TOP SECRET: Adventures in the Dark Continent

"Which of the challenges do you want to participate in?" A middle-aged man behind the counter asked. He was the person in charge of registering the coliseum participants.

"I would like to participate in the fighting tournament." Liu Yang replied.

"The participation fee is 100 crystals mined in this region of the mine"

The amount was quite large for an entry fee.

The coliseum owners decided this amount to increase the amount of wealth received, and also to improve the final tournament reward for participants.

Slaves participating in the tournament receive prizes for their masters since they are the ones who pay the entrance fee. Few people were like Liu Yang, who pay their own fees.

"Here are the crystals" Liu Yang placed a leather bag on the counter.

"The values ​​are correct. What name do you want to be registered with? It can be any name"

The name was just a way of calling the participant. They don't have to use the real name.

"I want to be called Mr. Smile." Liu Yang replied. He chose that name because he had a Mr. Smile mask covering his face.

Liu Yang wore the mask because he didn't want others to find out about him, at least his enemies.

About his women inside the VIP room, they know about it. He also warned Millia that he was in the arena and used the name Mr. Smile beforehand.

Before going to the coliseum, Liu Yang already had the idea of ​​using that name as a disguise.

"OK. Your name was registered as Mr. Smile. Here is your nameplate containing your name and number. The fighting tournament will start in two hours, in half an hour, the draw will start, you can go to the rest area and wait until the draw time. All other participants must be at the draw location, otherwise, you will be disqualified"

"I appreciate the advice" Liu Yang took the metal plate and left the place.

…

The rest area was inside a large room inside the coliseum. The place was extremely large and had about two to three thousand people inside.

Many of them were resting while others were talking and some were eating.

Since this location only allows participants to enter, nobles cannot stay at the location. Because they can threaten the other participants and this would cause problems for the bookmaker.

So, the only ones inside the break room are the participants in the coliseum fights. There were not only participants in the tournament, but there were also others from other competitions in the coliseum. They were all in the same place together.

Liu Yang found a vacant spot to sit. He looked at everyone else around him as he was lost in thought.

As time passed, more people came to the break room, but it was not enough to fill the room.

Sometime later...

A group of people appeared, several of them pushing carts with a wooden drop on top.

The instant they arrived, everyone stopped doing their thing and looked in their direction. You don't have to think so much to find out that they were the people who will be doing the draw. 

"Attention!!!" The elderly man in front of the group shouted.

Everyone looked in his direction.

"Now is the time to start the draw for the matches that will take place in the next few hours. Those who are registered for the fighting tournament go that way." He pointed to a location.

Three people push the cart over there.

Participants followed the trio to the place.

"Those who are registered to fight creatures go this way" He pointed to another location.

Three more people pushing a cart were walking there, the participants followed soon after.

"Those who registered for battle royale will stay on this side"

…

As there were a total of five different categories, the old man separated all the participants into five groups. Each group was one of the categories.

But not all groups had draws, one of which was a battle royale. There was no need for a draw because everyone will fight against each other.

"As everyone has already been separated. The draw will begin."

"Number 1, take your number"

"Number 1, show up to get the number"

"Number 1, come and get your number"

…

The draw was basically for participants to go to the cart and put their hand inside the wooden box and pick up a ball.

The process was not difficult and there were no problems.

But because of the large number of people, the time was quite long.

The draw with the largest number of people was from the fighting tournament. As long as the person achieves a victory, they can recover the money used in the registration fee.

Time passed slowly and the number of participants who had already been drawn increased.

Four hours later ...

"As all draws have been finalized, all participants must go to the designated place for your respective tournaments. The first event will be the battle royale, the second will be the fight against the creatures and the last will be the fighting tournament. Because of the large number of people participating in the fighting tournament, an elimination stage will take place to decide who will be participating in the main tournament"

"The elimination stage will take place in half an hour in this hall. The rules are simple. Kill your opponent, push him out of the arena or he says he gives up. Those who are not part of the fighting tournament need to get out of here and go to your respective tournaments" The old man finished speaking and started to head towards the exit.

The others who came with him did the same.

Participants in the other tournaments started to leave the room.

In a few minutes, the only ones left were the fight tournament participants.

When the others left, a group of about a hundred large, muscular orcs appeared on the scene. They all had scary faces.

"Dear participants, my name is Grum, the Impartial Judge. I will be the one who will lead the elimination stage with my teammates. I believe the rules have already been explained, right? So I will start with the preparations, but the tournament will only start in half an hour." The orc who appears to be the leader of the group commented.

"All of you, I want you to move away from the center." He ordered.

Nobody dared to disobey.

Tap ...

Grum, the Impartial Judge, snapped his fingers. The bricks on the floor in the middle of the great hall began to rise. 

About a hundred arenas were formed from the bricks.

"Take the time to rest, as it could be your last minutes of life" Grum, the Impartial Judge, commented casually. He knows that many at the site will die.