Fire Dragon Empire, Fire Dragon City.
Along the bustling commercial avenue of the imperial capital, batch after batch of players clad in black cloaks strode through the streets. Their numbers were so great that they had become a spectacle in their own right.
"Why are so many people wearing black cloaks on the streets today? And they all look so strong!" A Level 56 first-tier newcomer who had come as usual to trade for new gear watched the passersby with undisguised astonishment.
Fire Dragon City was ordinarily packed with people as well, but nowhere near today's level—the crowd had more than tripled. The whole place gave off an unmistakable air of strangeness.
It wasn't just the players acting strangely in their black cloaks—even quite a few NPCs wore them, gathering in groups of three or five. The aura emanating from each of them was intimidating. Meanwhile, the NPCs throughout the alleyways and side streets whispered among themselves about something, yet since gaining sentience, they seemed to deliberately avoid speaking where players could overhear.
"This is perfectly normal for today. You haven't been playing Divine Realm very long, so you probably don't know—today is the day the twelve great guilds of the Divine Realm Continent are confirmed, and the competition for the twelve candidate seats begins." A third-tier man at Level 109 standing nearby glanced at the guild newcomer and explained with a smile.
"The twelve great guilds of Divine Realm are being confirmed?" The novice Shield Warrior was thunderstruck. "Isn't that determined by the Virtual Gaming Association?"
In the real world, the universally recognized super guilds were evaluated annually by the Virtual Gaming Association, but those positions were virtually fixed—there was hardly any change.
"No! This is organized by the Temple of War to determine the twelve strongest guilds across the entire Divine Realm Continent. It's not a competition held in the real world," the third-tier man said with an amused chuckle.
"Then does our guild have a chance to participate?" The novice Shield Warrior's eyes blazed with fighting spirit the moment he heard this.
A tournament like this was utterly unheard of, and given how popular Divine Realm had become, it could easily be called the world's biggest competition. If he could make a name for himself in it, his career would skyrocket.
After all, major corporations were currently offering sky-high salaries to recruit top players from Divine Realm—prices that were simply beyond imagination. Even players in the top fifty of the Leaderboard earned far more than first-tier celebrities.
"Our guild wants to participate too, unfortunately the bar is too high. Even those first-rate guilds don't qualify…" the third-tier man said with a bitter smile.
Now, every major faction in Divine Realm was quietly discussing the matter of the twelve guilds behind closed doors. Even the NPCs were talking about it—the scale of influence was truly unprecedented.
For a competition like this, forget about winning a seat—simply being allowed to participate was proof of one's strength.
"Then with so much excitement today, are all these people here to compete in the tournament?" The novice Shield Warrior was starting to put things together.
"The competitors are probably the ones wearing black cloaks. As for the rest, they should be spectators," the third-tier man explained.
"Spectators? Can we go watch?" The novice Shield Warrior's interest was immediately piqued.
"That's… probably not possible either…" the third-tier man said with some embarrassment. "Just the admission fee for spectators is three hundred gold, and VIP boxes require five thousand gold plus twenty units of Seven Luminaries Crystal Stones. And there are only a thousand VIP boxes available."
Three hundred gold was an enormous sum even for current third-tier professionals—most third-tier experts didn't even have three hundred gold in their pockets. Living expenses in Divine Realm were simply too steep to save much of anything.
As for the VIP boxes, they were reserved specifically for the major guilds—not something an individual could afford.
Never mind the five thousand gold—just the twenty units of Seven Luminaries Crystal Stones alone would make even a first-rate guild flinch, let alone those second- and third-rate guilds.
At this moment, not only was the third-tier man feeling somewhat awkward—even the other third-tier experts on the street were sighing.
"A tournament like this—just being able to watch would be enormously beneficial."
"More than that! I've heard that over twenty superpowers are entering the competition this time. Including the super guilds, the total could reach thirty—and all of them are sending their absolute best. Just witnessing such a battle would make life worthwhile."
"I heard the same. Right now, even the spectator VIP boxes are being fought over like crazy. Some second- and third-rate guilds that didn't manage to grab one are willing to pay double the price."
As the players on the street discussed all of this, even those who couldn't afford a ticket gazed on with wistful longing.