Chapter 278: Press Conference: Pre-Exhibition Games, Part 2

"We would certainly hope that you would become the best team in the world, and bring glory to our country on VR-Sports. That's all for my questions, thank you!" The reporter said as she sat down in her seat.

In turn, the man beside him stood and said, "Good afternoon to all of you. I am Timothy Carls from NMM News. We all know that it was Armaz Electronics Inc. that sold the 'million-dollar skill' in an auction just a few weeks ago. Is it true that you have another copy of that skill, or did your organization mistakenly sold the item and failed to anticipate that such skill would have been useful in a competition like this?"

The reporter stared at them—waiting for their response. However, none of those from Armaz Electronics Inc. answered in response. Instead, Pedro, Director Veronica, and President Caroline glanced at each other as if mentally asking who will answer the question.

Fortunately, before the reporter could speak again, Pedro simply smiled and said, "Ehem… Let me answer that question since it is in-game stuff!" Then, he glanced to the reporter and said, "Sadly… It was the only copy that we have. As for whether we mistakenly sold the item or we failed to anticipate the competition… These are nothing but rumors. I am not saying that we purposely sold the item despite knowing that there would be a competition later on. No! That was not the case! That said… I won't consider the selling of it to be a mistake!"

"How can you say so, Captain Black? I mean… Won't your chances of winning increase when you have that skill?" The reporter interjected.

Pedro simply sighed in response and said, "How much is the prize for the exhibition games? For the Overall Champion? Wasn't it only one [1] Million US Dollars?" Then, he glanced to the reporter and said coldly, "The skill page was sold for ten [10] Million US Dollars! We would need to win 'Ten' Exhibition Games to earn what we got from selling the skill page. So, I don't think that it was a mistake for us to sell that item. And, although we did not anticipate that there would be such a competition, thanks to the sale of the item, we gained a budget that was sufficient to establish two competitive teams for the competition."

"Well said, Captain!" The reporter praised with a smile. Then, he asked, "Moving forward… Is it possible for you to share how you were able to obtain the said item in the game? I mean… I myself am a player of Bearth Online, and I would admit that I am one of the players who are dreaming to obtain such gold in the game. Well… That's if it's only alright with you. I totally understand if you would not tell me the secret about it."

Pedro simply smirked in response and said, "I know that many would bug us soon about it, so, I'd prefer to tell everyone a few things about it. Besides… It won't be fun if we'd be the only ones who know about the information on that item."

The reporter's eyes shined like gold in response.

Pedro simply chuckled in response and said, "And… To give everyone excitement on looking for such items, I won't tell you the exact information on where I got it. I can only tell you that it has something to do with the Adventurer's Guild, somewhere on the eastern side of the Asian Australian Server's continent. It's now up to you to figure out the rest."

"That's quite an information, Captain Black! Even I can't help but be urged to leave this press conference and play the game right now. Hehehe… Anyway, That's all for my questions! Thank you!" The reported smirked in response as he sat down.

Several Reporters asked for information regarding rumors that were spreading on the internet. Well… Pedro and everyone else did not pay that much attention to that since most of them are busy playing the game. Nevertheless, those questions were answered and clarified honestly by everyone else without revealing highly classified information in their organization.

As the press conference was about to end, the questions of the reporters now focused on the players that were on the roster of both teams.

Team ARES has nine [9] members while Team Oran Gutan only has five [5] confirmed members as of this moment. That said, it's already known that there was a competition within the Team Oran Gutan's members and would only end before several days before they leave for China. So, the reporters did not focus much on Team Oran Gutan since they would bring with them an overkill number of players with them.

At this moment, a reporter asked, "To Captain Black, I checked your roster earlier and saw that out of the nine players, only one was a former professional player from another VR Game. On top of that, three of your players are girls. It's not like I am underestimating them or something, but… We all know how brutal and difficult it was to play this game. I really can't help but be curious about how the Team ARES would win in the Exhibition Games. And knowing that your supposed Team B—The Team Oran Gutan, is heavily packed with quite 'scary' weapons… Can you, at the least, give us a bit of an idea—A spoiler if you may, on what to expect from the Team ARES?"

Pedro simply laughed in response and said, "Sadly, I'll have to let you wait for a few more days before your question would be answered. Rest assured though, that each player under Team ARES could handle a monster on our own. I don't want to overhype things on our end, but I hope that all of our countrymen would support our two teams that would be participating in the exhibition games. After all… It would be our honor to hold the next Bearth Online Event... If either team would become the champion of this competition."

"Thanks, Captain Black!" The reporter said as he glanced towards Lony, A.K.A. Bulk. Then, he asked, "To mister Bulk… How confident are you in going head to head with miss Neem—the Ace of Team Oran Gutan, in case your two team faces each other in the exhibition games?"

"It would be a challenge. But… Our team would win!" Lony said with a smile.

"Hoo… What can miss Neem say about it?" The reporter smirked as he glanced towards Meen.

Meen simply chuckled in response and said, "We'll see if that would happen!"

"I can already see it, though!" Talia interjected with a confident smile.

Pedro and Weyron could only force out a smile in response. And before a heated argument could occur, Armaz Electronics Inc. President Caroline Armaz stood from her seat and said, "I apologize but the press conference shall end here. Our players need to go back to their training already. We'll release an official guideline on how we would answer your questions later on. Again, our organization was just created recently and we're focused at the moment on the development of the players. So, it might take us a few days before we could respond. Thank you for your time and please support Team ARES and Team Oran Gutan on the first Bearth Online Simulation Competition: Exhibition Games!"

At this moment, Director Veronica Santiago stood on her seat and glanced towards Meen and Weyron as if she was saying to them, 'Let's go!'. The two simply nodded and stood in response.

On the other hand, Pedro simply waved towards the media whilst he was standing from his seat. Then, he patted Lony's back and said, "Let's go! Let's have some meal, my treat!"

Lony immediately stood and said, "No taking back of your words, Cap!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Talia added with a smile on her face. Then, she gestured "3" to Pedro and said, "Add three shawarmas for me, Cap! It's been a day since I last ate one!"

Pedro simply laughed in response and said, "Sure! But before anything else, call everyone and tell them to follow us, okay?"

Lony and Talia simply made an "Okay" sign to him as they went into their phones.

On the other hand, Pedro approached Meen and Weyron, and asked, "Would the two of you like to join us in a meal before you go back? My treat…"

"Err…" Weyron could only force out a smile in response as he glanced to Director Veronica as if he was asking if it would be alright to accept Pedro's invitation.

Director Veronica simply nodded in response and said, "Be back before seven! We still need to discuss the final roster of the team! There are just some matters that President Caroline and I need to handle beforehand! So, make sure to return on time."

"Aish… We will! We will! It's not like we are going to escape from the training or something!" Weyron said as he approached Pedro. Then, he said, "Cousin Peds, please lead the way. As you can see, we only have limited time."

Pedro simply chuckled in response and said, "What about you miss Meen? Would you like to join us for a meal?"

Meen scratched the back of her head while glancing back and forth from Pedro to Weyron. Then, after a few seconds, she sighed and said, "Then, I would gladly take your offer."

"That's great!" Pedro clapped his hands in response. Then, he led everyone out of the press conference area and said, "Let's go! I am already hungry!"