🏆 THE AMBY AWARDS 2023 TOP PICK - DIVERSE LIT 🏆
It's Rin and Hye-jin against the world. Or so it should have been.
Nagara Rin and Joon Hye-jin, college sweethearts and passionate gamers, have lived a fairytale marriage. Not even a decade after did...
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I whipped towards the booth where the announcer was. He had just brought down his megaphone, revealing him to be a young man with shoulder-length green hair and pointy ears. He looked like the interns at work, still too fresh from whatever fantasy they came out of.
"Did you say 'Beast Hunters'?" I began to trudge towards the bleachers' stairs but Heather's clawed hand gripped my arm, holding me in place. "We won!"
The sound of nails flicking made me turn to Aevi. She grinned at me despite begging for her life not a few minutes ago. "Someone's a sore loser."
I stalked towards the valdyrsi. "Now, you listen here, you bi—"
"No harassment towards the other parties, please!" The announcer reached the arena's floor just as the crowd began dispersing, muttering to each other about how the fight was. I imagined the talks contained words describing us as failures. "I can explain."
Aevi blew into her fingernails, her smile relaxing into a relieved gaze as if she couldn't believe she got her hands back. "Please do, Wen," she said. "Explain why they had to lose to make them regret their choice even more."
I gritted my teeth. Heather, Revery, Arzo, and Trink fanned out from behind me, the same question etched on their faces. We won the match, didn't we?
Wen, the announcer, cleared his throat and consulted his clipboard. "Well, looking at the battle logs here," he said. "Seline used a skill called Divine Hand, is that right?"
I narrowed my eyes. What was he getting at? "Yeah," I said.
"According to the rules of the Games," Wen replied. "Anyone who uses a non-registered skill at the start of the tournament forfeits the present match."
My eyes widened as I turned to Heather. She must have found it unfair too, right? "When did that even happen?" I asked. "I read the rules before we registered. There's nothing there that says otherwise!"
Aevi chuckled. "This is why you'll never become adventurers," she said. "You don't know the politics of it all."
No way. Did she...?
"I understand, Wen," Heather answered. Before I could lash out once more, she started pulling me back. "We accept the ruling."
Wait. How could we just—
"Seline, let's go," Heather said in a voice she rarely used on us. It was full of authority, like a command. "Don't make me hurt you."
I sagged against her grip. Still, I kept my chin up as we retreated back into the entrance we emerged from, leading to the corridor containing our prep room. Through it all, I could see Aevi's smirk, embossing itself at the back of my brain. I'd wipe it off her damned pretty face—
"We shouldn't have entered," Revery said. I whirled to her just as Heather closed the door behind us and the summoner plopped into one of the cushions. "Now, we don't even have our license anymore."
