Chapter 4.1

As we both agreed upon, June paid for our time at the VR cafe. He even wants to recruit Katherine in their team but I profusely declined for her. I don't want to become a catalyst for Katherine joining their team since those guys usually go to different VR cafes for betting matches and I don't want her to become addicted in gambling. Now though, we are currently having an after-party celebration for our win.

"Cheers!"

"Yeah!"

"Wohoo!"

"Great job guys!"

We are sitting in a moderately large square table in a cafe/bar found inside the building of the VR cafe. This part of the building is like a hub for players who want to take a break at gaming and relax for a bit. There is a very large television that is streaming games in the middle of the establishment connected to the bar side. I was seated in the middle with Katherine to my left side sitting next to the window corner and my best friend Lenna to my right side. On the other side of the rectangular table is Romel sitting in the middle, Benny sitting on the window side and Raynold sitting in front of Lenna. Each of us has his or her own order of pastry or food except for Katherine.

"Didn't expect there to be a literal cafe here inside this VR cafe building." Katherine mused

"This area is mainly for customers of the VR cafe to relax, eat some good food or take a break from VR gaming." I supplied.

Katherine is relaxedly taking a sip of her coffee while the others are talking about our recent game with Ronel mostly bragging loudly.

"Are you sure don't you want to order any sweets?" I asked.

I said it was my treat at the cafe since I'm the one who invited her in the first place but she insisted to pay for herself.

"Yes, I'm sure, I'm not too fond of sweets" she replied coolly.

So mature. She really gives this air of a dependable and cool adult. Very humble too. She is probably as good as me or even better but she still doesn't brag about her CoA skills. Not like someone I know.

"I almost killed him solo without any help! And because of me, he is severely weakened so my teammates could finish him off!" Romel bragged.

"If you had to choose an MVP in that match, that would surely be me!" he added.

"We didn't do much though..." Beny shyly butted in.

"It is only you who didn't do anything, I Almost killed their ace. If my single slash just connected back then he would've died instantly. He just has the advantage in gears but I'm more skilled than him!" Romel exclaimed.

"Hmph! We both watched the whole match and you two didn't do anything, right Ray?" Lenna argued.

"They didn't seem to do much but every little thing counts in a match so I wouldn't cut out their contributions to the team." Raynold said neutrally.

"You guys just cannot comprehend the complexity of the plays I've done!" Romel exclaimed.

"Please don't mind him Katherine, He has a medical condition that makes all of the words that comes right out of his mouth seem obnoxious." I sighed.

"I don't mind, he actually seems kind of fun to be around." Katherine replied

Are we even talking about the same person? While I was pondering, I took a bite out of my strawberry cake. On the edge of my sight, I notice Katherine looking intently at the strawberry cake.

Does she want a bite or two? Probably not, she said she doesn't like sweets.

"By the way miss Katherine, where did you learn to play like that? Your movements are so good that I thought I was watching an amateur pro player." Raynold addressed the elephant in the room.

All eyes fell on Katherine, likely eager to know the reason too for her aberrance. At least control your curiosity guys! Look at her, you guys are making her flustered.

"Ohh I…... I just played a lot of VR single player games so I had a lot of training." She answered slowly.

I kind of doubt that though, since there are no single player games that I heard had as complex skills required for its gameplay like CoA does. Map awareness, stamina management, dodging, parrying, and aerial combos, are just a few examples of its complexity that no other games have integrated in their games. Though I might be wrong since there may have been new VR game releases I'm not privy to so I didn't push the subject.

All of the others were convinced by her reasoning, except for Raynold who probably had the same conclusion as mine.l

Just as Raynold was going to ask another question, there was a sudden commotion among the other customers inside the cafe. I tried to find the cause and I saw they are all looking at the tv screen of the cafe/bar. Watching it for a few seconds, I instantly knew what the commotion was about.

"Look at the screen, team Razor Gaming is having a press conference."

"Ohh they're interviewing Zetta? He's your idol, right?"

"That's Zetta 'the Duelist'?"

"Many players claim that he is unbeatable in 1v1!"

"Shhh, I can't hear what they're saying."

"It's just a replay though I watched it live."

"My dream is to beat him in a 1v1 match someday."

Die-hard fans of the pro scene in the tables surrounding us made an uproar, talking animatedly with each other.

It was a replay of the post-game press conference of team Razor Gaming for their yesterday's win. The captain and ace of team RG (Razor Gaming), Sebastian Guillaume (aka Zetta) is shown on screen.

The commotion died down a bit when the press started asking their questions.

"Mr. Sebastian, what is your take about your team's comeback from a 1 player deficit with a spectacular 2v3 in game 3 of your match against team Eclipse?" A reporter said.

"The other team put all their resources into eliminating our 2 supports so Flamboyant and I capitalized on their lack of MP and HP to play aggressively and not let them recover." Zetta answered confidently.

I took a glimpse at Katherine and noticed that she seems to be deep in thought. I've already watched it but Katherine seems entirely focused on the screen making me wonder if it is the first time she watched a press-con of a CoA pro league.

"Mr. Guillaume, many people are wondering. Who do you think in the current pro league can give you the hardest challenge in a 1v1 match?" another reporter said.

"Right now, I think team Royals's ace Arthur and probably team Shaolin's ace Yang can give me a good fight."

"Do you think that you will be the first ever player in the history of CoA to have 2 Andartha cup belts under your name?" A reporter asked

In the past 3 years since the first ever Andartha cup, no one has ever achieved the feat of being the champion for the second time so fans of the game would kill to see one in hopes of putting them on a pedestal and worshiping that player like a god. Fans are weird like that I suppose but I'm no different, I also want Zetta or one of the former team Paragon members to have a repeat win since I'm a big fan of them.

The closest currently was Zetta who won with team Paragon in the first Andartha Cup or AC for short. His new team got only 5th place in the second AC due to the sudden disbandment of the team Paragon due to their ace player 'Yuusha', who has been my inspiration in playing the game, suddenly quit CoA. His third chance at AC cup was the closest to anyone ever having a repeat champion with him joining Razor Gaming(a well known e-sports organization with many different teams in different games) and placing 2nd, just barely winning the whole tournament. That is why all eyes are on him to win the 4th Andartha Cup that will be held this November.

"We can never know what the future holds. All I know is that my team and I team are going to do everything we can to bring home the crown for our fans and supporters!" Zetta passionately said.

Even though I heard it already yesterday. That statement really does give me the 'chills'. It makes me want to support him more.

"Speaking of team, your former team mate Tactical from team Nexus Gaming might be relegated to division 2 if they lose their match next week. What are your thoughts on that?"

Tactical is the former captain of team 'Paragons' who is currently playing for team NG and also Zetta's former teammate. It breaks my heart seeing all the backlash that they receive from the player base just because they keep losing their games this season.

"As Tactical's former teammate, I hope they get out of the slump their team is currently experiencing right now. But as a fellow player in the pro scene, I will not show any mercy if we face each other in CoA." Zetta said with determination.

"Tactical is getting relegated?" Katherine suddenly asked.

Her sudden interest surprised me. Is she a fan of Tactical by any chance? But if she were she would know their concurrent sub-par performance this pro league season.

"Sadly yes, they haven't been playing well since the start of the season."

"When is his team playing next? I want to see it." she inquired.

"I think their match against team Atelier is on this weekend. Oh! wanna watch it together?" I subconsciously blurted.

"S-sorry, I'm not being a bother, right? People keep telling me I get overly friendly sometimes." I added.

I can't help it. I get overly enthusiastic from time to time and things just come right out of my mouth unfiltered. Especially if it is CoA related. She might think I'm too overbearing.

".... Sure, lets watch it together."

"Really! it's a promise, right? No backing out in the last moment?" I smiled.

"Hoo? What is this I'm hearing, are you two going out on a date or something." Lenna playfully teased.

"Ohh Lenna, we're just going to watch team Nexus vs team Atelier's match this weekend." I informed her.

"Ohh I wanna join, lets watch it on Katherine's home? I wanna see where you live! and maybe we could have a sleepover?" Lenna asked hopefully.

After hesitating for a bit, Katherine replied. "I'm only renting an apartment so there is nothing much to see. I'm also fine with just watching the match, but no sleepovers."

"Tsk You're no fun" Lenna pouted.

"Can we join in too, miss Katherine?" Raynold butted in.

"Sorry boys, it's a girls only bonding session." Lenna mischievously said.

"I agree, two is too much already, my apartment is not that big to accommodate more people." Katherine added.

"Humph, we don't need you girls! We will just have our own boys only session." Romel added.

The conversation continued like that for a while. And then we eventually went home.