Read Carnage City: A World at War Novel (World at War Online Book 6) for Free Online

Gavin asked.
    “Of course. Tournaments are a good way to get sponsors, and there’s even rumors going around that individual teams can get their own sponsors. That’s all hearsay, though, and you didn’t hear it from me.”
    “Still,” Ethan commented, “that’s interesting, although it might make things a lot more contentious.”
    “What, people powergaming to get better and make money?” Gavin asked. “I could sadly see that.”
    “My sources tell me that the tournaments would take place outside the scope of the regular game. Kind of like a pocket dimension, of sorts,” Zach said.
    “That makes sense. Wouldn’t want to throw off the balance of the game that most people play for fun,” Selene said.
    “Yeah, but it probably won’t be long before we have a game where you can earn real world money just by playing,” Nora said. “Not huge amounts, of course, but little increments.”
    “How the heck would that even work?” Miko asked. “They’d need to make a profit somehow, so how are they going to do that when they have to pay their players as well? You really can’t ask for a subscription.”
    Nora shrugged. “Maybe advertising? I’m kind of surprised we don’t have billboards and announcements floating around Old Chicago, to be honest. It’s a space where people frequent. Why wouldn’t they use it to advertise?”
    Zach shifted next to her uncomfortably.
    “Well, someone knows something,” Gavin said.
    “No comment,” Zach replied, stone-faced.
    “Do you know anything?” Miko asked Nora.
    “Nope. It was just a guess,” she shrugged.
    “Always nice to have someone with insider information,” Selene said.
    “Please don’t prod me for it. I really don’t want to get fired,” Zach replied.
    Their conversation ended as the door opened and Xavier stepped through, followed by Danny. They both had a pitcher in each of their hands.
    “Happy Birthday Javy,” Danny said.
    “Jeeze, alcohol poisoning anyone?” Gavin said with a smile.
    “Of course not. We’ll help, of course.”
    That got a smile out of Nora. No matter how busy her life got, with these kind of friends there would always be time to sit back and enjoy herself.

4
    Tower
    D espite being in the virtual world, Danny felt slightly disoriented from last night. Then again, why wouldn’t he feel this way? His brain remained the same whether it was in the real world or the virtual one, so why would he expect anything different?
    Xavier nudged him. “You feeling OK?”
    Danny nodded. “Still not completely recovered from last night, but I’m fine. Not like I’m going to puke or pass out at any moment.”
    Xavier nodded, then made a thoughtful face. “I wonder how that would work. Getting sick on the outside while you were in here, I mean.”
    “Well, I think that would activate the distress protocols in the neuro-helmet, so you’d immediately log out,” Danny said, trying to remember what the owner’s manual had said. Full virtual world MMOs were relatively new, but full immersion technology had been around for a while and had numerous safety features installed. No possibility of being trapped in the game like so many books and movies liked to imagine.
    “Is this going to screw with your fighting ability?” Xavier asked.
    “Told you, I’m fine. I don’t feel the greatest, but I can still handle my duties.”
    “Ah, OK. But if you get killed, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    Danny grinned at him. “Your concern is appreciated, but I’ll take this gamble. Who knows how much fun I’d miss if I sat around on the sidelines?”
    “True.”
    Danny turned to the rest of the assembled platoon leaders and called them to order. Aside from his normal compliment of troops, Zach and Nora had loaned him Gavin’s squad as well. Alpha Wolf was still exploring the tunnels, but the limit space meant that only so many troops could be used at a time. Some units were better off being used elsewhere.
    Their surroundings weren’t