The Grand Duelist

The City of Lanilas.

If this City could be summarized in a single sentence.

It would be an understatement to say that this City was lively.

Yes, it was definitely lively but it had a somewhat ethereal vibe to it.

A City covered with all sorts of neon lights, one could describe this place as a cyberpunkish City.

After coming out of the airport, both Lily and Joseph were welcomed by the sight of several dozens of high-speed rail trains crossing over above and beneath each other within the City. The sight made Joseph gasp. This City was indeed technologically advanced!

The City of Sibu couldn't even compare to the advanced infrastructures and systems in this place!

Following the directions displayed within his smartphone; both Joseph and Lily slowly made their way towards the Headquarters of P.H Works.

Joseph had this look of amazement on his face, making him give off a vibe that he was indeed a country bumpkin who had only lived within the provinces outside of the Capital City in his entire life. 

Lily was embarrassed.

She wanted to act as if she didn't know Joseph at all, but she knew that she must endure all of these.

For the sake of latching onto Joseph's rich and fat thigh; Lily steeled her resolve to endure everything.

"Lily! Look! Victory is featured on that floating blimp right there!"

Joseph pointed out of the window.

Lily swallowed her dignity as she ignored the heated and mocking gazes of everyone around them.

Turning to follow Joseph's finger, she saw a gigantic blimp casually floating in the air. On the body of the blimp was a huge LCD screen displaying some epic scenes within the world of Victory.

Indeed, Victory was definitely a huge game!

With its popularity, why would P.H Works bother on spending their money on advertisements when the game was already popular to the point that it had several hundred millions of concurrent players a day?

Joseph couldn't understand the mindset of the marketing team of P.H Works.

But that didn't mean that what they were doing was useless.

After all, their way of advertising was quite domineering and awesome!

At least, that was what Joseph thought.

On the other hand, Lily inwardly scoffed, I underestimated the technological differences between Sibu and Lanilas. To think that he'd be like this! Indeed an ignorant man and a country bumpkin!

Lily lifted a slight smile of bitterness.

But she knew that since she was already at this point; it would be a waste for her to turn back.

Now that ball was rolling, why bother stopping it? 

Lily decided that she'd just ride along, hoping that the bowling ball may topple every pin and create a strike of success. 

The nearby passengers focused their attention on Joseph. From their expressions, it was clear that they held him in contempt but unfortunately for them. Joseph didn't really care about their opinion. He may be ignorant about the City of Lanilas, so what?

What's wrong with being ignorant?

Joseph thought that the minds of these bastards were very narrow.

He didn't bother about them at all.

"Look at that guy. His mouth is wide agape just staring at the scenery of Lanilas..."

"Hahaha, don't think too much of him. I'm sure that he came from the province to find a job in this place."

"Damn, I really hate immigrants like these bastards. They come here from their province jobless, and then what? They go and steal our jobs!"

"Wait... Take a look at the bags that he's carrying..."

"Aren't those bags from Napoli?"

"Napoli? What's that?"

"You don't even know what Napoli is? It seems like you're the country bumpkin here instead of him! Napoli is a popular designer clothing brand! To think that he has several of their exclusive bags... We can't underestimate this man." 

"Hah! Look at yourself being so afraid of a country bumpkin. Those bags are just imitations!"

The other passengers within the train started whispering with each other. They weren't polite at all; their voices were loud as they criticized Joseph.

However, when their eyes landed on the bags that Joseph held in his hands.

Those who criticized him suddenly felt themselves choking in their own saliva.

They glanced at each other and decided that they wouldn't say anything about Joseph anymore, lest he's actually someone with a solid background.

The train ride lasted for about thirty minutes.

Next, both Lily and Joseph rode a monorail towards the gates of the P.H Works Headquarters.

When they arrived, they found a lot of people loitering about the courtyard of the P.H Works Headquarters.

The Headquarters of P.H Works wasn't inside a high-rise building.

Instead, the entire headquarters was situated in a huge lot and had several third-story buildings arranged in a way similar to schools. The female employees wore sailor uniforms while the male employees wore black standing collar tops buttoning from top-to-bottom.

Their buttons were decorated with the popular insignia of P.H Works, while down below...

They wore black straight-leg pants and a dark-colored belt was worn over those pants. As for their footwear, most of them wore penny loafers, while the others wore sneakers.

No matter what angle you looked at this place, it seemed to be more like a school than the Headquarters of the great minds that created the world of Victory.

"What the fuck is this place? Lily, are you sure that we came to the right place?" Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. Was this really the headquarters of P.H Works? Shouldn't scientists be wearing lab coats? Why were these guys wearing school uniforms?

This sure is a surprise, but definitely a welcome one. Look at those thigh-high socks...

Joseph's imagination ran rampant as his eyes wandered onto the women wearing sailor uniforms in the distance.

"Ah!"

A sharp pain suddenly assaulted his nerves. 

Joseph turned around and saw that the pain came from Lily who was pinching the fat from his waist.

"You brought with you a beautiful woman, yet you are looking at other women? You sure are promiscuous, eh?" Lily puffed her cheeks in annoyance and Joseph had to admit that seeing her being jealous like this made her incredibly cute.

"I'm not looking at them!" 

"Oh, really? Then, why are your eyes saying otherwise?" Lily articulated each and every word that she said, sending shivers down the spine of Joseph who could do nothing other than revealing a bitter smile.

"Let's just go inside!" He hurriedly changed the topic.

"Oh, right." Lily nodded her head and loosened her hold on Joseph's waist.

After signing some paperwork with the security guard, the two proceeded to walk towards the courtyard of the Headquarters of P.H Works. Joseph swept his gaze across the courtyard and admiration could be seen plastered on his face.

The place really gave off a vibe that it was a school instead of the headquarters of the wealthiest game company in the world.

What's more, there were a lot of people here.

As far as Joseph's eyes could see, he estimated that there were at least several hundreds of people loitering on the courtyard of P.H Works.

Since these people clearly knew about P.H Works. Why were they here instead of playing Victory? Shouldn't they be at their homes and play Victory instead of loitering around here? Could it be that all of them had some business with P.H Works and that was the reason why they were here?

But damn, there's so many of them!

Joseph inwardly said.

His eyes wandered towards a distant building where the people seemed to have concentrated. Unfortunately, Joseph was somewhat nearsighted, so he couldn't see the distant signage.

He turned to look at Lily. 

Lily underwent LASIK Eye Surgery back then, so she should be able to see the signage just above the main doors of that building.

"Can you tell me what the building is for?"

Joseph pointed.

Lily followed his finger and replied, "That's a Virtual Internet Cafe."

"A Virtual Internet Cafe? This near to the headquarters of P.H Works? Why would they build something like that?"

Lily shook her head, "I don't know. But that is what the signage is saying. Maybe, if you play there you will be able to get some early access towards Victory's future content?" 

Joseph revealed a look of enlightenment.

What Lily said made sense.

If there was an attractive enough incentive to playing in the Internet Cafe that the P.H Works made, so close to their headquarters. Then, it would be early access to Victory's future content. Only something like that could possibly attract these many players of Victory in one place.

Joseph pondered for a while.

In the end, he concluded that these players must be players within the Universal Rankings.

Only players like them would possibly have any interest in accessing some early future content in the world of Victory.

So, that building is kinda like a place similar to the Public Test Servers of other games?

Interesting...

I think I'll be going there later.

Joseph made a decision in his heart.

Afterwards, the two of them continued walking towards the building whose entrance looked to be deserted of people.

As for the reason?

It was because there were dozens of uniformed security guards guarding the entrance of the Headquarters.

They stood there, underneath the blazing heat of the sun as the ultimate deterrence to criminals.

None of the surrounding people approached the security guards.

Lily had a look of anticipation on her face.

It was because she could feel the gazes of everyone landing onto them.

What's more, those gazes were clearly of contempt! None of the surrounding people believed that both Lily and Joseph could pass through these security guards! 

But this was the reason why Lily was excited.

She was so excited to see the moment of shock that these people would feel when these guards stepped aside to let them through the headquarters.

On the other hand, Joseph only had an indifferent look on his face.

He continued on walking and when the two of them were about to reach the vicinity of the guards.

A voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Oh, Lily? Is that you? What a coincidence to see you here!"

Lily's figure abruptly froze when she heard the familiar voice.

Joseph also stopped on his tracks and turned around to look at the figure who spoke.

From what he could see, the person who spoke up was a young man who looked to be at the same age as Lily.

The only problem was that he was embracing women on both of his sides and these women were jeering at Lily.

"Thomas, is she that Lily that you were talking about to us, last time?"

"Yeah, it's my sweet little ex-girlfriend, Lily... It must've been fate that we came across each other here." Thomas revealed a wide smile on his face.

Joseph glanced at Lily and found that the latter's figure was visibly trembling.

It was clear that she was uncomfortable regarding what was going on. 

Glancing at Thomas who didn't seem to care about his presence; Joseph held Lily's wrist and dragged her towards the headquarters of P.H Works. It was obvious that he didn't have the intention of dealing with such a licentious man.

But...

"Stop! Where are you bringing her? I wasn't done talking with her!"

This man actually blocked his way.

His arms crossed in front of his chest and there was an arrogant look on his face.

Joseph let out a sigh.

He raised his head and turned to look at Thomas.

"Can you step aside?"

His face had a polite smile, yet his voice, incomparably cold as he asked.