The signal dropped like a blade.
For a heartbeat, the arena held its breath...twenty thousand bodies coiled forward, muscles tense, eyes fixed on the mud-slick incline and the swinging beams beyond it.
Then the drums struck once.
And the rope barriers fell.
The field exploded.
It wasn't a run at first. It was a surge...an uncontrolled flood of bodies pushing into motion all at once, boots churning the wet earth into a collapsing slope. A roar rose from the crowd so loud it sounded like the arena itself had come alive.
From the high terrace above, Jun Kai watched the first wave hit the incline.
And break.
People slammed into each other shoulder-to-shoulder, elbows cutting, feet slipping. Those at the front fought to keep balance while those behind pushed blindly, not out of cruelty but out of momentum and fear. A few fell immediately, swallowed by the crush before they could even scream.
