Loud horns resonated throughout the wide aula. It was a festive and joyous occasion to welcome all twenty people who bravely volunteered in a battle of death. The pride of one’s race and the desire to rule over the land of Ephemerus were the driving forces to their willingness.   To some people, or peasants, it was the very first time to ever set foot in the majestic palace of Ephemerus. King R.O.P. sat at his throne with his royal subjects surrounding him. On his right side were the four previous winners from the 65th game, and on his left side were the four leaders from every other race. The king watched with satisfaction as the newcomers marvelled at the great design of its interior.   The walls were dark gold in color, extending all the way up to the ceiling. Tall glass windows in the form of an arch were located all around the room, but a fancy curtain of royal yellow covered its top. The ceiling was white and embellished with stunning architect that formed abstract patterns connecting the walls to the top. Large crystallizing chandeliers were laid out to create a diamond shape. It perfectly lit up the dark wooden floors that were painted with similar abstract pattern as the ones on the ceiling. Overall, it was very festive.   There was a long white clothed table placed in the middle that vertically faced the front where the throne was. The participants took their seat at the table—some were rather reluctant, and others hopped on the chairs to test out the fluffiness of the royal cushions eagerly.   A beautiful orchestra of four was playing in the background, accompanying the banquet for tonight. It created such a peaceful and serene atmosphere while it lasted.   “What are you doing here?” A girl’s voice loudly blared as she pointed an accusing finger to a male who was already helping himself at the buffet section. An adorable white dragon was seated on her shoulder, squeaking a high pitched noise to mimic his master’s surprise. It flapped its wing out to imitate an accusing ‘wing’ to the male, Byun Baekhyun.   “Eating,” the guy said, his mouth fully stuffed on the gigantic turkey leg. “Aren’t we here for the same reason, Yeonji?”   Choi Yeonji realized how stupid her question was. Of course they were drawn to the same cause. “The prize money?” She asked.   “10,000 Gold, who’d say no to that?,” Baekhyun spoke with a wide grin. He sat himself down at the long table, watching as Yeonji followed put reluctantly.   “Just so you know, I don’t like to share. So I won’t hesitate to kill you and take the Gold for myself,” she told him, and her dragon, Bacon, chirped in agreement.   “Whoa! The fork and spoon are made of real gold!” Baekhyun suddenly yelled in utter amazement, completely ignoring the girl’s threat. He then stole a glance around him, and when no one but Yeonji was looking, sneaked the utensils in his bag. He could sell those.   “Hey,” a sudden male voice surprised the two of them. Even Yeonji was frightened though she had done nothing wrong. They turned to see a guy looking sternly at them from behind his knight outfit. They had seen him before, he was a known leader of the human army, Lee Hoya.   “I could report your crime. You stole the utensils,” Hoya warned.   “You were mistaken, sir. You see, I was born with a severe case of goldatophobia which would make my skin itch if I touch real gold. So I had to bring my own utensils from home, which is made of Barinium. I have access to it since I’m a blacksmith,” Baekhyun started off his nonsense wordplay to get him out of trouble. Most of the time, it worked.   “Goldatophobia is not a real sickness,” a female suddenly spoke in a sing song voice. She popped out from behind Hoya, all dressed in a pink outfit. Her brown hair fell loose to one side.   Today, it did not work.   “Was he lying, Biah?” Hoya asked, and his tone when speaking to her was a lot softer and much more caring.   “He was trying to trick you, honey,” Lee Biah then told him with a smile, linking her arms around her husband. She then turned to Baekhyun who lied. “I’m a nurse, so you can’t come up with made up names for diseases like that.”   “I apologize,” Baekhyun said regretfully and placed the utensils back on the table to get things over with. He continued glaring at them even as they left. “Maybe I should kill them first once the game starts. She uncovered my bestest lie.”   “One, if you always lie like that, I need to start worrying about the goblins’ possibility of winning. Two, bestest isn’t a word,” Yeonji corrected him.   Baekhyun gave her an annoyed look and proceeded to do a poor imitation of her speech. “One, bla bla bla bla bluh. Two, bla bla bluh.”   That earned him a direct smack on the back of his head and he nearly planted face down against the unfinished turkey leg on his plate.   “What was that for?!”   “I was trying to see whether your brain would roll out if I hit you. But then I remembered, you don’t have one,” Yeonji said nonchalantly. Her sweet looking face helped to cover up her mean remark. Even her pet dragon Bacon seemed to be snickering a laugh.   Baekhyun began mumbling something in annoyance as he placed the utensils in his bag again.   This time, his actions were less subtle and more noticeable as three people continued watching him. They were distinctively the elves who were all characterized by their pointy ears.   “Are we allowed to do that?” The female one, Yoo Chiyeon, asked hesitantly. She was sure it was against the rule, but she didn’t have enough courage to tell him not to do it, unlike Hoya.   “We are encouraged to kill people, I don’t see why stealing a fork is a crime,” her friend Jung Hoseok spoke as he began to laugh. “Perhaps he needed a new hair brush to comb his hair with.”   This made Chiyeon slightly giggle. Then again, anything and everything Hoseok ever said always made her laugh. He wasn’t an entertainer for nothing. His bright persona and goofy smiles always cheered people up. And sometimes, it also made her heart race.   “God bless him. May he atone to his crime,” the other male, Kim Myungsoo spoke. He was blessed with exceptional good looks that could make any creature swoon. It was the main reason more and more people had religiously visited the monastery up on the mountain where the elf stayed at.   Their short discussion was interrupted when the front door opened and two familiar looking people entered, arm in arm, completely comfortable with each other.   “Hey Myungsoo, there’s your girlfriend,” Hoseok cooed when he recognized the werewolf girl. Similar to elves, wolves couldn’t hide their true identity considering their eyes would shine the brightest shade of gold even in their human form.   The guy grunted in return, turning his head away. “Please don’t talk about that. Jihye isn’t my girlfriend,” Myungsoo murmured. It was all in the past anyway, so he shouldn’t even let it bother him. Besides, she was a werewolf and he was an elf, it wouldn’t have ever worked out.   For a brief second though, he thought he saw the girl of his past, Lee Jihye, glance at him. But then she continued talking to the other wolf boy, Lee Sungjong or something. He was the guy who ruined everything and took Jihye back to the wolf realm. Myungsoo had to let it go.   “Seems we’ll be up against our boss, huh?” Another female suddenly appeared. She was casually eating some peanuts from her hands, and leaned her hips against the table they were seated at. The girl was tall, possessed divine beauty, and seemed very Goddess like. Yet, she did not protrude any elegance in her behavior.   “I didn’t even know both of you were participating,” Chiyeon then said, to whom the earlier statement was directed at. She then realized Myungsoo was staring in confusion at the foreign girl. “This is Im Jinah, the bartender at Lemon Tankard, the bar where I work at and Hoseok occasionally performs at.”   Myungsoo flinched and quickly shook the girl’s hand. He wasn’t sure whether he should be cautious or not. She could be an enemy or a wendigo for all he knew. Differentiating the human, wendigos, and goblins were much harder. Some goblins were short in stature, but other than that, there was no indication.   “I guess we better make sure Sungjong stays alive, or we won’t be getting our paycheck,” Jinah spoke as if it was the most ca