A New World, an immersive game experience

The preliminaries flew by, as did the weeks. During that time, Phoenix continued to demonstrate their strengths. However, they were by no measure undefeatable.

Certainly, this might be because Eldrian had yet to move in any of their matches. They had managed to rank in the top eight, more than enough for entering the actual tournament. Thus he had never felt the need to.

Still, this meant they had lost more than once.

Often those losses came at the hands of crafty guilds. Guilds whose players had dedicated themselves to analyzing other guilds to find their weaknesses. Using all their cards to play to those weaknesses and eke out a win by numbers.

Some other guilds threw money at the problem. With the market update, along with the dungeon, this option had become a real one. If someone, or some company, was willing to spend millions. They could really gain quite an advantage. 𝒷ℯ𝓭𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓮𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶

Still, there were limits. The developers didn't want to make progression non-existent. But it was certainly possible to skip months of grinding at the cost of a few thousand dollars. Much like mobile games, and indeed, many other MMOs and VRMMOs.

Of course, despite the growing gaming market, ANW still remained the only full-dive immersion game where rest could be gained while playing. Other companies might have managed to increase the feedback of their tech, but nothing comparable to ANW. This was to be expected, considering what was the actual backbone of the so-called "game".

The fact that other companies had yet to figure out how Miracle did it only highlighted ANW's uniqueness. Magic in these games was far easier to use and master. As were skills. Progression was quick, which was a massive plus for some.

However, the sense of accomplishment that a player could gain upon reaching a higher Tier was unique to ANW.

It was not a matter of simply grinding.

No, it took time, effort, and some degree of talent. While this was frustrating at times, it also made players proud when they climbed higher and grew stronger. Even if their strength still pales in comparison to most combatants in the game.

This only highlighted that ANW was by no means a casual one. If someone wanted something to play for just a few hours and have fun, ANW might not be for them. These other games might be the better choice.

Then again, they could play those hours away in their sleep. By now, almost everyone wanted a Miracle headset. Even those who had no interest in the game itself found plenty of use via the virtual homes. Especially since compatibility was recently added to allow gaming inside the virtual home.

This had, in fact, caused a few people to become obsessed in a totally new way. The virtual world Miracle had been creating had already been massive, and with this update—along with the neighborhood one—many wanted to forget their actual lives.

Virtual reality was a scary thing.

All this to say, the ANW tournament was a massive deal. Billions of people would be watching it.

The advertisement value of having a team in any category would be priceless. Spending a few million to get a team with top-of-the-line gear was a small price to pay for some companies. And Miracle was certainly not going to say no to the cash.

And, of course, the hottest topic was the new category. Which meant many companies had clamored to sponsor guilds. While smaller companies settled for sponsoring parties or individuals.

If this had been enough to tip the scales, the player base would likely have made a fuss. To be sure, they had complained. But seeing as only three "sponsored" guilds had made it past the preliminaries, these complaints had felt hollow.

This, of course, was for the simple fact that gear couldn't make the player. Just like a tool couldn't make a plumber, a doctor, or an engineer. You need the skills and know-how to maximize the usage of your tools. Else they would be just that, expensive tools.

And so, the official tournament bracket was to start. For the individual and party categories, the top 64 players would battle it out. While for the guild category, the top 16.

But, before that, the official opening of the tournament had to be held.

Like all the years before, there was a physical stadium where people could go to visit Miracle HQ (ANW branch). Test the new headsets, cabins, and buy merchandise.

For the semi- and finals, the teams would also come and battle it out there. But until then, most of the tournaments would be held in virtual stadiums. Which would, of course, be shown to those who visited Miracle HQ via holograms.

To most people, it felt like a different reality when they entered the festivities. Miracle had really pulled out all the stops this time. Holograms greeted visitors from the gates all the way through. Merging the line between fantasy and reality.

Heck, there was even a play area where people could attempt to use magic. The holographic technology would display the magic as if they were in the game. Something which was an instant hit over the internet.

Watching all the videos on this, Eldrian wondered what Miracle's plans were. Of course, he had gotten some information from Zaphreal a few days ago. He had also talked with Jade.

Naturally, Eldrian had kept in contact with his sister. He had actually finished one of his long-awaited products around the time the preliminaries had started.

He hoped it would never be needed. But he was glad he had finally figured out the steps which had kept tripping him up. With this, he could now rest more assuredly. Even if the contract between him and Zaphreal was no longer enforced.

"Hey, Eldrian, are you ready?"

"Sure. Same as always, or am I going to participate?" Eldrian asked casually. Turning his focus to the meeting his friends were having.

"As much as I would like to continue fighting for our honor and pride," Judith said, "we can't risk losing. And our first opponent is one of the sponsored guilds."

Judith was understandably sour. She had died not in the heat of battle, but to a saldo of cannon fire. Unlike Dragons, their first opponent, this guild didn't care how it looked. They used their money to secure their victory. Even if it cost them thousands of golds, and thus tens of thousands of dollars.

Honestly, their group had no idea what to do about it. Especially since this guild also deployed several army-grade barriers. Not mage-cast barriers, but mobile fortification barriers.

These magical items ate mana crystals, but they were strong in turn. Not something kingdoms could really afford to use, but empires sure could. Capable of even deflecting cannon fire. They were perhaps too effective. Combined with defending cannons, it had allowed this guild to claim the first rank.

Which was, perhaps, why the developers had put the two of them against one another.

The guild with the stronger player vs the guild with the most money to burn.

It was certainly an interesting match. And it would pull plenty of viewers. Though it was questionable if it would do as the first match of the bracket—instead of the finals.

Then again, there was no guarantee either guild would make it to the finals.

There was plenty of speculation, and gambling. But no guarantee. Anything could happen, after all.