The first phase of the contest needed those of the Sect of Hedon to decide who would be the participants, and who would act as the scammers who were supposed to set up stalls.

Not everyone was raring to go against Daneel. Ambition was not always a very common thing, and that was also on display here, as quite a few placed their primary goal to be that of scamming the scammers, and walking out after earning as many resources as they could.

Still, many decided to take up the mantle of scammers, and hence, they dispersed first, to privately think and decide what they were going to do before coming right before the event started so that they could set up their stalls.

There were other miscellaneous rules below, such as the one with said that stalls and the methods that they were going to use which needed to be submitted could not be changed after the event began, and that they would remain secret until the time when the participants first entered. Changes could only be made before that time, and after that, whatever was present would be final.

Inside, crisscrossing pathways had already been erected, and many, many stalls that were all covered using opaque barriers could be seen. If one was confident in their plan and wanted to set up beforehand, they could go in and do so, but so far, there were no takers.

After all, what was on stake here was a treasure which many had thought that they would not even see in their entire lives, and even though it was unattainable to most of them, the number of resources which were at least 100 times greater than what they usually had was enough to push them and make them decide that they would go all out.

This was actually nothing new to the sect members, as many would run scams every day to get as many resources as possible from their fellow sect members, and even from the sect. In the entire area surrounding the center, a general buzz of conversation began, as those who had decided to be the participants started to discuss how they would not be cheated no matter what.

In this area, at least, some unity could be seen, as everyone seemed to have realized that pooling their minds and finding ways to not let this happen would be most preferable for all of them. Each and every one also had their own pride, so in their minds, it was also as if they were up against those who had chosen to set up stalls, along with the King, who was their main opponent.

Hence, quite a few interesting tips started to be passed around, such as that no one should fall for anything which looked too good to be true, and that they should make sure to use their own resources sparingly, with only a little amount to be staked first to test things out, instead of being tempted and spending everything in one go before walking out with a despondent expression on their face after realizing that they had been successfully taken advantage of.

Observing all this, Daneel was almost reminded of the atmosphere back in his college, whenever there was an activity which needed all of the students to bunch together and find out ways in which they could tackle a certain problem. Of course, these were people who might even be ready to kill on a moment’s notice if it meant that it would benefit them, but as for the spirit of competition, it was the same, and hence, it was a sight to behold.

Smiling happily, he felt the Head teleport to the spot beside him, which made him say, "You’re back. How’s your stash doing?"

This question made the Head wince, after which he replied, "Almost all gone. Decades of hard work, centuries of tracking down information and digging out buried bottles of wine before aging them precisely... All of it, gone. Some of it was taken by you, and the rest by that group above who don’t take no for an answer even though I’m the Overseer. Sometimes, it feels as if things haven’t changed that much..."

"Isn’t that a good thing?"

Letting out a breath on hearing Daneel’s honest question, the Head actually smiled and said, "Yes, actually. It’s fine, stashes are meant to be depleted- although I do wish that it had not been sacrificed to the Queen of endless drinking whose tastebuds are so ineffective that she wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between 100 year aged wine and water that has been mixed with crushed berries. Seeing her gulp down bottle after bottle makes my heart ache... But, oh well, she has shown herself to actually be the most reliable Hero in the entire continent, when the time called for it. Anyway, I didn’t come here to discuss wine... What’s your plan?"

With a chuckle, Daneel responded by shaking his head and saying, "Ah ah ah, not so fast: you’ll have to wait just like the others. Join them. And invite over those who might be on the fence regarding whether to support me or not- true, I’m only showing my scamming skills here, but a skill is a skill, no matter in which area it exists."

The Head looked like he had actually expected the answer, but before he left, he glanced at the current head of the Sect of Hedon who was also overseeing the entire area from a spot a few hundred feet away from them.

Frowning as he looked at him, the Head seemed as if he was considering whether he should say something, but as if making the decision that it could wait, he simply nodded and disappeared.

Of course, Daneel noticed this, and that made him glance towards this Hero, too.

Before his trip here was due, he had an inkling that something that had been hiding in plain sight might be uncovered, and when that time came... He would be ready.

But first... It was finally time to let his plan unfold.

...

Three hours later.

The doors of the main area opened to much fanfare, accompanied by fireworks and even dancing dragons that were composed of brilliant golden lights.

Looking at the large crowd that began to enter as if they would lose their place if they dallied, Clyde turned to Jared beside him and said, "Let’s wait. It’s not like we’re in a hurry - this thing will go on for two days, so a few minutes should make no difference. As far as I know... these guys are only so eager as they seem to be starved for resources right now. They’re probably hoping that the methods of the scammers aren’t that refined yet, so that they can take advantage of it and make some quick gains before leaving and training. What do you think the fatty came up with?"

The Shameless Sect that Daneel had been a part of in the identity of Travis Eclair when he had been in the Sect of Hedon had currently fractured into two parts, with Jared and Clyde choosing to be participants, and Henry and the fatty deciding that they would set up a stall together as they had gotten a secretive idea that they had not elected to share.

The two of them had not been very interested, either, knowing how most of the fatty’s ideas turned out to be, and once again, they found themselves missing Travis, the one who had actually made their sect shine.

Sadly, he had left the sect to go somewhere, saying that he had gotten the opportunity of his lifetime, and although they had tried to convince him with all of their might, they had failed.

He still visited, and he seemed happier than ever with power that kept growing in leaps and bounds, and although they were jealous, they knew that their place was in the sect, where their shamelessness could be put to full effect.

Life hadn’t been too bad since that time when they had hit the jackpot with Travis’s help: they had used the resources perfectly to breakthrough barrier after barrier in their Paths, and in fact, Clyde had even reached the Exalted Warrior level.

But of course, with great power, came the demand for more and more resources, and hence, today, like many others, they had decided that they would definitely supplement their stores in the best way possible.

A few minutes later, the two of them entered the area, and seeing the atmosphere inside, Clyde said, "I feel as if I’m back in my village... This is exactly how our Village Fest used to be."

He was right- there was a unique raucousness in the air as people could be seen all over the place, talking to those in the stalls, bargaining with them, arguing with them, and in some places, even fighting with them, resulting in an actually merry atmosphere which would lift anyone’s spirits.

Each fight would be resolved very quickly, though, as violence had also been forbidden in the area during the activity unless it was part of a stall’s scam. Overall, though, there was a certain excitement, as everyone currently had money on their hands, and their goal was to make themselves even richer.

historical

When they entered, each of them had been given 500 Ker Gems each, with the assurance that the amount that they obtained over this number would be multiplied by 10 times, no matter if they won or lost in the end.

That had put everyone in a good mood, but also an even more competitive one, and hence, each and every sect member was very vigilant in their actions.

As for the scammers, each of them was given 5000 Ker Gems, and the same thing applied for them, too.

The two of them first decided to go to the fatty’s stall - on the way, they saw many, many interesting ones, such as those that offered training techniques, tips to help one breakthrough, tips to help one absorb Energy easier, and even tips to do better in bed.

The last one did have a lot of takers as the one who had set it up was famous for his prowess, but of course, the two of them ignored it, as they knew what was important.

On the way, a very common stall turned out to be one which had lotteries.

It was one of the ideas that anyone would come up with right away, as they all knew just how gambling dens made their money by making people bet on bad odds with the hope that they would win. Of course, each and every one who chose this had been hoping that they would be the only ones to do so, and although there were a few twists here and there, such as in one where there was an actual gambling table, most of these had few takers, as almost no one in the sect was dumb enough to spend their resources by trusting luck which could be quite frivolous.

Finally, there was the fatty’s stall, and what they found... Made them break out in laughter.

It was an eating contest, and of course... It was empty.

The fatty was looking around at the other stalls around him dejectedly, and seeing them, he spoke out in a regretful tone.

"I thought that I would win, for sure! But no one seems to be interested in getting into an eating contest! I even wagered a lot! If they can defeat me, they can take away my whole earnings! And if they lose, they only need to give me a part! It was so brilliant!"

Laughing at his expense, Jared said, "Congrats, fatty, you’ve brought about a new low for the Shameless Sect... Oh, how I miss Travis. Anyway, don’t worry, your idea is definitely unique, so you will have some takers sometime or the other. But first, why don’t we go around and explore the rest, and see what the magnanimous creator of this event has done? I’m definitely very interested! Let’s go!"

Each stall had a display trinket on which they would explain their scheme in a few words, and if anyone was interested, they could press a button that would trigger a communication trinket and tell the one who had set up the stall that they had a customer. Hence, stalls could be left alone if people were acting as both scammers and participants, so hearing Jared, the fatty nodded and looked at the large roast boar he had prepared which was the item that had to be eaten, before covering it with a bowl and following the two along with Henry, who had trusted his idea, and was now also in an extremely bad mood.

They couldn’t really be blamed, though, because their shamelessness and scheming sides had not been needed to be used for quite a long time due to their jackpot, and knowing this, they even wished that this event had happened at a different time so that they could be on top of their game, in which case they would definitely have come up with something that would have blown almost everyone else out of the water.

They quickly cheered up due to the atmosphere, though. Talking between themselves animatedly, they started to go to the central area of the event, which was the one that the King had taken.

However,a few minutes later, as soon as they started to get nearer and nearer to their destination, they noticed something strange, as they started to come across more and more people who were also rushing in that direction, while talking excitedly about something.

Eager to find out what was up, they sped up their pace, but soon, they had to stop as they came upon a crowd that was gathered around a magnificent stall.

Other stalls had also used creativity to dress up themselves so that they would look appealing, but they all paled in front of the stall of the King: the stall, itself, had had its body changed to become that of a crimson dragon whose maw was open, and this was apparently the door through which one had to enter.

There was a long, long queue which the Shameless Sect joined, but they were still puzzled regarding just what the scam was. Unlike the others, this one did not have its conditions and rules spelled out in front of it, but just as they were about to ask the ones in front of them whether they knew anything, a loud shout interrupted them.

"YES! YES! I’M RICH! I ONLY HAD TO ROLL 5 TIMES, BUT I’M RICH! 2000 KER GEMS IN ONE GO! Oh, Heavens, thank you! Ma, Pa, I know you made it happen! Thank you!"

The shout was from someone who had just come out of the side of the dragon, and in his hands...was a large pile of Ker Gems.

In the silence that followed this shocking statement, Daneel looked down on the area from above, and with a smile at the corner of his lips, he said to himself, "Lootboxes...the scourge of the Earth, in many ways, but in Angaria...they will result in the betterment of the continent. Well...in one way or another, at least. Now, just gotta make sure, somehow, that I don’t inspire a whole generation of scammers..."