After bidding Aaron and Tian Fen farewell, Felix approached Stell with an excited expression.
"We will fight them! We really will! And it's tomorrow! Aren't you excited?" Felix started jumping from happiness.
Stell looked weirdly at Felix before shaking his head, refusing to answer.
His lack of an answer didn't bother Felix as he skillfully switched a topic. "What will we do now? You don't have Epic Rank achievements, right?"
"I don't." Stell sighed, already regretting falling for Felix's puppy eyes.
"So? Wh-" Felix pushed but was interrupted.
"Let me think."
'To earn an Epic Rank achievement, we can either trade it, earn it, or gamble it. Trading is out of the question. I don't want to be in debt, and I doubt that there are many people in the city who could even afford to trade it. What about earning it?'
As he remembered the outside world, his near-death experience, and Felix and Damian, Stell shuddered. 'Out of the question.'
He didn't even want to think about that option. He would rather be in debt with Felix or some powerful person in the city.
'Then... Gambling it is.' He realized that the games were the only option he could hope for.
Since Felix and he reached the Silver division, they had unlocked many options. One of the options was game customization.
In the early ranks, if a person happened to be unlucky, he could only hope for the next game to be to his liking.
Although the element of luck was still in the later ranks, at least they could customize their games. For example, the duration of a game.
Earlier, the duration was completely random, causing Stell and Felix to spend more than eight hours on a single game.
Now, although they couldn't pick the exact duration, there were at least four options.
The first was the short duration, meaning that the games usually took less than an hour. The second, medium duration, took less than eight hours. The third, long duration, took less than thirty hours.
Finally, there was an indefinite duration, meaning that the games kept going until a goal was accomplished. Although it was possible to leave whenever a person wanted, most of the time, it also meant that a person couldn't return to that game.
'Basically, they are open one-time servers.' Stell concluded when he read the relevant information.
The longer the duration, the bigger the player limit. For example, in short games, it's impossible to have more than a hundred people participating, and even then, it's hard to get such games.
Since Stell wanted to gamble his Mid-Tier Rare Rank achievement, he would need to win in a medium-duration game. And it needed to be a game that hosted many players.
After he was done thinking, he turned to Felix. "We should play a game. The medium duration with a big player count."
His answer made Felix's eyes light up. Punching the sky, Felix celebrated.
Although Stell felt reluctant to play games, especially with Felix, he knew the cold reality. It was impossible to gain an Epic Rank achievement without Felix's help.
After remembering his win in the last game, he cheered himself up.
"Let's go to the pagoda." Stell led the way, earning a smile from Felix. "Yeah, let's go."
On the way, Felix kept pestering Stell about team games.
In the earlier ranks, a team game meant a queue with more than one person.
However, from Silver onwards, team games were separated into two sections.
The first was the same as in the earlier ranks, while the second was completely different.
It also had an unofficial name, 'Community game.'
The meaning was crystal clear. It was a game between different communities, organizations, and guilds.
It was also where most viewers focused. After all, since there were communities, there were also professional teams.
And since there were professional teams, there were also sports!
Yes, sport was the most viewed game format even in that universe.
"Why don't we make a community?" Felix pestered Stell.
"Why don't you just go and make a guild?" Stell snapped back.
"Guilds and organizations can only be created after the First and Second order. I can't do that. Communities are just mini-organizations. Let's make one!" Felix practically begged Stell.
"And who will be the members? We can't make a community with just two members." Stell pulled his final card. "And don't you think about asking random people. That's boring, right?"
His words stabbed Felix right in the crux of the problem. Lowering his head, Felix replied. "Nevermind. We'll do it once we find members. Let's stick to team games for now."
Although Stell felt reluctant to play games, even he was entranced by the rewards the community games presented.
After all, there was much more exposure. And what was even more important was that they could gain a percentage of all bets if they won.
However, even with a protagonist, he wasn't confident in climbing high in community games without a proper team.
Shaking his head, Stell entered the pagoda. After climbing the stairs and entering the White Room, he requested his System to invite Felix.
"Hello, Lazy. Haven't seen you in a while." Felix grinned, making Stell furrow his brows. "I told you to not call me that."
"But I love the name so much."
"It's uncomfortable." Stell's comment made Felix burst out laughing.
While Felix was laughing, Stell thought about their next game. Will he be able to do something useful? Will he be able to win? No, the real question was: Will any of his feats be his own?
"Are you ready?" With a sigh, he asked Felix.
"As ready as ever." Felix confidently grinned.
"Why are you so confident that we will win?" Stell wasn't sure where he got that confidence from.
"Because I feel like it. Also, it's because I have you." His words stunned Stell.
It was the first time he felt useful since that day. The first time he felt like he might not be as useless.
Suppressing a smile, he ordered his System. "Team battle, medium length, do as many players as possible, and use two Mid-Tier Rare Rank achievements."
[ Silver division/Rank I ]
[ Game format: Battle Tournament ]
[ Game type: Battle Royale ]
[ Waiting for players... ]
[ Waiting complete. Game starting... ]
"Huh? A battle royale tournament? How does that work?" Felix's question echoed as he vanished from the White Room.
And just like that, Stell's third game began.