The second round began.
But before the game started, the doors on both sides of the room opened, and another group of masked people emerged, taking their places at the corresponding tables according to the designs on their masks.
Schiller noticed a muscular man standing across from him. Through his blurred vision, he counted nine tentacles on the man's Octopus Mask. That meant he was Schiller's opponent.
The invitations given to those being challenged always stated who had challenged them, but Schiller's invitation had no specific name on it. It contained only one word—"ocean."
Now that ocean stood before him. Schiller could only brace himself against the table with his arms to maintain his balance, barely looking at him.
As the second round began, the round tables were removed once more, and oval tables for the gamblers floated up. Schiller and Octopus No. 9 stood at opposite ends.
Suddenly, staff members placed a strange machine in the center of each table. The upper half was a transparent sphere, while the lower half was a metal base. Two hoses extended from the base toward the players, connected to a pump. In front of the pump was a thin tube, and at its end was a needle.
The transparent spherical portion was large, seemingly made of highly transparent glass. Numerous hoses spiraled around its walls, with nine outlets above and nine below.
At the very center of the sphere was a smaller metal spherical frame. Inside hung countless metal balls of different sizes and heights, like a scattering of stars, each engraved with a rune.
The crowd began discussing it, unable to guess what the strange machine was for, while the staff started explaining.
"This game is called Blood Lottery. Shortly, professional medical personnel will insert blood-drawing needles into both participants' arms.