Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger!

"H-Hey, do you think Shye Crowley would win again?"

"I don't know. However, based on what I just watched, it seemed that he was at least the strongest amongst everyone, no?"

"It looked that way to me, yet, when I counted the points, they were strangely equal…Do you think, perhaps this would end in a draw?"

"A draw? Lame…"

After watching the recording of Shye's hunts, a commotion immediately started amongst the crowd, who believed that Shye was the strongest among the four.

However, a lame draw would render the results meaningless, leaving the crowd feeling a bit disappointed.

Contrary to what one might expect, though, Bart had a shadow of a smile on the corners of his mouth upon hearing the audience's hubbub, motioning for the arena staff to play the last recording: Erwin Tycho's hunts.

Since the holographic screen lit up once more, the onlookers had no choice but to momentarily shut their mouths and watch, somehow hoping that Erwin would save the competition from a not-so-preferred ending.

Unfortunately, after around forty-five minutes of thrilling hunts, the results were more or less the same.

At this point, most of the people in the crowd were bored, with a few even standing up to leave.

It was then that Bart's vibrant voice, seemingly unaware of what the people were feeling, once again sounded—his subsequent words capturing the attention of those who were about to leave.

"Did everyone enjoy the recordings?! I hope so. But if you thought those were the best these rookies could offer, you were dead wrong! Who wants to see recordings that will shake not just this region, but others as well?! If you do, let's give the top five an earth-shattering cheer, shall we?!"

Hearing Bart's words, the bored crowd was stunned for a few moments before erupting into cheers.

Although it wasn't as loud as Bart had hoped, the arena seemed to come back to life, and those who had left their seats returned with skeptical yet somewhat hopeful expressions.

Now, it was up to the highlights themselves to excite the crowd, as this final compilation would include everything, featuring a mind-blowing hunt that had never happened before in the entire history of the region's rookies.

Even the region's current titled adventurers never achieved such a feat in their rookie days.

"I want to thank everyone for their enthusiasm. Now, the competition will reveal everything to your deserving eyes. Sit back, though you won't be able to relax, so hold tight and enjoy hunts that you could never imagine being accomplished by mere rookies!"

Bart's words naturally heightened the crowd's excitement even more, suggesting that the earlier "equal" compilations were intentional and that the true best highlights of the top five were only about to be revealed.

What they didn't expect was that the final rankings of the top five would also be announced as each final recording was played.

"Ladies and gentlemen! In fifth place overall, with a total of 408 points, Verson Cruz!"

*BANG!*

Unfortunately, instead of being happy, Verson was utterly frustrated.

All he did was only enough for him to finish fifth? Even that Damien Martinez scored higher than him?! Unacceptable!

Sadly, he didn't even have time to sort his feelings out as the voice of an arena staff sounded inside his viewing station.

"Competitor Cruz, please exit your viewing station and follow our arena staff waiting outside."

Hence, with clenched fists, Verson had no choice but to play along for now.

However, should he find his defeat unsatisfactory after watching all the final recordings, then he would surely voice out his doubts regarding the competition's integrity.

Verson's final hunt was against a pair of monstrous creatures—one (B) ranked and one (B-) ranked.

Shockingly, despite his close battles against a single (B) ranked creature in the first recording, he still managed to defeat two at the same time.

Though, he wasn't able to keep a nice appearance after such a tough battle.

Still, the crowd cheered for him, and even though he only finished fifth, the people were at least happy that there were winners and losers.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

As for Verson, he was naturally unhappy.

This battle was the current source of his pride.

If it turns out he lost despite the others facing equally challenging or weaker opponents, he wouldn't hesitate to speak up.

It was difficult for him to accept this defeat, as it implied he was the weakest among the four.

Worse, he was even defeated by a random dark horse.

'Fine, I'll watch first.'

…After his recording, the next one immediately started playing.

"Everyone, a big round of applause for our fourth-ranked rookie, Erwin Tycho!" Bart introduced. "With a total of 412 points, a single (C-) ranked monster was the difference maker! Talk about neck-and-neck!"

Hearing Bart's words, Verson wanted to rage, however, he would look stupid if he did so.

It was his fault for not killing every creature he could.

Had he opted to kill even the lower-ranked ones, then this wouldn't have happened.

He was careless.

He had no one to blame but himself.

Erwin, though, despite ranking higher than one of his rivals, was utterly unhappy with his final ranking.

Still, since he was mature enough, he decided to watch first.

If the final rankings reeked of dishonesty. He was ready to speak up.

…Erwin's recording displayed the same difficulty of opponents—one (B) ranked monstrous creature and one (B-) ranked.

One could argue that Verson's battle was more challenging since, unlike Erwin who fought the (B)-ranked creature only after severely wounding the (B-)-ranked one, Verson had to fight both creatures simultaneously.

The total number of accumulated points was the deciding factor, though, so Verson could only accept his loss with a bitter expression.

Well, at least he won the crowd's favor more than Erwin as the cheers for him were louder.

By now, only the top three remained, and unexpectedly, Damien scored higher than two of the four.

Even he couldn't believe that he did.

However, the problem was, that Shye also scored higher than the older rookies.

"Now, let's move on to the third-place winner! With a total of 520 points, let's hear it for..."