( The special event lobby, Leo’s POV )
As Leo stood rooted to his spot admiring the diverse gear of the rankers present, his brother spotted him and walked up to him, as he slung his hand around Leo’s shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Leo questioned, sounding confused as Luke began pulling on him, as he dragged him towards a circle of rankers that were standing and chatting amongst one another.
Amongst the circle of rankers present, there was but one man that Leo officially recognised, which was Cervantez, while everyone else seed completely new to him.
“Hey guys, let introduce to you all my brother, Leo Skyshard, the current number two on the rankings leaderboard–” Luke said, as he brought Leo to the circle of rankers present and introduced him without his permission.
“You an number one right? I an, we don’t count ‘TheBoss’…. That guys in a league of his own–” A handso looking blonde guy wearing light armor said, as everyone cracked up at his joke.
“Hahaha–” Leo fake laughed, trying to blend in, as although he had no idea as to what was going on, he tried to be respectful and blend in, since Luke seed to wish that he did.
“Leo, et PurpleRock, SpicyRan, Big Daddy and Sir Cole” Luke introduced, as although Leo did not know these guys personally, he knew their gaming ID’s on the leaderboards.
“Hello–” Leo said, waving awkwardly as everyone seed to judge his appearance, checking him out from head to toe, in what Leo found to be a disturbing exercise.
Unlike them, who were all in full gear, he was only wearing pants and a loose fitting t-shirt, with no armor or protection at all.
“I’m sorry…. Are you wearing any detection blocking items? Because I can’t get a read on your status panel at all–” said PurpleRock, as the others imdiately nodded at his words.
“Yeah, I can’t either, which is odd because I don’t see any items on your body” Big Daddy concurred, as Leo felt slightly pissed by their high-handed attitude now.
“No, my panel is just naturally protected, I used a special item to achieve this effect” Leo said, lying through his teeth, as everyone nodded, seeming impressed.
“You have to tell more about this item…. I want it too” Spicy Ran said, sounding excited, as Leo shrugged his shoulders and decided to deal with his query like a professional.
“Sure, give let’s say a asly sum of 1.1 million gold coins and I’ll get the item for you–” Leo said, as everyone’s jaws hung open when Leo casually stated the price of 1.1 million gold coins.
“I’m sorry, did you call the sum of 1.1 million gold coins ‘asly’?” asked Purple Rock, who seed the most shocked of the bunch.
“Yeah? You guys have a few millions to spare right? I an you must…. You all are rankers… right?” Leo said, pretending to be confused, knowing full well that none of the rankers had anywhere near that sum of money.
“Hahaha, Leo, you need to understand that you’re the only non-combat class player standing here.
The rest of us are fighters and we don’t have the kind of liquidity as you do” Cervantez said, trying to pacify the situation, as he internally sighed at Leo’s antics.
“You’re a non-combatant?” PurpleRock asked, sounding shocked as Leo nodded his head and extended his hand once again.
“Hey, I’m Leo Skyshard, a rchant class player.
I earn a few million gold coins every month, so I just assud that all of you other rankers must too…. No offense” Leo said, as Purple Rock shook his hand with his jaw wide open.
“Wow…. I never knew non-combat players could make it this high in the rankings and be so rich too.
Hahaha, if I find a sponsor like Mr. Skyshard then I can probably afford the most expensive gear in the ga with ease” Spicy Ran said, as after realizing just how formidable Leo was, their tone in judging and addressing Leo changed significantly.
“I only invest in things that give a return on investnt…. If Mr Spicy Ran gives a good reason to sponsor your gear purchase, I have no problems doing so” Leo said with an amiable smile on his face, as with this one small promise of endorsent, he won over the hearts of all the rankers present.
Once the rest of them realized that Leo wasn’t a direct competitor but rather a wealthy patron who they could form a symbiotic relationship with, everyone ward up to him big-ti, making small-talk easy for Leo.
As he hung-around them, waiting for the official event to start, Leo heard many jealous tit-bits of conversations happening between the group, as although everyone seed to be all smiles on the surface, the underlying tension was palpable.
“Does anyone see him here? Although there are a thousand people here and it’s possible I’m missing him, I can’t see that black robed masked bastard” Purple Rock said, as he looked around the lobby trying to spot ‘TheBoss’.
“Both you and Cervantez had great fights against him in the Grand Tournant…. However, that beast was in a league of his own.
I hate him so much, but I also respect him equally as much” Spicy Ran said, addressing Luke, as he tried to suggest that both Luke and Cervantez had great showings against ‘TheBoss’ in the grand tournant.
“Yeah, it’s impossible to like that guy, I hate him too….
Just his na alone, ‘TheBoss’. How fucking domineering.
And he has the skills to back it up too….
It’s almost like, I have the confidence of beating everyone in this lobby in a fight, however, I don’t think I can win against him” Big Daddy said, as the rest of the group rolled their eyes at his words.
“Co on, I’ll take you down anyday…. There’s no chance you beat ” Cervantez told Big Daddy, as the two began to bicker like old friends.
Apparently, Big Daddy was Cervantez’s neighbor in Sector S, and the two shared als together often.
For Leo however, this banter proved to be extrely interesting as this was the first ti that he got to listen to people candidly talking about ‘TheBoss’ and what they really thought about him.
As he witnessed their obsession with ‘TheBoss’, which compelled them to keep talking about him although he wasn’t present in the room, Leo felt extrely satisfied internally, as he knew that he had psychologically cented his place as the number one player, even within the minds of the rankers.
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