Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 574: Unofficial event

I watch the man leave. Once again, I feel the urge to probe for his level, but I stop myself and let it be. I turn back to the screen and continue watching the rest of the event with the others. Small groups have formed around the area, and a few players from hard difficulty move about, taking the last bets or paying out the finished ones.

A few minutes before the event ends, I stand and teleport over to the fourth roundʼs zone. Victoria is still inside the event, but I decide to wait for her there.

When I arrive, a few guards notice me, but, realizing who I am, they let me pass. I then head toward her place. It is a flat area near the forest with a few small houses and a larger workshop in the center.

Victoriaʼs group is there as well, with an incredible fifteen survivors out of the twenty-five who started in her Hell group. Most are women from the prison Victoria was being held in, but there are also a few men and at least two kids who were visiting their families when they were all pulled into the tutorial. Some are still participating in the event, while others have already gathered outside. I’ve seen some of them before, and Victoria even introduced me to a few, though many still watch curiously.

I canʼt help but feel a strong sense of admiration. Isnʼt my sister the best? Fifteen people in one group from Hell difficulty survived and made it to the eighth floor. There are even three Beyonders. Victoria, Gloria, and another girl with a weird name who apparently isnʼt here right now. There are also a few of those fancy nuclear warheads that Vic keeps stashed away somewhere, maybe under the mattress or in some obscure room hidden behind a bookshelf.

Part of me has to wonder what the women in her group must have done to end up in prison, but another part thinks it hardly matters when it comes down to it.

”Hello,” Gloria says, stepping away from one of the gathered groups with an easygoing, if slightly bored air about her..

”Yo,” I reply, noticing that she’s no longer wearing the yellow shirt with a grumpy cat drinking coffee. Instead, she wears a gray one with a goose holding a knife in its beak.

”Are you staring at my tits?” she asks as I look back to her face.

”What tits?” I reply, irritated by her tone.

Taken aback, she blinks a few times before clicking her tongue. ”Cold. You really are her brother,” she remarks.

I raise an eyebrow. ”Because I insult people?”

”Because you donʼt bullshit them.” She leans in with a smirk. ”So what were you staring at then? My incredible fashion sense?”

I nod and gesture at her shirt. ”The goose.”

She looks at it and then back at me. ”It represents chaos.”

”Fitting.”

”I thought youʼd approve.” She stretches her arms behind her head. ”So what now? Are you just going to stand around looking impressed, or did you actually come over here for a reason?”

”I came to see Vic, but I have a question.”

”Go ahead.”

”You seem to have a lot of earth clothes. This is the fourth or fifth set I have seen you wearing. I want to buy some.”

Gloria smiles again. ”If you want my used clothes, all you have to do is ask nicely.”

I roll my eyes. ”I meant clothes in general, not yours specifically.”

She chuckles while rocking back on her heels. ”Yeah, I figured. Just messing with you. But I do have a stash. I bought a few from groups in the lower difficulties, and a few of my girls have more.”

”I want to buy some,” I say.

Gloria hums while crossing her arms. ”I expect you’ll be paying in items?”

”Yes.”

She watches me for a moment, then gestures for me to follow. ”Alright, come on.”

I follow her toward the storage building. I pass by a few of Victoriaʼs people; some glance at me, but most return to what they were doing. The place feels oddly relaxed despite everything.

Once inside, Gloria kicks open a crate and starts rummaging through it. ”So what kind of look are you going for? Tactical badass? Mysterious wanderer? Luxury brands? Tank tops? Crocs? Sweatpants? Sweaters? Underwear? Socks? Fanny packs?”

I shrug. ”Something comfortable. And... crocs, I’ll take a pair of those too.”

She smirks and pulls out a plain black hoodie, tossing it at me. ”I knew it. Donʼt forget to put them into sport mode. Start with this hoodie. You want pants too?”

I glance down at the pants I got on the sixth floor. They arenʼt as stretchy as I would like. ”Do you have sweatpants? Also, some shirts and more hoodies. Oh, and if you have a set of pajamas that would fit me, I’ll throw in a little extra.”

Gloria whistles. ”Pajamas too? Fancy.”

I shrug. ”Might as well be comfortable.”

She rummages through another crate and tosses a pair of black sweatpants my way. ”These should fit. Got some shirts too. Pick whatever you want.”

I glance at the pile she is making, a few simple t-shirts, a couple of hoodies, and a pair of pajama pants covered in images of a cartoon lizard.

I stare at them. ”What is that?”

She grins. ”Itʼs a gecko.”

”Why does it look so angry?”

She shrugs. ”Maybe it didnʼt get enough sleep. Fitting for pajamas, donʼt you think?”

I consider it for a moment and nod. ”Fine. Add it to the bill. I’ll be taking all the shirts. Actually, you know what? I’ll just take everything.”

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”Didnʼt think you were the type to wear womenʼs clothes,” she teases.

”For my group,” I reply.

”Sure. But I can’t really sell you everything. This is my pile, so I’ll be keeping my favorites, but I should be able to sell you whatever you need. One of our normal difficulty groups got teleported here with an entire mall, so they have a ton of stuff. If you want, I can hunt for more.”

”Sounds good.”

Gloria snickers and stacks everything together. ”Alright, Iʼll take a few mid-epic items and one upper epic item for the whole lot.”

”Tell me what kind of item you want and I’ll commission something from one of the crafters in our round.”

”Oh? How nice of you. I heard you guys have Tent Creep and Miwa, so I expect quality work.”

”Of course.”

”In that case, since it is personalized, I want one upper epic item and two mid-epic items, and I’ll work on getting more clothes for group four. What do you think?”

”Works for me.”

”This oughta do,” she says as she tosses me the clothes. ”Pleasure doing business.”

I grab them and nod. ”Yeah.”

As I turn to leave, she calls out, ”And hey, are you sure you really donʼt want my cloth...”

I ignore that last sentence and make my exit while radiating a bit of mana, which I shape into threads to tie the stacks of clothing together.

Indeed, I remain the most normal person here.

I leave an hour later, having enjoyed the short break, I allowed myself to spend a bit of time with my sister.

As before, all of my rewards from the second event have been added to the final tournament reward.

While walking back toward our zone, I reread the notification that appeared after the second event formally ended.

The third event, Chronicle of the Past, will start in 48 hours.

In the meantime, you have the option of participating in an unofficial event called Clash of the Disciples! Participating yields no rewards, and the event is limited to participants from Hell difficulty.

Hard, Normal, and Easy difficulties will have different unofficial events.

If you decide to participate in the Clash of the Disciples, which will start in 10 hours, your disciple will receive an invitation and may choose to accept or refuse.

The event will begin right after the disciples join the tournament floor and will last for a maximum of 14 hours. After the event ends, the disciples will remain for the next 24 hours, at the end of which the third event will begin, giving you time to pass on your teachings.

Do you wish to offer your disciple participation in the event?

Yes/No

When that notification appeared, I remember pressing Yes nearly immediately. Now that Biscuit isnʼt here, I need my Emotional Support Minion more than ever. Plus, seeing her bulldoze through other disciples, how could I miss that?

Returning to our spot, I find Group 4 scattered across the property. Maya is sparring with Lily while Sophie is engaged in some kind of experiment with Izzy in the workshop. I meet Min-Jae and the twins in the living room and drop all the clothes onto Noodle, who is already resting on the cushions.

The pile of clothes slowly moves and shifts as the pearl white head of the snake pokes up with green eyes full of betrayal.

I remember my angry gecko pajama pants and go through the clothes again, piling the ones I donʼt like on Noodle.

In the end, I find a set of pajamas, some sweatpants, two hoodies, and a few shirts that should fit me. I even take some comfy-looking socks for myself. And of course, I don’t forget to separate out a pile for my minion.

”You can choose a few things for yourselves if you think they’ll fit,” I inform the boys.

Min-Jae eyes the pile skeptically and glances at the twins. ”Iʼm not wearing anything with cartoon animals on it.”

The twins, on the other hand, don’t seem quite so picky. One of them starts rifling through the clothes and pulls out a hoodie with a faded logo. ”Doesnʼt matter. I missed wearing Earth clothes, that feeling of stretchy plastic against your skin, turning yourself into a walking billboard for some random brand after paying them for the privilege. How could I not miss it?”

Noodle slithers his way out from under the pile of discarded clothes and flicks his tongue at me as if he were deeply offended.

Min-Jae sighs and finally picks up a plain black t-shirt, giving it a quick shake before nodding. ”Fine.”

I glance at the notification still floating in my vision. Eight hours until the event starts. Plenty of time to squeeze in some training with Whitey, who’s honestly been acting uncharacteristically strange lately.

Once again, I find myself waiting in the common area. There are plenty of people from Hell difficulty waiting for the unofficial event to start. I notice some people are missing. Most are those who either decided to pass on having a disciple or those who lost theirs. Neither twin is here. Dennis’ disciple died, and Aaron gave up on the disciple-master relationship in support.

Overall, there are 269 people from the various rounds of Hell difficulty participating in the tournament. That means there should be somewhere between 100 and 150 disciples. I lean towards the lower end because I’ve heard there are still people in Hell who chose to remain on the 4th Floor after dealing with The Colony and live on as adventurers in Virelia.

There are also quite a few people from other difficulties waiting for the Hell difficulty unofficial event to start. Many are curious about the disciples they’ve heard of, while others have either lost interest in their own events or have already completed them.

Just as the timer counts down its final digits, huge screens appear across the common area showing a new environment. An empty city made up of beautiful towers and well-kept gardens. The city is nestled in the hollow of a mountain with a huge lake at its center, with a ship made of pearl white wood sailing its waters. The only sign of life is the disciples as they begin to appear. There are many humans, feyliths, and lynthari. Less common are vyssari, thylarin, and velnar. I also see a few less familiar races, and among them, demons seem to be on the rare end of the scale, featuring relatively few representatives.

All of the disciples seem to be around ten years of age, most are even younger. Children like Vega, saved from the brink of death by the system, offered disciple status and summoned to the 5th Floor of the tutorial.

Finally, I spot Vega. She appears near the lake and immediately moves to make herself a harder target to track while scanning the area. I really like that reaction and keep a close watch on her.

Then a notification interrupts me.

Your master has decided to participate in Clash of the Disciples!

Your location has been identified as the tournament floor, indicating your agreement to participate in the unofficial event.

You will now be transferred to the event area.

I feel a pull and suddenly disappear, reappearing in the city in the center of one of the gardens. Opposite me, a young lynthari boy freezes in place. He looks at me with wide eyes and a very, very bristly tail.

Looking at that scared little guy, a thought I often had when I was younger, back on Earth, flashes through my mind:

How many five-year-old kids would it take to beat an adult man?