When I walked through the doors of ShadowMario41's Mario Trivia HQ, I ran into another familiar face. It was YoshiRider123, a rather tall user wearing a red t-shirt, dark-tinted sunglasses, jeans, brown shoes, and a red Nintendo had that concealed his thick slicked-back blond hair. I could tell just by looking at his dark brown eyes and faint smile that something was going on. “Hey YoshiRider123, what’s up?” His excited voice responded, “Oh hey ShadowMario41! You’ll never believe what happened to me. Wanna take a guess?” “I’ll pass…” I said, as I was not really in the mood for guessing games at the moment and needed to prepare for the night’s contest. Despite that, he continued to tell me, “I will be one of the announcers for the tournament next week!” His face beamed as he said this and I was even surprised at the big news. “The Power On Power-Up Tournament?” “YES!” He screamed, now shaking with excitement.
The Power On Power-Up Tournament was, by far, the largest tournament in the NSider community. It was held biannually, hosted by the NOAs, and this feat of strength was only about two weeks away. The entrance fee was steep, but it attracted millions of spectators from around the forum and was held in NSider Coliseum, the largest fighting arena in all of NSider, located on the west side of the Power On board. It was basically a tournament to see who was the strongest NSider, but the emotion and energy packed into it made it an unbelievably intense event. I was hoping to be able to participate this year since it would be my first time fighting in the Power On Power-Up Tournament, but things did not look good now that my funds were so low. “I don’t think I’ll be able to compete this time... but good luck to you!” I said, trying not to lower his spirits too much. “Hey…” he whispered quietly, “maybe if you don’t play, I can get you a press pass or something...” I laughed and nodded my head, wished him luck in tonight’s trivia and proceeded to prepare the questions. By now, I had a lot of trivia experience under my belt, so question-making didn’t take too long. However, the more time I had, the higher the question quality would turn out to be.
I continued forward in the lobby until I came face-to-face with a brown door labeled “ShadowMario41’s Office.” This was my personal office, which is where I prepare the questions for each event. The walls to this room are also sound-proof, to prevent anyone from listening in before the event and picking up key information. Unfortunately, I lost the key to this office in a past mission, but I always carry around a handy lock pick with which I can open the door. Although this is rather inefficient, I have gained a lot of experience in my renegade life of doing this, so it has become second nature to me. I reached into my pocket and felt around for the small, metal tool. I first felt the figurine, which reminded me to ask PowerToMario about what it could possibly be, but I would probably have time to do that after the contest. For now, I had to focus on the question making process.
After picking the lock, I opened the heavy, wooden door and shut it gently behind me, locking it. My office was pretty bare – there were a few file cabinets in the left corner closest to me filled with trivia records and participant profiles, some chairs lined up against the right wall, and a few miscellaneous boxes scattered on the floor. A small closet was present on the far right side, in which I had a clean set of robes and garments to change into. Figuring it would be a good idea to not wear ripped and worn clothes in front of a large audience, I quickly changed into clean black robes, though I made sure to take the figurine out of my pocket so I would not forget it. In the center of the small room, there was a black desk and office chair, in which I took my seat and placed the figurine in the top drawer. There were pieces of paper on my desk regarding past trivia players and records, but I did not have time to neaten everything up now. I stared at the widescreen computer monitor in front of me, which was displaying a blank text document with a blinking cursor in the upper-left. Making trivia questions was somewhat difficult, since I had to make sure of my questions’ validity and uniqueness. They each had to have only one true answer and not be a repeat of any other question used in a past contest. With this being the forty-fifth trivia event hosted, it was difficult, though still possible, to come up with original questions.
The Mario Trivia Challenge is a contest I have started hosting about a year ago and already it has achieved a large level of success. This is, in part, due to having actual organization and structure to it, as many other trivia events had were sporadic or hosted by incompetent users. Truthfully, this is how my contests started, too, but I decided to make a headquarters, which would hold data and prize records for the contest. After receiving recognition from the NOAs as being a serious and large-scale contest, PowerToMario was assigned to be my secretary, which allowed me to focus on becoming a faster and stronger assassin. Even with the contest not being managed directly by myself, it has continued to grow in popularity and now includes a warm-up trivia, one in which a user is invited to host a preliminary ten-question contest to prepare users for the main event. The host was often a guest that PowerToMario arranged to have host, usually the host of another contest or a member from Trivia HQ, the forum’s home for those well versed in the art of trivia.
The main event of the contest would be at least thirty questions long and would continue to forty questions if no one had claimed ten points by the thirtieth question, which was the victory condition in this contest. To make this contest all the more interesting, items could be purchased by users with their winnings, which could be used to have various effects on the event. A few examples are the banana peel, which would subtract one point from a selected user, and the thwomp, which would act as a shield of sorts and block an item if it were used against its owner. Items were often a controversial subject, though, as many users did not like the idea of points being determined by more random factors as opposed to being earned through pure skill. To oblige these complaints, some hosted events are deemed “item-less”, in which these tools are banned and users have to work for their points. Other than items, the contest works as one would expect, the first person to answer a question correctly would receive a point. Some questions were worth two points and sometimes I even threw in trick questions worth negative points, but it consisted of standard questions for the most part.
Another unique feature that set my contest apart from others was that the questions for the evening were divided into ten-question rounds, which would have a specific theme such as platforming games, RPGs, and so on. The first ten questions were always randomized, so they could be in regards to anything in the series. However, questions eleven through twenty, twenty-one through thirty, and thirty-one through forty were in unique rounds. Depending on what rounds came up during the event, it could greatly swing the contest in favor of a specific user, as different users had their own respective topic advantages and disadvantages. This helped contribute to the sense of unpredictability in the contests, as opposed to a few juggernauts constantly winning, which made it appealing to newcomers and veterans, alike.
At the conclusion of the contest, users would be awarded with coins, a mock currency that was used to purchase prizes that this contest had to offer, such as items to use in future contests or even retro video games if enough were accumulated. Obviously, the higher a user placed, the more coins he or she would earn, which served as an additional motivation for doing well, other than bragging rights. There were other opportunities to earn coins as well, such as creating promotional artwork for the contest or contributing helpful ideas on how to improve the trivia. Several other contests on the Mario board tried to mimic this idea, but none could pull it off as successfully.
When I emerged from my office with the questions already entered in the electronic system, I was surprised to find that it was already 6:45 PM, just fifteen minutes before the warm-up event was scheduled to begin. I raced to the left down a short hallway and pushed open a polished metallic door, which lead to a large auditorium-like room. About twenty contestants or so were already seated and I knew there were more users chatting in the lobby that would eventually make their way in here. Even though I still wore my assassin-like garb while hosting, users did not really mind it, so long as they were treated to an enjoyable night of trivia. I at least removed my hood, though, which revealed my short brown hair, brown eyes, and a battle scar on my right cheek. I remember my father telling me I got the scar when I was an overly ambitious young boy trying to learn some lethal fighting techniques, but I could not recall the exact incident.
Looking down towards the stage, I saw PowerToMario conversing with a strange masked user on-stage, who I presumed would be tonight’s warm-up host. I walked down the stairs and saw them both look in my direction and conclude their conversation. The masked user turned to face me, “Hello...” he said in a low voice, almost as if he were whispering, “My name is EShyGuy of Trivia HQ. Thank you for inviting me to host this evening.” “It’s my pleasure,” I said back, figuring he would be a competent host since he identified himself with the Trivia HQ. He was slightly shorter than me and a little wider in stature, wearing a navy blue suit lined with vertical pinstripes and a bright red tie. I could not help but wonder about his mysterious white mask, which only had two round holes for the eyes and one round hole for his mouth. I could not see anything behind the mask, as it just appeared as blackness, but I decided to be respectful and try to steer clear of this subject. “So…” I continued, “I trust that PowerToMario gave you the briefing on how the whole event works.” “Yes, sir” he said, “I assure you that I have put my best effort into every question.” I nodded and replied, “Great! Just send me a PM when your ten questions are finished so I can hand out prizes and host my event.” “Will do…” he said as he straightened his tie. I turned around to PowerToMario, who was still standing on-stage and whispered to him, “Hey, would you mind talking about something in my office once warm-up starts?” “Well…” he started, “Who is going to evaluate the hosting abilities of this user? As you know, I traditionally determine whether or not we should invite warm-up hosts back again based on –” “I know…” I said, cutting him off, “but he’s from the Trivia HQ. I don’t think we have to worry about him…though the mask is a little strange…” “Whatever you say,” PowerToMario replied, “you’re the boss after all.”
I looked over towards the crowd where about thirty people were now seated and ready for trivia action. Checking my PM watch, I could see that it was time for the event to begin, so I walked to the wooden podium in the middle of the stage and spoke, “Hello everyone and welcome to ShadowMario41’s Mario Trivia Challenge!” Everyone applauded for a few seconds, and then the room fell silent again as I continued, “We have a great show lined up for you this evening. Tonight, serving as the warm-up host, give it up for EShyGuy from Trivia HQ!” He bowed onstage to more applause as I said, “After ten questions of warm-up trivia, I’ll be back to hand out the prizes and stuff. Good luck!” I exited the stage with PowerToMario and we made our way back to the lobby, which was empty since the contest was in session. The voice of EShyGuy on the microphone could be heard faintly and it appeared as if the contest was in good hands for now. “Is this about trivia?” He asked as I was picking the lock again to my office. “No,” I said looking up, “Something much more serious.” The door clicked as I turned the handle and it opened and the two of us walked inside.
I closed the door behind us and pointed to the figurine positioned on my desk. “Doesn’t that look familiar to you?” I asked sarcastically, as PowerToMario ran up to it in order to examine it more closely. Finally, after studying it for about a minute he replied, “This looks just like you… and it’s wonderfully designed, right down to the last detail. Where did you find this? Did someone make it for you?” “Quite the opposite” I responded, “I did not have it crafted for me and…why does it matter where I found it? It’s here, isn’t it?” I was trying not to reveal the fact that I stole the item from Dr. Peppy at all costs, since PowerToMario had powerful connections to the administrators of the forum and Dr. Peppy was a well-respected user in their eyes. “Fine…fine… I don’t need to know about your secrets anyway.” He responded as he continued to look at the figure from all angles. After tipping the figure over and examining the underside of the golden base, he finally exclaimed, “Aha! I know exactly what this is!” “Really?” I asked, skeptical of the fact that so much information could be obtained from looking at it from that one angle. Much to my surprise, though, when I looked I saw an inscription that I did not notice before. It appeared as disjointed lines, unrecognizable characters and strange shapes to me, but I had a feeling that PowerToMario knew exactly what it was.
“What you have here isn’t any regular doll or figure.” He said, “This is a trophy… and it appears to be of you… or at least another assassin who is six feet tall, has two legendary daggers as weapons and has a similar fighting style.” “I get it.” I said smugly, stopping his sarcastic comment in its tracks. “On a more serious note, though,” he said, “this is truly a remarkable find…and having one made in your image is…well quite an honor.” “Explain.” I demanded bluntly, and he gladly obliged, “Certainly! As a history major at NSU, I was totally fascinated by this type of stuff. To actually see one modeled after someone I know is –” “Please just get to the point.” I said, cutting him off, “We only have until EShyGuy is done with warm-up.” “Oh right…” he muttered, “Sorry…I could just talk about something like this all day.”
“Anyway…” he said, “trophies were used by the NOAs in the early times of NSider to track users before surveillance technology was invented and a formal code of laws was established. It was a very efficient method of keeping tabs on everyone, since the population of NSider was not nearly as much as it is today. Now, only Sages and Moderators are tracked by the NOAs using trophies, which is why I'm puzzled as to why there is one of you. Regardless, do you see this engraving on the bottom of the base?” He asked, flipping the trophy over and pointing it out, “Yeah…what is it?” I asked, to which he responded, “It’s called Japanese and it’s an ancient language used solely by the NOAs. Many common NSiders would not even have knowledge of the language’s existence. I would imagine they still use it to pass sensitive information along to each other, sort of like a more protected form of encryption. If a trophy is properly designed and engraved, it can follow a user’s position and mimic their movements exactly when placed on a map of NSider. I have one in my desk; I’ll be back in a sec…” He said as he rushed out of my office with the figure in hand. I was starting to get worried that he would not return, as he was gone for quite some time, but soon enough I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to find him holding the map and trophy in one hand and a strange device in the other.
“Sorry that took so long,” he said, shaking the hand that the unknown device was in, “I was trying to track down this thing.” He placed everything on my desk and spread out the map of NSider, upon which he then placed my trophy. After a few seconds, it started to move towards the Mario Board, stopping atop ShadowMario41’s Mario Trivia HQ on the map, and once again I noticed that it mimicked my movements. Noticing this, PowerToMario stared at the trophy with awe before managing to simply mutter, “…remarkable…” A moment of silence passed before anyone spoke again, “SIMPLY ASTOUNDING!” He screamed, catching me off guard. “You don’t have to yell,” I said in reply to his exclamation, “I’m right here, you know…” “Yes but,” he said slowly, still searching for the right words, “to see a trophy in action is…is…amazing! This is primitive technology and yet it still works like a charm.” “That’s fantastic…” I said, not really interested in the history of the item, “What’s that other thing you brought in here?” PowerToMario grabbed the device from off the desk and said, “Oh this? It’s an electronic translator, which can scan an object and convert it from Japanese to English and vice versa. I think it also has a 1337 functionality, too…” “Where did you manage to get that?” I asked, as it seemed like a rare device for a common user with no authoritative rank to possess. He looked towards me with a smug expression and said, “You know… why does it matter where I found it? It’s here now, isn’t it?”
I grumbled, realizing that he was mimicking and mocking my exact words, but decided to respect his privacy and simply said, “Fair enough.” Moments later, though, I heard a beeping sound coming from my PM belt. Looking down briefly and then back up at PowerToMario, I said, “That must be EShyGuy…I think he’s finished. If you want, you can continue looking at that thing while I host. Let me know if you find anything new.” “Oh I will!” PowerToMario said enthusiastically as I closed the door to my office with him still in there. Still wondering how he could be so captivated by the trinket, I walked back to the auditorium, this time using an alternate entrance so I came out on-stage instead of behind the crowd of participants. I was greeted with applause as I walked with the results of the contest displayed on a large white screen behind me.
FIRST PLACE: PaperMarioGuy3
SECOND PLACE: Toadster_04
THIRD PLACE: Revoloution98
I instantly chuckled knowing that ThePastaKing would be angry in not having made the top three, but I continued to congratulate the users, hand out prizes, and thank EShyGuy for hosting as users applauded his efforts while he walked offstage. “Now!” I shouted into the microphone, “It’s time for the main event! ARE YOU READY!?”
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