Chapter 18 - The Hype And Excitement

As the airbus 320 aircraft landed carrying the passengers from District 6 Airport bound to District 7 Airport, one of the flight attendants quickly made an announcement for the passengers inside the airplane.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed at District 7 Airport..."

Tourists were quickly awakened by the flight attendant's speech. It was still 5 in the morning and almost all passengers were sleeping when they heard such a landing announcement.

"Finally! I hope our shuttle is already here." one passenger murmured in between his yawn.

This was just the 2nd flight scheduled for that day. And passengers had the option of taking 12 different schedules at their convenient time. Usually, there would be only 30 to 40 passengers that would take this flight because of its estimated time of arrival. Five in the morning was just too inconvenient to travel for most regular passengers of this airline. But, right now, all the seats were occupied inside this aircraft.

District 7 was not much of a tourist destination. There were only a few things that could possibly attract travelers to this place. But for some reason, this plane was fully booked!

In fact, even yesterday, all flights bound to this airport had been fully booked. Airline personnel was also baffled by the influx of people traveling to their place.

"Hey, why are there so many people visiting in our place? Is there something going on?" One flight crew asked his companion. The number on their manifest was just too unbelievable as it had never happened in the district before.

"Maybe there is a celebrity couple? I am not sure either. I just came back yesterday from my overseas trip. I am also amazed to see this many people here." The other female flight crew responded in confusion. She quickly assumed that there might be a famous celebrity visiting their place for Valentine's day. Otherwise, she could not think of another possibility for tourists to come to her district!

These curious flight crews eyed the passengers secretly and noticed several distinctive similarities of their customers in flight. After few minutes of observing, they started to chitchat.

"Can you see? They are like students on a field trip. But, who would go on a field trip during Valentine's day?"

"You are right, these passengers are traveling in a group!"

"Yes, and they are like wearing a uniform blazers and jackets or something!? Look, look! The group sitting on the wing side seats are mostly wearing identical jackets with a logo that I am not so familiar with. What is WASD?" the female flight crew actively noted in detail as her eyes were darted to the passengers that were using a team jacket which had a print of selected keyboard keys, 'WASD'.

"It could be an acronym of their school? Maybe a department of their course? The letter D could stand for a word Department, right?" the other crew made a wild guess.

Based on their remarks, they really had no idea what the logo was. For these two who were not familiar with any games, these letters were also not relatable. So all they could do was to imagine what the logo meant.

But, if any gamer would take even a slight glimpse of these letters, and the way it was printed in neon lights, they could easily identify the function of those keys. It was customarily used for the movements of the character inside the computer: 'W' key to move forward, 'A' key to move backward, 'S' key to turn left, and 'D' key to turn right. A very basic knowledge all gamers knew.

It could seemingly mean that the group wearing those blazers was comfortable with WASD and printed it on their team jackets. Or perhaps, there was a deeper meaning of these keyboard to their group!

In the front seat of the plane, a passenger who was sitting near these curious flight crews tried to open his mouth to correct their knowledge. But in the end, he took a big gulp as if he was swallowing his words of wisdom down to his throat. In his mind, it would be too much to explain. So he decided to just stay in silence.

Just as this passenger thought that the two crews were done having their discussion, the female one turned her head and looked on the other aisle of the plane.

She made a momentary pause and gestured again to her companion to look in the direction, "Then, see also the lavatory side passengers, their jackets were printed with computer part, it is a mouse with an artistic blazing design, right?" she added.

Her companion nodded in agreement, "It does look like one. And most of these passengers are traveling light! They have no check-in baggage with them. The majority are also wearing eyeglasses and earphones. They are probably really having a field trip for a day in our place." the other crew commented.

The passenger near them shook his head and took a deep breath. As he overheard their conversations, he slightly felt guilty for letting the two airline crews having their assumptions wrong.

"We are not on a field trip. We are here to watch the online tournament of this district." He finally uttered some words without making eye contact.

The curious crews quickly looked embarrassed and smiled at the passenger.

"Ahh, so you guys are all gamers?" one of the crew initiated to ask further. She stared at the passenger but the man just looked at his phone.

"Yes, I think so." the passenger replied before placing his earphone on his ear, finally ending the conversation.

As all the passengers began to disembark the aircraft, some of them noticed three familiar figures. The figures were wearing shades on their eyes. Their attire was also simple. They were just wearing T-shirts and casual shorts.

With their attire, they could easily blend with the locals. The figure walked straight to the exit door and stood at the corner as if waiting for somebody to pick them up.

"Ahh, darn! Are those the members of FAB_Gamers Squad? Am I correct?" a boy murmured while looking at the three figures. Despite the disguise of these figures, he still managed to see through their identity.

"Shhh, that's not just a member! The one wearing the black shirt is their squad leader," another boy nudged him to keep his voice low.

"Eh? the one with in-game-name WINS? No wonder, he looked so elegant!" the boy whispered secretly admiring the back of his idol.

"Yes, bah! I didn't know he would also be interested in watching this tournament!" another member from the group of the boy interjected.

"This is one interesting competition indeed! Let's go grab some coffee first before going to the venue." their own leader said in amusement while glancing at the three figures.

Back in the plane, after the passengers were gone, the young pilot of the aircraft also walked in a hurry. This man was just in his late twenties. He constantly adjusted his pilot cap as he almost ran towards the staff room.

"Captain, what's the rush?" his co-pilot asked.

"I'm watching an important game. See ya!" the pilot just waved his hand and did not bother to turn around.

"Oh, damn! Is it today?! I have a ticket to the tournament also! Wait!" the co-pilot looked at his expensive wristwatch which shows not only the time but also the date. He then ran towards the captain. It merely slipped his mind, thankfully, he was reminded by the captain!

To say, these pilots were close friends and also veteran gamers. They play some early generations of various games when they were in their teens.

But as they focused on college, they also stopped playing. Yet, it does not mean that they have lost their interest in games. These two were flying airplanes as their passion but they were always gamer by heart. If they have a day off, they usually spend it exploring new games.

The flight crews looked at the two dazzling pilots who were like in a contest of running marathon towards the staff room.

"Should we also watch the game? It looks like fun! Anyway, our duty is over for today." the female crew who had been bubbly since earlier suggested.

"Sure! Let's buy tickets!" her companion agreed.

The two immediately browsed at their district forum and easily located the information of the online tournament. But as they tried purchasing a ticket, there was a large message prompted on their screen.

SOLD OUT!

"Ah! It's not available online! Maybe we can purchase over the counter," the female crew sighed.

"Over the counter is not possible also. The site declared that the ticket was sold out since last four days ago. No channels are selling anymore!" her companion bitterly responded and showed the message.

"Wow!" the female crew was lost in words.

It was such a piece of shocking news to them. Even movies in theaters rarely announced concerning sold-out tickets of their shows! No wonder, District 7 Airport had been bustling since yesterday!

On the side of FAB_Gamers, the three notable figures in the pro scene rented a car and hired a driver to drive them to the venue. Their leader was hoping for them to stay lowkey.

The driver was a bit old but the man kept them entertained by telling them the local places that their group could visit.

Few minutes after they left the District 7 Airport, they were struck by a traffic jam.

The driver anxiously glanced at the group, "Yesterday and today, this road had been experiencing heavy traffic. But it is not like this. This road is usually good as empty." he partially explained.

"District 7 is surely in buzz for this Valentine's event!" WINS responded to the driver with a friendly tone. It was still early, and the tournament would only start at 9 am, so he is not worried about the traffic.

"Hehehe, yes. But it is not because of the Valentines! It is because of the gaming event during this Valentine's day!" the driver laughed.

Indeed, the hype for the current year's Valentine's was not about romance. But was about the online tournament! To say, it was not about couples displaying love for each other. Instead, it was about the group of gamers showcasing their love for the game!

"Boss WINS, did you contact the Chronos?" the man sitting on the left side asked curiously.

"It's too early to contact them." WINS chuckled.

"AHH, yes, yes. By the way boss, the director of our squad told me that he prepared us a reservation at a hotel near the venue. Which place should we go to first? The hotel or the venue?"

"Ehhh, have you forgotten? We are just the audience in this tournament. We are not participants. Things are not the same! Let me tell you, the line for the audience is crazy and super long! It's better to go to the venue directly. Am I right, Boss WINS?" the one sitting on the right side argued.

WINS nodded, "Yes, let's go to the venue so that we can choose a good seat. As for our breakfast, we can just eat while waiting in line."

"Ok boss. I hope we get a good seat. I wanna see the people behind the Chronos squad. Hehe, maybe we can meet them later? After the competition?"

WINS just smiled at his teammate and did not speak anymore.

~

The Public Gymnasium of District 7

The entire vicinity was bustling even though it was not yet 6 in the morning. Students, workers, locals, and other visitors have gathered for the most awaited Valentine's event in District 7.

There was a wildness in the air that could only be felt for this particular occasion. Some places may have a romantic ambiance but in this public gymnasium, anyone could feel the burning fire from everyone's interest in gaming.

It does not matter if it was a participant or an audience. The degree of excitement in the atmosphere was just insane!

The diverse people were lining in two entrances. The first entrance was for the organizers, staff, and participants of the tournament. The second entrance was for the audience of the competition.

But the audience entrance was still closed despite the huge number of people falling in line! The management announced that they would only open the door at 7 am in hope that these people would disperse and eat their breakfast first.

But nobody moved from where they stood. None of them was willing to give up in their line!

The line from both entrances was long but all the people were patiently waiting for their turn to get inside. There were even families that came just to watch the game. Everybody had been anticipating for this day to come!