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05

I find myself glancing around, unconsciously hoping to find a certain familiar face in this massive crowd. Fortunately, a lot of the players decided to take a seat already, even though there isn't any sign of an event starting yet.

For as far as I know, PvP means Player versus Player and I know it's an option to engage in battles with other players you encounter but I have never heard of an official arena that's built for PvP battles, let alone an entire scoreboard and a competitive mode with rankings and champions and- yeah, this entire ordeal overwhelms me a little, obviously.

As I walk further, a pop-up suddenly appears in front of me. An official message from AoFo, I find out and I quickly read through it.

Hello JOne!

Welcome in Incipio's official Player versus Player arena! According to our system, it's your first time here and in case you're interested in joining the competition, here's an overview of the PvP rules. These rules also apply for PvP battles outside the arena!

| Important. Please read |

Once you officially start a PvP battle, both you and your opponent will get an additional health bar with a standard amount of 100 HP. Your original HP bar is disabled for as long as the battle continues.

If your additional PvP bar's health drops to zero, you lose the match but you won't die because your original HP bar isn't affected by the events during a PvP battle.

Players can't be harmed by their surroundings during a PvP battle.

Your statistics and boosts will be neutralized during the match, and so will your opponent's. Your level won't affect anything, either. It will be raw skill that determines your victory or loss.

All weapons are allowed during a match. Open the additional file for a list of possibly attainable weapons in Parallel. You are allowed to use tricks to set the match to your advantage. However, cheating is strictly prohibited and direct punishment will follow if you're caught.

Please refrain from attacking players outside of an original match secured by the system!

              ↳ One file attached!

My eyes linger over the message before I close the pop-up with a simple dismissive movement of my hand. I chuckle softly. As if I'm ever interested in joining a PvP competition. I once did it with Felix and turns out I'm not good at attacking people. I guess I'm too much of a softie to do that. 

I search around the place a little more, hoping to find the accordingly well-known champion of this place. But I quickly notice the grandstands getting more and more crowded and I decide to give up and sit down on a spot with a decent view on the sand pit in the middle, where the matches will take place, I assume.

Right then, a deep voice hollers through the arena and I nearly jump in surprise before I focus on whatever it has to announce -because that's obviously the function of this voice, to announce something, right?

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby welcome you to another battle in Incipio's official arena! If it's your first time here, welcome and enjoy the show! If you're not new, also welcome and enjoy the show!"

Cheers and laughter fill the arena and I start to feel slightly uneasy with all this noise surrounding me. I mean, come on, that wasn't even funny? I can only guess these players are really hyped for the upcoming match, huh?

"Today's match is really promising, with a very promising challenger aiming for the spot of Incipio's current champion, LeeKnow!"

Another wave of cheers erupts from the crowd at the mention of LeeKnow's -or Lino's, as I know him- name. Even as the voice continues, people keep talking to each other and all I can hear is Lino's name combined with all kind of praise. I guess he's really a big shot, then?