Showering Golden Light

A cascade of golden light poured down.

Zien reached out toward the artifact dropped by the knight.

The Knight's Oath was an artifact that could exist only because the uninhabited island was a virtual gate created by 1G Group.

Magic Arts are a Saber’s unique power. For someone else to use that power...

Regardless of efficiency, experiencing another person's Magic Art was something even Zien had never done.

But for an S-rank, the restrictions are pretty severe.

Only one party member's Magic Art, and only once.

The Knight's Oath came with two major limitations. Even so, the ability to use someone else's Magic Art was an enormous advantage.

One Saber wielding two kinds of Magic Arts...

And the user was Zien, no less.

Now the key decision was whether to form the oath with Isabel or Chris—and which Magic Art to borrow.

That was the most important part.

I've already collected two artifacts.

On top of that, Zien had soloed a 5th-rank boss knight right in front of the main cam. Having risked his life to create an iconic scene, the sponsorship money must have piled up massively.

Ding!

Sure enough, a gift arrived.

"Mystery Box?"

As Zien voiced his puzzlement,

Amy sent the messages.

The desperation and urgency seeped through the text alone. Right now, the only ones who could buy something like this with sponsorships were from Celia.

What the hell is she talking about? Celia bought something like this?

Zien let out a hollow chuckle.

"Amy, you can be honest with me."

Only then did Amy confess, along with a screenshot of the vote.

If it had just entertained the viewers, Zien could have let something this minor slide. But Amy had gone overboard.

Her messages swung wildly between polite and casual speech.

Zien set aside the distraught Amy and used the Mystery Box.

A cryptic system blessing appeared, and a hologram window popped up above the box.

"Type? Rank?"

The hologram was visible to Amy and the viewers too. Zien casually began the gamble worth a staggering 25 million Com.

Whirr!

A cheerful sound effect rang out.

Like a slot machine, the letters under "Type" spun wildly: Consumables, Artifacts, Costumes, Equipment, Traits, and countless others flashing by at breakneck speed.

The rotation slowed gradually, fate's moment approaching.

Consumables, Costumes, Equipment...

Ting.

"Pretty lucky, huh?"

Zien said it loud enough for Amy to hear. It was a relief the result was good—Mystery Boxes were notorious for their duds.

Especially for Zien, who possessed the top-tier trait Sword God, Traits were basically trash. Dodging all those pitfalls for an Artifact was cause for celebration.

Amy was quick to smooth things over. But the Mystery Box result wasn't finalized yet.

"I'll decide after seeing the result."

Zien smirked and tapped.

Whirr.

The letters under Rank and Result spun madly.

S-rank artifacts dropped only from boss mobs or airdrops.

"B-rank's decent enough."

A cute pink pouch emerged from the Mystery Box. Zien fell silent at the baffling outcome.

Aside from the flashy design, its utility was top-notch.

"Well."

One food item every 30 minutes.

This single artifact could overcome the inconvenience of the hunger system. It was top-tier even among B-ranks. Plus, it provided huge entertainment for the viewers.

"Great performance. Congrats, Amy."

Only then did Amy flood the chat with joy.

Amy, who had once been on equal footing with Zien, now found herself firmly leashed. The reason? The viewers, of course.

The live stream now had 140,000 viewers.

In this short time, Amy's channel had doubled its subscribers as Battle Survival heated up. Naturally, the dynamic had shifted to dominant and submissive. And that bond grew stronger with every new viewer.

"I'll think about it."

But Zien opted to maintain the status quo.

For now, their relationship remained at business partners.

Round 1 won't last much longer.

This intense battle royale would continue until 33 participants remained—or perhaps until tonight. That was the spectacle the viewers craved most.

Next up is the airdrop.

Central Dome's Sky Lounge.

Assistant PD Caston shrieked in a high-pitched voice as viewership shattered records one after another.

"G Channel at 5 million! We hit 5 million! How long has the broadcast even been on? This is insane, right?"

Bang!

"You call that a reaction?!"

Brodo slammed the table with a irritated scowl, then grinned wickedly at Caston as if he couldn't hold back.

"Of course! It's a massive hit!"

"Aigoo~ Why the theatrics? You scared me!"

The two men embraced tightly.

With this broadcast being such a runaway success, promotions for Brodo and Caston—who handled planning—were all but guaranteed.

"As long as our protagonists don't get wiped in the airdrop, this show's smooth sailing."

Brodo's "protagonists" were Zien, Lucia, and Ichef—the trio monopolizing the main cams among the many entrants. Caston nodded, grasping the intent.

"Hmm, the trick is keeping those three teams apart as much as possible."

"Especially Lucia and Zien. They can't meet until Round 2 at least. They need to stick it out to the end and cap things off. Got it?"

"Yep. Make drama, right?"

"Now we're in sync."

"Wow, though. Never imagined Arcana would pull this off."

Caston rewound Zien's fight with the knight, marveling aloud. Brodo nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Arcana's prestigious and all, but holding their own against that Lucia."

Brodo had scouted Zien for the evaluation exam because of his orphanage background. He figured the commoner Zien would contrast nicely with heroic lineage Lucia, playing the perfect underdog.

"But that strong? We got lucky."

Brodo sat at the computer.

The screen displayed the island map in detail, with survivors' positions marked.

"Right? Super lucky. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Honestly, before the airdrop, I wondered if he'd have anything to show."

"Same here. But soloing a boss..."

"Hasn't happened even in beta."

"Students challenging 5th or 6th-rank Sabers? Who'd even try? The kid's a freak."

Brodo fiddled contentedly with the mouse. His inputs set the airdrop locations.

Click click.

"Whoa, you're really doing it like that?"

Once positions were locked, Caston gaped. The drops were blatantly obvious. But Brodo shrugged it off.

"They earned it. Let's give 'em an easy one this time."

One airdrop landed right at the cave entrance—Zien's current spot.

Despair Bridge.

The kilometer-long mega-bridge linking downtown to the factories.

"Kill score."

Isabel had single-handedly taken out the three guarding the bridge. It was thanks to her cheat-level trait rivaling Zien's Sword God.

Unique Trait: Child of the Stars

Effect: Recovers 100 MP every 10 minutes.

MP that refilled just by waiting.

Isabel had claimed Child of the Stars, the trait given to the entrant with the highest mana affinity. In a tournament gathering 99 geniuses, she'd proudly validated her talent.

But there was a problem.

The mana favoritism toward Isabel had extended to items too.

"Why... Why the hell?!"

Five kills, two farming zones secured, yet Isabel had scavenged zero food. Her pocket held only seven mana drinks.

"Just mana drinks keep dropping?"

At this rate, she'd be the first in tournament history to drop from starvation. No, she'd almost welcome dropping—the virtual gate's tactile senses were cruelly realistic.

The gnawing hunger of two or three days ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unfed.

Irritable and on edge, Isabel saw a hologram pop up.

A supply crate descending from the sky, packed with all sorts of items. Laughable as it was, the most desperate thing Isabel wanted right now wasn't an artifact.

...Surely there's food too, right?

If the airdrop spat out just 30 mana drinks, she doubted her sanity. One small mercy: the drop was relatively close to the bridge. Past the factory, practically next door. Isabel muttered through her haggard expression.

"The cave. I need to head to the cave."

Zien and Isabel.

Their reunion loomed just around the corner.

My Previous Life was the Strongest Sword God