Early the next morning, Aurora Sinclair and Alvin Morgan arrived at EM Group, fully kitted out.
Because the results of yesterday afternoon’s preliminary qualifiers had been nullified, their entire group was called back for a rematch.
A large crowd of dia had gathered at the entrance to the EM Group campus. They had all caught wind of the news and co for interviews, most of them hoping to speak with Echo and Master Rory.
The mont they reached the entrance, they were surrounded. "Excuse , are you contestants in this rematch?"
"What are your thoughts on having to compete again?"
"May I ask what your in-ga IDs are?"
Alvin Morgan shielded Aurora Sinclair as they moved forward, stating coldly, "Sorry, no interviews!"
To the reporters’ astonishnt, the pair calmly walked onto the campus grounds.
They had already interviewed quite a few people, but no one had rejected the caras like that.
To ensure the fairness of the competition, staff were stationed at the entrance to check every contestant’s ID. Those who didn’t bring theirs had to show a photo of their ID card. They checked each person’s information one by one, letting them in only after successful verification.
Upon seeing Aurora Sinclair and Alvin Morgan’s identification, the staff at the entrance suddenly grew tense, saying almost reverently, "You two, please co with ..."
They were again led to the sa spot where they had sat before.
After logging into the Madam Whitlock account, Alvin Morgan turned to Aurora Sinclair and asked, "Did you morize yesterday’s list?"
Aurora Sinclair nodded.
"Then let’s get started!"
Once the match began, they both advanced in the sa direction.
When they encountered other contestants, they killed so on the spot and let others pass.
The spectators watching were completely baffled.
Everyone was familiar with Master Rory, but who on earth was this Madam Whitlock?
A fragile Healer was actually picking fights like a Swordsman—a total battle cleric!
’Could he be the one who was playing on Echo’s account yesterday?’
But the two had no interaction in the ga. They were like ruthless killing machines, eliminating one contestant after another. Furthermore, they weren’t doing any quests at all; they just kept hunting down other players to kill.
An hour into the match, so players finally noticed a pattern to their kills and started posting in the live comnts.
[Holy shit, amazing! The contestants Master Rory and Madam Whitlock are killing are all the people who were eliminated yesterday. And the ones they’re letting off easy are the top 98 who won yesterday.]
[Seriously? Each match has over 3,000 players. How could two people possibly rember that many IDs?]
[Don’t you guys think this Madam Whitlock’s playstyle looks familiar? It’s a bit like the person who was playing Echo yesterday. It’s not the sa person, is it?]
[Definitely the sa person. The official statent yesterday emphasized that they would strictly investigate the link between accounts and players, but they never said they’d cancel the spot for the person who was playing on Echo’s account.]
[Then what’s the fucking point of even playing?! Just have them forfeit already! The officials are so damn shaless!]
[Shaless? Then don’t participate! It was no big deal that he switched accounts, but you all had to make a mountain out of a molehill and force a rematch. Well, great, now you get to be slaughtered all over again! Serves you right—]
[Don’t you guys feel like this is a pair of Martial Arts masters bullying children?]
[These two are so damn skilled! Who was it that said Master Rory needed Echo to get first place? With skills like these, does she look like she needs help?]
The live comnts erupted into a heated debate, and the tabloids tried to steer players toward continuing to fla the competition for being unfair.
But the officials posted an explanation: [Contestant Echo has announced their withdrawal from the competition. According to tournant rules, to ensure a consistent number of players in each match, the vacant spot will be filled by the organizing committee with a randomly selected player from the pool of unregistered but willing participants!]
Evidently, Madam Whitlock was that "lucky" replacent player.
***
After being relentlessly flad by the mbers of Apex Dominion, Lorraine Morrison decided to throw caution to the wind. She turned on her own guild and continued leaking information: [What random selection? Madam Whitlock is obviously Master Rory’s friend. And Madam Whitlock is the alt account of an old-school god from District One. Here’s a screenshot as proof (Image)]
Unexpectedly, her words caused a huge stir, getting the veteran fans of *Battle for Glory* all excited.
The old-school gods were the Divine Level players from the earliest days of *Battle for Glory*. Many had already beco coaches and managers for pro teams. For a person of that caliber to be participating in the open qualifiers... it was strangely heartbreaking.
E-sports, like other professional sports, is a career that feeds on youth. The glory only lasts a few years; the older a player gets, the more their own physical condition limits their abilities.
But for Madam Whitlock to still be able to maintain such a high level of chanical skill in the qualifiers was a miracle in itself.
When the tabloids saw that players weren’t buying it, and that many team leaders were even coming out to support Madam Whitlock, the reports just fizzled out.
Back in the match, with half the ti remaining, Master Rory and Madam Whitlock had already thinned the herd down to just 96 contestants, including themselves. Four of those eliminations were players who had failed a randomly triggered quest.
[Holy fuck! What did I say? The contestants they killed were the ones who got eliminated yesterday!]
[Forget about their chanical skills for a mont—who among you can rember the IDs of over 3,000 contestants? I know I can’t. Master Rory and Madam Whitlock are legends... ]
[Isn’t this a bit too petty? So what if people said a few things? Do they really have to hunt them to extinction?]
[My, aren’t you the generous one! Master Rory almost got eliminated by a dirty trick yesterday, and after all the effort to win the championship, she still had her results questioned by trolls. Who would be happy about that?]
[Talk is cheap—skill speaks for itself! Master Rory, I bow to you!]
[Master Rory is the best!]
With this move, the pair were instantly crowned kings of the qualifiers.
Master Rory, in particular, had only lost a quarter of her health since the start of the match, earning her a whole new legion of male fans.
When the match tir ended, the duo took the top two spots on the leaderboard, with Master Rory in first and Madam Whitlock in second.
Because of their nas, players started shipping them as a couple, joking, "Whether it’s Master or Madam, they’ll still own you!"
***
After the match ended, the pair had planned to leave discreetly, but they were surprised to find several team managers standing at the entrance to the gaming area.
Gideon Lockwood was among them, but he looked completely exasperated, as if he had been forced to co.
"Manager Lockwood, which ones are Master Rory and Madam Whitlock?"
"Yeah, it’s not like we’re going to steal them from you. No need to be so secretive. You won’t be able to hide them at the awards ceremony anyway!"
Their arrival had caused a crowd of other contestants to gather at the entrance, all wanting to see who the pair were.
Felix Lowe had a sharp eye and noticed the two at once. After all, it was hard not to notice a pair wearing hats and masks on such a hot day.
"Could that be them?"
All eyes fell upon the pair.
Alvin Morgan’s eyelid twitched, but he calmly pulled Aurora Sinclair toward the exit.
Felix Lowe asked with a smile, "Excuse , are you Master Rory and Madam Whitlock?"
"No!"
"Then why the masks?"
"I have a rash!"
Everyone: ...
Gideon Lockwood struggled to hold back his laughter.
The pair continued walking, and Felix Lowe asked again, "What are your IDs?"
"’I Am A Madman’—we’re just a couple of kids."
Soone in the crowd was stunned.
Having an existential crisis, he pulled out his phone, logged into the ga, and checked his ID.
’That’s it, alright...’
’Don’t tell the ga allows duplicate nas now?’
When he looked up again, the pair was already far away.
Master Rory once again made the front-page headlines on the ga forums, with Madam Whitlock right behind.
The exposé about the old-school god, in particular, made Madam Whitlock’s identity all the more mysterious.
But the two didn’t check the trending comnts. After leaving the EM Group campus, they got directly into a nondescript sedan.
Dean Morgan had to drive around in several circles before he finally shook the "tail" behind them.
***
anwhile, Gideon Lockwood, annoyed to death by the pestering of several team managers, finally admitted that the Madam Whitlock account was an alt for White.
"I’m warning you all, not a word of this gets out! White has no intention of making a coback. He’s only in this competition to accompany a friend."
"It wouldn’t happen to be his girlfriend, would it?" Felix Lowe asked mischievously.
Gideon Lockwood gave him a aningful look.
Soone else asked, "The girlfriend is Master Rory, right?"
Glenn Lockwood: ...
’Hey, I didn’t say that!’
To get a better view of Master Rory, everyone who had been on good terms with White created alt accounts in District Twelve, preparing to enjoy the drama from a front-row seat.
anwhile, the two people at the center of the heated discussion had discreetly arrived at the entrance of an amusent park, where they ran into an acquaintance.
"Third Brother?"
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