"Are there really MOBA and MMORPG modes at Dawn?"
"Are they changing the focus from the champs to the skills and gears?"
She started to ask lots of questions and Hao only smiled and didn't respond except with few words like:
"They are doing a great game indeed."
"You have to play the game to see the masterpiece they created."
"It's not an easy game, but it will allow good players to shine and show their true worth."
As he felt she wouldn't stop showering him with questions, he decided to shift the topic towards something he wanted to know.
"Tell me more about the academy here."
"How is life with other students on campus?"
"Who is that lady? Is she really rich?"
Of course Hao knew a lot of info about the academy and that lady named Cher. But he just wanted to make sure what he learnt was correct.
After all he never found anything relating this academy or Cher with the old Illuminati team for example.
Hil was just a simple girl. Once he asked his questions, she followed his desire like an obedient kitty.
From what she said, Hao started to get an in-depth view about life here.
The academy was previously exclusive for rich kids from rich and authoritative families in the NY state and the nearby ones.
It was common to see heirs to fairly decent US financial empires here, kids of the current boards of big names in any industry you could think about.
But the real big names would prefer other prestigious universities than here. This place had one advantage that attracted most of the rich students to it which was the easy curriculum and the obvious bias towards them.
He got the feeling it wasn't meant to teach anything, but to give validated degrees for anyone holding a chique in his pockets.
As he understood, the academy had two types of students, the wealthy ones and the losers who lived in this dorm.
The lady was the one who established this dorm. She was a game fanatic like Hil described, and agreed to let anyone who could play well in any game to join the academy as a free scholarship.
Of course that made her spend lots of money to have a seat on the board of the academy. Also she was behind building this big dorm and providing them with all the devices they needed to keep playing.
Till here everything matched what Hao was aware of. Yet there was still more he didn't know about.
For example, the lady was on the verge of getting broke. According to Hil, this wasn't new. The lady faced many financial crises in the recent couple of years at least.
That made Hao wonder about her plans to establish a team in the game. It was clear that having a team would require lots of money and preparations. Plus financial stability.
Reaping benefits wouldn't come in one night though. So how come someone this close to be broke and facing such troubles in her finances to decide to take such a risk?
'Something looks fishy here,' he didn't express his doubts out loud. He let Hil continue speaking about life here. And the more she talked, the more he understood.
Life for people in this dorm was slightly hard. Unlike the biassed treatment of the rich kids, people here would have to do their best all the time to get a decent grade or even pass the tests.
They had to attend the daily lectures, do their homework, and also do their assigned tasks and study hard for the final exams.
Unlike the wealthy kids who used to come in here to have fun as if they were on some sort of vacation, the kids of this dorm had to break sweat to earn their place here.
Also he knew that the students of this dorm played different kinds of games. Not all of them played the same MOBA game he used to play as a pro.
According to Hil, the leader of the dorm would decide the mainstream game in the dorm. The leader before her for example was a top fan of the shooting games. And that was the main reason why the older students here loved to play such games.
As for the fresh ones, they were addicted to the same MOBA game she and Hao played. He knew that according to gaming skills, Hil was the best in Apex game in the dorm.
But when he asked about other games, especially shooting games, she told him that there were two players who might be so good and even better than her current skill and rank in the MOBA game.
She wasn't a fan of shooting games, so she couldn't even tell exactly how good they were compared to herself. She just used their ranks, their achievements in their game as the base for this comparison.
Hao listened to all this in silence. He rarely spoke or interrupted her. He also learnt that Edward, or E as he loved to call himself, was the vice president of the dorm before his arrival.
Yet compared to her, this kid lacked a lot of skill and lots of patience. He was a rash and moody player, one who would leave a game if he just got killed twice in the first five minutes!
When Hao heard that, he decided to wipe that name off his list. Last thing he wanted was such mentally unprepared players.
Pro game world wasn't that nice. If one wasn't focused, completely devoted, and had an iron-clad mental strength, then he or she wouldn't even survive this world.
And Hao's real intention by coming here and doing all this was to return to that familiar world of his, his home as he loved to call it. He planned to make his return epic. So such players like E were the last he wanted to add to his roster.
"Are there any good players at the other dorms?" After speaking for almost one hour straight, Hao decided to ask about other students.
"They play," but Hil's answer wasn't that satisfying for him.
"What do you mean by they play? Are they good? Do they have good players like you?"
"I… Can't say I know all about their skills in the game. After all, they never dealt with us in any friendly way."
Hao recalled the past interaction with Pillard and nodded in understanding. Students belonging to the other three dorms seemed to be full of themselves, not putting students here in their eyes at all.
"Alright, then do you know if there are any local player gatherings in the city?"
"You mean like teams?" Hil asked, "there is a pro team that won many local championships in recent years. They play so well and I watched many of their games."
Hao's eyes slightly dimmed while asking:
"Are they Yonkers?"
"You also heard about them?!" Hil responded in surprise. Of course he did his research before coming here. And that name kept popping up whenever he looked for local teams.
But he wasn't that interested in them, at least not now. This team was a self gathered up team, made first by a few friends who got to know each other from the game itself.
When they realised they belonged to the same city, they decided to up the game and establish the team. Alongside that, they also recruited many young and talented players from the city.
He even read once that Hil also got an invitation to join the team after her outstanding performance. But something must have happened back then to prevent her from playing with them.
Despite it being a self established team, they had their ego. Winning trophies in the game made them slightly full of themselves. Also they weren't actually part of New York anymore. They got funding help from advertisers and went to Jersey city nearby.
Hao sat his eyes over them, but it wasn't just time to make his move. Also he needed to see if they would make a move in the Dawn game before deciding how to deal with them.
"Is there anyone else besides them?" As he did his homework quite well before coming here, he knew a list of teams who had good playing styles in the city.
But they also shared the same problem with Yonkers. Hil narrated their names one by one just as Hao memorised them. Yet when she reached to the last name, she paused for few seconds before adding:
"There was once a team that was so good a couple of years ago. But it got disbanded and never came back to any tournament."
"Oh!" this time Hao's eyes shone, "Why did they get disbanded?"
"They were little kids," she shrugged, "I only saw their games prior to their disbandment. They were really good, but the oldest seemed to be only fifteen years with most of the team being around twelve and thirteen years old."
"That's a nice age," Hao knew the younger the player was, the bigger the potential. Besides, young players were famous for their brutal and bloody playing nature. They feared nothing, didn't get broken by the world yet so they were quite daring.
Also being young had its virtue. Young players had the higher rates in making unexpected moves. They only lacked decision making and mental strength. But with good teaching and seasoned players, they could make a big difference in any team.
"But why did they disband their team?" he paused as he thought about all the logical reasons that such a young team would disband for, "Did they have financial issues? Or they got defeated so badly to tolerate it?"
"Neither," Hil shook her head, "they just reached the critical age of the high school I believe."
"Didn't you say they mostly were twelve and thirteen in age?"
"I heard they were geniuses in their schools, so they skipped a few grades," she explained, "in the eyes of a normal person, focusing on studies is the best course of action. Especially when comparing this to gaming."
"I understand," Hao nodded. This dilemma was even present in his country. Gaming was considered a fool's play, something to waste time and not build a decent career or secure a future.
Compared to the guaranteed studying and getting into a college, gaming was simply childish play. Hao didn't fully agree on this. He believed if someone had a talent, a real talent in gaming, then he should focus instead on what he did best.
Yet talents weren't the sole cornerstone for gaming. Just like any other career in the world, hard effort was also needed plus persistence and other small things that really mattered.
Above all, Hao knew for sure the upcoming Dawn game was going to change all this. Gaming wouldn't be a loser's path in the eyes of the common people anymore.
"Do you have any contact with them?" As he got interested in this team, he decided to give them a try. After all, the Apex game was played with five players. But Dawn would be played with seven.
With the presence of a main and backing team, he could easily absorb that entire team and would even need more players as well.
"This…" yet when Hil heard his question, her face slightly changed.
"You don't know where they currently are!"
"Well… They stopped playing so I didn't follow their news to be honest," she defended herself while he thought for a moment.
"Don't they have a site? An official page on any social media?"
"I think they still have their official streaming account where I watched their old games at," she said in a realisation, "I can try there."
"Good," Hao nodded, "by the way, we don't have a psychological department here, right?"
"We have it in name only," she shook her head, "but it's not actually working."
"I see… Do you have any other friends in other universities around here?" Hao asked, "I need someone who is majoring in psychology."
"Hmm… I have a few friends from high school who went to a local university here. Let me check and see if I can find someone… But may I ask why? Will he also play with us?"
"That depends if you are already in," Hao teased her and she responded by extending her tongue out of her mouth.
Even if she tried to deny it, she was already helping him to form the team. That made her part of the team in Hao's eyes. Eventually she'd join, sooner or later, Hao was sure of that.
"I just need him," he simply said.
Just before the two could continue their talk, the outside door had someone knocking.
"I think the lady is here," Hil stood upright as if she was stung with something. She gave a look that was filled with conflict towards Hao before adding in a plea:
"Please treat her nicely. She is a good person."
"I'll try," he said without any speck of sincerity. He already made up his mind. He wouldn't work under anyone ever again!
If that lady wanted to form a team here, then she would turn herself into his enemy for sure. And Hao wasn't that nice with his enemies.