, the time limit, and localized danger alerts]

[Supply points, traps, monsters, and terrain advantages must all be discovered independently]

Some candidates with strong battle instincts looked excited, since random deployment meant they could begin hunting others very early. Defensive candidates became even more cautious because they had no idea where they would be dropped.

The Keth candidates quietly discussed the terrain.

Most of the Velhari candidates looked confident, as though they could accept being dropped anywhere.

Mira, who stood near Zich, couldn’t help but voice a thought.

"Random terrain is fair. Because everyone will have bad luck in a different way."

After hearing that, Zich looked at her seriously. "That makes a lot of sense."

Mira nodded with a small smile. "Thank you."

Helen standing nearby coundnt help but frown seeing the two interact like this.

At that moment, the official began directing the candidates into the connection pods.