"Welcome!" Lana greeted the crowd with open arms, her demeanor more like a friend than a queen.
She stood at the same elevation level as the 20,000 contestants. Logically, it should have been impossible for them all to see and hear her soft-spoken words, but strangely, everyone saw and heard her. Obviously, she was using some magic to accomplish this.
"This place is called Paradise. "If you win, you earn the right to live here. As you all know, the only way to win is by pleasing me. If you do that well enough, I'll grant you a blue card—or perhaps something even better. Now, let's begin." she said without shame. As a demon, she had none.
"Now, let's begin." She snapped her fingers.
…
Mike listened to Lana's words and could only sigh with despair. How had he ended up here, as a slave to some twisted, psychopathic, crazy rank 11 being?
Everyone disappeared as she snapped her fingers, leaving only her and Mike.
"So, Mike ... how do you plan to please me??" Lana walked up to him in one step, asking him with curiosity.
"Well…" He wanted to cry, but no tears came. Even as a quasi-rank 10, recent events had pushed him to his limits. Mike absolutely despised the demoness in front of him. She had killed billions of people he had done his best to save. But without power, he had no recourse. Now, he had to endure humiliation for even a chance to survive and be set free.
Lana's smile deepened, clearly enjoying the internal struggles Mike was going through.
"Let's play chess?" he suggested. He used to enjoy chess, though he hadn't had the opportunity to play it in a long time.
Chess was a universal game that existed in all worlds. It was said that Rachel, a rank 14 being, had recently taken a liking to it. The idea of someone so powerful enjoying such a simple game seemed unbelievable, but who could understand the minds of beings at that level? They defied common sense.
"Your call!" Lana snapped again, and a table with two chairs and a wooden chessboard with scattered pieces appeared.
"Here's traditional chess," Lana said, sitting down. There were many versions of chess, some of which were so complex that mortals had to spend years learning the rules. For immortals, however, a few years were nothing, not to mention that with immortals' mental strength, it wouldn't take that long.
Mike sat down and set up the pieces. "Let's play."
…
"Another draw!" Mike sighed.
Traditional chess, limited to an 8x8 board, generally resulted in winners and losers because mortal players made mistakes. But both Mike and Lana played perfectly, and after 15 rounds, every game ended in a draw.
They were like powerful chess programs, neither making any errors. A traditional chess game among immortals always ended this way.
"I'm not enjoying this, Mike," Lana said, looking at him with sleepy eyes. At her level, she could play perfect chess without any effort.
Mike shook his head. The chess suggestion had turned out to be a terrible idea.
"I should've known! Damn, I can't think straight! My frustration is affecting my judgment!" he thought.
"How can I please her? She's evil and twisted, enjoying others' suffering and humiliation. Maybe I should catch some animals and torture them in front of her?" he wondered. There were a few stray cats and dogs around. Though torturing pets is cruel, Mike doesn't care. If it could please Lana, he would do it.
Mike tried to save billions of people, but overall, he can, at best, be said to be not evil; he is by no means a good person.
After thinking it over, he decided to catch a few puppies and kittens. Lana would probably enjoy watching such innocent creatures suffer.
Mike had seen people who took pleasure in others' pain. Many mentally ill mortals were like that, but he hadn't expected to find an immortal with the same sickness. His entire opinion of immortals had fallen because of Lana. In the Great Demon's inheritance, it was said that immortals were rational beings, not psychopaths like her.
After wandering for a while, Mike returned, holding a few puppies and kittens. Sitting beside Lana, who looked at him suspiciously, he began tormenting the helpless creatures.
The animals' cries filled the air, but Mike pressed on, hoping this cruel act would please her.
"What are you doing?" Lana snapped, fury in her voice. "Are you insane? Give them to me!"
She waved her hand, and the animals were healed instantly, their pain gone.
"You have issues, Mike! How could you hurt these innocent things?" Lana's voice dripped with disgust. "You're fired."
With another flick of her fingers, Mike vanished.
After he vanished, Lana tossed the pets aside like trash and laughed loudly.
...
Mike looked around, seeing nothing but endless barren grassland, and cursed helplessly, "Crazy Bastard!"
She probably teleported him to some far-away abandoned place; with his magic power sealed, it would be supremely difficult to get back.
"Crazy bitch!" Mike almost lost himself in anger; it turned out that she was okay with killing billions of people, but hurting pets was a red line.
…
"This place is called Paradise. "If you win, you earn the right to live here. As you all know, the only way to win is by pleasing me. If you do that well enough, I'll grant you a blue card—or perhaps something even better. Now, let's begin." she said without shame. As a demon, she had none.
With a snap of her fingers, everyone disappeared except for Lana and Elara.
Lana walked up to her, looked at Elara, and said, "Please me."
Elara had trained for years just for this moment. Without hesitation, she stripped naked and began dancing for Lana. She had studied all the rumors and concluded this would give her the best chance of pleasing her and winning a blue card.
Lana seemed quite amused and pleased, judging by her expression.
…
"Here is your blue card!" Five days later, Lana handed Elara a blue card.
But Elara didn't take it. She had long lost consciousness.
She had been dancing non-stop for five straight days and nights. She even ate her meals while dancing. It wasn't that she wanted to torture herself, but whenever she stopped for even a second, the happy look on Lana's face turned into a frown. Elara couldn't afford to displease the queen, so she just kept going.
She had planned to keep dancing until Lana told her to stop. She didn't expect Lana to let her continue without interruption for days, just standing there, smiling.
Even with food, water, good physical fitness, and strong willpower, after five days and nights, Elara finally collapsed.
"She looks a lot thinner!" Lana laughed. Intense workouts could make a person thinner quickly—if they had the willpower to persist.
"You don't want it?" Lana still held the blue card, waiting for Elara to take it. But Elara had long fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion.
"How dare you disrespect your queen by sleeping and not answering my questions?" Lana shouted angrily.
"My… queen…" Elara barely opened her eyes and, with difficulty, raised her hand to take the card.
Lana didn't take it back. Though it would have been fun to see Elara's disappointment, Lana had genuinely enjoyed her performance and looked forward to seeing her again in another contest.
Blue cardholders still had to participate in contests to upgrade and keep their cards active. In addition, all cardholders could live in Paradise. Lana wouldn't force them to live there, but many chose to, doing whatever it took to please her daily.
With a snap of her fingers, Elara disappeared.
…
This round of the contest ended with 12 people winning blue cards and one lucky man winning a red card. Additionally, 58 of the previous cardholders successfully upgraded their cards.
Of the 20,000 contestants, 19,929 failed. Winning the contest was never easy. Even passing the three trials wasn't enough—pleasing the queen was the hardest part.
Those who passed the first trial, the Trial of Will, received a 100,000 RM prize. The winners of the second and third trials each received 1,000,000 RM. The final 20,000 were awarded gray cards, unofficial cards that helped in some places but were less prestigious or useful than blue cards.
Though gray cards didn't increase lifespan, they were still highly respected. Only the most talented people who passed the three trials and met the queen in person could get them. The gray card didn't have a lot of official use, but society viewed it as highly prestigious; for gray card holders, it is easy to be hired by large corporations, regardless of one's education.
Though the 19,929 technically failed, they weren't upset; they got gray cards, guaranteeing their quality of life.
Blue cardholders had it even better. A blue card could elevate someone's life from poverty to luxury. It was more than enough for most people with a daily limit of 10,000 RM—equating to 300,000 a month and 3,600,000 a year. Those who wanted more money could quickly get hired by major corporations. Plus, the card extended their lifespan to 200 years.
In effect, cardholders were akin to nobility. Those without cards were mere peasants in comparison.