ALL NOVEL 1: Game Over
5,000,000 viewers and counting. The comment box scales with every millisecond without giving the moderators a chance to work. Not even Jimbo, who prides his reflexes in front of a screen, would be able to keep up with the number and frequency of messages, at most managing to read a couple of them.
Of the three monitors in front, Jimbo pays the least attention to the left one, the screen that shows the tournament broadcast and the comments box. For Jimbo, attending his community is a lower priority, his attention is 100% focused on the game. Kardax 10,000 (Kard10k for short), perhaps the most complex management and conquest video game in history, and for proof the title number, which is the number of years synthesized in each match. The matches of Kard10k can last entire days, the longest lasted a week without pauses between.
The drumming of keys being pressed at full speed is a constant sound in the LED-lit bedroom. Jimbo tilts his head towards the can of energy drink on the desk, and by pressing his chin he manages to drink without spilling a drop. It's years and years of practice and stained shirts.
The 3 V-Tubers hired to present the competition try to follow and narrate the movements of the three remaining competitors. Emblems placed on a 3D diagram of the solar system are used to represent the positions of each player. Jimbo's emblem is a J framed in a blue diamond.
Art3misamisa: Earth, Mars, Jupiter.
DimensionD: Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
KingJim: Mercury, Venus, Pluto.
To a casual viewer it might appear that Jim is losing, cornered against the sun, in possession of a dwarf planet (Pluto) known as the Newbie-Catcher because of its uselessness and false rumors that it contains exotic materials. Was it really worth it to secretly cross the entire solar system to keep that chump trophy?
DimensionD also believes that Jim made a mistake, sensing that this is a desperate strategy. Perhaps the famous KingJim has lost his touch? DD decides to send small war expeditions to eradicate Jimbo's lowly Plutonian settlement.
Jim wields a half-smile as sees DD's first horde of space marines landing, all very large and noble, waving battle banners and heavy machine guns.... Only to get blasted by turrets and explosive minefields. When the ammunition in the turrets and bombs runs out, more marines land and fire on the base, which Jim's colonists continue to fortify from the inside, using machines to refine regolith and build protective plates.
It seems that Jim is building some valuable weapon on Pluto, some secret that everyone in Kardax 10,000 does not know, perhaps an Easter Egg hidden by the game developers. But the truth is...
There's nothing on Pluto, it's just a useless rock, at best a regolith storehouse.
With every minute that passes, Jimbo contemplates how his enemy despairs for not being able to open a breach. DD decides to send a small army to the dwarf planet. Careless and considerable expenditure of force and soldiers, especially when you have an open war front against Art3misamisa.
Art3mis places her legions of robot valkyries in the front row and tries to push towards Saturn with 50% of her total forces, keeps 10% on their Jupiter moons, another 10% on Mars, and the rest on Earth forming a planetary defense belt in case Jimbo gets the magnificent idea to attack.
"Smart girl," Jim mutters, showing a wide shark smile on his broad face. Like a good predator, he knows when to strike.
Art3mis is the biggest threat in the game, Jim urgently needs her to spend resources and weaken in the war against DD to be able to attack. In the meantime, he can concentrate resources on developing a Dyson proto-sphere around the sun to harness its energy. This would be the first time a Dyson proto-sphere has been built in a professional competition, a difficult enough accomplishment in casual matches.
Jim takes victory for granted. This game was over before it started
"Hmm?" Jim notices something odd in the comments.
There are many messages with exclamation points naming his air purifier, a black rectangle next to the bed. Jim remembers that he has to take care his sponsors.
"Electronic Airs purifiers, the best and most reliable on the market. Seriously, guys. I don't know how I could live this long without getting one. Plus, if you order yours with the link in the description and use the code KingJ, you'll get 30% off. You'd be a fool to pass up this offer. Spend! spend! spend!"
The comment box goes on and on: The purifier! The purifier!
Jim flashes a smile of a job well done. Assumes he'll receive a juicy check for the successful promotion. Though the smile is wiped off when his satellites warn of an enemy intrusion.
A small white scout ship intrudes into his sectors. It's an Art3mis ship. Jim frowns. The spacecraft sends out distress signals and constant requests for communication. With a specific keyboard command, Jim gives the order to attack, and his satellites fire laser beams that turn the small ship into stardust.
"No way! You think because you're a girl you can fool me, the management king? This isn't the first time they've tried to sneak an anti-matter bomb on me with a harmless-looking ship. You still need more than 100 years to outdo me!"
Jim exclaims and guffaws, confident that the audience is celebrating and applauding his wise decision. But the happiness disappears from his face when he smells a strange smell.
Behind him, the black rectangle is still shooting sparks that turn into fire.