The Top Omega Hunter Wants a Quiet Life [BL]-Chapter 58: Ch : Next Round- Part 4

[Welcome, all contestants to the semi-final stage of the championship. This was supposed to be a three-day festival, but due to... unforeseen circumstances, we have a far fewer number of contestants who made it this far...]

The announcer tried to make the announcement sound funny, only to get hated by the audience.

People had paid for a three-day championship, so the fact that it was only the first day and the semi-finals had already arrived made them angry.

The announcer sweated bullets before he looked at his superior sitting not too far away.

The superior avoided his eyes as well at first, but then he looked at his phone and gave the announcer a reassuring glance.

A single paper was held up by the supervisor and the announcer looked relieved to see that.

[D-Don’t worry about it, my dear viewers. Since this year’s championship is a special case, we have prepared a special guest for you to hear from. Ace himself will address all the semi-finalists in a few minutes.]

Silence filled the audience before cheers started. Finally, something fun was about to happen, and it even made the audience forget why they were mad in the first place.

As for the announcer? He could not help but feel as if he had escaped a huge disaster somehow.

______

The loud cheer filled the arena and I felt my head ache at the loud noise. I had to lower my sensitivity to noise around me in order to feel comfortable.

My displeasure was clear on my face and from looking around, I could tell that I was not the only one who felt annoyed by all this noise.

"Tsk, can’t these banshees calm down or something? Even if they are excited about Ace, they need to consider other hunters and their sharp senses as well."

Joshua complained from beside me as he rubbed his forehead.

Unlike us two, the rest of our team did not seem too bothered by the loud cheer. They looked way more excited at the prospect of Ace talking to them.

"B-But, aren’t you both excited? This is Ace we are talking about. He’s a living legend, the forever no#1. I wanted to see him and hear him talk ever since I was young."

Sasha spoke with stars in her eyes. She looked like a shy maiden as she clasped her hands together and her cheeks were flushed.

"You... do know that Ace is an omega, right? Even if you try, he won’t fall for your charms."

Amy asked, now slightly annoyed but not any less excited by what she just heard. Sasha turned toward the other female with a pout on her face.

"I know. But I am not excited about Ace because I am in love with him or anything. It’s just... he’s a role model for me and all the other omegas out there. He’s someone we all aspire to become one day."

Sasha spoke honestly and I felt a little taken aback by the way she spoke about me... well, Ace.

I knew that omegas admired me, but I had never taken time to actually see or talk to anyone else outside the hunter’s association during my past.

So, I had no idea how deep the admiration for me went in these people’s hearts.

[Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting. Ace is finally here—]

The announcer broke the moment we had with his loud voice and the very next second, we all heard the fake voice addressing the arena.

[It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Ace and I thank you all for participating in the hunter’s championship. Unfortunately, due to unknown circumstances, I was not able to participate in the championship myself. But I look forward to seeing how well you all perform.]

The announcement finished and everyone cheered.

Well, not everyone. Both Rhiner and Lynn were silent. A lot of other top hunters were silent as well, with narrowed eyes, and distrust was clear in their expressions.

I silently clapped my hands, not wanting to stand out from the standard crowd, but I also felt annoyed by the half-assed job the association was doing to portray someone else as Ace.

’Tsk, those fools. If you are going to have someone else play as me, then can you at least ask them to put in some effort? What was that speech delivery?’

I wanted to question the person in charge, but when I looked up at the association seats, my eyes met Rose’s and she looked away, startled and flushed.

Now I knew who was responsible for what happened to me, and I felt a sigh escape my lips.

I understood that having any expectations from the association was useless. Those people only moved when profit was involved, and right now, no profit was involved.

[Now that our hero Ace has spoken, we will start the semi-finals. I will go over the rules of this round for you all—]

The announcer told everyone, but I zoned out because I had already read the rule book.

The semi-final round was simple—it was for one member of each team to split in two and complete two different tasks. One of the teams was to go in the dungeon while the other was to stay back and communicate with the team left behind.

For this part, we were only allowed to wander within the safe area of the dungeon. But even that safe area had a few monsters.

I headed toward the section that had been prepared for our team, but no one else in our team moved.

"Huh-? Are you not going to come?"

I asked the two and they looked hesitant before they followed after me. Sasha was the only one who spoke to me.

"To be honest, I am nervous. It is the first time I have made it this far... and I am afraid of messing up here. Do you think we will be fine?"

She asked me in a shaky voice and I almost wanted to lie to her and tell her that everything would be alright.

But in reality, even I could not be confident about this.

"Well, I want to say that everything would be just fine, but this is a dungeon we are talking about. Who knows what could happen once we enter... anyway, who should enter the dungeon and who should stay back?"

I asked the team behind me and they all froze. I could tell that they had not thought about this topic. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"We... never thought about it. We never made it this far before. But I am sure Joshua needs to enter..."

Sam spoke but he did not sound confident. Before he could be forced to make a decision, I spoke up.

"I want to enter the dungeon. What about you, Joshua?"

I asked the other male omega and he looked startled and a little scared. But it did not take long for his eyes to harden.

"Hmm, I will enter with you. The rest of you can stay back as back-up just in case."

The leader of our team spoke and everyone paused. However, Sasha raised her hand to speak up before any decision could be made.

"I want to come as well. I am the healer here."