Chapter 18 - Before The Start Of The Battle

Chapter 18 – Before The Start Of The Battle

A few minutes before the battle started. Inside another waiting room, a young man who was around the same age as Berry stood silently while looking at Berry's data.

The young man had black hair, sharp eyes, and was handsome. Similar to Berry, he wore beginner equipment too. However, he wore a black t-shirt, black pants, and black sports shoes instead of white. He wore the leather chest plate too.

The young man was KOA2468, Berry's opponent. His real name was Shin and he was the same age as Berry. Shin was looking at Berry's Battle Facility record. Since that was Berry's first fight, there was no data about him.

"Have you seen enough about the guy's data? He is a newbie and no need to be so serious about him. I am sure you will have an easy time," a man's voice was heard through Shin's chat menu.

Shin was in a video chat with some man. The man's face was not shown on the screen because he was doing something else while talking to Shin.

"A newbie is still an opponent. I cannot look down on him," Shin replied.

"You are taking this too seriously. Relax and enjoy the battle. A newbie will not be able to do much," the man spoke.

"I have to take this seriously and show good results if I want to be chosen," Shin answered.

"What you have shown since you start the game is more than enough proof to let you join the team," the man added, "I will heavily recommend you to the management. No need to worry about that."

"Don't do that. I want to win my place fair and square. I don't want to use an underhanded method like that," Shin disliked that idea.

"Underhanded? Do you think I have that kind of power in the team? In your dream! I am just recommending you. Either you get in or not is up to the management," the man disagreed with Shin's claim.

"Whatever, I need to focus on my opponent. The battle will start soon, we will talk again later," Shin decided to end the call.

"Wait! Which battlefield will you be fighting?" the man asked.

"Hmm… Grassland 25," Shin replied after he checked the venue.

"Did the newbie choose the field?" the man asked.

"Yeah," Shin replied.

"A newbie indeed," the man spoke nonchalantly and the call was cut off by Shin. "…What a rude guy…" the man mumbled. The man was inside the Battle Facility and he was buying some popcorn to view some battles on the screen.

"Let see… Grassland 25… I need to walk for a bit," the man spoke.

"Look! KOA2468 is having a battle! Let's go see," a man nearby spoke excitedly. He wore a piece of beginner equipment and his level was 5.

"What? Handsome boy is fighting?" a girl exclaimed excitedly.

"My idol is having a battle! I have to watch it and cheer for him!" another girl spoke.

"He is my idol too! He is not only handsome but also strong!"

"Tch! What is so special about him? He only won three times and you guys make a huge issue about it," a man spoke in disdain.

"Who cares about that? All I see is potential! 3 wins out of 3 battles!" the girl disagreed.

"I have more wins than that," the guy disagreed.

"Like what? 5 wins out of 15 battles?" the girl scoffed at the guy.

"…" the guy went silent.

Many people started to notice KOA2468 on the screen and decided to watch the battle. Although his battle history was short, he showed a 100% win for all the battles.

Usually, it was hard for a newbie to get that kind of wins but KOA2468 did it. In the history of Dodgeball Master, many newbies with these wins became big later. Most of the popular players had a similar history as KOA2468.

In other words, KOA2468 had the potential to become a big star in Dodgeball Master. If Shin kept winning the battles, he would become as big as many other already popular players.

Many hardcore players and fans of Dodgeball Master gave a lot of attention to this kind of thing. If Shin lived to the expectations, they would witness the growing history of a future powerful Dodgeball Master's player.

Thus, when Shin's in-game ID appeared on the screen, it gained a lot of attention. Many wanted to witness his supposed journey to become one of the powerful players. They did not want to miss any of that.

When the spectators saw KOA2468, many of them rushed to the screen where the battle would be shown. The crowd started small but in a few seconds, it became big. Hundreds of players who had free time came to watch the battle.

Since the battle was between newbies, it was not available for online viewing. Thus, only people in the Bigin City Battle Facility could see the battle. Players in the other cities would not be able to see the battle.

The spectators were chattering with each other and among the crowd, if Berry were to be present, he would see someone familiar.

A chubby woman who wore a bit more advanced equipment stood among the crowd. Beside her stood a beautiful young girl who looked to be around Berry's age.

Above the beautiful young girl's head was her in-game ID, Dianne6789. Her level was 11. Berry might not recognize her but she was the girl that secretly recorded his battle against Bestie. The girl was Dianne and she was there scouting for potential players.

Dianne's purpose in being in the venue was to see Shin's battle. Similar to others, Dianne saw potential in Shin and wanted to scout him.

The chubby woman had the in-game ID of Beautiful Daisy02 with her level at 27. The chubby woman was Daisy, U20 Reserve Team's Manager. Daisy had to put the '02' in her in-game name because someone already used 'Beautiful Daisy' and 'Beautiful Daisy01'. Without much choice, Daisy put the '02'.

"So, this KOA2468 is the one you want the company to scout?" Daisy spoke to Dianne.

"I saw his three previous battles and he is strong. The battle ends easily too," Dianne replied.

"…Is he maybe someone who deletes his previous account?" Daisy was skeptical. It happened many times before and made a lot of people disappointed.

"I am not sure about that but he looks young," Dianne replied.

"Looking young or if he is indeed young is not enough proof to say he did not delete his previous account. He may have played the game since young. We need a thorough investigation to find out about that. Did you do any of that?" Daisy spoke.

"Urm… That is why you are here, sister Daisy~ Your eyes can recognize talents right? You will also know if he is veteran players or newbies," Dianne hooked Daisy's arm playfully.

"…I can help you with that but still, where is your brother? You said he will be here with you. Are you lying to me?" Daisy spoke.

"About that, he promised to come with me to meet KOA2468 after he saw the video recording but then, something else came up. So, he will not be here," Dianne replied.

"Am I his replacement or am I suppose to come to meet KOA2468 with him?" Daisy asked.

"…" Dianne did not reply to that but she spoke, "We are lucky that KOA2468 will have a battle now. You will be able to see his potential from this battle."

"…You scam me… I knew it. Your brother is more than capable to recruit this guy," Daisy was disappointed. Daisy focused on the names on the screen.

KOA2468 VS Berryier

"Berryier, that is funny. A pun to Barrier?" Daisy mumbled.

"This guy?" Dianne was surprised. She remembered about Berry.

"You know him?" Daisy was surprised.

"Two days ago, when I went scouting, someone was ambushed in a forced battle and Berryier is the victim," Dianne replied.

"Did he loss pathetically?" Daisy was curious.

"He won but his ambusher lost pathetically," Dianne shook her head.

"Oh~ then he has potential too," Daisy spoke.

"It is not like that. There is a story about the battle," Dianne smiled awkwardly.

"Oh! Oh! Tell me!" Daisy's curiosity increased.

"The ambusher is Berryier's younger brother. They had some issue in real-life and his younger brother plays the game to exact revenge," Dianne shook her head.

"His brother is a real embarrassment making that issue in the public. Even so, Berryier's younger brother is not suitable for sports game and lose without Berryier doing much. He threw three golf balls and Berryier's younger brother threw high-quality football but did nothing to his brother," Dianne shook her head again.

"In the end, he was too scared of his brother and admitted defeat," Dianne ended the story. "I thought I will witness a good battle but they are a newbie."

"Ah~ is that so? You said the high-quality football did nothing? No damage?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah, Berryier received zero damage. His younger brother was too weak," Dianne replied.

"Berryier's defense must be high," Daisy spoke.

"I don't think so. His younger brother is too weak. The younger brother's stats must be really low," Dianne added.

While Dianne and Daisy were talking, the screen changed and it showed Grassland 25 on the screen. Then, two young men were teleported to the grassland.

One of them was KOA2468 and the spectators were cheering on him. Another one was Berryier and some people had a look of a surprise because they recognized the name. Even so, they were holding their laughter when they saw Berry wore a mask.

"…" Dianne was silent when she saw the mask on Berry's face.

However, Daisy was surprised. Even with the mask, she recognized Berry and smiled. "So, you play the game," Daisy mumbled.