Road to 10,000 Part 1

Arenas…The hearts of PvP. The three maps in Helios are bona fide classics….Back in the day we used to have to study every nook and cranny of every single map in the game, but rarely were they voted into play in upper leagues.

I was hit by a wave of heavy nostalgia. Back in the first few years when a new region was added, I was excited to experience the map for the first time. While it felt like back then, it also felt different at the same time standing in front of the Arena in person.

“Well this place is much more different than what I remember” I commented

“Oh ho ho…it’s a whole new experience in there as well….especially if it’s your first time away from a mouse and keyboard.” Jun replied to that

And as we were contemplating about the experience, I suddenly felt a sudden weight on my shoulders as if a wall of bricks collapsed onto me

“Oniiii-chan….you might want to watch your back next time” as usual, her speed and unpredictability always have me guessing….all the more reason most of her death traps are effective against their poor victims.

“Alright, alright...you win” I conceded to get her off me. And it worked

While I got on one knee to get the walking disaster off me, she followed through and hurried back to the side of her much more reserved younger sibling.

“What have you two been upto?” I inquired

“Just checking everything out. Meguru has been my personal lookout for the entire time” She said while surprise hugging her sister.

“Onee-chan…..give me some room will you?” Meguru tried to push her clingy lookalike away.

I got back up and regained my balance and let out a sigh of relief “Good to know something hasn’t changed in here” I told myself

I turn around to spot Jun’s attention being diverted towards the distant entrance to the arena

“Something wrong?” I inquired

“Those guys…. Meguru, any idea why they are here?” Jun asked

Ducking under Mai’s hold, she finally broke free and left her sister floored for a moment. She approached us, fixed up her glasses and answered Jun’s query

“Collectors are all over the place, groups of at least four at every entrance. They seem to be scaring people away from the Arena and they seem mostly successful. If they are doing the same to the other two Arenas in the city, I’d say that our chances of being matched up with any clans from Helios would be low” Meguru let us in with her observations

“Meguru, you meanie” Mai commented from behind her on the floor

She immediately turns around and tends to her sister, going back to her usual self “ Ah! Sorry Onee-chan, I wasn’t expecting to drop you”

“Tsk, these bastards are getting persistent. Scaring off PvP groups and pushing them into more World Quests…where they fall victim to the absurd taxation” Jun commented

“I mean, it won’t be affecting us right? Even if there aren’t anyone queuing in Helios, there has to be people in the other cities in the Bronze layer queuing for PvP”

“I don’t think it’s that simple…I mean think about it. Notices for Ascension BRs start once there is at least two hundred teams at RP Cap-” But as Jun tried to finish his sentence, Meguru did it for him

“Twelve cities in the Bronze layer, thirty Arenas in total, and approximately millions of players. Jun-nii is expressing the fact that how come there aren't at least two hundred people who have hit RP Cap yet, even after two months.” Meguru preached, looking at us with a blank expression

Jun shivered “Yeesh….been my sister for all this time and it still sends chills down my spine when she does that”

“So I guess we are not the only ones with problems to deal with” I commented

“They might not have to deal with these assholes….but chances are they have their own disruptions to deal with”

“What’s their deal anyways?” I inquired

“What do you think? If you want to be the king of the castle, you have to make sure that no one else sits on the throne. The taxation is in place to slow RP gains and maximize losses….these assholes can’t tax PvP since only solo or registered clans can queue for matches. Noone in this elo can sustain going for long days of PvP grinding alone. Ammo and utility are expensive, and the only way to make a proper amount of Rels for PvP is through PvE quests” Jun let out a final comment, putting his hands behind his back like he is lounging, but he looked anything but relaxed. “Fuck…I really don’t want to deal with these assholes right now”.

But after a moment of thought based on something I recalled Tadano-san saying. That gave me an idea

“I’m going to need ya’ll to trust me on this” I said looking at the group

“Ahhh nope…..I know that look. You are going in alone for Hail Mary play” Jun read right through me

“It might be a Hail Mary, but it’s the best shot we got….look this goes south, the whole of the New World Order will collapse onto you…Think about them” I nod to the side to let Jun know I was meaning the other two

“Nii-chan….you really have to give us more credit than that. We can handle ourselves” Mai commented while puffing her chest forward, picking up on my gesture

“I’m sure you can, Mai…. But don’t forget…. golden rule of team fights.”

“Never fight greater numbers than your own. If you are one, you fight only one” Mai recited in sync with me... But Jun was quick to cut me off, redirecting my own advice at me

“But what about you…if it goes south for you, it'll be a 1v god knows how much, since you’ll have an entire army after you. What then?” Jun inquired looking concerned

“I don’t fight, I run….basically make enough noise that they will be forced to focus more on me and less on others”

Guess that is something I am not unfamiliar with

“That is the worst plan you could’ve ever come up with, Akio… remember what you said to me about shouldering too much-”

“And do you remember what you said? That you won’t hesitate to leave me behind if it means your sisters get to live even a while longer?” I countered

“Jun-nii” Meguru said with a tone of disapproval

“Really?” and so did Mai come in with the follow-up with a similar tone

“Akio, I-” Jun showed a hint of regret but even he knew that what he said had only lead to this

“It’s fine…really. I mean…you guys are family…of the same blood. I’m just a guy who lost everything he cared about, who is here to have his skills used. But just for old times sake, if I could do anything with my meaningless existence, I’d gladly help you guys survive for a while longer.”

I looked back at my objective, quickly darting my eyes around in case there are any unnecessary surprises I am to avoid, but I spot none.

“I should go….lets hope that it does go well”

I slowly backed off and started approaching the Arena before I let any of them convince me otherwise. Jun couldn’t find the right words in time to stop me, and so couldn’t the twins

Here’s hoping that my plan would work….for their sake.

I’ve already survived a tussle with their leader, I don’t think I should be any more afraid of his goons. With that mindset, I put up my hood and blended into what little crowd there was. I had the entrance to the Arena in front of me, and it was getting closer with every step I took. As expected, things did not go smoothly. Suddenly, a group of six closed in on me, circling me from all directions

“Arena is closed for the public, if you want to grind, why not fancy some PvE. I heard there are some new quests and raid bosses in” The man in front said

They were all wearing the same outfit. Full black with visible body armor, and with the same orange logo on their sleeve.

“Says who?” I asked

“Says me” he replied, closing his distance to me in the hopes of scaring me, but just like I did to their main man, I held my ground without showing any signs of fear or intimidation from them.

“I’ll see it for myself. So if you could just let me through-” I moved to go around him, but he repositioned to cut me off again

“Are you right in the head? DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID. THE ARENA….IS….CLOSED”. He exclaimed and pulled my hood off, but I didn’t have to worry about any pre-emptive strikes as they clearly didn’t recognize me

The whole surrounding came to a stand still for a split second after he shouted and all eyes were on us. The fact that I remained unrecognized to the crowd was a good sign that my pinch penny bounty was not something people either cared about or was willing to claim. The noise just bleeded back in, and so did the tension in the air. In the corner of my eye I saw Jun and the twins approaching, to which I made eye contact for a moment and nodded them off

“You really do have the audacity to look away, don’t you? So let me break down what’s going to happen if you keep bothering us…. You walk away and find something else to do with your time, or we toss your carcass in the ditch where we dispose of the other people that try to defy us” and it is topped off by the faint laugh by the other three around me

“Let's say I do go against you…. You really think that Isaac would stand it if you kill someone he told you to leave be?” I said to reveal my trump card.

That completely caught the group by surprise, as they suddenly took a couple of steps back.

“How do you know that name?” The same guy asked

“Victor…his arm, it’s him” said the goon behind me. The man in front of my face tilted his head down and looked at my left arm…guess they figured it out from the gauntlet. He looked back up and clicked his tongue in disapproval

“Yeah, thought so” I said as they cleared my path, but I knew that look all too well…..their pride was shattered which certainly means they will look to retaliate. I best not drop my guard

My bluff worked, and what Tadano-san told me was right… Isaac really has told everyone to not fight me….The question I have is…why?

I open the huge doors into the Arena and they open all the way themselves. And just like that, the previously wary crowd starts to crowd up for PvP.

The staff at the Arena sensed the coming storm and moved fast to have everyone line up in an orderly fashion. Since I was the first to enter, I moved fast and got ahead before the queues piled up.

“You really did have a reputation for pulling wins out of your ass without anyone to back you up” the voice of Jun beside me throws a sarcastic remark my way

“Yeah….this is why you should give others a bit more trust than you usually do”

“Look, Akio…about before-” but just as he started, the counters for PvP matching started, and being first in queue, I was called over

“Save it for when we get back?” I asked

“Yeah…sure” Jun replied hesitantly. It was clear he wanted to set things straight as soon as possible

“Welcome to Helios Arena Two, please place your hand on the table so we can get started” the woman at the reception said, to which I complied. A beam of green light went under my right hand on the table as if it was scanning me. “Thank you for your compliance, Mr….Nakamura. I see that you don’t have a prior record in PvP as of yet, would you like to go through the tutorial-”

“I’ll pass…thanks”

“Alright, please be aware that you need a team of 6 to participate in an Artifacter PvP match, are you looking to queue alone or with your clan?”

“With my clan please”

“Most certainly, data of Clan Scarlet Knights, ready to be sent to the Public Matchmaking Space. Please be aware that you’ll be paying 50RP per match and it will be returned along with another 50RP additional if you win. However-”

“I’ll spare you the effort, I already know how the system works, you can rest easy” I assure her

“Uh!...Finally…I already was sick of explaining the tutorial and basics to every new player that walked in here” Huh!…wasn’t expecting that reaction from a Spark of all people. “It’s either read the same thing over and over and over again or fend off all those random creeps hitting on me…Ahhhh…This job is going to be the end of me” She started to let loose all of a sudden

“Uh…you are on the clock you know?” I said

“I know, but who are they going to replace me with?” she said casually

“Yeah well, you don’t have to worry about him trying to hit on you…. He is physically incapable of doing that” Jun leans his head in and adds

“Can you not for a second?” I told Jun and waved him away

She chuckled “That’s fine, it’s nice to have your job made easy once in a while”

“Final thing I want to let you in on, you can challenge or even be challenged for PvP matches for RP gains of your choice, would you want to-”

“Thanks, but-” but just like I interrupted her, I was interrupted by someone I wasn’t surprised to see.

“He’ll take on a challenge” said the group from before. I knew presuming that they tucked tail and ran was too good to be true

“Oi, Victor… What are you even doing? Do you even know who he is?” said one from his group

“Marshall brought me up to speed” While he was at the opposite counter to me, he left the line and found himself in front of my face and continued

“The Japanese legend of the CG League who was known for bringing a knife to gunfight….Let me tell you something Namakura”

“It’s Nakamura” I corrected him

“Oh he is so getting ass whooped” Jun commented from the back

“I don’t give a fuck even if your name is Crocodile fucking Dundee….you think you are a big shot in here just because you made a name for yourself out there? Then let me give you a quick reality check…. Just because you did good behind a mouse and keyboard doesn’t mean jackshit in here….It’s the survival of the fittest, and you are about to be taught that the hard way.”

He returned to his counter “As a matter of fact, I’m going to make sure you remember this loss. I’m putting 300RP up for grabs.”

“Victor, are you insane….Remember what the boss said-”

“The boss said not to kill him, he didn’t say anything about knocking him down a peg. Besides, I’m sure the boss would be happy that we took much more RP off the table than usual”

“What it going to be, legend?…You going to stand up like a man, or are you going to cower like the fake you are”

Overbloated ego, overconfidence, underestimating their opponents. I am certain on what I want to do now, and I’m pretty sure the Kanies do too.

I turn back to the lady at my counter

“Can I take that challenge?” I asked

“Well, you don’t have anything in the terms of individual RP, but you do have three teammates with enough RP. You can participate but if you lose, it will put you in minus” she informed me

“What happens if I go minus?”

“You would have to get back to zero RP playing World Quests” he answered from the other counter

“And don’t you worry, I’ll make sure I am very generous with how much I’d tax you…. And besides, I’m pretty sure the boss would be very grateful if I was to keep you on a short leash” he tries to intimidate me and get into my head, and I fire back with my usual type of responses

“Man, keep your kinks to yourself…. And I will let you know, I don’t swing that way” however, what I wasn’t expecting was a reaction out of Jun from that instead of the NWO goon.

“Hi…Hello…Excuse me for a moment there, I’m just going to borrow Mr. Tactless over here for a few seconds” Jun leans in to intervene, and leaves after putting his hand over my shoulder and pulling me down

First taking a deep breath, he asked me “Do you want to die a painful death?”

“Relax, I got this” I reassured him

“Yeah, I can see that….that’s exactly why we're talking like this right now. 300RP on the table, we lose this, we are down back to square one. And you really don’t want to piss these guys off, common grunts or not” I was reminded of the situation we were in

“Who you calling a common grunt?” The main man of the group said, overhearing our conversation. At least he had the decency to give us a time out I guess, or is he that overconfident?

“Look, you wanted me to lead, this is my call. It all comes down to if you trust me…. Whatever happens, we have been through bigger shit shows than this…. And I’m sure this isn’t something we can’t handle. Mai, Meguru, Jun… I need to know you guys are with me on this one” I asked looking up at the duo and beside me at the big brother.

They first look at each other and nod at each other and then at me, letting me know they got my back. I look at the overconfident man “Alright, challenge accepted” I said while accepting the challenge request that prompted in front of me. “See you inside”

“Oh and I forgot to tell you one more thing, no randoms allowed to fill your team” he said with a condescending smile on his face.

“Hey, that’s cheating” Mai was quick to express her view

“It’s a pity I forgot to mention that, and I am not nice enough to have a couple of my teammates sit out” and he started to laugh maniacally.

“This bastard” said Jun

“Don’t worry, we got this” I look at Jun and reassured him

All three of them looked like he was mesmerized for a second.

“Yeah… You are at the wheel…Leader” Jun reassured me

And off we went.