99 Problems

Zhong Lingxin was sitting in his pod as he mentally prepared himself for the upcoming battle royale. A few White Tiger Sect members had made a name for themselves in the Foundation Establishment solo and team battles, and he was ready to do the same. Soon the timer finished the countdown and when he opened his eyes, he was on a strange looking flying ship with ninety-nine other Foundation Establishment players. All the players were wearing minimalist robes and had the choice of a dagger, studded leather gloves, or no staff. They didn't have access to their weapons, artifacts, or items, and could only use what they found or stole from others. A voice began to announce the rules of the round, but he and the others had already played a few times and were familiar with how to play.

"All contestants, the flying ship will be over the island in one minute. The doors will open then, and you will have one minute to jump before the doors close. Once the doors close, you've lost your opportunity and will be finished. The doors open in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." Doors on the side and the back of the flying boat opened up as the temperature dropped and the wind violently blew through the ship.

Zhong Lingxin approached the back door, jumped out, and observed the island below. There were five sections to the island: the north had the site of an ancient sect, the south had a pavilion, the east looked barren but were said to contain the hidden caves of dead independent artisans and craftsmen, and the west housed a tribe of people. The central region had nothing and served as the final battle destination. The north and east sections were better for people with great luck or perception, while the south and east regions was better for those who would rather work hard to earn something. Zhong Lingxin decided to play it safe and made his way south.

'Ok, I'll just land in the forest close to the pavilion, kill a few beasts to buy a better weapon, use that to take out the others, buy and sell, and head east', he told himself.

He activated the falling feather talisman to slow his descent, and safely landed. He quickly began sneaking through the bush, and took out the dagger he had selected at the beginning. He saw a deer grazing in a clearing, tested the direction of the wind, and moved downwind from the animal. He silently crept towards his prey, and got within ten meters of it before springing into action. He covered ten meters quickly and threw the dagger hitting the deer in the eye while it was trying to turn and run. It instantly slumped to the ground, and he ran over to retrieve his dagger. He pulled the corpse over to a bush, and prepared the useable parts for transport to the pavilion. He took his outer robe off, wrapped everything up, and went to pick up the parcel when he suddenly felt pain in the back of his head. He laid there dazed, and tried to stand up, but got hit again before he felt a pain in his chest. He opened his eyes only to find himself back in the pod and the number 100 displayed on it.

He shouted, "I was the first to go? No, it can't be!"

Zheng Lan giggled as she took the dagger and items left behind, "Time to go to the pavilion."

She looked at the upper left corner, '98 players remaining', before checking the direction and walking towards the pavilion.

She used the bushes and trees to travel, and hide from potential enemies. She got to the edge of the forest and the pavilion came into view. When she saw no one in sight, she left her spot and was about to run towards the building when she felt a pain in her back and Zheng Lan saw everything turn black and a moment later she was in her pod with a '79' displayed.

Guo He walked into the pavilion and after selling everything, he walked out with a new set of robes and a sword. He took a moment to look at the map and headed towards the east region. It had been a few hours already and he could see the red wall had moved inwards and he could see '64' in the upper left. Having the better weapon was enough of a threat to keep others from confronting him directly, so he made good time on his way to the east side. After twenty minutes, the cliffs came into view, but most of it was covered in trees. Guo He made his way several hundred meters up when he discovered a cave opening. He peaked around the opening of the cave and saw two men, one was setting up traps, while the other was looting anything useful. He waited until the trap layer got close to the door and then rushed towards him. The man was surprised and went to draw his weapon, but Guo He was quicker and stabbed him in the neck. The other man saw his partner die, and began to run towards the cave exit. Guo took out a fire arrow talisman and fired it at the fleeing man, hitting him in the back. He knelt down and took the items from the trap laying man before walking over to the other. He finished taking those items as well and when he looked up, he saw another man creeping towards him with a sword in his hand. The sneaky attacker realized his ambush was about to fail, and ran towards Guo He. He stepped back and went to grab his sword when a loud noise echoed through the cave and Guo He saw his surroundings go black and the pod's interior appeared again with the number 46.

"What Just Happened?", Guo He shouted and his eyes flickered as he was trying to understand the loud noise, "Ah, it was a trap set by that one guy."

Ping Guiying found the one he pursues gone and a pile of items in his place, "It's too late to go to the Pavilion, it's covered by the red wall. I have to make my way to the village, if I want to sell the extra items off."

Ping Guiying moved into the forest, and went west towards the village at the border between the western and central regions. By the time he arrived at the village, the number of people left had dropped to 31. He snuck his way into the merchant's tent and was relieved that no one else was here.

"I would like to sell these items", he said.

The villager looked over everything and responded, "full price for these raw materials but half price for used weapons and artifacts."

Ping Guiying frowned and scrunched his face for a moment, "Ok, I accept."

The village merchant handed him some currency, "Is the total correct?"

"Yes", he replied, "Please sell me that short bow and a few iron arrows."

Ping Guiying looked at the new weapon and smiled, 'I finally found the weapon I usually use.'

As he stepped out of the merchant's tent, he saw the red wall was starting to get close and checked the total number of contestants left, which was 23.

He turned back where he came from, and made his way back to the central region. When he arrived at the central region, he scanned the area for a nice high vantage point where he could hide and snipe a few targets easily. He looked at a large cliff but disregarded it, 'if I'm stuck at the top of the cliff when the red wall closes in, I'll never make it in time.'

He saw a rather large tree close the center of the region and nodded. He crept his way towards the tree since he could now hear and sometimes see clashes between some of the remaining people. After a few minutes, he was at the tree and climbed it. He found a large branch that would support him and proceeded to set up, evaluating his potential targets. Twice he found targets that were by themselves and facing away from him and he quickly dispatched them. Then he saw two more facing off against each other, 'It's only two, I could probably get them before they knew what happened.'

He notched the arrow and fired striking the first target in the neck, but before he could reload he saw an arm coming from above and a dagger in his chest and then he was back in the pod, 8 was on the screen.

Mai Cai pulled the dagger out and took everything that was left behind and climbed higher in the tree. She sat down, tested the bow, and began to scan the area. As her eyes swept from left to right, she saw a talisman headed her way. She panicked and dropped the bow, as she turned around to jump down the tree, it exploded in a huge fireball. She sat up and took her helmet off staring at the 6 on her screen.

Zhan Da cheered when his throw caught the archer that had killed his opponent and then was shocked when not one body fell from the tree, but two. He gripped his spear and tried to move to a different position, which was difficult because the red walls were starting to close on the central region. He didn't know what happened, but the counter in the upper left corner changed to 2. Zhan Da shouted, "It's just the two of us now, let's face each other in combat and decide the winner!"

"Ok", the sound of another man answered.

Zhan Da made his way to the source of the voice, and stood with his spear ready to fight. The other man came out in view and was wielding two swords, an unusual style amount cultivators.

"Zhan Da, of White Tiger sect", he introduced himself.

"Zhu Yu, of the Sword Heart Sect", responded the other man.

They both bowed and readied their weapons.

Zhan stepped forward and thrust his spear several times towards Zhu as the other parried each strike. Zhu ducked the last thrust and aimed at Zhan's neck but missed as the latter leaned back. The broke apart and each tested the other with some light attacks. Zhan reversed his spear and tried to sweep his opponent's legs, just to quickly spin and aim the spear tip at Zhu's head. Zhu leaned his head in time but did receive a scratch before retaliating and slightly cutting Zhan as well. Both men moved and attacked faster and the injuries began to add up until Zhu stumbled for just a moment. Zhan took the opportunity and stabbed his neck, as he pulled the spear out and before Zhu left the arena, he bowed to his opponent, "I was just lucky that you went east on me."

Zhan Da sat down as he was exhausted and smiled at his success when the red wall passed by him. He suddenly felt pain all over and before he could rise and run to the safe area, his screen black out, replaced by the pod with the number 2 on it.

"What happened? Why didn't I win? I saw the position counter on the upper left screen that said two. I should have won after the Zhu left", Zhan protested.

A voice came over the pod's speakers, "Contestsnt, there is no position counter. The number in the upper left corner signifies the number of opponents left in the game."

Then it struck him, while the two battles one more player was still on the field, probably watching them fight and waiting to take the victory.

A voice echoed across the arena, "Fu Kai, of the Mountains and Rivers sect is the last contender left alive and is the first Battle Royale Champion."

Fu Kai could be seen emerging from a small gathering of bushes and awkwardly looking around.