Chapter 27: Coin Collector

"Alright," Theo said. He came from a magician family that was not only rich but also mysterious, so 270 magic coins wasn't a lot to him.

"I will pay for Elliot," John said in a hurry.

The man behind the counter handed them Game Time Token, each with a number three written on it. They could use it to access any game cabin for three hours. They will be forcefully logged out of the virtual world once the time ends. The same wouldn't happen if they happened to be in the middle of a battle or spectating a game.

"Why did you pay for me?" Elliot asked John after a moment.

"Just think of it as me returning a debt of gratitude," John replied with a smile.

The three of them walked up to three ready-to-use capsules next to each other before inserting their token into the capsules' coin slots. The lid of the capsules raised, allowing them entry into its comfy interior.

"My in-game character name is Wood Ranger. Add me as your friend and I will send you an invite to my lobby." Theo said to Elliot and John.

"We will add you soon."

They both answered before nestling inside the capsule.

"Ah! One last thing before we enter the game world." Elliot said in a hurry.

"What is it?" Theo asked him, wondering what he wants.

"What about abilities? Can they be used within the Magic Coliseum?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, awakened magicians can use ability inside the game," Theo answered. "The cabin can determine the ability of a magician and its strength by detecting the supernatural cells present in our bloodstream. It will register our ability as a part of our avatar when we log in to the game world. And it will allow us to use our ability in the coliseum."

Elliot's expression fell as he realized that he wouldn't be able to use his God's Breath Manipulation Ability in the magic coliseum as he didn't have supernatural cells of that ability in his bloodstream.

However, he was still impressed by the Charlotte family as they created a virtual world where magicians could even use their abilities!

Thus, he said in an impressed voice, "That sounds incredible. They must have taken a lot of things into account before creating this game."

"Yeah, they did," John said. "And that's why it is the most popular game in the magician community."

"Let's get inside."

An instant after Theo said those words, the lid of the cabin started to close after they comfortably laid inside of it. It released a blue gas that dulled their senses the more they took in, and before they knew it, their vision dimmed down to a blank before suddenly, they found themselves in a sandbox-like white room with only two options popping up in front of their eyes.

<Participate as a Gladiator>

<Join as a Spectator>

Without wasting any time, Elliot chose the latter option. He was here to only spectacle the fight between magicians and bet on the most likely to win magicians to earn magic coins.

<Please select your in-game character name and create your avatar>

Elliot thought about it for a moment and decided on an avatar that doesn't look similar to him in any way as he wanted to keep his identity hidden from everyone except for his friends and a name that will express his intention to come here.

"Coin Collector."

That's the name he inputted in the name bar before pressing enter to register himself as one of the many spectators of the Magic Coliseum.

<You've entered the Magic Coliseum>

The very next instant, he was teleported next to the opening of a stadium stretching across for several hundred meters. He could hear cheers, roars, and the noise of battle coming from inside. He determined that it's either an added sound effect of this place or the noise of battles taking place at this very moment.

He tried to step inside but was stopped by a sudden prompt, listing ongoing fights and the fights that are about to take place between famous and unknown gladiators that he could join as a spectator.

Elliot decided against it, sending a friend request to Theo, who immediately accepted his friend request, and at the same time, Theo sent him an invitation to the lobby. Elliot got teleported to a wide room with a pool in the middle after accepting Theo's invitation.

"What should we do first?" John asked.

"Let's spectate some matches and get our blood boiling," Theo said.

"Alright," Elliot nodded.

They decided to spectate the match between Gladiator Jacob and Gladiator Killer. And the system teleported them to a seat in one of the four benches surrounding an arena to view the fight. The match still hasn't begun as it was in its pre-battle state, meaning they could bet on one of the Gladiators. They could see a thirty-second countdown over the arena. Only that amount of time was left before the battle starts. They didn't have much time on their hands to place a bet.

There were a few other people here except for them, and some of them had already placed their bet on the gladiators, and some were deciding to do it, too.

Elliot didn't waste this god-sent opportunity to earn free magic coins and used his God's eye of wisdom on both the gladiator to find out about their strength. A black screen containing all the details about their ability and stats appeared in his view, confirming his guess that he can determine the strength of everyone in the Magic Coliseum using his God's eyes of wisdom.

He looked through the information provided by his eye of wisdom in a few seconds.

Elliot found out that Jacob wasn't just two levels above Killer, but his stats also exceeds Killer's stat by a few numbers.

"Guys, bet on Jacob," Elliot said to Theo and John.

"What?" John eye's raised in confusion.

"Trust me on this and bet on Jacob," Elliot said, putting in all his savings on Jacob.

"Let's just do as he says," Theo said as he betted 200 magic coins on Jacob.

"Well, it's only a few magic coins, so sure," John said, betting 20 magic coins on Jacob.

The two gladiators started fighting after the countdown reached zero. Everyone could see that Killer was having a hard time since the beginning of the match as Jacob's fire ability easily overpowered his water ability. And it didn't last long as Jacob used a fire blast to blast Killer to death.

<Gladiator Jacob has won the match>

An announcement made in a feminine voice sounded out in the arena after the gladiator won the match.

At the same time, a screen bearing great news popped in front of Elliot.

<Congratulations, Spectator Coin Collector! The Gladiator you chose to bet on has won the match>

<You've won 500 Magic Coins>

"Wow! It's as I expected." Elliot exclaimed in his heart before leaving the spectator's area and entering the lobby where a lot of matches were going on and few on the pre-battle interface.

"He really won!"

Theo's and John's eyes widened in shock as they turned to look at Elliot in surprise as if he was not a human but the son of luck.

"How were you so sure that Jacob was going to win?" John asked as he blinked his eyes at Elliot in amazement.

"Just a lucky guess, haha." Elliot laughed out of it. He didn't want to reveal the power of his eyes to them, at least not now.

"The last one was pretty one-sided. Let's spectate another match." John said after a moment.

"Well, why not?" Theo nodded in agreement.

"I will look for one," John said, searching for a match between famous Gladiators.

He wanted to witness an intense battle to get himself excited and mentally prepared before participating in a fight to the death himself.

Elliot, on the other hand, felt happiness rising in his heart as he looked at the 500 magic coins stored in his quantum card.

He has earned 500 magic coins in five minutes with a single bet!

"I'll be able to earn a lot of magic coins today," he said jovially, a smile of greed stretching across the face of his bald avatar.