AS the virtual screen disappeared, a box appeared in front of everyone. No one was moving, so, Luo Yan walked towards the box and put his hand inside it. What he felt inside were a bunch of small balls, probably the size of a tennis ball. He picked one and pulled it out. The number written on it was – '6'.
Luo Jin followed and picked the number '15'.
With the two of them starting it, the others also followed. When the last one finally picked a number, a virtual screen once again in front of them. This time, it didn't have any message. Instead, what's on it was the tournament bracket. Listing the names of the players and who they would fight.
Luo Yan looked for his name and it was the sixth one from the top. The one he was going to fight was the one who picked the number '5'. The name written there was 'Rosetta'.
Suddenly, there was a chuckle from behind him. Followed by the words, "It seems that my luck was really good."
Luo Yan didn't need to look back to know who just spoke. Because he was pretty much certain that it was the girl who just mocked him earlier and called him a leech. But he still turned around and looked at the girl. Just to, you know, see what she's planning to do.
The girl was smirking at him. "I will beat you to a pulp and let everyone see that you're not all that."
Oh, so, she's Rosetta – Luo Yan thought, not really caring about what the other said. Probably because he had already put the other under the category of someone who had a few screws loose. Because, seriously, which sane person would attack someone, albeit verbally, when that someone hadn't done anything to them?
But not all felt like that. Especially the little fox in Luo Yan's arms.
[Mashter, Eclipse really wants to scratch her face. Can Eclipse do it?]
A sudden idea popped inside his head when Luo Yan heard that. [Maybe you can do that later.]
He looked at the girl and smiled, "I doubt that will happen. But I wish you good luck. You will need it."
That earned quite a few chuckles from the other players around.
Which only infuriated Ding Rong more. She chose to just shut up. She had the opportunity to prove everyone here wrong. So, that's what she would do.
—–
On one of the royal boxes of the coliseum about a minute or so ago…
Shen Ji Yun appeared in the royal box that Bai Ze reserved for their team after teleporting out of the waiting area. His cheeks still felt a bit warm because of that heart sign action he just did. That was probably the first time he did something so embarrassing in front of so many people.
But if it meant that he could cheer on Luo Yan by doing that, then, he would do it again and again with no qualms.
Arriving at their team's royal box, the first thing, or rather, person who caught his attention was Bai Ze. Because the other almost jumped to his face the moment he appeared.
"You're finally here!" Bai Ze said.
He was about to ask why the other didn't bring him along to meet with Luo Yan and Luo Jin. He also wanted to cheer on his cousins. But then, he stopped on time, remembering that Uncle Tian was here with them.
If he didn't know about Shen Ji Yun's feelings for Luo Yan, he might just blurt that out without much thinking. The problem was, he knew about it. So, he had no choice but to be careful if he didn't want this friend of his to be 'killed' by Uncle Tian. Because that would certainly what would happen if the other so much as caught a whiff of Shen Ji Yun's feelings towards his beloved second son.
"Uncle Tian is here," he just said instead in a voice that only the two of them could hear. Just in case, Shen Ji Yun would say or do something that might alert his uncle.
When Shen Ji Yun heard that, he froze for a moment. Then, he stiffly looked around the royal box. He saw Su Yuqi, Dusk, Yu Jiao, Luo Ren, and then his gaze finally landed on a man with long white hair, pointed ears, and a pair of blue eyes speckled with gold dust.
But the most eye-catching thing about the man was that he looked like he could be Luo Ren's twin. Add that to what Bai Ze just said, he already knew who this man was.
"Uncle," he respectfully greeted the other.
Luo Wei Tian stared at the young man who suddenly appeared. He had long dark purple hair, a pair of amethyst eyes that had vertical pupils, and two horns growing on his forehead. It took a moment before he got pass all those magical features and finally recognized who the other was.
"Ji Yun, what wonderful, what was is called again, ah, yes, avatar! You have a very wonderful avatar!" he complimented. "What sort of magical creature are you?"
Shen Ji Yun was suddenly stumped for a second. Because he didn't know how to react with this enthusiasm.
"Just go along with it," Bai Ze whispered. "Uncle Tian is currently enamored with all the aspect of the game. So, just take advantage of it."
Following Bai Ze's advice, Shen Ji Yun responded, "I'm a qilin, Uncle Tian."
"Oh, a qilin?" Luo Wei Tian said with interest. He walked around Shen Ji Yun, as if inspecting a product. He even pushed aside Bai Ze (unintentionally, of course) as he did so. "So, this is how they think a qilin would look like in human form."
Shen Ji Yun just stood there, honestly had no idea what he should do.
Then, a voice suddenly echoed across the Floating Coliseum.
"A pleasant evening to all citizens of Arcadia!"
There, floating above the center of the coliseum was a teenager with red hair, wearing a white coat with lapels that were shaped like half of a heart, and on the side of his head was a small golden crown.
"I'm your host for tonight – the esteemed Duke of Hearts!" he said bowing to the audience like a performer. "Welcome to the Rookie Carnival tournament!"