"Do you understand what you're seeing?"
Desireless quietly asked his old friend standing next to him.
The two of them had spectated multiple matches between Hyrlan and Messai. Even a newbie would be able to understand how to play Hearthstone in no time.
"I do… but I also don't."
The gray robed old man was stroking his long beard the entire time. His vision was fixed onto the arcanotech device. A deep frown was present on his face.
This was the first time since his exploration of the underground remnants that he encountered such a complicated arcanotech device.
Even though this arcanotech device could only be used for entertainment, its composition and system setup was something the gray robed old man had never seen before.
He does not possess a 'third eye' like Desireless. As such, he could only survey the Hearthstone gameplay to determine how the animations and card interactions were processed by the runes.
But, the more he pondered, the more chaotic things became… Even now, he was unable to determine the principle behind the machine.
To him, someone who had mastered over 200 runes, that was simply something unrealistic.
But, that unrealistic matter was present before him. It was a real fact. The knowledge that he had spent over a hundred years studying was completely useless before it.
"Two old sirs, regretfully, I must inform the two of you that this is not something that you can understand merely by looking."
Joshua heard the whispers between the two old men. They weren't trying to hide their conversations either.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIf the two of them were truly able to learn the programming language behind Hearthstone merely by watching its gameplay, then the years Joshua spent learning the programming languages back on earth would be completely wasted.
Not to mention programming languages, Joshua felt that they might not even have a concept of 'calculator.'
"You were the one who made this…?"
The gray robed old man has been pondering about the 'chat box' ever since he met Joshua.
While there was currently magic that allows for people to send voice transmissions to one another, there were no magic or systems of magic runes that would allow for the storage and display of characters to communicate with each other.
"Not completely. Miss Hyrlan over here and my assistant Ciri has also helped me with it… I was also helped by a mysterious organization called 'Blizzard.'"
Before explaining to the two old men what they wanted to know, Joshua decided to bait them slightly.
Hearing Joshua's words, Desireless and the gray robed old man turned their eyes to Ciri and Hyrlan.
In their eyes, Ciri and Hyrlan were very ordinary mage apprentices. As such, they became even more concerned with the mysterious organization 'Blizzard.'
Desireless recalled the various organizations he had interacted with all these years. But, no matter which country, no matter whether they might be open organizations or hidden organizations, he was unable to recall an organization called 'Blizzard.'
"That being said, the most fundamental rune knowledge that allowed for the creation of this game came from a distant country."
Joshua decided to sprinkle a small lie. Chaos Demons were not at all interested in the control of magic runes.
As an archbishop of the Nation of the Holy Church, Desireless's knowledge of the demons most definitely surpassed that of ordinary people. But, it remains that those programming knowledge were things Joshua learned from earth.
After Joshua said those words, he could sense a passionate gaze from the gray robed old man.
"A distant country…"
The gray robed old man seemed to be pondering which distant country it might be. As for Desireless, he already had a guess.
The mages were a bunch of knowledge-seeking lunatics. Merely the phrase 'from a distant country.' was enough to perk their interest.
The underground remnants of Norland simply contain too many unknown secrets. There were so many that they were unable to decipher them even now.
Joshua… seemed to have inherited those unknown knowledges. That in itself was enough to make the Council of Seven collectively invite Joshua for tea.
But, Joshua showed no desire to occupy all the knowledge. He didn't mind sharing the wisdom of entry-level programming with them. If Joshua planned to make Triple-A games in the future, even though he now possessed the body of a Chaos Demon, he would still die from overworking if he was to attempt to make those games on his own.
"I am willing to share those knowledge. However, I am only willing to share it with one of you."
Learning new knowledge from a teacher would necessarily cost tuition money. Since it was going to be entry-level programming, Joshua's tuition fee was very cheap. He merely wanted them to cooperate with him in putting on a small performance.
"Only one? Then… what is the condition?"
Desireless tightened his grasp on his cane. He could sense malice in Joshua's tone. No matter how tempting Joshua's knowledge might be, Joshua was still a demon and his enemy.
As such, it was very possible for Joshua to demand for the two of them to kill each other, that only the survivor was entitled to learn the knowledge. That was a scheme commonly used by demons.
"It's very simple."
Joshua pointed to the Hearthstone machine. Hyrland and Messai had stopped their match.
Messai was in no mood to continue playing Hearthstone after hearing the conversation between Desireless and Joshua. After all, her esteemed teacher was being enticed by the demon, he was yearning to learn the demon's knowledge!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMessai opened her mouth with the intention of interrupting in their conversation to prevent her esteemed teacher's frantic behavior. But, it seemed like Desireless has seen through messai and instructed her to calm down with his hand.
"This arcanotech device will be exhibited on the World Expo. Because of that, I hope that the two of you will be able to have three matches using it. With winning two matches serving as a victory, the winner shall be able to receive the knowledge I obtained from the underground remnant."
Joshua was originally in a pickle wondering about how to popularize Hearthstone on the World Expo. In the end, he came to a very simple conclusion. If this was earth, then it would be… Celebrity Brand Ambassadors.
Both Desireless and that gray robed old man possessed exceptional status in Norland. That could be seen from Messai and Hyrlan's reactions.
The two of them were capable of attracting everyone's attention.
"That proposal of yours is much more cunning than I expected. But, I am fine with it."
The gray robed old man accepted Joshua's condition without bothering to even think much. To him, this condition was so very simple to accept. Soon, he will be representing his university in the Crystal Palace's center stage. He was totally capable of helping Joshua demonstrate the usage of his arcanotech device on the stage.
He practically understood how Hearthstone was played from the observations earlier. But, the difficult part was that he does not possess a card storage for Hearthstone.
"Then, does Archbishop Desireless also accept my condition?"
Desireless didn't say anything. But, he gently nodded his head.
Both men had chosen to succumb to the demon's temptations. This would become this world's first official video game competition.
*******************************
Translator YangWenli:
Please support my translation and this novel by upvoting it.
Check out my other translations too!
If there are any grammar errors, please leave a comment. I will try to fix them asap. Thanks!