Backstage, the last group of contestants emerged. At the front was the vice-captain, Reve! Beside him was the one-eyed man.
Aside from these two middle-aged individuals, the rest were all young people!
Soon, all the registered Hunters appeared, and Ed was among the crowd on stage.
However, the most attention was focused on the various Hunter associations, while individual Hunters hardly attracted any interest, barely catching the eye of the spectators.
Even their position on the stage was at an inconspicuous side.
Standing there, Ed took a brief glance at the audience below.
"It really is lively, so many people!"
Ed's heart stirred slightly. Amid the roaring cheers from the crowd, he could feel the grandeur of the event.
He had known beforehand that everyone watching the competition had to pay 10 gold coins.
With so many people in the stands, the massive revenue from this event was obvious, and no wonder it had been opened to the public.
Next, Ed looked around at the other contestants on the stage.
The first group he focused on was the individual Hunters, like himself, who didn't belong to any association.
The number of people in this category was surprisingly high, nearly equal to the number of Hunters from associations.
There were over two hundred Hunters on the stage in total!
Among them, the individual Hunters not only made up a large portion, but their ages also varied widely—some looked older, while others appeared to be in their teens.
"Hey, brother."
At that moment, Ed heard someone calling him from beside him. Turning around, he saw a young man in his twenties.
"My name's Thomas. I'm 25 today. How old are you?"
The young man introduced himself, clearly curious because he had noticed Ed looked so young.
Ed glanced at him. "I'm Ed, 18."
Thomas' eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, looks like I'm a lot older than you. I started as a Hunter at 18 too."
"Up until now, I'm still only an Apprentice level, but I'll be leveling up soon. Seems like you're here just like us, trying your luck?"
Thomas was surprisingly talkative, likely because he assumed Ed was a rookie, just starting out, given his age.
"Trying my luck?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
Thomas smiled. "Looks like this is your first time here. You see these individual Hunters next to us? They're just like us—low-level, with no association willing to take us in."
"And for this competition, just by signing up, you get a 15 gold coin participation reward. Not only that, it's a great place for newcomers to gain some experience!"
"You should know, the associations are fighting over the championship prize, but we're here just to grab the leftovers!"
After a brief pause, Thomas continued:
"I heard that this competition is being held in a blocked-off wasteland."
"Even if we don't win, just picking up the bodies of other Hunters and killing the monsters will still make us a good profit!"
"Bro, I know how to find valuable things. Stick with me, and we'll make some good money."
After listening to Thomas, Ed finally understood. It turned out that these individual Hunters were here not to compete, but to scavenge for profits.
They weren't planning to compete at all!
However, Ed just smiled slightly. "Alright then."
Thomas didn't seem like it was his first time here, so having someone tag along wasn't a bad idea.
At worst, if things didn't work out, he could always leave.
At that moment, Jason's voice rang out once again from the stage.
"Next, let me explain the rules!"
Once all the Hunters were in position, Jason began speaking again:
"First, as the audience can see, aside from the individual Hunters, all the major associations of Dorey City are represented!"
"However, I must announce that for this competition, each association can only send three participants!"
Ed's expression shifted slightly. No wonder he had noticed that each association only had three to five people on stage.
Each association could only choose three representatives to compete.
"And our competition will take place in the Nightmare Wasteland on the outskirts of Dorey City!"
Jason's voice boomed once more.
"The area is still under government lockdown because there are a large number of monsters there!"
Upon hearing the location, the audience below and many of the individual Hunters on stage reacted with surprise.
Beside Ed, Thomas widened his eyes.
"I've always heard it was some kind of wasteland, but I didn't expect it to be the Nightmare Wasteland!"
Other people around them murmured anxiously, their faces turning pale.
Ed raised an eyebrow and looked at Thomas, asking curiously:
"Is the Nightmare Wasteland that terrifying?"
Thomas was taken aback. "Bro, even if you're a rookie, you must have heard of the Nightmare Wasteland. It's a place that's been passed down through word of mouth."
"Ten years ago, there were even a few villages there, but in recent years, the number of mutated monsters has increased so much that many villagers were killed, and the villages were destroyed."
"Eventually, the government decided to lock it down to prevent further danger. Who knows how many high-level monsters are there now? It could even have C-level ones!"
After hearing this, Ed had a better understanding of the situation.
Thomas continued advising him, "Hey, bro, with the competition being held in such a dangerous location, you might want to forget about scavenging bodies for now."
"Remember, stick close to me. Staying alive is the most important thing."
Ed nodded to show that he understood.
Meanwhile, in the center of the stage, Jason was now revealing the most important rule.
"Since this competition takes place in the wasteland, I'm sure the audience can guess what the contest is about."
"It's monster hunting! The competition will last for five hours, and after that, all participants must leave the arena!"
"Participants will be ranked based on the number of monsters they kill, with increasing rewards for the top placements!"
"The third-place winner will receive 3,000 gold coins and a B-level meditation technique."
"The second-place winner will receive 5,000 gold coins and a full set of Golden Hunter gear."
"The first-place winner will receive 10,000 gold coins, along with a portable Sunlight Magic Device!"
"The Sunlight Magic Device is a new product developed by sorcerers in the imperial capital. Its function is to simulate sunlight, allowing its user to train even at night!"
When the rewards for second and third place were announced, there wasn't much of a shock among the crowd.
But when the reward for first place was revealed, both the spectators below and the Hunters above were stunned!
A wave of gasps erupted from the Hunters.
"My God, training at night? If we could get something like that, we'd be able to train several times faster than others!"
"Such a thing is worth its weight in gold, it could completely change the rules of the game!"
"But this amazing treasure can only be obtained by the first place winner! Damn it!"
Ed noticed the individual Hunters around him sighing in frustration.
Even among the many strong Hunters from the associations, there were many who, upon hearing the first-place reward, had their eyes light up with excitement.
However, Ed remained calm, his mood hardly changing.
For other Hunters, the most scarce resource in their training journey was time! Time was the most precious thing!
During the day, there were only a few hours available!
That was the cruel limitation set by the heavens!
So, enduring time was a rule every Hunter had to follow.
But Ed was different. What did it matter if he could train a few extra hours a day? That wasn't anything to be concerned about.
However, 10,000 gold coins, that was something that caught his interest.
After hearing about the rewards, all the major associations in the arena were filled with excitement.
They all made up their minds—this time, they had to claim the first-place prize.
Jason continued, "Alright, I'll add one last rule. Of the top three places, only one person from each association can occupy a spot."
"For example, if Association A sends three participants and they all end up in the top three, only the person who finishes in first place will be counted. The other two spots won't count, and the second-place position will be passed down to the person in fourth place!"
This rule was designed to prevent any one association from dominating the top rankings and to ensure that each association had to pool its resources into a single contender.
With that, all the rules had been announced.
Jason added, "Now, please, each association, select your three representatives."
"Also, we have the honor of inviting the vice-captain of the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association to join us on stage for an interview before the competition begins!"
After saying this, Reve, the vice-captain of the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association, walked to the center of the stage, beside Jason.
A loud cheer erupted from the audience below.
Clearly, the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association had a large and enthusiastic following!