2704 Maddening Star

Fire Dragon Empire, Flame Dragon City:

Groups of players in Black Cloaks walked through the crowded commercial district of the imperial capital.

"What's going on? Why are there so many cloaked players on the streets today? Moreover, every one of them is so strong!" a Level 56, Tier 1 player, who came to the commercial district to upgrade his equipment, exclaimed in surprise when he saw the procession of cloaked players.

Although Flame Dragon City was normally crowded with players, today's foot traffic was much more exaggerated than usual. Moreover, not only was the foot traffic triple the regular volume, but many of these new arrivals also gave off a strange vibe.

In fact, players weren't the only ones wearing Black Cloaks. There were plenty of cloaked NPCs walking through the city as well, and every one of them radiated a terrifying aura. Although the city's resident NPCs were holding private discussions over this change, now that NPCs could think for themselves, they were deliberately avoiding players while discussing.

"This is normal. You've just started playing God's Domain recently, so you might not know this, but today is the competition for the reserve seats of God's Domain's Twelve Great Guilds," a Level 109, Tier 3 man explained to the newcomer of his Guild.

"God's Domain's Twelve Great Guilds?" The rookie Shield Warrior was surprised at his senior's words. "Isn't that something determined by the Virtual Gaming Association?"

In the real world, the Virtual Gaming Association determined the publicly recognized Super Guilds annually. These positions were mostly fixed; very few changes would occur every year.

"No! This event is hosted by the War God's Temple to determine God's Domain's 12 strongest Guilds. It isn't a competition hosted in the real world," the Tier 3 man explained, chuckling.

"Does our Guild have a chance to participate too?" the rookie Shield Warrior asked, a hint of fighting spirit surfacing in his eyes.

He had never heard of such a huge event happening in God's Domain before. Moreover, with God's Domain's current popularity, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the world's biggest competition. If he could stand out in this competition, he would definitely rise to prominence.

Currently, the various major corporations were offering unprecedented prices to recruit experts in God's Domain. In fact, the top 50 experts on the God's Domain's Experts List made even more money than A-list celebrities.

"We want to join, but the entry threshold is just too high. Even first-rate Guilds aren't qualified." The Tier 3 man smiled bitterly.

Nowadays, the various powers of God's Domain were all talking about the reserve seat competition. Even NPCs were discussing it. The competition's influence was unprecedented.

"In that case, is everyone here to participate in the competition today?" the rookie Shield Warrior asked.

"The cloaked people are most likely participants. As for everyone else, they should be here to spectate," the Tier 3 man explained.

"Spectate? Can we go watch, as well?" the rookie asked eagerly.

"This… I'm afraid that's not possible…" the Tier 3 man replied with some embarrassment. "The entry fee alone is 300 Gold, while the VIP rooms cost 5,000 Gold and 20 units of Seven Luminaries Crystal. Moreover, there are only 1,000 VIP rooms available."

Three hundred Gold was a huge sum, even for current Tier 3 players. In fact, most Tier 3 players didn't have 300 Gold in their pockets. After all, with how high a Tier 3 player's daily expenses were, saving a lot of money was simply impossible.

As for the VIP rooms, they were for the exclusive use of large Guilds; individuals simply couldn't afford them.

The 5,000 Gold aside, just the 20 units of Seven Luminaries Crystal was already more than enough to distress first-rate Guilds, what more second- and third-rate Guilds.

At this moment, the Tier 3 man wasn't the only person feeling embarrassed over this situation. Most of the other Tier 3 experts on the street also sighed.

"Spectating such a major competition would most likely yield a lot of benefits."

"I know, right? I heard that nearly 30 superpowers would participate in the competition, nearly one-third of them Super Guilds. Moreover, these superpowers are all sending their best. This is going to be the battle of a lifetime."

"I heard that too. Right now, everyone's going crazy over the VIP rooms. Some second- and third-rate Guilds are even offering to pay double the price to get a room."

Upon overhearing the discussions of other players on the street, the players who couldn't afford an entrance ticket yearned for one.

God's Domain's various superpowers rarely waged war. They generally only fought in small skirmishes. However, the superpowers were now going all out. One could easily imagine how intense the competition would be.

Meanwhile, such a major competition was held only once a year.

…

Flame Dragon City, War God's Temple:

At this time, the various superpowers' members had already thronged the majestic headquarters of the Fire Dragon Empire's War God's Temple, numbering in the tens of thousands. Even the War God's Temple had no choice but to dispatch Level 180 guards to maintain order.

Meanwhile, on the top floor of a high-class restaurant near the War God's Temple…

"These superpowers are really being careful. Every one of their participating members has hidden their statistics and strength with Black Cloaks," Mu Lingsha said, her lips curled in disappointment as she looked at the crowd outside.

"That's normal. This competition is going to determine which superpower will hold hegemonic rights over God's Domain. It is only natural for them to try to hide as much information as possible. Anyone who exposes their cards now will only make easy targets of themselves," Unyielding Heart, who sat beside Mu Lingsha, said, chuckling. "However, I didn't expect for so many superpowers to apply for the competition in the Fire Dragon Empire."

"Although there are many empires in God's Domain, only four of them are ancient nations. Any confident superpower wouldn't let go of these four nations. While Guilds can register for the competition at any empire's capital, the Guild that wins a reserve seat in their registered empire will receive additional benefits from the empire." Sighing, Mu Lingsha continued, "It's a pity Unyielding Soul lacks accumulations. Otherwise, we could've come here to try our luck too."

"I wonder who will secure the six reserve seats?" When Unyielding Heart spoke of the reserve seats, a hint of yearning appeared in his eyes.

"We can probably already determine who will get five out of the six seats. The last is the important one. I'm afraid those Guilds are going to have a bloody battle," Mu Lingsha said gloatingly.

The competition for the reserve seats was most likely going to be extremely intense. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, five of the six available seats would go to the Five Great Super Guilds. This left the other superpowers to compete over just one seat. The mere thought of the competition's intensity scared her.

"Look! Mythology's people are here," Mu Lingsha said as she looked at a group of undisguised players walking down the distant street. At the head of this team was none other than Cold Shadow.

Mythology's arrival instantly cast a grim shadow over the plaza in front of the War God's Temple.

Setting aside the fact that Mythology was one of the virtual gaming industry's publicly acknowledged Five Great Super Guilds, just the fact that Mythology's members were doing nothing to hide their strength already proved how confident Mythology was in its strength.

Although this team from Mythology wasn't the main force that would participate in the competition, even the weakest in the team of several hundred was a Level 116, Tier 3 player. Moreover, the base equipment standard of these people was Level 115 Fine-Gold Set Equipment.

"So, this is Mythology's strength?"

"As expected of one of the Five Great Super Guilds. Even the team they sent to register is already so powerful. I really wonder how strong Mythology's representative team on the western continent is."

The spectators from the various superpowers and large Guilds couldn't help growing fearful when they looked at Mythology's team.

Meanwhile, as Mythology's members submitted their registration to the War God's Temple, a round of exclamations suddenly rose from the plaza's edge.

After Mythology's team, another team of players actually arrived uncloaked. Moreover, this team only had a little over a dozen players in it.

"Are they insane?"

Mu Lingsha froze in the middle of sipping her black tea when she saw this small team.

After all, this team belonged to none other than the currently famous Zero Wing!