After logging out, Alexander repeated his usual routine. It was around dinnertime, so he sat in front of the news while eating.

He watched the local sports channel that also covered Esports. They were displaying the rankings for ‘New Eden’ on one side of the screen and the reporter was commenting on the names of the players appearing on it.

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The only unchanged name on the list was full of question marks. That player was still number one.

The host, Elizabeth Rainer, then announced an interview with the top two and three from ‘New Eden’, Azamus and Phoenix. It also presented them with their real names since they were already famous Esports athletes.

“Without further ado, live on set, on ESN Canada, Kary Deveille, better known through her character alias, Phoenix!” The host presented, lifting her arm to the side.

Cameras shifted and welcomed on set a beautiful curvy woman. Her weight did not affect her grace and elegance as she strode to sit on the couch next to the host, a smile beaming.

The audience clapped as she walked.

“She is currently second on rankings, combating our next guest fiercely to stay ahead. He is from the United States of America and is the ex-number one player in the famous title ‘Tower of Babel’. The Esports community well knew his alias, Azamus, American Esports superstar, Damien Grimm, is also live, on set!” The host presented the second guest.

She lifted her arm again, motioning to the side. Cameras again shifted to the side, and a tall and fit man appeared on-screen.

He looked like a frequent gym client, as he had well-defined and toned muscles, visible through his tight grey shirt. He had an arrogant smile on his face, like he was used to being acclaimed by crowds.

The man had let fame go to his head, and it was clear as day, with how he looked mockingly at Kary.

“Hello, number ten.” He said haughtily, as he sat down next to her, crossing his legs.

“Hello, EX number one.” Kary replied, with a cocky smile.

“Ohhh! I can feel the tension already climbing on set!” The host commented, fanning her cue cards in her face.

“Now tell me, Mr. Grimm. How does it feel to no longer be in the first place? You have held that title for quite some time on ‘Tower of Babel’. It must feel discouraging to no longer be at the top.” The host said, obviously trying to fan the flames.

Damien’s eyebrow twitched a little, but he kept his face locked in a smile.

“Please, call me Damien. And to answer your question, it is only a slight delay. The position is as good as mine and I shall claim it back in no time at all.” The man said with a cocky tone.

“Over my dead body.” Kary said, looking at the man with a deadpan expression.

“Gladly.” Damien answered, grinning widely.

“Hahaha! I like the energy you both give off. This is peak rivalry on your screen, ladies and gentlemen! Now. Mrs. Deveille, would you like to share how you climbed the ranks so fast and overcome Mr. Damien over here?” The host intervened, not letting the situation escalate too far.

She wanted fire, not an inferno, after all.

“Ahh, I can’t give out my secret now, can I?” Kary responded to the host, going back to her amiable smile.

“Excuse my blunder, Mrs Deveille. I didn’t want to pry into your secrets. I only wanted you to share tips and tricks with our audience.” The host responded, acting sorry.

“No offense taken. As for tips, I recommend to all the players in the game to not play ‘New Eden’ like a conventional game. Train in there as you would out here. That will improve your strength.” Kary said, giving a small tip out of charity.

This would boost her popularity ratings, and as an Esports athlete, those were important. That was what kept the sponsors happy.

Damien snorted.

“Or you could do like the player in the number one spot and cheat your way through leveling up.” He casually said, with a derisive smile.

“Oh? Care to enlighten us, Mr. Damien?” The host said, curiously.

You could see the glint of greed in her eyes. She could smell a scoop or scandal incoming!

“I certainly can, Mrs. Rainer.” Damien said, politely.

“Oh please, call me Elizabeth, Damien.” The host said, faking a blush.

“The player in the number one spot has been there ever since the leaderboards were unlocked, Elizabeth. He is always many levels ahead of every other player, including me and Phoenix, over there.” Damien said, pointing at the leaderboards behind him.

“The players from the top of the Esports community know nothing of this mysterious player, and no one has ever seen him either. No one knows him, and he has never made a public appearance.” He added.

“What other reason would he have to stay anonymous, if not because he is cheating?” Damien finished his explanation, a mischievous smile on his lips.

“That seems like a very plausible explanation, Mr. Damien. But would ‘Evo-Gaming’ not have banned the player, or at least issued a statement, if that were the case?” The host, Elizabeth, asked.

“What company would admit their blunder in this position, Elizabeth?” Damien confidently replied.

Damien’s master plan for this accusation was to have the mysterious player banned, even if he wasn’t cheating. He hoped that the company’s higher-ups would feel shamed by the interview and have him banned, to protect their reputation.

The host then brought her hand to her ear for a few seconds and nodded slightly.

“The production director has just notified me that a person claiming to be the number one player of ‘New Eden’ has just reached out to the station and agreed to join in through video conference — anonymously, of course.” The host, Elizabeth, said, almost ignoring Damien.

That threw off the man a bit. He wasn’t expecting anyone to claim to be that player after he had just dragged the person through the mud.

None of it mattered, though. He controlled his thoughts quickly and decided on a Plan B.

A square appeared on the screen behind them, showing a black decor and the blurred form of a person.

“Azamus, your petty tricks and manipulation mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.” The blurred man said, with distortion to his voice.

“Hmph! Can you even prove you are the player at the top of the rankings? If you can’t, I will out you as a poser and a liar!” Damien huffed, slightly losing his cool.

The image changed from the blurred man to a screenshot of an Exp bar. Next to it, they could see a level. Level 30. That fit with the highest player’s level in the game.

“Hah! What a joke! Who can tell if that is not a trafficked image? You showed no actual proof there. Why don’t you share your whole status screen, if you are telling the truth?!” Damien almost shouted.

He was trying to provoke the man into sharing all his info with the world. He hoped the person was stupid enough to take the bait.

Sadly for him, it did not happen.

“Your baits and tantrums prove only your lack of maturity, Azamus. If you want proof, you shall get it at the tournament in ‘New Eden’ that ‘Evo-Gaming’ has just announced.” The man in the image said.

“I will see you there, and I will crush you.” The man then added before the connection was closed.

“Rrraaaggghhhhh!!!!!!” Damien yelled, completely losing control.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come here, to this garbage show, in this garbage country!” The American yelled venomously.

“You Canadiens are always trying to uplift yourselves to America’s standard! You are a waste of space of a country!” He howled, ripping away the microphone on his shirt and throwing it to the ground.

He then stormed out of the studio, with cameras following him, until he was out of reach.

“Well, that was unexpected!” Elizabeth said, trying to regain control of her show.

“We will come back to our interview after a short commercial break. Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen!” The host added, sending the show into an ad break.

Alexander completely zoned out from the television. A sentence had caught his attention, and he was already on his phone looking up at the forums.

The top player had said that they had announced a tournament!

He opened the forums and scrolled until he found the section about official announcements. And just as the man had said, there it was.

‘New Eden First Tournament of Heroes!’

‘What a lame name.’ Alexander thought.

He tapped on the post and started reading it. It was a game dev announcing that since players had reached level thirty, they could announce the first tournament.

It would lock in the participants once one thousand players had reached level thirty and would then happen a week later.

Alexander knew from then on that he was in a time crunch. If he wanted to climb to the top in this game, he needed to be a part of those thousand players.

He kept reading, trying to glean details from the post about what the tournament format would be, but the subject was never broached.

‘I guess I’ll know when I’m in it.’ Alexander thought, clenching his fist in determination.

He texted his boss, asking for a week of vacation. He knew it was very much last minute and that he probably wouldn’t get it, but he tried anyway.

A few minutes later, his boss texted back, asking what he needed the week off for.

Alexander responded he wanted the week to prepare for a tournament in the game he was playing. He also added that he never asked for any leave and that he was always there, even when sick.

He was going for the ‘ I’m a model employee ‘ card.

His boss replied by asking him if he was taking a break for a game, and that this would badly reflect on his record. Alexander insisted he needed to do this and that it would be a onetime thing.

He then saw that his boss was typing. The little icon for the reply hovered for a minute or two. Alexander felt a bit of anxiety while he waited.

He didn’t want to force his way out of work, but if his boss refused to give him this week, he might just quit altogether.

The replying icon then disappeared. Immediately after, a reply came in.

It simply contained the word ‘OK’. Alexander sighed in relief.

He thanked his boss profusely, before putting his phone on DND and closing the screen.

Alexander quickly finished his meal and picked up his things. He did some dishes and cleaned up a bit.

He wouldn’t be taking much time out of the game in the next week, so he wanted to make sure it wouldn’t stink up in his apartment.

After doing that, he went back to his chair, reclined it back, put the VR helmet on, and logged in.

*Launching ‘New Eden’*

*Logging in*

*Welcome back player Astaroth*