I opened my eyes to stare at the ceiling in silence, only to come back to my senses a few minutes later.
First was the taste, copper, and dust in my mouth, so thirsty.
Then sound: a low, constant hiss in the walls, the building absorbing mana.
Then weight—my limbs heavy in a way that didn’t feel like sleep.
The only source of light was one thin band of pale light where the blinds didn’t meet, and even that light was faint.
I shifted my eyes to look around the room, only to be met with a tall shape standing between the door and me.
Too tall, this particular silence, these lifeless eyes, this bloody body, an undead.
I was scared out of my wits until I remembered that I was the domain master, and I had undead minions.
Then my heart dropped again as I saw Lilith standing behind the gigantic undead. I cursed under my breath as I knew that the time had arrived.
I slowly got out of bed and sat on its edge, head lowered and both hands resting on my legs, “How long have I been asleep?”
She answered without skipping a beat, “around 12 hours.”
“That is long enough,” I answered while grumbling inwardly, “That was all? After such a long and bloody day, even 30 hours straight wouldn’t be too much right?”
…
On the other side, a few floors below Vorn.
The survivors were asleep in a tight knot, backs to the wall. Nyx sat near them with her legs tucked in, eyes half-open, pretending to rest.
Aelar was curled around his daggers in deep sleep.
Orik’s breathing was shallow with heavy lids that could close his eyes any second.
Rook and Mira were no different, as both of them were snoozing off.
Although Hollow has come and told them that this place is safe, they still felt better staying together with the other survivors.
Korgan was there too.
He lay on his side, like he always had, as if nothing had happened.
Except for the fact that he could feel it now, a wrongness under the skin, a door that had been opened and never shut again.
…
The way Lilith looked at me made me shudder; it was very intense.
I subconsciously checked on my items for the only thing that may give me some solace.
[Causality Memento — Cooldown: ~7h 00m remaining]
Seven hours, enough time for me to die two or three times.
As I was about to come up with a cool line to brush Lilith off, I heard her cold but amicable voice, “Have you seen the ranking?”
I froze, ‘ranking? Why is she mentioning the rankings? Could it be that my achievements aren’t that great, but I was imagining it, maybe I’m not in the top 100 to begin with?’
The happiness in my heart could not be counseled, but I tried, and only a faint smirk remained on my lips.
I never forgot my goal; mediocrity is the only path forward. Being at the forefront will bring nothing but trouble.
With a heart full of hope, I opened the ranking panel.
?SYSTEM PANEL?
?RANKING?
NOTICE: The ranking announcement has been delayed due to astonishing events during the preparation round.
NOTICE: Ranking is calculated by a hidden evaluation.
Crossworld original participants: 5,000,000,000(LOCKED)
Original Z-118 participants:
— Undead: 74,793,556,218(LOCKED)
— Living: 4,206,443,782(LOCKED)
Recruited participants (within the first 24 hours): 12,498,731,006
Total number of participants: 96,498,731,006
Number of Eliminations (true end; updated every 24 hours): 3,732,517,018
As I saw the number of participants, the number of deaths, the corner of my mouth twitched. In my original world, the total population was around 4B.
The fact that in one day of the end games, this many people died is ridiculous.
However, this number reflects the eliminated living and the dead. I hope a larger portion of the eliminated are undead.
The reason is simple: the living can be reasoned with.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
As for the dead, unless they reach level 3, i.e., D-grade, they remain mindless monsters, even a mage undead, although they have intelligence, it is only limited to the basics of being a mage.
After thinking for a moment, I continued reading.
Then I saw a long list of names with two names written in bold letters as if to differentiate them for me to see.
After I saw the names, I didn’t react for a while, then I took a peek at the causality memento.
Then another peak at the rankings.
Then I felt like I had eaten a fly.
?RANKING?
#1. NIGHTWORN
#2. Angel Dust
#3. Nora Holt
#4. Liability
#5. …
…
…
…
#89. Lilith
…
…
…
#100. Selene Price
Before I could vomit blood out of anger, the ranking disappeared, and the system panel turned dark.
Then the light spilled back in.
A demon stepped on a stage, dressed in a charcoal suit; his horns were polished like trophies, his smile was practiced like a weapon.
One hand held a thin black card as if he needed it to remember what to speak.
He spread his arms wide, welcoming the audience into his embrace.
“Ladies, Gentlemen. Things that wear faces and things that wear skins.”
“Welcome—”
The word slammed across the darkness in gilded letters ?END GAMES?
“—to the only honest entertainment left.”
“What a first day we had.”
Behind him, the blackness ignited into a wall of moving images—blurred streets, collapsing towers, pale bodies, blood and gore.
Numbers rose in the air like incense:
?ELIMINATIONS (24H): 3,732,517,018?
“Some of you are already writing your speech. Some of you are already praying to your gods. Some of you are already doing what you always do… pretending this is not happening.”
“And some of you are excited to watch another season OF… THE… END… GAMES”
He said in a loud voice, “It’s happening.”
The screen behind him snapped to a clean, elegant leaderboard.
?TOP 100 — PREPARATION ROUND?
He tapped the black card once against his palm.
“Tonight’s feature.”
The list scrolled, names, ranks, and brief tags that flashed too fast to fully read. The host’s voice guided the eye like a leash.
The screen is hard-cut.
#14 — “Marcus Venn.”
In an apartment, a young man stood in the center with a kitchen knife in both hands, arms shaking so violently the blade looked like it might rattle apart.
The host spoke over the scene with reverence.
“Rank Fourteen.”
“He understood reality, homes are never safe.”
His own family lurched toward him.
He cried without sound, then moved.
The knife rose and fell, rose and fell, until the room went still.
The young man sank to the floor among bodies; he couldn’t afford to mourn, and for a moment his eyes went empty.
He stood again.
The host’s voice turned warm.
“Survival is what matters the most.”
Hard-cut.
#4 — LIABILITY
A corridor with fluorescent lights flickering, a human in a clean robe walking, and checking every corner with his eyes.
An undead ran toward him; however, he didn’t react much, with a wave of his hand, a sward trusted the undead mouth and exited through his skull.
The host chuckled.
“Rank Four.”
He leaned toward the camera as if sharing a secret.
“Some contenders kill with blades… and some…”
Hard-cut.
#2 — ANGEL DUST
A figure, genderless in pale armor, stood in a ruined chapel. A cracked halo floated above their head—not holy, just bright, Wings of light jagged and sharp.
The undead surged, Angel Dust lifted a hand, and Light erupted
“With magic.”
“Isn’t it comforting? To know even angels can be bought by the show.”
Hard-cut.
#3 — NORA HOLT
A woman crouched behind a concrete pillar, watching a Level 2 undead bear move in the mist.
She held a person’s mouth with one hand and a dagger with the other.
The beastkin woman in her hand was breathing heavily, terrified, her pleading eyes landed on Nora Holt.
However, all of a sudden, she drove something sharp into the back of her knee, not killing, but disabling.
Nora slid past her like a shadow while she screamed out of pain.
Undead converged on her, tearing her apart in their frenzy.
However, Nora already slipped past them and headed toward the level two bear.
The host’s smile sharpened, “how cold blooded, I wonder, how many corpses will she leave in her wake?”
Hard-cut.
On-screen text: #89 — LILITH (SUMMONED)
A cold-faced beauty was shown on top of a skyscraper; her face was expressionless, with only one orb in her hand.
“Yes, this time is special, we have a local, and a summon standing near the peak this early, the only thing we are missing is an undead.”
“But enough of all of that, now it’s the time that you’ve all been waiting for… The main course.”
#1 — NIGHTWORN
The music dropped into a low, predatory hum.
The host’s voice softened.
“Nightworn.”
Behind him, the screen erupted into a montage—fast, brutal, edited to be a myth:
Him standing on the edge of the rooftop above a sea of undead.
He stands over the corpse of the first level two undead.
Him opining the oil tank before knowing what it was.
The three half-dead undead from burns.
Scene after scene appeared, until it ended with the appearance of a mischievous child.
“I present to everyone.”
After a pause for Perfect timing.
“Nightworn, the man who delayed the ranking reveal by breaking into the End Game historical ranking.”
The montage froze on Nightgown’s face, calm, unreadable, dead-eyed.
A man was edited into a monster.
“Now listen carefully.”
The stage lights dimmed. A new panel slid in beside him like a menu.
?FOLLOW A CONTENDER — 24H LIVE FEED?
?ACCESS FEE REQUIRED?
?SELECT ANY CONTENDER EVEN OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 100?
?PAYMENT CONFIRMS ACCESS ON END GAMES OFFICIAL PLATFORM?
“Let the End Games continue.”
…
In a large room with a breathtaking view that overlooked the entire city, Mr. Hans sat in his chair, legs over his table while smoking a cigar; he was in bliss without a care in the world.
His job was over.
As for advertising the Games, no need.
The Games advertise themselves.
As he was daydreaming, the door to his office slammed open, and a dozen or so people entered, almost running, led by his personal assistant.
Hans was flabbergasted as he quickly adjusted his posture and started screaming, “What the hell is wrong with all of you…”
But before he could continue his ramblings, his assistant almost slammed a screen in his face, and it was the ranking.
But this list was different; it had much more than just 100 names, and the origin planet was next to each participant's name.
When Hans saw the first on the list, the cigar fell from his hand. “WTF, when did our people become so fierce?”
…
A woman with perfect hair and a perfect smile in her room leaned toward the camera as if she were sharing gossip.
“The new Rank One has been confirmed. This time, he is actually a domain master. It is insane.”
“I mean, how he even obtained the dungeon core this early; I will definitely follow him and watch the scenes from his first day.”
…
A news anchor on a show was in a heated discussion with guests.
“According to the official site, this Nightworn has never fought on the first day and still achieved the 1st rank, which is one of the reasons the ranking was delayed.”
“If you ask me, it is ridiculous; if it wasn’t for the fact that his ranking is much higher than his summon Lilith, I would definitely doubt whether he was carried to his position in the top 100.”
“If you ask me, the fact that a summoned unit reached the top 100 this early on is astonishing. Usually, we have to wait 10-15 days for the summoned units to reach the top 100; and it is usually by killing their summoner.”
“You can’t say that, it’s common knowledge that one of the deciding factors for the ranking is viewership.”
“You are all mistaken. What is really surprising is that Marcus Venn, a local, reaching such a high rank in the early game is astonishing; it’s common knowledge that the first 30 or so days are dominated by Crossworld and recruited participants like Lilith.”
