"I did it! I beat TheBoss!" screamed the swordsman, his voice echoing across the battlefield as he raised his hands triumphantly into the air. He could hardly believe it—that he, of all people, had managed to take down TheBoss, the legendary player known for his unrivaled skills and tactical genius.
But that moment was short-lived.
Just as the euphoria surged through his veins, he felt a sharp, cold sting in his chest. His eyes widened in disbelief as a dagger pierced through his heart from behind.
"Good try, kid..." Leo said, his voice calm and collected, yet dripping with an undeniable authority. He leaned in close as the swordsman's strength faded, his body sinking to the ground. "But you're not on my level yet."
With those final words, Leo twisted the dagger slightly, ensuring the swordsman's demise before pulling it free. The defeated player collapsed, his body dissipating into particles as he was sent to the afterlife, and the second Rankers' Tournament came to its true conclusion.
From the swordsman's perspective, he never even realized that of the two opponents he had fought so fiercely, none were the real Leo.
The audience, too, had been fooled—right up until the very end.
The secret behind Leo's victory lay in his flawless deception, as while the swordsman had focused all his efforts on battling what he thought were two versions of TheBoss, the real Leo had been hiding all along.
He had strategically dug a hole and concealed himself beneath the battlefield, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and it was only when one of the two clones had fallen that the real Leo emerged, climbing out from the ground with the precision of a predator, unseen and unnoticed until the final blow had already been struck.
The audience, now aware of the brilliant deception, could only watch in awe as Leo stood victorious—having played not only his opponents but everyone watching.
*******
( Meanwhile on the global forums )
The global forums collectively fell silent for a moment when they saw Leo winning the second rankers tournament solo.
For a couple of fleeting seconds, there were no messages posted on the server, before a dam suddenly broke loose.
"What the fuck? What the fuck was that? The Boss just emerged from the ground at the end!"
"Is TheBoss an NPC? How did he just spawn out of a mud hole?"
"Oh shit, guys you need to replay the battle scene. Look at the ground before he got hit by those massive waves of attacks and after.
If you look closely you'll see back then that the real Boss dug a small hole in the ground and camouflaged himself within it.
You can make out his form in the sand if you focus, but most of us missed it, as our focus, just like the rest of the rankers, was on the two remaining clones who were left standing.
However, there were never just two clones…. The real Boss was always still alive!" explained a common player, as once he referenced it, many players began to rewind and refocus on what actually happened.
"Oh shit, he's right! Look at 'TheBoss' at time frame 36:01:23 and 36:03:11, you can see him peeping out of the ground as he probably controls the movements of his clone.
He was always there. But we were just too focused on the ongoing fight to notice"
"Bloody hell, what does this even mean for the game? Is 'TheBoss' alone really more powerful than all other top players combined?"
"History has undoubtedly been made today…. History! And don't forget, he's going to gain 100's of levels from this event as well, making 'TheBoss' of tomorrow, incomparable to 'TheBoss' we saw fighting today"
"All heads must bow to the God Of Gamers 'TheBoss' today…. Like him or hate him, this performance of his today was historic!"
"What bothers me even more is the fact that the guardians today were not allowed to consume any potions.
What if 'TheBoss' could refill his stamina and MP bar?
What if he had healers/ mages and other support class players buffing him?
Can anyone stop him then?
He is so dominant today, but he wasn't even at his 100% for most of it."
"I can confidently say today that 'TheBoss' is simply not playing the same game as the rest of us. He's in a league of his own"
As the second rankers event reached its conclusion and the livestream ended, the common players were left with shock and disbelief, as the entire server began discussing the performance of 'TheBoss' fervently.
By now, Leo was already a household name, however, his performance today solidified his position as untouchable.
There were a few who quickly connected his ability to summon clones to him trying to stage his identity as 'Leo Skyshard', however, in the light of his recent victory, the support for him in the servers was monumental, and the conspiracists could not find their feet.
The uprising was celebrating like there was no tomorrow, while the rest of the rankers who participated in the event, looked at the whole experience in shame as they realized that although both themselves and 'TheBoss' were called rankers, they were not even remotely similar in power.
Even the bunch of them together could not beat the one of him and it was a stain that was going to stay with them forever.
What was more, 'TheBoss' was now going to have the special treasury from the rankers only event open to him and his fellow guardians, where those chosen few would get a chance to become even more powerful than they already were.
"This is unfair…. This is so unfair" complained rankers like PurpleRock, but although they whined in private, there was nothing they could do to change the outcome anymore.
Against all odds, 'TheBoss' had won and he had done it all alone.
—-----
/// A/N - That's it for the month of September, I hope to see you all in October! ///