I threw away the headgear after I was logged out automatically from the game. Once a cardinal was killed inside the Auresia, the cardinal would be logged out automatically. 

I got annoyed at the same time I was remorseful. It was our chance to get ranked up. I knew I gave my very best to win that battle.

I just rolled my eyes when I saw the headgear floating in the air. It had a defence mode and you couldn't harm it at any cost. Even if you smashed it with a hammer, it would just bounce back. Like it was protected by some invisible bubble around it. That was just only one of the things that got me confused.

Why would Vinitor put a defence mode in the headgear? If the headgear got destroyed, the user could buy another one and it would benefit Vinitor that way. More production of headgear meant more income.

I leaned my back on the backrest of my swivel chair and thoughts about the game earlier swirled in my mind. I couldn't help but felt devastated. We lose the monthly tournament and that meant we would wait five years again. I cursed silently thinking other guilds would make fun again at us.

We waited long and prepared well, but still, it was not enough. What should we do then?

I was in the charcoal rank since I joined The Cardinals of Auresia. I played the game a year after it was launched. And yes, this day was my fourteenth year playing the game! But our guild never got the chance to rank up.

I was disturbed by the sound of the popping notifications in the netbook. I sighed deeply. I knew it was just messages from the players inside or it could be the notification that our guild didn't make it.

Nevertheless, I opened those messages one by one.

"Loser again?" The message was from Derus, the leader of the guild The Skull. They were our number one bullies. Their guild was in Gold Cardinals. 

I and Derus were once a newcomer. We registered on the same date. That meant I was left behind and now he was ranking up. Every time he would see me, he was cocky about how far did he go than me.

"Really? Your guild name doesn't suit you!" The message was from a member of the guild, X-Pedient. He was Zen. I bumped into him when I was still a newcomer. Since that day, in every encounter he would piss me off. Their guild was also in Gold Cardinals.

The Conqueror.

That was our guild's name. That was why I joined them because of the guild's name. I never thought we got this far and didn't conquer any guild. Great, really.

"I saw your potential that was why I asked you to join us. See what I was talking about?"

My eyes were fixed unblinkingly at the last message I read. Did I really make a huge mistake?

Nerios.

He was a member of the most famous guild in Auresia. Their guild— The Blue Devils, was in the Emerald Cardinals and yes they already owned an empire with three kingdoms and each kingdom had ten states.

There were only ten guilds that were in the Emerald Cardinals. Three of them never lose a kingdom or a state. Guilds could lose property in the annual tournament but winners couldn't have one. Winners or losers in the annual tournament wouldn't rank up or down. The annual tournament was all about invading and destroying.

I smiled bitterly at the thought that I didn't choose The Blue Devils because of their guild's name. They were just in the Silver Cardinals when I was a newcomer. I thought they would only be a pain in the ass. But then, I was wrong. So wrong.

What if I chose them? Should I also have the privilege they had? They were not just famous but they were incredibly vigorous. They never lose any tasks. They only lose three monthly tasks up to the present. I wonder how they were living now having the A+ category water sources.

"Hey, let's meet up later after dinner. We'll wait." The message was from Rayumi.

Once again, I sighed.

What was it this time? Would Denro shout at me again? Telling me I was at fault? Every time we lose, he would blame me. As if he was not the one who got shot first. He was the leader after all. He should be the last standing cardinal in our guild.

He wouldn't listen to my plans and strategies. So why bother arguing with him? It was just a waste of time.

"Oh, you're back, Ishan."

I twirled my swivel chair and saw my mother's pallid face. I didn't notice her presence because I was busy thinking if I should meet my guild.

"I could guess that you lose again based on your long face," Mom said while picking up my clothes cluttering the floor.

She was a teacher and dad was a government employee but still, they didn't give us even the B category water sources. 

For me, I couldn't tell that we were poor. I could buy anything I wanted except for water. We had a two-stories house. We had a car but could only use it twice a day because gas was also limited. So dad used it for his job only. I and Mom needed to walk. I attended a private school. And...

And Shaniya was still alive because we could afford the hospital bills for almost eight years. She was born five years after I was born. She met an accident when she was twelve and her head was injured so badly. We couldn't give her the surgery she needed because we couldn't give the exact water needed for the surgery. That left her bedridden and comatose.

Good thing medicine nowadays was effective that could prolong Shaniya's life. At first, I was just playing the Cardinals of Auresia so I could have the A+ category water sources and took a bath every day.

But since Shaniya's accident, I was eager to win so I could provide the water needed for her surgery.

"Yeah, maybe we can talk to the doctor and tell him that—"

"Don't ever mention that!" Mom shouted and I could see her eyes started to well.

"Then how can we provide the water!" I shouted back out of frustration.

"Still, don't say that!" She then left my room, crying.

One night, I heard Mom and Dad talking about Shaniya. They talked about cutting the life support attached to my sister. I rushed to them and yell at them. I told them how dare they. I was the one who told them that we could give Shaniya the water.

But now, it came out of my mouth. A tear escaped and touched my cheek freely. How dare me?

I missed my little sister.

If I just chose Nerios' guild over Denro, maybe Shaniya was here with us again. I could see her smile again. I could see her growing up beautifully.

I really did a huge mistake back then. Memories of my first day as a newcomer filled my mind.

----

Welcome to Cardinals of Auresia.

I couldn't hear the whole announcement for I was busy roaming my eyes around. I was like in paradise. I was inside The Centrum together with the other newcomers. The wall was made of glass which was why I could see the beauty of the outside. It was enormous more than what I imagined. We were on top of the building but I couldn't see the boundaries. Maybe there were more kingdoms out there that couldn't reach my eyes.

"This is so amazing!"

I heard the man beside me screaming like a child. I glanced at him and read the basic information at the top of his head. It was called the status bar and it was visible to all.

There were three bars. The first one was white-coloured with the cardinal's name and preceding with a number. It was the cardinal's overall rank. The second bar which was in the middle was the guild's name and it was green-coloured. The last bar which was at the bottom was the cardinal's guild's rank and it was red-coloured.

It goes like this.

(NRY) Derus

No Guild Yet

Newcomer

That what was the basic information of the man beside me. We were not allowed to use our true names inside the game. Every piece of information was confidential.

NRY meant no rank yet. There were millions of users of Cardinals of Auresia. And only one thousand cardinals were given the privilege to be on the overall rank. They were indeed famous. There cardinal's profile was written in the manual but I didn't bother to read it. As well as the famous guilds and their ranks.

When the fifth day came, we need to face a trial for us to be chosen by guilds. The trial was a battle between a newcomer and a systematized opponent. Yes, the trial was individual.

First, we need to choose our weapon before we could see our opponent. We were put in a jungle and it was up to us how to defeat our opponent. No other mechanics aside from killing your opponent with your chosen weapon in just twenty minutes.

I chose a bow and arrow. I was a gold medalist in our school in archery. So I was confident I could win this trial.

Ten seconds after I was put in the jungle, my opponent appeared. He was a huge AI robot and he also got a bow and arrow.

"Copycat, ha?" I smirked at it but the robot slammed me the bow it was holding.

I ran, fast as I could. This was so cool like a was a superhero with limitless power. I felt a strong impact inside my heart like a really owned this body. As if it was really me, the real Ishan of the outside world. I smiled. Maybe the system of this game really gave a strong connection between its system and the player. So it would be balanced. 

I should think of a plan first before doing a move. It was running after me.

I got a hint. Maybe my opponent was strong as I am. It got a bow and arrow too, the same as what I had. It ran after I ran. It could just hit me with the arrow but it ran. In other words, we're a match and that it was copying my every move. 

Ten seconds...

It appeared ten seconds after I was brought here.

I stopped running and turned to face my opponent. It stopped too. I raised my right hand and counted ten seconds. I smirked when it did the same as I did after ten seconds.

I used the item given to me freely. Items were classified as our special tools aside from the weapon we were using. They gave me three blind items and it was just valid inside this trial. It was up to us how to use the blind items.

I immediately used the one item and jumped higher as I could. I felt stronger and the heat was overwhelming. After ten seconds, the robot did the same. I landed smoothly on the ground and before the robot could land, my arrow was already pointing at it.

Bullseye...

---

Yes, I won that trial. Maybe Nerios was right. I got the potential but I just didn't use my brain on choosing them instead of my current guild.