Chapter 838: Handover (6)

“The promotion team is confident this match will showcase the best performance among this week’s games. I can’t wait!”

“Start already!!”

“I’m betting right now, give me the odds!!”

The crowd’s reaction grew hotter, matching the announcer’s own overflowing excitement.

They seemed completely uninterested in whether it was a Gamma or Lambda level. As long as the match was entertaining, they probably didn’t care if doping agents were used or not. They were simply pleased with the proposition that made the game more special, without any interest in the specifics.

The announcer, instead of dragging out the explanation, immediately called the waiting participants to the fighting arena.

Housed in mobile cages were notorious criminals, each burdened with a long list of convictions.

All of them were superhumans of Level 5 or higher.

For this event, they were the ultimate subjects prepared by the organizers to test doping agents.

Pshhh! Pshhh! (sound of gas release/steam)

A bald giant with pale veins bulging all over his body. A grotesque figure with thick chains instead of arms.

Outlaws of all bizarre appearances crawled out and, as instructed, injected the doping agents into their arms.

“It’s begun.”

Pop! Pop! (sound of screen appearing/light flashes)

Simultaneously, a screen descended from the ceiling of the room, displaying the faces of hundreds of people.

These were the project’s clients, customers who would evaluate the Designers’ drugs, now connected via the network.

The people pacing around the room collectively bowed towards the screen.

“Good evening, Minister!”

“Have you been well, Councilman?”

“Congratulations on your victory in the last title match.”

“I heard about your achievements in the conflict zone—”

The sight of businessmen greeting their clients from all directions, as if they had been waiting.

However, the clients whose faces appeared beyond the screen casually brushed off these greetings from the Designers.

“Enough of that, show us the match immediately. Where are the participants?”

“I heard whose bone marrow you prepared to make the doping agent. If it doesn’t meet expectations, you’ll have to answer for it.”

“I want to place a bet, too. Can I participate if I send money to this account?”

Another game unfolded from a different perspective and situation than the stadium’s audience.

The Designers prostrated themselves, immediately fulfilling all sorts of demands from their clients.

“You don’t need to worry. We will definitely show whose skill is truly superior.”

“I’ve contacted the organizers, so you’ll receive immediate guidance on where to bet.”

“We will now display the participants and the doping agents used on the scoreboard.”

Flash! (sound of light/screen)

A list appeared in one corner of the screen, indicating the situation.

The Designer’s name, the manufactured doping agent and its raw material, and the identification number of the participant who received the drug.

[James Ibanon. Central Nervous System Accelerator. Nerve Bundles of a Physical Ability User. Participant #37.]

[Edgar Bauder. Physical Resistance Amplifier. Galaba Chris’s Bone Powder. Participant #7.]

[Cornet Palmer. Mana Construction Awakener. Sorcerer’s Heart. Participant #13.]

[Paris McKenzie. Addictive Hormone Inducer. Poison Sorcerer’s Gallbladder. Participant #88.]

[Dristan Hume. Demonic Manifestation Agent. Eva Franzet’s Brain Fluid. Participant #62.]

…

The types and effects of the doping agents were more varied than expected.

Their efficacy seemed focused on bestowing special abilities or properties rather than simply enhancing physical capabilities. This was probably due to them being the result of using the raw materials—specific body parts or characteristics of superhumans—in their manufacture.

Most merely indicated the hierarchy of the materials used in the doping agents, but some doping agents explicitly named their origins.

“Eva Franzet…?”

“Franzet? Is that the Franzet I know?”

“Dristan found the brain fluid of that mad witch?”

The surrounding Designers and clients couldn’t hide their shock, and Dristan looked around with a smug expression.

Perhaps sensing Lennok’s questioning look, Murphy whispered in a low voice.

“That’s the name of a witch who committed a massacre centuries ago and was burned at the stake. Rumor had it she went mad trying to achieve Ascension.”

“…”

“Her grave was discovered and desecrated once, and it seems there were madmen who even touched her corpse. Are they not afraid of curses?”

So, they used the bodily fluids of a superhuman so famous that most Designers and clients gathered here knew of them, as material for doping agents.

There were other doping agents whose names were revealed, and every single one was made from the body parts of incredible superhumans or monsters.

[Kabahim Archduke Gillian’s finger, the Giant’s finger, huh. If discovered, it won’t just end in a diplomatic dispute.]

[Bringing the Gravekeeper’s bone powder—are they out of their minds?]

[Yes, this is what makes it worth gathering and watching!!]

[Murphy, what kind of doping agent did you—]

The clients, who had been feigning criticism yet couldn’t hide their anticipation, fell silent upon seeing the data Murphy submitted.

[Alejandro Murphy. Mana Enhancement Agent. Level 7+ Superhuman Blood. Participant #25.]

Because the source material listed under Murphy’s name was virtually nonexistent in terms of notoriety.

The clients’ expressions, which had been filled with anticipation, were tinged with faint disappointment.

“Hmm… it feels a bit different from the results you showed last time.”

“I thought you’d bring something more concrete than this.”

“Don’t you know what we want from this project?”

Some clients were already losing interest in Murphy and turning their gazes away.

“Then, let the match begin immediately!!!”

With a majestic bell sound, the participants who had finished doping walked into the center of the arena.

“Waaaaah…!”

A bald giant whose limbs swelled up like a true giant. A grotesque figure whose arm chains melted stickily like poison.

A demonic being whose skin turned pitch black like a demon, and a berserker laughing wildly while bleeding profusely.

The crowd went mad with excitement at the superhumans’ transformations, who had become incomparably powerful compared to previous matches.

“Waaaaaaaaah! Insane!!”

“Monstrous bastards have arrived!!”

“Shit, wait a minute!!! No one said it would be this extreme!!”

“That’s it!! Let’s go!!”

Beyond the arena, where excitement, anticipation, rage, and despair intertwined, over a dozen superhumans moved simultaneously.

Crraaaaash!!!

Bloody winds raged from all directions, roars exploded, and all sorts of obstacles in the fighting pit crumbled like toys.

A killing spree that began in an instant without any warning.

“I have one question.”

Lennok, who had been frowning at the resounding cheers, asked as if something had just occurred to him.

“If this project is to compare the Designers’ skills, why did they have each of them procure different doping materials? Aren’t the conditions too dissimilar to accurately compare skill?”

“Because it’s not a place to compare average skill.”

The one who answered was not Murphy, but Dristan, with whom he had been speaking earlier.

Dristan, who had somehow approached them, looked down at participant #62, who had been administered his doping agent, with a satisfied expression and said,

“The only condition was to create and enter with a doping agent using the best materials one could procure.”

“Why?”

“Because the clients gathered here are all powerful individuals who can directly procure the materials for the doping agents they wish to use.”

Perhaps the witch Eva Franzet was a practitioner of ice-type spellcraft, as participant #62, who received her brain fluid, was rampaging with a frost storm swirling around his body.

Whoooosh! Whoooosh! (sound of a powerful gust of wind)

Every time he swung his fist, cold air surged, and the ground his feet touched froze, completely locking down other participants.

Dristan answered, watching the brilliant performance, which undeniably stood out even here, with satisfaction.

“This place isn’t for the clients to see the average skill of Designers, but their pinnacle. Do you understand?”

“…Pinnacle, huh.”

Since most of the clients gathered here were powerful figures or celebrities capable of procuring their desired materials, they wanted to see how well the Designers could process the best materials into doping agents, then.

Whoosh! Whoosh! (sound of wind/magic)

So strong was the witch Franzet’s power that nearly half of the vast arena was frozen solid.

Four or five of the indiscriminately swept-away participants couldn’t withstand the cold and collapsed.

A giant with greatly swollen hands and feet rampaged madly, throwing boulders everywhere, and a demon-like being tore apart fleeing participants.

Blood splattered, and with each criminal who had taken a doping agent collapsing, the shouts grew louder.

“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”

The Designers who had lost the competition quickly left, looking pale and uneasy.

The clients, engrossed in the match via the screen, didn’t even glance their way.

Dristan openly chuckled at the sight.

“It’s an opportunity to even steal other Designers’ clients if you play your cards right. Of course, the others participated aiming for that too… but it means nothing before my work.”

“…”

“In that sense, your response is utterly disappointing, Murphy.”

Dristan pushed his chubby face in front of Murphy, his expression openly mocking.

“I expected more from someone from the Central City, but how dare you bring such a baseless ingredient? Don’t you know how common superhuman blood is in this industry?”

“Dristan. That doesn’t seem to be your concern.”

Murphy, leaning back in his wheelchair, tilted his head askew.

“You’re right, this place isn’t meant to accurately measure a Designer’s skill. If anything, it’s closer to a promotion to attract key clients. It’s not unlike the very purpose of this Underground Fighting Pit. But…”

Murphy chuckled, watching Dristan’s face twitch.

“What I obtained is a power that renders such standards meaningless.”

“…What?”

Thump! (sound of impact)

Amidst the chaos, Dristan’s champion, still carrying the frost storm, reached participant #25.

An old man who had been sitting with his head bowed, not moving once since receiving the doping agent.

The prisoner chosen as Murphy’s doping agent subject, appearing too weak to even have energy.

“From the Central City, and a doctor, at that, so he managed to gather many valuable clients beyond his station.”

Dristan clenched his fists hard enough to crush them, watching the standoff between the two.

“I’ll show you clearly right here. That only I can concoct Lambda-level doping agents to my liking—!!!!”

The moment the chilling cold aura from the champion’s hands fell directly onto the prisoner’s head.

Black lightning flashed in the prisoner’s eyes.

Flash…!! (sound of a flash of light)

At that instant, the entire Underground Fighting Pit glowed dimly, then subsided.

Participant #62’s entire body turned into black ash and crumbled where he stood.

“Huh…? Huh?”

“…”

A fleeting flash of lightning, too brief to even be called an instant.

Dristan let out a dazed gasp at the unrealistic outcome, and the clients beyond the screen stared, jaws agape.

Crackling…!!

Enveloped in black lightning, the prisoner stood up from his spot with an expressionless face.

Wherever his steps touched, black ripples spread, shattering ice and evaporating poison.

Ominous magic, radiating a desolate heat that seemed to boil, simply by standing still.

“Ma, just by radiating magic, it has such power…”

“What on earth did he use as an ingredient to refine that drug…?!!”

Simply by having the magic contained within the doping agent envelop the user, he was overwhelming all the other participants here.

The moment the atmosphere in the VIP seats turned chillingly cold as they realized its true power and value.

“I, I’ve seen magic with that power before…”

Someone among the clients watching trembled and shouted.

“It’s the Nether King’s power…!! Who brought the Nether King’s blood into this fighting pit!!”

“…Hmm?”

At that moment, Murphy’s expression, which had been smiling as he met Lennok’s gaze, soured.