100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 718 - Grand Intercontinental Competition

The reaction was immediate.

Conversations faded.

Participants stopped moving.

Merchant districts quieted enough that even the people still negotiating prices paused.

Across countless gathering areas, faces turned toward the enormous projections.

No enforcement formation demanded silence.

Nobody threatened punishment.

People simply recognized her.

Vivian had represented Lootwell publicly for years, and whatever people thought about Lucien, nearly everyone understood one thing.

She was his family.

More importantly, she had earned her own place in Lootwell long before the organization reached its current scale.

The Thousand Races gave her their attention.

Vivian heard the silence spread.

Somehow, that was more frightening than the noise.

She raised the megaphone.

The wind spirits immediately gathered.

Her voice traveled outward.

"Welcome to the first Lootwell Grand Intercontinental Competition."

The sound remained clear despite the impossible distance.

It passed through the formations and communication network until the same words reached every registered district.

Vivian continued.

"For the first time, participants from across all five continents have gathered in one place to compete, train, cooperate, and test what they are capable of."

The enormous projection behind her shifted.

Images of the different competition grounds appeared.

Authority Resistance Fields.

Clear Mind Halls.

Extraction sectors.

Interweaving Grounds.

Large battlefield regions.

Training routes winding through the preserved terrain.

"The competition will contain both individual and team events. You will encounter direct combat, survival trials, changing restrictions, rescue objectives, Law Interweaving, battlefield operations, and challenges where defeating an opponent may not be the most important condition for victory."

That caused some murmuring.

Vivian let it settle naturally.

"Not every event will favor the strongest participant. Some will reward judgment. Some will reward adaptability. Others will reward control, coordination, efficiency, command, support, or the ability to protect the people beside you."

That statement received a noticeably different response.

Many participants already knew this from previous announcements.

Hearing it at the opening made it feel more real.

Vivian continued.

"Rankings will be maintained across the competition, but they will not exist only for overall victories. Exceptional achievements will be recorded separately, and those who distinguish themselves in specialized roles will have opportunities to earn rewards of their own."

The excitement grew immediately.

That part had already driven registrations upward once.

It worked just as well now.

Vivian lowered the megaphone slightly before raising it again.

"There are three rules Lootwell expects everyone to remember."

The region quieted.

"First, competition does not excuse murder. The grounds have safety systems, extraction formations, medical teams, and intervention protocols, but deliberately attempting to bypass them will remove you from the competition."

Nobody objected.

"Second, follow the restrictions of each event. If an event removes access to a weapon, Law, Domain, tool, or ability, that restriction is part of the challenge."

Several confident expressions changed.

"Third, when an event gives you an objective, read it carefully."

A hint of amusement entered Vivian’s voice.

"If the objective tells you to rescue someone, killing every opponent and forgetting the person you were supposed to rescue will not earn you extra points."

Laughter traveled through several districts.

Some experienced commanders did not laugh.

They had met people who genuinely needed that instruction.

Vivian smiled slightly.

"Lootwell prepared these grounds so that everyone can discover weaknesses before those weaknesses matter somewhere less forgiving."

That line drew more attention from the older experts.

Vivian did not explain further.

She did not need to.

"The competition will begin with individual qualification."

The projections changed again.

An enormous map of the preserved region appeared.

Thousands upon thousands of marked sectors illuminated across it.

The scale immediately answered the obvious question.

No single arena could process this many participants.

Lootwell had never intended to use one.

"Participants assigned to the first qualification period should begin moving toward the designated transit points shown on your registration markers. Qualification will operate simultaneously across multiple sectors and continue in scheduled waves."

Different portions of the map lit up.

Each contained its own qualification route.

Some crossed mountains. Others occupied ruined valleys. Several were built into enormous formation chambers. Beast-sized sectors were separated from areas designed for smaller races. Special adaptations existed for unusual bodies and energy structures.

Nobody would be asked to squeeze an ancient serpent through a human doorway simply for administrative convenience.

Vivian continued.

"Your first qualification is individual, but it is not a simple duel."

That immediately sharpened interest.

"You will be tested on your ability to move, think, control your power, adapt to changing conditions, and reach the end of your assigned trial."

The next sentence was deliberately simple.

"Raw strength will help you. It will not be enough by itself."

Across the region, many participants smiled.

Others became more serious.

A few famous geniuses looked almost offended by the possibility.

Vivian considered that promising.

"Those who qualify will unlock access to later individual events and become eligible for team formation stages. Those who do not qualify will still retain access to designated training facilities, secondary events, public challenges, and achievement rankings where applicable."

That detail mattered.

Lootwell did not want people who failed one qualification to immediately pack their belongings and leave.

The true purpose was training.

Even eliminated competitors needed reasons to remain.

Vivian finished with the part everyone had been waiting for.

"Rewards will be distributed throughout the competition according to placement, achievements, performance, and special rankings. Previously announced treasures remain part of the prize pool."

Interest surged.

The Life Link Talisman.

The Everlasting Meridian Pearl.

The Adaptive Bastion Mantle.

The Sovereign Soul Anchor.

And the prizes Lootwell still refused to reveal.

Vivian smiled.

"The highest rewards remain undisclosed."

That was enough to make several districts erupt.

Vivian waited.

She had expected that one.

When the noise finally settled, her expression became more serious.

"Whatever reason brought you here, I hope you leave stronger than when you arrived."

She paused.

"Welcome to Lootwell."

The wind spirits carried the final words across the preserved region.

"And welcome to the competition."

•••

For several seconds after Vivian lowered the megaphone, she heard nothing.

Then the preserved region erupted.

The sound was impossible to describe properly.

Cheers rolled through valleys.

Beast roars answered from distant districts.

Weapons struck against shields.

Factions shouted their own chants.

Some ancient races maintained dignified silence for approximately ten seconds before their younger members ruined it.

The wind spirits scattered happily through the air as though they had personally caused the celebration.

Vivian exhaled.

Her hands were shaking slightly.

Eirene approached from behind.

"You did well."

Vivian looked at him.

"Next time, you do it."

Kael immediately walked away.

Vivian stared after him.

Apparently, even senior Lootwell administrators possessed survival instincts.

•••

The ceremony ended.

Lootwell’s organization took over.

That was when the true scale of the event became visible.

There was no single stampede toward one arena.

That would have been absurd.

Instead, the preserved region moved according to a system prepared long beforehand.

Registration markers illuminated for participants assigned to the first qualification wave.

Information boards changed simultaneously.

Directional formations appeared over major roads.

Wind spirits and floating signs guided smaller groups, while Earth spirits shifted temporary pathways where crowd density became too high.

Teleportation hubs activated by district instead of all at once.

Participants were separated by body size, movement requirements, trial compatibility, and safety classification before being distributed among qualification sectors.

Faction delegations remained together only until the final staging points.

After that, individuals were sent toward their assigned trials.

Spectators received different routes.

Researchers and observers entered controlled viewing areas.

Medical teams moved toward extraction hubs.

Judges took their stations.

Lootwell guards watched the flow.

Above them, Astraea and the other ancient beasts remained quiet.

There was no panic and no major collision.

Traffic slowed in several places, but secondary routes opened automatically.

Lucien sensed each adjustment through the authority network.

This was what months of preparation had been for.

The ability to absorb problems without allowing one failure to spread into another.

He reduced pressure in a transit corridor where several weaker participants were becoming uncomfortable.

Then he increased it fractionally across another region where adaptation was progressing smoothly.

Nobody outside the control network noticed him doing it.

That was also intentional.

The Authority Resistance system was not meant to punish people.

It was meant to teach their bodies and spirits that resistance did not equal catastrophe.

By the time the competition ended, Lucien wanted the sensation of hostile pressure to feel familiar.

When their Laws became sluggish, they should adjust rather than panic.

When a manifestation resisted them, they should reinforce their connection instinctively.

When something stronger pressed against their authority, their first reaction should no longer be confusion.

Those small differences could decide whether someone survived.

•••

The ancient experts noticed more.

One of the newly arrived beasts looked toward the sky as the pressure changed.

Another narrowed its eyes toward the distant central plateau.

The Red Dragon had noticed long ago.

So had the Green, Blue, and Brown Dragons.

None complained.

The purpose was too obvious to beings who had lived through the Millennia War.

They simply allowed the pressure to settle over them.

Some even seemed thoughtful.

Lucien suspected several had already understood more of his intentions than he wanted publicly discussed.

That was fine.

As long as they understood why he was doing it.

Several of the ancient beasts had also registered.

Lucien found that slightly concerning.

He made a note to verify which events allowed ancient monsters with questionable concepts of restraint.

Then he discovered the administrators had already created special classifications.

Lucien silently praised them.

Lootwell was learning.