The Grand Duelist

Joseph broke his stance and brandished his Rapier, and then...

Joseph froze in mid-air.

He found himself unable to move as several system notifications appeared in front of him.

[ Your powerful Rapier has left its mark through every landmark in the world! ]

[ Your anger astonished the Seven Gods and Goddesses. ]

[ The 72nd Demons of Hell are trembling in excitement upon witnessing your rage! ]

[ The Laws of Causality is overwhelmed! ]

[ There will be an emergency maintenance in a few seconds. Players who enabled the True Sleep Mode feature in their Capsules or Headsets will be forced into True Sleep Mode. The progress of every player in the world will be saved and any losses nor wins in duels will not be recorded. ] 

[ Please visit the website for further news about the emergency maintenance! ]

These system notifications also appeared in front of everyone within the passageway and they all stared wide-eyed at the information displayed before them.

"Emergency maintenance?"

"What...?"

These were the only words that they could utter as their consciousness dimmed. Most of them were forced into True Sleep Mode apart from others who didn't have that setting turned on.

When the emergency maintenance occurred, those who weren't forced into True Sleep Mode had a rude awakening as they simultaneously opened their eyes in the outside world.

Joseph was the same as them as he snapped his eyes open and sucked a huge mouthful of breath. 

"Just what the fuck happened? Emergency maintenance, at that timing?" Joseph furrowed his eyebrows. He pushed himself out of his gaming capsule.

After tending to the physiological needs of his body...

He hopped into the internet and opened the official website of Victory.

Within the forums, there was a fierce and heated discussion about the Emergency Maintenance

"Wow, these guys are fast. It has only been several minutes since the Emergency Maintenance started, yet they are already discussing the reasons why P.H Works closed down their servers in a hurry." Joseph couldn't help but comment.

Joseph closed the forum for most of the topics within it were mere hearsay and ridiculous claims...

One of them even claimed that the reason why the world of Victory went into emergency maintenance was because they couldn't handle the number of players within the game anymore.

It was actually a sensible claim if you first looked at it.

But Victory literally has several hundreds of millions of players, if they had to reduce the number of players within the game to maintain its stability. They should've done that earlier before the problem even started.

Joseph opened the main website of Victory and he saw an announcement from the P.H Works PR Team addressing the sudden emergency maintenance.

From the information posted, emergency maintenance was made due to the sheer number of unchecked bugs that needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

The PR Team gave their sincere apologies and even offered compensation to every player significantly affected by the maintenance. The article that addressed the issue didn't say anything wrong, but it sounded wrong for Joseph who made extensive research about the world of Victory.

The Supercomputer Noah managed the world of Victory and even though Joseph didn't know the full extent of its capabilities...

One couldn't deny how capable it was for managing such an incredibly huge, and complex world.

It was questionable but Joseph could say that Noah was akin to a god.

From his research, it was virtually impossible for the world of Victory to have bugs for the Supercomputer Noah managed it and instantly squashed them all whenever they were discovered...

Yet, what was going on?

Joseph furrowed his eyebrows, several dozens of ideas flashed across his mind but he suddenly held his head and massaged his temples.

Before he could even complain about the fact that he shouldn't really think about this issue since it was P.H Works' responsibility to handle it...

A low growl came out of his stomach and a wry smile escaped on his lips.

So this is why my head hurts...

Joseph carried his wry smile and descended down the stairs. He opened up his fridge and took a look at the number of ingredients within the fridge and his wry smile deepened.

It seems like I really need to fetch some groceries.

I can take advantage of the downtime in the middle of this maintenance after all!

Joseph lightly chuckled.

He fetched some several thousands of pesos from within his wallet and went out of his mansion.

The City of Sibu was a city renowned for its nightlife.

Even though it was still early morning, to be precise, five am in the morning...

There were still a lot of people roaming about in the streets.

Joseph could even see some girls standing on the dark corners and alleyways on the streets.

Seeing them standing there as if they were waiting for their prey...

Joseph didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

Pa, ma... I just realized that our neighborhood isn't really that good when it comes to security... To think that women could solicit for those kinds of things here! 

Joseph thought of reporting those women to the authorities, but he wasn't a snitch so he kept that thought to himself.

With the flourishing nightlife of the City of Sibu, most establishments connected to the food industry also opened early to cater to those patrons that were hard at work.

Joseph casually walked past these establishments, but then a sudden idea struck him. 

How about I go and visit that wet market? It's been such a long time since I tasted those chicken skins, and I also want to visit...

Joseph paused on his tracks. His thoughts grind to a halt before he changed his mind. He decided not to visit that local wet market anymore as Joseph continued on his journey, sweeping his gaze across the dozens of food establishments on the streets.

It was quite ironic that Joseph found it hard to choose what he should eat even though there were a lot of selections available for him to eat. 

Joseph casually walked on the street as if he was on his backyard while admiring the neon lights that decorated the City, but his attention was suddenly attracted to a particular establishment that had signages above its front door that said.

Virtual Reality Cafe - Grand Internet Cafe.

Joseph's interest was piqued. 

Virtual Reality Cafes weren't only visited by patrons if they wanted to play a game. Virtual Reality Cafes could also be used to access some cheap hourly lodging, and one could also visit it for their cheap, yet delicious foods.

Although their meals weren't that healthy nor nutritionally-balanced...

They were packed with fats and carbohydrates enough to give starving gamers a surge of energy that could enable them to outperform their enemies. In other words, if you wanted cheap, yet fulfilling meals without caring that much about how nutritious it was...

A Virtual Reality Cafe was a good place to visit.

Joseph stepped inside the Virtual Reality Cafe and he was greeted with the attendants who acted more like touts.

"Welcome to Grand Internet Cafe, kind sir! Would you like to avail of a Gaming Headset Room or a Gaming Capsule Room? The former is much cheaper but the assimilation rate is only up to 70% while the latter is more expensive but the assimilation rate is up to 96%..."

"Only 250 pesos per hour for the Gaming Headset Room while 500 pesos per hour for a Gaming Capsule Room! There is no better deal than this than our establishment sir!" The female attendant even handed over a flier.

Damn it feels like I went to the local wet market than a Virtual Reality Cafe. Why are these attendants acting like touts instead of proper attendants? Is the competition regarding Virtual Reality Cafes really that strict now to the extent that these attendants have to do something like this to attract customers?

Several thoughts flashed across Joseph's mind as he received the flier from the attendant and smiled.

He placed all of his unnecessary thoughts into the deep recesses of his brain and he replied, "No, I did not come here for either of those."

The attendant was taken aback for a moment and Joseph was about to explain the reason why he came here when the attendant suddenly spoke up: "Ah, I see! In that case, then the tournament venue is on the third floor, take that elevator right there and go straight to the third floor."

The attendant pointed and Joseph followed her finger.

"And where is the dining hall?" Joseph asked.

The attendant smiled, "It's also on the third floor, sir. Normally, it should be on the sixth floor but for the convenience of the tournament attendees like you, sir..."

"We temporarily transferred the dining hall to the third floor. There's a buffet up there and you can access it for free if you're a tournament attendee..."

"Then, what if I'm not a tournament attendee?"

The attendant's smile never fazed, "Then, you need to pay five hundred pesos to enter the buffet."

Joseph nodded his head, "I see... Then, I'll be going." Five-hundred pesos for a buffet wasn't cheap, but it wasn't unreasonable either. It was just right so that the establishment could earn some money from the buffet even though the margins were definitely tight.

Joseph headed upstairs and he was astonished by the number of people within the gaming hall of the third floor. The Gaming Hall was transformed into a wide space where people could stand up to watch the ongoing tournament.

Right above them all, hanging from the ceiling were three, wide LCD monitors displaying what was going on within the game...

And the game displayed within the wide monitors was?

Victory...

Joseph was taken aback by what he saw.

I thought there was maintenance for today? How can these guys play Victory?

He fell into deep contemplation before he acquired the answer to his question.

"DLC!" 

DLC meant Downloadable Content. 

Victory had several dozens of DLCs that players could buy and download. The servers of these DLCs were apparently not connected to the main servers of Victory. Apart from that, Joseph had no idea as to why these people could play Victory despite the ongoing emergency maintenance.

Joseph skimmed through his memories and he found that the DLCs that these players were using to access Victory was the Arena DLC.

Just as its name, the Arena DLC was just a place that people could use to fight against their fellow players without suffering from the consequences of death within the world of Victory.

The Arena DLC was often used by players to settle grudges or take revenge while others used it to fight against anime characters that they modded into the game. 

One could even fight against Goku inside the Arena DLC through the use of mods.

Or you could use it to try and fight against Saitama and end up getting annihilated by a single punch.

In a nutshell, the Arena DLC was a place that players could freely modify through the use of mods and one could do anything that they wanted within it.

Albeit, with some limitations dedicated for users who tried to incorporate Artificial Intelligence within clearly underaged models to try and have sex with them.

Joseph sighed, but it wasn't because of exhaustion it was because of relief and excitement. If the game that was being played in the tournament was an unfamiliar game then he would've been forced to fetch five-hundred pesos just to enter the buffet.

But right now, he could participate in the tournament for only a thousand pesos.

Participation in the tournament meant that he could access the buffet for free, so in other words.

Not only he could have some fun, but he could also fill his stomach to the brim with the number of dishes within the buffet.

But before Joseph could even apply for the tournament and eat some meal in the buffet.

His attention was attracted by a cry of annoyance from a distance.

"Goddamned it, there are only twelve bosses yet why are we not able to kill that sixth boss despite trying all night?" A man who had dark circles underneath his eyes shouted a complaint.

"Ethan... It seems like we really did underestimate the difficulty of this tournament. The boss of this cafe is really too stingy, it's just fifty thousand pesos. It's not like we can't earn that in Victory in several months." 

Ethan turned to look at the man and said, "That's the point! I want to focus on leveling up my gears instead of grinding those low-leveled monsters for copper coins. That is why I joined this tournament! That amount of money may not be much but it will be enough to serve as our buffer for several months while we grind for items instead!"

"Don't you also feel bored doing that repetitive grinding for money every day, Stafford?"

Ethan and Stafford were young men who looked to be in their early twenties.

"But we have to do that if we want to keep playing Victory, you know, Ethan?"

"Without the support of our parents, It's really hard to keep on paying the monthly payments necessary for playing Victory... That is why we need to grind." The man Ethan addressed named as Stafford replied with a sigh.

"Are you guys just gonna give up like that? We already spent at least half a day here and we already broke through the fifth boss! Only seven bosses remain, yet why are you guys giving up already?"

Someone spoke up, but the voice sounded feminine. 

Joseph glanced at the owner of the voice and he found that she was a young woman who looked to be at the same age as Ethan and Stafford. There was a defiant look on her face and her eyes radiated the light of not giving up until she had accomplished her goals.

Usually, everyone would mock anyone who kept on challenging the impossible for they thought it was incredibly foolish and a waste of effort.

But Joseph who challenged the Festival of Battles for two months straight knew that people who often did such a feat weren't foolish nor smart.

Instead, they were desperate.

The young woman sounded valiant but for Joseph, she sounded quite pitiful...

Joseph couldn't mock her at all.

Joseph felt like he was jumping to conclusions but that didn't invalidate the fact that he could relate to the young woman.

"Young miss, it's better if you give up on the tournament. It's about to end in two hours anyway. I don't think that it's still possible for you to defeat the remaining seven bosses with how much time you have remaining!"

"Yeah, that's right, young miss. How about you just come here and eat with us here at the buffet? Seeing that you're so desperate for a mere fifty-thousand I can see that you urgently need that money? Do you want this old man here to help you? Hahaha..."

The young woman raised her head and fiercely glared at the middle-aged man at the distance.

The middle-aged men laughed out loud when they saw her glare.

"Yohoo~ Looking fierce, eh? Since it looks like you still want to challenge the bosses then go on!"

"I have already given my advice and it's up to you to decide what you want to do with it, hehehe... But if you do fail, consider this old man's offer, as long as you aren't underaged then we can think of a solution to that financial problem of yours~"

The middle-aged man's voice sounded quite disgusting and Ethan and Stafford couldn't help but also glare at him. His strangely amorous voice combined with his stature that made him look like a mountain of meat really did send shivers down the spines of the three.

"Clarisse! Let's just stop and get out of his place now! That old man looks like he's really into you and I don't know what would happen if he decides to do something against you!" Stafford gave a warning to Clarisse.

The young woman clad in casual clothes crossed her arms in front of her chest and said in disdain, "Let's see if he dares to do something against me while I'm in this establishment, hmmph!"

Ethan and Stafford relatively calmed down when they heard what she said. It was because even though the security within the Grand Internet Cafe couldn't be considered as top-notch. It could at least compare to the security that five-star hotels offered to their guests.

Since the guests within Virtual Reality Cafes were asleep while they were playing their game of choice. It was natural that the establishment ensured the safety of the guests while they were playing or else, no one would dare to avail their services.

"No, I can't stop! Come on, guys! We already spent a lot of time today just for this tournament and we're gonna stop when we're still not done? I'm not willing!" Clarrise fought back and they argued against each other until Joseph approached the three and asked.

"Uh... Does that paper in your hands contain information about the BOSSes?" 

Ethan and Stafford trembled for a moment before he glared at Joseph's direction as Stafford replied, "Yes, so what? Do you really think that we'll let you borrow this so you can ride on our coattails? There's no way!"

Joseph lifted a bitter smile on his face as he shook his head and said, "You're misunderstanding me. It's true that I need that paper in your hands but I need it so that I can properly help the two of you on defeating all the BOSSes and winning the tournament!"

"You want us to help defeat those BOSSes?" Ethan was taken aback.

But Stafford was quick to reply, "What a joke! We spent at least half a day on the sixth BOSS, yet you are saying that you can help us defeat them all and win the tournament? Are you kidding me? Do you really think that I would believe such an obvious scam?"

Clarisse also had a frown on her face. Earlier, she had noticed that Joseph kept on staring at her so she had a vague idea on her mind as to why he approached them.

But since it was obviously jumping into conclusions in a hurry. She didn't want to say anything as she probed the young man who gave them such a ridiculous offer.

"Hahaha... Young man, if you want to impress that young miss there then you gotta try harder than that!"

"Blatant lying is not so good for first impressions, you know?"

One of the tournament attendees spoke up.

It was clear from his voice alone that he didn't believe Joseph at all.

Joseph's expression went cold but he didn't say anything in defense. Seeing that the young man had kept his silence, Clarisse was finally convinced that Joseph only approached them to try and impress her with his bravery and courage and possibly woo her in the end.

When she realized all of these, disgust could be seen on her face as she said.

"I don't know where you came from but if you really are trying to impress me then you shouldn't have done this..."

"I'm sorry, but we don't want your help."

"Can you please go away?"

"We want to talk with each other regarding some important points in the tournament and we don't want to be disturbed..."

Joseph was astonished by what he heard.

He opened his mouth and explained, "You're misunderstanding something here! First of all, I didn't approach you guys because I want to impress you. I just thought that all three of you may need my help on winning this tournament so I offered my services."

"Offered your services?" Clarrise raised an eyebrow, "What do we have to pay?"

"Well, you just need to pay for my entry to the tournament and I'll win the tournament for all three of you," Joseph replied with confidence, but this ignited the anger within Stafford's heart as he said.

"You bastard, how could you blatantly lie like that? It's obvious that you are just trying to scam a free meal out of us! Do you really think that we don't know that once you are a tournament attendee, you can access the buffet for free?"

"If you want to eat..."

"Work hard and pay for it! Don't resort to scamming others for their hard-earned money!"

Clarisse, Ethan, and Stafford stared coldly at Joseph.

From the looks on their faces, it was evident that they wouldn't want to hear any explanations from Joseph anymore. 

"Hahaha... So that is the reason why you approached those desperate kids! You just want to scam a meal out of them, eh?"

"If you want to beg for money then do it properly and also do it in the right place! Not in a prestigious establishment like this! Guards! Take that bastard away and ban him from the Internet Cafe!"

The middle-aged man who teased Clarisse earlier spoke up and even ordered the guards to capture Joseph.

The security guards were quick to respond to the commotion and they quickly surrounded Joseph.

Seeing the mocking look on everyone's faces as they stared at him.

Joseph trembled in anger, he approached the three with good intentions but what he got in return was a slap on the face and a fierce mocking? 

Just how unfair was the world that those with good intentions were penalized while those who wanted to do the opposite were rewarded?

Joseph raised his head and coldly swept his gaze at the guards.

Throwing a stack of bills to one of the guards, he declared.

"Sign me up to the tournament," Joseph threw his I.D over to the guard.

"You... You're still trying to impress me?" Clarisse pointed a finger at him.

"Trying to impress you? That was never my intention from the start you narcissistic bitch! Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?" Joseph glared at him.

"You... bastard! How dare you speak like that to Clarrise!" Stafford almost lunged at Joseph but he was held back by Ethan who was also glaring at Joseph.

Joseph didn't even bother to care about the three anymore. The Guards who went to fetch his temporary account card for the tournament returned to Joseph's side and handed over the account card to him.

Amidst everyone's curious gazes, Joseph walked towards the doors of a Gaming Capsule.

He inserted his account card and before entering the Capsule.

He swept his gaze at Ethan, Stafford, and Clarisse.

He coldly stared at them in silence as he entered the Gaming Capsule without saying anything.

He decided not to waste his words against these worthless worm-mongers.

He'll let his skills speak for him instead of his mouth!

But first...

Let's hit up the buffet.

Joseph suddenly stopped on his tracks before rushing towards the location where the buffet was located.

He was really too hungry.