The minute hand on the clock stretched closer to freedom, and the hum of eager anticipation began to fill the air. The professor’s voice, once vibrant with discussions and teachings, now softly faded into the background as the class inched towards its inevitable conclusion.
With a nod and a smile, the professor signaled the end of our ti together, and the room erupted into movent. Laughter and whispers hinted at plans for the lunch break or relief from the academic rigor that had montarily wrapped everyone in its embrace… that includes .
As I hurriedly tried to leave the room, the inevitable transpired. The reason I was hurrying to leave in the first place was to prevent this from happening, sadly the two boys who approached could not take a hint.
"Hey, you're the dual caster that supports Elizabeth, right?"
Accepting my fate, I prepared for the unavoidable confrontation. I surveyed the boy who approached . His face is frad by a cascade of long, tousled blond hair. The strands fall effortlessly, caressing his shoulders and occasionally veiling his eyes, adding a carefree touch to his presence. He carries himself with a certain laid-back confidence as if his unruly mane is a testant to his free-spirited nature.
Who is this guy again? I think his na is Bonnie or sothing?
“Yes, you are correct,” I confird his question.
"Aweso! I'll have you know, I'm a good DPS myself. I'm one of the best spear users in the school. My friends even say that my spear thrust is the fastest they have seen. So could argue my attacks are even faster than Murasa's. I can even beat Zetta in a 1v1 duel if we have the sa gears with my ultimate move! No one could dodge my ultimate spear technique, not even Yuusha could see it coming with how fast it is!" Bonnie bragged.
"...I see."
I an, what could I even say to that? This guy has confidence, that’s for sure.
"We could play team PvP together if you want so we could raise each other's ranks. I could carry you and you could support on the sidelines! We could be the perfect team!"
"Uhmm..." his upfront offer made speechless.
As I tried to co up with a diplomatic way to reject his advances, he was imdiately chided by his friend.
"Don't you see you're making her uncomfortable! Sorry about this guy Katherine, he is a bit off in the head."
Oh, this one I know! We worked on a group project one ti. I'm pretty sure his na is Alexander. If I rember correctly, he's a pretty chill dude.
"Hey! You could at least back up here, Lex!" Bonnie complained.
"It's fine Alexander, I’m not bothered at all,” I lied. “Although, I'm sorry uh... Bonnie, but we are quite busy practicing for the tournant, hence I don’t have much ti,” I politely declined.
“B-bonnie? My na is Ronnie though..." Bonnie, I an, Ronnie corrected.
His friend, for his part, laughed at him... hard. "HAHAHHA... looks like you got rejected, Bonnie.”
His friend's face reddened, and I'm pretty sure mine too. I was sure as heck his na was Bonnie, it was not intentional I got his na wrong!
God, I'm so bad at rembering nas.
"U-hmm so, yeah maybe so other ti," I said as I awkwardly retreated to salvage what's left of our dignity, both Bon-Ronnie and mine.
I got as far away as I could from the two and exited the room, all the while still hearing Ronnie's friend laughing mockingly at him.
I sighed.
This has been happening frequently for the past few days. A lot of students play CoA as it is considered a 'fad' in the younger generation due to its worldwide popularity. I honestly appreciate them for wanting to get close to cause they share the sa hobby as mine, but it's getting a bit too much for soone as unsociable as . Luckily, it's lunchti, I could just eat silently at the park while watching cute animal videos on my phone to pass up the ti for the next class.
On my way to the school park, I was accosted by two well-known thugs of our year in the school hallway. They cornered , as if a school bully preying on their victims to take their lunch money leaving no chance to escape.
“Oh, look, Liz, what do we have here, seems like we found a stray Kat,” thug A teased.
"I know right Lenna, what a coincidence! Who would have known she would go in the direction of the school park of all places?” thug B joined in.
I stared at them, unamused.
Coincidence my ass! I already know you two were waiting for a while on that spot for a while.
"What is it now?" I said tiredly.
It can’t be helped that I feel exhausted this early. My social battery is already running out due to my previous blunder and I still have 3 subjects later… how depressing.
"We just want you to join us at the cafeteria, you always eat at the park these past few days."
“There are too many people there and it’s too noisy. I can’t relax in an atmosphere like that.”
“Oh co on, please Kat, just this once? I just want to discuss the tournant with you," Liz pleaded cutely.
It might work so other tis but not this ti, I desperately need my ti to recharge my social battery.
“Or… you two can just co with and we can discuss it at the school park,” I gave a helpful solution to a nonexistent problem.
"I never bring my lunch; You know I need to buy food at the cafeteria. Why do you always want to eat at the park anyway? Don't you want to spend ti with anymore," she made a sad face.
Ack, a critical hit! You can't just coerce with a face like that, it's illegal! I know what you’re trying to do Liz, but as it pains to admit... it seems to be working pretty well… how devious!
"I-its not like that, I just find it more peaceful there, especially now that..." I paused, finding the right words.
"That you beca famous in the school?" Lenna tried to finish my sentence for .
"...I'm getting bothered a lot is what I would've liked to say."
Lenna giggled at that. "That's why you need Liz close, she can redirect all the botherso people buzzing around you to her."
"Hey! Please don't treat like so kind of human flytrap!"
Lenna ignored her and continued. "And who knows, more people might approach you even when they see you're eating alone at the park."
She makes so good points; it is true that I’ve been bothered a couple of tis even when I’m alone at the school park or school library lately. I guess I'll just have to pick my poison. Hopefully, going with Liz and the gang to the cafeteria is less lethal.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On the way to the cafeteria, a couple of students greeted Liz, even more than before due to the news of her upcoming tournant. It also helps that she's the captain and ace of our team making her the go-to for anyone interested in knowing more about our team. Add her charismatic personality and sociable nature to the table, she is not soone you can simply ignore if you happen to pass by her.
This is good though; As Lenna helpfully suggested earlier, she is doing her job well serving as my shade. She could do all the talking from here on out while I do... preferably nothing.
We arrived at the cafeteria just in ti to hear a commotion. Unsurprisingly, the perpetrator is Roml. Benny and Raynolds are also with him, although they are only both looking apprehensive at the sidelines, not backing up Roml in the slightest. Hearing an argunt in front of was bad enough, knowing the cause was an acquaintance of mine makes it even worse.
“Why won’t you guys just leave our spot?!” Roml irritably said.
“There are no 'spots' in this place, it's open to all the students. Anyone can sit anywhere they like,” the boy made a valid point that is extrely hard to refute.
“Tsk! Do you know who we are? We are friends with the Paradigm team, the one who qualified for the ‘Champion’s Brawl’ tournant! If you know what's best for you, you better give up this seat for us now,” Roml countered with an extrely invalid and illogical one.
Don't use our nas to perpetrate bullying you dolt! I'm kind of regretting going here now.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t play VR gas, so I don’t care in the slightest,” Roml’s opponent refuted.
Roml was taken aback by the statent, like what he just heard was an impossibility. It is as if he thought that everyone in the world, no matter their circumstances, poor and rich, babies and grandparents, played Champions of Andartha.
“Wha-! Y-you’re retarded though!”
Having lost in a battle of wits, Roml ended up insulting his foe, fully intent on making this a battle of insults. Well, he’s not entirely wrong. If you can’t beat them at their own ga, just play a different one. Preferably one that you are sure to win.
Liz sighed. "I'll just go stop Roml before things escalate. Please find a good seat for us while I'm at it okay?"
Liz went quickly to diate, leaving and Lenna behind.
“You heard the boss, let’s leave those guys to Liz and find a good spot.”
Lenna dragged to finish the quest our captain gave us. We found a relatively large one that has more than enough room for the whole gang. The only caveat is that it is near the entrance. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. It’s hard to find a good spot that can host our entire gang at lunchti no less.
Lenna and I chatted about school-related stuff while waiting for the others. A few minutes later, Liz and the others arrived with their food and I already brought out mine earlier. The boys greeted when they saw seated right next to Lenna. Raynolds greeted with his usual antics. I greeted all of them albeit more casually. They had beco close friends of mine over the past few weeks so I can go by without acting overly polite around them.
“Here’s your usual order Ma’am,” Liz teased while giving Lenna her food.
“You know quite well,” Lenna responded favorably while receiving the appetizing club sandwich.
“Anyway, you boys need to stop being so arrogant! You’ve been bragging about the tournant as if you guys were the ones who were qualified. You might get into a physical fight if this keeps up!” Lenna chided the three.
“Please let it be known to all those present that I did not condone his actions, Roml was acting solely on his own volition,” Ray defended himself.
“M- too!” Benny added.
“Hmph, I could take that nerd in a fistfight,” Roml bragged.
We all stared at him judgingly, especially us girls who don’t condone that kind of barbaric action. I an VR world is fine but in the real world where they could potentially hurt themselves or even be fatally injured? That is a big no-no for .
He wilted at our stares and conceded.
“F-fine, alright already! It won’t happen again, happy now?”
“Good enough,” Lenna acquiesced.
As we proceeded to eat our lunch, the topic went to the Under Twenty tournant.
“I heard the whole tournant will be held for a week, right?” Lenna inquired.
"Yes, an opening ceremony for the first day. Interviews and pictorials for the second day…" Liz droned on.
...What? My mind blanked, not hearing the rest of what Liz was saying. Interviews and pictorials!? Nobody told about those! Although in hindsight, it is to be expected. If they showcase the personalities of the participants, the fans would likely have their pick on who they would want to support, making the marketing of the tournant more successful.
“…And the championship on the last day,” Liz finished just in ti for to return to the present.
“But… you can refuse the interviews and such, right?” I looked at Liz expectantly, almost pleadingly.
“Of course not, we already agreed to their terms when we participated in the qualifiers for the tournant.”
What the heck?! Who the hell would agree to such despicable terms like those?!
My shocked face must have been obvious because Raynolds followed up with an answer before I even asked it.
“Oh, you didn't know Miss Katherine? It was on the terms and agreent’s part on the online form they sent us to fill up when registering for the qualifiers,” Ray helpfully added.
Nobody reads those! It is just sothing you check to show that you agree and get on with your life! This is bad, I've been had. I was scamd into signing a contract that won't let escape interviews. Well, it was my fault for not reading through the contract since if it was really that unreasonable, the whole CoA team would face a huge backlash that could risk their impeccable reputation. Therefore, I instantly thought the contracts I agreed to were reasonable without double-checking. Well, it is sensible for most people, but not for soone like .
“Are you guys going to LA with us?” Liz queried the gang, bringing back to the present.
“We are not excused for missing the classes on the week of the tournant like you guys so we can’t. Don't worry we will watch you guys play and support you with all we have on live stream, so good luck out there!” Lenna cheered.
"Yeah! And if anyone talks trash on you guys on live chat, I'll go keyboard warrior mode on them with insults!" Roml added.
The gang continued chatting just as the whole lunch ended with thinking of how to handle the pressure from the crowd and the interviews from the upcoming tournant. A bright idea popped into my mind. Is it possible to forfeit my place and let another player substitute? No, no, no, I can't leave Liz alone without proper support just because of my unsociable nature. I have no choice. I have to do this for her. I imdiately shut down my ingenious plan.
Hopefully, the trip to LA won’t be too much for an introverted person like .
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