I came to my senses after a considerable amount of time had passed.
As I opened my eyes to the morning sun entering the room, I looked around.
“Where is this…?”
I couldn’t remember well. I was definitely developing Eternal Fantasy inside the barrier, but the last thing I could recall was that I was working on the final battle with Sky and Sephiroth, and then those guys seemed to jump out of the screen and fight right in front of me… After that, my memory got blurry.
I decided to get up and go outside, where Alicia was waiting.
“Oh, you’re awake. Yuren.”
“Alicia.”
The dark elf Alicia was sipping a strong cup of dark coffee in the flower bed. The aroma of the coffee felt like it was waking my drowsy brain.
“How long have I been out?”
“You’ve been sleeping for four days.”
“Four days!?”
I was shocked to hear that I had been unconscious for four days… But then I realized I hadn’t slept much for a month, so considering I only crashed for four days, it felt like a win.
“What about the others? And where exactly is this place?”
Now that I was awake, I was filled with questions. What about the preparation for the Legend Fighter tournament? The creation of the Eternal Fantasy crystal balls? What about the other priests and the Master? I wanted to ask all those questions, but Alicia quietly approached me and said…
“Before I explain, Yuren, let’s start with your punch.”
“Wait, what?”
BAM!!!
She delivered a solid punch right to my stomach. It was a glorious punch from the dark elf’s martial art known as “Black Forest.”
“Uuugh!!!”
The dark elf sage’s genuine punch jolted my insides and brain cells awake all at once. I wanted to wake up, but not like this.
“Look at what you’ve done, turning the dark elf character named after me into a joke…”
“A- Alicia! Let me explain…”
Her eyes were filled with rage as she seemed furious that the dark elf character named Alicia in Legend Fighter would take off her clothes when using illusions. It looked severe enough that she could use time magic to turn me back into a fetus right then and there.
“Shut up!!! Do you know what the folks from my hometown call me? They call me ‘Alicia the Undressing’!!! Me, one of the three sages!!!”
Now that I thought about it, she certainly had a reason to be angry. If my nickname turned into ‘Yuren the Undressing’ one day, I would also want to go after the source of that shame.
“Let’s just make contact until I die!”
“Wait! Alicia! I’m just a patient!”
“Don’t worry, if you look like you’re going to die, I’ll heal you with ‘Crohels’ (Time Reversal Recovery Magic), so just take it!”
Thud! Thud! Ugh!!!
“Ow! Aah!!! Alicia!!!”
So right after finally regaining my senses from excessive game development, I ended up receiving full-body therapy from one of the legendary three sages for quite a while.
“Phew… Alright, I’ll let this slide for the sake of Irene.”
“Yes… Thank you…”
After being Alicia’s punching bag, I used all my brainpower to finally gain my freedom after 5 minutes. I really apologize for using the Master’s name a bit too recklessly.
“So where exactly are we?”
“We’re at the Edward Consortium lodging in Zephia.”
“Huh!? This is the lodging of the Edward Consortium in ‘Zephia’!?”
Now that I thought about it, I had seen this place once before. Since we were staying in our building in Zephia, I must have forgotten.
“Right, your friend Sylvia asked me to bring everyone here along with my disciples.”
“Where are the Master and the other priests?”
As Alicia sat back down and sipped her coffee, she said…
“Irene and your disciples went to watch the Legend Fighter matches.”
“Oh… Ah! Today is the day of the matches!?”
Thinking about the date, I realized that if things had gone as planned, today was indeed the day the preliminaries would start. I couldn’t miss such a festive occasion!
“Then, Alicia! I’m off!”
“Make sure to dress properly!”
If Alicia hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost walked around Zephia in loose hospital clothes. I hurriedly went inside to change and headed for the Zephia Coliseum.
*
As I dashed towards the Coliseum, I looked around Zephia. The gray streets had come to life, shining brightly. There were masses of people in the streets, all seemingly excitedly chatting about the game, even though I hadn’t reached the Coliseum yet.
“Wow, Sylvia really prepared extravagantly.”
The Coliseum was bustling with people just like during Tetric’s time. It was like a baseball stadium in my past life, with dozens of food stalls surrounding it. A large screen was set up on the outer walls of the Coliseum so that everyone outside could see the preliminary matches, and the characters from Legend Fighter were battling fiercely.
The Coliseum was overflowing with life… Perhaps even excessively so.
“Yeah!! Get him, Blanc!!”
“Don’t let up, Curie!!!”
On the enormous screen installed around the Zephia Coliseum, the gameplay of Legend Fighter showing what seemed like the preliminaries was visible. People were reacting passionately to it, and some were holding betting slips like they were ready to wager.
I thought to myself that there wouldn’t be any issues if the Legend Fighter tournament began right now. The mere existence of human vs. human combat was entertaining enough. And once fists started flying? Engaging in primal combat would be entertaining regardless of the era or time.
My only worry was that Unreal Fighter would hold a tournament first, but they ended up self-destructed by trying to grow their company without solidifying their foundation.
“Haha! Yuren, are you finally back to your senses?”
“Julia!”
Out in the open, Julia waved her hand and ran toward me. It seemed she had finally recovered, her usual cheerful self returning.
“Where are the Master and Jiren?”
“They’re all inside! Hurry and go in, it’s heating up in there!”
“Heating up?”
What was burning, I wondered. Anyway, I took Julia’s hand and followed her inside. As participants, we could enter quickly, and once inside, jubilation erupted.
“Wowwwwwww!!!!!”
Another perfect win!!!
Looking at the source of the cheers, it turned out a perfect victory had been achieved with Ryo against Karuga. I couldn’t believe that Ryo defeated Karuga with a perfect health. Karuga was known as the ruthless general of the Empire, except for Ren.
If Ryo had accomplished that against someone like Karuga, it meant one of two things: either the opponent was terrible, or the opposing player was an absolute monster.
The answer came quickly.
“Go Johan!!!!! Fight!!!!!”
The moment I heard the name, everything clicked into place. Of course, a champion of the Tetric Tournament could easily do that. Looking at the audience in the Coliseum, I saw people had banners with cheer slogans.
“Go Johan!” “Wishing for victory again!” “Oh mighty god of competition, bless Johan!” and so on, filled the stands.
Could it be that the fanbase for esports was beginning to form even in another world? Memories of the Star League and World Championship started to flood back to me.
“Oh! My disciple! Have you regained your senses!”
“Master! You’re here!!! Come quickly! It’s getting even more exciting!”
Julia led me to where the Master, Jiren, Noirin, Karen, and Juren were, all joyfully watching the Legend Fighter tournament. But they weren’t just watching; they were sitting in proper VIP seats, with popcorn, strawberry ice cream, and even beer set up in a full snack array.
These people!
…How dare they create such a perfect setting and not call me! I was almost going to sulk for being a bit late to wake up.
I hurriedly sat next to the Master, munching on potato chips as I asked.
Crisp! Crunch!
“What do you think about the preliminaries, Jiren?”
“It’s incredibly intense. Unlike the Tetric Tournament, a lot of talented players from the dwarves and the Kingdom of Ra have come out.”
“Oh? Well, having more skilled players is good news.”
During Tetric’s time, many participants were quite capable, mostly from humans, dark elves, and elves. Especially humans had been the dominant players, but it seemed this time, dwarves and foreign talent were also stepping up.
“But I still doubt they can beat the real deal.”
“Real deal?”
Before I could even ask what Jiren meant by ‘real deal,’ cheers erupted.
“Wowwwwwwwww!!!!!”
“It’s Curie vs. Curie!!!”
On the screen opposite where Johan was competing, a matchup between Curie vs. Curie was displayed. When the same character was selected, the 2P Curie would wear pink clothing. So, the screen showed Pink Curie vs. Blue Curie battling it out.
A mirror match was definitely a showcase of gamer skills, and it looked like it would be an interesting match.
“Ha! Hah! I did it!!! Ha ha!!!”
“Wow!!! Pink Curie is getting smashed by Blue Curie like a puppy under the sun!!!”
“She even cancels damage with Just Guard!!!”
“Is that even a living being!?”
The match ended with Blue Curie’s overwhelming victory. Every attack from Pink Curie got read and countered, and Blue Curie canceled damage with Just Guard, winning with perfect health.
“Bean really knows how to play!!!”
“This time, he’s going to win it all!!!!”
The crowd was on fire with the appearance of the ‘real deal.’
“Go Bean!” “This time, you’re winning!!!” The cheers made me reminiscent of the Star League.
I was beginning to feel that this tournament was bound to become legendary.
