“Bleeehh...” I groaned as I zipped myself up into the leotard I had just managed to fit over my boobs. I'm not chunky or anything, but it's hard sometimes to get that thing on. “Why does it show off nearly every curve?” I wondered with a sigh.

“Because it's a leotard, Liz.” the girl with green hair, Justine Liu-Adams, said to me. Her mom was half-Vietnamese and half-Chinese, and her dad had been an English tourist who'd had a one-night stand with her. Her words, not mine. But even if she was an accident insofar as that goes, she was a life-saver for me here.

“Hahh... I can't wait for tomorrow,” I then groaned again.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, you've got that tournament thing in your game or whatever,” Justine recalled as we began putting on our heels.

“Yep!”

“How do you think your friends'll do?” she asked me with a grin. Justine wasn't quite the gamer, but she at least listened to me rant or gush about Panarena.

“I know at least Lana and Ari will make it through... I'd root for all of them, but M's damage isn't that great even if she can take it... well, Anhe might surprise me.” I mused.

“Don't a lot of people live-stream that game?”

“Sort of? It's hard to live-stream it exactly because of the time-acceleration.”

“Ahh, right; that is so freaking weird!”

“Isn't it? But it's handy sometimes,” I shrugged.

“Hmm... I think I get you,” she nodded back. She finished with her heels, a pair of lace-up green boots, and then patted me on the back. “See you on the floor, hon!” she winked, and I gave her a thumbs-up.

“Right!” I called back.

I met Justine on my first night here. Well, it was my pre-night, actually... getting fit into a costume for my size. I had just gotten the second one they gave me on when she walked in, and then it burst off spectacularly. The both of us stood there in surprise for a moment, and then she bust out laughing. I did too, after a brief moment, and she helped me sort things out with the costume director to find a size that actually worked. Since then she had been like a sister to me for the past couple of weeks.

As soon as I got those crazy heels and my skirt-slash-tutu on I headed out to the floor. At least I don't have to wear kitty or bunny ears and tail like some places, I faintly grimaced before lightly smacking my cheeks and adopting a smile.

Just be yourself! Mr. Barnum had said to me a couple nights in. I was being a lot more meek than I usually am, but about a day or so later I managed to be my more outspoken self. Well, not too outspoken. Just enough to be friendly and engaging! I might never get used to the uniform, but I can at least get used to the job. I looked at the clock. It was now half past six.

I bet at least Sean got on by now... good luck, Lana! I thought to myself, wondering if that pixie girl or the werewolf girl would get matched up with any of my guildies. The only thing I was definitely sure of was what I had said to Justine earlier: Lana and Ari would definitely get through their matches. If those two get pitted against each other in the actual tournament...!!

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Ellie! Table nine, the one with the college girls!” Max, one of my fellow wait-staff, said to me.

“Sure you don't want it, Max? You might get a number tonight!” I teased him.

“Ha-ha, that's why I'm giving it to you, so I don't get scolded again!” he grinned back.

“Suuure.” I winked at him, and headed over to take their orders.

“I can't believe Christina turned us down again!” one of them said.

“You know how she is; she loves that game of hers, and she hates clothes.” another shrugged. “Oh! Hold up, it's our waitress!” she then said to them, waving at me.

“Hi there! Welcome to Fun Castle! I'm Liz, I'll be your server this evening; can I start you off with something to drink?” I said to them, and the orders rang out. I went back to the fountain with my little pad, thinking about the little snippet of conversation I had heard. N-nudist girl who loves games, huh? I wondered bemusedly. Then again, who am I to judge... I quickly rebuked myself.

“Oh there you are--Liz!” Justine called.

“Hmm?”

“Someone's got a synchronous feed of the Panarena event tonight!”

“Cool!” I returned. “Lemme get their drinks served and I'll take a peek!”

“You got it!” the green-haired girl beamed. When I had served their drinks, I asked if they were ready to order, to which they replied in the negative, so I promised to be back in a few minutes to do so. I then went to the staff room, where Justine pointed out one of the screens to me.

“Oh, sweet!” I exclaimed. “That's Ariana!” I said as I recognized our Wood Elf mage at once.

“Nice!” Justine replied. “Gawd, she's so cute--and that pixie girl too!”

“Oh def.”

“Ari's a school friend, right?”

“Yep.”

“Nice.”

“Just as cute for real?”

“Is she!” I nodded back. “Ooh, she's got that one.” I nodded again firmly as she took down her opponent, a very unlucky tank-type player. He went down with the absolute goofiest wail I'd heard in my life, and after we bust a gut laughing (and nearly busted my leotard again!) I thanked Justine for letting me know it was there and returned to table nine. I got my pad ready, wondering if the Christina they had mentioned was one of the players in the tournament, or just one of the players in the game at all. Deciding it didn't particularly matter, I approached them with my best smile. This time, they were ready to order, and I got my pen out. I jotted down their orders, and after collecting their menus I headed back to the kitchens. See you brats in a few hours, I thought with a smile as I looked at the screens again.

“Dude. Those two are sick.” Max remarked as I was about to exit the room; I looked back at the screen. It was Lana and Lysandra.

“Wh-what the heck kind of team is that?!” I wondered.

“You know them, Liz?” he asked me.

“Ahh!! The orders! Be right back!” I suddenly recalled, heading into the kitchens to deliver the orders to Miguel, our head chef, and then returned to the staff room. Max was no longer there, but the screen was still focused on Lana and Lysandra, who were battling through some sort of steampunk environment.

“Friends of yours?” Justine asked.

“That's my guild leader, Lana -- the shorter one with the reddish hair.”

“Cool! She's wicked with that bow.”

“Is she ever,” I softly grinned.

“I can understand why you love that place; maybe I'll try it out sometime!”

“We'd love to help you!”

“Sure! But until then, it's back to work.” she sighed.

“True.” I nodded. We headed back out to the floor, and I took a look at the screens again. I can't wait to hear how that happened, I thought with a smirk, hoping for their victory in that final preliminary event: the Grand Melee and Magic Brawl.