Pantheon Online

Colt sighed as he exited his gaming cabin. The handover to Noslin had been tense, considering that he had not managed to make any headway into their problems yet. However, she was surprised to discover that he had a plan. She just had to wait for his big reveal like everyone else. Although they had originally gotten off on the wrong foot, she decided to trust him with this, as she had no ideas of her own.

However, his Pantheon complained when they discovered that when he returned to the game along with the others getting a break this time that nobody in Ragnarok would be allowed to log off. He had made it clear that Ragnarok would be launching a massive operation and all hands would be needed for it to succeed.

Naturally, only a handful knew what he was planning to do in the Silverfang Mountains, so the rest had started chatting excitedly as they tried to figure out what was going to happen. Colt shook his head as he headed for the shower to get cleaned up. 'We can only wait and see if the preparations are enough to see us through it.'

'If it's not, then Parthus will probably wipe out all of my followers and it'll be game over...' Colt sighed again as he dried himself off and got dressed. 'There's nothing else I can do on that front for now... I guess I should check how our streams are doing...'

He sat down at his desk as he booted up the computer. A few moments passed as it came to life and he navigated to the game's main page. He eyed the featured articles about the game that were displayed there, with the most prominent one being people complaining that the developers were exploiting 'living' AI for entertainment.

He quickly lost interest in that article as he turned his attention to Ragnarok's page. His eyes went wide as quickly glanced over the numbers of views of the recent streams. 'Damn! When did we become so popular?' As he scrolled backwards, he found the stream where they really began to generate interest.

'I see, it seems these viewers really like the roleplaying that makes it seem like they are watching a movie instead of a game.' Colt hummed as he studied the comments. Sure enough, the comments stated that they wished more of the game's streams were like this one. Like it was one big complicated tv show and they could root for whoever they wanted to succeed in the overall story.

Colt chuckled to himself as he read that. 'There's no real story behind the game as far as I can tell. They are just thinking of it as a story because so many people are trying to conquer the game. I guess the realistic NPCs really help to make the world feel alive to them.'

Colt frowned as he made a mental note to tell the members of Ragnarok to act like it was real life when they were in the game to help boost their views. They might feel awkward doing it, but if it helped the Pantheon as whole, then could they really complain? They needed money after all.

Colt was lost in his thoughts as he checked the messages that had been sent to him as the administrator of Ragnarok. Luckily, only companies approved by the game developers could use this feature to reach out to the teams taking part in the game. It really helped to filter out the useless stuff that would usually slip through.

After browsing through the offers of a few small companies that brought no real benefits, he stumbled on one that caught his interest. 'Rebel Energy?' Colt frowned as he looked at the sender. 'They've been going downhill in the gaming scene for some time now. Are they getting so desperate that they're willing to bet on some unknown team?'

Colt tapped his desk with his finger as he considered whether he should open it or not. 'They're still a big company, so a sponsorship probably won't mean much to them. They'll definitely be able to afford to give us cash...' However, he was concerned that such a big name, no matter how much they had gone downhill, were willing to approach a team with no renown.

'It can't hurt to see what they are offering...' Colt opened the email and carefully scanned it word for word to make sure he did not miss anything.

Hello, I assume this email will have reached Exile. If he is not the one reading this, please allow him to do so first before you go any further.

My name is Jay Deacon. I am a marketing representative for Rebel Energy. I am sure that you understand by now that we are excited to offer your team a chance to work together as partners. I know that you are new team, and therefore most likely short on funds to pay members of your team to play full time.

As part of our offer for sponsorship, we are willing to foot the bill for the cost of your player's salaries for the first year. If you are not currently paying them anything, then we discuss a competitive amount for you to pay them as you stabilise your position.

Now that I have most likely dealt with your biggest need, let me explain what a sponsorship from us would involve...

Colt felt a smile crossing his face as he read through the list of benefits that Rebel Energy was willing to give to them. It was a dream come true type of sponsorship for a new team. Something that should theoretically be impossible as it discussed merchandise and what percentage they would receive. Colt particularly liked the idea of energy drinks being named after members of his team, as it would help to get their names out there.

However, he was caught by surprise as Jay went on to describe how they wanted to start producing nutrients for gaming cabins as well. Of course, this would be branded after their team as well. Colt could not help but frown when he read that. It was an expensive undertaking by Rebel Energy to try to break into that market. However, if they succeeded, then Ragnarok could look forwards to monthly supplies of it.

Meaning that the team's biggest cost would disappear, leaving them with more funds for other things. Colt began to have doubts as the offers grew in scale and generosity. It was too good to be true considering their current position. Even though their streams were generating interest, it was not an earth-shattering amount of followers either.

'These terms... This should be similar to a sponsorship to a large, well-known team like Camelot or Kaleidoscope. A team with an outstanding track record in the pro scene. This is too much...' Colt began to have cold feet despite his initial excitement over the offer. 'This Jay guy is definitely laying it on too thick. It reeks of desperation!'

He decided it was better to distance the team from Rebel Energy. If they were that desperate to convince an unknown team, then their situation must be far worse than he knew of. However, that was when he reached the end of the email and discovered an attachment marked, For Exile Only.

Colt frowned as he downloaded the attachment. There was no harm in looking, after all. Truth be told, he was curious what more they would want to say to him, and only him. As he opened the attachment and began to read what it said, a shiver ran down his spine.

Dear Exile, or should I say... Colt Anderson.

I hope you have found our offer to be sincere considering your reputation. I am guessing that it would probably have seemed too good to you until now. However, I hope that you realise that I had to put everything on the table if it means the chance of working with someone as well known as you. I look forward to hearing from you, and hopefully, we can meet in person soon.

Sincerely,

Jay Deacon

Marketing Manager

Colt sucked in a deep breath of air as he tried to digest the contents. 'What gave me away?' Colt frowned as he read through the entire offer and the attachment again. 'If some random marketing manager in Rebel Energy can figure out who I am... Then it won't be long until someone else does.'

Colt groaned as he thought about the implications of this. 'If it was someone else, they may not have reached out with an olive branch. I should consider myself lucky that Rebel Energy wants to work with me instead of outing me.' Colt glared at the email with an intensity that he barely ever used. 'This almost feels like blackmail now, but I can understand why they seemed so desperate with their offer now. Sadly, it makes sense. They must want to use my name to catapult the team's name into the spotlight.'

Colt sighed again as he composed his reply to Jay...