“Mind if I join you, girls?”
As Arthur was looking inside the hall, he heard someone approaching them. Looking back, it was the boy from earlier, Kev.
“What do you want now?”
“We’re busy now.”
“No, you can’t join.”
Weirdly enough, the girls’ reactions to his appearance weren’t as favorable as he expected. They seemed almost disgusted with him.
‘Hm? They don’t seem to like him for some reason. I wonder why.’ He mused as he stared back and forth between them, trying to figure out why it was the case.
Kev’s face darkened slightly when he saw their reactions but he still tried to keep a polite smile. “I’m just here to duel just like you guys. I mean no harm.”
“Hmph…”
“Let’s go, Elise.”
As they turned around to drag their friend away, Elise stopped them. “Hold on guys. He’s just here to look for duels just like us.”
“But, Elise…”
“Hey now, don’t be mean to him. Kev isn’t a bad person.” She replied in a firm and serious tone. Her usual jovial smile was gone for the first time ever and Arthur was surprised by it. She seemed almost unable to be serious with how smiley and energetic she was.
‘I guess everyone has a cold side, after all.’ He thought to himself as he watched the scene silently. It was really none of his business what was happening. He only knew Elise out of the entire group and even then, he wouldn’t consider them friends and more like acquintances.
‘Should I just leave? This is really awkward.’ Arthur contemplated as he turned around to walk inside. At that moment, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.
“Hey, can I have a moment of your time?” Kev asked with a smile.
Arthur felt the young man subtly grip his shoulder even harder than he should’ve. His eyes squinted for a moment before he turned around, making him release his grip.
“Of course, what do you want?”
“Ehem, I was wondering if you want to duel me if you don’t have any partners yet.”
“Kev? What are you doing?” Elise frowned.
“Is he crazy?”
“Isn’t he S-Class?”
All the girls were very confused by the weird behavior their classmate was exuding. Fighting an S-Class of all people was perhaps the dumbest thing they could do. They were S-Class for a reason after all.
“You want to duel me?” Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I was always curious how strong S-Class students are and you’re the perfect one to show me that. To improve, I must know how far I am from the top, after all.” He smiled.
“…”
‘He just wants to prove a point… I don’t know what point that it is, but he wants to prove it.’ Arthur blinked with an apathetic look. The way Kev eyed him earlier didn’t sit right with him and now he was asking for a duel, it didn’t take a genius to understand what he was trying to do.
The only problem with that logic was that he wanted to fight Arthur.
“I mean, sure. I guess you can be my first duel.” Arthur shrugged.
‘Good. He accepted. Even though he might be strong, my character in the game is top 1000. He won’t be able to expect what I can do.’ Kev thought to himself as he snickered secretly.
“Arthur…” Elise approached Arthur slowly. “Are you sure? If you want to fight people of the S-Classes, you don’t have to entertain us.”
“No, it’s fine. Our friend here is asking for an honest duel, I can’t turn him down now, can I?”
“Well said… Uh…”
Enjoy new stories from empire
“Arthur.”
“Yes, Arthur! I already like you.”
Arthur fought the urge to roll his eyes before he turned around and walked in. “Well, let’s go then. We don’t have to waste time idling around.”
Saying that, the duo stepped into the hall followed by the other girls. The entire place was bustling with movement. Arthur could see all kinds of students negotiating and talking as they set up their duels. The matter wasn’t simply about being a better fighter, it was also about choosing the right opponents to gain points in an efficient way.
Someone strong can have a higher chance of winning, but someone who knows how to pick their duels would gain more points because they played it right. Things like classes, fighting style, weak points and other factors determine if a fight could go great or bad.
“Let’s link our devices,” Arthur said as he turned around and pulled his Bluelink out. Tapping on the app, he pressed the ‘Duel’ button and the device immediately started searching for anyone near him that had the searching feature activated too.
A second later, Arthur felt the phone vibrate as the app found Kev’s account. Arthur could see his name, ranking- which was zero since he hadn’t gained any points yet- and his profile picture.
‘Hmm, very simple.’ Arthur thought to himself.
“Accept,” Kev replied.
After confirming the Duel, their devices made a notification sound, indicating that the linking process was successful.
“Now, we’re supposed to put our phones in the Capsules, right?” Arthur asked.
“Yes. The capsule will register all the information. But, before that, do you want this fight to be with basic characters or with our main characters?” Kev asked.
“… Hmm, I guess I wouldn’t mind it being with our main characters.”
‘That way, I can see how I can do as my usual self.’ He added in his head.
“Well, that’s fine by me.” Kev smiled. “I wanted to use our main characters to, to make the fight as real as possible.”
At the same time, the girls went to the stands and sat down, curiously watching as the two young men got to their capsules and prepared themselves.
“Why is he doing this?”
“He will clearly lose.”
“Maybe he has some sort of plan to win? What do you think, Elise?”
As they discussed the possible outcome of the fight, Elise simply remained silent as she stared at the large TV, waiting for it to start. Nobody knew what was going through her head at that moment.
Arthur closed his eyes slowly as he found himself entering the world of the game. He found himself inside the training realm.
However, before he can even step into it, he is met with an option.
[Which character do you choose?]
[Base character.]
[Main character.]
Staring at the options, he tapped the second one and immediately, he felt his body get covered in a weird sensation. Looking down, he watched his attire and weapon load into the game world. Arthur’s body also shifted as it accommodated to the intense rise in stats. In a matter of seconds, he looked exactly like his game character.
“Nice, this feels like home.” He muttered as he stepped into the training realm.
Looking up, he noticed that Kev had also arrived. His clothes looked exactly like that of a normal warrior.
‘Interesting, no special class.’ Arthur squinted his eyes.
At the same time, Kev slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. Eventually, his eyes landed on Arthur.
‘… Isn’t he wearing an armor? What’s that white frame around his body? Also… This feeling…’
Even though Arthur was hiding it very intentionally, Kev couldn’t stop himself from feeling it… A sudden sense of great danger filled his mind.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3