Once the invitation clock ran down to zero, the First Annual Rankers Event Officially Began.
To everyone's shock, 'TheBoss' did not seem to be participating, as the display counter for how many players had arrived at the lobby was stuck at a 999/1000, when the event officially began.
"Holy shit, someone actually did not bother to show up to the official rankers event! And I think it's 'TheBoss', because if he was here we'd know….. those black robes and that mask is unmissable" Purple Rock said, as he tried to look around in the crowd, desperately searching for 'TheBoss', but failed to do so.
"Well, that's 'TheBoss' for you…. He probably thinks the event is no good for him" Cervantez replied, shrugging his shoulders as if he found this behavior of 'TheBoss's' consistent with his personality.
"Well, if he's not here then it gives us a better shot at winning eh guys? So let's celebrate that–" Spicy Ramen said, giving the rest of the group a raised eyebrow, as at that moment a female elf teleported to the center of the event arena out of nowhere.
"Welcome Rankers….." The elf said, drawing the attention of everyone to herself with her beautiful physical appearance and her angelic voice.
"I am 'Raya', the organizer of this year's Rankers Special Event.
And it's my honor to be standing amongst the 999 of you who accepted our invitation today" Raya the elf said politely, as her thank-you inflated the ego of the gathered rankers to new heights.
"I'm sure all of you must be wondering as to what this special event is all about.
Well, let me clear out some confusion for you…. This special event is not going to be a fighting challenge.
So you won't be needing your weapons" Raya said, as her words brought the sigh of relief to few and a sigh of disappointment to others.
Almost everyone present believed that this rankers only special event was going to be some sort of a fight between the rankers to determine who was the best, however, they were wrong.
Only Cervantez had an inkling that this was not going to be a fight prior to coming here, which was why he never prepared for one.
"This event…. It will be like a carnival. A carnival where all invited players can level up rapidly by participating in simple games.
Some of these games may seem unique and new to you, such as simulated war strategy, Dragon Tower or Beat The System.
Or for those who prefer familiar games and possess a gambling heart, they can play classic Earth games like Roulette, Baccarat or BlackJack ...." Raya said, as her introduction got many people excited.
"Everyone will get 3 free game passes. Meaning that you can play any game of your choice thrice without facing any penalties, however, the winnings for these three rounds are all yours.
The value of each free game pass is equivalent to 5 levels, so if you place and win a bet with a 2x payout, it will be equivalent to you having gained 10 levels, while if you lose, it will not be penalized at all.
Everyone will be given the same 6 hours period of free and uninterrupted gaming and sky's the limit for how many levels one can gain.
100 levels?
200 levels?
500 levels?
This is an opportunity to win unlike any other and establish a gap between yourself and the normal players.
So I personally wish all the best to all you rankers out there and hope that you win big tonight–" Raya said, as she charmed the entire crowd with her speech, getting everyone extremely excited.
"Bloody hell! 10 levels a bet? That means we can walk out of this event with 50-100 levels higher than we walked into it!
We can become the new number one player and that too by a longshot"
"Oh I am a professional gambler…. Online gambling with dollars is all I did back within my dad's nuclear bunker on Earth.
I won millions"
"This event is perfect! It's about time the game organizers gave the rankers some special benefits and I'm extremely glad they came up with this–"
The common players went absolutely crazy over the promise of gaining hundreds of levels, however, alarm bells began ringing in the heads of Cervantez, Luke and Leo, who had the prior warning to not indulge in gambling.
The three of them looked at each other confused, however, before they had the chance to talk it out, Raya sent all of the rankers into yet another private lobby.
"The 6 hours time starts 10 minutes from now now and there are a total of 50 games to choose from….. best of luck players" Raya said, teleporting all players into a red casino like lobby that had 50 different rooms for one to enter with a bright game sign put up on-top of all of them.
As Leo reached this lobby, alone, he found himself seated on a bar table, where on one side he had a catalog for all the drinks he could order at the bar and on the other he had a list of all the games that he could play.
"Would you like a refreshing drink player? Perhaps something alcoholic for good luck before you begin your adventure?" An underage loli looking elf with ponytails asked Leo in a cute voice, as she looked towards him seductively while cleaning and immaculately clean glass.
"No thanks….. I prefer keeping my head straight" Leo replied, not feeling charmed by the little loli in any form as he was not into that kind of kinks.
"But it's for good luck, monsieur…. One of the drinks I can make is a luck booster" The loli bartender insisted, however, Leo decided to ignore her words.
"I make my own luck…" Leo said, shunning her down, as he turned his undivided focus on the list of games that one could play in this event.