[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 30: Qualifiers

Bentheim hosted the Young Tigers Exhibition in a large, multi-building convention complex built for the purpose. It occupied a gigantic amount of prime real estate that offered plenty of space to the tourists and mech enthusiasts who visited the event. Naturally, the organizers treated mech pilot competition as the main event. The opening ceremony and the introduction of the star pilots commenced while the qualifiers of the mech design competition occurred in a smaller and much less crowded side building.

Before he did anything else, Ves checked his Status and noticed he finally accumulated 300 DP. With this amount, he immediately bought the Jury Rigging II sub-skill, which induced another minor headache for him. It made him get ready for the day a bit later than he thought. Even as he rushed his breakfast, he still had to sort out the strange way the System rearranged his brain.

"Time's almost up!" Captain Gillian called at the dining room. "Gather at the lobby of the hotel."

Ves left his gem cat in his hotel room this time. It was not appropriate for him to bring Lucky along as he competed. Not just because pets weren't allowed, but also due to the possibility of cheating.

So he came to the qualifiers alone. Compared to the festive bombast of the main event, the mech designer competition was a subdued event that attracted only a fraction of the crowd. Most of those attending were friends and family of the mech designers. The real crowd would show up tomorrow, when only the eight best competitors came up on stage.

"Ves! Wow man, nice to see you!" A chubby young man with flaring pink hair spotted Ves and came over with a cheerful smile. "Man, we haven't been in touch ever since we graduated. It's like you fell into a black hole."

Ves smiled and bumped his former classmate with his fist. "Hey Carlos. I've been having some trouble at home. Starting your own mech design workshop is harder than it looks."

"You actually went through with it?! Nevermind the hardware, how are you even capable of paying for the licenses?"

"I had a little luck there." Ves proceeded to fill in most of what he did the last two months to his friend.

Carlos Shaw looked at Ves with a mixed expression. "I can't decide whether you're a lucky bastard or not. Only the dumbest grant institutes would give you a production license for the Caesar Augustus."

"Yeah, I'm still wracking my head around trying to reproduce it without getting bankrupt. That's also why I'm here. I have to find a customer for my first mech or else I'm in deep shit."

"I envy your independence. You should see what I do for a living nowadays. My dad got me a connection to the quality control department of a wholesaler here in Bentheim."

Carlos followed the path of many other mech designers who graduated from Rittersberg. They started at the bottom in large corporations. Like many other young graduates, Carlos' current job had nothing to do with mech design in any shape or way. The only thing the job required of him was to test the mechs that the company imported and note which parts were faulty.

Carlos might be an average mech designer, but with the things he learned in college he was an overqualified mech technician. Basically, any mech designer that hadn't studied from one of the renowned universities from at least a second-rate human state could forget about entering the world of real mech design.

The pathetic state of this industry in the Bright Republic was perhaps the biggest reason why it held this competition. The government wanted to stimulate a domestic mech industry, or at least not become too dependent on foreign trans-galactic corporations.

They chit-chatted a little more on what they experienced after graduation. After waiting in line, security confirmed their credentials and allowed them to enter the waiting room for contestants. Already about a hundred young mech designers sat on the comfortable seats or caught up with their friends and acquaintances.