Prologue

End of KingXel

『It's the last round!』

Hundreds of thousands were gathered in Machinegun Stadium, a stadium built just for the biggest esport event, the FPS game Knives and Bullet's eSports Pro League

It was a fantastic sight, the cheers and jeers of the spectators was so loud you'd believe it was the Super Bowl. But the tension and anxiety filled the players on stage.

『Astral and FaKe are both tied with 15:15』

『Whoever wins this round, wins the Pro League Trophy, and the 1 Million Dollar Prize!』

When the round started, the ten players on stage didn't waste any second to think. In a flash, they were equipped with equipment from the shop. Surprisingly, everyone bought the same gun, the assault rifle. Except for one player, KingXel who bought a sniper rifle.

click, click

『FaKe's Nicho on the sides..』

『Brocolli once again, with his knife only tactic!』

click, click

『Grimz lurking behind the apartment walls, waiting for his prey...』

『Interesting maneuver from GoldExe, successfully avoiding that frag!』

『That bomb is yet to be secured!』

click, click

『Grimz still putting pressure on Crabsteak..』

『YoungGun tries to get the bomb down』

The screen was never stagnant, constant action filled the viewer's eyes. It was intense. The sounds of the keyboard was as if a prestissimo piano piece was played. The sounds of the mouse clicking, the gunshot sound effects and footsteps was all stringed together to create a perfect harmony.

This went on for almost 20 minutes.

『Each team now has only one player left!』

『KingXel and Emperoar, which will win?』

The crowd went wild, the screams of the fans was even louder. It was the last struggle to decide the fate of the two teams.

『The Clash between the Kings!』

click, click

『Oh! I think Emperoar's been spotted!』

click, click

『Oh? KingXel is typing something in the chat!』

@KingXel to All : Bye.

click

...

『...』

There was a dead silence in the stadium.

『K-KingXel has shot Emperoar!』

It was a headshot.

『The champions are here!』

『They showed that they got what it takes, from beginning to end, here in the grand final!』

『Astral came here to win and they've done exactly that!』

『KingXel, the King behind a mask has secured another victory for Astral!』

"Hail KingXel!"

"Hail KingXel!"

The cheers of the spectators were directed to one person, whose face was covered with a paper mache mask.

.

.

.

Astral HQ, 2:30 p.m.

"What?"

Axel Alexanders, the man behind KingXel was dumbfounded.

"Hand over your account."

"But why? I thought we were on good terms, I've won every single tournament you threw at me."

"You're getting old, Axel. Your skills are getting sloppy. We can't risk our team losing next year just because you won this year."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Does anything make sense? Just give us your account."

Axel was angry, he didn't know what he did to deserve this. In the end, he eventually gave his account away.

"Oh, and according to the contract you signed, you are not allowed to join another team, or compete in any competition related to Knives and Bullets, for another 5 years."

Axel's face darkens.

'These bastards..'

"Fine."

That day, Knives and Bullets lost its greatest player.

.

.

.

3 years after the incident.

"Freedom Fantasy... huh?"

Freedom Fantasy was the first of its kind, a Virtual Reality MMORPG that emphasizes the gameplay on freedom.

『The creator of Freedom Fantasy, Hibiki Kozaki stated that this game has no bugs.』

『No bugs? Well that's for sure, this game has been in the works for more than 20 years, and with the usage of supercomputer IBM Lightspeed...』

"Seems fun."