This left Nene Arakawa somewhat flustered and amazed, but after recalling something, she steadied herself. Only then did she begin looking around, and soon spotted Keiwa Sakurai, the person she had fled for her life with last time...
He was also staring blankly around at his surroundings.
At that moment, Tsumuri appeared on a nearby platform, holding a folder as she began to speak.
"Greetings, everyone. I am the Game Navigator, Tsumuri!"
"Welcome to the Desire Grand Prix!"
"Right now, the world we live in is under threat from the Jyamato..."
After drawing everyone's attention, Tsumuri skillfully began explaining the rules and details of the DGP Grand Prix.
In the Desire Grand Prix, the contestant who remained standing until the very end would earn the chance to have their wish granted.
That condition alone sent countless contestants, still utterly bewildered, into excitement.
Any wish could be granted. Just thinking about it was thrilling.
Even Nene Arakawa was no exception at that moment!
"So it really isn't reality?"
Firefly lay on the sofa, sensing the location of the Oddity on Nene Arakawa's body as she pondered.
It had to be said that the Future People's technology was truly impressive in some respects. They could freely configure and alter a world covered by the Goddess's power!
Because this world was enveloped by the Creation Goddess's power, they only needed one of the key Vision Launchers to set all sorts of game rules.
But hilariously, despite being such formidable Future People...
They still needed sponsorship from this world's conglomerates and had to consider the authorities' reactions. Even when something happened, they generally only relied on Creation Power to alter everyone's memories and perceptions.
Even more laughably, something as important as the Vision Launcher was unlocked with fingerprints.
What a joke.
"I hope the Game Master or the producer can be forced to step in directly!"
Firefly took out her Transformation Device, but she was in no hurry to make a move. She still needed to wait.
Her gaze shifted toward the Herta Puppet beside her. She hoped she would not disappoint her!
Back in the DGP, Tsumuri was still explaining the rules and rewards.
"In short, any wish can be granted."
"Now, please write down your wishes."
The moment her voice fell, before the crowd could react, a pen and a wish card suddenly appeared in everyone's hands.
Once they came back to their senses, quite a few people eagerly wrote down the wishes they wanted fulfilled.
Nene Arakawa was holding hers and was about to write when, for some reason, she hesitated.
She wondered whether the Rider who had saved her last time was here. Her gaze swept across the room, but she could not tell who he was.
No one seemed to fit.
Perhaps he was not here at all?
And compared to the Rider who had saved her, Nene Arakawa also thought of Firefly-chan, who had been living with her these past few days.
Without all those troubles, she had been truly happy.
It would be wonderful if she could find true love and continue living like this.
She really was greedy!
No longer dwelling on it, Nene Arakawa noticed that everyone else had already written their wishes. She hurriedly wrote down hers as well, then handed the wish card to Tsumuri.
With a professional smile, Tsumuri accepted the wish card and collected all the cards. Only then did she officially announce the beginning of the Desire Grand Prix.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, everyone found that the floating platform they had been standing on had turned into a forest.
This was one of the DGP's miraculous methods!
The place they were in was a large circular area deep in the mountains and woods, enclosed by the Jyamato Field.
At that moment, Tsumuri's voice rang out again.
"Contestants, the DGP Grand Prix has officially begun!"
"The first round that will decide your fate."
"The first mission is the classic treasure hunt."
"Please reclaim the treasure chests stolen by the Jyamato and obtain the items inside."
Stellaron Hunter Does Not Belong to the DGP
Time flashed by.
In the Riders' exclusive lounge of the DGP Grand Prix, after experiencing the first introductory round, there were far fewer contestants remaining.
It also gave those who had entered with the mindset of having fun a harsh lesson: this game was not as simple as they had imagined.
Anything could happen!
Keiwa Sakurai in particular was looking at Ace Ukiyo with a resentful expression. He had clearly received the top-tier Booster Buckle at the start, yet this fox had tricked it away from him under the excuse of saving people.
Meanwhile, Buffa, Azuma Michinaga, had kept a gloomy expression the entire time.
Only Nene Arakawa remained carefree, carefully wiping an exquisitely beautiful card in her hand.
"Miss Neko, may I ask what that is in your hand?"
Ace Ukiyo had appeared beside Nene Arakawa at some point. His gaze locked onto the exquisite object in her hand as he asked thoughtfully.
Hearing Ace Ukiyo's question, the others nearby also looked over curiously.
"This? It's nothing, just a gift from a friend!"
At Ace Ukiyo's question, Nene Arakawa immediately became wary. Ace Ukiyo was a fox who knew how to deceive people—Tycoon had been fooled by him.
So she instinctively put away the Light Cone in her hand.
If Firefly-chan had not given her this Light Cone during the previous round, she might have gotten into trouble.
People's hearts were dangerous!
For the sake of fulfilling her wish, she had never expected that her greatest enemies would not be the Jyamato, but the Riders beside her.
Before she had adjusted her mindset, she had nearly met with disaster.
"I see."
Ace Ukiyo nodded and did not ask further.
But he could not have been mistaken. When Neko had been ambushed by an older man earlier, an unfamiliar invisible power had protected her.
It was hard for him not to care.
Still, as a fox, he would not keep pressing the issue. That would only make people dislike him more.
"By the way, I wanted to ask something..."
After a short while, Nene Arakawa hesitated for several seconds, but ultimately could not resist asking everyone about her doubt.
She had observed for a long time and seen everyone transform, yet she had not spotted the Rider who had saved her last time.
"Has anyone heard of or seen a Rider called Stellaron Hunter Sam?"
After saying that, Nene Arakawa glanced around, focusing especially on Ace Ukiyo and Azuma Michinaga.
Those two had already participated in the previous Desire Grand Prix, so there was a good chance they knew of him.
"Stellaron Hunter Sam? Who's that? I've never heard of him."
"Could there be other Riders besides us?"
Faced with Nene Arakawa's question, nearly everyone present looked confused and said they had never heard of him. Even the Game Master nearby was no exception.
However, his movements paused, and the way he looked at Nene Arakawa turned thoughtful.
"Yes, I want to know where he is too."
"That Rider in silver-white armor should be part of the DGP too, right? Why didn't we see him this time?"
Hearing Nene Arakawa's words, Keiwa Sakurai also spoke up to ask.
In his view, that Rider should have been connected to the DGP as well. Geats and Buffa had both appeared from the previous round, so his lifesaver should not have been absent!
Compared to that deceitful fox, Stellaron Hunter Sam felt far more trustworthy.
Yet he had not appeared at all this time, which left Keiwa somewhat disappointed.
He had wanted to properly thank him.
However, upon hearing Keiwa Sakurai's description of Stellaron Hunter Sam, the other Riders did not react much, but Ace Ukiyo's expression instantly darkened.
Seeing his victory cut off once again had changed his original plans. Even having his undefeated legend shattered was no good thing for him.
Ace Ukiyo also suspected whether that Rider, who had appeared out of nowhere, had been arranged by the organizers.
He turned and calmly glanced at the Game Master, Girori, then his expression quickly returned to normal.
After all, he was a fox—and two thousand years old. It was only natural that he would not let his emotions show.
But Azuma Michinaga beside him could not manage that.
His face was so ugly that he looked ready to kill someone. Thinking of the humiliation that inexplicable Rider had brought him, he could barely suppress his emotions.
His heavy breathing was loud enough for nearly everyone present to hear.
He wanted to know who that bastard was as well, and he swore he would pay him back.
"Unfortunately, he does not belong to our DGP!"
"Our organizers were also very surprised by the existence of Stellaron Hunter Sam."
At that moment, Girori stepped forward and explained to everyone.
If the organizers openly rigged the game, the viewers would not accept it. He had no intention of taking the blame for that.
Though the previous outcome had indeed been what he wanted to see.
The failure of Geats's undefeated legend had attracted enormous ratings and entertainment value, bringing in many more Future People to watch the DGP Grand Prix.
Yet in a sense, although Geats had lost to that Stellaron Hunter, the other party had not been a contestant, so it did not entirely count as a defeat.
In the eyes of many Geats supporters, his title as the undefeated war god had not disappeared.
After all, anyone could see that Stellaron Hunter was far too powerful. They were not even on the same level. He had been a complete accident!
Still, only now did Girori learn that this Rider was named Stellaron Hunter Sam!
Stellaron Hunter...
He did not belong to the DGP, nor did he belong to this world.
If he truly was, as his name suggested, a hunter who hunted Stellarons, then this would be troublesome.
What was a Stellaron?
The first thing that naturally came to mind was a special type of celestial body: a planetary core.
A celestial body with almost nothing left but a metallic core.
Ordinary celestial bodies such as Earth were often covered by a mantle, whereas planetary cores had lost everything but their metallic cores due to impacts or other causes.
More typical planetary cores included Psyche and TOI 849b.
For example, in July 2020, the planetary core TOI 849b was discovered. It was an enormous planetary core.
Before you continue