Five days later, at the arena for gold rank players, Zen Shigaraki sat on the spectators' seats.
'This arena was created for entertainment, but there was another key benefit. A playground for beginners to show their skills, or simply a window for anyone to join the bigger organizations of the underworld....'
Zen received dozens of invitations himself too, which were rejected swiftly.
Any player who would see Zen now - would be able to see golden words floating above his head.
[36 consecutive victories!]
[Rank: Gold]
It didn't even take a week to climb up to the gold rank in the artificial dungeon, However, Zen knew it was impossible to rise to a higher rank by just winning in the arena anymore.
The people who entered this dungeon were called players. Every player possessed a rank, which showed their control and influence over this artificial dungeon.
The visible ranks were - Bronze, Silver and gold. Above them were platinum and diamond ranks, but there were limited slots for them.
There could only be 12 platinum players and 3 diamond players. The position of the diamond player hasn't been changed even once since the creation of the dungeon.
The three diamond ranks were the main three organizations that built this underground arena.
To climb up higher, Zen would have to kill a platinum player and take up their position. The problem arises here, since all platinum or diamond players have an organization of their own.
Killing them by assassination would be hard, the only way to challenge a platinum ranked player is by having 50 consecutive victories.
At gold rank, Zen Shigaraki got an option to create his own organisation, alongside a private base in the dungeon.
[Dark society] - that was the name Zen decided for his organisation.
He did consider the league of villains, but it was too childish overall to be stuck around with.
There were many benefits in owning a base, it wasn't possible to trespass without permission and it could act as a shield - since any attacks cause backlash to the attacker - there was a limit to it though.
Zen's current base was in the size of a normal 2bhk room - but it was enough for him and his seven subordinates for now.
Four people were recruited by Zen as he fought in the arena. He extended his hand to any pawn that interested him, it didn't matter even if they didn't have a gift.
These four people were more obedient than his first two subordinates, as they were personally beaten up by Zen in the arena, before recruitment.
'Strength is really a great tool to raise pawns...' Zen smiled and got up, not finding any of the fighters today interesting.
Zen's matches were pretty straightforward from the first day.
Incite them, crush their mind, steal their [Gifts] and then kill them. Zen enjoyed every step of it, he had gathered 19 [gifts] just like that.
'Underground arena is really a treasure trove. There would be a steady stream of people challenging this place too.'
In other words, Zen would have an infinite number of [Gifts] waiting for him.
Keeping four gifts that appeared useful in his eyes, Zen passed on the other [gifts] to his subordinates, in particular the new ones and Keilene also received two of them.
Zen had kept an eye on Keilene and he could only grumble everytime looking at her grow more paranoid after almost losing in the arena. She even went as far to use poison and every underhanded means she could think.
This way, she too had 17 consecutive victories.
Zen looked at the four new [Gifts] he got recently, while walking towards his next match - which was against an interesting opponent.
- [Fire hounds: this gift Create hounds made of flames and can be controlled by the wielder.] [Mid-intermediate rank] [Static]
Zen was confident that he could push this gift to be quite powerful. He had [Fire's will] which gave 2x boost to fire abilities and [Ascension] too.
Unfortunately, [Kinetic booster] couldn't be used, as [fire hound] wasn't exactly being made or released through his body. Instead, they materialized externally through mana.
The other three [Gifts] were:
- [Interference field: Any enemy attack imbued with mana will have its potency majorly lowered, when it approaches near your body.] [High-intermediate rank] [Static]
- [Probability sense: You can predict the success or failures of your actions.] [Activates at random] [Low-intermediate rank]
- [Earth element manipulation: This gift allows the wielder to control the earth element by imbuing it with your mana.] [mid-intermediate rank]
'These gifts will come useful in the future. Now for highlights...' Zen gazed at his opponent with excitement.
A young girl with navy blue hair and red eyes stared back at him.
It was Jin Sahyuk - the girl Kim Hajin had originally planned on making the final boss of this world.
Thanks to Zech's influence, Zen was interested in her, but only to the level of wanting to turn her into a subordinate.
'....That isn't going to stop me from taking her gift. It's been a while since I felt so greedy...'
The feeling of his heart pumping made Zen feel alive for once. He knew it would be hard to manipulate Jin Sahyuk - even if she appeared young, he knew that her mind was mature and quite tough.
'So I will take her [Reality manipulation] gift. If she refuses to bow, I will be sure to cripple her.'
Zen could feel that Jin Sahyuk had yet to fully awaken her [Gift]. No matter how talented she was, she couldn't pose a threat to Zen in the end.
Having not fully awakened her [Gift], Bell - the person Chameleon troupe was looking for must have not taken her in yet.
'Or he has? I can't say for sure....'
After walking a few steps forward, Zen Shigaraki ignored the hundreds of cheers blooming instantly. He stared at Jin Sahyuk blankly, she didn't even bother hiding her face with a mask.
He asked calmly while waiting for the referee to announce the start: "Do you know someone named Bell."
Jin Sahyuk frowned in confusion before barking back: "What are you getting at, Bone faced bastard?!"
"I see...." Zen smiled, almost benevolently.
"Then I won't hold back in crushing you, miss Jin Sahyuk."