Defense specialization and the predicted rankings.

Outside the game, the staff stared at the display showing the remaining guild count.

"This... is already over, isn't it?"

"Yep..."

The bright digits glowed, forming the number six.

All of those guilds had been confirmed within the top ten.

That meant the top ten was already decided.

The event, scheduled for five days, had effectively ended by early morning on the fourth day. The number of guilds, which had been steadily decreasing, now showed no further change.

"Everyone's got such killing intent! Hey!?"

"We're editing highlights from this event into a video. Nothing significant will happen now."

The man gave orders, and one after another, scenes selected from massive volumes of recorded data were pulled out.

"Nearly half of it is Maple..."

"Are you telling me to extract the highlights without showing Maple? This is already trimmed."

The man turned only his head toward the speaker, then leaned back into the chair, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Perhaps the reason the event did not go as planned was because of being caught in the grasp of the 【Maple Tree】..."

"【Empire of the Flame Emperor】 is tenth place, and already wiped out. I did try predicting the rankings... but it was pointless."

The 【Empire of the Flame Emperor】 had defeated rival nations one after another, but overextension had led to total annihilation.

Still, they had managed to secure tenth place, barely.

"If only Maple’s actions could be read..."

Many players thought the same.

The easier it was to predict a player, the easier it was to counter.

"Thinking about impossible things is useless... We need to reconsider the next event’s duration."

"True. I didn’t expect it to accelerate by nearly two full days..."

A mistake born of misreading the players’ resolve.

The man spoke aloud as if struck by sudden thought, his voice carrying to all within the room, even as he contemplated the next event.

“Then let’s make a prediction! The topic: what Maple is doing right now. How’s that? The one who guesses right gets one free meal from me.”

All present agreed to the proposal.

There was nothing to lose—naturally.

“Can we just check the recording from a little earlier? Only the orb area is visible….”

He began preparing to display footage from the fourth day’s great hall of the 【Maple Tree】—choosing at random.

“Or maybe she’s not at the base?”

“Could be. That’d make her harder to find… though I’d guess she’s probably still there…”

“Then let’s begin! Raise your hand if you’ve got an idea!”

The man who offered the free meal signaled, and almost immediately several hands rose.

The man spoke, and each person offered their guess in turn.

"Everyone in the guild playing a board game."

"Practicing flight with a mechanical god."

"Being used as a human toy by twins."

"Trying to gain a skill by gnawing on a weapon forged by 【Smith】."

"What, aren’t you all too ordinary?"

"Perhaps you’re right..."

The group turned their thoughts again, wondering what Maple would do if she were ordinary.

The guesses grew increasingly chaotic.

"Inside the mouth of a giant turtle."

"Fight with Sally, for reasons unknown."

"Or just bite the turtle."

Each person spoke their guess in turn.

When most ideas had been spoken and the room fell silent, the proposer declared the end.

"Then... let’s show it."

"Ah."

A moment later, a large monitor displayed 【Maple Tree】.

Maple, at the center of it all, moved through the base while protruding weapons sprouted from a woolen mass that completely enveloped her body, carried between Yui and Mai.

The video was gently closed upon seeing it.

"Shall we include that too?"

"...Yes."

That single scene was quietly added to the collection. The staff turned their attention to processing something beyond comprehension.