The third round of the tournament would start soon. It would be held on the Central Planet as the required venue wasn’t large.
The arena enclosed by the leader platforms would be the competition venue.
Although the number of participating countries had decreased significantly compared to the start, no eliminations had taken place in the second round. The list of participants ballooned once you took into account the individual format and the fact that each country had 10 spots to fill.
The competition was set up in a round robin format divided into two stages: preliminaries and finals. Participants would be split into groups during the preliminaries. After a winner was found, the rest of the group would continue to fight to determine the rest of the rankings. Points would be given based on the rankings and collected under each country.
People had already scouted out and purchased tickets for good spots ahead of time. They logged in early on the day of the competition and waited at said locations.
Lakely also logged into the holographic world early on. He first scouted out the public instances since he did want the group experience. However, the audience boxes of every instance were at capacity as expected. He sighed as he forked up the money to buy a separate instance, “It’s not even the real venue. Why are they all here so early…forget it.”
He came quite early as well, which was quite common.
Although the resource tournament never lacked an audience, the individual bracket always attracted the most attention compared to the small squad format or command battles that could take days or even weeks to play out. Individual matches were exciting to watch in real time and highly anticipated.
The command battles were just too long winded for half the audience. It was also difficult to keep track of all the plotlines unfolding in the small squad and command battle format due to the sheer scale of things. A detailed recap was often needed after the fact.
Lakely found the Grantz audience box all by his lonesome. He set up his recording devices before taking a seat near the leader platform and enjoying some virtual popcorn. He would’ve stayed in a public instance if he didn’t need a good angle for recording. At least it would be very atmospheric that way.
He set his popcorn aside and focused as the scenery began to shift.
Faint silhouettes appearing around him, a buffer representing the people on the scene in reality.
Lakely noticed something. He turned off the projection data for the audience and glanced behind him. Norton sat high above on the leader platform while Secretary-General Lin stood below him. On both sides of the leader platform were the legion commanders armed with swords.
Grantz must have rearranged their leader platform to raise its elevation and replace the seats.
Lakely was momentarily stunned. Although Norton had always been very imposing, it was only now that he realized that Norton Grantz was the imperial ruler of a powerful nation.
[Here we go! The generated groups are quite reasonable this time. I thought Team Grantz’s matchups would be left to chance as they don’t have any past records to reference, but the Alliance actually seeded and split them up. However, why just six people per group? How many matches will there be in total?]
[It’s okay, each match will be over in the blink of an eye. They’re all worth watching at this level of competition. Still, I was looking forward to the ceremonial entry to the arena this year. Too bad they got rid of it.]
[Starting right away isn’t too bad. Grantz’s leader platform is so cool! There are so many people in their real-life audience box as well. Has offline ticket purchasing started up again?]
[To a select few, probably. I heard you have to accumulate a certain degree of contributions to the Alliance before you can buy those tickets. My mom can, but unfortunately we felt the ship channels were too dangerous considering the recent insect invasion to attend in person. I’m kind of regretting it now. It’s better to see His Majesty Norton in person! There’s still a distance between the audience box and the leader platform, and due to holographic limitations we can’t even reach there.]
[No need to feel regret. Do you think anyone there in person dares to approach the leader platform? The last person who tried that with a minor country was detained within two seconds. They might still be in detention now. Don’t underestimate the security around the national leaders, especially since it’s Grantz we’re talking about. With their way of doing things, the offender might be pulverized on the spot.]
The host was already delivering the opening remarks with the same enthusiasm as always.
Lakely moved to the first row. En, much better.
He finally had a moment to glance at the group divisions. Although he has seen it several times, the specific order of appearances hasn’t been determined yet because the Alliance allows for participants to petition for consecutive matches.
Individual matches were different from regular matches as they were held one after another instead of multiple simultaneously. At this level of competition, each match was worth watching.
At the same time, this format allowed participants to compete continuously.
Every member of the group needed to fight against everyone in their group once. The groups were generated beforehand, but the specific order was decided and announced at the start of the competition. The matches were normally spaced far apart enough to ensure recovery between matches, but the Alliance would let participants request to fight continuously. However, no one has made such a request for a long time.
The host continued, “I know everyone can hardly wait, so let’s officially kick off the Round 3 individual bracket! Clear the field!”
As the host’s words fell.
The central arena rose into the air.
The audience cheered passionately for quite some time.
Hushed conversations from the leader platforms halted as everyone glanced down.
[The holographic venue hasn’t closed yet. I just went to the arena to experience what it’s like down there. Man, I was so nervous. My legs almost gave out entirely. There were crowds of people towering down on me from every direction, and the cheers were deafening. It’s a completely different experience from the audience box. These participants must have great mental fortitude.]
[You guys really know how to play. I’ll give it a try too!]
[The cheering part is because we’re the ones screaming our lungs out, right? I wonder which group is going first.]
[Oh! It’s Group 5!]
Lakely instinctively stood up and braced himself on the railing. His eyes darted towards the participant entrance. He knew who was in Group 5 without even needing. “Xavier is in Group 5. I wonder when he’ll show up.”
He touched his chin thoughtfully. “The first match is between Participant 1 and 6.”
But Lakely was obviously not very worried. Even if Xavier hasn’t had many direct battles with others, he’s already shaping up to be a powerhouse based on brief encounters.
Even according to a conservative estimate, Xavier should be able to emerge victorious in his group.
……
The Grantz waiting area.
Although the layout was different back home, Adlet tried to decorate the place in the familiar style of the Grantz palace.
The butler stood by the sofa, holding a tray as usual. He was responsible for taking care of the participants and ensuring they could head out to their matches.
Accompanying him was Ye He, and right next to him was Ye Muo. Adlet smiled. He had intentionally invited Ye He over this morning.
Bert was splayed across the sofa, looking a bit bored.
Helene had her arms cross and was practicing all sorts of kicks to amuse herself. It seemed quite leisurely if you ignored the gust of wind every kick stirred up.
Jacob sat cross legged on the bookshelf.
A staff member specifically came over to inform them of the group order. “Please be advised that the first group to compete will be Group 5.”
Everyone recalled that Ye Muo was in Group 5.
Helene stopped and turned to Ye Muo.
Bert lifted his head and said properly for once, “You’re in luck, Xavier.”
It was one of the odd moments he was sincere. Getting it over with meant less waiting around back here.
Ano rose and placed his hand on Ye Muo’s shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, Xavier. It’s okay if you choose to abstain.”
Ye Muo couldn’t help but imagine a scenario where he couldn’t beat anyone and was forced to forfeit in front of everyone. His nerves intensified. “En, but–”
Disgruntled, Helene swung an arm around Ano’s neck and pulled him back. “Nonsense. How could Xavier lose?”
Ye Muo turned to Ye He.
Ye He helped him tidy up his collar and hair. “There’s not much to do after your group is finished. Want to visit the amusement park? You’ve been wanting to go for a while now.”
The end of the group stage marked the end of the preliminary round. The date of the finals hasn’t been determined yet.
He pointed to one of Ye Muo’s boots to indicate Ye Muo was responsible for that one before tying the other for him.
Ye Muo had already forgotten about his nervousness. He lowered his head to check the other boot and answered while lacing it up, “Sounds good.”
If you choose to fight consecutively, we can set out in about 20 minutes.
Ye Muo made a sound of acknowledgement, “Then I’ll go with that. How do you request that? I’ll go check the documents that were sent.”
His schedule these days had been too packed to read that thick stack of documents. Bert told him before they came that there was nothing of note in there. He just needed to fight well.
Ye He straightened up. “Just remain in the arena after finishing the first battle. Don’t worry about it yet. You may not be the first to fight.”
There was another knock at the door. “Hello, Contestant Xavier Grantz has drawn lot 1. Please prepare to take the stage.”
“Understood.” Ye He responded.
He led Ye Muo all the way to the door before glancing down the passageway. “Do you want me to accompany you?”
Ye Muo shook his head, much to Ye He’s surprise. “I’ll go by myself.”
With that, he walked towards the exit without hesitation, transitioning into a run like a nimble little lion.
The closer he got to the exit, the clearer those faint sounds from within the venue became.
There were so, so many people outside.
Ye Muo could hear his heart thumping away out of either excitement, nerves, or a mixture of both. Yet his pace only sped up in response.
Ye He watched Ye Muo’s figure disappear into the faintly lit exit before turning away. Adlet smiled at him. “His Little Highness is very brave.”
Ye He made a sound of acknowledgement, “He is.”
Ye Muo has always been timid, but also very brave at the same time.
He has always believed there was far more value to the courage of the timid than the courage of people like him, Ye Yun, or even the Grantz.
