Chapter 35

Chapter 35

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I felt a sudden sense of urgency to get ready for school, but I remembered that today was a weekend. I relaxed for a bit, knowing that I didn’t have to prepare but my blood pumped again when I remembered why I set up my alarm in the first place.

Later today, we will be fighting the first qualifier match.

I got out of bed and did my morning routine. I had to wake up a little bit early today since our match will be at 9 p.m. and I need to focus and mentally prepare myself before the match. I ate a hearty meal and listened to relaxing music to calm my nerves.Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

I thought that I would not feel nervous at all since I have such capable teammates but I guess the more I knew how important this qualifier was to them, the more I'm hesitant to screw up. I don’t think we will lose in the first round but you never know what might happen in a match between two opposing teams.

Anything can happen and it would be best to prepare for the worst outcome, though at the same time, there are things you cannot control, and just do your best on whatever you can.

I heard my phone ring; it woke me out of my musings and I saw that Liz was calling. I immediately answered it.

“Liz? What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing just checking up on you 'cause you weren’t online yet,” she said with less levity in her voice, far from her usual demeanor.

Is she nervous perhaps?

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 8:47 a.m., and the assembly time for our schedule was already near. I was so engrossed in my pre-battle meditation that I almost forgot the match, how ironic it would be if I missed the match because of it. She doesn’t need to know about that blunder.

“I was just calming my nerves, I was about to go online before you called,” I threw an excuse.

“Ohh I guess this is your first tournament too so I guess it could be a bit nerve-wracking, hehe,” She laughed nervously. A clear sign she was not used to high-stakes matches like this.

“Yeah, I’ll go online now so wait for me a bit,”

“Sure, see you soon...” she said as she ended the call.

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I appeared inside a rustic wooden room near the door of the inn in the city of demons. I recall that this was the last place I went before going offline. A wave of warmth and comfort embraces me. The cozy lobby is adorned with earthy tones and charming, vintage décor. A quaint reception desk stands to one side, where a friendly innkeeper NPC offers a warm smile and a hearty welcome.

While contemplating whether to message my team or not, I immediately got an invite to a private lobby.

Game Master Rudy invited you to a private lobby, Would You like to Accept? Y/N

Game masters are administrators of the CoA community for events like this. I knew plenty of GMs that served as observers or regulators back then. I can only assume they’ve increased in numbers with the growth of CoA. I have never heard of this Game Master before but I can only be sure that they would be impartial to the rules given that it is their job in the first place and the CoA team is very picky on who they recruit.

I accepted the invitation.

Guild: Cosmic Pirates

Duel wr: Hidden

Wins:

Matches:

Team Rank matches wr: Hidden

1v1 Rank matches wr: Hidden

Wins: Hidden

Matches:

id#:***********

Introduction:

Oh, he’s hiding his PVP stats. A good strategy since we cannot pinpoint his strengths and weaknesses. Liz suggested that the team also do the same but I mostly convinced them to keep it as it is since it would be an intimidating factor to show that our team has 2 rankers. It is also a good tactic to show that I had almost zero ranked and team matches in my stats. It will likely throw them out of their assumptions for a better chance to outplay them.

I identified their whole team and it’s the same. The only important information I could glean from it was their name, which is nothing beneficial to us. They really are determined to win this qualifier since they are covering all their bases for potential disadvantages. My respect for them is gradually increasing, except for the trash-talking strategy though. That is clearly not my cup of tea.

Chu arrived. Upon his arrival, I saw looks of discomfort from the other team. This is likely due to the fact that we have 2 rankers in our team, which is pretty rare for a nonprofessional e-sports team. Seems like our strategy paid off. This will be a good blow to their morale. As Tactical always says whenever he gathers information on our enemy, ‘The battle starts even before the fight begins’.

“RuG, it’s another ranker,” I heard one of his teammates whisper.

“There's nothing to be scared of, it's basically 3v4, and we have no chance of losing,” their leader RuG rallied them to keep their morale.

I commend him for his leadership. He is doing his best to keep their team's confidence high. Disparaging the enemy team is one good tactic for keeping their spirits up since having high morale in matches can improve a team’s chances of victory, although it’s not a tactic I would use. He might have plenty of tournament experiences due to his bearing and actions so far or he might just be a proud toxic narcissist. Although I think it’s a combination of both.

I looked at Liz. She on the other hand is uncharacteristically silent. This does not bode well for our morale seeing our ace like this, but I don’t know how to give her assurance since I'm not good at those. I wish Tactical was here, that guy always knows what to say in every situation.

“Now that we are all here, the battle will start momentarily. I will act as a witness to the outcome of this qualifier match. I also have full autonomy to disqualify players as I see fit therefore, I advise you to comply with my suggestions and regulations. I also have the full authority to record the matches as stated in the terms and conditions you all agreed to upon signing into the qualifiers. This match will also be live-streamed on our official site as are all of the matches for the qualifiers. The videos will be used as proof of the match results and the records may be used in the promotion of the game as the CoA Team sees fit,” she stated in a practiced tone.

I already heard most of it last time I entered the AC so this is nothing new to me. However, the promotion made me a little apprehensive about the match as it was not in the rules of the last qualifiers I joined.

“Any questions before we start?” she asked as she looked at each of us.

“Let’s just get this over with already, it's only the first round and we still have plenty of teams to beat,” their leader, RuG, stated confidently.

The GM nodded to both our team leaders before she spoke in a voice that had the most emotion I had heard since the gathering of both teams.

“Then, the first round of the qualifiers, Team Paradigm versus Team Rugged Pirates, officially starts!”