Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4295 - 3392: Teammate Selection (Part 2)

However, since there is a Heavenly Ladder Ranking, there should also be a Ranking Tournament. After determining the players' levels through the Ranking Tournament, the matchups should not be with opponents of huge discrepancies; otherwise, the game would be unplayable.

Thus, a problem arises: if Shiller pairs up with a partner of extremely high combat power, this might lead them to perform too well in the Ranking Tournament, and subsequently, they would always be matched against strong opponents.

But if he chooses a partner who is not as good at fighting, it would result in Shiller having to constantly save the day, which can be exhausting.

Shiller feels it's better to pick a teammate of moderate strength but with relatively good cooperation.

Moreover, since teaming up in pairs requires understanding, and understanding needs to be developed, this means one should not frequently change partners. It's best to have a consistent teammate.

Initially, Shiller thought about having one teammate for PVE and another for PVP. However, he then considered the possibility of finding a teammate good at both intelligence and combat, so he doesn't have to switch partners frequently, making it easier to foster understanding.

While Shiller was considering his options, he received a team invitation from Stark. Shiller noticed the interface was quite smart, indicating whether it was a temporary or fixed team, and also specifying whether it involved limited or unlimited missions.

Stark's invitation was for a temporary team in a limited mission, clearly intending to pair up with Shiller for a story mission.

In just that short time, Shiller received a slew of story mission invites. As expected in the realm of wits, he was notoriously fierce; everyone wanted him for PVE.

Shiller checked the series of invitations but did not see any from his preferred teammates.

So, he contacted Loki.

"Hello? Loki, have you found a teammate? Here's what I'm thinking..."

Shiller shared his idea briefly about finding a fixed teammate who excels in both intelligence and combat and indicated that Loki was his top choice.

Loki's intelligence needs no explanation, and his deception magic naturally gives him an edge in fights. Most importantly, their moral baselines are quite similar, which makes conniving in games more feasible.

"Sorry, Doctor. The Goddess Queen requires me to stay behind in Asgard, I need to team up with my brother."

"God," Shiller sighed, "Are you saying you're taking Thor for the story missions?"

"Yes," Loki's tone was somewhat helpless as he replied, "but at least he gives us a slight advantage in arena rankings."

"You really are a good brother," Shiller exclaimed sincerely. Despite Thor having changed a lot, Shiller still shuddered at the thought of taking him on a puzzle-solving game.

One must say, with Loki's determination, whatever he does is bound to succeed. It's right that he's the Prince.

With Loki no longer being an option, the remaining choices were not many.

Shiller hadn't ruled out Stark since Stark was intelligent and also quite capable in combat. However, Stark's major issue was his personality.

Simply put, Stark loves to show off. No matter what he does, he wants to showcase his super-powered skills, always standing forefront to accept everyone's cheers, satisfying his flamboyant ego.

But Shiller is more of the behind-the-scenes manipulator type. Although sometimes it's good to have someone taking the front, Stark is the kind who needs everyone's approval and might often pester Shiller to watch his performance. Their gaming compatibility suffers as a result.

Shiller then contacted Peter, considering Gwen was unlikely to participate in this kind of game, and Peter probably hadn't found a teammate yet.

"Hello? Peter. Have you seen the new event at the Battleworld..."

"Sorry, Doctor. No matter what the event is, I'm afraid I can't participate. I'm really busy here."

"Alright, you keep busy then, goodbye."

Shiller shook his head with a hint of dismay. Clearly, Peter was occupied with the Starship matter, and it seemed neither Gwen nor Peter would make it for the event.

Just then, a name crossed Shiller's mind. At the same time, a communication request came through.

"Have you found a teammate, Shiller?"

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The voice of Strange came over the communication. Shiller smiled knowingly, then replied, "You haven't found one either, have you?"

"Clearly because there are too many people looking for me, I can't decide. So I thought to ask for your opinion."

"Oh? I think you and Loki would make good teammates. What do you think?"

"He's already planning to team up with Thor; didn't you know?"

"But I believe if you insist, he might reconsider," Shiller said while browsing different missions, "or maybe you can find another Mage. Didn't you meet Zatanna and Constantine at Gotham Magic Academy?"

"I can't really get along with them," Strange replied, "I thought of finding other versions of myself from different cosmos, but most of them are quite annoying. Teaming up with them is worse than not participating at all."

"Then at least tell me, who has invited you, so I can give you some suggestions. Or maybe, you've taken a long detour and realized you aren't as popular as you thought, hence seeking some psychological comfort here?"

"That's where you're wrong," Shiller retorted with a hum, "I'm too popular. Everyone wants to play story missions with me, I'm swamped with invitations."

A long silence followed from the other end.

"What's wrong? Is your signal bad?"

"No. I'm dealing with things in the real world; the Starship launch ceremony schedule has been set, they insist I participate in the rehearsals. I'm trying to get out of it..."

"Well, if you're focusing on real-world matters during this time, you won't have the trouble of picking a teammate. That's a good thing, I guess."

"Yeah. I also have a surgery." After responding, Strange hung up.

Shiller came back to the real world and drove to Elders Council Hospital. He entered the neurosurgery office like he owned the place and asked while leaning on the door, "Your surgery finished so fast?"

Strange's mind seemed still stuck in Battleworld, and it took him several seconds to regain his composure. He glanced at his watch and then asked, "How did you get here so quickly?"

"I came from Brooklyn Area." Shiller put down the coffee in front of Strange, who was filling out patient reports, and then asked, "How many more surgeries do you have today?"

"Two." Strange kept his eyes on the screen, then glanced at his watch and said, "Another one in five minutes."

"Did you cancel the rehearsal for the inauguration ceremony?"

"I don't have time for that," Strange responded impatiently, "And I don't see what there is to rehearse. It'll be fine as long as The Ancient One is there, they're the locals."

"So you plan to stay in the hospital all day?"

"Can you leave if you've got nothing else to do?" Strange looked up at him and said, "I have over 80 case reports left to write. If you keep bothering me here, I won't finish them by tomorrow morning."

"Let's make a deal," Shiller snapped his fingers and said, "I'll help you finish the reports, you cancel the next two surgeries."

"Cancel?" Strange scoffed and said, "Do you know they've been waiting for three years to get a surgery slot with me?"

"If they could wait for three years, they wouldn't mind waiting another day."

"What do you want?"

"How about teaming up? You still don't have a partner, right?"

Strange narrowed his eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," Shiller stood up, spun around in the middle of the room, and then said, "I felt sorry for you, so I turned down those other invitations just to help you out. Aren't you touched?"

"You couldn't find the right teammate, could you?" Strange continued typing on the computer, "You're looking for a team mate who is intelligent and won't hold you back. After all the picking and choosing, only I'm left."

"You got me there." Shiller didn't deny it, spreading his hands and saying, "What do you say? Wanna team up?"

"I have one question," Strange looked up at him and said, "I admit your intelligence isn't an issue, but if you and your Symbiont are separated, how are we supposed to compete in the arena?"

"That's where your importance comes in," Shiller said confidently, "You are the Supreme Magician after all."

"So you're expecting me to fight one against two?"

"It's not that pessimistic."

"Extremely pessimistic." Strange continued typing and then said, "If you just wanted a fighter, you could have picked any Thor from any cosmos. At the end of the day, you still hope I'll also handle part of the intellectual work."

"I promise it's only a small part." Shiller sat back down and said, "And I'm not completely without combat power, I won't make you fight two on one."

"The surgeries cannot be cancelled," Strange said, "Either you wait for me to finish the surgeries, or go line up with someone else."

Shiller was waiting for this exact word; he flicked his middle and index finger against Strange's computer and then said, "I'll wait for you to come online."

And he ended up waiting till midnight. At about 2 a.m., Strange finally came online. Shiller couldn't hold back and blurted out, "What's this, a vampire schedule?"

"Vampires don't wake up as early as I do." Strange's voice was still calm as he said there's another surgery at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, "We only have three and a half hours."

"Oh, God. It won't be long before God will be happy to have his hands back."

"So you're so concerned about my health, then you have nothing to do with all my patients suddenly requesting emergencies recently?"

"Uh..." Shiller choked, because he did try to keep Strange in New York using surgeries previously. He bit the bullet and explained, "Maybe your appearance in the documentary garnered the fans' following; they specifically came for you to experience the charm of God's hands."

"Which instance do you plan to queue for?" Strange asked.

Shiller was also looking. Duo instances couldn't pick the specific instance but could choose the theme. They weren't all puzzles; some involved parkour or extreme sports.

"I prefer puzzles," Shiller said, "or would you like to experience WingSuit Flying in Battleworld?"

"You think my Cloak would agree?"

"What? You two don't count as separate units?"

"He's my equipment, not an intelligent Symbiont like yours, of course he counts as one person." Strange's tone was slightly gleeful.

Shiller sighed, it was all because the Gray mist was too smart.

"Hold on. If the Cloak doesn't count as a living thing, couldn't you just throw it on the scale?"

"Are you insane? Why would I sell my own Cloak?"

"I'm not asking you to sell it, just weigh it to see how much it weighs," Shiller crazily urged. "As long as you don't hit the confirm button, it won't be sold. Aren't you curious how much your equipment is worth?"

"Not curious," Strange said, "Material desires are the root of destruction."

"You are becoming more and more like a Supreme Magician."

"You're wrong. I'm probably the only Strange among all who still insists on being a surgeon."

"Yes, but God probably wants his hands back more."