1st June, 2036...
It was the day of the Warstar RPG Champions League final and just like in the past 3 seasons of the Pro Alliance, the final was held in the biggest stadium in England, Wembley Stadium.
The atmosphere in the stadium was electric.
The 90,000-capacity stadium was filled to the brim with passionate fans of the revolutionary RPG video game, Warstar.
Warstar debuted in 2026, taking the world by storm due to its extremely lifelike graphics, world setting, dungeons, and its interesting role-play characters.
There are 5 main classes to choose from in Warstar, being Blade masters, Mages, Mechanics, Combat Mages, and Psychics.
Under Blade masters are any type of class that wield blades, mostly swords. Mages can be classified into Elementalists, Summoners and the likes. Under the Mechanic main class are Pure Mechanics, Gunners, and even Launchers.
Combat Mage is the only pure one among the 5 main classes with no variants.
As for Psychics, there are Combat Psychics, Clerics, and even Paladins, all classes that have spirit as their main attribute.
A year after Warstar's launch, fueled by the game's popularity, the Warstar Pro Alliance was created, a professional league system where pro players compete against each other in clubs to determine the best clubs and players in England.
England's pro scene was extremely competitive as new experts entered the game every year, and this time, it was the Pro Alliance's 10th year anniversary.
In the fully packed Wembley Stadium, a gigantic 3-way holographic screen hovered at the top of this stadium, showing the game characters currently clashing in the arena for the Warstar RPG Champions league final trophy.
And on top, the game stats of the 2 competing clubs were displayed, the final game was already in its last phase.
(Team Cyber Squad vs Team Phoenix Rising)
(Individual Battle: 1 point – 2 points)
(3 vs 3 Battle Rush: Winner- Phoenix Rising; 2 points)
(5 vs 5 Team Battle: Ongoing)
(Location: Wraith Marshland)
...
(Team Cyber Squad Current Points: 1)
(Team Phoenix Rising Current Points: 4)
In a pro alliance game, 10 points are up for grabs and the team that gets the highest points at the end of the game wins.
The individual battle is worth a total of 3 points, 1 point from each of the 3 individual battles and both teams were already sharing the points. Team Phoenix Rising won the 3 vs 3 battle rush that was worth 2 points. Team Cyber Squad was losing, trailing 1 point to their opponent's 4 points.
The 5 vs 5 team battle that was worth 5 points was the only hope for Team Cyber Squad to turn the situation around and win the final.
The lights in this stadium were already killed, leaving everywhere dark to highlight the holographic screen where the action was taking place.
Wembley Stadium was silent, a hint to the fact that the clash between 2 of the best pro teams in England was now drawing to a climax.
At this moment, in the 3-way holographic screen, one of the screens suddenly switched to a scene inside the gaming booth in this stadium.
On the screen, there were 2 different gaming booths, one for each of the competing teams. Each team had 7 players but only 5 of them could be in the pro arena at a time, the remaining 2 were reserve players to be subbed in after a starting V player died.
One team wore black, and the other team wore yellow.
Inside the game booth were expensive and neatly arranged gaming gear.
At this moment, wearing headsets, the starting V players were focused on their computer screens, their left hands furiously tapping their keyboards while their mouse moved in orderly rhythms, controlling their in-game characters.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
In one of the gaming chairs, a player with deep black hair and focused brown eyes wearing the iconic black of Team Cyber Squad played with a relaxed but focused demeanor, controlling one of the in-game characters.
Once the camera focused on this player, cheers exploded around the stadium. This was the captain of Team Cyber Squad, Noah Harrington.
Compared to recent finals of the Warstar RPG champions league, there was more venom and drama to this final because it was a derby game. Both clubs were from London.
And not just that, but because this year, the first Warstar World Championship was starting and the requirement to qualify for it was to be the championship winner in your country.
The commentator covered the proceedings in this epic final. "After an intense season, it's the 2 London clubs who made it to the final this time".
"This is a game filled with a lot of bad blood. Afterall, most Warstar RPG fans in London are already dubbing the high-flying Phoenix the new pride of London and that does not sit well with die-hard Cyber Squad fans".
"Cyber Squad are the standard bearers of pro Warstar in England, having won the first 5 trophies of the Warstar RPG Champions League".
"They have the most champions league trophies in the league, and their captain, Noah, has won 5 consecutive MVP awards".
"They were dethroned in season 6 by Team Scarlet Rose of Leeds. Team Juggernaut of Birmingham won the trophy in season 7, but then came Team Phoenix Rising's turn in season 8. They're the reigning champions of the past 2 seasons in the league".
"Having made the final only once in the last 4 seasons, do Cyber Squad have what it takes to rise back to the top?"
"Afterall, their players are already getting old. Noah is now 28. In the world of pro gaming, that is already long past it, his fingers are no longer as fast and precise as before".
"Honestly, it's a pity but it's reality".
"Since they're from the same city, Phoenix and Cyber are fierce rivals, will Phoenix let the champions of old reclaim their tyranny?"
On the holographic screen, a titanic battle was taking place.
Ten max level 100 pro accounts clashed in the battle for Warstar RPG supremacy in England. On the side of Cyber Squad, they had a balanced line-up of a Cleric, a Blademaster, a Mechanic, a Summoner, and Noah's Combat Mage.
From the beginning of the Pro Alliance, these 5 has been Cyber Squad's mainstays, close friends who became legends in the gaming arena.
But now, they were old, and they were losing.
Their opponents in team Phoenix Rising comprised of a youthful set of players and a much more attacking character line-up of 2 Elementalists, 1 Warlock, 1 Paladin, and a Combat Mage.
A Paladin could not necessarily substitute for a Cleric in Warstar RPG, but they do have a few healing skills. A talented Paladin could just about fill the boots of a Cleric, and Phoenix's Paladin was one such example, and he was team Phoenix's captain, Gabriel.
This player led the fight from the front in his Paladin character as he aimed to lead his team to dethrone the legends that he grew up once idolizing.
A bubble of text suddenly materialized on the big holographic screen.
{God Noah, your time is up, give up and let the youngsters shine. Don't worry, you'll be leaving London in good hands}
In pro arenas, voice talking was disabled and hence why pro players could only communicate what they were saying through chat.
Gabriel's Paladin wore simple medieval knight's armor while holding a shield and a long sword, his Paladin could easily play as a tank.
In response to his trash talk, Noah gave a simple response.
{Haha}
Their chat seemed light-hearted but the battle definitely wasn't.
Noah's Combat Mage's health was already close to red but he never retreated once as he led his team as the vanguard, taking on 2 Phoenix players alone, Gabriel's Paladin and the enemy Warlock.
Warlocks were devious classes in Warstar, they are a sub class that also fell under the Mage main class. Their main focus is on dark magic and debuffs, making them the perfect class to be annoying and stall for time.
With these 2 characters tying down Noah's Combat Mage while also chipping away at his health, the 3 other players from Phoenix attacked Cyber Squad's remaining 4 players.
From the beginning, Cyber Squad knew their opponent's game plan. Recognizing Noah's threat, they intended to tie his character down with 2 annoying characters while the other team Phoenix players went to kill the others.
The only question was, would the other Cyber Squad players die so easily?
Well, OG Warstar RPG fans would definitely scream no at the top of their lungs, singing ballads of this legendary team's exploits.
But that was in the past, in their peak.
Now, they were long past it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The 2 Phoenix Elementalists showed little restraint, burning through their reserves of mana with wanton abandon just to end their opponents' lives even as they gave space for their Summoner to wreak havoc.
Noah knew their game plan from the beginning, and his counter-plan was to beat them at it, if they could.
But from the look of things, they were really past their prime, they couldn't.
(Blademaster Character Sprinkling Brooks has been killed!)
(Reserve character, Valiant Heart has been substituted into the game!)
...
(Cleric, Changing Spring has been killed!)
(Cyber Squad has exceeded its limit of substitutes!)
Cyber's Blademaster fell first and even before the substitute could get to the battlefield, their Cleric already died to Phoenix Rising's offensive play.
{See God Noah? Your team is losing, just give up like a man}
{Haha}
Team Cyber Squad tried to turn the situation around but they couldn't. They were not beat for effort today, rather, sheer youthful energy did them in.
After the Blademaster and Cleric's death, the Mechanic died next as the Summoner escaped with the substituted Paladin, going to where Noah's Combat Mage still clashed against the 2 enemy characters.
Noah's character was already at red blood but he kept on fighting valiantly.
And there, Cyber Squad made their last stand against the enemy team.
They ended up killing Gabriel's Paladin but it was all in that devious captain's plan as immediately after he died, the Summoner in reserve went in, facilitating his team as they went all out attack in the final act of this game.
Defiantly, Noah led his surviving teammates to fight back.
They ended up killing another Phoenix character, the Warlock but that was it. Cyber's Summoner died first, then the Paladin who substituted in, and then Noah's Combat Mage finally fell.
In that moment, a whole generation of Warstar RPG fans seemed to fall with it. They felt devastated.
"And the winner of the 10th edition of the Warstar RPG Champions League final is Team Phoenix Rising from London!"
"They are now 3-peat champions!"
"Phoenix Rising will be entering the world stage to represent England and play against the best teams from around the world!"
...
On the stage, the excited Phoenix players in yellow carried the Warstar RPG trophy as they jubilated, taking pictures and creating unforgettable memories with their fans.
As for Cyber Squad fans, they were devastated.
The players even more so.
Bam!
Noah's teammate, Aria, the Blademaster's controller slammed her desk, shattering her keyboard in the process.
Her face was red in rage.
Many fans of the Pro Alliance still couldn't believe that the controller of the legendary Blademaster, Sprinkling Brooks was actually female.
Noah looked over, paying attention to the keyboard. "That's over 200 Euros now, you'll have to pay for that".
"Shut up!" She screamed, glowering at him.
One by one, his teammates stood up, walking out of the stadium backstage. At least, the organizers had the courtesy of doing this for the losers.
Only Noah remained in the gaming booth.
He looked up at the 'no smoking' sign before calmly picking a cigarette box that he hid in his pocket, expertly fishing a cigarette and lighting it as he placed it on his lips and smoked.
With a puff, he covered his face with a white napkin and faced up.
Alone, isolated, and silently devastated, Noah raised his right hand, peeking at it through the white napkin.
"I really am old now". He muttered.