Chapter 74: Dark Tournament News and a New Cartridge on the Two-Hundredth Floor
Since the Sky Arena's founding, there had been no shortage of gifted fighters who had stormed all the way to the two-hundredth floor on raw ability alone, without ever having touched Nen. Without exception, every one of them had been mercilessly baptized by the Nen users already dug in there.
Just as predictably, every one of those untrained prodigies had met their first crushing defeat.
The difference was in what came after. Some died on the spot. Others survived the ordeal of being hit by hostile Nen and, having lived through it, awakened their own. That was a significant part of why the two-hundredth floor had an unusually high number of Nen users walking around short a limb.
In the usual run of things, anyone tough enough to plant themselves on the two-hundredth floor after that experience would almost certainly become part of the next wave of fighters baptizing newer arrivals.
Though "dragons" was probably too dignified a word for them. "Hyenas" fit better. Mostly the maimed variety.
Worth noting: this appeared to be deliberate in the floor's design. Between the elevator entrance and the registration desk on the two-hundredth floor ran a long, straight corridor. In the original story, this was where Gon and Killua had run into Hisoka, and where Hisoka's Nen charged with open hostility had forced both of them back.
The fruit farmer genuinely tended his unripe fruit with care. He knew that if those two kids who couldn't use Nen pushed through to the two-hundredth floor, the only result would be fruit pulped by the beatings they'd take.
The other hyenas, for their part, tended to cluster near the registration desk whenever new fighters arrived at the top, hoping to poach easy wins off people who had just climbed and hadn't had time to read the room.
The unfortunate thing for them this time was that all four arrivals were Nen users, and none of them were easy pickings.
"Welcome to the two-hundredth floor. Please sign and register here.
"This floor operates under the Declaration Combat System. Each fighter receives a ninety-day Combat Preparation Period, during which you may apply to fight on any day of your choosing.
"You may choose to fight immediately or hold off until the ninetieth day. After any completed match, regardless of outcome, your ninety-day period resets.
"If you reach the end of your preparation period without fighting, you lose your floor-two-hundred standing. Your record is erased and you must restart from the first floor.
"Accumulate ten wins to earn the right to challenge a Floor Master. Note: four losses before ten wins means immediate disqualification.
"Once a fighter reaches ten wins, they become eligible to challenge a Floor Master."
The registration attendant delivered all of this with considerable enthusiasm, perhaps because it had been a while since this many new arrivals had shown up at once, or perhaps because of a certain passive source of distraction currently standing to one side.
Ross and the others glanced sideways at Kurama, who was not doing anything in particular.
When Kurama produced a smile that worked equally well on anyone regardless of how they were oriented, the attendant, who had already been putting in considerable effort, visibly paused mid-sentence and then redoubled her explanation with even more energy.
As for the Floor Masters themselves: twenty-one of the arena's top fighters held permanent positions on floors two-thirty through two-fifty. The ordinary floor-two-hundred fighters below them were scattered across floors two-hundred through two-twenty-nine, competing against each other to accumulate wins and vie for a shot at one of those positions.
"Oh, oh, oh! Is there more?"
Yusuke, a combat sports enthusiast to the bone, was clearly giving the attendant exactly the reaction she was hoping for.
"Of course there is! Become a Floor Master and you earn the right to compete in the biennial Martial Arts Olympics, the ultimate tournament for the world's top fighters!"
"OHHHHH!"
The remaining three, whose enthusiasm ran several degrees cooler than Yusuke's, had already finished filling out their forms and were ready to hand them in.
At that point the attendant shifted her tone.
"Now, this is just between us..."
She dropped her voice and leaned slightly forward.
"Word has it that certain people operating in the underground world want to put together a rival event to go head-to-head with the Martial Arts Olympics. Something called the Dark Tournament. Same scale, same timing, held this very year. And there's a strong possibility it's going to involve cross-species matches between humans and demons.
"The human elites who back it are in it for money and spectacle. The demons are in it for blood and the pleasure of the thing.
"The moment you become a Floor Master, there's a real chance the people behind this will come after you. Recruitment, assassination, whatever it takes to add weight to their event. If any of you actually make it to Floor Master, watch yourselves."
Yusuke had been the only one in the group who had engaged the way she wanted, so she had gone ahead and shared what she knew. Whether they believed her or not was their business.
They believed her. How could they not.
The moment the words "Dark Tournament" came out of the registration attendant's mouth, Ross knew this was almost certainly how that particular event had found its shape in the merged world.
The Martial Arts Olympics put humanity's finest fighters on display before the world, open and above board. The Dark Tournament stripped everything away and gave free rein to something that ran darker in humans than in any demon. Naturally it operated in the shadows.
Ross could only think that this world kept getting more interesting.
"Anyone want to fight?"
Kurama and Kuwabara both shook their heads. Yusuke ticked the box next to "Available to fight immediately" with obvious enthusiasm.
Three of the resident hyenas had been lurking near the registration desk with unpleasant, openly calculating stares ever since the four of them arrived.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Ross privately didn't give Yusuke much chance here. He was definitely stronger than his original-timeline counterpart at this point, no question. But without a proper master and without targeted training, Yusuke was a long way from the version of himself where the left fist dealt high damage and the right fist dealt high damage.
The three hyenas across from them were floor-two-hundred veterans. Against any genuinely top-level fighter they wouldn't last a round, and they knew it. They only preyed on newcomers, grinding pathetically for wins wherever an opening appeared. But that didn't mean they had nothing to offer.
The opposite, in fact. All three were specialized Nen users who had honed themselves for combat within the arena's specific constraints. Their raw power might not be enough to put down an opponent of comparable level outright, but they were precise and experienced scorers who knew exactly how to work within the rules.
Ross suspected Yusuke's first loss at the two-hundredth floor was about to arrive.
He did not plan to say a word to Yusuke about what these three could do. A first loss was a good thing. The importance of building a proper foundation only became real once you had felt the actual cost of not having one.
Besides, Ross had already decided: watch Yusuke's match, then head straight out to find his master.
Just as the attendant had returned to her normal pace and was entering Ross's form into the computer by hand, a familiar pulse moved through his body. He activated the Navigation Arrow by reflex.
The next instant, the Navigation Arrow materialized in his palm and began printing a cartridge into existence, as precisely as if it were being laid down layer by layer.
[You have successfully climbed to the two-hundredth floor of the Sky Arena. The prerequisite condition for obtaining a specific game cartridge has been met.]
[You have successfully recovered a complete game cartridge: Tower of Druaga, Famicom version.]
[Your game cartridge collection +1. Your spare slot +1. Current game cartridge collection status: 3/3.]