"Ah. In such a tiny place right before my eyes… what on earth should I turn into to escape this calamity? Whether there's a reward or not doesn't really matter. It's the punishment that counts… I took quite a few gunshots last time. Is that kind of punishment even something a human could think up~?!"
As Aalto examined the environment before him, he couldn't help but grumble and complain.
This so-called hide-and-seek, in his eyes, was simply a children's game… Although the rewards looked very decent, one still had to win to get them.
When he thought about how he would have to face the accusations of ten people, he didn't think his win rate would be very high.
Even though the scene before him had mountains, water, trees, flowers, and grass.
But precisely because of this, everything could be taken in at a single glance… What could he turn into to effectively avoid being pointed out by everyone?
After racking his brains for a short while, his eyes lit up… He discovered a corner where crops like paddy, wheat ears, corn, potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins were kept.
His idea was also extremely simple: to transform into a single grain of wheat… and blend into that massive sack of wheat ears.
This way, even if there were ten times more people… it would be absolutely impossible to point him out from among those countless grains of wheat.
No sooner said than done. With just a single thought, he found that he had actually turned into a fresh ear of wheat.
"…Wait, this is way too conspicuous… No, no, this makes it even easier to get exposed."
Having spotted the flaw, Aalto immediately transformed back, realizing this method would likely not work and that he had better turn into something else.
Right at that moment, his attention was drawn to a school of fish in a nearby pond.
"Fish… If you want to fish, you need… Oh, right! I can totally turn into that."
With a sudden flash of inspiration, Aalto transformed once again, directly turning into an earthworm… and then burrowed into the soil beneath a stone-paved path.
The stone path wasn't eye-catching to begin with, and there were quite a few stone paths around here… Turning into an earthworm and drilling into the ground beneath one made things look incredibly secure.
[ Ding! Guest Aalto, are you ready to begin this challenge? ]
"I'm ready; let's get started quickly."
A tiny voice drifted up from the ground, and with that, the curtain on the challenge was officially raised.
[ Ding! Congratulations to the following guests for becoming today's lucky audience members. ]
[ Guest Cartethyia, Guest Phoebe, Guest Augusta, Guest Iuno, Guest Rover, Guest Xiangli Yao, Guest Zani, Guest Inferno Rider, Guest Spearback King, Guest Cristoforo. ]
[ Will the following guests please prepare yourselves. You will be teleported into the challenge space immediately. ]
As the chat group system's notification popped up, some were delighted while others were anxious.
〜Exposure Chat Group〜
Cartethyia: "Wow. Did I actually get chosen? Doesn't that mean… (I can go to the outside world now?) ⦍ConfidentJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Encore: "Ah. Why isn't Encore there? Encore really wants to play too. ⦍DumbfoundedJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Verina: "Encore, that challenge has punishments… It's better to let the adults participate in it. ⦍ComfortingJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Septimont Senate: "Ephor Augusta, and Priestess Iuno… We hope you can bring back good news for the Septimont, otherwise…"
Iuno: "Hmph. Who cares about you, old fogies? Augusta and I working together will definitely secure victory, but what does that have to do with you? ⦍TsundereJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Septimont Senate: "Insolent! Is this how Lillibet taught you? ⦍AngryJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Clearly, the interior of the Septimont was not a monolithic block. At the very least, the Senate did not get along well with Magistrate Augusta's rising faction.
However, while Augusta had many things to consider, Iuno's code of conduct was very simple…
If she didn't like someone, she would just trash-talk them directly, without caring in the slightest about her stance or identity.
Iuno: "Oh. Are you trying to teach me how to do things? ⦍FrowningJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Lillibet: "Iuno, don't let outsiders… make a laughingstock of the Septimont. ⦍SighingJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
Iuno: "I…"
Augusta: "Alright, Iuno. Let's focus on the challenge first. ⦍SoothingJinhsi.jpeg⦎"
.....
" In Between "
"Alright. I'll be right back. That guy Aalto might actually be quite hard to find."
Rover smiled and bid farewell to the girls. He wasn't very optimistic about finding Aalto's transformation.
For no other reason than because Aalto was the kind of person… whose way of thinking was truly difficult to grasp.
However, he was quite interested in the people he would get to meet this time.
—
〜Void of Valor〜
[ Soon, ten figures appeared within that special scene, and a synchronized live broadcast began… allowing everyone to watch.
And Rover got his wish, meeting everyone face-to-face.
"We should be considered teammates now, right… I just don't know if we can attack each other?"
Rover greeted everyone with a smile on his face, but by the time his gaze landed on Cristoforo… a subtle, intriguing meaning was added to his smile.
"Hey, hey, hey. You just said we are teammates. At the very least, there's no need to start infighting right now."
"And I'm sure the chat group definitely wouldn't let such a loophole exist."
"On the other hand, this young lady… Your appearance reminds me of some rather extraordinary things."
Cristoforo's first two sentences were meant to show weakness to Rover, though he truly believed it… and he had previously seen the Rover take action against the Crownless.
Even if he was certain in his heart, he didn't want to experience what the Crownless went through back then. The gap between the two sides was simply too immense right now.
His latter sentence was meant to divert Rover's attention, and he was indeed surprised by Cartethyia's appearance.
He had originally thought it was just a coincidence of having the same name, but looking at her now… how was this just having the same name? This was clearly the Holy Maiden who had disappeared back then.
"Huh? Do we… know each other?"
Cartethyia looked left and right… and after confirming that Cristoforo's target was her, she asked back with a face full of curiosity.
"Your appearance… and your name is Cartethyia, right?"
"Imperator above… Are you really the Holy Maiden who disappeared back then?"
Before Cristoforo could respond, Phoebe, who was standing to the side, covered her small mouth and spoke with a face full of disbelief. ]