50 Announcement

Eri and I were waiting at the meeting spot for Alex. I looked around and saw several other players setting up small shops. It was just like being in a bazaar, watching everyone haggling with each other. I decided to look around the stalls while staying in the area. I saw several people selling several different potions. I made a mental note of their prices if I wanted to sell mine.

I was looking at some potions when someone called out to me. I turned toward the voice and saw another player in gaudy purple and gold robes and an absurd number of rings. He had his hair slicked back with copious amounts of hair product. Following him were two other players in some basic armor with swords.

"Excuse me, you must be that player from that lich quest. I saw the video, and I was fascinated with the use of your abilities, including that flying one. May I know how you acquired them?" The gaudy player asked.

I thought about how to answer the question for a moment, but I don't know how to. The dungeon was made for me specifically and no longer exists. "I can't really help you there, as the method to get it doesn't exist anymore," I reply.

"Don't be like that. I am willing to pay for the information. Knowledge such as that should be shared, don't you think?" The player said.

The more this guy speaks, the more I dislike him. I always hated pushy people, and his attire just screams entitled. "I'm sorry. I really can't help you." I respond firmly. The player did not like that, as I saw a bit of anger creep across his face before he hid it.

"Very well, would you at least sell me your sword? I will pay you twenty-five thousand dollars for it." Asked the man.

So, he is one of those people. The kind who thinks they can just buy their way with money. I don't want to sell the sword as it was a gift from Old Man, so it has sentimental value. "I can't sell you my sword. It's a precious gift." I respond with an irritable tone.

The player did not like my answers as he was no longer hiding his anger. "Listen here, you stupid bitch. I am offering you a good deal. Give me what I want before I just take it from you." He said as he raised his voice.

"Go fuck yourself. You can't just take what's not yours. If you come after me, I'll bury you." I coldly replied. "You better watch your back. I'll get what I want eventually." The player threateningly said before walking away with his cronies.

"Don't worry, I won't let him do anything too bad to you," Eri spoke as the player left. "Thanks. I don't know how well I can fight other players, but I might need to start." I spoke.

"You will have that opportunity here in a few days if you choose," Eri said. I gave her a quizzical look for a moment before responding. "What do you mean.

Eri placed her finger on her chin as if she were contemplating something. "Well…since I am already giving you preferential treatment, I suppose I can tell you. Today, Exodus Tech will announce an event, mainly to drum up sales and other revenue. They plan to do a tournament with several different events. There will be competitions for people with lifestyle skills such as blacksmithing, cooking, and the like. As well as dungeon crawling and player versus player, such as structured PvP and battle royale. These will be hosted on weekends for four weeks, each week a different event."

"Oh? That does sound like it could be fun. Just to be sure…the dungeon will be a normal one, right?" I nervously ask. "Yes, fear not. We have no intention of repeating our last attempt. The dungeon will function exactly how the designers intended them to." Eri replied.

"I might enter the lifestyle competition with potion making and enchanting. I also may want to do the dungeon thing. What is the PvP thing? I can understand how battle royale works." I said to Eri with a tone of excitement. "The dungeon event will require four to six members in a party. It's a team-based event." Eri replied.

"The PvP will be structured into several blocks. Each block will be an elimination one versus one. The winners of each block will then move on to the semi-finals to determine the champion in the same format." Eri replied in teacher mode, which I thought was kind of cute.

"Alright, I get it now. I might do that too. I can use it as training to get better in combat. I will take every advantage once this world goes live, y'know." I said, my excitement rising.

"I agree. While being a fun event, it would definitely help with your situational awareness and combat skills. The first event will be the lifestyle skills. Next will be dungeon crawling. The third week will be the structured PvP. Finally, the fourth week will have structured PvP on one day in case it goes over and will end with the battle royale. The event will be held here in Riadence. Future events will be in different locations." Eri informed me.

While talking with Eri, I got a notification from Alex telling me she was at the fountain in the market area. I told Eri, and we made our way to the fountain. There I saw an amazon of an elf standing by the fountain. She wore minimal armor, showcasing her large muscles and defined abs. She also had a large axe on her back. Her hair was black and had a barbaric look as it was cut short on one side. It had a Viking look to it.

"Alex!" I said as I approached the woman. She looked at me and smiled. "Hey, Sarah. It seems even in the game, we still are twins." Alex said as she looked me up and down. "That video doesn't do your character any justice. Who's your friend?" She asks, noticing Eri next to me.

"This is Eri. She is in disguise right now because she kept drawing attention." Alex had a surprised look for a moment before it disappeared.

"Hello, Alex. As Sarah said I am Eri. I am following her around because I find her company enjoyable. I hope you don't mind it." Eri said politely. "It's fine. I already heard from her all the details of things anyway."

"I was thinking about going to the adventure hall and grabbing a quest. I wanted to kill some things for a bit and hang out with you for a bit in the game." Alex said.

"Sound fine with me. I got a taste of killing those goblins, and I wouldn't mind doing that some more. Was fun." I spoke. I looked at Eri to see what she thought, but she nodded in agreement.

We then walk to the Adventurer's Hall while also sightseeing. The city is fascinating as it seemed to have a mix of roman and Renaissance-style buildings. We did eventually make our way to our destination.

Inside the building, there were several receptionist areas with different types of people behind the desks. On the left and right walls were small kiosks with many players lined up to use them. Alex tapped my shoulder and pointed to a kiosk with a short line.

"We need to use those to accept a mission. Once we complete it, we can turn it in to one of the receptionists. You can also talk to one of them to post your own quest for other players to do." Alex explained. I may have heard this before, but having a refresher is never a bad idea.

We stood in line for a few minutes before we got to our terminal. Alex started to type away on it, looking for something. "How does a kobold hunt sound?" She asks us.

"I guess it sounds good. I don't really know what a kobold is, though." I reply.

"They are small bipedal lizardfolk, similar in nature to goblins. Crafty and flighty. Love traps." Alex tells me as she brings up information about them on the terminal.

"Ok, yeah, sounds good to me. What about you, Eri?" I ask Eri. "I am just along for the ride. It does not matter to me." She responds. We accept the quest, which tells us to find their nest in some ruins northwest of the city.

With our business done, we exit the building and make our way to the city gates. When the gates were in view, a large holographic screen appeared in the sky, showing a man's face.

"Greetings, players of Rebirth Online! I am James Calloway, head of PR. I briefly interrupt your time for a very important announcement. We will be hosting RO's first-ever event!" James excitedly shouts to the players.

"The event will be a four-weeklong competition ranging from crafting to player versus player events. We hope you will join us on this momentous occasion. For more details, please visit the official Rebirth Online webpage.

Alex looked all kinds of giddy after the announcement. Eri told Alex what she had said to me about the event to get her up to speed. I could tell Alex was getting even more pumped up.

"New plans. We will do tons of quests to level up in preparation for this event. I don't have any lifestyle skills, so I will ignore the first week's stuff. You guys onboard?" Alex asks us.

"Sounds good, though I do have a few lifestyle skills and was thinking of doing the potion and enchanting portions if they were available," I say while crossing my arms.

"Fine with me. If you do that, I will come to spectate and cheer you on then. We will need to fit some practice time in for your skills." Alex replied.

"I think I might break my rule and stay in the pod overnight occasionally to get some extra time in. I know Yuki will want to be a part of this too, so I will allow her the same. That way she can play the game at night while she sleeps."

Alex's spark then popped up and alerted her with something as she appeared to be reading something. Shortly her spark disappeared again. "Looks like they just announced the release of the portable VR headset. They also said that the time dilation was returning after the tournament. I am guessing they are trying to sell this full-dive VR thing to the masses."

"Seems like it, but that time dilation will work in our favor. Gives us more time to get stronger before the big merge." I said to Alex. We continue walking, leaving the city while excitedly talking about the tournament.