BXBX NOVEL Chapter 123 - Local Event (2)
(Comment here for anything you want to see on a new YouTube video about this novel and please vote using powerstones and golden tickets to get us within the top 10!)
Announcement: Please check the glossary/characters auxiliary chapter for updated concept art!
--------------------------
Kacey Musgraves, the next musical artist, was born and raised in Texas, so the crowd naturally welcomed her with ecstatic applause.
She performed three songs from her latest studio album before the third game between Evil Geniuses and Cloud9 began.
Arteezy was singled out by the enemy team during the second game, forcing him to farm the jungle and ultimately losing the mid-lane to the tenured APL pro, Doublelift, who transferred from TeamSoloMid to Cloud9 during the summer off-season.
The young EG mid-player couldn\'t farm enough gold and experience to unlock more powerful traits at the opportune moments and eventually lost the game at the 28th-minute mark.
The event host, local actor Matthew McConaughey, took to the stage as he welcomed the last musical feature of the night, the multi-talented showman, Bruno Mars.
Everyone who appreciated western music bopped to his songs like "Treasure" and "Locked out of Heaven" as the crowd followed Bruno Mars in singing the chorus.
The wide-format projection behind the stage lit up to add flair to each performance, but his background video was the best so far by spending time working with Future Studios as a perfectionist. His thirty-minute performance was a magical experience, complemented by pure charisma and charm.
The ten-minute show break was most welcome, considering the night\'s final game lasted a full hour of bitter comebacks.
EG\'s support players adapted to Cloud9\'s strategy and utilized resources in the first five minutes of the game to protect Arteezy from enemy harassment.
The strategy on both sides prolonged the match until both Doublelift and Arteezy were powerful enough to end the grueling game.
Cloud9 formed up and attempted to capture a buyback respawn point near EG\'s home base under a utility skill [Shadow Fog]. Arteezy was farming neutral units in the vicinity until a capture alert notified his team of the situation. Then, he looked on the mini-map and quickly calculated how long supports would arrive to help and aggressively used [Sword Whirlwind] over the terrain to contest the objective.
Cloud9 couldn\'t believe Arteezy would fight alone as he focused on damaging Doublelift while evading enemy lockdown abilities with utility skills and items.
One EG support cast [Holy Light] on his teammate and saved his reckless ass in the nick of time while fighting two versus five for a few seconds before Doublelift succumbed to Arteezy\'s swords.
The teammate fight was a slaughter as Cloud9 couldn\'t output enough damage to the numerous full-health players joining the battle before the fight ended with no one left on their side and losing the inaugural match of the APL Season 4.
The crowd went wild after a long and stressful. Yet, thrilling last game, and even the non-APL fans who attended only for the musical performances were enamored by the competitive video game.
After signing him for an absurd amount of money over the off-season, the young phenom immediately earned his team a welcome bonus of $5 million Bitcash.
McConaughey closed out the show by saying, "I\'m no gamer, but that was one hell of a match, am I right? Future Studios hopes everyone had a wonderful experience tonight, but we\'ll be back for more music and APL action. Enjoy your weekend stay in the City of Tomorrow!"
Businesses around the campus and Sixth Street provided goods and services to numerous tourists throughout the night, pouring out of the stadium.
The Digital Den hosted an after-party on the VIP floor, where higher-ranking Future Tech employees could socialize with professional players and musical artists.
Vince and Hailee attended the party for an hour as a courtesy and spent time with his friends, fellow executives, and the new additions to Future Record\'s artist roster.
Kacey Musgraves was lovely as ever while speaking to Leah, Heidi, and Alexis. Bruno Mars entertained Andreas, Dollar, and Patel at the bar with his antics.
The young couple joined their friends at a rowdy table with Post Malone downing two beers as a dare from Kyle.
Though, they didn\'t stay long because Hailee wanted to be one hundred percent for her first live concert performance on Sunday.
---------------
The following day, the city visitors and locals were either hungover from partying the night prior or ready for the upcoming hours of pure entertainment again.
The Sunday event was similar in format but featured a match between Prime Alliance versus FaZe Clan.
But the show started with a ten-minute exhibition submission grappling match between the "Pride of Austin", Tom Fury, and Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida, the absolute weight IBJJF World Champion.
They treated the audience with technical finesse as both fighters mixed offense and defense, attempting to submit each other within the time limit.
Buchecha was a hulk of a man and used it to his advantage in all his bouts, but Tom Fury was equally large.
Members of the audience who knew nothing about grappling nor mixed martial arts appreciated the beauty in their movements, rolling through dummy sweeps, passing each other\'s guards, and countering submission attempts until the ten-minute bell rang.
It ended in a draw, but the crowd cheered as if their hometown hero won, appreciating the entertaining close fight before the first musical number began.
Hailee dramatically entered the stage behind a thick layer of fog, wearing a custom Future Couture outfit meant for her performance.
She performed "Starving", "Most Girls", and her most popular track so far, "Party Pop". The audience loved the visuals in the background that accompanied her singing and dancing, as she felt the rush of a live concert for the first time.
Hailee received a standing ovation from all her adoring local and tourist fans from around the United States present in the stadium.
After a few minutes, she returned to the VIP box with plenty of praise waiting for her from Alice and the others.
The APL match began after a short intermission, as Prime Alliance fans chanted "Fortis" while the players entered their gaming booths.
FaZe Clan was the second-best team in North American APL season 3, and it looked like their roster changes didn\'t do much to increase their winning odds against their bitter rival.
Prime Alliance was the favorite based on the BitCash betting platform for a good reason. Fortis had fought members of FaZe Clan in Arena and Battlegrounds for almost two years now and knew exactly how to dismantle their strategies.
Prime Alliance won the first game without issue and took a break while BTS performed for the American and South Korean fans.
The Bangtan Boys weren\'t intimidated by the massive crowd but relished in it instead. Their shared dream was to perform on a stage like the Texas Memorial Stadium with over 100,000 people in attendance and deliver their best effort.
NetServ\'s Digital Media Unique Tags (DMUT) metrics accounted for the free concurrent viewer numbers across all electronic devices supporting network connectivity.
The Indian commentary broadcast garnered 150 million viewers, the Spanish and Portuguese versions had 100 million, the South Korean version had 20 million while the English broadcast which was translated by Infi-AI for the smaller countries without dedicated language commentary had 250 million.
The APL Weekend Bash boasted 520 million in total, around 10% more concurrent viewers than the previous night.
The second game began, and it quickly became apparent FaZe Clan couldn\'t provide an answer to the war machine called Prime Alliance.
It was a short bloodbath, ending in twenty-five minutes. Fortis graciously accepted the $5 million Bitcash on behalf of his team and thanked the Austin crowd for their support.
The loud cheering from the audience slowly turned to silence as Ariana Grande performed the last musical number of the event.
Hip-hop enjoyers were up for a surprise as Ariana was joined by Big Sean and Mac Miller as they sang "Right There" and "The Way".
Ariana Grande wouldn\'t be outdone by Bruno Mar\'s finale the previous night, and eventually persuaded everyone to sing and dance along.
She ended the night singing a track on her new album, "Break Free", before preview trailers for the Everlife Expansion, War Online update, and Infinity Channel played on the wide-format screen as a bit of promotion at the end of the show.
It was a great success as the audience members remained excited as they systematically exited the stadium.
The Sunday night after-party was held at the Dalton Manor where Chef Tony and his cooking staff prepared a Texas buffet for the players and musical artists.
Aiya contracted a local DJ to provide background music during the party and prepared table arrangements in the manor\'s backyard.
Multiple CAVs dispatched by Future Tech transported the guests to Barton Creek, bypassing the heavy foot and car traffic easily.
Experiencing the Dalton Manner in person was much more enchanting compared to simply watching a music video, as the guests were in awe of its majesty after disembarking the AVs.
Any doubtful thoughts of Vince Dalton\'s wealth were squashed as he amicably said, "Thanks for joining us, everyone. Welcome to my manor. Feel free to enjoy the amenities like the pool, hedge maze, aquaponics garden, or whatever.. The food will be ready in fifteen minutes."