Virtual

[Player Th3Re4lF0x (Gunner), Player ImATat00Art15t (Modder), and Player 1mBlu3 (Virtual) join the game.]

[Stage: Stone Pillars.]

---

[Game: 3v3, Team Duel.]

[Game Length: 30 mins.]

[Stage: Stone Pillars. (Neutral Map.)]

[Participating Characters: Team Fox and Friends- Gunner, Modder, and Virtual. Team WeAreTheChamps- PeaceKeeper, Cursemaster, and Virtual.]

The information screen disappeared after Aether finished reading through it. Tapping on his semi-translucent ears with his finger, he activated the game’s communication ability.

“Captain? Midas? Anybody near me?” While he waited for a reply, Aether moved his new, floating body in search of equipment to equip.

It was a strange feeling playing as a Virtual. The heightened agility –highest amongst all the characters– caused Aether to feel like he was atop a speeding motorcycle over which he had no control. It was weighty yet felt strangely weightless.

Back during practice, when he played the character for the first time, Aether almost threw up after the first game as a result of this conflicting sensation. When he asked his teammates about this, they laughed and replied that it was common for new players to react in such a manner after playing Virtual for the first time.

Coincidentally, it seemed that Virtual was the hardest character, amongst the playable characters, to professionally play. Not only did it require some amount of natural talent, but also extensive practice.

That being said, after forcing himself to play a few more matches using the character, Aether got acclimated to the character at a shocking speed. After he had gotten over the initial polarising sensations that caused him undue discomfort, Aether felt that playing the Virtual wasn’t too difficult at all. It was instead much ‘free-er’ to play compared to the other characters.

Just as he was scavenging a nearby earth pit for some grey equipment, Aether heard his comms buzz. [Yo! It’s me, man. I’m near you.]

Tapping his right ear once again, Aether replied, “Got it. Let’s converge underneath that huge stone pillar in the west after we loot up a little. How about in two minutes?”

[Huge stone pillar in the west? Oh! You mean that one which looks like a man’s peepee?] asked the Modder.

Aether’s mouth twitched in amusement upon hearing his question. Holding back his laughter, he replied, “Yes, Midas. The huge stone pillar which looks like a man’s peepee. Two minutes.”

[Two minutes, got it!] The communicator fell quiet, and Aether returned to his looting after releasing his pent-up laughter.

---

“Blue armour, purple helmet, a nice pair of blue armaments… not a bad haul. If I do say so myself,” remarked Aether softly. Jumping, or rather falling, down an earthen slope, Aether did a quick survey of his surroundings before continuing on his course toward the monolithic stone pillar.

[Aether, dude, I’m here! The place is empty and safe. Still, I’ve set up some traps just to be safe.] Aether’s ears buzzed with the message.

“Understood. I’m almost there myself,” replied Aether, picking up his speed. “Did you get anything good?”

[Yep, yep! Blue helmet, purple armour, and a purple replicator! Not to mention, a ton of handy bombs and other knick-knacks. I’m fully armed and ready for battle.]

“Wait for me to arrive before you start a war, Mr Terminator,” Aether chuckled. “Oh, and build a [Communications Range Extender] so that we can contact our captain.”

[Already doing so.] Midas cheerfully replied.

Another minute or so of running later, Aether arrived at Midas’ location. Taking care to avoid the traps highlighted in his HUD’s vision, he finally neared the Modder.

“Perfect timing, man! The replicator just finished printing.” Midas threw a device at Aether. Catching the item, Aether gave it a look. The device looked like a tripod stand attached with a spherical orb at its top.

“Remember to be quick. The enemy Cursemaster and Virtual will be able to pinpoint our location once the message is sent,” reminded Midas.

“Understood,” nodding his head, Aether moved. He activated [Digitised Stream], one of the Virtual’s Special Ability, and turned into a stream of 1s and 0s along with the object in his hand.

With the newly added agility and ability to traverse vertical terrain, Aether rushed up the towering stone pillar. No hiccups occurred during the climb and soon Aether was up at the top.

Cancelling the ability ahead of time, Aether regained his semi-physical, holographic body. Planting the object in his hand on the ground before him, he then activated the device.

The orb flashed with brilliant light and pulsed with energy. Aether, who was operating the device, suddenly felt his perception expand immensely along with a new icon appearing on his HUD. Accessing the new icon, Aether sent his message.

[Captain, Midas and I are heading towards Crater 3. Meet up there.] The orb pulsed once more and the message was sent. The moment after it had finished sending, the device sparkled with rampant energy and quickly broke apart.

[Communication Range Extender] was a one-time use device that can be crafted by a Modder. It allows any player to send a message across a large distance –depending on the tier of the Modder’s replicator– to an intended recipient(s). The sent message is encoded and can only be decoded by another Modder, provided they are prepared ahead of time.

Normally, it is a convenient but risky way to communicate with your teammates within the game. However, during such tournaments and especially when the opponent team does not have a Modder in their midst, it is a very practical and optimal way to communicate with your estranged teammates.

However, as Midas had reminded earlier, Cursemaster and Virtual, especially the latter, were able to pinpoint the origin of the message effectively. Therefore, unless one wants to be flanked from all sides it is recommended that one immediately leave the point of origin after sending the message.

Jumping down and landing near Midas with grace, Aether informed, “Message sent. Let’s get out of here and head towards Crater 3.”

“Crater 3… north-east from here, right?” asked Midas, seeking confirmation.

“Yep, it’s that way.” Aether pointed. He then asked, “Shall we start?”

Midas nodded his head. The two then headed in the direction of Crater 3.

---

“Wait!” Aether, who was leading in the front, suddenly stopped and gestured for Midas to stop. “Enemies ahead. PeaceKeeper and Virtual. They haven’t spot– never mind, they saw us!”

“Fight?” asked Midas, powering up the various armaments covering his body.

“Let’s fight. Engage the PeaceKeeper and harass him, while I keep the Virtual busy. We won’t be able to kill them in a short period, but it should be enough to drain their health and energy. Be wary of ambushes. These guys are quite good,” Aether spat out a string of instructions before flashing ahead and engaging the enemy in battle.

The enemy Virtual, who was the one to spot Aether and Midas, also flashed ahead to engage Aether. A Virtual was the natural counter to the PeaceKeeper, therefore, it was best to not let the PeaceKeeper engage this slippery foe.

The fifty or so metre distance between them and the enemy instantly closed as Aether and the enemy Virtual met in the middle. The instant they met, Aether launched his attack.

A Virtual method of combating was using a piece of equipment called [Nanomachine Cluster]. It was in the form of a cubical, silver-coloured box. At most, a Virtual can equip two of these.

In the game, Pathfinders Ascent, there were three types of Virtual playstyles, or metas if you will.

The first meta, called the Virtual Infiltrator, was an aggressive, attack-based play style that sought to deal as much damage to the opponent as possible in exchange for virtually zero defence. This playstyle was played by equipping oneself with the [Nanomachine Cluster (Infiltrate)] in both slots. All attack and no defence make these Virtuals a very powerful glass cannon.

The second meta, called the Virtual Defender, was a defensive playstyle and the exact opposite of the Virtual Infiltrator. Here, the player sought to play a more defensive and support-based playstyle in exchange for low attack power. Virtuals have to equip themselves with [Nanomachine Cluster (Guard)] in both available slots to play this playstyle.

The third and final meta was the Virtual Neutral playstyle. It was a balanced playstyle borne from the marriage of the previous two metas. These Virtuals equip themselves with both [Nanomachine Cluster (Infiltrate)] and [Nanomachine Cluster (Guard)] in each of their two slots. The only problem, or rather hindrance, of this playstyle, was that both pieces of equipment must be of the same tier for the meta to be optimal. Otherwise, it was a suboptimal playstyle that was objectively worse than the previous two metas.

Having said that, in the professional scene, Virtual Neutral was the most common and ideal Virtual playstyle. While they weren’t as powerful as the Virtual Infiltrators or as staid as the Virtual Defenders, they possessed the most well-rounded playstyle which made them ideal supports. It was incredibly difficult for Virtual players in the professional scene to get kills, however, they unanimously possessed the greatest number of kill assists.

Aether and the enemy Virtual were also Virtual Neutrals. Both possessed blue tier [Nanomachine Clusters] with the latter having a higher defence owing to his purple armour.

Being the first one to attack, Aether lashed out with his weapon which was in the shape of a silver-grey whip. The whip cracked through the air and neared his opponent. Noticing the sudden attack, the enemy Virtual immediately stopped his charge. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Aether’s attack took into consideration the stoppage of the enemy’s charge and its following momentum. The tip of his whip aimed not directly at where his enemy was, but where he was going to be.

The tip landed and the attack hit squarely on the enemy’s chest. His body was flung back by the attack earning Aether the advantage. Pressing on forward, Aether circled the whip and cracked it once again. This time, his enemy possessed better awareness of the attack and narrowly dodged the attack.

Not wanting to remain passive, he countered with an attack of his own. A silver-coloured shadow slipped past Aether’s whip and closed in on his body.

Catching sight of the incoming attack, Aether immediately pulled back his whip and raised his left hand. Silver-coloured liquid metal suffused around his translucent blue arm and formed a short shield. Just as the shield had finished forming, the enemy’s attack arrived. It crashed against his shield, overpowering Aether.

Voluntarily flying back to dissipate the kinetic energy, Aether shook his numbed left arm. He cast a quick glance at the cracked shield and identified the attacking weapon. It was a metal bolt.

“Bolts, huh,” Aether mumbled to himself. Eyes landing on the enemy Virtual far away, an uncontrollable smile appeared on Aether’s face. “This should be fun!”

Lashing out with his arm, Aether cracked his whip once again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Midas engaged the enemy PeaceKeeper. Opposite the towering giant of a character, Midas felt pathetically short.

“Man, you really are big!” Midas exclaimed in honest praise while throwing another bomb at the PeaceKeeper’s feet. “Are you this big in real life? Or is it just in the game?”

No reply from the enemy PeaceKeeper. He simply used his tower shield to flick away the bomb.

“Can you tell me how you got this big?” Another bomb was thrown and flicked away.

“Is it body modification? Uh, but I heard that it costs too much to replace your entire skeletal structure. Are you very rich, man?” Another bomb and another flick.

“Do you watch that professional player/streamer, Glory? He plays Gunner. He’s very good at it. Man, I want to try fighting against him. Seems like it will be a lot of fun.” Another throw and another flick.

“...if you take a left at that junction, you’ll find the store. They are the best in the inking business, let me tell you. Legends of the field. Did you know, man? I worked in that store for a few months. The owners are very nice people. They even–”

“GOD! DO YOU EVER SHUT UP!!” Unable to hold back his stifled anger, the enemy PeaceKeeper finally exploded. Just in time for another bomb to be thrown at him. “HOW MANY BOMBS DO YOU HAVE!?!”

“That was my last one. I gotta go now. It was nice talking to you, man,” answered Midas innocently. He then turned around and ran away.

The Modder’s agility was roughly three times as much as the PeaceKeeper, meaning the enemy will never be able to catch Midas.

“STOP RUNNING AWAY, YA BASTARD!!” The enemy PeaceKeeper bellowed with infinite frustration. Only he knew how much mental torture he had just experienced in this short scuffle.

On the other side, the battle between Aether and the enemy Virtual which had rocked the heavens and fractured the earth also came to an end. Aether flawlessly disengaged and ran in chase of Midas.

The Virtual did not give chase but coldly watched him go. Taking a glance at the corner of his HUD to read his health bar, he then shook his head and turned around.

---

“How’d your battle go, Aether?” asked Midas as he ran.

“It went alright,” replied Aether. “I got a sense of that guy’s combat ability. He’s good.” A sliver of seriousness appeared on his face.

Shaking his head, Aether asked, “How about you? Did the PeaceKeeper treat you alright?”

“Yep. He’s a wonderful listener,” summarised Midas. Casting a glance at his surroundings, he said, “Oh, look, we’re almost here!”

Sliding past a rock formation, Aether and Midas arrived at the edge of an earthen depression. An enormous crater littered with stone pillars of varying sizes and shapes rested before them.

“Scan the area,” Aether instructed. Midas complied and threw a few silver orbs shaped like a ping-pong ball into the air. The balls began levitating after leaving his hands and flew toward the crater.

“Scanning, scanning… 1 heat signature found… scanning… nope, there’s nothing else. That heat signature should be the captain,” Midas delivered his findings.

“Where is she?”

“Near that rock cluster. 200 metres away,” said Midas, pointing at a specific spot.

Nodding his head, Aether instructed, “Let’s proceed while being careful. It could always be an enemy.”

“Okay.”

Once again, with Aether leading the party, the duo slid down the bowl-shaped edges and entered the crater. Being careful not to expose themselves in the open area they stuck to the scattered rock formations and carefully approached the place where Midas had perceived the heat signature.

“Throw a signal flare,” ordered Aether, after having approached close enough.

Midas, without delays, removed a cylindrical object from his belt and twisted it while pointing its top at the sky. Once the red-coloured flare was sent out, they waited while being alert.

A few seconds later, Aether heard footsteps approaching closer. Curling up his body, he prepared himself to launch an attack should it be an enemy.

“Midas? Aether?” Fortunately, Fox’s voice sounded within their ears.

“Yep! It’s us, captain!” Midas replied. “Sorry for not contacting you sooner, we couldn’t risk communication without confirming that it was you.”

A Cursemaster, Virtual, or a Modder were able to see the soundwaves when a message is sent through the comms provided that they were close enough. As such, it is common practice to gain visual confirmation of one’s teammates before contacting them through the comms.

Having confirmed that it was her teammates, Fox sighed with relief. She then asked, “What took you guys so long? I’ve been waiting for a few minutes.”

“We met the enemy team on our way here,” replied Aether.

“How many and who?”

“Two. PeaceKeeper and Virtual,” answered Aether. He then continued, “If I’m not mistaken, they should be heading towards the stone temple, east of here.”

It wasn’t very hard to figure out the enemy’s plans after having gained a measure of insight into their play style. The current situation was the same.

Fox and Friends’ opponent was a team that excelled in creating kill boxes. They liked to pick a location that is advantageous to them and camp within, waiting for the enemy to approach them for combat.

“Setting up a kill box. Again, huh?” Fox sighed. It was because of falling into this trap that they lost their previous game.

However, while Fox sighed ruefully, she was not depressed. Instead, a smile filled her face. “We can use Vix’s strategy, huh?”

“Indeed,” Aether nodded his head. His face contained a similar, teasing smile as Fox’s as he continued, “In fact, you could say that we’ve already begun employing his strategy.”

“How so?” Fox asked curiously.

“The Virtual I fought, their captain. He should be feeling unsettled right now.” Aether’s eyes narrowed like a cat's; teasing and superior.

“What did you do?”

“Followed the Vice-Captain’s advice and told him something right as I left,” Aether explained. Sensing the follow-up question, he repeated, “‘Your left side is weak.’”

“‘Left side is weak?’ What does that mean, man?” questioned Midas, confused.

Shrugging his shoulders, Aether honestly replied, “I don’t know. I just did what Vix told me to do.”

“Well, if Vix told you to do it then it must have a reason. He’s our resident strategist after all!” Fox exclaimed. Her voice sounded like that of a proud mother hen.

“Let’s move on then. There’s some good loot within the crater that you guys can equip. Once you are done, we will move out and continue with the plan.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Aether and Midas saluted and immediately got to work.

It was time to kill a tortoise hiding underneath its shell.

---

At the stone temple.

“Something wrong, leader?” asked the Cursemaster. “You seem a little out of it.”

“No, no,” the Virtual denied and shook his head. Showing a confident smile, he said, “I was just thinking about how we’re going to crush that team!”

“Especially that Modder,” PeaceKeeper intervened. Clenching his fists, he spat out with great fury, “That guy just keeps talking and talking and talking! He never shuts up!!”

Waving his arms, he continued, ”Doesn’t he ever think that maybe people just don’t want to listen to him!? WHY DOES HE KEEP TALKING!?!”

“What does he even say to get you so riled up?” asked the Cursemaster, curiously. “Is he dissing at you?”

“No! That’s what is infuriating me even further! I can at least understand if he disses at me or talks trash.” The PeaceKeeper paused with great emotion. “But he doesn’t do that! He simply speaks whatever comes to his mind!”

“Like what?”

“Things he likes to eat. Interesting people he met. Hell, I even know his favourite colour!! I’ve only known this man for less than an hour!!” cried the PeaceKeeper. “Who says things like this to strangers, much less, your freaking enemy!?”

“Say, do you know my favourite colour?” The Cursemaster suddenly asked.

“...no,” the PeaceKeeper gave it some thought and shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

“Oh. Alright, then. It’s fine,” the Cursemaster hung his head, feeling depressed. In a quiet, inaudible voice he said, “It’s not like I thought you were my best friend or anything.”

“Did you say something”?

“Nothing.” He muttered underneath his breath, “...jackass.”

“Now, I definitely heard something!”

Unable to take this any further, the Virtual bellowed, “Shut up, both of you! We still have a fight ahead of us.” Taking a deep breath, he then grimly said, “And our opponents are no pushovers.”

“Yeah, they’re really good. Full of aggression and passion!” complimented the Cursemaster.

“Uh, they’re alright,” the PeaceKeeper curtly said, not wanting to compliment his enemy.

“Indeed. They are very good. And that is why we must work harder than we’ve ever worked before if we want to win this!” Pointing his gaze at his teammates, he said, “Cursemaster, take the high ground and start preparing. PeaceKeeper, guard the main entrance. If they enter, do not engage but bait them into the inner sanctum.”

“As for me,” he took a pause, “I’ll guard the left side.”

“Understood?”

“Yes, leader!!” The two goons acknowledged.

“Good. Let’s split,” the Virtual finished.

After watching his teammates go to their instructed positions, the Virtual headed to his own. While he put on a firm and confident outer show, the inside of his mind was plagued with worry.

‘Your left side is weak.’ That taunt from that outstanding Virtual player kept bothering him for some reason.

“Our left side is weak, huh? Fine then! I’ll guard it myself!” he declared as such and rushed over. Just as he reached his destination, his eyes caught sight of a spark of blue light.

Immediately realising what it is, he rushed over while screaming, “THEY’RE HERE!!”

A silver-colored bolt launched, striking the enemy Virtual (Aether). Seeing the shocked expression on his opponent’s face, pride filled his heart.

“You absolute fool!” He exclaimed, launching another attack. Barely dodging the attack, the enemy Virtual desperately fled.

Seeing his ugly escape, a quandary struck him. Should he give chase? Or should he let him go?

Recalling how his bolt had landed squarely on the opponent’s chest, most definitely dealing him lethal damage, he decided.

“Stop running away, coward!!” He gave chase.

---

Seeing his opponent give chase, a hard-to-conceal smile filled Aether’s face. “No… must resist… laughing…” he told himself.

In order to distract himself, Aether took a glance at the bolt sticking out of his chest and at the top of his HUD. His health had fallen by 40%. It was a lethal shot.

Having said that, Aether intentionally tanked the lethal shot. He understood that nothing else than real damage would draw his enemy to chase after him. This was very important.

While Aether led the enemy Virtual on a wild goose hunt, Midas and Fox entered the stone temple to unravel the kill box!

The core of Vix’s strategy depended on luring the enemy leader out of their killing formation. Aether remembered Vix calling it, ‘Lure the tiger down the mountain’. He couldn’t understand why it was called that, but could more or less infer its meaning.

By luring the ‘tiger’ (Virtual) out of the ‘mountain’ (kill box), Aether was weakening their formation and the attackers’ responsiveness, making them less susceptible to react to sudden changes.

As for how long he could keep up this act of luring, Aether didn’t consider it at all. He was confident of killing the enemy Virtual!

Turning around a corner, he mentally noted the approximate distance from the stone temple. After confirming that the enemy Virtual was far enough –whereby he could not immediately head back– Aether informed his teammates, “The tiger is out of the mountain. You guys can attack!”

The instant he finished saying that, Aether activated [Digitised Stream]. Only this time, he wasn’t using it to run away.

Using the increased agility, Aether suddenly flashed backwards and headed toward the enemy. The enemy Virtual, caught off-guard by his opponent’s sudden aggression, stopped hastily. A sudden lull was created and an opportunity appeared.

An opportunity that Aether was waiting for.

Arriving before his opponent in an instant, Aether suddenly dropped a few objects from his body. Not giving the opponent any time to react or identify the object, Aether used [Digital Binding] and immobilised the opponent. Fortunately, it landed.

[Digital Binding] stunlocked the opponent for 3 seconds at the cost of becoming immobile oneself. It was a famous kamikaze skill.

“You…!” the enemy VIrtual yelled finding himself stunlocked. His eyes then wandered to the fallen object. Identifying the items, his pupils shrunk. A belly filled with rage, he screamed, “YOU MAD FOOL!!”

“Hehehe,” Aether dumbly giggled.

BOOOM!! A massive explosion happened, drowning both Aether and the enemy Virtual in a storm of fire.

A Modder’s [Cluster Bomb] was fatal to any Virtual. Not to mention, two.

---

When they heard the distant explosion sound, the heart of the enemy Cursemaster fell. A wave of anxiousness filled his heart. Just as he wondered what that sound could be, he saw the notification appear on his HUD

[Player H4ck3rM4n (Virtual) was drowned in a sea of fire.] His leader had died.

“What the f*ck!? How did this–” Right as the Cursemaster was in the middle of his curse, a gunshot rang out causing him to ungainly fall to the ground.

It was a good thing that he did for a bullet passed through where his head had previously been.

“Hello there!” Fox cheerily greeted after entering the inner sanctum. “Nice reaction timing.”

“Can you keep dodging though?” she asked, pointing her gun at the Cursemaster once again.

“Wait! Time out!!” cried the Cursemaster, rolling to the nearest cover. Upon finding safe haven, he wiped the metaphorical sweat off of his forehead and cursed, “What the hell is that dumbo doing at the entrance?”

“Oh, your teammate ran off by the way. It was really weird. The moment my teammate, the Modder, ran up and said something to him, he got really incensed and chased after him,” Fox answered his doubts, shooting another shot at the hidden Cursemaster.

“That f*cking idiot!” Unable to hold back his rage, the Cursemaster jumped out of his hiding spot and waved his staff at Fox. “[Darkness Bolt]!” A bolt of blackness shot out of his staff and flew towards Fox.

Reading the trajectory of the attack, Fox rolled in evasion and shot another bullet toward the Cursemaster. She then immediately changed the mode of her rifle, changing it from ‘Single’ to ‘Burst’, exchanging accuracy for rate of fire. She then unleashed hell upon him.

Bullets flew and the Cursemaster kept running, jumping, and rolling to the best of his ability. He managed to evade most of the shots while taking some of them. He could try summoning a [Darkness Shield] to protect him but understood that the fixed coverage couldn’t protect him from all sides. Sides that the Gunner below had full access to.

Dodging another bullet which was aimed at his head by rolling, the Cursemaster suddenly felt the ground beneath him weaken. Panic exploded within his heart as a possibility appeared within his head.

And it happened just as he had feared. The ground gave way and he fell alongside the rubble.

Clawing his way out at the fastest speed possible, the Cursemaster came out of the rubble… just to come head-to-head with Fox’s gun barrel.

“GG. Well played,” she said and pulled her trigger. A [BuckShot] rang out and the enemy Cursemaster was felled.

Not revelling in her victory, Fox methodically reloaded her gun and ran out of the inner sanctum. She knew that in an enclosed space like the stone temple, there was only so much space for Midas to evade the PeaceKeeper’s assaults. If she didn’t head back to assist him soon, he would get cornered and obliterated.

Just as she finished running out of the stone corridor and arrived at the outer sanctum with its busted pillars and cratered ground, Fox witnessed a shocking scene.

“Kill me!” cried the PeaceKeeper, kneeling before the Modder.

“NO!” exclaimed the Modder, refusing him firmly.

“Midas! Plant your bombs and run away! I can only hold this guy for seven more seconds!” yelled the PeaceKeeper.

“But, it feels cheap though!~” remarked Midas. “It doesn’t feel right to kill him like this. He was a really good listener who patiently listened to me. I can’t do him like this, man!”

“What difference does it make!? Killing him now and killing him later is the SAME THING!”

“Exactly! So we can kill him later,” Midas proudly declared as if he had won the argument.

The PeaceKeeper exhaled a heavy sigh. He then turned his face towards Fox. His eyes lit up and he cried once again, “Captain! You’re here! Kill me!”

“Uh?” Fox dawdled. “Is that you Aether?”

“Yes! Now, kill me! Only 3 seconds left,” he hurried her.

“How did you–”

“I’LL TELL YOU LATER! KILL ME FIRST! 2 SECONDS!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Fox pulled the trigger on her handgun, ending the PeaceKeeper’s life.

[Player 1mBlu3 staked his life for his duty.] Aether’s death notification rang out.

[Victory, Team Fox and Friends]

3-1, Fox and Friends clinched victory in the Round of 64.

---

Outside the game.

“How’d you do that?” asked Fox.

Sighing heavily, Aether explained, “Remember how Midas and I fought the PeaceKeeper and Virtual meeting up with you? Well, when we were running away, I used [Hostile Takeover] on the enemy PeaceKeeper to try my luck. And would you guess? I landed [Vajra Body], his defensive special ability. 60% effectiveness too. I won the lottery on that won.”

“With that skill on hand, I used it when suicide bombing the enemy Virtual leader after luring him out of the temple. I used it on a whim and didn’t think I would actually survive the blast. Who knew that while [Digital Binding] all attacks received have only 80% of their damage counted? It isn’t exactly mentioned in the skill description.”

“You can imagine how it went after that. 60% effective [Vajra Body] and 20% reduced damage taken, I survived with less than 5% of my health. Seeing that I was doing fine, I ran back and decided to help Midas.”

“I used my Ultimate Ability [I’m In!], cause why not, when the opponent was distracted and assumed control of his body. Then, I asked Midas to end me when he refused to do it.”

“You came later, finished me, and we won the game! There you go.”

Aether finished and flashed the victory sign.