War Grounds

"War Grounds is more than a game, Al. Well, that's for my case, but I hope you join the cause too. War Grounds will be a battle in the real and virtual world for us, and we must continue the fight of our fathers! So, are you in?" Sol's eyes were intent as he asked the question towards Al.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. This has escalated quickly. Can you give me a few seconds to process everything that you have said?" Al's breathing rate was increasing, and he tried his best to calm his racing thoughts.

"I'm sorry, emotion got the best of me. Sure, enjoy that plate of duck, first. I'll just go to the restroom." Sol apologized before standing up to go to the men's lavatory.

Al nodded as he quickly chewed the remaining meat of his Honey Glazed Duck Legs. He was stressed with the information overload, and he was not sure if he was overthinking things. His brain was telling him that a foul play was involved in his father's death.

At the last bite of the duck legs, Al has finally calmed his state of mind. Food has this magic to do wonders in our lives.

Sol has also exited the comfort room and was already on his way back to their table. Before he could even seat, Al already threw a question for him.

"Who killed my father?" Al's voice was a bit loud that Sol immediately gestured a 'lower down your voice for god sake' with his right hand.

"Who-killed-my-father?" Al immediately obeyed as he repeated the question slowly and with a hushed voice.

"Samhida Yoshimitzu," Sol whispered back, fishing his phone out of his pocket again to show a photo of a thin a.d.u.l.t man in his 50s wearing a black suit and tie paired with sharp-looking spectacles. He has long silky black hair tied in a pony-tail just like Osho and seemed to be kind at first impression if not for Sol's description.

"Don't be fooled by the charity works and charisma of this man, Al. He's a vile person." Sol added.

"Samhida Yoshimitzu," Al repeated the name. Even without the picture from Sol's phone, he would definitely remember the face of Yoshimitzu Corporation's founder and current chairman. "That's dad's boss. He visited our house during my father's wake! Why would a man like him kill my father?"

"It must be related to my Dad. They've worked together in developing the game, after all. However, as you can see Al, until now, we still don't have any evidence to support these claims, but we know that Samhida stole my dad's creation and took credit for something that he did not toil for!" Sol spoke with intense emotion.

"What about your dad? Did he not say anything?" Al intently listened before asking the question.

"On the day that War Grounds was released, we were so thrilled for its success that we waited for dad to come home. But he did not return home. It was not until we received a call from the hospital that we knew about his whereabouts. When we arrived in his room, he was already in a catatonic state, unresponsive to any of our gestures. It was then that we heard about Samhida's atrocity on the television as he claimed all the rights behind the virtual game without even mentioning my dad or your father's name. We became busy in attending to my dad's predicament, that's why we were not able to attend your father's funeral, Al." Sol explained.

Al nodded. Everything that Sol has said made sense except for one. "How will we prove this?"

"You remembered StrongHammer? The Human Vanguard with us in Alistor?" Sol asked.

"Uh, yeah. What about him?" Al responded.

"His real name is Fureddo Yoshimitzu, but we call him Fred for short," Sol answered.

"What?! Are you telling me that Samhida's one and only son is betraying him?" Al did not see it coming.

"The truth is that he's an adopted son. So, we'll use this secret rift in Yoshimitzu's family to leverage our true mission. Fred has already given his support in helping us prove our claims in only one condition. We topple the true heir - Fuzaken Yoshimitzu." Sol revealed.

"Woah. Who's this Fuzaken Yoshimitzu? I've never heard of him." With too much information at his hand, Al's mind was blown as he continued to ask.

"It's the real name behind Pluperfect's guild leader, the Top 1 Divine Player that Burning Orient never had - NoBliss. Aside from being a prodigy, their guild secretly received support from the game developers, no wonder why they have a monopoly of the top spot." Sol continued to answer Al's questions.

"In short, Eternal Vespers is not our true enemy. The Six Purgatories are just obstacles toward our main goal - to topple Pluperfect in the virtual world, and Samhida Yoshimitzu in the real one!" Sol's eyes were filled with ambition and fighting spirit as he revealed the true enemies of WisDOOM.

"That's nasty." Al coughed, he too was receiving support from SARS so his condemnation was half-hearted. "And after we have achieved these things. What's next?" He then asked the real deal. What's next?

"We reveal to the world, Yoshimitzu's shit. You see, Al, even if you wrote a terrific story, but if you don't have the right platform, the world will never care about it anyway. You'll never be heard. We'll have to win the people's heart first if we want them to listen. And we're gonna do that big time. I've planned everything already, Al. So all you have to do is follow and lend me your cooperation. My father and your father's redemption will soon come, and we're gonna make it happen!" Sol continued to speak with passion in his eyes.

Solomon's words moved Al. "What's my role in your plan?" The boy asked.

"Be the face of WisDOOM in all contests. The first one that we'll have to hit hard is the Rookie Challenge. However, things have changed, and we have to speed up our progress. We'll have to strike them hard in this coming competition, so WisDOOM's name will be remembered two weeks from now! We'll be the black horses that will shake the powerhouses. And to start that, we'll have to let them know that we're coming." Sol grinned.

"Woah. That's a very big role. I don't want to be over-optimistic here, Sol but how do we do that? You said that we'd be facing at least Level 50 players in the coming Rookie Challenge, and we only have a few days left before catching up to that standard." Al clarified things.

"Good question. We're gonna raid dungeons." Sol shared the master plan.

"Raid dungeons? Al counted the days with his fingers. We only have eight days left, before the Rookie Challenge. Even if we play 24 hours straight, we won't reach their standard." Al commented.

"We're gonna grind two kinds of dungeons, Al." Sol grinned as he shook his head. "One that has monsters for materials and one that has players for massive experiences. As for the materials, I have plenty of those crafting items already so we'll focus on gaining more experience. Our first target - Alistor City! Let's keep moving, shall we?"