Chapter 240: Faction Selection, The Rabbit

Chapter 240: Chapter 240: Faction Selection, The Rabbit

The parade advanced slowly amidst a deafening uproar.

The gazes cast down from the stands were a mixture of curiosity, contempt, and undisguised bloodlust.

"Wow! You guys, look! There’s actually someone that weak among the Tributes?"

"Look at her—so small and skinny, with such a pale face. You think she’ll be scared to death before she even chooses a faction?"

A shrill voice from a nearby stand carried clearly to Seraphina Sullivan’s ears.

’Clearly, they were talking about her.’

"Hahaha, that’s very possible! When the betting starts, I’m definitely not putting my chips on such a weakling. It’s a total waste of money!"

Another coarse, grating voice chimed in, filled with mockery.

"I still prefer those hulking brutes with knotted muscles and fierce faces, or those monstrosities that you can tell at a glance are bad news! When they start slaughtering each other, now *that’s* what I call a visual Effect. It’s bloody enough, and exciting enough!"

"Yeah! You’re right!"

Seraphina Sullivan lowered her eyelids, listening to the shameless conversation.

She felt less like a person and more like an item on a shelf, being judged and scrutinized by everyone.

At the same time, the giant holographic screen in the sky kept switching camera angles, zooming in on the terrified, ferocious, or numb faces of the Tributes, sparking fresh waves of cheers and boos from the audience.

This humiliating parade didn’t last long.

After circling the arena once, all the cage-carts stopped in the center of the field and realigned into a large square formation.

On the screen high above, the image of the old man in fine robes appeared once again.

"My esteemed audience! The parade is over, and the passion is about to ignite! The Slaughter Game... now officially begins!"

The old man spread his arms, his voice full of incitement.

"First, would our Tributes please choose their faction identity cards! This will decide their starting role in this game. Will they become a pursuing Hunter, or an animal struggling for survival!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Seraphina Sullivan saw the man with the whip from before walk quickly to the front of her cage.

In his hand were two cards with pitch-black backs, one marked with a crimson rune depicting a "beast’s claw" and the other a "hunter’s bow."

"Pick one at random!"

The man held the cards up to the bars, his tone hurried.

"Whatever you draw, that’s your faction. Remember, the rules forbid Tributes of the same faction from killing each other!"

He seemed to remember Seraphina Sullivan’s supposed "amnesia," and quickly added a few core rules in a low voice:

"Two factions, [Animal] and [Hunter]!"

"Draw the animal card, and it will directly grant you a Special Ability corresponding to that animal. What you get specifically depends on your luck."

"Draw the Hunter Card, and you won’t have any extra abilities yourself, but every time you kill an opposing Tribute, you can randomly plunder an Ability from them! The more you kill, the stronger you get!"

A glint flashed in Seraphina Sullivan’s eyes after hearing the man’s explanation.

’Plundering Abilities!’

’The Effect of this Hunter faction sounds extremely powerful, with astonishing growth potential!’

’It’s a faction born for slaughter!’

"Don’t dawdle, pick one!" the man urged.

Seraphina Sullivan suppressed her preference, knowing the choice wasn’t really in her hands.

She took a deep breath, reached out, and seemingly at random, drew a card.

When she flipped the card over, the image on its face was revealed.

It was a simple line drawing of a rabbit with its ears pricked up.

"Animal faction, Rabbit."

The man glanced at it and announced the result, his tone flat.

Seraphina Sullivan nodded, a little disappointed. This wasn’t the Hunter faction she had wanted.

The moment she confirmed her faction, the card in her hand suddenly dissolved into a soft white light. As if alive, it instantly sank into her palm, flowed through her entire body, and finally settled deep within her consciousness.

Immediately after, a clear concept surfaced in her mind like an instinct.

[Fierce Kick]

’Is this the Ability I temporarily possess as a "Rabbit" in the Slaughter Game?’

Before she had time to get a feel for this Ability, Seraphina Sullivan felt the Space around her twist.

’It seems the faction card has a teleportation effect.’

The next second, her figure vanished from the cage-cart in a flash.

Looking out, the thousands of Tributes in the center of the arena, after choosing their faction cards, vanished one after another in streaks of light, as if erased by an invisible eraser.

The old man on the screen spread his arms, proclaiming to the entire arena in a voice so impassioned it bordered on madness:

"Faction selection is complete! The Tributes have been deployed to the hunting grounds! The Slaughter Game has officially begun. Let us all look forward to this unparalleled feast of blood!"

At that moment, the atmosphere in the entire arena reached its peak.

...

The distortion of Space.

「The next second.」

Seraphina Sullivan’s feet were already on soft, damp earth.

She quickly came to her senses and found herself in a strange forest.

The trees here soared into the clouds, their canopies blotting out the sun and casting vast, eerie shadows.

The air was filled with the sweet, cloying scent of humus and some unknown wildflower. The surroundings were terrifyingly silent, broken only by the RUSTLE of wind through strange leaves.

However, before Seraphina Sullivan could observe any further, the silence was shattered.

"How lucky..."

A voice, filled with a hissing sound and unconcealed excitement, spoke from extremely close behind her.

"To think we’d be teleported to the same place!"

A chill ran down Seraphina Sullivan’s spine, and she quickly turned to look.

She saw that the one who had spoken was the very same Lizardman who had threatened her by the cage!

His cold, vertical pupils were locked onto her, his forked tongue flicking in and out, tasting the pheromones in the air with the pleasure of a predator that had found its prey.

Seraphina Sullivan instinctively took half a step back, trying to use the rules to protect herself. "The rules say that those in the same faction can’t kill each other..."

"But I’m a Hunter!"

The Lizardman eagerly cut Seraphina Sullivan off, an anthropomorphic, savage grin spreading across his face, revealing rows of dense, sharp teeth.

"My eyes are quite sharp, little rabbit. I saw perfectly clearly that you drew Rabbit. Tsk tsk, with that fragile look, Rabbit really suits you. To me, you’re just... a plump, juicy rabbit."

He deliberately slowed his speech, each word dripping with mockery and desire. His slimy gaze swept over her, instantly giving Seraphina Sullivan goosebumps.

’Clearly, this dangerous Hunter had been watching her in secret ever since the cages, marking her as his prey.’

’A fight is unavoidable!’

The thought appeared clearly in Seraphina Sullivan’s mind.

’Since it can’t be avoided, the only thing to do is seize the initiative!’

She instantly calmed down, her mind racing.

The ten-fold all-stats bonus granted by her [Dreadful Upright Ape] Title was her trump card, while the Ability from her animal faction card, [The Rabbit]—[Fierce Kick]—was her only means of attack.