The Founding Day Festival had a variety of events.
Among them, the standout events were a magical show hosted by the Magic Association, dazzling the sky with their brilliant spells, and the spirited parade with knights and soldiers from the military.
Typically, these two groups would compete, but this year, a third competitor burst onto the scene.
That competitor was the ‘Game Tournament’ event taking place at the Edward Consortium.
The Edward Consortium set up screens all around the city three days prior and began broadcasting the tournament.
Initially, there were many people uninterested in the game.
However, as the broadcasts continued for three days, showcasing new attractions and thrilling matchups, more and more people found themselves stopping to watch the screens.
Now, in this moment of the finals, all eyes were drawn to the protagonists of the Founding Day Festival.
With the attention of the crowd capitalized, the first game tournament of the Other World was about to begin its grand finale.
*
“Hello! To the fans of Tetric Rubel filling the Coliseum, at long last! The time for the finals you’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived!!”
At night in the Zephia Coliseum, even more people flocked to watch the finals than during the day, and on stage, the red-glassed JYJ began with an excited expression unlike any before.
“Many participants have joined in this game tournament, the first of its kind in the Zers Empire or the world!”
When JYJ first participated in the event, he thought it was just a small gig.
But at this moment, he felt proud to be the host of such an event.
“A total of 8,712 applicants—humans, elves, dark elves, beastkin, male and female, adults and children—so many fans of Tetric Rubel have risen to the challenge, and among them, the last two standing are two 15-year-old boys.”
Were these two boys, both the same age, merely fortunate coincidences, or was it fate?
Well, it didn’t matter at the moment.
They had fought their way here, and all that mattered was that people wanted to see who would come out on top.
They wanted to know who would become the legendary first game tournament champion.
“Well then, let’s welcome our final contestants!!!!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As JYJ spoke, blue fireworks exploded in the sky, and Bean appeared.
With a cold gaze and wearing glasses, he entered the arena expressionless.
“Cool charisma! The player Bean from the Western Academy, who has overwhelmed his opponents with his sharp play!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Bean stepped in, red fireworks burst on the opposite side, heralding Johan’s entrance.
Johan entered the arena, unwaveringly smiling and waving to the crowd.
“With his fiery play that ignites both players and the audience alike!!! The genius boy from the East!!!! Johan!”
As the two players entered the arena, the atmosphere heated even more.
JYJ rushed to the players for quick interviews.
“Before we begin the finals, let’s hear from our players about their resolve. Bean, what are your thoughts going into the game?”
Bean responded with his usual bluntness, but his eyes were set firmly on the trophy.
“I believe there’s no need for many words this time. I will take what is rightfully mine.”
“Whoa!!!”
His declaration, which might come off as cocky, excited the crowd.
“Whoa!!! Strong! Powerful!!! Bean declared victory! Now Johan, what’s your resolve heading into the match!?”
JYJ rushed to Johan and held the crystal ball microphone out to him.
Johan accepted it and politely bowed.
“Haha! First, I must apologize to the audience.”
What? What’s he apologizing for?
Everyone focused on Johan, who gave a sweet smile but shot a glare at Bean as he spoke.
“This time, I might finish it quickly by going all out from the start.”
His declaration of revealing his true skill, different from before, set the crowd ablaze.
“Wowww!”
“Ahhh!!! Johan declared he will give it his all!!!! Until now, it’s been a joke!!!! This is intense!!!! The tension between the two players is already heating up before the match begins!!!!!!”
With the interviews concluded, both players returned to their spots.
In an instant, the arena fell silent.
The screens displayed both players’ game screens, waiting only for the host’s announcement.
“Now! From this moment!!! With the cheers and roars of the fans filling the Coliseum, I will officially begin the first-ever Tetric Rubel finals!!!!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With JYJ’s announcement and the rainbow-colored fireworks lighting up the dark Zephia night sky, the finals commenced.
“Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!”
“The two players are starting this with a climax!!!!!!!! Powering up from the start!!! Blocks begin to rain from the sky!!!!”
From the onset of the game, blocks were being rapidly aligned on the screen.
The unsettling electronic sounds filled the Coliseum as blocks disappeared at lightning speed.
“There’s no room for compromise; it’s a tight standoff!!!!! Neither side will back down!!!! To think this is a contest between humans is astonishing!!!!”
It was indeed a tight contest.
Neither side yielded an inch, and given how well both were performing, it wouldn’t be surprising if the sun rose on this match.
But little by little, changes began to appear on the screen.
“(That guy…has he really gotten faster than before?)”
The first to notice was, of course, Bean.
Johan was genuinely serious right from the start.
As he had warned Bean, Johan pushed forward, starting from the get-go.
“Ahhhh!!!! Little by little, Bean seems to be faltering!!! Johan is really pressing on!!!!”
Johan’s screen was visibly stacking blocks bit by bit.
The hearts of those cheering for Bean sank gradually.
“Is this Johan’s full power!!!!! Johan is pressing hard!!!! He’s really pushing Bean into a corner!!!!!!!!”
Even a minimal advantage is critical in such a tight contest.
Blocks began accumulating on Bean’s screen, which mirrored what he had previously done to his opponents.
“Bean!!! He’s being pushed back!!! Is this how it ends!!! Will it be a loss like this!!!!!”
And ultimately, the words [Game Over] appeared on Bean’s screen, marking the end of the first round.
“Ahhh!!! Game over!!!!! In Round 1, Johan takes the victory!!!!”
“Wowww!!! Johan is the best!!!”
The arena erupted.
Historically, the winner of Round 1 typically went on to win the match.
Moreover, Johan had been hiding his strength until this point, leading most to believe the outcome would favor him.
However…was Johan the only one hiding his strength?
“Bean has taken off his glasses!!! Is he renewing his resolve!? The atmosphere feels different!!!!!”
Though Bean had poor eyesight and wore glasses, he preferred to play without them for gaming.
They made his eyes fatigued because he could see too well.
Yet, it hadn’t been an issue until now.
“Let’s begin Round 2!!!!!!!”
As JYJ’s declaration sounded, blocks began to rain down again.
It was a familiar shower of blocks, paired with the incredibly sharp geniuses’ gameplay on the screen.
“Of course, right from the start, the rain begins!!!! The combo points are climbing!!!! Both players are fierce!!!!! It’s truly intense!!!!!!”
The screens showcased a typical tied game continuing from the start.
However, Johan sensed something was amiss right from the beginning.
“(That guy’s become incredibly sharp.)”
Though he had the speed advantage, he noticed he was falling behind in block accuracy.
With the accuracy of a thoughtless machine, Johan’s screen began to slip back quickly.
“Ahhh!!!! Johan is on the back foot this time!!!! What’s happening!!!!!!?”
Johan had experienced being pressured in battles before.
But they were all part of his strategy.
This was the first time he felt pressured against his will.
“Johan!!! He’s trying to counterattack!!!!! But he’s still being pushed back!!!! Johan seems to be panicking!!!!!!”
Under pressure, he needed to deal with blocks properly first.
Yet, Johan took a risk.
“He needs to hold back!!!! Johan!!!!!! If he collects blocks here, he won’t win!!!!”
Having watched top players at this level, JYJ found Johan’s play dangerously unstable.
And that worry proved accurate.
“Ahhh!!!! Johan made a mistake!!!!! It’s critical!!!! Blocks are piling up!!!!”
He mispositioned a single block.
A mistake uncharacteristic of Johan, one that ended the game.
“Game Over!!!!! Bean wins!!!!!!!!!”
“Wowww!!! Bean! Bean! Bean!”
Now both players were tied with one win each.
Who would ultimately win?
Who would become the owner of 100 million gold?
All eyes in the Coliseum, as well as those watching the screens and crystal balls in Zephia, were glued to the action, filled with tension.
“Yes, this Tetric Rubel final has both sides at one win each!!!! This is truly fierce!!! The determination to win clashes fiercely!!! It seems as though the gladiators of the Coliseum have revived!!!!!!!”
The Coliseum had been used as an event space since the abolition of gladiatorial slavery 200 years ago.
People were captivated by this blood-soaked contest of gladiators in a different sense.
The players were in the same situation, pouring sweat as they prepared for the final showdown.
“Now, let’s begin the last battle!!! Round 3!!!!!!!!”
The final contest kicked off.
This final faced an unordinary start right out of the gate.
“What!? Incredible!!!! Both players are collecting blocks simultaneously!!!!! To think they’re sharing the same thought!!! This must be the level of the finals competitors!!!!!!!”
The two players began crafting blocks for combos as if they had planned it.
Whether they had the luxury of creating blocks or confidence in even processing the opponent’s blocks, the reasoning remained unknown; what mattered was that they both made the same choice.
Thus began a battle vibrating with tension like never before.
“They’re trading block bombs!!!!!!! It’s a constant volley of give and take!!!! The screen fills with precarious bombs that could burst at any moment!!!!!”
They began exchanging massive bundles of 3 to 4 rows of blocks.
If a moment of negligence occurred, it felt as though the spectators’ hearts would burst with anxiety.
“Go! Bean!!!!!”
“Fight, Johan!!!!!!!”
Even JYJ was feeling the pressure, wishing to palpably winced at the intensity of the game.
“This is an intense back-and-forth battle!!!!! There are no swords, but this feels like war!!!!!!! The players are giving it their all in a bloody struggle as though blocks will shatter the crystal ball!!!! The audience can’t take their eyes off it!!!!”
Though block bombs were a variable now, both players were extraordinarily skilled.
Their screens were tightly interlocked, creating a stalemate.
But then suddenly…
“Ahhh!!! Could it be!!!!”
A few blocks began to stack on Johan’s screen.
“Blocks are accumulating on Johan’s screen!!!! How did this happen!!!!?”
Just a slight accumulation of blocks was a critical mistake in a game where a single error could lead to a game over.
Seeing this, Bean thought of it as an opportunity.
“(I’m going to be number one!!!)”
Considering it the final chance, Bean kicked his speed into high gear.
As blocks piled up along with Bean’s speed, everyone thought Bean would take victory the moment he sent his last combo.
But then…
“No, no, no!!!! What is this!!!!!!!”
In the blink of an eye, 8 lines of blocks swiftly moved from Johan’s screen to Bean’s, flipping the situation entirely!!!!
“What is going on!!!!!!? In an instant, it’s been reversed!!!!! In a split second, Bean is backed into a corner!!!!!!”
Everyone watching was left stunned.
But the most shocked might have been Yuren, the creator of the game.
“Oh my… he used Lucky Eleven in the match…”
In Yuren’s Tetric Rubel game, blocks appeared with a random probability.
If one block appeared, the next would randomly come from the remaining blocks, and if all blocks appeared, the odds were reset for selection.
This way, it prevented the loss of a game from consecutive similar blocks while also sparking the thrill of wondering what will appear next.
Thus, it was possible under these rules.
It’s plausible that after the line block, another line block emerged.
Yuren named this phenomenon Lucky Eleven and left it as a unique feature of fun.
And the users of Tetric Rubel had experienced cases like this in practice.
However, it was akin to a lottery; you couldn’t guarantee its occurrence.
But Johan, he aimed for that!
Whether it was intuition, calculation, or foresight, Johan knew it would come and connected with the luck he sought, eliminating 8 lines of blocks simultaneously and turning the tide.
“The line block has appeared!!!!!!! Everyone!!!!! The line block has come out [twice] in succession!!!!!! [Twice] now, it’s tightening around Bean’s neck!!!!!!!”
In a flash, the momentum had reversed.
As he was confident of victory, the sudden reversal sent Bean’s mindset spiraling.
It’s said that even the smallest chink can bring down a massive dam.
At that moment, with [two] line blocks cracking his confidence, the outcome of the match was sealed.
“Bean!!! Game over!!!! Johan wins!!!!!!!”
“Whoa!!!”
“Wowwwwwww!!!!!”
Johan’s celebration erupted with cheers from the audience as the finals concluded.
The Winner of the first game tournament of the Other World’s Tetric Rubel Finals: [ Genius Boy from the East / Johan Groove]
