Ignorant of the developnts happening in the shadows, the world excitedly tuned in for the ANW tournant finals. Those with access to the ga, aka headsets or cabins, used them to log into a virtual stadium. Honestly, this thod gave viewers the best view possible.
Still, even if it was better than being at the actual stadium, being where the action was happening just left a different lasting experience. Not to ntion all the neat functions the company had brought out. Playing around and casting magic IRL had certainly been fun for everyone who had made the trip.
"Let's give a big welco to the two guilds who have shown themselves truly capable of vying for the first-ever ANW Guilds World Cup!"
Due to the nature of the tournant, being split into three categories, there were three 'World Cups'. Another new addition to this year's tournant. And what would officially establish it as the first World Cup.
The other categories had already been finished and their world champions crowned. The final was the match between Japan's national team, Nihon, and Phoenix, an independent team.
Excitent was high, and while many believed Phoenix would win in the end, one could never be sure. Especially not when one guild carried the pride of their holand and the other had no such weighty expectations.
The announcer continued to talk, laying the field for the battle to co. Most viewers were already well aware, but so information was new to everyone. Then ca a massive bomb.
"With all that said, I would like to change the subject for a minute." The announcer, standing in the center of the arena—with holograms illustrating his earlier talks—smiled at the crowd.
"Last year, Eldrian surprised us with an unexpected visit in the finals. At the ti, we had tried to downplay the event. But the truth is he had managed to find where the tournants are being held."
"Indeed, the tournants aren't happening on so different server. He didn't hack his way into the match. He found his own way within the ga."
"I know many of you have already suspected this. Naturally, you might ask where the arenas for the tournants are." The announcer paused. "Well, Gaia is simply too massive. It's a world several hundred tis the size of Earth. Honestly, it doesn't make much sense that such a world can even exist."
That got a bunch of nods from the viewers. They had simply thought that the 'maps' were sohow sectioned off on servers or sothing.
"The truth is, the entire world is being simulated at all tis." That didn't quite make things clear to all the viewers. "What I am trying to say, is this world, several hundred tis the size of Earth, is always active."
"You probably already know this. The NPCs can't be as realistic as they are if they were constantly placed into an inactive state to save computational power."
"Without getting into specifics..." The announcer started, now beginning the doctored story he was about to tell the world. "We simply don't have the servers to fill the entire world. Honestly, we have questioned the developnt team several tis on why they had made such a massive world."
"Well, we never managed to get a clear answer. But we now had a problem. We couldn't manage the entirety of Gaia. Not without losing the burden, sohow. The easiest thod is, sadly, conflict. And limited the inhabitable land."
"That's right! The source of the Invasions is our attempts at keeping the ga active at all tis!"
It wasn't a perfect answer to the questions players had been asking, but it explained so of their questions. Sure, it gave them a slew of new ones. But, for now, players who had searched for a reason behind Miracle's apparent cruelty, were happy.
The NPCs were too realistic. Miracle's stance had always felt extrely cruel. Inducing wars that could even lead to genocide, without flinching. Never backing down. Always saying it was just how it needed to be.
If this was the truth behind it, the players could accept it. Sure, it made them question why the company would ever make a world larger than their servers could support. But given all the crazy things going on behind the scenes, maybe it was in soway necessary. Or so many players thought.
"Clever, isn't it?" Erik asked. He and the others were watching from in their 'waiting room'. A virtual space similar to personal hos.
"Not really. But I can see what they're aiming for." Nikki replied. "They've gone too far in a lot of ways. And this is setting the stage for future reveals. Really, it doesn't an anything. But it satisfies so questions players have been asking more and more off."
"Still doesn't touch on the subject of magic." Ilmadia countered, and as if on cue, the announcer looped back to Eldrian.
"What does this have to do with Eldrian's surprise visit in last year's finals?" He asked, giving a few seconds for everyone's attention to return.
"The answer is rather simple. While we reduced the amount of enhanced land, the other land still exists. Maybe we can put it into an inactive state. But who knows what would happen if we handled it incorrectly. We don't want to risk the realism of ANW slipping. Not for any reason. The consequences could be dire..."
"Since we already had the land, our solution for the tournants was to simply place their arenas in these lands. They are uninhabited, after all."
Not wishing to make his speech too long, the announcer explained that Eldrian had simply found a secret thod of getting to these lands. Making it sound like a hidden quest or sothing.
Naturally, this got the players hyped. As for Eldrian, he couldn't co out and say he had had the help of the AI—who was responsible for both creating and maintaining ANW.
The AI, according to the public, was simply an advanced help system. Not actual sentient beings. Heck, while most players thought of NPCs as 'real', they wouldn't, couldn't, see them as the sa as other people.
They were realistic, and real in all sense of the word. Yet, they weren't really humans. They were still NPCs.
asked, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Will it be Phoenix? A guild who has, for years, shown their It was an ugly can of worms that most players didn't want to deal with. As long as things didn't go too far when in their sights, they could turn a blind eye.
"Now. With all that said, I think we should get back to the match. It is sure to be an existing one. Who will co out the winner?" He asked, pausing for dramatic effect.
"Will it be Phoenix? A guild who has, for years, shown their strength. Who had claid the first clear of many high-ranked quests, and also the first clear of an Epic-Ranked Dungeon."
"A guild which has a claim on not one, not two, but three forts. One for which they were given governntal rights by the kingdom. A second which one of their mbers has claid rights due to their nobility ranking. And a third, which they have built themselves from the ground up."
"Or..." He paused again. "... Will it be Nihon, representing their holand? Fighting for their pride and honor, wishing to establish themselves as the first country to lay claim on the ANW World Cup!"
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