Rule change
Birmingham City, England…
"Damn! This Meng Yu Wa…," Benjamin muttered as he watched the end of the team battle between Team Germany and Team China.
Caleb furrowed his brows as he stared at the smart TV. "I've heard of him before. I always knew he was gone, but I never knew he was this good".
Genevieve nodded, echoing their thoughts.
As they spoke, the gaming console and computer screen behind them was silent as Noah listened through everything that happened in the game between Team Germany and Team China.
Suddenly feeling mischievous, Benjamin inclined his head to look back at the computer screen. "Hehe, you're not quaking in your boots now, are you?"
Noah chuckled from inside the game. "Why should I?"
"Say the truth," Benjamin said with a mischievous grin on his face. "You and this Meng Yu Wa, in a 1 vs 1, he would win, right?"
Noah answered immediately.
"Nah, I'd win".
"Shameless!" Benjamin trolled but Noah ignored him.
Caleb looked at the computer screen. "So, what will you be doing now?"
"You phrased that wrongly," Noah chuckled. "It's not what I should be doing now, but rather what we should be doing now".
"If watching that did not motivate you, I don't know what else can".
At this moment, stuck inside the game in his Lord Doom avatar, Noah could feel his body trembling with excitement.
His eyes burned with competitive fire. "You ask what we should be doing now? Of course, leveling up!"
"You guys are the ones holding me back".
"Go and level up fast!"
"I want all of us to get to level 20 as soon as possible so we can take on the other unique skill challenge and determine our fate from there".
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm more motivated than ever to play in the Warstar RPG World Championship".
"I thought the Warstar RPG Champions League was the pinnacle," he smiled. "But I was wrong".
"Watching them, I realized that there's something even higher to aim for".
"I'm determined to aim for it!"
"Meet you guys in the game!"
With that, Noah trudged off, already thinking of the next hidden boss that he would kill to get the most XP and level up.
With him gone, the 3 other friends in this room looked at each other.
Genevieve shrugged. "He's right, we have to level up our new avatars".
"…"
Noticing the unusual silence, Genevieve and Caleb looked at Benjamin. He grinned, that was exactly what he wanted.
He sighed. "I have gazed into the abyss, tamed the storms of destiny, and shattered the chains of fate itself; all in pursuit of ultimate power!"
Genevieve rolled her eyes.
He chuckled. "…Okay, fine, I just grinded side quests in Warstar until I hit level 50 but still, FEAR ME!"
Genevieve glared at him. "Get your lazy fat ass inside the game!"
A few minutes later, they all logged inside the game.
The grind for levels started.
…
An hour after Genevieve and her friends logged into the game to grind for levels, the official Warstar RPG World Championship committee released a public statement in their official X social media handle.
***
(SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!)
(Special Rule Change Notice!)
(Good day fans, the first edition of battles in the 1st round of the World Championship are officially over. We hope you enjoyed the spectacle.)
(Before the 1st round started, our board of directors have been speculating over a rule change in the tournament but we decided to wait till we watch the first edition of contest battles to decide.)
(After the battles today, our board of directions finally made their decision.)
(A rule change has been implemented regarding the point reward system used in the World Championship tournament.)
(From today, effective immediately, the 10-point system that was utilized on the first day has been changed to an 11-point system.)
(The points for the individual battles and team battle shall remain unchanged at 3 and 5 assigned points respectively, but for the 3 vs 3 battle rush, the rewarded points will be upgraded to 3 points.)
(We understand that this defers from what you're used to but we have our reasons for this change.)
(What if a national team wins all 3 individual battles and the 3 vs 3 battle rush, amassing 5 points in total only to lose all their advantage due to their opponents winning the team battle?)
(Since this is not the league, this will force us to implement a subsidiary tournament to decide the outcome of the games.)
(To avoid this, we decided to implement the 11-point system.)
(Also, with this, national teams can win games early if they manage to win all 3 individual battles and the 3 vs 3 battle rush, amassing 6 points in total.)
(We believe that this rule change will add another layer of competitive energy to this tournament, making it even more exciting to our fans.)
…
(Signed: Board of Directors)
***
The sudden rule change took the Warstar community by surprise but due to the lengthy explanation, the fans were able to understand the reasoning of the board of directors and it made sense.
This sudden rule change built even more anticipation for the day 2 games, the fans could not wait to see how the rule change would affect the games.
…
1 day later…
Time moved fast and in no time, it was already 24 hours since Meng Yu Wa put out that unforgettable display at the highest stage of Warstar with his Autumn Rain avatar; it was time for the 2nd round games.
For the second day games of the 1st round, Japan took on Argentina first while Canada later took on U.S.A, the hosts.
The fans bore witness to more exciting spectacles but, in the end, it could not compare to the action that they witnessed in the first day.
After 2 more exciting battles, this time in Ohio Stadium in the U.S.A, the final slots for the 2nd round were confirmed.
Japan and U.S.A progressed to the 2nd round after grueling battles where they eventually prevailed against their opponents.
The 2nd round draw was finally revealed to the fans.
(Warstar World Championship:)
(Venue: Beaver Stadium)
(2nd Round:)
(Team U.S.A vs Team Japan)
…
(Team England vs Team China)