Ice and Fire: Survival Game

"This is the contract for this competition, Mr. Xia Ze. Please look it over, and if there are no issues, just sign here."

Xia Ze did not reply. He merely took the contract from the other person and began reading it.

Participation Agreement for Ice and Fire: Survival Game:

Party A would provide Party B with a means of traveling to another world, as well as a body to use in the world of Ice and Fire.

Party B voluntarily agreed to travel to the world of Ice and Fire to participate in this competition and bear the corresponding legal responsibility.

Rule Details

Prize Details

The game's organizers were an organization from a higher plane that had descended upon Xia Ze's world more than a decade ago. They had brought supernatural powers unknown to Xia Ze's world.

Fortunately, their purpose was not conquest, but... entertainment.

More commendably, they also obeyed local laws. For instance, this game Xia Ze was about to enter required a contract to be signed in advance.

It took Xia Ze nearly half an hour to read through the not-so-lengthy agreement word by word.

The contents of the agreement could roughly be summarized in the following four points:

1. Competition Introduction: This was a competition held in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, with a total of one hundred players participating.

2. Victory Rules: Victory could be declared once all players or alliances outside one's own alliance had been eliminated, or once the alliance's total points exceeded 10,000 and all players in that alliance unanimously agreed. If the alliance's players could not reach a consensus, the alliance would automatically dissolve.

(After entering the game, players could form alliances through the Auxiliary System. Each alliance could have no more than four members.)

Once final victory was declared, all surviving players would be sent back to their original world one hour after the competition began.

3. Prize Rules: A solo victor would receive 10 billion dollars alone. Two joint victors would split 1 billion dollars. Three joint victors would split 10 million dollars. Four joint victors would split 1 million dollars.

4. Risk Notice: Death during the competition would result in real death.

"So, Mr. Xia Ze," the organizer's receptionist asked after seeing Xia Ze put down the document, "do you have any other questions?"

"Of course." Xia Ze nodded. "As far as I know, you've held more than one similar competition before this, but the prizes were always fairly ordinary. This time, though, the prize money has been raised to an unprecedented level. I'd like to know why."

"Have you noticed the name of this competition?"

"Ice and Fire: Survival Game?" Xia Ze raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I don't really understand that name either. I've watched all your previous competitions. Without exception, they were all lord-conquest competitions, so..."

"So this competition is a different type from the previous ones," the receptionist cut in. "Our past competitions usually focused on the struggle for supremacy after players became lords, so we provided substantial development support to help them quickly get through the early stages.

By the late game, the likelihood of player deaths dropped sharply. Once a player realized they had no chance of winning, they only needed to withdraw from the rest of the competition, hide in some small village, and wait until the other players fulfilled the victory conditions to return to their original world as a survivor."

"But this time is different?"

"Yes. This time, competition will run throughout the entire game. In other words, from the moment players arrive, they will be plunged into fierce competition, even mutual slaughter.

And this time, we will provide players with extremely limited development resources. They must take enormous risks to fight for them. In fact, I can tell you that a large number of players may not receive even a single bit of resources from the Auxiliary System throughout the entire game, and may instead be run ragged by certain mechanics.

Therefore, the risks players face in this competition will be greater than in any previous one. It would not even be surprising if fewer than ten players ultimately survived."

"Can you tell me anything more specific? For example, the mechanic you mentioned that will leave players run ragged?" Xia Ze interrupted the receptionist.

"Of course... not." The receptionist shook his head, maintaining the same textbook smile. "Players can only view any specific game mechanics after entering the game."

"All right." The receptionist held out a signing pen to Xia Ze. "I have informed you of the risks in advance. Before the final roster is confirmed, you may choose to withdraw or... sign?"

"You know I have no other choice." Xia Ze smiled and shook his head. He took the pen from the receptionist and signed his name on the agreement.

Suffering from a serious illness, he had less than three months left to live unless he could obtain a huge sum for medical treatment. No matter how dangerous this competition was, it was his only choice. Even if he ultimately died in the competition, as long as he could survive for three months in another world, it would still be worth it.

That was why he had immediately accepted the organizer's invitation to participate and then undergone several preliminary assessments. The assessments consisted of a written test, a scenario test, and a combat test, with admission determined by total score.

Although Xia Ze had not participated in the combat test due to his health, his high scores in the first two tests still allowed him to stand out from nearly ten thousand applicants and secure a place in the main competition.

"All right, Mr. Xia Ze. Your qualification for the competition has now been confirmed." The receptionist operated his tablet. "Please rest for a moment. Once our staff has finished processing every player's participation status, I'll take you to the control room."

Xia Ze did not reply. He simply closed his eyes and waited for the result.

Before long, the receptionist spoke again. "Mr. Xia Ze, a total of twenty-seven players who secured places in the main competition have withdrawn. Those spots have already been filled by applicants lower down in the rankings."

"So few? Not even a third withdrew?" Xia Ze was somewhat surprised.

"Haha, Mr. Xia Ze, you must understand that not every participant comes from a peaceful country like you. For residents of war-torn regions, facing prize money worth hundreds of millions, even a ninety percent death rate is hardly worth mentioning."

Xia Ze gave an awkward laugh.

"In addition, I have some bad news for you. The two allies you had arranged beforehand have both withdrawn. Therefore, during the early stages of this competition, you may find yourself fighting alone."

Xia Ze's heart sank.

He had actually anticipated his promised allies withdrawing. After all, both of them were Chinese like him, and their living conditions were not bad to begin with. It was entirely understandable that they would not want to risk their lives.

But when he truly heard the news, he could not help feeling upset, because it meant the difficulty of his competition had risen another level.

"Mr. Xia Ze, if you're ready, please follow me."

"Okay."