"Since the beginning of time Crunaboul has birthed many mighty champions. Heroes and villains. Gods and devils. Warriors and mages. Do you have what it takes to etch your name in the history of the world?"
A deep voice, laden with gravity, echoed out in every arena simultaneously. The world darkened as if someone had placed a thin veil before the two suns. Music played, its rhythm causing everyone's blood to boil.
All of the arenas had water screens handing in the air, which now showed the scenes happening on the arena floor.
Two continents appeared as an image made from light. They looked extremely splendid, surrounded by a large body of water.
Everyone watched excitedly trying to imprint the layout of Crunaboul into their minds.
But C didn't grant them much time. The vision suddenly enlarged as if someone was zooming in. When the picture reached the edge of the arena, it was cut off, which quickly left only an enlarged version of the Western Ocean behind.
Zooming in further, a massive, well-developed city, appeared. The sound of fighting came from all directions. In the sky above the city stood a human man in luxurious, regal dragon robes, swinging a glorious sword, his face showing an arrogant smile as the world bent under his might.
"Emperor Hailong the third!"
The mythical voice revealed the mighty person's name, which was forever branded in everyone's mind.
Instantly the picture changed. It returned to the world map before zooming in towards the eastern mountain. A female dwarf in golden armor, which appeared to weigh multiple times her own might stood atop a mountain. She stomped with her foot and cracks spread throughout the mountain, sending snow flying in all directions, creating a blizzard.
"Mater Erouma!"
Cheers could be heard from some corners of the arena where dwarven players were seated. Fusing into the heroic music those created a fervent, grand atmosphere.
The show continued and zoomed into a lush, vibrant forest somewhere in the Central Plains, full of life. However, a tide of violet void threatened to extinguish the beautiful nature.
A wood elf appeared, facing an army of void-corrupted humans, decimating the mindless enemies with one draw of his bow.
"Orinould the vagabond!"
Further cheers erupted. The audience watching felt their blood boiling. They wished they could go down there and join the fights. Even those who only saw the game as a job, a necessity, were infected by the heroic sentiment.
The light changed, showing some more of the heroes of Crunaboul. Powerful mages decimating entire swaths of land. Dark assassins infiltrating the most secure strongholds. Fearless warriors striking down draconic beasts.
But also villainous demons tearing down cities and dark mages crafting terrifying curses.
Towards the end, the world map was once again revealed. But it shattered, the sparks of light rearranging themselves to form the gigantic image of a legendary dragon.
The fearsome creature roared without sound, yet it sent chills down everyone's spines. Immediately its body shattered and was replaced by a heroic warrior. He struck a pose before being quickly replaced by a horrifying lich.
The show continued for a bit. Heroic figures appeared one by one, moving ever faster as if someone pressed fast forward. Eventually it stopped, leaving behind an indistinct figure made of light.
The music reached its peak as a voice echoed through all of Crunaboul:
"Invicible champions throughout all eons. Will you be one of them?"
The light in the arena slowly faded and the world returned to its regular illumination. Only the music kept playing in the background.
"Damn, now I want to go and slay a dragon!"
"Let's vanquish some demons!"
"That emperor, this will be me someday!"
"I don't need to become a hero, I just want to follow her holiness Lewriova!"
"Tsk. So many softies! I will become an undying lichking. She whole world will fear my name!"
All the players were in high spirits, discussing animatedly.
Liam and his friends were amazed as well. Especially Radiant Shield. The man balled his fists, whispering with sparks in his eyes:
"One day..."
For a few seconds the players were left to their own devices until suddenly a large platform appeared in air above all arenas. It swished through the skies left and right, attracting a lot of attention, before descending and hovering a few meters above the arena floor.
The platforms were shown on all the screens, revealing the exact same image of a young woman looking not much older than 17 or 18 years old.
She wore a luxurious dress and exquisite jewellery. Her smooth, black hair was hanging over her shoulders, adorned with a shiny silver diadem.
However, her dress was a bit short, her black boots more comfortable than feminine, and her diadem sat crookedly, giving her the look of a lively, somewhat rebellious princess.
The woman smiled excitedly with stars in her big, cute eyes.
She just stood there on the platform on top of a red carpet flanked by two sets of full-body armor, leaving one questioning if they contained soldiers or were just for decoration.
With her appearance the arenas suddenly erupted.
"Ahhh it's Maycos!!!"
"I have seen Maycos! I can die a happy death now!"
"Maycos, here, here, look at me!"
Liam and Serena both flinched, completely unprepared for the audience's reaction. Looking around all of their friends showed signs of recognizing the woman, with some cheering loudly. Cyclone and Balm were, to no one's surprise, the most fervent, shouting until their voices sounded hoarse.
"Maycos! Maycos! You're my idol!"
"AHH she looks so pretty!"
"So cuteee!"
Cyclone's face was flushed. After a moment she had to sit down and take a sip of water. Serena took the chance to ask a question:
"Cyclone, who is this Maycos?"
Cyclone almost spat out her water, staring at Serena in disbelief:
"You don't know who Maycos is?"
"N... no..."
But then Cyclone quickly remembered Serena's situation and adjusted her expression. She explained like a young girl in love:
"Maycos is the biggest star for people under thirty! She started with cosplay, but she can do everything! She's an actress, singer, and model. She's good at sports, funny, cute, and beautiful. A perfect role model!"
Liam listened as well. He frowned as soon as Cyclone described the star as 'perfect'. He knew from his own experience how much a perfect public image could deviate from reality.
And indeed, his thoughts were quickly validated as Fortune, seated in front, turned around and snorted unhappily.
Cyclone looked at her idol turned friend, asking innocently:
"Fortune? Is something wrong?"
"You can say that. Perhaps you shouldn't idolize strangers too much."
"Are you talking about Maycos?"
Fortune was about to open her mouth when she noticed the worry in Cyclone's eyes. Suddenly she froze.
Was she willing to burst her friend's bubble?
And by what right could she complain? Wasn't she of the same type as Maycos? When she joined Hotpot, she also enjoyed the admiration of Cyclone and Balm. In fact, she still did. But more than that she valued their friendship now.
If she revealed the dirty secrets of the entertainment industry now, it probably wouldn't hurt their friendship, but Cyclone and Balm would definitely be shaken and sad.
Looking at Cyclone's lively face Fortune couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she suddenly decided for herself to teach slowly, bit by bit, so that Cyclone and Balm learned not to be blinded by appearances.
As those thoughts formed in Fortune's mind she sighed lightly and said:
"Just... be careful."
Cyclone blinked her eyes, somewhat confused. But Fortune quickly turned her head away. Cyclone froze for a moment but when Maycos began to talk, Cyclone stared at her with a bright smile.
However, Liam was intrigued by overhearing the conversation. He secretly conversed with Fortune in the chat, learning from her experiences.
Fortune herself could be considered famous but she never quite managed to reach the entire federation. In part this was due to Maycos.
In the industry it was an open secret that Maycos liked to keep her competition down. For this no means were too ruthless.
One of her most insane moves was when Maycos published a video in which she was hit by an upcoming model who was booked for the same shooting as Maycos. Maycos' fans went ballistic, writing hundreds of death threats.
This only went on for a few hours. Maycos held a press conference, showing forgiveness, only asking the model to apologize.
The poor young woman's mentality was broken. She apologized under tears and returned to her home planet.
Only a few people know that the model had actually cancelled the shoot beforehand as she knew she would only stand in Maycos' shadow during the shoot. Thus, she couldn't have been there in the first place.
Reading all this Liam inhaled sharply. This was too ruthless. He looked towards the arena floor where Maycos was beginning to speak under the cheers of an incalculable number of people.
She opened her arms wide, smiling, her cute dimples perfectly captured on the screen, portraying the image of a cute little sister.