“It’s her! Take her down!”

With her battered starting equipment and unconventional fighting style, May had become the center of attention.

Faced with the appearance of such an outrageous newcomer, players began forming groups and attacking her together.

She defeated one.

Then another.

Then she skillfully turned the tables on nearly ten of them in succession.

“Alright! At this rate, I can keep going—”

Just as she got fired up, around twenty elite players appeared before her.

“Ahaha… waaahhh!”

Intimidated by their overwhelming presence, she immediately fled.

As she dashed away in a panic, tumbling into a run, she spotted someone ahead.

“From darkness deeper than the abyss, return and manifest—Flare Strike.”

A girl dressed entirely in black was blasting away rival players with powerful magic.

“Kukuku… truly pathetic.”

The black-clad girl wiped out dozens of participants with a single spell.

May immediately ran toward her.

“Collapse, manifest, and judge all beneath my demonic name. Flare—”

Just as the black-clad girl began another incantation, May rushed right up to her.

“Excuse me!”

The very moment before the spell was unleashed.

May smiled brightly.

Then dove into a forward roll and passed straight between the girl’s legs.

“—Burst.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!”

The elite players chasing May were swallowed by the black-clad girl’s spell and vanished.

A mass elimination accomplished by using someone else’s magic.

Of course, none of those points counted toward May’s score.

But she wasn’t thinking about that at all.

“I did it!”

She simply bounced up and down happily.

“What the heck is with her!?”

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that before!!”

The spectators shouted in amazement.

May continued stirring up chaos and had become the eye of the storm.

However.

The more victories she accumulated, the more inevitable it became that she would eventually face a true powerhouse.

“…Interesting.”

A strong player searching for a worthy opponent stepped forward.

Standing before May was the champion of the previous event, clad in full plate armor and wielding a greatsword.

The two naturally clashed.

The swordsman charged straight at her.

May smoothly slipped past his heavy downward strike.

“Whoops!”

She then avoided a powerful upward slash by throwing her body backward.

Rolling into a backward somersault, she immediately stepped forward and swung her shortsword upward.

“Whoa!?”

The unexpected power caused the swordsman to stumble.

A second blow broke his stance completely.

“What is this attack power!?”

“I-If that’s how it is, then—!”

Cornered, the swordsman raised his greatsword overhead and brought it down with all his might.

The skill [Single Slash].

Although May easily dodged it, the resulting cloud of dust blocked her vision.

“Then I’ll use this chance… [Monkey Climb]!”

She kicked off a nearby wall and grabbed the edge like she was climbing a tree.

In moments, she had scaled her way up onto the roof of a warehouse.

Eventually, the dust was carried away by the sea breeze.

The swordsman unleashed a full-power sweep with his greatsword.

“Take this! [Grand Ripple Slash]!!”

A circular shockwave spread outward from him.

It was the signature technique that had dominated the previous event.

“…Huh?”

But there was nobody there.

Instead, he heard light footsteps.

May came running down from the warehouse roof with effortless agility and charged straight at him.

“Here I go! [Rabbit Jump]!”

She launched herself high into the air.

“Now then! My ultimate move—!”

“S-She’s finally using it!”

“What kind of skill is it!?”

“Hurry up and show us—!!”

The spectators watched in anticipation as May raised her shortsword overhead in midair.

“Jumping—!”

“Jumping—!?”

“Jumping [Sword Bash]!”

“[Sword Bash]!?”

“It’s still [Sword Bash]!?”

The spectators found themselves shouting in perfect unison.

The swordsman was struck head-on by the Jumping [Sword Bash].

He flew backward, smashed through a wall, and even took additional collision damage.

With that, he was eliminated.

[Time limit reached!]

And just like that, the event came to an end.

“That was so much fun!”

Thus, May’s first event concluded with a spectacular performance.

“And now, it’s finally time for the results!”

With the Battle Royale over, the event staff began announcing the rankings before all the gathered participants.

“Third place goes to—Arterite!”

Applause rose from the crowd.

“Next, second place goes to—Furatto!”

The ranked players happily made their way onto the stage.

“And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The champion of this event is…”

The spectators fell silent.

Then the name was announced.

“—Guren Samurai!!”

“Ooooh!”

May enthusiastically joined the applause.

However, the announcements were not over yet.

“And finally! I’m sure everyone here is already thinking of the same person!”

“This event’s MVP!”

The participants all turned simultaneously toward the person they had in mind.

“—She also placed in the Top 10 by points! In her very first event, she defeated last event’s champion! It’s Wild Child May!!”

“Yay! …Wild Child?”

Amid the thunderous applause, May tilted her head in confusion.

Apparently, she didn’t quite understand the nickname that had been given to her because of her acrobatic fighting style and ragged appearance.

“Well, whatever.”

As she lowered her faded scarf, a murmur spread through the crowd.

“She’s cute.”

“What the heck? She’s gorgeous.”

“…I’m in love.”

May bowed repeatedly as she stepped onto the stage.

The host immediately handed her a microphone.

“Congratulations on becoming MVP.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Wow, what a wild fighting style that was.”

“Don’t tell me… were you raised by wolves in the mountains or something?”

“N-No, I wasn’t!”

The audience laughed when May answered the obvious joke completely seriously.

Then, immediately afterward—

“It was lizards!”

“…Excuse me?”

“I was raised by lizards!”

At that mysterious declaration, every single person present tilted their head in confusion.