Chapter 1: The Fighting Rings
The downpour lasted for an entire afternoon. The ground was soaked wet with rainwater that not a single patch within the sidewalks was dry. Henry, a 37-year-old working man, carefully walked through the 21st street of Talbreia City.
"Ah, there are some advantages to wearing fake leathered shoes, I guess…" With a faint smile, Henry dismissively neglected the feeling of wetness inside his shoes. He could not really be bothered to care about what would happen to his cheap footwear. All he was thinking right now was to return home from his 8-hour shift and just relax.
As a single man working a boring day job; there was no pleasure in the world that could satisfy him more than the enjoyment he gets from just relaxing on his cold, soft bed, sipping a cup of tea or coffee, and just enjoying his late night TV shows. Although he was the type to become adventurous here and there, he has not been able to do anything outside his comfort zone. "Wonder if those games my coworkers were talking about are any fun? Could be a great break from my usual routine..."
He then suddenly paused, abruptly halting his steps that the water puddle beneath his feet splashed forward. "Hmm, If I were to buy it right now, I could save time from going out in the future." His current location, 21st street, wasn't far off from the nearest gaming store. Across 3 blocks from the left, he would immediately reach "Belzian Store".
Although the name sounded like a bakery shop, it was a well-versed store for all gaming needs, or so what Henry remembers. He had bought a few games back when he was a teenager, which meant that the store was old already. The shop owner was obviously named Belzian, a person Henry was quite fond off back then. The old man would always give something extra to Henry every time he buys something, although most of those were immediately thrown into the trash by Henry's strict parents.
"Is that shop still open?" He pondered for a bit before proceeding to the direction of the store. Surely, it would still be open. The trend of games might have shifted in favor of virtual reality ones, but a versatile gaming shop would easily survive such change. Henry kept the positive thought as he paced towards the Belzian Shop.
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Indeed, Henry was right. The shop was still open for business. Albeit the business was different from the one he had expected; "A fighting ring?" Henry would've never guessed that the willy diddly gaming shop from his childhood memories would become something as barbaric as a fighting ring.
Although the distance between him and the shop was still far, he could clearly hear loud clanging followed by deafening cheers. If those weren't noises coming from a fighting ring, then Henry could not think of anything else that was happening.
Curious as to what it really was, Henry hastened his pace; eyes gleaming with wonder.
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A wild sucker punch from a bipedal lizard-like creature immediately knocked the opposing monster. It looked like a tough fight at first, but the lizard-like creature's movements were way too agile that the enemy wasn't able to react on time to gain any sort of footing to actually fight back.
"2nd round goes to Travis The Zilla! A clear victory for Team Reptoids!"
The caster proudly announced the victor through a cheap microphone. Although it sounded a bit muffled, the sound coming from the stereo was clear enough for the surrounding people to hear; the place wasn't too big for them not to hear it anyway.
Inside the Belzian Fighting Arena; which was the gaming shop back then, had rows of seat neatly aligned at the four corners of the room. Although it was dubbed as an "arena"; In actuality, it was no more than a spacious room. The maximum seating capacity was around 150 people in total. It really wasn't that much if one really considers this place a legitimate fighting ring.
At the centermost part of the "arena" was a giant cube that measures around 3 meters on all sides. A 4-dimensional projection of the fights was being projected from the cube for the audience of the ring to see. However, the players of said fights were nowhere to be seen. If one were to keenly inspect, the entirety of the spacious room isn't all of the spans of what the previous gaming shop was. Adjacent rooms that were at the back most parts of the audience's seats were where the players reside.
Gaming Quarters are secluded areas of a Fighting Arena. They are vital to isolate different teams from each other while playing the game, ensuring fairness. Each room is then regulated by cameras for the panel to observe and a game moderator is then assigned inside to keep track of everything that is happening within each team.
"Wasn't the game way to easy? Who are these "Team Reptoids" anyway?" One of the panelists inquired a man seating beside him. The man glanced back at the panelist, sighed, and went back to leaning on his chair; arms crossed and everything. On his nameplate was a familiar name everyone within the room should've known by now.
"How should I know? Not like I do the screening for these teams anyway?" Mr. Belzian dismissively replied, disinterest apparent on his expression. "If you want to know more about them, go ask my son." Mr. Belzian added before he stood up and left the arena.
Following his exit was the creaking of the Gaming Quarters' doors. Exiting on the left was a saddened gaming team that had their pride utterly crushed, and on the right was the Team Reptoid; gleaming with smugness as they proudly strutted amongst the half-heartedly cheering crowd.
This game was no practice match, it was a mini-tournament held by the Belzian's, or more accurately, old Belzian's son; which the arena sponsored a hundred thousand for the grand prize. "... And now to award the victors their prize" The boring closing ceremony then proceeded with the crowd of a hundred slowly dispersing by the second.
The place soon became quiet, with nothing but the panelists and Team Reptoid remaining. Not even the losing team could be seen anywhere.
"Eh… Not like we expected anything from a scrub town. This place can't even make us sweat in the finals." Soon enough, the team captain of Team Reptoid— Ivan, voiced out his "complaints". With a mocking tone and zero disregards to the panelists who could clearly hear him, he added. "If it weren't for the stupidly big prize for such a trashy competition, we wouldn't even be here."
Although dejected by what they just heard, the panel, including the son of Belzian— Craig Belzian, could not retort and could only give the prize money the Team Reptoid legitimately earned. The awarding ceremony was meek. Craig handing over the money which almost felt like was robbed from the arena; from his father's "sponsorship".
Creak…
Abruptly disrupting the awarding was the sound of the shop's main door creaking open. Although the rain had stopped for quite a while, the splashing of water puddles outside made enough noise to attract the attention of everyone inside, including the smug Team Reptoid, already holding on to the cash prize.
"Is this the Belzian Gaming Shop? I am here to buy a new game…" Henry voiced out his query, not minding the odd looks from the people inside. Although it seemed like some of the shop's space was converted into a fighting ring, a few other things have not changed from what Henry could remember.
Surely, they do still sell games… right?
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