The next day the atmosphere in the ga was quite strange. Everyone was trying to sohow increase their strength before the big tournant.
Since about a week ago the news barely talked about any other topic. The tournant had reached the entire population of the federation. Young or old, rich or poor, everyone knew about it.
The ministry for virtual reality had announced various rewards for outstanding performances. All kinds of organizations got ready to poach the top players.
The ga's influence could be vividly felt in all corners of the federation. Even people who looked down on gas were forced to listen.
Right after entering the ga, Liam registered for the solo contest. He and his friends had already registered for the group and the guild competition a few days ago.
Realizing what Liam was doing, Silent Acacia let out a sigh:
“I guess there go all my chances for first place.”
“Don't worry, we can still fight for second.”, joked Quickstep.
Cyclone grinned at the couple:
“You're quite confident.”
“Of course. That's what we've been waiting for. Our chance for redemption!”
“You know what, I will register as well. Let's decided the second place between the three of us.”
Quickstep looked at Cyclone strangely. Although the mage was powerful, a one vs. one fight demanded a different kind of skill set. With Quickstep's and Silent Acacia's experience they didn't rate the chances of any of their friends highly.
However, they didn't want to dispirit their friends, so Quickstep and Silent Acacia only nodded smilingly.
Overhearing the conversation Bloody Edge and Watchful Eye decided to register as well. They had a more realistic perspective, not vying for the top, but rather joining for the fun.
Most of Dream Avenue's mbers had similar thoughts. Just by listening to their conversations one could feel the excitent in the air. Most players signed up for the solo and team competitions.
Throughout the federation people realized how insanely high the number of participants would be. Discussions were rife everywhere.
“Our Grenal Star is so small, with just about one million players. But surveys have stated that at least 700.000 plan on signing up for the tournant. How is this supposed to work?”
“Right, the computing power needed will be insane.”
“And the organization. This sounds completely impossible to plan out. The ministry must be in despair.”
“I heard the ministry has no control over the tournant. It's C alone.”
“Sure, sure. Nice conspiracy theory. As if the governnt would relinquish control of sothing like Fate of Crunaboul.”
“No, really. That guy on MyTube said so!”
“Let prove you wrong. My cousin was chosen by the ministry as announcer. So, they do have control over the tournant.”
“Really?”
“Would I lie to you?”
“Right, I applied as well but unfortunately wasn't accepted.”
While the casual players were discussing, those harbouring higher ambitions were pushing themselves on the last day before the tournant.
Thanks to beating the world boss, every Dream Avenue player gained a new achievent which gave them a permanent EXP boost of 1%.
This might sound little but over a long ti it was a considerable advantage.
Now the players were trying to make the best of it, training all day to maybe advance one more level before the tournant began.
Cyclone had the sa idea, but she was stopped by Liam. The veteran argued that even if they managed to advance by a level, the impact wouldn't be that big. It was more important to train their skills.
He took his friends away forcing them to learn all kinds of combat techniques, improve their flash step, and even morize so skills which they had to be cautious about.
The party trained until they were ntally exhausted, their brains dizzy from all the information. Finally, Liam let them off but only because Fate of Crunaboul shut down for the day.
This evening rida prepared a sumptuous al, and the siblings ate with relish.
Suddenly Liam received a call from Silva. She inford him that the construction of the gaming house was on track, and they would be able to move in in two weeks.
The mood during the al imdiately dropped. rida felt a pang in her chest. Over the last three months Liam, Serena, and rida had beco extrely close. Although they were not quite at the level of family mbers, it wasn't too far off.
Serena also looked reluctant to separate from the generous doctor. After a few years of living on the street she finally had a place to call ho again.
Liam realized how difficult this had to be for his sister. He did his best to comfort her throughout the evening. Only as the trio watched the news together, and the topic switched to the tournant were they distracted, and Serena found her smile again.
Looking at the sparkling eyes of his sister, Liam's thoughts also solidified.
It seems she is really looking forward to it. Don't worry, Serena. Just watch your big brother take the first place!
Liam went to bed with a new determination. The next day he opted for a light training before a hearty breakfast.
Looking out of the window the streets were obviously less crowded today. Billboards advertised the tournant. Companies used the faces of the stars they sponsored, gambling on them placing strongly.
Suddenly a dissatisfied snort ca from behind Liam's back.
“Hmpf! They are all ignorant!”
Liam turned around, sowhat confusedly looking at Serena.
“What are you reading?”
“Here, look. These news stations are making all kinds of predictions. But they have no idea!”
“Oh, really? How do they rate my chances?”
“Not high enough! So don't even place you into the top ten. Stupid!”
Liam couldn't help but chuckle, not taking it to heart. But his curiosity was roused anyways. He inquired further:
“So, who are they rating highly?”
“As always, it’s those in the central star systems and its surroundings. Those journalists are all bootlickers if you ask ! They even write that their information might not be up to date, yet this doesn't prevent them from praising those players endlessly.”
“Perhaps they don't want to take any risks and thus only use famous nas. No one wants to support a risky pick and end up with a damaged reputation if the player turns out to be lacklustre.”
“Hmpf. Just say they don't have any balls!”
Liam was startled, imdiately putting on a serious face:
“Serena, who taught you such a language?!”
The young girl froze, realizing that she said sothing wrong. She imdiately sold her teacher out:
“It was Uncle Braag...”
Liam's eyes twitched.
Old man, you better pray that you won't et in the tournant...
Sowhere in a nice, quiet house in Five Lake City a middle-aged man was happily eating a delicious breakfast prepared by his wife when his body suddenly froze. He coughed, nearly choking on his bread.
His wife imdiately patted his back in worry:
“El, are you alright? I knew you'd get nervous before the tournant!”
A youthful, girlish voice imdiately chid in:
“Dad, you got this!”
Imdiately a smiled ford on Braag's lips. With such a caring family was there anything to be afraid of?
anwhile Liam and Serena continued discussing the rankings. Serena browsed through the various news sites, before picking the one she was most satisfied with.
“Red Branch! At least soone with foresight! They put you in first place. Wait, I'll share it on my Mirage fan account.”
When Liam heard that soone actually ranked him first he smiled faintly, but Serena's next words quickly surprised him even more.
“What? Fan account?”
“Mhm. I, Mirage Fan #1, naturally need to make a fan account for you on Storygram! We have close to six million followers already! Great, isn't it?!”
Serena turned towards Liam with a bright smile, clearly expecting prise. Liam pondered over if for a second but didn’t find anything wrong with it. He stepped behind Serena, who was sitting on the couch, patted her head, and praised her generously.
The young girls smile broadened, shining brighter than the sun.
But afterwards Liam still cautioned her not to divulge any critical information. Although the most sensitive information, their address, would be public anyways after they moved to the guild house.
While Serena prepared her post Liam talked so more about the fan account with her, learning that the idea ca from Cyclone, who naturally also set up a popular account for Dream Avenue.
After Serena was finished, she showed the post to her brother and Liam could finally read the article.
It turned out that Red Branch was so small, obscure site based in Red Oak City, stressing in the article that it was only right to support their local heroes, thus placing Liam at the top of the list.
The veteran rolled his eyes at the arguntation, amused as this news site might have accidentally landed a jackpot.
But ignoring the text about himself Liam was more curious about the other players. He went through the top players together with Serena, keeping the nas of his potential competitors in his mind.
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