First Game

“Whoa! That’s trippy!” exclaimed Aether the very instant he finished [Substantialization] within the white space.

The process of losing every one of his senses, falling into a state of absolute weightlessness and finally regaining his bodily sensations was an experience that left him with mixed feelings. Quite literally.

“Are you okay?” a voice suddenly asked. Easing his panic, Aether lifted his head and caught sight of the familiar head full of pink hair.

“You look different?” he voiced his doubts. The young girl before him looked nothing like the person that he saw outside. Dressed in a long coat, tight-fitting leather pants, gloves, and a face mask that covered her lower mouth, Fox looked her part as a woman of the shadows.

Hearing his question, Fox tilted her head in confusion. “Of course, I look different. This is my avatar.” She performed a little twirl, showing her avatar off to Aether. “It’s called ‘Th3Re4lF0X’. I play Gunner.”

“Oh. I see,” Aether nodded his head in understanding. Back when he had played Full-Immersion VR games, the game avatars that players possessed were a carbon copy of their real-life appearances. Learning that appearances could be altered within the game, he was naturally interested.

Taking his gaze from the Gunner in front of him, Aether proceeded to examine his own Avatar. From the first-person perspective, he could naturally not view his face. For the rest of his body, however, he managed just fine.

“My body feels unusually heavy and bulky. Is it usually like this?” questioned Aether.

“Heavy and bulky?” shot back Fox. “Heavy and bulky how?”

“It’s similar to how you feel when you’re wearing a Grade 3 Hazardous Materials Suit. The ones that are almost 2m in height,” Aether drew the nearest real-life comparison that he could. It was a decent analogy and the one that closely related to how Aether felt right now.

His entire body felt unusually weighed down and slowed. Aether could feel himself spending more effort than usual to make any movements. From what he could recall from his faint memories, Full-Immersion VR was unlike this.

“I don’t know. I feel like how I usually feel when I play this game,” Fox replied, unsurely. She then asked, “Is it different from how you usually feel?”

“I think? This is my first time playing this game after all,” answered Aether. He kept moving his arms and legs trying to get used to this discomforting feeling.

“Eh?” Fox suddenly froze. Thinking that she had misheard him, she asked him once again, “What did you just say?”

“I don’t know if this is how it usually feels. It’s my first time playing this game after all,” repeated Aether. Throwing a few punches in the air, he joked, “It feels like I’ve gained 300 extra pounds.”

Turning to face Fox, he asked, “So, when are we starting?”

“Eh?” The young girl stared at him dumbly. She scanned him from head to toe a few times. “Is this some kind of a joke? Are you pulling a prank on me?” Her tone sounded a little indignant.

Picking up the cues, Aether flashed a bitter smile and calmly explained, “I assure you that I’m neither joking nor pulling a prank. I’ve come with the full intention of accepting your challenge.”

“But you’re telling me that you’ve never played this game before!!” Fox yelled, displeased. Here she was trying to find a Pro-level player as her last team member, and a guy claiming that he’s never played the game before came to challenge her. Fox was unsure whether to be angry or amused.

“Must I have played the game to challenge you? That wasn’t one of the rules mentioned in your advertisement, was it?”

“Well, no. But–” However, before she could continue, Aether interrupted her.

“If you’re worried about my experience, I can assure you that I’m not completely new to this. I have played VR Battle games in the past and was quite decent at them. I’ve simply not played this particular game.” What he deliberately failed to mention was that by ‘in the past’, Aether was referring to a period almost 15 years ago!

“You’ve played other VR games?” Fox asked, her tone sounding dubious. While a cynical person would’ve put an end to this farce right then and there, she possessed a kinder heart and was more trusting than the rest. As such, she decided to give this weird guy a chance, “Were they similar to this game?”

“From what I’ve watched so far, yes.” Aether nodded his head. It was true. The Full-Immersion VR game that he had played 15 years ago was very similar to this game called ‘Pathfinders Ascent’ in the sense that both games centred around the concept of battling other players. As for everything else, they weren’t similar in the slightest.

Seeing his earnest nod, Fox decided to give this odd guy a chance after all. Worst case scenario, she would waste some time. It would cost her nothing to indulge him.

That being said, Fox had no intentions of going easy just because her opponent was a newcomer to the game.

“Alright, since you’re not totally clueless, I’ll indulge you. However, be warned! I will absolutely not go easy on you.” Her eyes sharpened when she spoke the final sentence.

“Before that, I have a question,” Aether raised his hand. “Was it true about the credit reward? Will I really earn 5000 credits if I beat you?”

The instant she heard him speak that last line, Fox felt whatever goodwill and compassion that she felt for this guy completely disappear. Not only did this guy not recognize the favour that she was doing him by letting him participate in the challenge despite him having no experience with this game, he even went so far as asking her about the reward money!

However, the matter of the reward was true. IF, and that was a big if, someone managed to beat her in the duel, she would reward them with 5000 credits. That being said, the odds of such an outcome were impossibly low.

Fox was, after all, a veritable pro player at this game.

Gritting her teeth, she answered, “Yes. IF you win against me, I will stick to my word and reward you with 5000 credits.”

“Excellent,” Aether replied with a smile. Ever since he learned of the astronomical sum that it would require to fund his sister’s education, Aether turned desperate at grabbing every opportunity that would net him some credits.

5000 credits for beating a little girl in a game? Aether felt like this was heaven’s reward for all his toilings.

Seeing the smug smile on her opponent’s face filled Fox with strange resentment. Directing a cold gaze towards him, she spoke, “The map will be randomised and the time limit will be fifteen minutes. Both of us will start with the highest (Red) grade equipment. There will be no revives and no redos. We will only play a single round.”

“Understood?”

“As clearly as glass,” replied Aether. He saw the cold gaze that she was looking at him with and felt the resentment that she was radiating. Aether didn’t lose the smile on his face.

“Let’s begin then.” Saying so, she waved her hand causing a terminal to appear before her. After inputting a few commands, the terminal disappeared and Aether felt himself become engulfed in darkness once again.

---

[Game: 1v1 Duel. Single Round Death Match. (No resurrections, sub-ins, and extra time allowed.)]

[Game Length: 15 minutes.]

[Stage: Newman’s Space Station. (Neutral Map)]

[Restrictions: Passive Health Drain on leaving Marked Areas.]

[Participants: Th3Re4lF0X (Gunner), OneFISTMan (Brawler)]

[Special Modifiers: Both Players start with Max-Tiered (Red) Equipment.]

The holographic screen that appeared in front of him informed Aether of all the specifics of the match. Waving once to get rid of it, Aether said with interest, “That’s neat.” He then waved one more time, only for nothing to happen. “Does it not appear after the first time?” He tried waving a few more times but nothing happened.

“Leaving that aside,” he turned his attention to his surroundings. A single bed, a compact metal desk, an empty open shelf and a closed door constituted the small enclosed room that he found himself in. This was Aether’s starting point.

Walking up to the compact metal desk, Aether tried tapping on it with his arm. The tactile, ‘no-different-from-reality’ feeling that he felt from the action made him gasp with surprise. “Wow. Full-Immersion VR games have come a long way since the last time I played one.”

He made that remark from the bottom of his heart. If a comparison had to be made, it was like a player who had only played 8-bit games to come in contact with the latest generation 4k 60FPS Open World game. The two experiences simply couldn’t be compared to each other.

“Still, all this added weight makes me feel very uncomfortable,” added Aether, once again complaining. Every single action of his felt exaggerated and heavy, making it very difficult for him to act normal. “In this regard, that old game was much better. Moving in-game and moving in real life was no different.”

Having said that, it wasn’t like he would only sit here and complain. Having confirmed that the reward was real, Aether had no intention of letting it go. Taking advantage of the fact that he had started in a secluded, unknown location, he decided to spend some time familiarising himself with his new body.

Letting a focused breath of air out, Aether assumed a martial stance moving his arms and feet in tandem.

---

“Where is this stupid guy hiding?” Fox spat out enraged, her belly filled with resentment. “What is he even doing for so long!?”

More than half of the match’s duration had passed yet there hadn't been a single sight or trail of her opponent to be found. It was as if he had disappeared from the match.

Initially, Fox had been cautious and serious, playing the game like how she normally would; seeking an advantageous field, securing multiple vantage points, and lying in wait like an experienced hunter. However, the complete lack of sighting of her opponent had ebbed away at her patience.

Now, she was only full of resentment.

“This damned guy! I shouldn’t have tolerated him and should’ve kicked him out the instant he mentioned that he was a total newbie. Look at where I’ve gotten by deciding to do a good deed. A complete and utter waste of my time!”

Currently, Fox was running around the map, Newman’s Space Station, in search of her opponent. Of course, she hadn’t lost her head in anger and had not lost her caution. However, it went without saying that she wasn’t playing most optimally either.

Had she been facing an experienced opponent, Fox would’ve never dared to do something like this. However, when she recalled that her current opponent was that annoying, good-looking guy, her anger clouded her judgement.

Running down a flight of stairs, Fox arrived at a corridor titled ‘Living Quarters. Seeing the long, narrow corridor outfitted with doors on either side, Fox felt a semblance of her reason appear. She immediately raised her guard and assumed a defensive stance while raising her gun.

With her finger resting on the trigger, ready to pull it at the slightest of sightings, she walked one step at a time, checking one room after the other. There were eight rooms on this floor, and at the rate that she was proceeding, it would take her a full minute to go through every room.

Opening the first door… she found nothing.

Opening the second door… still nothing.

Opening the third door, she found… nothing.

Door after door, Fox continued to find not a single sign of her opponent. Just as she was about to open the seventh door, Fox’s hand reaching to the door’s handle paused. Her eyes narrowed into slits as her vision focused on the area underneath the door frame.

The dust here had been moved! Someone was inside this room!

The realisation caused her to feel an untold amount of joy. However, alongside that joy was an unparalleled amount of caution and attentiveness. Taking a step back, she prepared to deploy her special ability [Buckshot] at any given moment. Taking aim, she instantly moved like lightning kicking down the door, and firing into the room.

Catching unguarded inside the room was… nothing!

“OH COME ON!! HOW IS HE NOT HERE!?!” Unable to hold back her rage, Fox screamed at the top of her lungs.

---

Meanwhile, Aether who had moved away from his secluded quarters some three minutes or so ago, found himself lost amidst the space station.

“Uhh? Have I already been through here?” he asked himself, feeling unsure. The fact that all corridors and pathways inside the space station looked standardised and similar did not help him in the slightest.

“Should I start marking my path with something? So that I don’t go around in circles?” He very much considered this action. Just as he was about to act upon his suggestion, he heard a very loud gunshot resound from somewhere followed by a faint scream.

A smile immediately appeared on his face as he mumbled, “This little girl really is kindhearted. Upon figuring out that I’m lost, she decided to give me a sign to provide me with a sense of direction.”

“If only Mei could have half the kindness of this girl. I could rest easy.”

Having pinpointed the general direction of the sound’s origin, Aether immediately began moving in its direction. His steps had a noticeable bounce and lightness to them.

---

The rage-induced screaming did help in relieving a fair portion of the resentment filling her belly. However, immediately following that relief was a flooding of regret. Regret at the impulsiveness of her actions.

“Crap! That gunshot and screaming should’ve alerted him of my position! As long as he isn’t deaf, that is,” Fox couldn’t help but add that final sentence. That guy was really hateful and annoying!

Still, she quickly regained her bearings and almost immediately came up with a plan. Since it was inevitable for the enemy to know her position, she decided to retreat to a field that was advantageous to her.

Facing an enemy in the shadows while she herself was out in the open, exposed, was a very unideal situation. However, having come this far, it couldn’t be helped. Since she was going to face him sooner or later, she might as well do it in a field advantageous to her.

Bringing her gun close to her body, Fox immediately began to run. As a long-time player and pseudo-veteran, her knowledge of all the game’s stages was exemplary. It was exemplary to the point that she could recall every stage with over 90% clarity while being in a state of semi-consciousness (sleep).

“Up this flight of stairs and to the left, I will reach the Cafeteria. I’ll just camp there and wait for him to come to me.” Playing as a Gunner, Fox had the initiative and the advantage in mid to long-range combat. If she could secure a suitable shooting spot and wait for her opponent to appear, Fox was more than certain that she could end this match in victory.

Reaching the cafeteria, Fox spent a short instant scouting the insides before running up to her target destination. It was a small elevated platform above the serving counter. Affixing her weapon to her back, she leapt up, grabbed the outreach with her two hands, and dragged herself into position. Removing the gun from her back, she lay prone and waited for the annoying guy to appear.

This time, fortunately, she didn’t wait in vain.

Not even thirty seconds had passed since she had made her home when she heard the sounds of footsteps appear. Focusing her senses into her ears, Fox listened to the loudening footsteps. The steps had a rhythmic, floaty feeling to them which unconsciously drew the listeners into their rhythm. Fox, however, was more alert than the average person and quickly disengaged herself from the process.

This short exchange immediately sobered up her rage-filled mind. The grip on her gun unconsciously tightened while her eyes, which were gazing at the open entrance, narrowed.

The footsteps continued to sound. Just as they were about to arrive before the cafeteria’s open entrance, they suddenly paused. Silence remained.

Seconds passed yet nothing happened.

“Dammit. What is this guy doing?” Fox asked herself with a suppressed breath. The strange and sudden silence strangely made her nervous. She felt a sort of formless suppression weigh upon her heart which made her feel terribly uncomfortable.

Just as Fox was about to shout a word of taunt, her sharp eyes caught a shadow flying towards her at high speeds. Instantly reacting to the change, she pulled her trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang! A stream of bullets left her muzzle and rained upon the flying shadow. The clear sound of metal clinking rang out as Fox saw a metal plate fall to the ground, its advance stopped by her bullets.

It was a decoy.

---

“65m from the entrance. She has an excellent reaction time, and seems to be in a position that gives her a good view of the area,” opening his closed eyes, Aether spoke aloud his analysis.

Surprise flashed across his eyes as he could not help but remark, “Wow. She’s actually pretty good.” Upon witnessing her skills first-hand, Aether finally put aside the derision in his heart. It seemed that the bony youth’s boasts did have an inkling of truth to them.

Having said that, Aether in no way, shape or form, felt pressured. While the difficulty of the challenge had seemed to have risen exponentially, he still felt confident in his chances of victory.

“Now, how do I do this?” He took a seat right next to the open entrance door, put his hands to his chin, and strategised out loud. “The opponent is a marksman… or is it a markswoman? Are they called that? Are female shooters called markswoman?” He was instantly stuck in a quandary.

“This is not the time to think about such things!” He shook his head in admonishment, intending to seek out the answer from Mei after returning home. “Let’s see. My current body is quite fast but not quite as nimble as I would have liked it to be. If I were to rush toward her while zig-zagging or evading, I might have a chance at making it to her. The risk, however, would be far greater than I would like it to be.”

“What else can I do? Throw stuff at her? Use the lapse in her concentration to gain some distance? Will that even work? She might just choose to ignore the projectiles since they are no threats to her. It is unlikely she will choose to shoot at them like the first one. ”

“What else? What else? What else? Hmm, is it possible for me to sneak?” An idea struck Aether as he was staring at the ceiling in thought. A certain object occupied his attention causing a sneaky smile to form on his face.

“Hehe, this plan has a chance of working.”

After deciding, he immediately began preparing.

---

Right now, Fox’s face was the very picture of concentration. Her eyes zoned in like a hawk at the cafeteria’s entrance, not letting go of a single mite of dust from within her vision. Her ears, like a bat, picked up every trace of sound ranging from the beating of her heart, the rustling of her clothes, and whatever the hell that loud thing was that Aether was doing outside. Seriously, he was being so loud.

‘What is he doing?’ It was unknown how many times today, or within this one match to be precise, Fox has asked herself this question. To this instant, she did not have an answer.

Aether, that weird guy, was by far the strangest opponent that she had ever faced. And she had faced a lot of stranger ones in her time!

In certain things like game knowledge or engagement etiquette, he seemed to be completely clueless. Was he putting on a show? Fox honestly didn’t think so. She knew a newbie when she saw one, and that guy was most definitely a newbie.

However, this is where the strangeness originated from. Fox, the pro-Gunner who was striving to win the Ascenders Cup, was feeling unsettled against this guy!

Do not underestimate the instincts of a person who’s a pro at whatever it is that they do. Their instinct was something that was born out of endless repetition and immense hard work. It was an instinct that was the product of masterful experience.

This, very same instinct, was now telling Fox that she was in a bad position. That she was in a position of losing.

It was honestly laughable. But Fox did not laugh. She could not laugh. After all, she could very clearly feel the intangible feeling suppressing her heart and giving birth to a wave of ominousness.

And right as she was in the middle of making sense of this grim feeling, the answer presented itself to her.

Swoosh! Fox saw a bunch of dark objects flash. Some flew towards her while others flew in random, haphazard directions.

Her fingers tensed but ultimately she did not pull the trigger. Her sharp eyes had revealed the true identity of these projectiles; they were a bunch of sharp metal pieces.

Where had Aether gotten these from? The instant that question appeared within her mind, Fox’s brain drew up the answer. That sound from earlier!

Aether was tearing apart the metal panels of the corridor and tearing them into small, finger-sized projectiles!

Such a task was impossible for a normal person in the real world. But in a game where you played with an avatar whose stats wildly exceeded that of a normal person, such tasks were easily doable.

Fox saw the pieces fly towards her in an arc and fall just short of her position. No matter how good Aether was at throwing stuff, he couldn’t throw dozens of projectiles, all at the same time, with each projectile having precise pathways. Such control was simply impossible.

However, what Fox failed to notice was that Aether never intended for the projectiles to strike her. In fact, he had already met his objective with resounding success.

For when Fox had her attention focused on the projectiles flying to her, ignoring the random ones thrown haphazardly… the haphazardly thrown projectiles met their true purpose and targets; the lights in the ceiling!

The sound of plastic breaking and glass shattering echoed, and the lights within the cafeteria went out! Fox felt her vision drown with darkness.

---

‘Now!’ Aether, who had been preparing for this opportunity, instantly exploded into action the moment the lights went out. His body almost literally flew towards his opponent.

Just like Fox, Aether was also blinded at this instant due to the darkness blanketing the cafeteria. However, unlike Fox, he had a precise mark on the opponent’s location. After all, one had been in the shadows while the other had been in the light. The advantage of having the initiative in combat shone through at this moment.

Covering the 65m long distance took Aether in his new body only a handful of seconds. The moment he arrived before the serving counter, dodging past the long tables and leaping past the bolted metal benches, Aether realised that his opponent was above him.

This realisation did not faze him in the slightest as he clenched his legs and shot up into the air. He did not even have to grab onto the ledge with his hands as the Brawler’s higher strength stat allowed them to have more explosive power when compared to the Gunner.

Landing on the same platform as Fox, just as he was about to deliver his attack, Aether felt the air in front of him… heat up. Not spending a single second in thought, he immediately bent his upper body back at an impossible angle!

Bang! A deafening shot rang and Aether saw his vision brighten due to the muzzle’s flash. He saw the scene of Fox holding up her gun with a panicked expression but steady hands.

Not voicing the admiration in his heart, Aether quickly moved. Twisting his waist to adjust his centre of balance, he kicked with his right leg. Moving with the speed of lightning and with the nimbleness of a snake, Aether’s foot met with the body of the gun on Fox’s hand and exploded it into countless pieces!

Following that, he touched the ground with both his hands and forced power into them. His weight and centre of gravity shifted once again, freeing up his left leg which also followed with an attack. Tearing through the air with a whoosh, his attack made landfall on Fox’s body.

The Gunner was a powerful character with a powerful offence and weak defence. Facing a full-powered kick from the Brawler, a character famous for their close-combat prowess, the result was no surprise.

Fox’s body flew back with incredible force and slammed against the wall behind her. The sudden attack not only robbed her of her initiative but also disoriented her.

What followed after was no surprise.

Getting up on his feet, Aether closed the negligible distance between them and followed with a stream of attacks. Punch after punch rained down on Fox in perfect harmony making her feel that she wasn’t facing one opponent but four!

The combos stacked one after the other, and five seconds later, Aether felt his opponent crack into innumerable pieces and disappear into a flash of light.

He had won.