The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 5 - Chapter 10.1 - The Game Part I (Patreon)

                                                             Wolf

“What’s up with these special rooms anyways?” Sapphire asks with a frown as we step out of the most recent of the seven special rooms we’ve tried so far on the first floor.

Out of the seven, the only one that took a long time to deal with was the first one, which was the haunted mansion. Beyond that, we also had some special rooms that were honestly similar to rooms we’ve done in the other dungeon. What with the long puzzle rooms, the little quiz rooms that made no sense but let me pass anyways after trial and error, and some particularly easy obstacle courses that I still question the purpose of when the dungeon should know that I can fly.

“Not sure, but I get the feeling some of these special rooms might just be more special than others,” I answer, not entirely sure myself. Considering how the first special room we entered was so much different from these others.

Sapphire makes a noise of confusion, but I ignore it as we walk through the hall, just to end up running into another special room door around the corner.

Before we enter it though, I hear Sapphire mutter, “Why do they call these special rooms anyways when they’re just the rooms for the floor?”

I can’t help but shrug as I grab the handle and open the door.

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The Administrator Dungeon

The moment Wolf steps through the special room’s door, a wave of notifications flash throughout the Administrator Dungeon, following which Wolf finds himself standing in a completely blank room, with nothing but white walls in every direction. Meanwhile, the Competitors within the Administrator Dungeon all pause if they weren’t in battle, or simply minimize the notification and finish their battle before reading it.

A short delay occurs as the sixty-five remaining Competitors read through the notice before nearly half of them jump to purchase a slot. But since there are only three slots available, the majority of them are left disappointed.

Meanwhile the many viewers watching this all turn surprised. Not as surprised as the viewers in the Beta Stream, though, who find the entire viewing room shifting before the center of the stadium turns into a giant globe that rises up into the air to replace the screen. Then they all watch as the insides of the globe morph to form a giant maze, with four different screens located high above the globe, each not showing anything at the moment.

Ignorant to the changes occurring in the Beta Stream, three Competitors – the ones who managed to purchase the slots for the game – vanish in a bright green light before finding themselves in the same white room as Wolf.

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Wolf

I blink in surprise as I stare at the three Competitors who appeared in front of me – only one of which is a familiar face – before glancing back at the notification that is floating in front of my face.

“Seriously?” I can’t help but mutter.

“Sapphire,” I state with a frown, making her stiffen up from her spot standing right next to me. “Did you have to jinx us with your talk about the special rooms?”

Sapphire gasps at my words before stepping in front of me and putting her tiny hands on her hips and exclaiming, “Don’t put this on me! This is your own bad luck talking!”

I turn to look at the Competitors who were drawn in here after apparently purchasing a slot. And the thought makes me frown.

If only the stupid fucking Reaper wasn’t censoring every attempt I make at telling someone about the Voided Karma, then I would’ve been able to tell them not to spend any more SP.

I should’ve expected him to do something about it. After all, just because he’s already done it doesn’t mean he’s just gonna abandon the System and the free workers it gets him after his war ends. Assuming he still lives and isn’t defeated by Titania.

Unfortunately, if I try telling them not to spend SP right now without actually giving a reason, then they’ll just call me a hypocrite. After all, I myself spend SP, because Voided Karma doesn’t affect me. But they don’t know that. And I can’t tell them it either.

It also doesn’t help that everyone seems to be convinced that The Reaper is just somehow magically able to order them around because of the System or something.

Damned Reaper.

Sapphire suddenly jumps in front of me, covering my view of the Competitors as she exclaims, “Hey! Don’t ignore me!”

I continue ignoring her as I know she just wants to see me give in and admit that much may or may not be bad at times to instead focus solely on the three Competitors.

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Table of Contents

For those of you who can't read the images:

Special Room Notice

Beta Tester ‘The Winter Wolf’ has entered   a game room.

This game room is one of many types of special   rooms, and focuses on the Beta Tester playing along with three Competitors in   a game. Some of these games may involve life or death battles, others may   not. But the Competitors playing the game may opt to have a safety mode   turned on, which will teleport them back to where they were in the   Administrator Dungeon should they die at the cost of lower rewards should   they win the game.

The game will begin once three Competitors   from the Administrator Dungeon purchase their slots.

Each slot will be decided on via whoever   buys them first. To buy a slot, you must simply press purchase on one of the three   buttons at the bottom of this notice.

List of rewards:

First place reward is 5 levels and a Tier   8 item.

Second place reward is 3 levels and a Tier   7 item.

Third place is 1 level.

Price for competing: 1000 SP

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3

Special Room Notice

You have entered a game room.

This game room is one of many types of special   rooms and focuses on the you playing along with three Competitors – each of which   bought a position to participate – in a game. Some of these games may involve   life or death battles, others may not. But the Competitors playing the game   may opt to have a safety mode turned on, which will teleport them back to   where they were in the Administrator Dungeon should they die at the cost of   lower rewards should they win the game.

You do not have access to the safety mode.

This specific game is a maze.

Whoever manages to make it to the center   of the maze first will be declared the winner.

The maze will be filled with traps,   monsters, and powerups. These powerups will grant you a specific boon that   will help you in either clearing the monsters or finding your way to the   center of the maze.

Furthermore, there will also be a single Mythic   Loot Box hidden somewhere in the maze.

The game will end after the third player   of the game reaches the center of the maze.

Good luck.

List of rewards:

First place reward is 5 levels and a Tier   8 item.

Second place reward is 3 levels and a Tier   7 item.

Third place is 1 level.