Registration

After having fun for a while and discussing some serious business the group left the shopping center.

This morning, an official notice moved the entire federation. It was announced that every player of Fate of Crunaboul had to register, in an effort to increase security.

Since the game was offline for three days, this was naturally the best time to complete the registration.

Thus, when Liam and his friends arrived at a specifically set-up office, they almost despaired seeing the long queue.

Luckily, the process was extremely efficient. Liam only had to wait for one hour before finding himself in a small room, where a woman in a black suit was welcoming him.

"Place your ID over there and sit on this chair. Please take of your shirt. If you are uncomfortable, you can also take off your console."

Liam followed the monotonous voice, which probably repeated the same sentence a thousand times already. Taking out his ID card, which Merida helped him to get, he put it in a small machine to be scanned.

Next, he took of his shirt and sat down. The woman stuck a few patches to his console, while explaining some more:

"We only need to connect with your console shortly to register it in our database. If you want your in-game identity to stay anonymous, please tell me now.

We recommend disclosing your identity. It will allow us to invite you to gatherings and tournaments in the future. According to your success you might even be hired to represent humanity in battles against alien races.

The federation won't mistreat its outstanding players."

Liam pondered for a few seconds. The chance to get recognized by the federation appealed to him greatly. Since a while ago he felt a lack of security for obvious reasons. But if the army held him in high regards, others had to think twice about touching him.

Sometimes it was safest in the spotlight.

Thus, he came to a quick decision:

"I don't wish to stay anonymous."

"An honorable choice, citizen."

The woman's voice obviously contained a hint of friendliness hearing Liam's words. She finished attaching the patches and pressed a few buttons on a console.

A brief buzzing could be heard before the woman nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, citizen. We got your information. Let me disconnect you and we are done."

Meanwhile, in a room in the upper floor, a few people were gathered, laboriously confirming all kinds of data. Suddenly one of them saw something light up on his screen.

"Boss, we have detected something!"

An exhausted-looking man in black pants and a white shirt appeared behind his subordinate. He looked at the screen, his brows furrowing.

"Number 152D93F8? Reported to be among a batch of stolen consoles? How bold!"

"What should we do, boss?"

"Send that man for questioning. We will see if he knows something."

"Yes, boss…"

Just as the subordinate finished speaking, new information appeared, filling the screen.

"We just received feedback from C. The subject's in-game name is… Bleary Mirage."

"What… did you just say?", asked the boss in disbelief.

"Bleary Mirage."

Immediately the atmosphere changed. The boss's tired eyes were filled with new life. He stared at the screen as if he had just unearthed the biggest treasure.

The subordinate asked awkwardly:

"Boss, should we still send him for questioning?"

"Are you crazy?! Invite him to the upper floor, he will be given VIP treatment. Our chance has come! If I can recruit this man, all of us will sleep well tonight!"

"Boss!"

The sudden shout of another worker immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"What?"

"Here, here. It's Balm!"

"I got Silver Blade!"

"Fortune!"

"Bleary Mirage's sister and Silver Blade's brother!"

The boss felt overwhelmed. He had tears in his eyes, thanking the goddess of luck for her blessing.

"Quick, invite them all!"

Soon, Liam and his friends were gathered in a spacious room on the upper floor, except for Cynthia and Sam, aka Watchful Eye.

Tasty snacks were prepared for the honored guests. With one look everyone figured out that this place was prepared to recruit promising players.

A moment later the door opened and a brightly smiling, tall man in a suit entered. His short black hair was styled neatly, and he looked a lot more refreshed than a minute ago.

"Thank you for following my invitation and apologies for the wait!"

The man quickly approached the party, shaking everyone's hands. He scanned the group with a professional eye, contemplating how to deal with this.

Knowing that the two Colville siblings definitely guessed his purpose, he decided not to beat around the bush.

"My name is Mr. Gardner. I don't want to waste too much of your time, so let me be straightforward. I am her on behalf of our federation government to build a good relationship with promising players like you.

With the beginning of the game, the government has launched a few different programs. Here, this is some information. Please take a look at your leisure."

Mr. Gardner grabbed a few small booklets and handed them out to his guests.

The first to politely refuse were Silver Blade and Fortune, who weren't interested in working for others.

Next was Serena, who only flipped through the booklet before placing it down and wait for Liam to figure it out.

Mr. Gardener didn't dare to show his disappointment, focusing his enthusiastic gaze on Liam, Felix, and Balm.

Liam kept an indifferent face, despite feeling inwardly satisfied that his earlier thoughts held true. As soon as he revealed his information, he received the government's interest and was even granted multiple options to choose from.

Browsing through the booklet he once more realized the importance everyone placed on Crunaboul.

Despite the short time of its existence the government already came up with multiple programs, which could be separated into two categories.

One was the civilian category like special courses in college which taught about the game. In this category it mostly came down to an exchange of information, with the federation proving surprisingly generous.

The other category was all about the military, serving the army. It went from becoming a soldier to representing the federation against the alien races in tournaments.

Liam read through everything quietly, contemplating deeply.

Noticing that at least three people showed serious interest, Mr. Gardner was inwardly relieved.

"I don't need an answer from you right now. Take your time and let me know if you decide on something.

No matter what, all of you will be seen as people of high importance by our federation government. If you need anything, just let me know and I will do my best to assist you.

Here, this is my phone number and my in-game name. Please let me know if you came to a decision."

Liam grabbed the small card handed over with a nod. Looking at it thoughtfully he suddenly came up with an idea.

"Mr. Gardner, there is indeed something I would like to ask, but I don't know if it's possible?"

"Of course, ask away!"

Gardner smiled brightly. He would be more disappointed if he didn't receive any questions.

Liam tried his luck and explained what happened to his championship ring, causing Gardner to show a pondering expression.

"So, your ring should be kept as evidence now. Hmm, if you can describe it in detail and I vouch for you, we might stand a chance…"

Liam was pleasantly surprised. He worked together with Gardner, who soon excused himself to make a few calls. When the man returned with a pleased smile on his face, everyone could already tell that he was successful.

Gardner explained that the ring could be brought over in about an hour or Liam could fetch it himself. After a short contemplation Liam chose the first option.

He thanked his friends for the day, telling them that they didn't need to wait with him. The others understood, returning home, and leaving Liam and Serena in a café nearby.

An hour later Liam received a message and soon he held a golden ring inlaid with a blue gemstone in his hand. Immediately a voice sounded out in his head.

[Challenge 'Retrieve your championship ring!' accomplished.]

[Evaluation: Rank C!]

[Possible rewards:

1. A strenghtened body

2. Choose one item with a level requirement below 25

Please choose, Player Liam.]

Rank C? Hey, C aren't you being too strict here?

[My evaluation is always fair, player Liam.]

But what should I have done better?

[…]

See, you don't know as well!

[Possible solutions:

1. Use the shadow cloak to infiltrate the army.

2. Show your talent earlier to attract preferable treatment.

3. Bribery

4. … ]

Ok, ok, I get it. Whatever. I take the strengthened body…

[Congratulations on finishing this challenge. You reward will arrive shortly.]

Suddenly Liam's body trembled as an incredibly pure energy ran through his body. A pleasurable sensation drove into his brain. He almost let out a moan, only holding himself back when he noticed Serena's strange gaze.

Luckily the energy quickly drove into his flesh, transforming it slowly and evolving it to an incredibly perfect state.