The registration countdown reached its final moments.
The instant the numbers hit zero, the surging sand-table illusion above the floating island suddenly went still, as though time had stopped.
To onlookers, the illusion seemed frozen.
But from Angel's perspective, it was receiving and processing a vast amount of identity information.
That information came from everyone present who had registered.
In visible terms, countless invisible threads extended from the sand-table illusion, descended to the Crystal Plains, and connected to every registered challenger.
About a second later, the illusion in the sky stirred again, sending out streams of golden light.
This time, everyone could see them.
They became arcs of light reaching into the void.
Then images began flashing within the countless golden arcs. A frosted veil obscured them, revealing only vague glimpses of different scenes.
There was a small villa in a garden, a statue shrouded in mist, a pitch-black river under the sun, a rope suspended over a cliff, and a city overgrown with enormous fungi...
Though the details were unclear, some people recognized the scenes from their outlines alone.
For example:
A mist-shrouded statue could only point to the Mist Island Dragon Tomb.
The rope over the cliff was a stage in the Sunshine Circus.
And the fungal city was instantly recognizable as the World-Grinding Day Instance.
Every image came from an Instance in Region 1. They gathered above the sand-table illusion, flashing past in an instant.
Like frames on a strip of film, they sped by and finally merged into the illusion.
Once every image had entered the sand-table illusion and every arc of light had vanished, the registered challengers sensed their Text Panels flicker.
``` "Sandbox Wonderland is now open."
"Location: Region 1."
"Challenge: Sixfold Platter. (View details)"
"Competition format: Points-based. (View details)"
"When ready, look at