[Rachel Cude has rejected your friend request]'I’ll spam friend requests until you either block me or eventually accept… But if you accept... hehe,' Sora thought with a mischievous grin.

  Sora set aside the notification, and looked up at the massive stadium in front of him. After having a meal with Kara, they had decided to e here for a bit of excitement and were now standing before the "Gangnam Arena." The structure was massive, dwarfing even the rgest stadiums from the old world, its up brightly on one side.

  He couldn't help but chuckle at how Kara was ag, practically boung with excitement like a kid in an ice cream shop. She wao explore everything, bowing politely ters oreets as they passed.

  "Stop greeting men—I get jealous too, you know." Sora teased, feigning jealousy with a pyful smirk.

  Taken aback, Kara almost twisted her neck at his words. Holding her hair between her fingers in embarrassment, she answered "I 't help it, Korean men are so handsome. You'll have to return to your inal appearance if you want to rival them." she teased back. "But seriously, I’ve seen this pany times in movies, but seeing it in real life feels surreal. Even if it ged quite a bit, I still love it."

  Sora shook his head, a slight smile tugging at his lips as he held Kara's hand so she could stop running all over the pce.

  While nearing the gate of the arena, a well-dressed maed them with a warm smile. "Good evening, Sir, Madam. Would you like two tickets?"

  "Yes, please," Kara responded, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

  "Would you prefer Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Diamond Tickets?" the man asked, uo see their level and also very aware that higher-level pyers were typically wealthy enough for the more expeions.

  Sora blinked, mildly fused. "What’s the difference?" he asked, curious about the ticket tiers.

  "Bronze-level spectators are seated in the upper ses with a det view of the arena. Silver-level tickets provide access to a repy system and the ability to pce bets on the petitions. The view is also better than the Broier. Gold-level spectators not only enjoy prime seating but also get access to detailed entary from high-level pyers. You'll also have entry to the luxury lounge, where you enjoy gourmet food and drinks during the matches. Diamond-level spectators have private lounges and the exclusive option to meet pyers after their events. Plus, Diamond ticket het priority entry to participate in petitions, skipping the queue if there is one for their event. With each level of course having the bes of the previous ones."

  Sora aking it all in before asking. "What are the prices?"

  "100 gold, 1000, 100,000 and 1,000,000 gold per ticket. You also buy the membership for 30 times the amount of the ticket level you want and e any time of the year." The man replied.

  "What do you think?" Sora turo Kara and asked.

  "Gold-level ticket sounds good," she said, riough to afford Diamond but not willing to spend a million gold for no reaso alohirty million.

  "Gold it is, then" Sora firmed, handing over the payment. The man smiled, handing them their tickets as they stepped into the grand arena, ready for what was sure to be a good experience.

  Receiving their tickets, a staff member came over to greet Sora and Kara ahem to the luxury louhat came with their Gold-level passes. They followed the attendant through a series of elegant hallways, finally stepping into a spacious, beautifully furnished lounge.

  The lounge was a blend of modern design and fort, with rge floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a perfect view of the arena below.

  The atmosphere was lively, with around 60 to 80 people mingling or seated. Most people were dressed elegantly, seated or standing in couples, or small groups of friends. In each group, there was someone of a signifit level.

  Kara and Sora headed toward the gss, taking in the view of the arena below. From their vantage point, they could see dozens of smaller rings scattered around a rge tral square fighting pce. Various petitioaking pce simultaneously.

  One pce hosted a petition of archers, where pyers faced off against each other, skills with arrows flying through the air. In awo groups of five battled it out in a team match, while nearby, five pyers peted to craft the best possible sword using the same materials.

  "I’ve never seen anything close to this," Kara said, her voice full of admiration.

  Sora nodded, enjoying the sight as well. "When you see something like this, it’s hard not to want to level up aronger," he sighed, thinking back to Ales, where he was once sidered a high-level pyer before his first death. As far as he knew, no ohere had passed level 60. Most people were tent with their progress, Even the dedicated pyers only trained within their limits, stig to monsters closer to their level, just like Sora’s old group.

  In the main space, two pyers were engaged in a fierce duel, o level 115, while the other was at 112, both clearly going all out. Despite the iy of their fight, the shocks from their blows were tained within a translut barrier, proteg the surrounding rings.

  They exged powerful attacks until one pyer mao stun his oppo, ung a devastating bo that ehe match.

  [Pyer Wang Da has defeated Pyer Ya gho, seg 415th p the Top bat Ranking of South Korea.]"Why would they reveal their trump cards in a like this?" Kara wondered, puzzled.

  "I don’t get it either," Sora replied. "But pyers at that level aren’t stupid. There must be something in it for them, it could be money or even guild recruitment opportunities but even that doesn't seem like it would be enough to reveal all their abilities. What if they get ambushed out in the wild? They’d be sitting ducks."

  They spent the few hours watg various petitions, the different skills and strategies on dispy. Though they couldn’t quite figure out the exact motivation behind some of the fights, they realized that many pyers were at least using the arena to showcase their abilities.

  Afterward, they tinued expl Seoul, eventually making their way to the core area of the city. This part of Seoul resembled what they were used to, with taverns and inns simir to those ba France. Deg to rest, they spent the night in an inn and woke up early the day, eager to visit the Adventurer’s Guild.

  The Adventurer’s Guild was massive, with thousands of pyers passing in and out, even in the early hours of the day. They walked over to the wall dispying avaible quests, but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. Thousands of quests were pio the wall on small pieces of paper, some too high up for them to read.

  Before they could figure out how to navigate the chaotic dispy, a young girl approached them. "Hello! Sorry to interrupt, but if you’re feeling lost, I sell you this little app with all the quests sorted by badge requirements. This one only costs 50 gold! If you ever need an update, just go for in-app purchases and cli refresh. It only costs 2 golds per refresh! You have one free refresh a day."

  "Wow, you didn’t even give me time to wonder how to choose a quest, and you’re already selling me a solution," Sora said, chug as he handed over 100 gold s. "Good job, girl."

  The girl grinned, ahem a code to download the app. "If you need help with specific quests, I know the tent of all of them and may help you with information."

  "Thanks, but we’ll just browse through the app for now," Kara replied, clearly curious about the tent of quests on this side of the world.

  The girl quickly disappeared, heading off to assist another adventurer who looked equally lost.

  Sora opehe app and skimmed through the high-level quests, looking for something in the level 125 range. One quest in particur caught his eye:

  [Dungeo: Lair of the Green Wyvern][Description: Form a party of five to defeat the Green Wyvern hidden in…][Individual Requirement: Top 250 in the bat Ranking or have an Empyrean badge.]

  Surprised by the requirement, Sora showed the quest to Kara, who raised an eyebrow. "You o be iop 250 to take oais? They’re using rankings as a requirement? It also says Empyrean Rank, that should be for pyers above level 130? That's pretty steep for a level 125 dungeon. The boss must be extremely difficult."

  "Maybe that’s why people pete in the arena," Sora mused. "To show their worth and prove that they be relied on."

  "But aren’t badges enough for that?" Kara asked, puzzled by the need for additional qualifications.

  Sora shrugged, clearly annoyed by this system. "Maybe they don’t trust the badge system. It seems pretty unnecessary to me." He paused, and added "Let’s update our badges while we’re here."

  They approached the ter, where a clerk greeted them. "Good m. How I assist you?"

  "We’d like to update our badges," Sora said, handing over his Astral badge, his current level showing as 110.

  The clerk looked at his badge and nodded. "What rank are you applying for?"

  "I want to apply for a Primordial Badge," Sora replied fidently.

  The clerk’s expression ged slightly. "I’m sorry, sir, but uild only test up to the Sn level. Vortex adventurers and above must assess each other or provide proof of strength through special feats, like pleting high-level quests nifit tributions in war. If you’re aiming for that rank, I’d suggest heading to the arena or joining a reputable guild. They help assess your level properly."

  Kara ented "So this is why there's such a requirement ... The adventurer's guild stops testing pyers after a certain threshold ... So people o create ways to assess each other... Some pyers probably even stop updating their badge if the ranking is enough proof for strength."

  The clerk nodded in agreement. "Exactly. I’m afraid you’ll have to show off your strength to others adventurers if you want to update your badges beyond the sn level. It's all part of the culture here."

  mimou

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