As the hour drew close to the meeting, things got a little hectic here. The students were feeling energised by this meeting for many reasons.
First their boss who stood up for them and dared to say what they all suppressed was going to meet up with them. Also this meeting seemed so important as even Cher, their benevolent lady, appeared here as well.
Rumours started to circulate among all the students. Some said the meeting was about what happened between Hao and the academy representative. Others said there would be great changes in the entire dorm policy, and that was the reason why Cher appeared here as well.
Few only got the right tip from Hil and her closed up people;, this meeting was about the new game. Also few spread bad news about Hao, saying that he will turn the entire dorm into something resembling military camps.
Even some said he was going to expel a few students, and even put a list for that.
Of course the ones who stood behind all this was none other than Edward and his little gang. And it wasn't a surprise to see his name at the top of this rumoured expulsion list, alongside the names of his gang.
Edward wanted to proactively spread such news not only to tarnish Hao's reputation, but also to guard against anything like that in the near future.
He was afraid of Hao, especially when he saw the lady coming into the dorm and entering Hao's room.
But when students started to move three desks with lots of gaming gears, all the talk became focused over the Dawn game hypothesis.
In the eyes of those students, Dawn game was about to be launched a few days from now. So it seemed weird especially when they saw strange shaped stations and keyboards moving into the theatre.
This caused the ruckus to calm down for a bit, and the curiosity and tension metres to go way off the roof.
The dorm started to grow eerie quiet, that kind of quiet that was nerve wracking or something like that.
"These kids… They are really nervous," Cher could already feel the high tension in the air even when sitting in the main room of Hao's place. "Who are you by the way?" She turned to see the newly joined group of four youths who just arrived.
"They are a team I just recruited," Hil stepped in as she said in deep respect.
"Are they this good?" Yet Cher didn't spare her or any of them another glance, only turned to Hao as she asked.
"I don't get the chance to test them," Hao honestly said before adding, "but tonight we will see how good they are, how good everyone is."
"You plan to let all of us stay awake till tomorrow," Cher sweetly chuckled before turning her gaze towards the corridor outside, "won't we go and start it now?"
"It's already twelve P.M." Hil said while checking her phone.
"Let's wait for half an hour," Hao wasn't in any rush, "they are just getting into the right mood. Let's not disturb them for now."
"You are really ruthless," Cher knew Hao was referring to the students of the dorm. The kids were already burning from the inside out of anxiety and curiosity. And Hao just decided to let their fire burn fiercely.
"You know that not all the students are here now, right?" Cher suddenly brought up this matter, "there is still one third of the entire dorm missing."
"Hmm… We need to get them back then," Hao didn't know about this, "can we do that?"
"Hil?" Cher didn't answer him but instead she turned to Hil.
"Sure, leave this to me," Hil took a moment before adding, "but will that impact our plans tonight?"
"Not at all," Hao reassured her. Of course Hil was referring to the choice Hao was going to enforce over everyone here. "Anyway, I'll need your help to validate my words inside."
"I can do that," Cher was still mad about what happened by her lawyers and business partners, "but I still want to teach those bastards a lesson."
When she arrived half an hour ago, Hao spent lots of effort to calm her down and control her rage. Despite succeeding in making her drop that revenge idea for now, she was still thinking about that.
"Our revenge will come by succeeding in the game, not by anything else."
"I know, but… It's still so damn frustrating," Cher shifted her eyes aside, looking at the library here. "By the way, that thing over there was a relic from a friend of mine. You can dispose of it if you feel like it."
Hao turned to the library and recalled the warning he heard before about not touching it. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am," Cher nodded, "do as you see fit."
"Ok," Hao wasn't interested in that library anyway. For him, this room was just for his rest and nothing more.
"Why are you waiting here?" Cher was trying to find anything to disturb her thoughts away from her desire for revenge, "go and take seats in the theatre."
"I'll… Take them there," Hil felt a little embarrassed by Cher's cold attitude to the team she recruited.
"You can show them the side rooms first," Hao noticed this and he stepped in to break the ice, "explain things over to them, but make sure to not break anything."
"He is just treating the keyboard like it was his girl or something," Hil said in a soft voice while taking the four youths out. But her voice was still audible to Hao and Cher.
"Are you really that attached to the keyboard?" Cher turned to him while asking in amusement.
"Everyone must find something to love about the game, right?" Hao defended himself, but that only made her smile bigger.
"But not a keyboard! Man, you are really something," she laughed and Hao didn't say anything to interrupt her moment. After all this laugh was enough to retrain her anger.
"Are you going to take them in?" Cher returned to that team, "they look young, like in high school or something."
"They are," Hao didn't hide it, "and that's why the thing we talked about together is a must to do."
"Don't tell me you are going to fill the dorm with high schoolers and nameless gamers," Cher's smile wasn't enough to hide the doubt in her eyes.
"In this game, give me ten thousand players and it won't be enough," Hao said before adding, "you need to accept this fact."
"It's not me who has to accept this fact," Cher shook her head helplessly, "it's those bastards on the board."
"You have to find a way then."
"You too have to help," Cher's eyes told Hao how hard it was to do what he wanted here.
"Do you have a plan in mind?" Hao got her hint about how hard accomplishing this high school deal was. Yet he also felt there was a hope, a plan she got that required his help.
"Let's talk after the meeting," Cher paused before deciding to not talk about her plan for now, "I need to check out something first."
"Sure, let's meet tomorrow then," Hao wasn't in any rush to hear out her plan. He just agreed to help her, and it was her turn to decide how and when.
"It's time," as the two decided on the meeting tomorrow, Hao noticed that time passed fast and more than half an hour had already passed. "Let's go."
He led the way while Cher walked a few steps behind. Her heels kept knocking on the ground until they entered the theatre.
The entrance was blocked by standing students, who just ran inside nervousness the moment they noticed the two coming. As for Hil, she sat inside the theatre, speaking with her invited youths.
Once Hao entered the theatre, the entire students turned to him in curiosity. Yet when Cher entered after him, it was like the place was dead silent.
Hao could only inwardly sigh. Compared to Cher, he was still a newcomer to the dorm. The students weren't that familiar with him compared to her.
"Ahem, it's working… I guess," as he stood on the stage, Cher sat on one of the seats around one of the desks. She wore a stunning black dress with red stripes, giving her an alluring look especially with that piece of jewellery decorating her neck root as a tight collar.
Hil stood just behind Cher, not speaking a single word and acting like she was her assistant.
As for Rayan, he also stood on the stage as Hao invited him there. He sat on another seat on another desk. Next to him was one of the four youths Hil invited.
This was all Hao's arrangement.
"I know that lots of speculation circulated among you about why we are meeting together tonight, but I can start by saying that most of these were way off the mark."
He opened the meeting saying that. In fact, just as he was on the stage, Hil came and whispered a few words to him.
As she finished dealing with everything and ended up in the theatre with her guests, she started to hear what others spoke and speculated about this meeting.
"And interestingly that list of expulsion is something that only a sadist would do. As you can see, I'm not that kind of lunatic," he pointed at his head, making a move famous for any craziness.
The students here laughed in response to his words, making him smile. Grabbing their full attention and trying to ease the tension was the first goal he placed to better direct the students.
"Speaking about lunatics… I know you witnessed what happened a couple of hours ago. In fact, if there is anyone who can be called as such, then those old fogies at the board of the academy are well deserving of such a name."
"Yeah, screw them!"
"They are maniacs!"
"F*ck them!"
The students shouted in different comments, and Hao only acted in fake intentions to calm them down using his hands.
"Just let us work and let them keep hating us, in the end we will prove our worth not to them but to ourselves first. We… Aren't losers, and this… Isn't a slum dorm, it's our home."
A loud cheer broke out the moment he said those words. He looked in satisfaction at such a response, even many students stood up and started to throw their fists in the air in the same way he did when he met up with that middle aged man.
"Now let's talk about why we are meeting here," Hao waited for almost an entire minute, giving the chance for those youths to ignite their adrenaline and release it. "We are here to speak about the upcoming game, Dawn."
"I'm well aware that all of us here are gamers, and so it will look weird if you don't know the name of this new game. Anyway, it's called Dawn, and it's the future of gaming in our world."
The students kept their silence but the tension and anticipation rose remarkably in the air.
"This game is still a mystery to most, but tonight I'm going to unveil such mysteries and clear all doubts about the game. And as a beginning, let me tell you this, the game is a place where all players of different games can play."
Hao paused for a brief moment before emphasising over this point once more, "in this game, players of MOBA, MMORPG, and Shooting games can all find a role to play. In simple words, it is the mother of all games, combining all different play styles in one place."
"How so?" one student asked in a loud tone, and it was a familiar voice that Hao instantly recognised. It was John.
"I'll explain things about that later in full detail. But first I'll have to explain something entirely different…" Hao paused for a long moment this time, allowing everyone to entirely focus over him.