The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the read aloud family TXT] 📗

and the only one to shake my hand. He sat to my right, and was here as champion of the Pet Battles.

A waiter appeared like a shadow behind me and asked what I’d like to eat, rattling off several dishes with unfamiliar names. I chose some strange fish with an odd-sounding side and an unknown sauce. There was also salad, soup, little canapes with black and red caviar, dessert and all kinds of other fancy delicacies. I declined offers of alcohol; I needed a clear head, especially with millions of viewers watching. I could feel hateful stares on me too, like that guy Quetzal’s — the one who’d tried to drill a hole in me with at the registration desk.

When I’d finished my soup and was waiting for the waiter to serve the fish, the stage in the center of the hall lit up. Triumphant orchestral music began to play and lasers flashed. The room fell silent and started to watch.

Chloe Cliffhanger emerged first, wearing a long silver dress, a glimmering crown atop her head. She effusively welcomed all the contestants on behalf of Snowstorm and then handed over to the presenter of the opening ceremony… Aaron Quan would have fallen off his chair!

Slowly, snow-white wings beating behind them, two angels descended to the stage: Denise Le Bon and Brad Pitt-66. Brad Pitt-66 was the most successful reincarnation of a famous actor from the start of the century — an android made to be a perfect copy of the living actor. The synthetic, introduced to the public in 2066, had probably long since overtaken the human original in terms of viewer count and money earned.

“The angels greet the chosen ones!” The human and android flew in a circle around the stage.

“Well, people!” Denise shouted. “Are you ready to show the world what you can do in the Demonic Games?”

“Yes!” the crowd roared.

“I can’t hear you!” Brad cried.

Beautiful Anna stood up and shouted:

“I love you, Brad Pitt-66!”

Frankie frowned, destroying the android with his gaze:

“Rustbucket!”

The show lasted around an hour. The audience ate, drank and delighted in the stars’ performance. Famous singers and bands took to the stage, stand-up comics and great champions of the Games of the past…

I had no appetite, but I had to give the chefs their due — I still ate all the fish. Then I dug around in my desert with my spoon until I felt someone’s eyes on me and looked around. Ian was waving to me from the second tier. He pointed at me, then at the door to the right. Nodding, I headed there and found myself in a smoking room. There was nobody there except a robot cleaner.

Ian showed up a minute later. Spreading his arms wide, he hugged me and slapped me on the back:

“Finally, Alex! There were too many eyes after the press conference, but here… Glad to meet you in the flesh! You’re a lot more real here, so to speak!”

“Likewise, Mr. Mitchell. You’re a little different from the virtual you.”

Mitchell let me go, chuckling and rubbing his bare chin.

“Yeah, I’m still getting used to being clean-shaven. Wanna sit down?” He pointed to a leather couch.

I sat. Ian sat down next to me and started cutting a cigar. Staring at it, he spoke quietly:

“Your friends are not happy. Edward said he’s going to kick those two, and I quote, ‘the fuck out of the clan.’ Hung promised that to ‘strangle that bastard personally.’ I put a hold on the interview. The way Clark and I see it, you’re better off playing like you’re alone in this. You’ll get the sympathy vote that way.”

“Got it. Thanks, Mr. Mitchell. One good thing, at least.”

“Good luck, Alex!” Ian lit up his cigar and breathed out a cloud of smoke. “Will you give me a quick interview?”

“Sure thing.”

“Great! Ready?”

“Yes.”

Ian’s eye lit up red, showing that he’d started recording.

“How are you feeling on the whole? Liking the ceremony?”

I shrugged.

“It’s all just great. My friend Aaron Quan is a big fan of Denise. In case she’s listening, I want to say a big hello to her from Aaron. Denise, he’s your biggest fan and dreams of meeting you!”

“I’ll tell Denise,” Ian smiled. “What about you? Would you like to meet her?”

“We’ve met, she presented our team an award at the Arena.”

“All the same. Do you like her?”

“It would be silly to deny her beauty, Mr. Mitchell, but my heart belongs to someone else… No, no, no names.”

“At least a hint. Does her name contain the letter ‘I’?”

“Uhh… Fine, I can tell you that. Yes. But not a word more!”

“Alright,” Ian winked at me, thinking he’d guessed right. “I think your viewers and readers will understand why you’d rather keep the lucky girl’s name secret. Alex, I know that the last half a year has totally transformed your life. When they imagine your huge bank account, people often forget that you’re just a schoolkid. You’ve learned and seen many new things. Tell us, what surprised you most of all? The opportunities you unlocked? The attention from the press?” Ian smiled. “Or from girls?”

“The punishments.”

“What?”

“The punishment TV streams. At home, my parents always kept an eye on what I watched, all the channels had a parental lock on them. So I only learned about the online punishments recently.”

“Ah, I see. And what surprises you about that?”

“The injustice.”

“But wait, isn’t it a good thing that society delivers the verdict, not some judge who can be bribed or a jury wrapped around a lawyer’s finger?”

“Sure, it’s probably good that not just one person gets to decide whether the accused lives or dies, or even a few people, but everyone. Well, everyone in theory; in practice, most of them probably don’t vote. But even if they all