Game World's Awakening
Chapter 97: Feeling guilty

Chapter 97: Feeling guilty

On the same day that ended with bittersweet feelings for many, the results of the next matches were announced.

From the Winners Bracket, only Group Clark remained against the Elemental Academy, in a match that many were eager to see. It would possibly be the highest-level match of the tournament so far, as these were the two teams that had reached the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, in the Losers’ Bracket, the situation became more complicated.

First, Angelic Wave fell and now faces The Cats in a fight to stay alive. Whoever loses is eliminated, so everyone will have to fight for their lives.

And Broken Leaf, who lost to Group Clark, now faced Hawk Fury, in the same situation as the two above.

All the battles were ready, and each guild was already facing their next opponent, most of them in a last-ditch attempt to win.

Who would advance and who would be eliminated? With that uncertainty, everyone had to wait a little longer.

The day of competition ended there.

-

When Elliot woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed inside the guild headquarters.

There was no one near him, which meant that everyone else had already woken up. But he still felt his body numb.

Faced with his loss, he stared blankly at the corner of the bed where he was lying.

He seemed lost in his thoughts and ideals.

As he sat there in a daze, staring into space and thinking about what he could have done to succeed, the door rang.

Jenna entered with a few trays of chopped fruit.

"Elliot!" She quickly walked over to him and placed the tray on the bed. "Are you feeling okay? You’ve been asleep for several hours despite the potions we gave you."

"What time is it?’ Elliot asked, puzzled.

"It’s already 8 pm."

’About four hours?’ he thought. When he woke up, he felt it had been an hour or so; he didn’t expect it to be that long.

"I’m fine," he replied and leaned back against the headboard, which made Jenna move closer to give him some chopped apples.

"We did a medical checkup. Luckily, your bones are fine, but your tendons and muscles were numb and stiff. How do you feel?"

"Just a little stiff in my muscles. That first attack at the end really got to me. The second one just finished me off." He smiled, mocking himself.

Perhaps if he had decided to pursue the Soul Mage, he could have won, since it was the Soul Mage who ultimately lasted until the end and defeated them.

In battles of that level, one decision can lead to failure, and this time, he was perhaps witnessing that. Not only because of the above, but also because he tried to make that last bold move when he clearly knew he had a Soul Mage behind him.

What was the point of doing what he did?

His mistakes sealed his fate, and that made him suddenly feel more numb. It was no longer the pain of having been attacked but the pain of defeat due to such basic mistakes.

Jenna smiled at him and grabbed his hand to comfort him. But she couldn’t find the words. "Um... I think you did really well, Elliot. In the first fight, we wouldn’t have won without you, and in the second one, it was thanks to you that we were able to fight until the end and corner them." She smiled, and immediately, she cheered up.

"You should have seen how they looked at the end. The Soul Mage was exhausted, the fire tank was done, and I took out the swordsman. In the end, only the main tank was left standing."

’Just one...’ he thought and smiled.

"It looks like we almost made it."

"Yes. It’s somewhat understandable what happened, since they have three Master’s. Although it’s unfortunate to lose like this, we showed what we’re made of without using all our trump cards." she said, raising her other hand.

"The next time we face them, we must win. Soon we will face the Clarks, possibly, and then you can use your strength freely." She said, making a small fist.

Elliot nodded and raised his other hand to grab that fist.

"You’re right. We must win next time." His mood improved a little, which made Jenna smile even more.

Just then, the door opened again, and Steward walked in.

"Are you awake?" he asked Elliot and looked at the two of them interacting so closely that he thought he had interrupted something.

But then Jenna noticed and quickly stood up. "Elliot, Master Steward wanted to talk to you earlier. So I’ll be going. I’ll meet you at the usual place for training." She said before quickly slipping away, not letting Elliot say goodbye.

Steward shook his head. ’These young people.’

He approached Elliot. "How are you feeling?"

"A little numb."

"That makes sense. You took two powerful lightning magic attacks."

"Well, it was either that or go straight for the Soul Mage. Maybe if I had made that last decision, everything would have turned out fine."

Steward sighed and shook his head. "There’s no use dwelling on a loss, Elliot. Everything is fine as long as you use that loss to learn, grow, and become stronger. That’s part of the process of becoming great."

Elliot looked up. "But..."

"Do you think world champions have never lost before?" he asked, which made Elliot fall silent.

It’s true. There is no undefeated champion to date. Everyone has lost a few times.

After all, while you’re trying to get stronger, aren’t there millions of others trying to do the same?

"No matter how talented you are, if you walk the path to greatness, at some point you will have to stumble to understand yourself and your path. That is the price you pay for trying to be great. Do you want to be a world champion? No problem. I believe that with your talent, you will achieve it one day. But before that, you will have to stumble."

"Losing is okay, because when you know the misfortune and humiliation of defeat, that’s when you enjoy victory the most. In fact, you can’t really appreciate victory if you haven’t experienced defeat first. That’s the cycle of life and the Path to Greatness."

"Even though you made mistakes, will you regret them or learn from them? I once knew your father." He said, immediately catching Elliot’s attention. "He was a great and powerful man. Someone worthy of fighting in the most important tournaments. Despite that, he never wanted to do it. He wanted to save everyone, not seek greatness. That was his biggest mistake. But I’m sure that if he’s not dead, he’s learned from it."

"Because we all experience failure at some point in our lives. So why mourn a loss when you can learn from it?"

Elliot stared at him, his words echoing in his mind.

At the end of his thoughts, he smiled.

"Don’t worry, Mr. Steward. I won’t give up so easily because of a mistake. When the time comes to fight, I’ll show you what I’m made of."

"Haha, very good. Besides, there’s no point in feeling so sorry for yourself over a fight where, from the start, you never even intended to win." He said suddenly, surprising Elliot.

"It seems you figured it out."

"Hahaha, the strategy was simple, but clever. Of course, I would figure it out."

"Haha..."

Seeing that Elliot finally seemed convinced, Steward smiled. "We’ll have strategy meetings in a little while and team training. We’re facing The Cats. They’re not very strong, but their coordination is almost as good as that of the Elemental Academy. Unfortunately, using the kind of improvised strategy you, Jenna, and Andrew used today wouldn’t work very well against them. We’ll go over everything in 15 minutes, so get ready and come."

"Okay."

Then Steward left.

-

The hours passed between studying strategies, reading books, and team training. Training with Jenna had to be canceled because there was too much to do, and they ended up finishing at midnight.

That was also the time when Elliot left the guild and headed to the place where he had hired those Misfits the night before.

When he arrived, several of them were looking for him, so when they saw him, they immediately went to deliver the mission he had given them.

He met with each of them one by one and, after confirming that they had done the job, several of them were given more missions.

Since he needed them to carry out missions for him over a long period, he divided most of the missions into several parts and had them completed slowly.

He also gave them several days to complete them, if necessary, and some other concessions.

Somehow, the name Night Tentacle began to circulate quietly among the Misfits.

An organization willing to hire them for relatively easier and better-paid jobs. For them, lovers of money, this was important, especially in an era when one of the city’s famous Misfits had just awakened.

Some of them wanted to try again; perhaps they would have the opportunity to do so.

They didn’t expect that the Misfit wasn’t actually one of them, and that the person hiring them was the same person.

-

The night passed smoothly and without incident. Everyone was locked in their rooms, resting or thinking of ways to improve.

Steward had given each of them advice and even hired some people to help them. He had given Chris the most advice, as the last two fights had been terrible for him.

He couldn’t find a way to stand out, and it was as if his strength didn’t matter at all. That also prompted Steward to ask Jenna to teach Chris the art of sword fighting.

Since they had a real Master Swordsman, why not use her?

And so the night passed.