The minute hand on the clock stretched closer to freedom, and the hum of eager anticipation began to fill the air. The professor’s voice, once vibrant with discussions and teachings, now softly faded into the background as the class inched towards its inevitable conclusion.
With a nod and a smile, the professor signaled the end of our time together, and the room erupted into movement. Laughter and whispers hinted at plans for the lunch break or relief from the academic rigor that had momentarily wrapped everyone in its embrace… that includes me.
As I hurriedly tried to leave the room, the inevitable transpired. The reason I was hurrying to leave in the first place was to prevent this from happening, sadly the two boys who approached me could not take a hint.
"Hey, you're the dual caster that supports Elizabeth, right?"
Accepting my fate, I prepared for the unavoidable confrontation. I surveyed the boy who approached me. His face is framed by a cascade of long, tousled blond hair. The strands fall effortlessly, caressing his shoulders and occasionally veiling his eyes, adding a carefree touch to his presence. He carries himself with a certain laid-back confidence as if his unruly mane is a testament to his free-spirited nature.
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Who is this guy again? I think his name is Bonnie or something?
“Yes, you are correct,” I confirmed his question.
"Awesome! I'll have you know, I'm a good DPS myself. I'm one of the best spear users in the school. My friends even say that my spear thrust is the fastest they have seen. Some could argue my attacks are even faster than Murasame's. I can even beat Zetta in a 1v1 duel if we have the same gears with my ultimate move! No one could dodge my ultimate spear technique, not even Yuusha could see it coming with how fast it is!" Bonnie bragged.
"...I see."
I mean, what could I even say to that? This guy has confidence, that’s for sure.
"We could play team PvP together if you want so we could raise each other's ranks. I could carry you and you could support me on the sidelines! We could be the perfect team!"
"Uhmm..." his upfront offer made me speechless.
As I tried to come up with a diplomatic way to reject his advances, he was immediately chided by his friend.
"Don't you see you're making her uncomfortable! Sorry about this guy Katherine, he is a bit off in the head."
Oh, this one I know! We worked on a group project one time. I'm pretty sure his name is Alexander. If I remember correctly, he's a pretty chill dude.
"Hey! You could at least back me up here, Lex!" Bonnie complained.
"It's fine Alexander, I’m not bothered at all,” I lied. “Although, I'm sorry uh... Bonnie, but we are quite busy practicing for the tournament, hence I don’t have much time,” I politely declined.
“B-bonnie? My name is Ronnie though..." Bonnie, I mean, Ronnie corrected.
His friend, for his part, laughed at him... hard. "HAHAHHA... looks like you got rejected, Bonnie.”
His friend's face reddened, and I'm pretty sure mine too. I was sure as heck his name was Bonnie, it was not intentional I got his name wrong!
God, I'm so bad at remembering names.
"U-hmm so, yeah maybe some other time," I said as I awkwardly retreated to salvage what's left of our dignity, both Bon-Ronnie and mine.
I got as far away as I could from the two and exited the room, all the while still hearing Ronnie's friend laughing mockingly at him.
I sighed.
This has been happening frequently for the past few days. A lot of students play CoA as it is considered a 'fad' in the younger generation due to its worldwide popularity. I honestly appreciate them for wanting to get close to me cause they share the same hobby as mine, but it's getting a bit too much for someone as unsociable as me. Luckily, it's lunchtime, I could just eat silently at the park while watching cute animal videos on my phone to pass up the time for the next class.
On my way to the school park, I was accosted by two well-known thugs of our year in the school hallway. They cornered me, as if a school bully preying on their victims to take their lunch money leaving me no chance to escape.
“Oh, look, Liz, what do we have here, seems like we found a stray Kat,” thug A teased.
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"I know right Lenna, what a coincidence! Who would have known she would go in the direction of the school park of all places?” thug B joined in.
I stared at them, unamused.
Coincidence my ass! I already know you two were waiting for a while on that spot for a while.
"What is it now?" I said tiredly.
It can’t be helped that I feel exhausted this early. My social battery is already running out due to my previous blunder and I still have 3 subjects later… how depressing.
"We just want you to join us at the cafeteria, you always eat at the park these past few days."
“There are too many people there and it’s too noisy. I can’t relax in an atmosphere like that.”
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“Oh come on, please Kat, just this once? I just want to discuss the tournament with you," Liz pleaded cutely.
It might work some other times but not this time, I desperately need my time to recharge my social battery.
“Or… you two can just come with me and we can discuss it at the school park,” I gave a helpful solution to a nonexistent problem.
"I never bring my lunch; You know I need to buy food at the cafeteria. Why do you always want to eat at the park anyway? Don't you want to spend time with me anymore," she made a sad face.
Ack, a critical hit! You can't just coerce me with a face like that, it's illegal! I know what you’re trying to do Liz, but as it pains me to admit... it seems to be working pretty well… how devious!
"I-its not like that, I just find it more peaceful there, especially now that..." I paused, finding the right words.
"That you became famous in the school?" Lenna tried to finish my sentence for me.
"...I'm getting bothered a lot is what I would've liked to say."
Lenna giggled at that. "That's why you need Liz close, she can redirect all the bothersome people buzzing around you to her."
"Hey! Please don't treat me like some kind of human flytrap!"
Lenna ignored her and continued. "And who knows, more people might approach you even when they see you're eating alone at the park."
She makes some good points; it is true that I’ve been bothered a couple of times even when I’m alone at the school park or school library lately. I guess I'll just have to pick my poison. Hopefully, going with Liz and the gang to the cafeteria is less lethal.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On the way to the cafeteria, a couple of students greeted Liz, even more than before due to the news of her upcoming tournament. It also helps that she's the captain and ace of our team making her the go-to for anyone interested in knowing more about our team. Add her charismatic personality and sociable nature to the table, she is not someone you can simply ignore if you happen to pass by her.
This is good though; As Lenna helpfully suggested earlier, she is doing her job well serving as my shade. She could do all the talking from here on out while I do... preferably nothing.
We arrived at the cafeteria just in time to hear a commotion. Unsurprisingly, the perpetrator is Rommel. Benny and Raynolds are also with him, although they are only both looking apprehensive at the sidelines, not backing up Rommel in the slightest. Hearing an argument in front of me was bad enough, knowing the cause was an acquaintance of mine makes it even worse.
“Why won’t you guys just leave our spot?!” Rommel irritably said.
“There are no 'spots' in this place, it's open to all the students. Anyone can sit anywhere they like,” the boy made a valid point that is extremely hard to refute.
“Tsk! Do you know who we are? We are friends with the Paradigm team, the one who qualified for the ‘Champion’s Brawl’ tournament! If you know what's best for you, you better give up this seat for us now,” Rommel countered with an extremely invalid and illogical one.
Don't use our names to perpetrate bullying you dolt! I'm kind of regretting going here now.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t play VR games, so I don’t care in the slightest,” Rommel’s opponent refuted.
Rommel was taken aback by the statement, like what he just heard was an impossibility. It is as if he thought that everyone in the world, no matter their circumstances, poor and rich, babies and grandparents, played Champions of Andartha.
“Wha-! Y-you’re retarded though!”
Having lost in a battle of wits, Rommel ended up insulting his foe, fully intent on making this a battle of insults. Well, he’s not entirely wrong. If you can’t beat them at their own game, just play a different one. Preferably one that you are sure to win.
Liz sighed. "I'll just go stop Rommel before things escalate. Please find a good seat for us while I'm at it okay?"
Liz went quickly to mediate, leaving me and Lenna behind.
“You heard the boss, let’s leave those guys to Liz and find a good spot.”
Lenna dragged me to finish the quest our captain gave us. We found a relatively large one that has more than enough room for the whole gang. The only caveat is that it is near the entrance. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. It’s hard to find a good spot that can host our entire gang at lunchtime no less.
Lenna and I chatted about school-related stuff while waiting for the others. A few minutes later, Liz and the others arrived with their food and I already brought out mine earlier. The boys greeted me when they saw me seated right next to Lenna. Raynolds greeted with his usual antics. I greeted all of them albeit more casually. They had become close friends of mine over the past few weeks so I can go by without acting overly polite around them.
“Here’s your usual order Ma’am,” Liz teased while giving Lenna her food.
“You know me quite well,” Lenna responded favorably while receiving the appetizing club sandwich.
“Anyway, you boys need to stop being so arrogant! You’ve been bragging about the tournament as if you guys were the ones who were qualified. You might get into a physical fight if this keeps up!” Lenna chided the three.
“Please let it be known to all those present that I did not condone his actions, Rommel was acting solely on his own volition,” Ray defended himself.
“M-me too!” Benny added.
“Hmph, I could take that nerd in a fistfight,” Rommel bragged.
We all stared at him judgingly, especially us girls who don’t condone that kind of barbaric action. I mean VR world is fine but in the real world where they could potentially hurt themselves or even be fatally injured? That is a big no-no for me.
He wilted at our stares and conceded.
“F-fine, alright already! It won’t happen again, happy now?”
“Good enough,” Lenna acquiesced.
As we proceeded to eat our lunch, the topic went to the Under Twenty tournament.
“I heard the whole tournament will be held for a week, right?” Lenna inquired.
"Yes, an opening ceremony for the first day. Interviews and pictorials for the second day…" Liz droned on.
...What? My mind blanked, not hearing the rest of what Liz was saying. Interviews and pictorials!? Nobody told me about those! Although in hindsight, it is to be expected. If they showcase the personalities of the participants, the fans would likely have their pick on who they would want to support, making the marketing of the tournament more successful.
“…And the championship on the last day,” Liz finished just in time for me to return to the present.
“But… you can refuse the interviews and such, right?” I looked at Liz expectantly, almost pleadingly.
“Of course not, we already agreed to their terms when we participated in the qualifiers for the tournament.”
What the heck?! Who the hell would agree to such despicable terms like those?!
My shocked face must have been obvious because Raynolds followed up with an answer before I even asked it.
“Oh, you didn't know Miss Katherine? It was on the terms and agreement’s part on the online form they sent us to fill up when registering for the qualifiers,” Ray helpfully added.
Nobody reads those! It is just something you check to show that you agree and get on with your life! This is bad, I've been had. I was scammed into signing a contract that won't let me escape interviews. Well, it was my fault for not reading through the contract since if it was really that unreasonable, the whole CoA team would face a huge backlash that could risk their impeccable reputation. Therefore, I instantly thought the contracts I agreed to were reasonable without double-checking. Well, it is sensible for most people, but not for someone like me.
“Are you guys going to LA with us?” Liz queried the gang, bringing me back to the present.
“We are not excused for missing the classes on the week of the tournament like you guys so we can’t. Don't worry we will watch you guys play and support you with all we have on live stream, so good luck out there!” Lenna cheered.
"Yeah! And if anyone talks trash on you guys on live chat, I'll go keyboard warrior mode on them with insults!" Rommel added.
The gang continued chatting just as the whole lunch ended with me thinking of how to handle the pressure from the crowd and the interviews from the upcoming tournament. A bright idea popped into my mind. Is it possible to forfeit my place and let another player substitute? No, no, no, I can't leave Liz alone without proper support just because of my unsociable nature. I have no choice. I have to do this for her. I immediately shut down my ingenious plan.
Hopefully, the trip to LA won’t be too much for an introverted person like me.