A walkway ahead of me lit up like a red carpet leading me to the two game pods in the middle. Except instead of carpet, it was an LED-lit walkway with cameras and an audience staring me down.

  I was nudged forward, and the walk to my game pod began. My family spotted me right away. Anna’s hands shot up amongst the cheers as she held up a banner that spanned the width of four seats, with the help of mom and uncle Ricky. On it was a shadow dagger, clearly drawn by my sister, and text that read, “Assassin A.”

  A smile came out on its own, and I waved at her. Just assassin must have been too embarrassing, I was guessing, so she added A to the end. It did somewhat fit.

  I walked past all the cheers and attention and snuck into my game-pod, Sullivan eyeing me as he got into his. We both loaded up into a new sky island—this time a crystalline dungeon with a tall roof.

  Sullivan had a new adamantite greataxe, just as expensive as the previous one, and the rest of his gear seemed to have upgraded as well. I batted an eye. Did he have rich parents or what? Surely, he wasn’t good enough at the game to afford all that.

  It’s a dark arena, I thought. Sullivan will probably claim it’s unfair since I’ll blend in…

  Well, might as well win without using Shadow Dash, then.

  The announcer called, “Fight!” and I gained control of my limbs. Immediately, Sullivan activated what looked like [Barbarian Skin]—a skill that amplified his class’s 50% critical strike resistance to 75%. That gave him the confidence to charge me right away.

  I wouldn’t one-shot him with a regular crit, then, and I didn’t have any targets to charge up Lichfang for a one-shot. So I slid Lichfang into Soul Orb Of Rathax, creating the combination before picking up The Immortal again.

  I let Sullivan close the gap simply by running. He opened rashly with [Charging Strike], swinging at me with a two-handed axe.

  That already left him open for an easy dodge and a counter-attack, though it seemed intentional. He expected me to go aim for a critical strike, which he intended to tank with [Barbarian Skin].

  Curse Of Rathax would probably one-shot him anyway, I thought. At least if I had [Blood Desperation] active. But that wouldn’t have been any fun, now, would it?

  I stood calmly, perfectly still, and lifted my tiny dagger, The Immortal, against his huge axe.

  [Perfect Block!]

  Sullivan blinked, finding his axe stopped as if it had hit a solid wall. Whatever rhythm he had hoped to follow was broken. He cast [Swing] in confusion.

  I did the same thing. [Perfect Block], and Sullivan’s attack stopped in place.

  “You piece of shit,” Sullivan growled as his greataxe grew thorns, activating some sort of weapon enhancement skill. He wound up the heaviest overhead blow I’d seen in a long time.

  Oh shit, I thought, realizing that landing a perfect block probably wasn’t possible. If the wind-up to an attack was that long, perfect blocks weren’t always possible even if my dagger was in the right place. That one was heavy enough that even The Immortal would struggle.

  But it was also utterly reckless, leaving Sullivan completely open.

  I side-stepped. The axe crashed against the ground, while I hopped to the side almost like Annath with her sword dances, tapping him on the shoulder. He flinched, and that was when I drove [Curse Of Rathax] straight through his upper traps, into his neck.

  [Critical Strike!]

  [Cry Of The Abandoned Phoenix - Active Conditions Met]

  [Critical Strike!]

  Sullivan’s eyes turned red as a fiery explosion went off inside of him, and the slash sound announced me the victor of the first round.

  ***

  Veyra: “You silly show-off lol”

  After defeating Sullivan two to zero, I returned to the warm-up room to see that message on my phone.

  Assassin: “Gotta impress my sister a little.”

  Veyra: “Aren’t you worried people will learn all your tricks and counter you?”

  Veyra: “Oh wait, you’re not saving any tricks. It’s all just monster avoidance xD”

  Assassin: “I’m saving your beautiful amulet for the finals though.”

  Veyra: “I swear to god if you forget to equip it against Henrift…”

  Assassin: “Do I get extra points if I beat him with the shadowfang charm?”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Veyra: “ha-ha -.-”

  “What are you smiling at?” a girl’s voice interrupted, and I lifted my head to see Eve.

  I didn’t see Sullivan with her. He had reluctantly accepted my handshake, but it seemed he’d just left the arena.

  “Just chatting with my strategist,” I said.

  “I’m next, by the way. If I win, we’ll go against each other today.”

  “Oh, that’s unfortunate,” I said. “Sorry.”

  She pouted, then sighed. “I hate that you’re right. I have no chance. How did you suddenly get so good? You one-shotted Sull though Barbarian Skin?”

  “I’ve been telling people that Vital Strike is overpowered,” I said. “It’s a broken build.”

  “Well, congrats,” Eve said. “It’s not like I had a chance of making it to Worlds anyway. I’ll win my next one so you’ll have the honor of knocking me out.”

  “You’re doing really well for a student, though,” I said. “You could play full time.”

  She shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t been attending classes or studying ever since we got into the Sunken Crypts. Playing has paid well. I’m still keeping my job, though, just to be safe.”

  “Smart,” I said.

  Before I could say more, the organizers called her turn, and I wished her luck.

  ***

  Eve did indeed win her next fight against Grieferlord, an upper mid-game ranger player. Her summons slowly pushed him to a corner and crushed him to death, as he couldn’t get through their [Medium Defence] spam.

  Unfortunately for Eve, however, I knocked her out two to zero right after without much trouble. I didn’t show off and gave her a quick death both times.

  Returning to the warm-up room, the air amongst both the organizers and the players was a bit more tense. I glanced around, trying to figure out what was happening. Everyone’s attention was on a new arrival.

  A middle-aged man in a red flannel shirt. It took me a moment to recognize him. Average dad bod, a slightly balding hairline, but a smile that still made him attractive. “Roland!" he said, greeting one of the organizers with a handshake and a pat on the back. "Good to see familiar idiots still running this thing." Everyone else just watched silently.

  Then I recognized his face. That was Henrift.

  He chatted with the organizers for a bit, until his turn came. He prepared for his walk-in as if it was just a daily routine, grinning at the audience. His opponent, a younger man in his early thirties, looked like the most nervous creature on the whole planet.

  All of the remaining players, including Eve, stayed in the warm-up room to watch the match on our television. Henrift got in his game pod.

  And a raid boss spawned into the arena.

  Henrift was at least three heads taller in game thanks to his crushing death knight’s black armor. Demonic horns rose from his helmet, making him look more like a boss monster than a player.

  His fight against FlowAim was a total stomp. He didn’t even use a single ability. He just calmly walked forward, one step at a time, until FlowAim was forced to either fight or run around. He chose to fight, and he got crushed alive by Henrift’s greatsword.

  Henrift’s character, especially his armor, was just too overpowered compared to the competition. Most players literally couldn’t do damage to him. He was so much higher level than some of the players that he could literally just use [Taunt] and crush his opponent to death.

  The funny thing was that his ultimate, [Ascension Of Death] turned that armor into damage instead. He didn’t even need the ability. After the utter stomp of disrespect, he and his flannel got out of the pod to shake hands with his opponent with a happy grin.

  After that, the remaining fights were a breeze for the both of us, as was expected. New York just didn’t have enough stronger players. I could safely assume that the only difficult fight I’d have would be against Henrift tomorrow, and the same went for him, though it didn't look like he was concerned about me yet. He didn't even acknowledge me in the warm-up room.

  The difference between the rank 50 player and the rank 100 player was already substantial. But the difference between rank 50 against players outside the top five hundred? That was way too large. Nobody had a chance. Henrift quite literally just walked up to his opponents and killed them.

  One could wonder why people even showed up to watch such an unfair competition—but no, the crowd cheered every time he cleaved through his opponents who desperately struggled for their lives. It was like watching a gladiator battle with a huge raid boss.

  A big part of the crowd’s interest must have come from the fact that I’d be fighting him tomorrow. This year, Henrift actually had competition. Or at least, there was a mystery on whether I could put a dent in him.

  With that, the second day ended. I declined interviews again and exited. Tomorrow, I’d join for the quarter finals, semis, and the finals.

  My family waited in the same spot outside, along with my dad and his buddies, all laughing with grins plastered on their faces.

  “Aiden, you absolute monster!” Ricky bellowed as I walked up. “When did you become a top player?”

  “Always been one,” I said. “I just have the gear now.”

  “Hot damn,” Ricky said, and it was fairly clear everyone was already drunk. My dad’s work buddies congratulated me, and they all wanted to shake my hand, which I accepted.

  Ricky asked, “So, want to join us for dinner?”

  “Nah, I need to prepare for the finals tomorrow,” I said. “No time to waste.”

  “You plan on winning against that raid boss, then?” Ricky asked.

  “I need to,” I said. “For the Worlds ticket.”

  “We’ll take it easy with the drinks today, then,” Ricky said. “Tomorrow’s the real party. You better win. Prepare well.”

  I nodded, and I asked my mom to drive me back to The Cave. In the back seat, Anna was genuinely excited as she asked me questions about the backstage and whatever events happened back there. This time, she didn’t berate me for my appearances, but grinned at me as if I’d just been the coolest person in the whole arena.

  All I did was one-shot some noobs, though, I thought. I haven’t even won any prizes yet.

  Still, I didn’t fight against my family’s enthusiasm. I chatted with Anna, telling her that, yes, Sullivan did indeed rage-quit after I killed him, and no, Henrift wasn’t as scary in real life as he was in-game. Hopefully she felt good about having me as a brother.

  While I was entering the cave, I opened my phone to check messages.

  Veyra: “Yeah, Henrift looked strong. He didn’t show any of his tricks at all. You might need some clever tricks.”

  Assassin: “I won’t lose to him.”

  Veyra: “I’m just saying, if you fight him with your usual style, even with the amulet, you might still just die. He’ll stat-check you. You really have to play it smart and either wait it out or somehow one-shot him.”

  Assassin: “Yep, I know.”

  Veyra: “So, what’s your strategy?”

  Assassin: “I’ll just plant Lichfang in his neck. 1 sec, I’m about to log in.”

  I met up with her in-game, where Veyra continued pestering me about my strategy, with ideas of her own that she wanted to add, to the point that she laid out another drawing, including math, showing of Henrift’s ultimate ability.

  When I asked her what made her so involved so suddenly, she curtly said, “I can’t have my guild get embarrassed by your lack of research,” and pulled up a clip of Henrift fighting to really study how his ultimate, [Ascension Of Death] worked.

  I would have reassured her that I was fine, since I had also studied Henrift’s fighting style a few months ago, but working with her was so much fun that I didn’t want to stop, and she genuinely offered me a few good pointers.

  Before long, I had to head to sleep for the finals the next day.