[Rachel Claude has rejected your friend request]
’I’ll spam friend requests until you either block me or eventually accept... But if you accept... hehe,’ Sora thought with a mischievous grin.
Sora set aside the notification, and looked up at the massive stadium in front of him. After having a meal with Kara, they had decided to come here for a bit of excitement and were now standing before the "Gangnam Arena." The structure was massive, dwarfing even the largest stadiums from the old world, its name lit up brightly on one side.
He couldn’t help but chuckle at how Kara was acting, practically bouncing with excitement like a kid in an ice cream shop. She wanted to explore everything, bowing politely to strangers on the streets as they passed.
"Stop greeting men—I can get jealous too, you know." Sora teased, feigning jealousy with a playful smirk.
Taken aback, Kara almost twisted her neck at his words. Holding her hair between her fingers in embarrassment, she answered "I can’t help it, Korean men are so handsome. You’ll have to return to your original appearance if you want to rival them." she teased back. "But seriously, I’ve seen this place so many times in movies, but seeing it in real life feels surreal. Even if it changed quite a bit, I still love it."
Sora shook his head, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he held Kara’s hand so she could stop running all over the place.
While nearing the nearest gate of the arena, a well-dressed man greeted them with a warm smile. "Good evening, Sir, Madam. Would you like two tickets?"
"Yes, please," Kara responded, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Would you prefer Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Diamond Tickets?" the man asked, unable to see their level and also very aware that higher-level players were typically wealthy enough for the more expensive options.
Sora blinked, mildly confused. "What’s the difference?" he asked, curious about the ticket tiers.
"Bronze-level spectators are seated in the upper sections with a decent view of the arena. Silver-level tickets provide access to a replay system and the ability to place bets on the competitions. The view is also better than the Bronze tier. Gold-level spectators not only enjoy prime seating but also get access to detailed commentary from high-level players. You’ll also have entry to the luxury lounge, where you can enjoy gourmet food and drinks during the matches. Diamond-level spectators have private lounges and the exclusive option to meet players after their events. Plus, Diamond ticket holders get priority entry to participate in competitions, skipping the queue if there is one for their event. With each level of course having the benefits of the previous ones."
Sora nodded, taking it all in before asking. "What are the prices?"
"100 gold, 1000, 100,000 and 1,000,000 gold per ticket. You can also buy the membership for 30 times the amount of the ticket level you want and come any time of the year." The man replied.
"What do you think?" Sora turned to Kara and asked.
"Gold-level ticket sounds good," she said, rich enough to afford Diamond but not willing to spend a million gold for no reason, let alone thirty million.
"Wow, you didn’t even give me time to wonder how to choose a quest, and you’re already selling me a solution," Sora said, chuckling as he handed over 100 gold coins. "Good job, girl."
The girl grinned, and sent them a code to download the app. "If you need help with specific quests, I know the content of all of them and may help you with information."
"Thanks, but we’ll just browse through the app for now," Kara replied, clearly curious about the content of quests on this side of the world.
The girl quickly disappeared, heading off to assist another adventurer who looked equally lost.
Sora opened the app and skimmed through the high-level quests, looking for something in the level 125 range. One quest in particular caught his eye:
[Dungeon Quest: Lair of the Green Wyvern][Description: Form a party of five to defeat the Green Wyvern hidden in...][Individual Requirement: Top 250 in the Combat Ranking or have an Empyrean badge.]
Surprised by the requirement, Sora showed the quest to Kara, who raised an eyebrow. "You need to be in the top 250 to take on certain quests? They’re using rankings as a requirement? It also says Empyrean Rank, that should be for players above level 130? That’s pretty steep for a level 125 dungeon. The boss must be extremely difficult."
"Maybe that’s why people compete in the arena," Sora mused. "To show their worth and prove that they can be relied on."
"But aren’t badges enough for that?" Kara asked, puzzled by the need for additional qualifications.
Sora shrugged, clearly annoyed by this system. "Maybe they don’t trust the badge system. It seems pretty unnecessary to me." He paused, and added "Let’s update our badges while we’re here."
They approached the counter, where a clerk greeted them. "Good morning. How can I assist you?"
"We’d like to update our badges," Sora said, handing over his Astral badge, his current level showing as 110.
The clerk looked at his badge and nodded. "What rank are you applying for?"
"I want to apply for a Primordial Badge," Sora replied confidently.
The clerk’s expression changed slightly. "I’m sorry, sir, but our guild can only test up to the Sovereign level. Vortex adventurers and above must assess each other or provide proof of strength through special feats, like completing high-level quests or significant contributions in war. If you’re aiming for that rank, I’d suggest heading to the arena or joining a reputable guild. They can help assess your level properly."
Kara commented "So this is why there’s such a requirement ... The adventurer’s guild stops testing players after a certain threshold ... So people needed to create ways to assess each other... Some players can probably even stop updating their badge if the ranking is enough proof for strength."
The clerk nodded in agreement. "Exactly. I’m afraid you’ll have to show off your strength to others adventurers if you want to update your badges beyond the sovereign level. It’s all part of the culture here."