It didn't take long for many to notice that there was a new building under construction; Kim was the first to notice.
"Hey guys, there's a new building under construction," Kim said one day while they were all at the Tavern.
"I wondered what that metallic structure was," brandobrawl said. "What do you think it's for?"
"I don't know," replied Kim, "but rumors say that Runouw has been working on it for 25 years!"
"Kim. Runouw is 18."
"....I knew that."
Nin10mode chimed in enthusiastically. "I'd be willing to bet all my savings that it's some sort of deathmatch where we're all put into teams, get weapons, and have to fight to eliminate each other."
Buff was cleaning a glass with a moist piece of cloth. "Peh, that's a stupid idea."
"It's most likely Super Mario 126," Zeb said dismissively. Everyone nodded.
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The next day, a sign up for entering the topic was made. Even then, exactly what the topic was for was kept a secret.
Suyo stoof at the sign up booth, writing the names of the people who wanted to enter on a piece of paper. Strangely, some sort of metal detector-type thing was propped up next to the booth.
Moy, the first in line, approached Suyo and asked, “Uhh, what’s the metal-detector thing for?”
Suyo glanced up from his paper. “Oh this? It’s not a metal detector. It’s an awesome detector. We want to keep this….err…”game” fair, so we keep out people who are too awesomesauce. You can see the level of awesomeness on the bar here. Ranges from n00b clumsiness to shadowsquid badassery.”
Moy grinned. “Well, get ready for your awesome detector to explode.”
“Okay, just follow the directions the awesome detector gives you. It has a speech function.”
“Please step on the detector pad,” a robotic voice instructed. Moy stepped in the pad obediently.
“Please step on the detector pad.”
“Please step on the detector pad. NAO.”
Suyo looked up. “That’s odd. The detector doesn’t seem to be able to…..detect you.”
Moy frowned. “Very funny, SUyo. Now turn this thing on.”
Suyo looked at the green “On” light. “You know what? Go right on ahead. This thing seems to be…um…malfunctioning.”
Moy walked on, more cheerful now.
Brandobrawl was next. “Please step on the detector pad.”
After stepping on the pad, he smiled coyly at Suyo, shaking his head. “Poor ol’ Moy. Has no clue, the poor chap.”
“Please step on the detector pad. NAO.”
“I’ll just…go right on ahead…”
Suyo leaned back in his chair. “This…might be harder than I thought.”
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The Next day…
Selections. 16 people would be chosen for the game. They would be the first ones to play the game, and nobody else would be able to play it until they had finished. With the failure of the awesome detector and the fact that shadowsquid had tried to enter disguised as Kris, effectively blowing up the detector, Suyo decided to just choose users he knew well randomly. Anyway, names were chosen in accordance:
24murph
Alucardx60
Avolerator
Ayrayen
Aznchau4ever
Blablob
Brandobrawl
Buffooner
Kimonio
Megamario126
MessengerOfYahweh
Nero The Demonslayer
Nin10mode
TheBetterGamer
Zebtreslala
Zunar
Each one was greeted a letter from Runouw himself.
Runouw wrote: Greetings,
You have been chosen to participate in the very first ever, Vorpal Annihilations Games. I must remember to fire the person who came up with the name. These games will test all your skills, reflexes, and abilities to the limit. Meet at the entrance of the New VAG (*snigger*) building and bring this letter as proof that you allowed inside. Inside, you will be briefed what will happen to you in the next few weeks. Or we may decide to knock you out with a frying pan and slowly let you find out what’s going on for better exposition. Be prepared, once you enter the VAGs, you will not leave until they are over.
