A New World, an immersive game experience

"H-he di-did it?" Constantin struggled to get the words out. Disbelief causing him to stumble over those three simple words.

Along with everyone else, he stared towards the stage. When the barrier had disappeared and Eldrian with it, he had wondered what was going on. However, there simply was not enough time to ponder things before the following development.

Just a few seconds later, darkness arrived again. This time like a tsunami, spreading from where Eldrian had been. Engulfing everything in sight. The darkness did not remain long, dispersing further and further until it disappeared from sight. And what was left was a world devoid of life.

All the grass and plants had withered. The same had happened to Zaphreal. His corpse lay upon the withered field. Yet, Eldrian was still nowhere in sight.

All that remained was the announcement of Eldrian's victory. Shining brightly in midair. Declaring the victor of the match. Though, it felt different from the times before. The sight above a withered field with no one and nothing on stage just did not seem right.

"You let him win, didn't you?" This question brought Constantin back to the room. Turning to its source, he saw Zaphreal standing in the doorway to the room. A young girl glaring at him, a girl Constantin had been warned to keep his distance from.

"Let him win?" Zaphreal questioned. He did not seem to deny the fact, but was rather prying as to what the girl meant.

"You went easy on him! You only used one spell and didn't even move!" The girl countered.

"Ah, that. Indeed, I did go easy on him. But I did not  let  him win. Had he failed to find a solution to his situation, he would have lost."

"What game are you playing at?" Presumably this person was also one of those at the top of Miracle. Most in this room were. Qiren had warned Constantin to be careful when entering the room.

Apparently, these people weren't normal, and many were dangerous. At first, Constantin had thought they were simply dangerous people from rich families with dangerous personalities and connections. After all, this was Miracle.

But after witnessing the duel, Constantin now better understood that warning. After all, they were the VIPs of Miracle.

"Indeed! Why did you let that kid escape? You even signed a contract and then you let him get the best of you! Have you no shame?"

From there, many followed, throwing their frustrations at the man who had beaten them to the punch and then lost the prize everyone wanted to claim. Worst, he had signed a contract with their 'prize'.

"Calm down." Zaphreal said, after most had aired their frustration and things had calmed down. "This isn't a setback. The plan is still going forward as intended. We will just need to speed up when we make our announcements. Oier, I trust you to handle the fallout."

Oier, a dashing older gentleman, nodded slightly. Replying shortly, "My pleasure."

Zaphreal then continued on, "As Eldrian won, he now has the right to say his peace. I've guaranteed this with my contract. I am sure you all understand the implications."

Zaphreal waited a while to make sure his words had been heard and understood. Then he turned towards Constantin and Qiren. Both flinched upon having the attention of the room shifted towards them.

"You're the head of the ANW department, aren't you?" Zaphreal asked, and Qiren nodded and confirmed without delay. "Today's events must have been confusing. Why don't you two come with me?"

They hesitated, but upon feeling the atmosphere in the room, the two chased after Zaphreal. At the very least, dealing with a single person would be easier than dealing with a disgruntled group of VIPs. As they left, Oier headed towards the stage.

—

"What a showcase!" Oier, Jade's father, jumped onto the stage and smiled. "Truly something else. While perhaps not as flashy or long as we might have wanted, it truly allowed us to see something unique."

"I believe most of us struggled to follow exactly what happened, as it all happened so quickly. So let's review." As Oier said this, the stage appeared again. A recording of the match only focused more around Eldrian. "Right here, once Zaphreal dispelled the storm of ice and fire that Eldrian had summoned, you can see for just a split second."

Pausing the recording, Oier showed the perfect time when Eldrian had yet to hide the crystals he had pulled out. "Wow! What wealth. Most of you might not be aware, but my goodness. How did Eldrian get his hands on these materials?"

"Right, right... Let me explain. This one here is a magic crystal. An actual magic crystal! It is an item that is hard to place a number on, but saying it is worth at least half a million gold wouldn't be an exaggeration!"

"Normally, these crystals are hoarded by kingdoms and used as the foundation of magic towers. They are the key to protecting the cities of all the kingdoms and to get your hands on one. My, oh my..."

"And that is not all! This one here is a lightstone. Not as rare and hard to acquire as the magic crystal. But it is still a bona fide Rank 5 material. And this, yes, it only appears to be a fragmented stone, but it is also a rank 5 material. A voidstone. Said to contain the power of the void." Oier paused and then teased, "Just what could that possibly mean?"

"And then, finally, we have this little dark crystal over here. The one Eldrian had sacrificed for his victory." Oier paused, letting the match continue at a slowed speed. Showing how Eldrian used the crystal to block the lighting from Zaphreal.

"Yet another rank 5 material, one which Eldrian used as a shield and later...a bomb."

By now, everyone was going mad. While they had hoped for Eldrian to somehow put the admin in his place, the show of wealth right here was maddening. Many even felt that this was cheating. Asking how it was fair that Eldrian could have so many extremely rare materials on hand. How he could even dream of using on as a disposable item!

"Now, as for the moment of his victory. Sadly, even our recording couldn't gather information inside the barrier. However, we know Eldrian has tamed a mythical creature. An alicorn, to be precise. Their bond allows either of them to teleport to the other. We are fairly certain that Eldrian used that to escape the blast as the crystal fell apart and exploded."

This was such a massive announcement that everyone paused, silence settling in the chat as everyone tried to make sense of those words. Not only did Eldrian own items worth hundreds of thousands of gold. Not as a guild, but as an individual at that.

He even had a freaking mythical grade pet.

Heck, most players didn't even know that there was a taming system in the game.

The silence lasted for a few minutes. Oier waiting calmly for the news to sink in. Observing the online chat and waiting for the right moment to continue. His duty now was to guide the player base and all viewers back to the finals. Naturally, his 'natural' charisma was best to achieve this.

When the silence was finally broken, it was like the floodgates had been opened. Everyone asking how, asking why, asking why him, asking if this was cheating. Asking the devs to look into this.

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