Chapter 259: The Trial Grounds Where All the Big Shots Gather!!

At this moment, on the grassland where the Trial Grounds are located, it could basically be considered a full illustrated guide of some common monsters and creatures in the game.

But only villagers were not seen at all. However, this was also normal. The current Villager Kingdom was controlled by those fused Iron Golem consciousness entities.

Those villagers probably didn't even receive the news about the opening of the Trial Grounds, it was likely completely blocked, let alone coming to participate in the trial.

Everyone gathered at the scene were monsters and creatures with self-awareness. These self-aware monsters and animals were undoubtedly hostile toward the players. After all, players had done many utterly heartless things, and these monsters and creatures were all victims.

If this were a normal situation, the moment the sides met, they would definitely fight. But right now, on this grassland, everyone was quietly waiting.

Although the hatred in the eyes of those self-aware monsters and creatures was almost uncontrollable, they were still trying their best to endure it.

The reason why the grassland could "coexist peacefully" was entirely thanks to the real HIM.

He had probably already predicted that the entrance to the Trial Grounds would cause chaos, so he left part of his power here.

Once it detects that both sides begin fighting, the real HIM would directly "send both sides on their way."

After a few lessons from the past, the players on the field all became obedient.

Although players could revive, with so many people around, once their gear dropped, the items wouldn't stay on the ground for more than a second.

Naturally, the monsters and animals were even more cautious than the players. Their lives were only once, they couldn't revive. Of course they didn't want to die here.

At this moment, each faction was occupying one side's qualification test bulletin board, testing their trial eligibility in an orderly manner.

Each side's testing speed was very fast, basically one person per second.

The reason the testing speed was so fast was entirely due to the extremely high elimination rate. Basically only one in every 200–300 people barely passed the trial qualification. Roughly only one in 1,000 people had an estimated trial success rate above 60%.

Seeing such harsh qualification standards, many players couldn't help but complain.

"Damn! What is this pass rate?! I only got 3%…"

"I don't even know how this pass rate is calculated? I'm part of the elite team in our guild, and I didn't make it. But some logistics guy from our guild passed?!"

"I suspect it's just random, doesn't reflect real strength at all!"

"By the way, what even is this trial content? You only get the trial quest hint after going in? Why so mysterious…"

"Anyway, I heard this isn't an official trial. Could it be made by HIM? Didn't they say several HIMs appeared recently? Feels like it's related…"

"Stop dawdling, if you're done testing, hurry up and move! There's still a queue!"

As more and more people got tested, the Trial Grounds started to feel more and more mysterious.

Logically speaking, the trial qualification test should be a test of player strength. But many powerful players didn't pass the test. Instead, some not-so-eye-catching players did.

This made it even more confusing for the players.

Just as players were in heated discussion, a cheer suddenly erupted from the monster faction's side.

"Roar!! Roar roar!!"

"Goo goo gaa gaa!! Goo goo gaa gaa!!"

"Gah gah gah!!..."

"Saklavi! Sakowu!!..."

On the monster faction side, two bulletin boards showed high passing rates at the same time. One was a drowned wielding a trident, blue light glowing from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

His test result was "Good." Pass rate as high as 80%. He was currently the person with the highest pass rate on the field.

The other was that awe-inspiring Calamity Villager Leader. His test result was also "Good." Pass rate reached 79.5%, only 0.5% lower than the drowned.

These two monsters were equally matched in both appearance and presence. Even their test scores were nearly identical.

These two monsters were undoubtedly the dawn of the monster faction.

After seeing these two monsters complete the test and directly teleport into the trial entrance, the players were extremely jealous.

Before the players could react, howls were suddenly heard from the animal faction's side again.

"Woof woof woof!!..."

"Baa baa… baa baa…"

"Moo!! Moo moo!!…"

In front of a giant pufferfish, the bulletin board displayed a test result of "Good" as well. Its pass rate was slightly lower than the two monsters', but still as high as 77%.

At this point, the players couldn't hold it in any longer.

"What the hell?! Those two monsters looked badass so it made sense they got 'Good', but now even a pufferfish got 'Good'?!!"

"It doesn't seem like an ordinary pufferfish… I heard it's from some kind of biological association? Supposedly pretty powerful!"

"Hiss… No wonder that drowned looked so familiar! And that chicken! I think they're all from the biological association too!"

"Holy crap?! So this is a team-up of powerhouses?! Even though that Calamity Villager Leader isn't from the biological association, he's definitely on the monster side! How are we players supposed to survive in there?!"

Seeing powerful contestants from both the monster and animal factions, while players were getting eliminated one by one, the players' confidence took a serious hit.

But the disappointment didn't last long before players saw their own dawn of hope.

First came Steve and Grayfist. As if coordinated, both began testing almost simultaneously. Both had a test result of "Good."

Steve's pass rate was 82%, currently the highest. Grayfist was slightly lower, only 79%.

Next were Black Blade and his group. Black Blade also got a "Good" result.

Logically, Black Blade's gameplay was slightly better than Steve's, but his pass rate was 1% lower, only 81%.

However, the shocking part wasn't Black Blade's result, it was his subordinates.

First was his apprentice, Hatchet, with a pass rate of 75%. Most of Black Blade's subordinates had pass rates above 60%.

That was quite an impressive record.

Steve and Grayfist's subordinates were also experts, but their pass rates weren't particularly high.

Even the Calamity Villager Leader from the monster faction had only a few of his villagers barely pass the test.

Yet Black Blade's crew had over 50% pass rate, it was downright ridiculous.

"Told you! This trial is definitely made by HIM! Black Blade's group has an absurd pass rate?!!"

"Who cares who made it, as long as there are rewards, I'm in!"

"Feels like anyone who gets a 'Good' rating is a top-tier boss! Wonder what the pass rates are for HIM's Demon King group?"

"Hope this trial gets fully livestreamed! So many bosses and monster/animal faction elites entering the trial, it's gonna be epic!!"

At this moment, on the Trial Grounds, players were heatedly discussing the test results of Steve, Grayfist, and Black Blade's group.

Suddenly, it seemed a small incident occurred at the bulletin board dedicated to solo players.

Although there were many bulletin boards for testing, with such a massive crowd, they were still limited in number.

To keep the queue orderly, players categorized the boards.

There were separate ones for guild players and solo players.

Now, a player was seen standing blankly in front of the solo player board, not moving at all.

"Hey bald dude in front, are you asleep?! Hurry up and test! There's a queue behind you!"

"What are you dawdling for? You're not gonna pass anyway, just test and get lost!"

"Seriously, what's going on up there? Don't waste everyone's time!"

The tone of the queued players behind him was clearly disdainful toward this player standing still.

As the saying goes, a man is judged by his clothes. In the game, players judged strength by equipment. And right now, the bald, bearded man standing at the bulletin board was the perfect example of "dirt poor."

He had zero equipment on him, looking just like a total newbie.

What the players would never guess was, this player, who looked like a beginner, was the game's creator, Notch.

The Trial Grounds news had spread across the entire game. Notch, who had been diving into the game every day to study various phenomena, obviously wouldn't miss this.

Notch had been researching the things created by self-awareness in this world.

This sudden appearance of the Trial Grounds clearly had research value. That was why Notch showed up here.

The Trial Grounds were open to all living beings. That alone showed that the person who created the Trial Grounds must have originally been from this game world.

And this person, who could create such a grand Trial Grounds in the game world, was definitely not simple.

To Notch, figuring out who this person was wasn't that important. After all, this game world had already formed its own ecosystem, and had the ability to generate new self-aware humans, animals, and creatures.

In a world like this, filled with the unknown, every self-aware being was an unknown. So there was no need to dig into who he was.

What Notch most wanted to figure out, was just one thing, what is his goal?

This Trial Grounds was undoubtedly like a divine domain competition, basically a dungeon instance. Since it's a dungeon, then there must be some intention behind it.

Official dungeons are released so players can gain benefits, rewards, new experiences, and to empower players through official means. So official events only target players, only players can enter dungeons.

But this trial? It targets every living being in the world. And it seems to have a very high threshold.

As the game's creator, Notch was very clear on how dungeon events work.

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