Henrift and his buddies showed up backstage with energy drinks in hand. He hadn’t signed up to fight with his guild, instead signing up with two friends, Serasinner and TeemoMain, both top fifty players from Syntrix. They laughed loudly at a joke, everyone in good spirits, until Henrift spotted me. He walked up.

  “We’re both unlucky, eh?” he said, smiling. “Annath crushed us early on.”

  “Meh, we were pretty close to winning,” I said.

  Henrift snorted. “Everyone else is fighting for second place. Shame I can’t have my revenge in the finals. The losers’ bracket will have to do.”

  “Good luck,” I said. “You won’t beat us.”

  Henrift’s eyes were locked solely on me, despite Veyra sitting right next to me, as if she wasn’t worth taking seriously. He said, “Bold claims after your build has been nerfed to the ground. You can’t one-shot me anymore.”

  I shrugged. “We’ll see about that. Good luck.”

  His smile fell. “Good luck,” he said and returned to his friends.

  I sighed and asked Veyra, “How are you feeling?”

  Her head pointed low, eyes focused intently on the ground. She’d stayed quiet for a while. “Sick. Something is making me dizzy.”

  “Are the new meds working?” I asked.

  “I don’t know…” she said. “It’s whatever. I’ll survive.”

  “Can I help?” I asked.

  “No,” Veyra said. “If the pod lets me log in, VR also takes away any stomach aches. If it doesn’t let me log in, that’s when we’ll have problems.”

  “Right…” I said. “Don’t worry, I’ll carry this one as well. Just cast Astral Defiance on me and I’ll cook them alive.”

  She snorted, subtly smiling. “Sorry, I don’t have any compliments to get you warmed up.” She thought for a bit, then said, “Uh, if you were an item in-game, you’d be a mythic for sure.”

  “You’re a goddess tier best-in-slot Veyra.”

  She chuckled. “I hate how much better you are at this.”

  I just grinned.

  “Was that not a good one?” Veyra asked.

  “Oh, no I’m honored,” I said. “Sorry, you’re making my heart race.”

  She laughed. “You’re almost making me forget my urge to puke.”

  I smiled at her, until the organizers announced that the match was about to start.

  ***

  “What do the predictions say?” mom asked.

  Anna bit her lip as she looked at the forum post on her phone. “Eighty-nine percent to eleven percent. In Sleepy Dads’ favor.”

  Mom wore a difficult expression. “Is this where it ends, then? What’s his position? Sixteenth?”

  “He hasn’t lost yet,” Anna said. “We have to root for him!”

  Mom didn’t look so certain. She cheered for Aiden, of course, but the earlier match against the Celestial Order wasn’t hopeful. “Sixteenth is a good position for his debut,” mom said. “Maybe he will find a third team mate for next year.”

  “Solo Mage will win this one,” another person said to Anna’s right, taking her attention. He was a short and plump boy in a grey hoodie, around Anna’s age, a smug smile on his face. “Assassin A fixed his build against Henrift. It’ll be an easy stomp.”

  “You think so?” Anna asked. “Didn’t Aiden, um, Assassin A, get nerfed after that match?”

  “Hardly matters,” the boy said. “The eleven percent with brains can actually analyze how this will go. Henrift’s team is good, but he doesn’t know what’s coming for him. He’ll get stomped. A’s build is much stronger now.”

  Who is this guy? Anna thought. Mom was also looking in their direction from the side of her eye.

  “A actually has resistance this time,” he continued. “He won’t be one-shotted by Ascension Of Death. All he needs is five seconds to pummel Henrift to the ground with Eviscerate stacks. Sera and Teemo can try to support Henrift, but I’d say they’ll be preoccupied with survival. Veyra is playing.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  It sounded like he knew what he was talking about, though Anna caught only half of what he said. “Hm,” she said.

  That was when the lights went out, and the ads stopped playing.

  The stage was dark and silent for ten seconds, until the speakers rumbled with loud bass. The anticipation continued, a distorted guitar note hit, and a rock song started. Sleepy Dads’ introduction video started, and the screens showed a cinematic of a dark knight spreading his wings.

  Cheers erupted as three middle-aged men walked onto the stage, including Henrift, the flanneled man Aiden had just barely beat in New York. They all smiled and waved at the stage, while the cinematic continued playing, showcasing all three players posing next to each other in front of the giant death knight, with text that read, “Team Sleepy Dads.”

  The casters remained silent for now. They’d only given loud introductions during the first round, after which the teams walked in with their own cinematics.

  There was a short pause, and the next cinematic started. A dragon flew across the monitors, followed by flashing pretty patterns. The visuals settled, and the text “Team Solo Mage” showed on the middle of the screen.

  Anna had seen the same cinematic on other teams as well. This was the default one given to teams that didn’t have their own cinematic. Knowing Aiden, he probably didn’t even know he could customize it.

  The boy next to Anna raised his hands, cheering, as Aiden walked in with Veyra. The girl on a wheelchair. Anna lifted the banner. Thankfully, there were enough cheers that she didn’t feel embarrassed cheering alone.

  He never mentioned his girlfriend was paralyzed, Anna thought. Veyra was pretty, though, and Aiden looked genuinely happy when he spoke about her. Now, however, they both looked serious, barely even looking in the audience’s direction.

  That couldn’t have been a good sign. Was he not confident they’d win?

  Aiden kept glancing in Veyra’s direction while everyone logged in. The microphone popped a few times as the caster, Artonis, said, “Welcome back everyone, to the three versus three tournament at Worlds 2026! You are watching the elimination match between long-time legends of the scene reunited, Henrift, TeemoMain and Serasinner as Team Sleepy Dads versus perhaps the biggest surprise underdogs of Worlds this year, Veyra and Assassin with Team Solo Mage!”

  “Solo Mage, or otherwise known as the Cheater Duo,” Leona said. “The team that has either won or lost matches in record time, with not one match lasting for more than three minutes. I have to say, Veyra and Assassin have been amongst my favorites to watch, if only due to the sheer difficulty of casting matches that move as quickly as theirs.”

  Players logged in, and the screen displayed item sets. Anna understood almost nothing about the item stats. She knew about item rarities, from common to mythic. Rarity was the most important thing Wonderwind players cared about. One of her classmates had once gotten a rare item, and he’d boasted about it for weeks, until he died in game and lost it. His mood switched entirely, and he was depressed for a month.

  Nobody in Henrift’s team had a single rare item. Everything was epic or above, with most being legendaries. Nobody had mythic items like Annath’s set, but everyone here wore the best equipment in the game.

  "Henrift still favors the Greatsword Of Obyrith," Leona was saying. "The same sword that has brought him dozens upon dozens of podium finishes over the years, though I suspect most of his damage will once again come from Ascension Of Death, opting for a high maximum health build against Assassin's armor stealing dagger, Sablethorn."

  Sablethorn was a legendary item. Anna still couldn’t believe Aiden had legendary items as well. Those sold for real money. And Veyra had a mythic spellbook. That was super rare, right?

  She still couldn’t believe Aiden was fighting here at all, competing with such good players.

  “Both teams have readied up!” Artonis said with almost fearful anticipation, pausing the earlier topic. “Do not blink, as I expect Assassin A to immediately launch himself into the fight. The arena is opening now—and Shadow Dash has been activated as Assassin A immediately pounces on Henrift!”

  His voice got louder and faster as words flowed out. “Henrift barely has time to active Ascension Of Death as he’s already tanking four, six, eight evisceration stacks! Serasinner casts Wisp Of Enhancement, but Henrift is still too slow to swing back, dealing damage only with his demonic aura. Assassin’s health drops below thirty, but Astral Defiance is active. Will Henrift retract his aura to avoid Astral Rage—no, he will not as Assassin’s health drops to zero!”

  The moment Aiden’s health hit zero, two things happened. He regained his health to thirty percent, and Henrift’s aura pulsed as an electric shock erupted in the globe around him. The caster continued after a breath.

  “Henrift zaps Ascension Of Death immediately, hoping to finish him off, but Shadow Dash is already off cooldown, and Assassin dashes straight to the back-line! Serasinner system blocks in a panic; he misses, taking heavy damage! Teemo needs to help right now! He has the perfect angle for a poison dart. Can he assist—”

  Two slashes resounded, followed by a Shadow Dash and a third slash came.

  “—No, he cannot, Teemo and Sera are both dead with Veyra demolishing the backline, and…”

  Henrift collapsed. His health bar was at zero, and his face crashed against the ground, unconscious.

  “And… Solo Mage wipes out Sleepy Dads…?”

  The casters went silent, while the boy next to Anna cackled under his breath. “There you go. As expected A brought that item back. Soul Orb Of Rathax. He stole all of Henrift’s armor and filled him with evisceration and then dashed to Sera. Before killing him, he equipped the orb to reset his dash straight back to Henrift for the one-shot evisceration.”

  “Uh-huh,” Anna said, having no idea what she had just heard.

  “What was that!?” Leona blurted out. “Not only has the back-line died, Henrift has collapsed as well!”

  The casters showed the replay, as they, too, tried to figure out what happened. The boy next to Anna continued chuckling like some evil genius. “Veyra and Assassin are just too good,” he said. “Henrift’s build is entirely incorrect for this match. He has no chance of winning. Solo Mage will make it second place. Only the five gods can defeat them. I don’t think A and Veyra can defeat Annath though, sadly.”

  Anna could almost believe that prediction, as the next match ended just as fast as the first. The rematch with Aiden versus Henrift wasn’t even close as Team Sleepy Dads was eliminated.

  20 chapters ahead on !