With Yuko's competition suggestion, all of my Companions, even the most reserved girl, instantly moved and… surfed the internet to scout for their possible bet.
The time they spent here was already almost a month and they're all learned now about the culture on Earth, the existing entertainments and about almost anything they could think of.
Nonetheless, because we're mostly busy rushing our Mortal Pathways and progresses, they only know enough to be familiar with what's going on with the world.
Predicting who will become the first Rank 3 Mortal among all the Earthlings playing the game was easier said than done. If before there were only a few exceptional players like that lucky one from the Southeast or the Guild Pioneer, there are now more than 100 thousand players who reached Rank 2 Mortal or reached the Awakened Realm of Earth's unique Mortal Pathway, awakening their own Ability like the Silver-ranks of the World of Meta
With all the data available on the internet, the girls didn't think twice to consult it and make their bets.
I understand that everyone wants to come with me. If not for the restriction and my plan to thoroughly train them in any kind of situation, I would've asked that World's Will disable that restriction.
The deep space is a mysterious place, even more mysterious than every world we've been to thousands of years ago. Space Oddities, Space Beasts, Unexplored World Zones, Black Holes, Wormholes, Forbidden Region and a lot more.
Although I was confident and determined to keep them all by my side, accidents could happen and that's what we had to be prepared for.
With this plan to train them and the other Transcendents, not only would they experience a fight wherein their enemies were non-living beings that weren't treading Pathways, but they would also be able to get pieces of technology that might be helpful for them. It's a Waste Disposal Site but most of the time, even completed technology would be sent there because a new and more optimized version was created. Just like that World Zone Navigator and Deep Space Scanner.
Naturally, I didn't tell them that even if they were about to receive fatal injuries from the Mechanical Robots, those were already programmed to be in safe mode. They would instead be captured and jailed rather than being killed on the spot.
To be fair, Yuko, who was aware of that feature, asked me to disable them to give everyone a sense of crisis and take that exploration level-headed… However, I, being the overprotective guy, Instead of disabling, just didn't tell them that once they were deemed incapacitated, they would be transferred away and would be released later.
Those who will venture inside from the Heroes or the Transcendents who came to this world to help us would also experience the same difficulty.
Among them, I was looking forward to the Heroes performances as well as… the Spirit Queen's. She possessed almost the same eye as Yuko.
Back then, Yuko's Destiny Eye was born from her Psyche-type Pathway. Yse's Destiny Eye was something she possessed ever since her birth. She's a special kind and she's even more special than Ezyn, the Spirit King. They will surely come with us since the Earth will soon be stabilized so… I was already thinking of how I could properly let them catch up to us.
Perhaps, it wasn't necessarily me, they would surely encounter their own destiny that would pull them upwards.
"Dai-kun, we already have our bets."
After around five hours, Yuko and the girls returned from their scouting and selecting their player candidates.
"You're joining as well."
"Of course, It's a chance to be with Dai-kun. All of us want it." Yuko laughed before she collected the papers where the girls put their bets. "Because there were two slots, the competition was for the 1st and 2nd players to reach Rank 3 Mortal. We can support them by giving them guidance or sending them gifts and the rest will be up to their luck. Is that fine, Dai-kun?"
She thought of this competition carefully. I guess she used her Foresight and Premonition to predict what I would bring them.
"Alright. That's good enough. Let's go and check on all your candidates."
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More than a week after the 'Pathways' had begun its service, the whole internet was on a roll as they continued updating about the happenings inside it.
Just a few hours after its launch, forums and blogs began sprouting from the so-called experts.
Some of those were part of the marketing strategy applied to hype the interest in the game. Because I know for a fact that even though it was already anticipated by a lot of people, housewives, househusbands, salarymen and other people in the normal sector would still not be moved by it.
Furthermore, the Full Immersion Chamber continued to sell like hotcakes all around the world.
With the EDA controlling all government bodies and all the old fossils overseeing Earth, I had them to make sure that even those homeless would have a chance to play it. It was inexpensive and… I had the governments promote it and offer monetary rewards to those who will apply and try so that they could happily leave their jobs and focus on playing the game.
As for the sectors of society that would be emptied… the World of Meta's technology came in handy for that.
Well. I will only encourage them to tread on their Pathways only this once, after creating a bunch of experts then they would be left to their own devices again. If one wanted to farm they could farm and provide food. The same could be said to the other professions that would become scarce or emptied during this point in time.
At the moment, we're huddled together as we watched live broadcasts of the candidates inside our own Virtual Simulation Machine that was connected to the Virtual World of 'Pathways'.
Outside, my Avatar was making its rounds to inform every Transcendent and Hero who were doing their own thing about the upcoming opening of Atlantis and what they would do.
Thanks to that, apart from watching the progress of the plan I made for the Earthlings, I got more time to spend with my Companions.
"That woman, that's my candidate." Yumiko pointed at one of the screens showing a woman who was in her mid-20s hollering above a hidden cavern. Around her were two skeleton wolves that had fangs so sharp it could crush a stone
Her awakened ability appeared to look like a Necromancy but… those wolves were conjured from her energy and bones of those monsters or intelligent race she killed.
At the moment, she had just thrown a torch down the cavern and another player could be seen below.
"James, what's happening?!" The woman shouted as soon as she got a view of her companion who went down in the cavern before her.
Well, there's a lot of floating screens that were showing all of my Companions' chosen player candidates. However, all of us were currently focused on what's happening to Yumiko's candidate.
Compared to the others who settled on some villages and created their bases, these two called themselves treasure hunters. Spawned in the middle of a ruined desert town, they were left fending off against gigantic Sand Worms. Inside that desert town, they got their first set of equipment that helped them survive against those Sand Worms.
Lucky or not, those Sand Worms dropped treasures that could be categorized as Output Enhancing Equipment, letting them become stronger.
And that's how the two reached the 2nd Realm but at the moment… They decided to carelessly explore a cavern they found, thinking it was a ruin filled with more treasure that could empower them.
Unfortunately, it's the nest of the Sand Worms.
Before the woman's eyes, her companion, James was instantly killed even before he could holler back at her to tell her the situation below.
It's not like it was permanent death but they would be barred from entering the game for 48 hours. Given that the time inside the game was six times faster than in real life, that 48 hours was about 12 days.
As the woman found herself alone against a swarm of more Desert Worms that was disturbed by them, she stood her ground alone.
"She's good," I commented after seeing how the woman expertly utilized her skeleton wolves to defend and counter-attack.
Upon hearing that, Yumiko put on an elated smile. "I had the same experience as her before. But that time I was alone and rouge Spirit Beasts swarmed around me."
"I see. Are you seeing yourself in her?"
"Not really but her Ability. I believe she has the potential to be a great expert someday."
"Perhaps. There were others who weren't deemed as Heroes despite having a great ability after all. We'll just see how they will grow after leaving the game and entering the real-life game of defending against our world's enemies."
While the woman was still fighting against those Desert Worms, Elise moved to my side and zoomed in on the candidate she picked.
"I believe I also have a chance to win with my candidate, Daisuke." Elise confidently said.
On the screen she zoomed in, a man was rallying a group of 20 armed men and women wearing straw clothes.
On the opposite side, another man was leading a group of mixed players and NPC.
Hmm. The PvP feature of the game was finally going to record its first occurrence. The map was too big after all… and it's hard for the players to meet each other. Moreover… it was hard to notice if one was an NPC or not because of how realistic the NPCs are.
In any case, we would probably need only a few hours before the winner of this little proxy competition would be decided.
If only I wasn't this overpowered for the game, I would also love to lose myself in it, along with my Companions, of course.
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