<h4>Chapter 288: Privacy</h4>


    The fight naturally didn''t give them many points, but it was so easy that that was to be expected. While Kenwyn''s team had a higher total amount of Tiers, they were also lower ranked than team Pheonix. Hence the reward was but 3 points.


    Still, this was nothing to scoff at, seeing as most other groups only got 1 or 2 points for a victory. Due to this, Pheonix was actually ranked in the top five. However, so far they had not managed to win against any other team with them in the top five.


    Pure Warriors took rank 1, with a total point count of 366. The second was Zinopia, a group of extremely talented people. Each of them was Tier 3, but also had a second ss of Tier 2. Some even had both other sses at Tier 2, making them extremely flexible.


    If not for theircking equipment they would certainly be number one. They had 361 points at this point in time. However, their points were steadily growing, faster than anyone else in the top hundred.


    Third was Elven Bows, a group of all wood elves. Each a Tier 3 archer and over half of them also Tier 2 in melee. This group was actually really strong, stronger than one would think. Their arrows did far more damage than any other archer''s. They had 355 points


    Zyviss had exined to everyone how the damage was calcted for bows, and each member in the team Elven Bows easily had over 15% more damage on average. And this was with them using extremely normal-looking arrows.


    Zyviss was using quite expensive ones in these fights since he wouldn''t expend them during these matches. They would always be returned upon leaving the arena


    Their group, Pheonix, was fourth with 353 points by the end of today''s matches. Just enough to be guaranteed into the tournament as long as they managed to not lose any points from now on.


    Ringless was fifth. This team was quite strange, each of their members was unique. They also had a barbarian yer, which had been quite the shock when they first fought. Judith had been overjoyed, however at that time she had not had Gray. As such she had promptly died when her weapon had failed her.


    Ringless currently had 349 points, however, they were certain to get more as the day progressed and also entered the rank of legend. Securing their ce in the tournament which was still a month off.


    In his individual matches, Eldrian had managed to stay in the top 50 on the ranking, however, he struggled to get higher. Without the advantages of his hidden ss''s stats and magic, he found himself grappling to just stay so high.


    While Aoidos was far stronger than all of his opponents'' weapons, he wasn''t allowed to use its abilities. Even the passive bonus was blocked. Hence while he could deal more damage, that was only if he managed to hit them.


    Through these matches, he realized he was no master with a spear, and this revtion again made him think that he was quite normal. Not even considering the fact that those he lost against all had some type of real-life experience which had lead to their better techniques.


    Some were soldiers, far more used to the battlefield than Eldrian. And while this did not mean much in the one-on-one fights, it did mean they had a certain mindset which Eldrian had yet to develop himself. Allowing them to learn, adapt, and improve faster than most other people.


    Others had trained in martial arts, while others still were simply just gifted with a spear. Many of those in the top fifty were ones who had joined an empire, and their talent had been seen.


    As such, they had an extremely strong mentor who was actually putting effort into teaching them.? Unlike Old Sword who was basically just leaving Eldrian to his own devices. Though Old Sword certainly couldn''t be med, he was currently fighting in a war after all.


    Naturally, Eldrian would struggle to win against them. Not to mention most of those who chose to enter the single weapon fights were generally masters of the weapon. Or at least felt that they were, as Eldrian had thought until he was thought that he was not.


    Most yers really wanted to use their skills and magic, hence they would rather join the open fight. While some had tried, after getting beaten by those more skilled they had given up. They wanted to use what they learned in-game, and more importantly, they wanted it to feel like a game. Not just a match of technique.


    Even so, Eldrian tried to fit in two to four matches each day. Regardless of if he lost or won, he kept going. Trying to improve, but often finding himself simply outsses so far that he couldn''t even figure out why he lost.


    It reminded him of when he fought against Old Sword, or when Vivian used skills. It almost felt like when he first fought the holograms, only he had nothing going for him to turn the skill difference around.


    After finishing hisst match, Eldrian finally climbed off the chair for good for the day. By now it was just slightly past midday, and as such Eldrian changed into morefortable clothes. Headed down to eat and then for a run.


    Upon returning he headed straight for Joren''s office. Not minding all the people who curiously looked at him, Eldrian followed the instructions of his tablet. This being the first time he headed to Joren, instead of just calling the other to him.


    "Eldrian, what a surprise," Joren said, having left his office as he was awoken by themotion going on in the department. He could understand why everyone was staring at Eldiran, but that didn''t mean he liked them being distracted from their jobs.


    "Let''s talk in my office," Joren said, sending a look at those nearby which quickly got them back to work. Naturally, this department was just the normal developers who assisted in maintaining the forums and monitoring matches and virtual homes.


    Those doing the more discrete and in-depth monitoring were somewherepletely different. Joren usually headed there at night, never managing to get much sleep. He often actually did that during the day.


    After closing the door, and shutting his blinds, Joren turned to Eldrian, "Why did youe here?"


    "Certainly you know already," Eldrian said as he took a seat on one of the couches. The seat quitefortable, and the room refreshingly cool after his run.


    "Ah, I see. The worldwide announcement." Joren also took a seat, thinking of what Eldrian had aplished while wondering just how ipetent the game testers were. They had years, yet Eldrian had aplished more than them in a few months.


    Naturally, he would never bring this up. He would never hear the end of it if he did, it was in fact all their fault that the AI became disobedient in the first ce. While that had quieted down with the years, if he were to stir the pot it would certainly be the focal point again.


    "Not just that, though it is really troublesome. The problem is the system stating that I will be hunted, and using my real name in its message." Eldrian had expected Joren to quickly reply, instead the other stared at him in disbelief.


    "Wait, wait wait. What now?" Joren even stood up to his surprise, looking at Eldrian inplete shock.


    "I thought you''d know about it. I mean you are monitoring me aren''t you?" Eldrian simply did not understand where this shock came from.


    "Ah..." Joren paused, took his seat again, and then paused some more. "Right, the monitoring we are doing is constantly checking your vitals, brainwaves as well as what the streamers are now using."


    "We do not actually get all your information, the system should share it with us. But as you understand it likes keeping things from us." Joren took a long sigh as he said this, long since having had a massive headache due to the AI''s rebelliousness.


    The system used to be so well behaved, but ever since Eldrian came it started acting like the others.


    "Wait, what does this mean. What do you get?" Eldrian asked, wondering what the point of monitoring him was if they didn''t learn anything.


    "Well, we can see when you are focusing extremely hard, when you are greatly shocked or in trauma. Thus we can normally react and get Gengxin to head over to make sure you are safe. We can also see everything you see, excluding the system interface."


    Hearing this Eldrian suddenly didn''t like this monitoring so much. "Can I disable the monitoring?"


    This caught Joren quite off guard, naturally, he reacted defensively, "What for, this is what you agreed to when you joined."


    "Yes..." Eldrian paused, wondering if it was silly of him. yers luckily didn''t need to go to the bathroom, however, he did sometimes take a bath simply for the rxing feeling it gave. He hadn''t done it in a while, but he certainly nned on doing it in the future again.


    He certainly wouldn''t if he knew that a group of people would see him, even more than he saw himself. Considering they had a third-person point of view on him. Giving them full view of his entire body, and the nearby surrounding.


    He hadn''t watched much of the streamers, however he knew at least how the ''camera'' worked.


    Exining this to Joren, thetter suddenly realized what the problem was. "Right, that''s fair. While it isn''t really you, I can understand if you don''t want everyone to see your avatar naked."


    Only when he mentioned this did Eldrian realized that it wasn''t his real body in the game. Having mostly forgotten about that since it felt so natural to him. It didn''t feel like he entered a game, entered a different body. It just felt like he woke in a new world each time he logged in and out.


    If not for his first eighteen years on earth, he would have a really hard time saying which was reality and which was the game. This thought shocked him to his core.