SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

After the screen lit up, the noise inside the central arena immediately grew much louder. Many players who had been chatting idly raised their heads and looked at the massive screen hovering above the arena.

Zich was still seated off to the side. Unlike the others, he did not show any excitement. Leaning back in his chair, he calmly swept his gaze across the arena below, only thinking that this place was annoyingly loud.

The girl beside him in the farmer’s hat remained quietly seated as always. Her brim was pulled low, and she held the cloth bundle in her arms very steadily, looking completely out of place among the excited crowd.

The words on the light screen began to change.

[Chosen Ones Tournament · Human Side Preliminary Rules]

The crowd gradually quieted down.

A moment later, several clear rules appeared on the screen.

[Candidates will enter in random order]

[Each match lasts five minutes]

[Victory conditions: force the opponent to surrender, knock them down, or push them out of the ring]

[Killing the opponent is forbidden]

[Unnecessary severe injuries will result in point deductions]

[External tools are restricted]

[Summoned creatures are allowed, but must be registered before the match begins]

[The Association will score based on combat ability, judgment, control, adaptability, and potential contribution to the main competition]

As soon as the rules appeared, discussion immediately broke out in the stands.

"Summons are allowed?"

"Then wouldn’t summoners have an advantage?"

"What advantage? Most summoners’ pets are weak as hell. They’d just be handing out points."

"But what if it’s Zich?"

"Then that’s a different story."

Hearing his own name mentioned, Zich showed no reaction because he already had a summon he wanted to bring. Still, thinking of not fighting at his full potential made his mood grow even worse.

"This public competition is such a pain," he muttered.

The girl in the farmer’s hat beside him seemed to hear him, but she did not turn around. She only adjusted the cloth bundle in her arms slightly. It was a very small movement, but he still noticed it.

That was no ordinary bundle.

Something inside it was long.

And heavy.

Most likely a weapon.

Soon, the first group of candidates was called onto the stage.

The first to appear was a shield user and a spear user. Both were decent fighters, though neither was particularly outstanding.

The shield user did not rush to attack. Instead, he kept compressing the opponent’s movement space. The spear user tried several times to break out, but was forced back by the shield each time, and in the end was driven straight out of bounds.

Applause erupted from the stands.

Zich watched for a moment, then his expression became slightly more serious.

He could tell that the Association’s recorders were noting the shield user’s footwork, positional judgment, and use of the arena boundaries. In other words, this preliminary round was not simply about who hit harder.

The second match began quickly.

A dagger user went up against a heavily armored user. The dagger user was extremely fast, almost never engaging head on, and kept circling behind the opponent, forcing the heavily armored user to turn more and more slowly.

In less than two minutes, the dagger was already pressed against the other man’s neck.

The heavily armored user could only surrender.

The third match was a fire mage versus an agility type swordsman.

The fire mage was impressive at first, hurling fireballs one after another, making the scene look spectacular. But soon, he was forced into a corner by his own excessive energy consumption and poor spatial control.

In the end, the swordsman did not block the flames head on. He simply waited for the mage to make a mistake, then kicked him out of the ring.

After that match ended, a burst of cheers suddenly rose from the stands.

Helen had walked into the candidate area.

Today she wore a clean, light combat outfit, her golden hair tied back. She looked far better than she had after leaving the Golden Secret Realm. Though there was still a trace of fatigue on her face, her appearance still excited many of the players.

"Helen!"

"Helen!"

Helen seemed to notice Zich’s gaze. She turned toward the stands and quickly found him sitting off to the side. After seeing him, she gave a very faint smile.

The people around immediately noticed.

"Who is she looking at?"

"Isn’t that Zich over there?"

"Are they that close?"

Not long after, Jayden also entered the candidate area.

His appearance drew quite a bit of attention as well. After all, the Smith family’s reputation was still there, and Jayden himself was no weakling.

The girl in the farmer’s hat beside Zich still showed no obvious reaction. She did not cheer for Helen, nor did she look at Jayden for long. She had even shown little interest in the earlier matches.

A few more matches followed.

A beast tamer type player used his powerful physique to directly overwhelm his opponent and force him out of the ring. Another player, who combined healing and close combat, surprised everyone by not attacking in a hurry. Instead, he waited until the opponent’s stamina dropped, then counterattacked and won.

None of the matches were top tier, but each had a different style, making them engaging to watch. Players began guessing when the real favorites would appear.

Zich, however, noticed that the girl beside him finally moved.

She slowly lifted her head. A small part of her face appeared beneath the brim of her hat. She looked very young. Her eyes were clear, yet she had none of the nervousness typical of young players.

At that moment, the names on the screen changed again.

The host’s voice rang out through the arena.

"The next candidate....Mira Veil."

The girl beside him finally stood up.

The cloth bundle in her arms loosened slightly, revealing a long handle. It did not look like a sword, nor a spear, but more like a farming sickle wrapped in cloth.

The girl lowered her head and looked at Zich.

This was the first time she had spoken since sitting down.

"Excuse me."

Her voice was very light, very calm.

He looked up at her and shifted slightly to let her pass.

The girl hugged the bundle and walked past him.

Quite a few players around them wore puzzled expressions.

"Who is she?"

"Mira Veil? Never heard of her."

The girl ignored those voices.

Step by step, she walked toward the arena stage.

Once she reached the platform, she finally raised a hand and gently lifted the brim of her farmer’s hat.

A clean, attractive, calm face was revealed.

At the same time, she untied the cloth bundle.

A long handled sickle fell into her hand.

The entire stands went completely silent.