“Honestly, I didn’t think you were the type of person to wait like this.”

  The storm clouds raged with thunder below, while the silhouettes of two dragons fought in the far distance. I’d sat next to Annath for at least five minutes now, most of that passing in silence. Miko and Prancer had stood awkwardly by the side, until they decided to sit down as well. They began playing tic-tac-toe on the ground.

  Despite her kind gesture, Annath didn’t show any more emotion on her face than usual. She looked slightly less irritated, perhaps. “Seven disconnecting was always common. A third of the time, she showed up late to scheduled raids, and if she did show up, she tended to disconnect mid-way through.”

  “You experienced that first-hand,” I said, “but you still didn’t believe her when she revealed the reason why she got banned?”

  She furrowed her brows with her gaze locked on the two dragons in the distance. “If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t have let her disappear. I would have flown to Thailand personally.”

  She hardly looked apologetic, but I could believe she had honest regrets about how things ended up.

  “That is to say,” Annath continued, “the situation was much more complex than it appeared on the outside. I believed her until the very end. I personally contacted both Wind Virtual’s surveillance team and the security team to investigate her, or to provide her with a chance to prove her legitimacy, which they did. Seven had so many opportunities to prove she wasn't cheating, and she slid out of them all. There was so much evidence stacked up on her.”

  “She returned, and you still didn’t believe her,” I said.

  “Of course she’ll continue playing,” Annath said. “Money is a big motivator. Would you rather work a poverty wage as a disabled person in Thailand, or would you cheat in Wonderwind with an alt account for money?”

  “SevenStrife literally got unbanned,” I said. “She showed that publicly, and you still didn’t trust her.”

  Annath frowned. “I trusted my gut, and I was wrong.”

  She said nothing more. In her eyes, she must have thought admitting she was wrong was enough of an apology.

  “You remind me of my dad,” I said.

  That somehow drew a smile out of her. “Is he stubborn?”

  I shrugged. “All I’m saying is that I’d like to see you two in an argument.”

  She said nothing, and we continued waiting.

  “You could get an easy win if you just killed me right now,” I said.

  “I don’t feel any threat to my title,” Annath said. “I don’t need to play dirty to win.”

  “Fair enough,” I said with a sigh, and we continued waiting.

  ***

  “It seems Veyra is unable to log in due to a health risk, which has led both teams refusing to fight.” Artonis’s voice echoed much louder from the giant speakers of the main stage. “Annath and Assassin are quite literally sitting it out! How a match like this will play out—I’m not quite certain, though it looks like Team Solo Mage’s tournament might end in a medical forfeit. Right now… Veyra is drinking water and trying to convince the game pod that her body is in a healthy state.”

  Anna clutched the fabric of her banner, though she couldn’t bring herself to lift it up. The front row audience around her had gone from confused to disappointed. Both Mom and Patrick—the Canadian boy in a grey hoodie she’d met during the match against Henrift, who was also camping front row spots—watched the stage silently with difficult expressions. Dad and Ricky were also with them a little bit behind. Dad bopped back and forth on his feet with his arms crossed.

  “They’re holding a fucking picnic or what?” an older boy from the group to her left was saying. He leaned his back against the fence, facing his friends instead of the match. “One hell of a finals match.”

  “Why was this match even moved here?” another boy asked. “Of course Annath will win this.”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Everyone else in the group looked disappointed, but mildly amused. Anna had seen similar expressions in school after one of her teachers had quit her job during class in a fit of anger, saying that she was done teaching a “zoo.” Everyone was surprised to have class canceled, and a few were sympathetic, but most just laughed it off as something to gossip about.

  People around Anna may have been disappointed to see the match go down like this, but they also knew this would turn into a scandal online, and they could brag later that they were a part of it.

  Easy for you to laugh it off, Anna thought, while the group to her left tried to convince one of their friends to go grab energy drinks. The group had admitted earlier that they weren’t here for the three versus three event; they were just camping through it to see the guild PvP semi-finals today.

  “Just kill him, Annath!” one of the guys shouted, until a security guard gave him a look. The casters continued discussing idle details.

  To her right, Patrick said, “Veyra can still join for the remaining matches. She has a history of the game pods not liking her.”

  “What are her chances?” Anna asked.

  “Hard to tell,” Patrick said. “But if the match ends like this, it’ll be bad for their popularity. They really need to get a few good plays to prove they’re worth it.”

  “Mhm,” Anna said. Patrick was a bit too analytical in her opinion, but he seemed knowledgeable, and he was clearly one of Aiden’s biggest fans. “Do you think they can win?”

  “They’re insane if they take even one point,” he said. “I don’t think they can do it. This is a popularity match for them. They’re hoping to give a good fight for the audience to gain fans. Winning would be absurd.”

  Anna pouted at him. “Aren’t guys supposed to reassure and comfort us when we’re stressing out?”

  “Anna,” mom said, as if she’d said something rude.

  Patrick laughed awkwardly, his face going red. “I mean, Solo Mage is still in a great spot. A second place debut match against Annath is amazing. I’m just being realistic by saying the grand prize is unlikely.”

  “My brother will win it for sure,” Anna said.

  “Wait.” Patrick’s head snapped to her. “Your brother?”

  “Yes,” Anna said. “Aiden is my brother.”

  Patrick’s blush turned to shock. “Seriously?”

  She chuckled. “Why else did you think I’m waiting for front row spots with my parents?”

  He remained shocked when Artonis’s voice echoed over them. “Veyra has successfully logged into virtual reality, fourteen minutes late from the start of the match! The host is relaying this to both teams. I expect Assassin to forfeit the first round, and yes, that is exactly what he does, as he allows Annath to execute him on the spot!”

  “Round one goes to Team Celestial Order!” Leona announced. “An unfortunate situation for Veyra and Assassin, but I must commend Annath for waiting as long as she did. Round two is starting right away, and the first player to confidently log in is Assassin A! This time, he is not abandoned, as Veyra spawns next to him!”

  The crowd cheered when the displays showed Aiden and Veyra next to each other. Veyra looked different from usual. Her wizard’s robe had switched to a green fairy-like dress. A magical aura radiated from it.

  Aiden hugged her, and the crowd cheered even further. Patrick was still shocked. Anna smiled lightly and raised the banner. You two idiots…

  “And not only has Veyra returned,” Artonis announced, “this is, ladies and gentlemen, a new mythic reveal!” The displays showed the item’s stats and description. “The Emerald Aurora, shown to the public for the first time ever. Assassin A did, of course, obtain ten percent contribution damage on Embridge, and I suspect this might be one of the items he obtained.”

  “Four thousand Spell Power,” Leona noted. “The base stats are insane, as one can expect from a mythic item, though it appears it’s a support robe! Every heal applies a stack, which can be activated to greatly buff resistances, and to activate a missing health heal. Has Veyra respecced into a support mage?”

  “That does not seem to be the case, as she has also switched one of her rings,” Artonis said, and the screen displayed another item. “Spirit Of Dawnsong, a ring with a healing effect for every tick of damage Veyra deals. A clever solution to stack Emerald Aurora’s passive. All Veyra has to do is hit her opponent, and a blessing will land on her ally.”

  “Renlia and Merami would absolutely drool over this robe,” Leona said. “If Syntrix or Zenith Protocol were to obtain it, their dominant front lines would be even more unkillable. On the other hand, will Assassin A benefit from resistances and healing effects? Is it going to be enough to make a difference against The Celestial Order?”

  Anna turned to Patrick for answers. He was staring at the item stats intently, gears clearly running in his head. “That robe is probably four million gold,” he said.

  Four million? Anna thought with a blink. Did that mean Veyra was an actual millionaire?

  “But will they win?” Anna asked.

  That was apparently a harder question to answer. “It’s better than what they had before…”

  He still didn’t look confident. Anna pouted at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be rooting with us?”

  Patrick stared at the item stats for a moment longer. He turned to Anna. “Well… If I say they’re going to win, and I’m right, will you add me on Wonderwind?”

  Anna leaned back. “What, so you can contact my brother?”

  “No,” he said with a smirk. “I’m a full-time personal coach. I’ll help you through the early or mid-game. I don’t offer boosting, though.”

  Anna gave him a side-eye. “I’ve never even played the game.”

  “Oh,” he said. “In that case, you know a surprising amount. The offer stands, though.”

  Anna shrugged. He mentioned being a full-time coach, did he not? That implied he must have earned money. He’d mentioned he was seventeen earlier. “Are you full time in your parents’ attic?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Well, yes. I’m underage. But I earn enough to rent already. I know a lot about this game. How else do you think I’ve predicted every match so far?”

  “Hmmm,” Anna said. She couldn’t give him an answer, though, as the casters announced the start of the match.