Chương 140: Chapter 20 - Game Plans

"Aiden, what was that!?" was the first gush of excitement I heard outside the arena from uncle Ricky after I finally managed to sneak past all the interviews, trophy ceremonies and and all media crews trying to ask how the hell I one-shotted a rank 50 death knight tank player. I admit, I was a bit dumbfounded for the whole post-win interview. I'd lifted the small trophy and given my best grin to my sister and the audience, receiving cheers at that, when Royal Rebecca asked for my feelings and thoughts.

At that point, I was kind of just hoping to go text Veyra, though, so I answered swiftly, saying that Henrift got one-shotted due to a "skill issue" on his part, and I did all that damage using math. I thanked everyone for coming, and I announced that I would perform a lot more one-shots in Worlds this year, so stay tuned. Rebecca also asked—claiming that everyone was curious—whether Veyra would be performing with me in Worlds this year. That caught me off guard, but I answered that I certainly hoped so.

I was finally let back to the warm-up room, where I had my phone, but even there everyone in the building wanted to make profit out of my new popularity. Media guys, other competitors, everyone wanted to talk to me, and since I didn't have agents or team members to protect me, it was up to security to make sure I wasn't crushed to death. So began the dangerous task of getting back to my family without being eaten alive by media teams and the crazy New Yorkers that awaited outside.

I declined autographs for now, mostly because my handwriting was absolute ass. I finally made it to my family. Except they didn't protect me either. They were the most excited out of all to meet me. Anna hugged me right away, while my dad's drunken friends were somehow louder than the goddamned cheers in the arena.

"I'm serious, what the hell did you just do?" Ricky asked through laughter.

"You Shadow Dashed, and the fucker just blew up?"

"Well, as I said, I used math," I said. Ricky burst into a disbelieving and cheerful laugh, and same with everyone else I didn't even know by name. My dad patted me in the back, as if proudly showcasing me to all of his friends.

"That's what four years of fencing classes do to a boy," he said. I had the urge to roll my eyes.

"You'll join the afterparty with us tonight, right?" Ricky asked teasingly. Right, I kind of promised that yesterday… I thought. Out loud, I said, "Hold on for a second," and checked my phone. The earlier texts I'd managed to send in the warm-up room read: Assassin:" Worlds ticket obtained." Veyra:" Let's gooo, congrats! ^^" Assassin:" <3" Veyra:" I swear you almost gave me a heart attack, though…" Assassin:" Haha, sorry. So, we're competing in Worlds together?"

Veyra had read my last message, but the texts ended there, as Veyra left me on read, at least temporarily. She usually responded fast. Was she still uncertain? She also wasn't online in Wonderwind. I didn't have any reason to rush back to The Cave. In general, the cafe could become dangerous from now on. If someone took one photo of me and posted it to the forums, The Cave would turn into absolute chaos. I turned back to Ricky.

"Sure, I'll pay a visit. Where's the afterparty?" Everyone turned to my dad, and it turned out that party was held at the home I'd been kicked out from. I still didn't consider myself on good terms with my dad, but… well, I had nothing better to do. Veyra probably wouldn't be online until tomorrow. Might as well see what was up at home. My dad and his friends ordered cabs, while I sat in the back seat with Anna again.

She scolded me with her usual cute enthusiasm, asking me what I was thinking with my interview answers.

"I was cool and mysterious, right?"

"Why are you still wearing that same frog shirt!" Anna said.

"You can't just say that New York's best player lost to a skill issue!"

"Former best player, that is," I said.

"Aiden did well, Anna," mom said from the driver's seat.

"Congratulations. Truly. We're all very proud of you." Anna pouted, face slightly red.

"Yeah… congratulations. You, um… You did look cool..." I smiled.

"Thanks for cheering for me." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Anna remained nervous for the ride home after that. The "afterparty" began at home soon after, but everyone was already drunk to the point that Ricky tried offering shots for me as well. I declined, saying that drinking alcohol could make the game pod give me a forced log-out, not to mention I was underage.

I drank soda instead, feeling very much out of place with so many of my dad's work friends present. Still, the takeout from our local pizzeria was good. Each notification on my phone made me flinch. I checked them right away, only to disappointedly find forum posts about my recent match. The fame was cool, I guess. Until, finally, a message came. Veyra:" Yep, I accepted the flight and hotel. We just need to choose which Worlds event we want to compete in."

"Yes!" I said out loud, pumping my fist. Another message came. Veyra:" I'm still going to keep my identity as secretive as the organizers allow. And remember that I'm competing for money first and foremost. I still need around thirty grand." I grinned at my phone like an idiot. Assassin:" Fuck yeah, let's go! I got trapped into a family gathering today. I'll head to sleep early. We probably need to level-up as fast as we can so we don't just get stat-checked in Worlds." Veyra:" Yeah, about that…

Did you check the patch notes?" Assassin:" Patch notes? There shouldn't be another patch for 2 weeks, no?" Veyra:" I mean, the hotfix. Your build might be gone lmao. We need to come up with something tomorrow. I'll also sleep first, cya tomorrow, congrats again! ^^" Hotfix? I thought. I better not have gotten target nerfed now… Everyone was watching me while I was on my phone, I noticed.

"Is it a girlfriend?" Ricky was asking my dad, who had no response.

"Not a girlfriend yet," I said.

"But I'll be competing in Worlds with the best, and cutest, mage player in the world." I stood and grinned at everyone and their empty pizza boxes and beer cans.

"Thanks for the pizza. I'll have to sleep now and start preparing tomorrow." Nobody interrupted me as I made my way to the attic. My former room had been cleaned, though the furniture, including my bed, was still there. My mom brought a new pair of sheets for me.

"You seriously have a ticket to the world championships, then?" mom asked.

"Where is it held this year?"

"Gothenburg, Sweden," I said.

"Anna will want to come," mom said.

"I'll take a week off from work for her if I have to."

"I'd love to see you two there," I said with a smile.

"And, uh, dad as well I guess."

"He is proud of you in his own way," mom said.

"Maybe you can forgive him one day." Maybe if he actually apologizes, I thought with a sigh. Either way, my mom wished me good night, shutting the door, and I opened up Wonderwind's website to see the hotfix right away. The hotfix only had two changes and nothing else. [Hotfix Patch 26. 9. 2] Vital Strike: Vital Strike has dealt more damage at high skill levels than we expected.

To promote build diversity with the assassin class, and to dissuade overt glass-cannon playstyles, we are reducing the maximum skill points that can be allocated into this ability. Vital Strike - Maximum skill level: 50 -> 5 Further levels can be obtained through items. Players that have allocated more than five skill points into Vital Strike will have their excess skill points available to be allocated to their skill tree.

Cursed Lichfang (Unique Legendary Dagger): The active ability of this dagger has dealt more damage than intended. To balance its effects, we are removing its ability to critically strike, while adjusting damage numbers to make up for the nerf. Critical strikes now have a new effect. Item Base Stats - Attack Force 1400 -> 3000 Curse Of The Lich (Active) - Ability can no longer apply critical strikes. Curse Of The Lich (Passive) - Critical Strikes amplify the amount of damage stored by 200%.

Maximum damage stored adjusted. 20, 000 -> 60, 000. Curse Of Rathax (Active) - Ability can no longer apply critical strikes.

"Well…" I said to myself.

"Shit." I began reading the comments. By DonutEnjoyer, 604, 567 upvotes: " Thanks, Assassin A lmao. This class definitely needed nerfs. As if the class wasn't already the worst class in the game." Reply By Greenwitch, 120, 471 upvotes: " Wow, a target nerf after his first competition??? I feel bad, but that's also an amazing achievement." Reply By Afromedian, 476, 145 upvotes: " His build is completely destroyed now.

Nice job, Wind Virtual, giving a World's ticket to someone, only to completely destroy their build right after." Reply By IMissHerSad, 190, 451 upvotes: " To anyone who feels bad for Assassin, just watch the New York PvP tournament he dominated. If anything, I feel bad for Henrift for losing a ticket to this broken bullshit build. One-shots like that have no place in the game. It was cool while it lasted, but I'm glad it's gone."

Reply By Greenwitch, 20, 942 upvotes: " The build was op, but anyone who says that Assassin A won only because of his build is also wrong. Just watch the final duel. Henrift got completely dicked. And it's not like Henrift will go broke. He still has a Worlds ticket from being in the top 100. I'm way more interested in seeing Assassin A compete than seeing Henrift compete in two events."

Reply By Lowmansky, 14, 156 upvotes: " What a shitshow lmfao" Well, I guess I have been saying Vital Strike will get nerfed, I thought with a sigh. Sadly, it was true that my build was severely nerfed now. I could have easily taken a nerf to Vital Strike's numbers, but straight up just capping its levels at five essentially forced me to switch my playstyle, at least to some extent. One-shot assassinations would get much more difficult now. The Lichfang nerf, and it was very much a nerf, was sad as well.

I couldn't apply critical strikes to the 20, 000 base damage anymore. The large buff to the attack force stat would make the item somewhat usable, but a 60, 000 damage burst really wasn't anything amazing for my playstyle, considering that top players had enough resistances to mitigate most of that. I'd have over twenty points to allocate to other skills, at least. Maybe Veyra and I could come up with something equally broken.

I chuckled as I buried my face into my pillow, now much softer than the one I had at The Cave, and I once again struggled to sleep due to the excitement of getting to play more with Veyra the next day. This time, I didn't look at memes on my phone in bed. I actually did something productive. I scrolled the auction house to see if any items could help save my build that had just been nerfed to the ground.