*BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Shiro peeked above the barriers and could see a complete warzone near the bridges that connected one island to another.
Due to the fact that the ring was closing in, everyone was being herded up into the centre. Increasing the chances of contact and the chances of conflict breaking out.
Currently, she was 800 meters away from the fight with the binoculars in hand.
During the time she had observed the combatants, 15 people had already been eliminated.
Not only that, she was sure that she could even see the explosions from the other side of the map.
'The ring had already shrunk 3 times. With the next, most of us will be forced closer together and towards the centre island. I need to find myself some cover before the ring starts to shrink. Otherwise, it'll be hard to outrun the ring while making sure they don't find me.' Shiro thought while observing which building seemed most suitable.
From what she could see, there were 3 suitable building for her to enter. However, the risks on all 3 vary depending on what happens.
The first building was an abandoned house with no windows or doors. While being obscured from sight, any form of noise made inside the house would reverberate for a long time. This was due to the fact that there were no objects in the rooms to dampen out the noise.
If she hides in there, anyone with a slightly keen sense would be able to pick up on her. Not to mention the fact that it was the furthest from the centre. So she'll have to make another run towards the centre when the ring closes.
The next building was a factory. Although in plain sight, the building offered more than enough rooms and covers for her to hide in. As for its location, it was roughly in the middle between the ring and the bridge to the mysterious centre island.
The bad thing about this would be the fact that it is very close to the combat area at this moment in time. If she tried to get there, the chances of the other players seeing her would increase by several folds. Not what she wanted.
As for the last building… it couldn't even be called a full building due to the fact that it's a toll gate.
The bridges that connected each island was a motorway. Therefore, at the base of each bridge was the toll gate.
Due to its location, not many would focus their attention on the small booths between the gates. A prime hiding spot for her since her small body would only help her more.
The negatives, however, was the fact that she had to get past 5 people fighting in a free for all right now. Not only that, but a stray shot could just so happen to smash into her booth and kill her.
'One of them might even blow himself up if he lost.' Shiro thought.
Looking at the current player count of 53, Shiro wished that they would kill each other with more fervour.
This was because the more people that stayed alive, the more cramped it will get as they reached the centre island.
Pushing herself into a crouch, Shiro prepared to sneak towards the factory first before making a detour to the toll gates.
Climbing over the railings, Shiro slowly descended the skyscr.a.p.er and made sure to avoid their sight.
By the time she landed on the next building, she could see one of the player's being on the verge of death.
'Seems like he's run out of HP potions.' Shiro thought.
*BANG!!
His body was suddenly sent flying when a warrior slammed his fist into the man.
'HOLY SH*T!!!' Shiro thought in surprise since the man was sent towards her general direction.
Quickly retreating into the shadows, Shiro held her breath and hid herself.
*BOOM!
Crashing into a metal railing, the man struggled for a moment before dying.
Scattering into a bunch of shiny loot, Shiro narrowed her eyes.
'The chances of him coming over here to get loot in a moment is low due to the fight. I should be able to take a few pieces before continuing to the factory.' Shiro thought while looking at the pile of loot.
Within the pile, she could see several pieces of useful equipment. Primarily a purple grade sword and purple grade bow. As for arrows, she could see only 1 arrow in the pile.
Potion wise, there were none.
'At least with better weapons, I have a better chance of surviving the next few ring closures.' Shiro thought and decided to risk it. While the chance was low, there was still a chance for the players to come over to her.
'Since I'm already in the top 100 filled with level 50's as a level 34. That should be more than enough of a bargaining chip for the lesser-known factions.'
Kicking off the wall to get a burst of speed, Shiro discarded her sword and bow in her inventory.
Rolling forward she stored the purple sword, bow and arrow into her bag in one continuous sequence.
Not pausing to see if they saw her, she dashed towards the factory while staying close on the ground.
*DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
Her footsteps rang out due to the metal pathway she was running on.
Peeking back for a moment, she sighed in relief when she saw no one chasing her.
Continuing her way to the factory, she jumped up on to the second floor.
Vaulting over the window ledge, she crouched down behind the wall and examined the factory.
'No one is here just yet.' She thought with relief. Calming herself, she pulled out her binoculars and looked back at the fight.
With 1 of the players dead, the fight increased in intensity. Each of them wanted to end this fight soon just in case someone wanted to take advantage of them while they were at their weakest.
As the sounds of combat rang out, Shiro made her way through the factory with relative ease. Naturally, she didn't find any loot since a place like a factory would have already been looted clean near the start.
*Ding~
Her ears suddenly perked up when she heard the sound of metal against metal.
'By the sound of it, it seems like he's pretty close in the factory. Shiro thought with narrowed eyes.
Flexing her fingers, 8 ice daggers appeared in her hands.
Sneaking towards the source of the sound quietly, she climbed up the vents to get a top-down view of the situation.
She could see a blond man sneaking through the factory with two daggers in his hands.
Looking behind him, she saw a piece of metal with a slight dent by the side.
'Seems like he hit the metal while walking.'
Carefully walking through the vents, she waited until he was just under her.
Taking a deep breath, Shiro narrowed her eyes as her gaze became cold.
Carefully unscrewing the vent with the daggers, Shiro prepared herself.
*BAM!
She kicked open the vent and attracted his attention.
"Wha!?" He cried out in surprise when he heard a sound above him.
"Gah!" The vent slammed into his guard, knocking him off balance.
Twisting her body, she threw four daggers first.
Two for his weapons and two to pin his hands down.
"ARG!" Feeling the pain of the dagger's stabbing through his palms, the man gritted his teeth.
Landing on his torso, Shiro stepped down hard and plunged the ice through the gaps in the vent and into his eyes.
Twisting the knife sharply, she ended him easily by destroying his brain.
The man's body exploded into light, leaving a pile of loot on the ground.
Picking up some potions, she ignored the rest since they weren't needed.
'As long as I burst down their health straight away, I should be able to kill quite a few of them.' Shiro thought.
'Seems like I'll have to be playing more like an assassin rather than a mage in this round otherwise I'll never get into the top 10. Meaning… I have to kill without a trace. The more I kill, the safer it is for me.' She thought as her face was cold. Looking around for a moment, Shiro jumped up onto the pipes and hid her body from sight.
Checking the player count, she smiled seeing the numbers drop at a visible pace.
Mentally urging them to kill more, she planned her travel route to the centre of the island.
'Under the bridge will give me no cover and be open to long-ranged magic. Above the bridge will open me up to an all-round bombardment without any cover.' Shiro thought with a frown.
There were only a few ways to the centre of the island. Four bridges connect to the centre island branching from the surrounding islands. Her best bet would be to rush through the ocean.
However, that was only with her original MP count and status. In the simulation, however, it seems like death was around every corner. Literally.
One wrong step and she would be the next to be eliminated from the competition.
'Actually, if I followed the winner of the current fight outside and use 1st phantom when he looks towards me. I should be able to get to the centre without much trouble.
'Hmm… but that has its own risks. 1st Phantom drains my stamina at an ungodly pace in the simulation. I'll have to time it perfectly or else I would be discovered.' Shiro thought.
Peeking out the window with her binoculars, she saw that it was a 1v1.
'Actually, I might be able to kill the winner when he's at his weakest. But someone else might think the same.'
Shifting her binoculars away from the fight, Shiro tried to see if she could spot anyone else.
'One… two… oh my god, there are three more players watching this right now.' Shiro thought as she managed to see slight hints of other players.
In addition to this, it didn't include the hidden dangers of the few that could hide a lot better.
'Yeah no I'm leaving. With three or more of them here, I'll die if I tried to take advantage. On the plus side, I'll have a much easier time running to the centre island.' Shiro thought.
Making her way out of the factory, she waited for the fight to end. The moment it did, one of the three looking would make a move. And that is when she'll make a run for the centre island.
Twisting his body in mid-air, the male warrior's body lit up with a golden aura. A sword made from mana could be seen in his hands as he swung towards the mage.
"RAHH!!!" He cried out. Exerting as much strength as he could to end the mage.
A blade of energy shot out from the sword and slashed towards the mage.
Making an earthen shield, the mage tried to block the sword but was unsuccessful.
"GAH!!"
Hearing the scream, Shiro took it a cue to start running. As expected, two out of the three watching the fight dashed towards the warrior with weapons drawn.
As for the last spectator, he stood by the side watching them as if they were fools.
Since their attention was preoccupied, Shiro got a free pass ticket to the bridge.
'Since they are fighting right now, travelling from the top of the bridge is a bad idea.' She thought, leaping over the side of the barrier. Landing on some metal support beams, she hopped the next foothold.
Her eyes kept scanning for the next foothold while her body traversed past the gaps. She needed to make sure she got as much of a head start as she could. Feeling danger, she avoided the foothold and dropped down.
A fire bullet shot past her previous location.
'If I stayed there I would have been hit off the beams.' Shiro thought, swinging herself back onto the support beam.
Looking up, she saw the attacker at the next major support beam.
Narrowing her eyes, Shiro made a few throwing daggers in her hands before dashing towards her attacker.
Shiro's attacker was a female fire mage.
Slamming her palms into the support beam, she created several fireballs while heating up the beams to make molten metal.
Waving her hand, the molten metal floated up and shot towards Shiro.
'She melted the metal before making a fireball with the metal in the centre. Smart.' Shiro praised.
Crouching down, she jumped up and threw her daggers towards the fireballs.
*Boom!
The daggers exploded on impact and created a smokescreen.
Stepping on the side of a metal beam, she then jumped away from her location.
*Boom boom boom!
The molten fireballs hit her previous spot as her attacker lost sight of her.
Flexing her fingers, 4 more daggers appeared in her hands.
Shiro threw the daggers towards the woman before pulling out her purple bow.
The mage hid behind some metal for cover when she saw the daggers.
Smirking at the fact that they missed she had a fireball ready and peeked out from her cover.
However, that was a bad idea since Shiro was upside down in mid-air with her bow pulled back and an arrow aiming at her head.
Before she could even scream, she died from a headshot.
"Fuuu…" Shiro breathed out as she landed on the side of a support beam. She was gambling on whether or not the woman would peek out and thankfully, she did.
Looting the potions, Shiro continued her way towards the centre island. With the sound of combat becoming louder, Shiro knew the third spectator must have joined the fray.
Her goal was to reach the centre island and lay down a few ambushes to help take down a few players to guarantee her top 10 spot.