Irumi calmly took the player ticket handed by the referee and was preparing to step onto the platform.
*Bang!*
A figure flew out from the platform beside him, lying on the ground with his face up, foaming at the mouth, already unconscious. Judging from the backward tilt of his neck, it seemed that he had received an uppercut to the chin.
"The match is decided!"
On the platform, the referee immediately made the judgment, witnessing the player being knocked away.
"Oh?"
Irumi turned his body slightly and looked. The other person was a yellow-haired kid with a small braid at the back of his head. He was around the same age, maybe a little older than himself. Considering his ability to defeat his opponent with a single strike, he was also a genius.
"What are you looking at!?" Seemingly aware of Irumi's gaze, he suddenly turned around and shouted at him.
With sharp teeth and a violent temper, he was a typical delinquent teenager.
"You have quite the temper."
Irumi turned his body back, glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and smiled. Then he left the platform.
"Damn it, you little brat, stop right there!" The yellow-haired delinquent's ears twitched, clearly hearing Irumi's words. He rushed to the platform's edge and yelled at Irumi, who had already left the platform.
"If you've got guts, fight me one-on-one!!"
"Coward, useless trash, bedwetting brat..."
Underneath the platform, Irumi picked up his grey backpack, glanced at the yellow-haired teenager still shouting and spewing childish obscenities, and walked towards the exit on the first floor.
'Didn't expect to encounter a 'familiar face' on my first outing.'
With his appearance, personality, and talent, Irumi guessed his identity at first glance. In the original work, he was "Tiger," one of the twelve Zodiacs of the Hunters Association, Kanzai.
After arriving at the first-floor arena, Irumi approached the elevator designated for the participants. There stood an elevator attendant dressed in Heaven's Arena attire. When she saw Irumi approaching, she was slightly surprised.
"Hello, are you a participant?"
The elevator attendant bowed politely and asked Irumi.
"This is my proof." Irumi didn't waste any words and handed the ticket given to him by the referee to the elevator attendant.
"50th floor... Mr. Irumi, appearances can truly be deceiving."
"Please come in."
The elevator attendant looked at the ticket in her hand, then at Irumi, and finally at Kanzai, who had rushed over from a distance and handed her a ticket.
'Today is extraordinary. Two kids who are not even ten years old suddenly entering the 50th floor,' the elevator attendant thought to herself.
Kanzai noticed the strange expression on the elevator attendant's face, followed her gaze to the corner of the elevator, and immediately his expression changed.
"It's you! You little brat!"
Kanzai rolled up his sleeves in anger as if he was about to beat up Irumi.
"Mr. Kanzai, private fights between participants are prohibited."
"Otherwise, your combat qualification will be revoked, and you won't be able to participate in Heaven's Arena matches for three years." The elevator girl saw Kanzai about to fight and quickly spoke up to stop them, while also giving a suggestion.
"If there's any grudge between the competitors, I suggest settling it in the arena."
Irumi lowered his eyelids, displaying an indifferent and proud attitude.
The elevator girl's words made Kanzai stop in his tracks, looking at Irumi with a contemptuous expression that showed he didn't care about him at all, which infuriated him.
"You wait for me. I will definitely beat your face hard in the arena." Kanzai raised his fist and threatened fiercely.
"With such a bad temper, you shouldn't be wandering around; it will make you die of anger." Irumi retorted expressionlessly, further enraging Kanzai.
Caught between the two, the elevator girl was in a dilemma. To ease the tension, she started explaining the arena's rules to both of them.
"In this Heaven's Arena, the levels are divided into units of 10 floors up to the 200th floor."
"Meaning, if a player above the 50th floor wins once, they can advance to the 60th floor."
"However, if a player suffers a single loss, they will drop to the 40th floor level."
"Additionally, once you reach the 100th floor, the arena will provide participants with a dedicated room."
"The service quality of the room is equivalent to that of a five-star hotel."
After the elevator girl finished her introduction, Irumi and Kanzai seemed to have completely ignored her, still looking like they were ready to fight at any moment.
*Ding!*
Finally, the elevator reached the 50th floor.
"You wait for me." Kanzai glared at him fiercely and rushed out eagerly.
"Immature." Irumi lowered his eyelids and walked out of the elevator with an expressionless face. He didn't care about the current Kanzai at all.
Slowly, he arrived at the registration counter on the 50th floor, filled out the information, and the girl in charge of registration glanced at it and smiled.
"Irumi Zoldyck, please give me your ticket."
Irumi handed the ticket through the window, and after the registration girl recorded it on the computer, she handed him an envelope.
Opening the envelope and shaking it, a few coins fell out, leaving him speechless.
"152 Jenny..."
"Yes, on the 1st floor, regardless of winning or losing, you can receive the money for a can of juice," the registration girl explained to Irumi with a smile.
"But from the next floors, you won't receive anything if you lose. However, if you can win on the 50th floor, you can get 500,000 Jenny. And on the 100th floor, depending on the number of spectators and viewership, it's approximately around 1 million Jenny."
"If you can go beyond the 150th floor, the prize money will jump to over 10 million Jenny."
As Irumi listened to the registration girl's introduction, he felt a certain anticipation.
"10 million Jenny!!!"
An excited shout came from beside him, and when Irumi turned to look, Kanzai had rushed out of the elevator before him.
At this moment, Kanzai's eyes were shining, saliva flowing from the corners of his mouth. He didn't care about his earlier threat to Irumi, immediately handing his ticket to the registration window.
"Hurry up, register me."
"I want to get 10 million Jenny!"
Irumi walked to the nearby vending machine, inserted 152 Jenny, and bought a can of juice. He left while drinking it.
Following the signs in the corridor, he arrived at the door of the competitors' rest area, grasped the handle, and pushed the door open with a click. Inside the rest area were numerous training and fitness equipment, convenient for the competitors to warm up during their rest period.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the many competitors who were resting inside turned their gazes toward Irumi. He remained calm, closed the door behind him, entered the room, and sat on one of the benches used for resting.
"They're all just extras."
Irumi lowered his eyelids, sweeping his gaze across the room. None of these people could fight.