Chapter 11

Logging in with the capsule was as easy as climbing inside, taking off my mask, and shutting the overhead hatch. The real world disappeared as my senses were intercepted and I entered a digital lobby. It wasn't my lobby. That didn't arrive until a few seconds later, after the machine had time to match my biometrics with my cloud account and request my password.

"New client program identified," the system AI announced. "Aetherscape Tournament Sandbox is ready to execute."

"Load it up," I said.

I blushed as soon as I transferred into my game avatar. When the promoter mentioned 'racial variants' of the Martial Way armor every contestant was required to wear, I didn't realize the Atlantean costume would be as revealing as my kelp armor set.

I still had no shirt or upper body armor. Instead of sensible gear, the kelp dorsal fin in my chest slot had been replaced with a more rigid sailfish fin. My leggings were ultra-thin silk pants bound at the ankle and my belt came with its own silk cape. And, for some odd freaking reason, there was a gravity-defying silk scarf floating around my shoulders.

I tried to open my status window to see how many attribute points I'd lost, only to find all my panels were locked to keep me from changing my gear.

"I swear the developers are closet perverts," I grumbled. My only consolation was they hadn't made my chest look weird by adding a bunch of fish scales or hair.

I did a few stretches to test my updated render scan and everything seemed to be okay. There wasn't a big difference between the previous, extrapolated version of my character body and this higher quality version. I thought I'd gained a few centimeters in height and lost some weight from my legs, but it wasn't enough to give me a huge mobility boost. The main difference was my hands—I'd always had slightly bigger hands than average and the smaller ones the game extrapolated for me had felt clumsy. Now the proportions were perfect and I knew it would have a mild effect on my dexterity.

However, the biggest change actually had nothing to do with my updated scan. It came from the lack of ocean water pressing against my skin. Until now, I'd been chained down without knowing it and, suddenly, all the limiters had been removed.

I punched the air and my first moved so sharply I had to check to see if I cut myself on the wind. I danced in place to test my legs and it seemed like I could simply float away if I wanted. It was a heady feeling—and a disorienting one. It felt like I was out of control. My body moved as fast as my thoughts and sometimes it seemed like my thoughts couldn't keep up with my movements.

I made a mental note to log in and spend a few hours on an island to get used to the sensation.

Once I was satisfied I had enough control to keep myself from bumping into walls, I turned my attention to the surrounding room. It appeared to be some kind of dusty, gladiator waiting room. There were weapon racks everywhere, offering almost any weapon I could think of.

I knew I was only logging in to take pictures, but I still tried out a few spears until I found one that fitted comfortably in my hands. I considered it practice for the Regional Tournament. I didn't know if I would actually participate, but—whatever.

I carried the spear to the main arena where the staff and two other winners were waiting. They let out low whistles of surprise when they saw me.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" the bearded man asked as he adjusted the thick bracers on his wrist. Unlike me, he looked a wannabe monkey king. The martial armor suited him perfectly. "Where's the rest of your clothes?"

I sighed. "This is it. Apparently, Atlanteans don't like the restriction of normal clothing. It interferes when we're swimming." Behind the bearded man, I noticed the staff member was wriggling in place with a squished expression like he was inwardly cheering. "What's your deal?"

"Don't mind me," he said, quickly regaining his decorum. "Aetherscape took a hit because of the poor reception of the recent Aquatic update. I'm happy because we now have an Atlantean character to claim one of the Grand Prizes. Maybe it'll make players realize that just because they don't like something, it doesn't mean the rest of the world agrees."

"Niche marketing?" I supplied.

"Exactly. I think that's been Aetherscape's focus from the beginning—bringing together a bunch of smaller niches instead of offering one solid thing with broad appeal."

"Um," the little girl piped in, "my Aunt is waiting on me, so..."

"Let's do this," the staff member agreed, remembering what we were there to do.

It didn't take long to get the actual pictures the Tournament organizers needed. The staff member arranged us together in a group and gave us mock trophies to hold. Then he summoned a set of three prize mounts for another set of pictures. Everyone burst into disbelieving laughter when we saw they were giant flying swords hovering a few inches off the ground. I'd been expecting a generic horse with a fancy bridle. Weren't they taking the 'martial' theme too far?

At that moment, I understood what the staff member had been trying to say. Aetherscape was a world where dreams became reality. Eventually, more and more fantasies, myths, and legends would be melded into the landscape. Some dreams would be big. Some would be small. But, no matter what, every player would have a chance to experience their dream first-hand.

In a way, the Martial Tournament was filling a dream. Aetherscape was providing all the tools a player needed to live out a dream of being a wuxia or xianxia cultivator.

I wondered how long it'd take everyone else to figure out the Tournament had nothing to do with traditional e-sports.

After the staff member finished taking pictures, I stayed behind long enough to set up the delivery for my new capsule, then logged off like everyone else.

As I climbed out of the capsule and put my face-mask back on, an attendant rushed forward to give me a large, gold gift bag. I peeked inside to see a t-shirt, a poster, and several sealed envelopes, all of which I expected after reading the banners. What I didn't expect was the other items inside—two extra posters, a few keychains, a licensed hat with a tournament pin on it, a tournament neck gaiter, a licensed hoodie, and three of the skill scrolls they sold at game stores.

"What—"

The attendant shushed me and gave me a wink like we were sharing a secret. "The organizer told me to fix you up with some of the extra swag we'll be selling at the end of the Tournament. He hopes you'll wear some of it next weekend."

I blinked at her for a solid minute until I realized they were essentially bribing me to make sure I showed up.

Since I'd won the Grand Prize, would they get in trouble if I didn't continue up the ladder? I didn't want that. What if they decided the whole Tournament was fixed and decided not to send my capsule? I hadn't come to terms with winning it yet. They couldn't take it away!

"I'll be here," I promised.

She smiled, patted me on the back, and escorted me out of the 4D Arena. I felt like I was in a fog the entire way home. I didn't snap out of it until I heard my mom call out, "How did it go?"

I followed her voice to the kitchen where she and my dad were making coffee. At first, I didn't know how to answer. Even I didn't believe what had happened. How was I supposed to explain it to them?

"Jay?" my dad prompted. "You don't look so good. Did something happen?"

I coughed to clear my throat and slowly nodded. "Yeah, uh—I might need your help taking my bed apart. I guess I have a delivery coming tomorrow?"