"WATER'S VICTORY!" As the water dissipated, the referee exclaimed, eliciting the loudest cheer so far.
Water stood triumphantly, a smirk on his face as he gazed at the white light that engulfed Tian Fen. "Truly, all talk and no show."
Stell's eyes widened as he watched Tian Fen's defeat. He considered Tian Fen to be invincible, a mountain that was impossible to climb. A person he was unworthy of even mentioning.
And yet, such a person lost? In a random game? Stell's thoughts turned chaotic, his perception of the world slowly changing.
However, no matter how he saw Tian Fen, it was a fact that he saw Water as a mountain above a mountain. A person he couldn't even reach. A person he couldn't even look at.
With his perception of Water shifting, Stell lowered his head, avoiding gazing at Water any longer.
Beside him, Felix looked at Stell, letting out a silent sigh, before redirecting his gaze at Water, grinning.
Only when Water entered his gate did Stell dare to look at the referee, hearing the referee advertise again.
Chuckling slightly at the sight, he saw a new person appear next to the referee. It was a young man with green hair and green eyes.
"Hello, may I inquire about your thoughts regarding Water's overwhelming triumph?" The referee granted the green-haired young man the opportunity to speak.
"He's cool." The green-haired man smiled. "Almost as cool as me."
His words earned him a round of booing from the audience.
"Get on with it!"
"We wanna see fights!"
"Just because he is slightly handsome, he thinks that he can compare to Water?!"
"Dammit, I love Rose!"
The audience's shouts echoed, prompting the referee to calm them down. After that, the referee chuckled. "Quite an intriguing man. Who do you think will win?"
As the young man listened to the referee, he randomly grabbed a ball from the pot. It was a ball with the letter G.
The young man looked at the ball before laughing. "Either the water elemental or the little giant."
His words made many people in the audience nod, acknowledging his analysis. The referee chuckled. "Seems like we have two favorite groups. And what a coincidence that the dark horse just happened to fight next."
The green-haired person grabbed another ball, showing the letter O to the colosseum.
Not wanting to prolong the green-haired individual's presence on stage, the referee promptly teleported him away before announcing the forthcoming match between group G and group O.
As the gate swung open, Stell walked onto the stage absentmindedly, a pang of envy kindling in his heart upon overhearing people mentioning Water.
Then, he realized something. His change was too sudden! Too drastic! With fear gripping his heart, he asked his System.
"Is there something in my body? Did someone mess with my mental state?"
[ No anomalies happened. ]
A message appeared, making Stell sigh in relief. It was nothing.
Meanwhile, the referee initiated the battle. Surveying the battlefield, Stell observed Ta charging toward the opponents with his short comrade perched on his shoulders.
"Tsk." A red-haired young man, no older than Stell, tsked as he saw the giant running at him.
The young man was code-named Fire, and unsurprisingly, his main element was Fire element. However, he also had lightning as a side element.
In the last battle, he surprised his opponent with his lightning, earning himself a place in the top eight.
However, his winning streak was about to prematurely end as he saw Ta's greatsword fly at him. Ta threw the greatsword as if it was a spear!
Somehow, Fire dodged the attack. Conjuring the fireball, he threw it at Ta. Stell didn't bother himself with the battle, knowing that he wouldn't be able to help much anyway.
Ta was too fast for him to keep up and defend, and Fire was too destructive for him to rely on his Earth element.
Ta's pupils widened as he grabbed his short teammate and held him in front of himself as if the teammate was a shield.
"TA! THAT WASN'T OUR AGREEMENT!" He yelled as he became enveloped by the fireball, dissipating in a burst of white light.
Stell shuddered as he witnessed the gruesome scene. Despite his awareness that it was a game, he couldn't shake off the nauseating feeling the scene provoked.
"How is this even allowed?!" He shouted, but no one responded. Meanwhile, Ta leaped into the air, closing the distance to Fire and delivering a forceful punch.
As Fire dodged again, Maria reached Ta and Fire. With a dagger in hand, she jumped on top of Ta, stabbing him in the neck.
Ta couldn't even react before his pupils dilated, falling to the ground.
"What is HAPPENING?!" The referee shouted as he watched the exciting battle. "The horrifying Ta was defeated by his own teammate?! Did the young priestess betray group G?"
Boos and cheers mingled together in the audience's collective uproar. Stell could only watch the scene in a daze, sensing a sensation akin to being an animal spurred on to fight another creature.
It completely overturned his view of the world as he finally saw the horrifying difference that the new world brought.
'No. It's just a game. Nothing of the sort happened in the real world.' He shook his head, rejecting the notion of linking the scene to reality.
Meanwhile, Maria was fatally stabbed by one of Stell's teammates after she had taken down five opponents. Following that, Fire engaged and defeated several more foes, raising the tally of Stell's teammates to five, not counting Felix and himself.
As Fire was on the verge of launching a lightning strike at another teammate, he tripped over a weapon, losing his footing and falling. In the course of his backward roll, he accidentally collided with Felix.
Grinning, Felix kicked Fire in the back, making him fall again. Angered, Fire conjured a small lightning in his palm before throwing it at Felix, but Felix jumped in the air, dodging the attack.
With potential energy transformed into kinetic energy, Felix descended, and with a forceful stomp, he descended upon Fire, instantly eliminating him.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" The referee exclaimed as he observed the scene, stirring up the audience's excitement. "A player with the code name Wind has just taken down Fire, the player who nearly vanquished the entirety of group G!"
With a cheer, Felix and the rest walked to the waiting room. Stell looked at Felix with strange eyes before sighing, tired.
The remaining rounds flew by quickly. The referee selected two additional spectators, both of whom held the belief that Water was undoubtedly going to emerge victorious.
In their eyes, after Maria's betrayal, group G was done for. 'They don't know who the real protagonist is.' Stell smirked at their opinions.
Although Tian Fen had lost, Stell just couldn't see Felix losing. Felix was just too strange and powerful. Also, it wasn't one on one.
Although he regarded Water as a powerful adversary, Stell almost thought of Felix as a god after seeing him easily defeating Fire, as if it was the most mundane thing.
And so the referee juggled with new balls while advertising some chairs before he put them into the pot, picking another random person.
With a sigh, Stell watched as the person grabbed two balls. On them were the letters: A and G.