Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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The monsters each participant had to face in the very first wave were as strong as half-step Immortals, and there were a hundred of them.

These monsters varied in size, shapes, and speed. Some had additional appendages, others had unique abilities to catch the contestants off guard, and a few were more cunning than the rest, knowing when and how to attack to inflict greater pain on the contestants.

Beyond their differences, though, they're united in one single goal, and that is to kill the one person who wasn't of the same kind as them. They're incapable of showing mercy; they won't give the enemy a chance either. It's do or die for them; they're created for this very purpose.

Many of the participants struggled already at the first wave.

Those who did were ones that didn't really specialize in dealing with multiple enemies at once, most of them being duelists. They're not weak, per se, just not used to dealing with many enemies all at once.

Of course, there were also those who thought that they were strong, only to be slapped in the face by the cold hard truth that they're not. The worst is that their realization was streamed live for all of the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm to see.

The real highlight, though, was of course the strong contestants.

Paul and Lisa, the dutiful hosts of this tournament, added more hype to these people and the livestream with their boisterous and loud commentaries.

"Everybody, take a look at this contestant over here." Paul's voice echoed in the audience's ears as the screen displayed one particular participant.

This participant wielded a spear, flinging enemies left and right like a fearsome general. Despite facing many at once, the man's face remained stoic; not even a trace of struggle or exhaustion could be seen from him.

"Dear audience, the person you're watching right now is none other than Daniel Cassius, also known as the Jade Warlord, who's relatively famous in the Virtual Arena."

"He's known to never back down from a challenge, earning the admiration of many. He's a fearsome general born in the Red Theta Star Cluster; it is said that he once led his men to slaughter a Demon Nest, preventing them from enslaving his home."

"And as we watch his performance, I don't doubt that this was truly the case. His fearsome style and his overbearing spear easily deal with waves of enemies like they're nothing! I mean, look at him! He's a very strong challenger indeed!"

"Well, having strong challengers isn't really surprising considering this event," Lisa stated. "If anything, it's to be expected for such a grand event like this one."

"But to add more fuel into this fire, everyone, let me show you another crowd favorite."

Lisa then changed the display. The next person she put on the screen was a tall and muscular man wielding a giant axe that's almost as tall as he was. His body radiated with might, his muscles strained with force, and his face was cold and indifferent as he mercilessly struck down on everything standing in his way, swinging that giant axe of his like it weighed nothing.

"Is that...?"

"Yes, Paul. It is. It's none other than Giant Axe Andrew, everybody!"

The hosts don't know this, but when Giant Axe Andrew appeared on the screen, his fans scattered across the chaos realm loudly cheered his name. Even those who were just casual fans of the Virtual Arena and only heard of his name and deeds got excited by his introduction as well.

"WOOOO! GIANT AXE ANDREW! THAT'S MY IDOL! WOOO! KILL THEM! SHOW YOUR STUFF, BIG GUY! WOOO!"

This was Steven, one of Giant Axe Andrew's longest and biggest fanboys. Of course, it's only natural for him to be watching and supporting his idol right now. There's no way he'd miss such an important event like this.

"Actually, I'm somewhat of a fan of his," Paul commented.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I mean look at him." Paul gestured at the screen. "That overwhelming strength, that attitude, muscles, everything! That's what a man should be. It's always thrilling to see him in battles."

"True. He could've made it to the top list of the Immortal League Rankings of the Virtual Arena at any point. Alas, it seems that he's just not interested in doing so. But that doesn't stop him from being a crowd favorite," Lisa stated with clear admiration in her voice.

"But of course, this event isn't just for crowd favorites. Whether we like it or not, a grand event like this was bound to get the attention of all sorts of people, such as this one."

Paul shifted the focus to another participant. This man was, surprisingly, not fighting alone. He's commanding an army of ghosts who tore and dragged their enemies by whatever body part they came in contact with first.

The most defining trait of this participant was the lone, giant illusory eye floating behind him. It looked wicked and strange, and it seems to be driving the enemy crazy just by being there.

"The Overseer is here too, one of the most notorious rankers in the Virtual Arena. He might not be everybody's cup of tea, but his strength is undeniable. He wouldn't have made it into the rankings for nothing."

"Hmm, he's still as unlikeable as the last time I saw him," Lisa huffed. "The ghost slaves and that hateful eye of his—he just doesn't fight fairly."

This comment seemed rather unprofessional, but she said this on purpose. They're the hosts of this event to provide more hype to the audience, not to remain neutral. So, for better or for worse, and even if it means offending some parties, if talking trash about some participants means garnering more attention and hype for the livestream, neither Paul nor Lisa would hesitate from doing it.

"Hey, now. There were no rules about that. And if it works, then it works. Even you can't deny that."

"Yeah, that's true." Lisa sighed. Then, as if flipping a switch, her mood went upbeat again as she changed the channel and showed off two contestants at the same time.

"Enough about men, though. How about we see some queens showing their stuff, yeah!?"

"I believe that these two are already familiar to you, but to those who don't, let me introduce them."

"On the right, we have Mrs. Caster, the mistress of runic magic and spellcasting. As we all can see, she's doing very well. She's already at the 10th wave, and she hasn't even rested yet. No enemy could even come close to her because before they could, the runes she deployed will deal with them."

"She's actually one of the faster contestants we have at summoning one wave after another."

"And of course, on the left is another crowd favorite and a darling. It's none other than Winter, a young goddess who commands ice and the sea like it's her birthright."

"If you all would look closely, the large glaciers around her are actually serving as frozen tombs for the enemies she's faced so far. It looks like she's not doing anything, but god forbid you exist in the same space as her because she'd have you frozen by now by the sheer chilling temperatures she's releasing."

Mrs. Caster and Winter are both strong competitors with a considerable level of fame in the virtual world too.

Seeing them performing well was greatly inspiring to life evolvers, especially female ones, because they are the proof that women could also become as strong as men. Talent isn't biased to one gender.

The livestream continued with both hosts introducing the more famous participants one by one, giving them a short spotlight for all to remember.

This built more hype for the tournament. Obviously, those who were performing even better than expected also had their time to shine in the livestream.

At some point, Paul and Lisa mostly focused on the names listed on the leaderboard, which displayed the names of the participants who were tearing through wave after wave.

The highest wave reached so far was Wave 25.

You see, it starts with the enemies being equivalent to half-step Immortal level in strength at Wave 1. Upon reaching the 10th Wave, the enemies become stronger, equalling a common Immortal Warrior in strength.

At the 25th Wave, they become stronger again, equalling the peak Immortal Warrior in strength.

Of course, their numbers also increase with each wave passed.

Many who are watching the battles, especially the weaker ones, feel that it's all too much. They knew it themselves that the first round was just too difficult.

There were a lot of people who had been eliminated at this point because of how difficult it was. They're not out of the competition just yet, but because of their poor performance, things aren't looking good for them.

It's hard, and that's what makes this even more special because only real geniuses could handle this level of challenge.

Even then, there will still be some gaps that will be revealed eventually. And as the wave grows in size and difficulty, this gap will just become bigger and bigger.