It was that time again.

The black and white banner embroidered with the Royal family's insignia had been raised all over the capital. Cities and towns became even more festive than usual, people bustling to and fro as merchants set up their stalls to sell different types of weapons, charms, potions, and armours from the usual metallic protective gear to expensive skins of slain rare monsters. Day and night, the number of people hardly dwindled. Day and night, the town and cities were full of clamour, and brothels and inns became as packed and noisy as the empire's town market.

People were beyond excited and thrilled. They all admired that gigantic spherical crystal which rose above the castle square, its sparkling sapphire color bathes the entire castle in its luminous glow as sunlight flirted and toyed with it. It was a sight to behold; it was too magical that any onlookers would stop and stare and hold their breaths til they drop down the ground due to lack of oxygen. That's how beautiful it was-- it would make people forget how to breathe.

That crystal was the star of the show. It's rarely ever seen for it is only shown to the public once in every ten years. The humongous crystal was a symbol to let the whole kingdom know that the Game had begun.

But this is not your typical kind of game. It is not a hunting game, either. It was a game of kill or be killed. No rules to uphold, virtues are cast aside, principles will be defied. It was a game for which the victor has to stand on top of the corpses of the other players. And out of hundreds of thousands enlisted to play the Game, only one team shall be hailed as victors. The victors will be hailed as heroes, and will be given rewards beyond riches.

And so people are rejoicing, the whole kingdom engulfed by the joyous uproar as they await the main characters of the show.

The players.

People from different sides of the empire are now at the Castle Square. Entities of different races, disparate individuals, nobility and the common folk, all gathered with the same goal and role--- to play and win the game.