"Battles."
"Are, to me, a tool for revitalizing Orre."
Atop the rocky peak.
Shan Ren gazed into the central area that had completely collapsed due to Fissure. His eyes held both lingering fear at Baimu's decisive actions and a trace of envy.
Strength truly was something to be envied.
If he possessed that kind of strength too, why would he have needed to cautiously dodge and evade throughout the qualifiers?
Beep beep beep—
A piercing alert sounded from his watch.
It signified that the qualifiers had officially ended, and also meant that the recent collapse had successfully reduced the number of remaining contestants to sixty-four.
Could there really be exactly sixty-four left?
Shan Ren looked at the collapsed area and could not help but wonder. Had Baimu's attack really been that precise?
With his doubts in mind.
He calmly waited for Teleport. Thanks to his status as half a referee, he returned to the contestants' venue in Silicon Beryllium City ahead of everyone else alongside the injured.
"Chairman! Congratulations on advancing!"
A staff member he knew appeared before him.
Though he had not yet officially taken office, everyone had already begun addressing him as Chairman, and no one found it inappropriate.
Shan Ren gave a hum. "How many seriously injured?"
"None have been found so far. Only one contestant has suffered a fracture and is currently resting in a special ward. Lord Dinis is preparing to visit him."
"I understand."
The dangers of a battle royale format went without saying.
Even if nobody deliberately threw moves at people, trainers standing too close together were bound to get bumped around.
Before the event began, Shan Ren had already prepared himself to comfort seriously injured contestants and even issue a public apology. Fortunately, the reliable technology of the villains had given him