Pride Online

Chapter 72: Nemesis (1) Part I

18.25 p.m.

The sky was turning orange little by little, showing that the sun was about to disappear under the horizon and let the moon take its place now.

In the huge semicircle dome at the center of Tristan, there were more than eighty thousand players crowding the area. In the middle, there was a clearing about the size of a football field, surrounded by the grandstand layering up like a sports stadium. To be specific, this place was the arena of the city to host many events, such as the PVP (Player Versus Player) tournaments, mini games, concerts, and award ceremonies like the one held today.

In the clearing, there was a medium-sized stage, opening 360 degrees round for everyone to see from any side with short stairs to the stage. Also, there were LCD screens above the grandstand for the audience to see the live stream more clearly.

The performance of light and sound got the acclaim of the audience continuously, showing that the big Pride event was going well. After the performance finished, the guests applauded the man who was standing on stage in unison.

“Lady and gentleman, you just witnessed the award ceremony for players of the year of Pride Thailand. Now, please give them another round of applause to honor them.”

After he finished, there came the acclaim and applause, echoing through the dome. As well as the host who was dressed up in a formal suit to honor the Pride Awards.

“But that’s not all for this year. We’re preparing another event for you. But tonight, my duty is done here. And I’ll have to pass the stage to our next host, GM Thada!”

Then the applause was even louder, especially from the girls, who went wild, acclaiming to welcome a tall man coming to the stage. Thada was standing, looking more glowing under the spotlight. And of course, the pretty GM never missed a chance to show off his charm by waving at the girls while he was smiling so attractively that it almost made them collapse on the floor.

Thada shook hands with the previous host before he left. Then he walked up to the podium in the middle of the stage.

“Good evening, my honored guests, and thank you, Toei for hosting us previously.”

The young GM said with his gentle, attractive voice, making the acclaim fade away. There was only a beam of light shining at the host of the event who was smiling alluringly. And the shot was live on the large screen above his head as well.

“The earlier program was the Pride Players Awards of the year (P.P.A.). And I’d like to say congratulations to every winner. These players really deserve the prizes for their hard work and remarkable skills that amazed us throughout this year. And personally, I hope that the awards would inspire the other players to create the greatest story of their own in the Pride world. Because these awards would be yours someday...”

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At a staff room under the grandstand, the door was pushed open, and ‘DJ Toei’, who was the biggest host of the Pride, walked in. A staff member saw him and handed a towel and a bottle of water to him hurriedly.

“Hrrr, damn, that was exhausting. Why are there too many events in the Pride? And the guests are so many more than we expected. How can Da stand the pressure of his fans like that?”

He complained grumblingly, drinking water in the red bottle in his hand.

“It’s his expert, Toei.”

The owner of the monotone voice was a woman in an all black GM uniform. Her hair was tied up neatly in a ponytail. Her face was emotionless like usual. Toei paused before he turned to smile at GM Rattana, another important one in the staff group. She was in a suit that looked really good on her.

“Well, he’s the head of the GM anyway, right?” Toei said, smiling. “He’s really good at entertaining people, I got to give him that. Even though I’ve been a host for the Pride for many years, I’m still not as good as him. Geez, guess I’m not handsome like him, too huh?” He said the last part jokingly, making the GM girl’s face twitch like she was holding in a smile. Then she opened her hand, inviting the older one to rest in the guest room.

“I thought you wouldn’t be a host for us this year.”

“How would I not? This important event is arranged once a year. Everyone knows that it’s the biggest event of the year of the Pride. That’s why it needs the number one host, right?” He said casually before he let out a sigh. “Anyway, didn’t every winner get the awards? Why does it get expanded? I didn’t really have time to read all the script, what is going on?”

Rattana only replied with a slight smirk to the questions.

“I guess that you might have to ask Thada himself.”

“Huh?”

“Normally, to give the prizes to the winners of an event doesn’t have to be a formal ceremony. But that stubborn Thada insists that it has to be a special program for this. Well, yeah, and all this is just for the Vincent guy.”

“Um, I see. The guy’s really been the hottest topic.”

He drawled, smiling knowingly at the girl.

“That was why we’d been so busy.” She sighed. “We worked days and nights to promote this ceremony. And it just happened to be on the same day as the new path opening. Oh, speaking of it, I don’t understand what he was thinking when he updated the path from version 8.5 to version 10.0, deadpan.”

“Huh? Then why does the web board say it’s patch 9.0?”

The young DJ exclaimed, eyes widening. And Rattana was not surprised by his reaction. Everyone would be shocked if they found out about this huge patch update, too.

“Well, who would have dared to tell the other players? We don’t even know how much it’s going to affect the game, yet. And if there’s a problem with this, it’s going to be a big crisis, for sure, skipping a whole version like this.”

“And the game dev didn’t complain?”

“Of course, they did.” The other replied, looking extremely fed up.

“Let me guess, Da just kept bullshitting until they got convinced.”

The GM girl did not reply with anything but a tired nod to his words. Toei laughed, acknowledging that Thada’s negotiating skills were still strong.

“He’s always been a pain in the neck, that guy. Working with him every time gives me a headache.

“Yeah, that’s why I take aspirin every day, lately.”

“What an immature. Last time he almost crashed the server by wrestling with that Lavy demon. And this time he’s aiming at Vincent guy?”

“Bad habits die hard, I guess,” Rattana spoke.

“Well, it’s his strong point, doing anything to get what he wants.”

“I just feel anxious about this, Toei. We don’t know how many bugs skipping a patch version like this will cause. Also, Thada’s been kept an eye on by the board members, because of the trouble he made previously. But look at him now, getting banned doesn’t stop this guy from picking a fight with others.” A long complaint came from the one who was not very talkative, making the tall one next to her burst out a laugh again.

“Come on. He might do something silly sometimes, but I’ve got to admit that his sense is brilliant. Because of his unique idea lately that makes the Pride world more interesting.

“I agree with you about that.” Rattana was convinced. “But the thing is that this guy won’t stop until he gets what he wants. He never thinks that his actions give me a hard time fixing the mess up!”

“There, there, I don’t think that Thada is a bad guy. He just wants the Pride to be more fun.” He said with a chuckle. “Even though how he pulls Vincent out is a bit against the GM’s ethics. But if the guy actually shows up, it’ll be worth it, right?”

“I understand that. I just ...I don’t want any trouble. That’s all.” Her sweet voice sounded anxious.

“What? Or does this trick to get Vincent to come out have something else going on, too?”