Chapter 249: Chapter 249 – Final, New Map and Format
The final day arrived.
"It's time for the Tier 2 Tournament Final!"
Standing on the elevated platform in Midnight Heist's tournament Lobby was Moon Feather. He announced the start of the final for the Tier 2 tournament.
In the audience, 5 players were seated. They were a little bit away from each other, except for UloTai and Snikki, who sat side by side. Tier 1 players apparently had their final at night, so they weren't present by now.
Max listened attentively as Moon Feather continued.
"There will only be one game with a special rule for the final. Five players will be teleported to one big map to get the highest point, and we will get the top 5 from the final ranking."
From the sound of it, the final game would be different from a normal or a ranked game.
"Five players will compete with each other to steal and stop other people from stealing." Moon Feather explained. "Each person will be given a tranquilizer gun, which will stun your opponent for 3 seconds if hit, and shoes of your choice."
A free-for-all game. Max understood the concept but was waiting for the explanation about the game itself.
"The game is simple." Moon Feather clapped his hands, and a small screen appeared in front of all the players.
Max looked at it, and it showed a 3D map of a small city with some buildings, skyscrapers, and residential areas. 5 large buildings were highlighted with red lights: a bank, a museum, a midnight club, a luxurious house, and a private school.
'Hmm, are we going to steal from those 5 areas?' Max thought as he raised his head, looking at Moon Feather.
The man in a feather mask smirked, allowing the players to look at the map. After a while, when everyone looked back at Moon Feather, the man continued his explanation.
"I believe everyone has seen the map and noticed five highlighted points." Moon Feather looked at everyone and nodded to himself.
"The target will appear randomly, and you will be given a mini-map of the target itself. Everyone will have the same target and compete with each other to steal it first. After stealing the target, the player must bring it to the center, the school."
With that, the school at the center turned green.
"There will be a pedestal where you can put your target. Until the target is put on the pedestal, the next one won't appear. Of course, the target of a player can still be stolen by others. Each target that's put on a pedestal will give a player a point."
'I see.' Max nodded in understanding. 'So we act like thieves and police at the same time. This game is pretty much fine, as the point is given to an individual. The problem is when the other players team up with each other to get high points.'
Maybe that was the biggest problem with this format. He glanced at the three players other than Puppeteer, more specifically, the two who sat next to each other. He saw them whispering and prepared for the worst.
But then… His worry seemed to be unfounded.
"Naturally, this final is to find the BEST Tier 2 players. We don't condone those who teamed up. If we find someone deliberately giving their target to the others, we will immediately disqualify them from the tournament." Moon Feather warned sternly, "So please, compete fairly. I wish you the best."
A smile appeared on Max's face as he watched Moon Feather disappear with a puff of smoke together with the map in front of him.
'Well, that settles it.' He thought. 'At least they tie the loose end. I can go with these rules. As for my choice of shoes… Well, the usual is good enough.'
Replacing Moon Feather, the man in a suit from two days ago appeared on the platform. He greeted the players and explained the final would start in 10 minutes. They would be teleported to a waiting room to choose their equipment before getting dropped in a random place on the map.
After he finished his explanation, the players were engulfed in blue light and teleported into what appeared to be a black space with nothing but a floating panel where they could choose their equipment.
Max looked at the panel and noticed that he could not only choose his shoes but also custom his clothes. This was a good advantage for a cheapskate like him to try the costumes. He had live-streamed this final already, and his viewers probably rushed him to change his clothes when they saw this.
"Well, well… Let's try to be fashionable for a day in the Midnight Heist."
While he said he would be fashionable for a day, the clothes he chose were those familiar to him. He chose a black jacket with blue lining on top of a simple black shirt and black cargo pants that were easy to move in as he would be required to move fast later.
His choice of shoes was Jump Shoes. Its use was already proven and tested. Changing it at this moment would be stupid of him. Besides, looking at the map earlier, he could find a few spots that would require these shoes' ability.
"I am ready." He said as a tranquilizer gun that looked like a handgun, Glock-17, appeared in his hand.
The countdown on top of the panel showed 20 seconds. In the meantime, he stretched his arms and legs, a ritual for him before he did parkour. He planned to use all his techniques and skills to get the best result.
When the countdown reached zero, the black space melted like glitches, and he found himself in the middle of the city, surrounded by skyscrapers and a half-transparent blue wall behind him.
He first noticed the mini-map at the edge of his vision. He could see it clearly without zooming it in. There were two markers on it: a blue arrow representing himself and a red circle representing the target.
And based on the map… The target seemed to be in the museum located right on the other side of the map.
"Fuck."
This time, the Goddess of RNG had cursed him.
"I have no time to stand around!" He shouted and began to sprint toward the target while holding the tranquilizer gun.
And thus, Midnight Heist's Tournament final began.