Island God: Going From Level 1 To World Ruler-Chapter 125: First Encounter

Before long, the timer counted down to the last three seconds.

[00:03 Minutes Remaining...]

Every player prepared themselves mentally. Many grabbed their weapons, scrunching their brows and gritting their teeth.

[00:02 Minutes Remaining...]

Michael grunted, facing Midas through a slit in the crowd, ’Damn it... I don’t think anyone has pissed me off as much as him. Not even that guy who freed one of my lab rats! I swear... he will pay!’ He thought to himself.

[00:01 Minutes Remaining...]

"I caught a glimpse of his map, Toshy. We are definitely in the same zone!" The dark-skinned man from before said to his shorter accomplice.

"Got it, Urus! Let’s track him down swiftly!" The shorter man replied with a grin.

[00:00]

Midas smirked, ’Come on... give me a fight!’ His eyes flew wide.

[THE GAME BEGINS!]

[Within one week, you must conquer all that you can.]

Suddenly, reality warped! The air itself spiraled inwards as each and every player was absorbed into nothing!

When Midas opened his eyes again, he was dead in the middle of a forest. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

His brows furrowed as he quickly surveyed the area.

’Hmm... a hill to my left, and three smaller ones to my right.’ He glanced at the small map he said he had access to, ’Looks like I’m at the northmost point. I should head east for the zone flag. But I have to be careful... those two from before will be on my tail. Above that, every other player in this region will be going for that flag!’

"Come, Bzzrt!" He said aloud, summoning the mosquito from his ring.

Bzzrt flew out with a gust of wind, turning and swiping Midas up onto his back before heading south.

The mosquito flew through the forest at zipping speeds. He was used to maneuvering through thick, coiled, and mangled trees. Compared to the jungles of Star Island, this thin forest was nothing!

’I won’t take out the entire army at once, as this ring is only a one-time use case. If I release my entire army now, it will only slow my movement. It’s best to release them when they are needed.’ He mused as he traveled.

’Each zone covers hundreds of miles, so encounters with players won’t be very often. Still, if about four hundred players are split up into the ten zones, that would mean about an average of forty players per zone. I need to keep an alert eye, as that is not little.’

He moved through the forest so quickly that he was only a small red blur.

As he flew past a tall tree, a head poked out from behind it.

"Urus... I think we found our target." The short, obese man addressed as ’Toshy’ said with an eager smile.

"It seems Lady Luck is on our side." The taller, dark-skinned gentleman, addressed as ’Urus,’ replied with a chuckle, "Let’s tail him until he retrieves the flag. That is when we strike!" He said before hopping from one tree to the other in chase of Midas.

Toshy quickly followed behind him.

An hour swiftly passed.

During this time, Midas had kept a stern eye on the map. There was no marker for him, so he had to use the terrain to figure out where he was.

Soon enough, the canopy disappeared as Bzzrt flew forward.

Midas arrived before a large lake that existed like a basin at the center of the forest.

It was thousands of square meters in diameter and had a dark but glimmering azure color.

’Finally!’ He thought with happiness, ’I thought I might have been getting lost for a second.’ He swooped down and hopped off of Bzzrt.

He landed atop a tree branch high up in the canopy surrounding the lake. Bzzrt remained high in the air to scout anything irregular.

Midas’s eyes scanned the perimeter like a hawk.

’Odd... it seems no one is near the flag. Even if I were to bet that I was the fastest in this zone due to Bzzrt, there must have been others who spawned at a closer location. That must mean that everyone is waiting, just like I am.’ He surmised, suddenly hopping down onto the rocky shores of the lake.

He walked forward, ’I came here to fight. No point in hiding. It’s not like they can all team up against me, so if it’s a massive war they want, so be it.’ He thought.

’This lake definitely houses the beast guarding the flag. I wonder if the flag drops from the monster, or if it is just protecting it down at the floor of the pond.’ His mind questioned as he peered at the lake.

"Just as we predicted..." A voice sounded from a few dozen feet to the right.

Midas turned, his brow raised with alertness and confusion.

"You would show yourself bravely without any care." A young man dressed in fine silk robes announced. He had three horns on his head and a cunning smirk on his face as he walked forward.

"We? Who are you working with?" Midas asked nonchalantly.

Just then, a small creature stepped out from behind the horned young man.

The creature looked to have stone-like skin. He was as short as a goblin and as ugly as a troll.

"You sayin my beauty didn’t catch your attention already!?" The grotesque creature asked sarcastically with boldness.

"Hmm... so you predicted this, huh? If that’s the case, the last thing you should be doing is stepping closer, fortune teller." Midas said before smirking.

"Quiet, fool!" The horned young man shouted with anger, "Don’t you get it? You are being teamed up against! I know your trick, so don’t try to pretend as if you are actually powerful."

"Huh?" Midas retorted in confusion.

"It’s obvious!" The stone-skinned player said, "You showcased a great deal of power before the game in order to scare everyone away from your zone. Why else would someone randomly begin cultivating at a time like that? There wouldn’t be nearly any progress anyway. It would be useless to."

"That’s right!" The horned player added, "You simply did so to have this zone all for yourself. And your plan actually worked! All those in forest zone three have most likely left for other zones by now. They would much rather risk that than fight someone of your cultivation."

Midas raised a brow, "Huh? How would they know of my zone?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"They glanced, you fool!" The horned player quickly answered.

"Oh..." Midas said, shaking his head inwardly.

’It was simple, so I didn’t guess that.’ He thought. He had been so focused that he didn’t even notice anyone looking at his map.

In his mind, they were just looking at him.

"Anywho... I suggest you give up now. You may be strong, but we come with numbers." The horned man smirked, "I alone have an army of 150 elite soldiers that can challenge the guards of any major empire!"