Easy Way

As a child, Blazy always had everything she wanted. It was an easy life. Because of this, things needed to scale exponentially for her to feel happy again, until they reached the ceiling. She became bored with life because there was nothing left that deserved her attention. She even considered taking her own life.

Because she was spoiled, she wasn't good at anything. Unlike Minako, who started from the bottom and worked her way up, Blazy was born at the top, but her family kept pushing her down until she became useless. She was weak, stupid, and a burden. But her parents still loved her, in an obsessive way. They saw her as a tool to bring them satisfaction and justify their own existence.

Since she never had to exert herself at anything, she hated difficult tasks. She was weak because she didn't like training or getting hurt. But she wanted to get stronger. In an easy way, of course.

Then she discovered the Pivot Game, a way to exponentially push the limits of the human body without much effort. Because she had contacts, it was easy to level up in the beginning, using player trafficking as her main method.

She didn't like to parasite others, but she'd done it her whole life, so she saw it as the only way to achieve her goal easily and quickly. She hated Episan and the black market surrounding the game, but it was all for a greater good: to make life easier for everyone. She wanted to simplify everything, so that everyone would have to live her life and no one else would have to suffer.

Having never experienced a dystopia, she believed a utopia was possible. Well, not in ordinary ways, since the game defied the laws of the world. But the ends justified the means. She felt pity for those who suffered more than she did, but also envy. She wanted to help them, but in her own way.

For her, using synthetic substances, medications, and drugs was the only tolerable way to get stronger. Training was too much work. She preferred to feel pain without having to do anything than to put effort into anything.

Episan, on the other hand, was a young billionaire. He had also inherited a large fortune from his parents, so his life was easy. In a way, Blazy could identify with him. But she never respected him in any way, because their goals were completely different. Episan wanted everything for himself, helping others only for personal gain. He had no ambition to improve the world.

He actually wanted a dystopia, where he alone held power. A dictatorship. But for that, he needed power. His connections were powerful, but nothing comparable to those of a country. All he had was an island, the center of his human trafficking network. To achieve his goal, he needed more power. That's why he became a player.

The young man jumped from the helicopter, ruffling his blond hair. His tanned skin gave him a model-like appearance. His white, aristocratic clothes exuded an aura of arrogance.

"It's good to see you again, Blazy," he said with a smirk.

"Will the helicopter fit all of us?" she asked, worried that it might be too cramped for them.

"Of course, my beauty. I chose a special one just for you. It's more spacious and comfortable. And if you're worried about your weight, it can hold much more."

She glared at him angrily, irritated by his comments.

"Oh, I didn't mean to insult you, my dear! I meant that your muscles make you quite a beast."

"Shut up," she said, glaring at him with disgust.

He scratched his forehead, confused. "Weird, I thought women liked being complimented. I guess I still have to improve my social skills. Whatever, is that girl with you?"

He pointed to someone behind the three of them. It was Minako, staring at them soullessly. Blazy quickly pointed her finger at her, ready to use her power, when she noticed that part of Minako's head had been replaced by a green grid.

Barrage? I've heard his power is defensive. What if it can reflect damage?

"I know what you're thinking, Master," said the masked man as he approached Episan and grabbed the pistol he carried on his waist.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Episan asked, feeling offended.

The man shot Minako in the foot, piercing it. The hole was replaced by Kuroki's power. The masked man looked at his own feet; they were intact.

"Good job, Booster," said Blazy, praising her ally. "This means I don't need to hold back."

"Are you sure? Don't you need rest?"

"That girl got here by herself. She seems strong; neither you nor Maika can defeat her."

Minako activated her killer mode after being shot in the foot and began running towards Blazy, who launched several small fireballs that increased in size with distance. She managed to hit some of them, but there were too many, and even a single one would have been enough to obliterate her body from that distance. 

And that's what happened. Minako was hit and her body exploded instantly. She was completely repaired, replaced by a green grid with her silhouette. She regained her normal mental state, as the injury to her brain was completely repaired. She started running faster, and Booster hit her several times with Episan's pistol.

But she didn't stop, catching up to Blazy before she could react and landing a punch to her stomach. The muscular woman doubled over, feeling excruciating pain. Booster tried to push her away, but Minako dodged the attack and struck him in the stomach with her knee, stunning him. Blazy reached for her skirt, grabbing something that was underneath it.

She's stronger than I expected... I have no choice. Even if I cough up blood afterward, I can't lose here!

She picked up a round glass containing a mysterious liquid and drank from it while Minako beat up Maika and Episan.

Blazy quickly stood up and punched Minako in the face, sending her flying away from the helipad. Then, he fired several fireballs, exploding her in mid-air.

"She's not dead yet..." she said. "Barrage is behind all of this. The event is almost ending, let's go!"

She ran to the helicopter, helping the others walk there. As soon as they got in, the pilot took them away from the event, since they had all already fulfilled the requirement of killing a player, except for Episan, who had a power that could defy the rules of the game.

"Are you alright?" Booster asked Blazy.

"I'm okay..." she replied. "I'll feel the pain later, but first we need to get to the island. Episan, where the hell are your bodyguards?!"

"Don't look at me..." he said, clutching his stomach, fighting the pain of being beaten by Minako. "I thought you were capable of protecting me. I guess I was wrong."

"Don't you dare underestimate me. If it weren't for me, you'd already be dead."

"But the girl was looking for you..."

"How can you be so sure of that? Anyone would have seen a helicopter passing through the barrier!"

"What, are you implying that my power gave away our location? I guess you don't need it after all."

"N-No, I didn't say that..." she stammered, startled by the feeling of losing one of her sources of power. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, my dear!" He put his arm around her shoulder. "You can apologize in other ways."

The idea of ​​having to put up with that monster was a nightmare, but she saw no easier way to become the strongest.

"Minako, come back," Kuroki said on the phone. "You lost them, didn't you? It's okay, I know where they're heading. Let's regroup and get out of here."

She had fallen from the tallest building there, but she was already repaired. Kuroki must have been pushing himself to the limit, so she needed to get to him as quickly as possible. She started running. Hearing her footsteps, he sighed with relief.

She's not a zombie anymore. I guess her being obliterated helped with the restoration.

"Kasugo, Iroko, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, boss..." Kasugo replied. "We're just a little tired, but we managed to survive."

Levitating at that speed really tired me out... Kasugo thought. Iroko held him to help him walk.

"Wait a second, Iroko..." Kasugo said, lying on the ground. "Let's rest a little... We can't fight in this state."

"You're right..." he replied, lying down beside him.

"I'll meet you," Kuroki said. "Can you send me your location and stay there?"

"What?" Iroko asked, perplexed. "You're in any condition to walk? After having revived Minako so many times?"

"I have a car, remember?"