Chapter 185 O2 Arena

Rise Online was a brand new VRMMORPG, but it kept rocking the pillars of the gaming world. Obviously, its vast world, diverse mechanics, free gameplay and endless possibilities attracted the attention of every gamer on planet Earth and its billion-dollar profit in a few short months caught the attention of thousands of brands.

At the time, Hónghé Holdings was arguably the fastest growing company in the world, ahead of giant sustainable energy corporations, financial conglomerates or even that of space exploration companies. With the success of VR and deep immersion technology, it seemed that humanity had reached another historic turning point less than a century after the invention of the first computer by a human.

As the eyes of the world were on the new estate of Hónghé Holdings, those at the top of Rise Online also became people of worldwide prominence. And being part of a powerful Guild was a prerequisite for being considered a player of the highest rank, because your Avatar's stats were not everything in RO. Influence and alliances were also always considered power, and these were things that only the name of a Guild could achieve both within the world of Rise Online and also on Earth.

- First Continental Meeting of the Guilds of Rise Online. In London, Capital of England... -

The O2 Arena was the venue chosen for the gathering of some of the most powerful RO players in Europe. This meeting would be the first of its kind, and the goal was to forge alliances and partnerships between Guilds to create a powerful force to meet the challenges that would come with the growing popularity of Rise Online and also challenges within the game world.

It was a strategic meeting for up-and-coming Guilds that needed bigger partners, and also a unique opportunity for the more powerful Guilds to find promising partners. In addition, there would also be discussions about marketing, money, competitions and many other important matters.

However, this would also be no ordinary meeting, precisely because it would be the first of its kind worldwide, there would also be a Battle Demonstration Event between some of the members of the participating Guilds. This battle would serve to show the world what these players' skills were, as well as serving as another type of publicity for Hónghé Holdings, so the company would use a closed and exclusive server for this event battle.

On the night of the meeting, the O2 Arena was surrounded by tens of thousands of people, who came from all over Europe, as this would be the first time since the launch of the game that the general public would have the opportunity to see Evolved players fighting.

What would their skills be like? The techniques? The Classes? And the equipment? These were the questions on everyone's mind.

Just like the red carpet for the entrance to the Oscar Ceremony, the celebrity entrance to the O2 Arena was not much different. Some of Rise Online's most illustrious players walked down a long carpet amidst a sea of people, photographers, and journalists into the O2 Arena.

With each famous figure that stepped onto this long carpet, the people around them cheered, but when Marklen Shatterman appeared, a huge roar of shouting took place. This man was none other than the most famous London player in the world and one of the best players in Rise Online.

In real life his hair was tinted light blue, and his face was shaped like a Hollywood leading man, with broad chins and a mature look. Alone, Marklen was able to attract tens of thousands of female fans, from children to older women. Besides his stunning appearance, he had an aura of celebrity that few people in the world are able to achieve, like an Idol.

He had become even more famous after having opened the doors of the Guild he led, the Valkyrie Force Guild, for any type of member to take a position if they deserved it, becoming thanks to this one of the first Guilds to achieve the title of "Great Power" in the world of Rise Online, through its dominance of territories in various worlds and alliances with powerful NPCs.

Right at the start of the red carpet, after the photographers' photo shoots, the celebrity interviewer, Daniel, from the Talk Show of the world's leading television channel about Rise Online waited for Marklen for a chat.

"Hello, Marklen! It's a pleasure to finally see you in person! How are you feeling on this wonderful evening? Are you apprehensive?" said the interviewer, opening his arms receptively.

"Good evening, Daniel. Actually, I have to confess that I am a little nervous, yes. Despite having migrated from another VRMMORPG to Rise Online, I've never experienced the warmth of a crowd as large as this one. I'm very happy to be here."

Marklen's words made the thousands of people around the O2 Arena scream with excitement.

"And we are so happy to have you here with us, darling! Now, let's get to the questions that the audience is most looking forward to.... Will you be the one representing your Guild in today's battle on the server set up exclusively for this event?"

Marklen pursed his lips and shook his head negatively. "No, unfortunately I will not have the honor of battling such formidable opponents tonight. Tonight I will leave the spotlight to the co-captain of the Valkyrie Force and focus on the big meeting, which I bet should be tense in some respects."

"Yes, we understand that decision. Although the showmatch is the event we all look forward to, you will all need to make important decisions today. Furthermore, I bet that Jack Kroft will give a splendid performance for us. However, Marklen, there is still one specific question that I have in mind that I would like to ask you..."

"All right, go ahead." Marklen said, frowning and forcing a smile.

Usually live and major event interviews like this are rehearsed and the questions are pre-set, meaning that being interviewed is like following a script, but Daniel was an interviewer who always had a bad habit of suddenly including unrehearsed questions in the middle of the interview to catch his interviewees by surprise. Marklen didn't expect this to be any different with him, but it was impossible to know what kind of question would be asked.

"As you know, we are all very curious about you Evolutions, and more Evolutions are emerging every day, despite the persistent lack of cooperation from the community. However, most players to this day do not know how to, say, 'Evolve'. So tell me, this audience, and the world what your secret is!" Daniel requested and all the people around began to follow him.

"Reveal to us! Reveal to us! Reveal to us!" The crowd began to roar. The secret of the Evolved was not yet something publicly debated.

Marklen was surprised because this question was in the pre-arranged script between the Talk Show team and his advisor, so he sighed and answered:

"The process to become an Evolved is technically simple, but it requires time and patience. Don't expect players who have been playing for less than a month to become evolved, that's impossible. Now that I have given that warning, I can reveal to you that the process to become an Evolved is simple: achieve 200 points in each of the major physical attributes."

"What, 200 points?" The interviewer asked, feigning surprise. "Isn't that a bit much? For that matter, is that even possible?"

"Absolutely, it is possible." Marklen said, with a confident smile. "But, of course, you can't achieve it without a lot of dedication and willpower. It's like swimming against the tide. However, the good news for some is that there is a minimum amount of minimum Attribute Points before even the half of 200 I mentioned.... Any player who reaches at least 100 Attribute Points in each of the major physical attributes will be able to survive inter-world travel."

"Uh? But, Marklen, if the minimum to become an Evolved is 100 points, why did you first tell people to reach 200?"

"Because everyone who evolves with the minimum amount of Physical Attributes can barely survive the fight against the weakest creatures of the Primal Classification."

"What?"

"I'm serious, I don't lie. The amount of attributes you evolve with will obviously directly influence your strength as an Evolved. People who evolve with 100 Physical Attribute Points even after evolution will be much weaker than Evoluídos who did so with 300, 400 or even the maximum of 500 Physical Attribute Points. The other worlds are different from the worlds considered as Starting Worlds, so don't think they are easy. The challenges in Rise Online are practically endless, and it's to fight that kind of thing that we're here today."

Daniel nodded, satisfied with Marklen's rehearsed response. "Very well, thank you for answering what everyone was curious to know. I hope that after this revelation from a high-ranking player the general gaming community will make more of an effort to help themselves.... By the way, Marklen, there is one more question I need to ask you."

Again, Marklen was wary of Daniel's next question, but allowed it. "All right, go ahead."

"We all know that you high-level players have a busy schedule, but did you hear about the battle that shook the entire webnet today between the prodigy players of Rise Online, Taznaar and Kaizen?"

The last question asked by Daniel made Marklen's smile vanish instantly.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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