"I want to sign up!"
"There's no entry fee? This isn't some kind of scam, is it?"
"Could you stop pushing before you say that?"
"..."
Lorne had seen his share of grand spectacles, but the hands reaching out before him were getting positively Lovecraftian. He could barely find a single face among them.
Quirrell was just about to help restore order when he heard Lorne shout in imitation of Professor Snape.
"Silence!"
In the crowd, Sains, who was being crushed half to death, misheard it as his own name and immediately poked his head out of the thousand-armed Guanyin.
"It's me! I'm Sains!"
The crowd quieted down. They looked at Sains, wondering where this guy with connections had come from.
"Please form a line and come up one at a time," Lorne immediately called out while the crowd was quiet. "I've prepared enough parchment to record every contestant's name. Let's line up. Order is the fastest way forward."
Sains naturally took first place in line.
"Your name? Right, Sains, I still remember. Which character do you use?"
"Hufflepuff." Sains had his own house allegiance, too, and he had found that Hufflepuff's skill set was indeed very versatile.
Lorne's quill flew across the parchment. After writing "Sains, number one, Hufflepuff" on the form, he handed Sains a number token.
"What's this?"
"You're contestant number one. You'll need this number token to compete and draw your opponent, so please make absolutely sure you don't lose it."
Lorne explained carefully, and Sains nodded, only half understanding.
Seeing this, Lorne said no more. He used a Levitation Charm to suspend the registration instructions beside him, saving himself from having to explain them every time.
Registration lasted a full two hours. At first, Lorne could still write the entries himself, but later he simply put the parchment on the counter for them to fill in themselves and only handled handing out number tokens.
"Director Lorne?"
Exhausted, Lorne had sat down long before. Since the front counter had been raised for the customers' convenience, he could not see who was on the other side while seated if they were too short.
He stood up and discovered that Draco was standing at the counter.
"Can I sign up?" Draco was a little stiff. "I didn't see any age restrictions."
"Of course. As long as you want to, we're open to every contestant."
Draco felt rather uncomfortable. If Director Lorne knew how he disparaged Mudbloods both openly and behind their backs, he probably would not look so kindly on him.
Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle urged Draco to stop dithering and wasting time. There were still plenty of people in the queue behind them.
This was Draco's third visit.
Although, in their subsequent thanks to the Malfoy family, the Crabbe family and Goyle family had mentioned hoping Draco could visit earlier next time, since the food would no longer be at its absolute best if he missed dinner.
Lucius, however, had praised Draco for doing well. He said there was no need to maintain perfect manners at all times with people who had no prospects and only knew how to cling to the powerful. An occasional display of rudeness would make them remember their place.
Draco had nodded vigorously at the time, but all he could think was that he now had even more reason to visit the Magic Mobile Phone shop.
He asked to visit Crabbe and Goyle almost every day, but Lucius did not agree every time. He reminded Draco to maintain an air of mystery and reserve, but could not withstand Draco bringing it up at the dinner table day after day.
So he agreed again, for the third time.
The last time Draco had played Wizard Legend, people had even gathered to watch. There had actually been a server-wide announcement when he logged in. The exclamations of those beside him had drawn quite a few others over, and Draco had been surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars as everyone took turns praising him to the skies.
For the first time, Draco realized that showing off through games was much more effortless and convenient, and the sense of achievement and joy he gained was unparalleled.
For the first time, he unconsciously put on the airs of the Malfoy family yet patiently answered all their questions, including how to increase combat power, solve the relevant puzzles, and acquire resources.
As it turned out, plenty of people in the Magic Mobile Phone shop played Wizard Legend, too. It was simply that, compared with Street Wizard Fighter, Wizard Legend lacked the advantage of in-person, offline PvP, so people did not talk about it.
Really, a little thought made it obvious. If you saw two games on a Magic Mobile Phone, would you only try one?
No, so Draco had gone on to play Street Wizard Fighter as well.
On his very first try, Draco defeated Goyle with half his health remaining. Frankly, Goyle played like a Muggle. Draco could win easily with just one finger on the stone tablet.
Draco had also taken notes afterward on how to deal the most damage with the least magic, the characters' strengths and weaknesses, hidden skills, and so on.
Compared with Crabbe and Goyle, who sparred every day, he was more of a theorist. Every time he emerged, he would crush his two peers in an entirely new way.
But that only applied to his peers. His total magic reserves and fine control meant his execution could not keep up with his ideas, and adult wizards always managed to beat him by a narrow margin.
Draco would not stupidly go and embarrass himself like those foolish lions in a competition where he had no advantage.
Unless there was a grand prize.
Looking at the tournament special-edition Magic Mobile Phone offered for first place, Draco's eyes went red.
A tournament special edition, a limited collectible: it suited his status perfectly.
Even setting all that aside, Draco would have tried for it if it had been an ordinary Magic Mobile Phone. He could no longer bear living without one.
After signing up, Draco was unusually reluctant to log into Wizard Legend first that day. He wanted to practice his Street Wizard Fighter skills.
But he only had an hour to practice, so he could only start by observing how some experts played.
Fortunately, he carried his theory notebook with him at all times.
Opening it to the Street Wizard Fighter section, Draco searched around for people fighting with Slytherin, then stood behind them, scribbling away with his quill. He was even more attentive than he was in Professor Snape's Potions Class with Gryffindor.
"Could I take a look?"
His thoughts interrupted by the question, Draco looked up. The person asking was a very ordinary-looking older boy.
"My name's Sains. I've noticed you've been taking notes here for quite a while. Could I look at your notebook?"
Draco was not someone who liked to share, but when it came to games, he always wanted everyone to know about his achievements and efforts.
So he handed over his notebook with an indifferent expression.
"Slytherin. So you're a Slytherin player. I've certainly run into plenty of tricky Slytherins," Sains commented as he read. "Wow, these damage calculations are so precise, and you've even studied the very essence of Slytherin's character so thoroughly. You're an expert, no question."
Draco was inwardly ecstatic, and he was gradually losing the battle to keep the corners of his mouth down.
"But-"
"But what?"
"There's no use only studying your own character," Sains said, handing the notebook back to Draco. "Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat."