The World Is Watching
It was relieving for him to have found two players like Kiwi and Vangrave in a virtual world that now existed against him.
Still there was one thing on his mind—
"What's our first move?" Kiwi asked while looking at him, still sitting by the throne-leading stairs as she held her knees close to her chest.
As he turned to face them, the pitch-black cape that descended from his shoulders flipped as he held a determined smile on his face, already having decided on what his first action would be.
It was all based on a single skill he noticed he acquired during his shift into the [Dark Emperor] class: ["Unholy Piety"]
"We're going to build an army," he claimed.
"Army? You mean recruiting more people?" Kiwi asked.
Zero held his hand out, summoning a manifestation of the unique skill he possessed as the sole classification of "Final Boss."
"No," he finally responded.
Above his black gauntlet, a haze of magenta energy swirled with slick, obsidian chains encircling a dark prism in the center.
["Unholy Piety"]
The attention of the two subordinates was on the unseen skill in his hand. There were far too many inherent skills to his new class that were likely unseen by anybody else in Abyss Online–that was an advantage he knew he had.
"I can use this skill to conquer any creature in this game. That's going to be the "army" we use to crush this competition and survive until the end," Zero explained before whisking the skill away.
"Woah, really? You've got a skill like that?!" Vangrave said in surprise, sitting up as he looked as curious as a child.
Kiwi was taken aback as well, putting her hand to her pale chin, "Yeah, I mean not even Beast Tamers can take control of just any creature."
"Obviously it's not an all-powerful cheat skill, but the description of it only states one requirement: the target NPC has to be low on health points," Zero explained, "Know what that means?"
An excited look came over the warrior-class player's face as he answered quickly, impatiently flipping his halberd around, "We're going to fight some BAMs (Big Ass Monsters)!"
"...You two can go do that, I'm going to sleep here, if you don't mind. Speaking of, are there any bedrooms in this depressing place?" Kiwi asked, sighing tiredly as she rolled her shoulders.
"Right this way, I will take you to your room, Miss Kiwi."
Popping out of thin-air as if unveiled from the shadows themselves, a cloaked figure, shrouded in the dark fabric they wore, spoke with a welcoming, but chilling voice.
Zero recognized the person immediately as the one who first greeted him when he inherited the role as the "Final Boss"--the self-proclaimed caretaker of the Abyss Keep.
"Gah!" Kiwi shrieked, jumping away from the ethereal figure, "Who is that?!"
"Calm down, he's just a passive NPC," Zero assured her with a small laugh, "Well, I think so anyway."
"You think so!?" Kiwi asked, still visibly frightened.
"Ga-ha-ha! Dontcha think that reaction izza bit much?!" Vangrave spit the words out through howling laughter at the young woman's scaredness.
"Ugghh…" Kiwi angrily groaned, glancing at the ethereal figure, "Fine."
"Hey, ya seeing this?" Vangrave suddenly asked, having his personal interface opened.
"What is it?" Zero asked as he looked over the shoulder of his companion.
"Find something?" Kiwi glanced at the interface as well curiously as she asked.
Present on the cyan screen of the player was the pocket internet browser, showcasing countless articles with headlines that popped out to him:
["POPULAR VRMMORPG HAS BEGAN A $1,000,000 COMPETITION!"]
["ORELIUS ONLINE'S NEW CONTEST! WHERE TO WATCH IT?"]
["NEW LIVE EVENT BEING BROADCAST: THE "ORELIUS IMPACT!"]
"Word sure gets around fast, huh…" Zero said before focusing on another part of the articles, "Hold on, a broadcast? They're streaming this entire competition to the rest of the world?"
"Seems like it. Hey, that means we're big shots right now, yeah?! Yer the final boss, so the lens is on ya'!" Vangrave said, wrapping his arm around the other player's shoulder.
Kiwi gulped, "Th-there's going to be tens of thousands–no, hundreds of thousands of viewers for something like this, right? Uuuu…"
Seeming aware of the fact everything may be being broadcast, the youthful woman began to fiddle with her golden strands of hair, glancing around.
Zero couldn't help but smile in quiet excitement, "...Amazing. These guys really thought of everything."
"Whacha mean?" Vangrave asked.
"This is a contest to decide once and for all who the best player in the world is," Zero explained, clutching his fist, "--What better way to cement it than to present it to the entire globe?"
Outside of the virtual world, waves were already being made around society: avid gamers at their computers opened up the newly-began stream sent to all of their inboxes–"Abyss Impact: Who Will Win $1,000,000?"
"Is this for real? Damn, this sounds sick, wish I could've gotten in on it…!" A young man in a hoodie said at his desk, opening the stream.
Clips were shown of the first attack of the newly-designated "Final Boss" and the colossus who laid waste to the once safe zone of a city.
"Talk about ruthless. This "Zero" guy is definitely a recluse," a man in a suit remarked under his breath, watching the stream on his phone while riding along on a populated train.
A teen on the same train excitedly pumped his fist up while watching the broadcast, "Hell yeah! I'm rooting for Zero! He's a badass!"
The world was watching. So many eyes, hopeful and doubtful, excited and stagnant, yet they witnessed.
Within the virtual landscape, the warmth of the blood running through his veins and the thumping of his heart–it all felt more real than outside of the game for Zero as he looked at the articles. The comments on message boards as well, many of which mentioning him–it was the platform he had yearned for.
'The whole world will watch me. I might be the villain in the eyes of most, but I'm the hero of my own dreams–that's all that matters. Root for me or against me, spectators, I'll win this thing either way,' Zero resolved.