The advertisement for the Tetric tournament from the J Bard Guild was broadcasted across the entire Empire, causing quite a commotion.
Even in the Other World, there were competitions like card game tournaments.
But those had only been held in small gatherings or secretly for gambling.
This was the first time a guild had hired the Bard Guild for grand promotion, offering a whopping prize of 100 million Gold.
[The World’s First Game Tournament with a Prize of Up to 100 Million Gold]
As soon as this title was announced, people’s interest exploded.
Some were drawn by the prize money, while others were eager to prove that they were the best at Tetric and headed towards the Jirens.
And the news even reached the children living in a small village in the East.
“Hey, did you hear the news yesterday!?”
“Of course! They said the Tetric tournament is happening!”
“Right! They say you can win 100 million Gold! Should I enter?”
“Are you kidding? You can’t even beat Johan, let alone me!”
The children, looking about 15, chatted about the tournament they heard from the Bard Guild last night.
Even in the small eastern village, Tetric was the center of attention.
Whether you had Tetric or not changed your status among friends, and whether you were good or bad also shifted your rank.
“So how are you going to participate, ‘Johan’?”
“Of course, I have to participate!”
The kid named Johan, with yellow hair and a playful demeanor, confidently shouted while playing Tetric.
“Well, Johan is the best in our village.”
“If it’s Johan, he can surely do well.”
Johan’s skills were recognized not just by kids but by adults too.
Not only in Tetric but also in Paimon (card game), no one could come close to Johan.
Everyone believed that if Johan entered the tournament, he would surely perform excellently.
But Johan…
“Being good is not enough!”
He wasn’t satisfied with just being good.
Johan had a bigger dream.
“If I’m going to do it, I want to be the king, no, the ‘Emperor’ of games!”
Upon hearing Johan’s words, the kids laughed.
They thought it was a ridiculous dream, simply distinguishing between dreams and reality.
However, every now and then, people capable of making impossible dreams a reality emerge.
We call them ‘geniuses’.
And in the central city of the West, Tex, there was such a genius.
In the advanced class, where the clever students of the academy gathered, Tetric was also a hot topic.
“What are you going to do, Bean? Are you going to participate?”
Bean, a student with black hair wearing glasses, looked like he was reading a book.
He closed the book and calmly replied to his friend.
“Of course, I will.”
“Oh, so even you are tempted by the prize?”
100 million Gold was a lot of money even for adults.
It was an even more gigantic sum for students.
But for Bean, that wasn’t the goal.
As he closed the book he was reading, he said,
“I’m not just enticed by the prize; what I really want is to be number one.”
“Number one?”
“In our academy, I’m number one.”
Bean was at the top of the academy in both grades and Tetric scores.
His friends looked puzzled, not knowing where in the world there could be anyone better.
“Being number one at the academy is one thing, but being number one in the Empire is way cooler!”
Unlike his friends, who were purely focused on participating in the Tetric tournament, Bean had bigger goals.
He aimed to surpass being number one at the academy, then to dominate the West, and ultimately become the best of the best.
“I will become number one in the Empire.”
His words were filled with certainty.
Hearing Bean’s declaration, his friends felt assured that he could indeed achieve that number one spot.
As the stage was set, the performers began to gather.
The time for the curtain to rise was drawing near.
*
Days before the National Foundation Day festival, our Irene School decided to head to the celebration in Zephia together.
Gathering in the yard after a long time, we started.
“Ahem! My disciples, let’s begin.”
“Yes! Master, starting with number one!”
We lined up in a row, and with my rallying cry, Jiren, Karen, and Noirin shouted in unison.
“Two!”
“Three… oh dear, Yuren!”
“Four! It reminds me of the picnics we used to have.”
The adult clergy gave way to the younger clergy.
The kids continued with their cute little voices, rallying in order.
“Thirty-four!”
“Thirty-five!”
“Thirty… uh… Ah! Thirty-six!!”
The sight of the kids counting in order was adorable.
The youngest of our school was 8-year-old Leo Hart.
Leo’s name was different from ours since he remembered his name when he came to us from the orphanage.
Children without a name or wishing to discard theirs were given names derived from their Master’s name, adding ‘Ren’ to it.
Note that the young clergy were not mobilized for work.
Having shouted the counts, we reached nearly the end, and then…
“Forty-seven!!”
“48! That’s the end of the count. Hahaha!”
“Alright, shall we go!… Wait, 48?”
But our school had only 47 members?
When I approached the one whose number was out of order, I found a familiar boyish-looking girl standing there.
“Julia?”
“Hahaha! My old friend Yuren! I heard the news and came to play! Hahaha!”
Julia was standing next to the youngest Leo, carrying a large load on her shoulder.
“Came to play?”
“Hahaha! I heard you’re going to the Jirens’ National Day festival. I want to go too! Hahaha!!”
It seemed the rumor of our school heading to Jirens had already spread.
Of course, the little clergy probably buzzed about it in the village.
I looked at Julia and said,
“I don’t mind if you come along, but… have you gotten permission from Juel?”
It wasn’t really a problem for one person to join us.
We had gone on field trips before in a similar way.
I was just curious if Juel had actually granted Julia permission to go like this…
“Haha, of course, I did! Hahaha.”
Julia couldn’t look into my eyes and gazed up at the distant sky.
The more I tried to make eye contact, the more she avoided it.
These eyes… they’re the eyes of a liar!
“Well, let’s contact Juel to check.”
I tried to contact Juel using the communication device I’d kept for such occasions.
Then Julia grabbed my pant leg and said,
“Are you going to betray our long friendship, Yuren!?”
“Family permission is more important than friendship, I think.”
As I told her to get family permission, Julia started throwing a tantrum.
“But grandpa will definitely just make me do boring tasks during the festival! I want to play! I want to enjoy the festival!”
“I mean, no matter what…”
This girl, just how much does she want to play?
When the tantrum didn’t work, she suddenly collapsed and began to cough.
“Cough! The disease I caught last time because of overworking due to Yuren is still… cough! Cough!”
Oh dear, what a ridiculous act…
Julia looked at me like a pitiful patient, collapsed and coughing.
As I was contemplating how to deal with Julia, the Master approached.
“Let’s go together, Julia. I’ll talk to Juel for you!”
The Master had always been soft on Julia.
Like a grandmother being gentle with her granddaughter, he dotes on Julia.
…By lineage, he might as well be a grandmother.
Anyway, as the Master said he would speak to Juel, Julia ran to him joyfully and hugged him.
“Really! Thank you! Irene! You are the best! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!”
“Ah! Gross. Julia.”
Julia showered the Master’s cheek with kisses.
That girl! So envious… or rather, she’s harassing our Master!
I promptly slapped Julia’s head.
Smack!
“Ouch! That hurts! Yuren!”
Julia looked at me with teary eyes, holding her head.
“I hit you to hurt you. Anyway, get on the carriage; did you bring your stuff?”
“Of course! Clothes! Daily necessities and even underwear! Hahaha! If you ask, I can show you, Yuren.”
Julia immediately began to unbutton her bag to show me.
What the heck is she trying to do in front of the other kids?
I hurriedly shouted.
“I don’t need it! Anyway, if everything’s ready, hop in!”
“Got it! Then I’m counting on you!”
With that, our temporary Irene School’s Julia climbed onto the carriage.
We rented a large carriage for this journey.
It’s a carriage that can fit up to 50 people, so with this, we’d reach ‘Zephia’ in three days.
“Is everyone aboard?”
“Yes! Yuren!”
“I’ve confirmed that everyone is on board. Yuren!”
Since everyone seems to have boarded, let’s set off!
I infused my power into the control stick.
Then the large carriage started moving, and thus our Irene School set off for Jirens.
To where the world’s first game tournament was happening, and Super Thomas was about to be announced.
