Chapter 56

“Scanning. Player detected. Welcome back to Fantasia, Fey E’lan.”

“There is a new new notice for an event happening in one month. Would you like to read it?”

Suspended in the nothingness that was the login screen, Fey raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes.”

A virtual screen popped up:

Introducing Fantasia’s first server-wide event: a player-versus-player laser tag tournament!

Teams of 4 players will battle it out for fabulous prizes with every match. Limited-edition pets and equipment can be won during individual matches, while the tournament winners will receive legendary evolving weapons to match their class!

Tournament Rules

Teams of four players must register to compete at least 24 hours before the start of the tournament. Unregistered teams can participate in individual matches to win basic prizes but will not qualify to compete for the grand prize. Registered teams can continue to change composition up to 24 hours before the start of the tournament. Teams will be placed in level brackets based on the mean level of the four players. Level brackets are every 5 levels from 10 to 60 (10-14, 15-19, 20-24, ..., 60+). Players below level 10 or who have not joined a combat class will not be eligible to compete. Players above level 60 will be returned to level 60 stats and abilities for the duration of matches. Players will be returned to their stats and abilities at the start of the tournament for the duration of matches if they gain levels/abilities during the tournament period. The tournament will consist of two rounds. In the qualifying round, teams will compete in 10 matches against randomly-selected teams from the same level bracket. The teams with the highest win count will move on to the final round, a 128-team knockout-style tournament to determine the overall winners in each level bracket. Teams that do not qualify for the final round can continue to participate in matches for basic prizes. All match footage will be available for livestream and playback. In participating in a match, players agree to have their image recorded and released on the VirtualRealities website. Grand prize winners may be interviewed and featured on the VirtualRealities website.

Match Rules

Players must wear transparent vests and helmets that detect magical laser fire, and will be equipped with magic guns that hold 100 shots. Other than the mandatory equipment, players are free to wear/carry their own equipment. Regular equipment (e.g. capes) and body parts (arms, legs) cannot block magical laser fire. Potions, pets, and live accessories are not allowed in matches. Once-a-day skills and abilities will be disabled during matches. Other than these, all skills and abilities that do not deal direct damage are allowed. Dealing direct damage to other players will result in forfeiture of the match and a gain of 50 infamy. Each combat class has a different set of abilities during the match:

Warrior: 10 lives, equipped with a small round shield that can block laser fire

Mage: 2 lives, each hit consumes 2 lives, can recharge guns

Archer: 5 lives, laser sight is invisible to opponents

Rogue: 1 life, no bonuses

*Players belonging to multiple classes will have the number of lives of the class with fewer lives, but otherwise the abilities of both classes. Each additional class players belong to will result in +2 to their mean team level. Players will be informed of the opposing team’s composition 15 minutes before the start of the match and be given a private space to strategize. Matches last until all players on one team are knocked out or 1 hour. If neither team has a mage, matches will also end when both teams are out of shots. If not ended by knockout, the winning team is determined by the number of players remaining, followed by the percentage number of lives remaining on surviving players, followed by the hit accuracy of each team. At the start of the match, teams will be transported to starting positions at opposite ends of the arena. Players are free to move within the arena until all their lives are consumed, at which point they will be transported out of the arena with all their equipment. Upon being hit, players will be invincible to laser fire for 30 seconds and also have their guns disabled for 30 seconds. Arenas will be selected from the following settings:

Size: 50mx50m, 75mx75m, 100mx100m

Time: noon, sunset, midnight (full moon), midnight (new moon)

Land: forest, mountains, plains, desert, underground tunnels

Additional elements: None, moving elements, weather, roaming monsters (can be shot for temporary buffs)

Good luck and have fun! Practice arenas and equipment can be accessed through any teleportation gate for a small fee until the registration deadline.

Time until deadline: 30 days

Still absorbing and processing the information, Fey logged into the game.

◊◊◊

Fey flashed into the Moonwood and was immediately pounced upon by an excited Sirena.

“Whaddya think?” the mermaid asked (excitedly). “This is going to be great! We’ll kick ass.”

“We’re terrible at laser tag,” Fey pointed out. In real life, they occasionally played laser tag when the occasion came up, and winning was more of a matter of identifying the skilled players and contriving to be on that team than anything else.

Sirena dismissed the pessimism (realism) with a wave of her hand. “That’s real-life laser tag. This is magical laser tag. We can cheat. I bet I can use Water Mace to diffract shots.”

“We’ll see,” said Fey. She foresaw extensive experimentation with the laser tag gear in the upcoming month to see how it interacted with their existing skills and abilities. “Where’s Blade?”

By this point in their gaming lives, Fey, Sirena, and Blade had fine-tuned their logon times to be almost simultaneous. The three had in fact turned on their gaming helmets within a real-life minute of each other. The difference in time when it came to appearing in the game world was due to reading the announcement. Sirena finished first, briefly skimming the notice and coming away with only superficial details of how the tournament was going to work. Fey, on the other hand, read through the entire thing in detail and came away with near-perfect recall of all the rules.

Blade also read through the entire notice with care. Being somewhat more pedestrian in his reading skills, he took more time and came away with less comprehension than Fey. (Unaware that he was being judged, this did not bother him.) He flashed into being a few minutes later, excited about the upcoming event. “You guys want to enter the laser tag tournament, right?” Unlike his party-mates, he was actually good at it in real life, and was somehow under the impression that Fey and Sirena had equivalent skill.

“Yup! We’re totally doing it,” said Sirena.

“Well, first of all, we need a fourth team member,” said Fey.

Blade’s party (*technicalities*) stood several metres back from the Moonwood’s notice board, which was as close as they could get with the crowd of excited players all looking to join teams or recruit members. Fortunately, the notice board had a virtual version, which allowed them to scroll through pages of posted requests.

“What kind of player are we looking for?” asked Sirena.

“Well, if we want to stay in the level 40-44 bracket, someone level 44 or less, assuming they’re not a dual class like me,” Fey answered, having done the calculations on the handy calculation program the game developers had installed. After a week of serious training (interspersed with breaks for silliness), the party members had each gained 6-7 levels and made various skill gains. Belonging to two combat classes could give considerable advantages during laser tag, but by adding 2 to the team’s calculated level average, it came at the cost of the equivalent of 8 player levels to stay in the same level bracket.

“Okay, but what class are we looking for?” asked Blade. “If we want one of each class, it should be an archer, but I don’t think having one necessarily gives us more of an advantage than doubling up on something else.”

Fey and Sirena exchanged looks, silently arguing over who would be the one to give Blade the bad news. Fey lost. “Considering me and Sirena are on the team, someone with good aim is a necessity,” she finally said.

“Oh, come on. Your aim can’t be… that bad.” Blade trailed off when his party-mates’ expressions failed to reassure him. He cleared his throat. “Right. Archer it is.”

“We wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to find a different team for the tournament,” Fey offered. “Well, Sirena would pout,” she added, not having to turn her head to look at her best friend’s petulant expression, “but we wouldn’t blame you.”

Blade shook his head without pausing to consider the idea. (Aww, so loyal. People should appreciate him more.) Turning on the correct filters on the request page, he announced, “Level 44 archers,” and shared the virtual display. The list of names numbered in the hundreds just for the local area as players scrambled to find teams for the tournament.

Fey’s eyes glazed over in boredom. She was adept at scanning data for information of interest, but only if the information she wanted was actually there. Names and subclasses would not tell her if the player was sensible, or reliable, or any of the other necessary traits to be a good team member.

Unnoticed by the party nor anyone else in the crowd, a lone player had been quietly moving around clusters of chattering players, listening and observing. She made no visual or physical contact and moved with calm purpose, blending in almost to the point of invisibility.

Catching Blade’s words about recruiting an archer and Fey’s subsequent joking/ not joking answer, the player paused, intrigued.

When Fey said, “Okay, let’s go down the list and message the first name we unanimously decide doesn’t sound stupid,” the loner made her decision and approached.

“Excuse me.”

Blade jumped and turned as a voice spoke from his flank.

“Are you looking for a fourth team member?” The speaker was a moon elf in leather armour, holding a small crossbow in her left hand. Within the bounds of game race and gender, she was very different in appearance from Fey. While Fey was relatively tall and extremely thin, the newcomer was almost a full head shorter and of normal weight, making her body look considerably sturdier and less androgynous. Her hair was plain black, confined to a neat braid, her eyes a normal brown, her posture neat and reserved.

Fey and Sirena immediately liked what they saw. The player stood with a quiet air that suggested self-assurance without arrogance, which, in their experience, was a strong predictor of competence. (Blade is too nice and willing to give anyone a chance, so his first impressions don’t count.)

“Hi!” Sirena greeted. “Yes, we were! I’m Sirena, a level 41 mage-priestess. This is Fey, a level 44 assassin – that’s a warrior-rogue hybrid – and this is Blade, a level 42 tank. Are you interested in joining us?”

The player nodded. “I’m Mimi, level 43 sniper, archer-rogue hybrid.”

“Perfect! Consider it done,” Sirena exclaimed, though Mimi’s dual class would take them into the next level bracket. (That being said, an archer-rogue hybrid is the perfect class to play magical laser tag, though Sirena hadn’t actually thought it through.)

Fey elbowed Blade. “Send her a party invite.”

Blade obliged, and Mimi accepted the invitation.

“Want to head over to a training arena and see how it goes?” Fey suggested.

Mimi nodded, and the newly-enlarged party headed over to the teleportation gate. Walking into its centre and paying 10g per player caused the gate to send them to a newly generated practice arena.

◊◊◊

Blade’s party appeared in the centre of the arena, the default settings being 50mx50m, noon, forest, no additional elements. Beside them was a pile of gear.

Sirena lifted a loose, off-white vest made of a light cloth and pursed her lips critically. “Not flattering.”

Fey grabbed two vests and handed one to Mimi before slipping into her own. The magical cloth shimmered for a moment before shrinking to fit her thin frame perfectly and taking on the colouration of her underlying equipment. Glowing green lines flashed into being, outlining circles on her chest and back. “I mean, nobody looks good in neon green[i], but it’s not that bad,” she answered. The accompanying helmet, which resembled a transparent motorcycle helmet, complete with visor, was lit with three matching green lines along its length.

Fey and Blade were also provided with small, transparent round shields that could be strapped to the forearm. They were just big enough to cover the head or chest target, never both at the same time. Fey was flexible enough to reach behind herself and cover the back target, but Blade was not.

The team geared up, a process which involved removing a lot of their existing equipment. In a game where direct combat was forbidden, heavy armour with high defence was just a hindrance to movement speed. Blade resorted to changing into his newbie outfit, his tank equipment entirely unsuited to laser tag.

Finally, they swapped their weapons for laser guns. Being magical weapons, they were actually modified wands the size of a handgun. Made of wood, they were considerably lighter than the two-handed laser guns the players had handled in real life, easily carried and shot with one hand. The triggers were standard: half pressure activated a red laser sight, while full pressure triggered a shot.

Fully geared up, Fey saved the new equipment set so that she could Ex-quip into it next time. Then her mind moved on to experimentation. Lifting her gun, she shot at Blade’s vest outside of the target circle, with no results. Shooting inside the circle caused his vest and helmet to flash red.

“Hey!” he protested.

“You have to shoot inside the target circle,” Fey reported.

Sirena lifted her weapon and shot at Fey’s helmet, causing it to flash red. “Looks like anywhere on the helmet is okay,” she said with an impish smile.

While Fey, Sirena, and Blade shot at each other. Mimi familiarized herself with her new weapon, getting a feel for its heft, grip, and shape. Holding it in one- and two-handed grips, she sighted along its length with and without the sighting aid, then squeezed the trigger repeatedly, finding the maximum shooting speed. By the time the other three had more or less confirmed that anywhere on the helmet was a valid target, she was ready and waiting, gun held securely in one hand.

Seeing Mimi’s stance, Fey quickly called out, “One, two, three, go!” and sprinted into the artificial forest, activating Shadow Cloak as she went. In the bright lighting, the ability did little to hide her from sight, but turned her into a dark blur and smothered the light coming from her vest and helmet, making her an uncertain target. She ran in one direction until she reached one wall of the arena, then travelled along it, listening for a sign of her party-mates.

The first sound came not from the environment, but the party audio chat.

“Hey! who was that?” Sirena complained.

“Me,” came Mimi’s voice.

A minute later, Blade swore. “Who was that?”

“Me,” came Mimi’s voice again. (It’s becoming obvious why she’s called ‘Mimi’.)

Fey was struck with a sense of impending doom. She was next.

Keeping her shield covering her head, Fey darted from tree to tree, taking cover under the assumption that Mimi was closer to the centre of the arena than she was. One minute passed without being hit. Two. Five.

Fey heard the sound of footsteps. Peeking around a tree, she saw Sirena trudging along with a disgruntled expression. Grinning, she activated her laser sight. As usual for her, the red dot appeared outside the hit zone and she had to take a moment to correct her aim. She pulled the trigger all the way and Sirena’s gear flashed red. Fey took a second to gloat—

Then she was hit. “Son of a goat!” she yelled, half a beat after Sirena’s equally-disgusted exclamation. (We shall leave it to the reader’s imagination whether she actually said “goat”.)

Fey looked around, but could see no sign of Mimi’s presence. “Okay, you got us all, Mimi. Regroup and discuss?” she said over audio chat. Everyone agreed and began heading back to the starting area.

Fey finally spotted Mimi as the sniper dropped out of a tree. She trotted up to walk with the other elf. “How did you get up there?” she asked curiously.

Mimi showed her fingers tipped with claw-shaped shadow. “My level 30 ability is Climbing Claws.”

“Cool! Mine is Critical Sight. Speaking of…” Fey activated the ability, which had been set to untarget party members. In her vision, the helmets and vest targets on her party-mates filled in with solid red, very easy to see in the browns and greens of the forest. “My level 40 ability is Brittle Edge, which sacrifices defence for attack power,” she continued. “It’s pretty useless for laser tag, though. How about yours?”

Mimi’s lips curved into a small smile. “Guided Shot.”

Fey’s eyes widened. “As in…?”

“I can shoot around corners.”

Fey broke into an exuberant smile and raised her hand for a high five. Mimi obliged, still wearing a more reserved smile.

It was at this point that Blade spotted the two rogue hybrids on the way back to the starting area. They were somehow perfectly in sync despite major differences in appearance and personality.

“There are two of them now,” he muttered to himself.

Footnotes:

[i] Neon lighting is the name given to a type of gas discharge lighting that produces bright, coloured light by electrifying mixtures of gases. Neon itself has a characteristic red-orange emission spectrum, while mixtures containing xenon and argon can be used to create green, though this is more commonly done by using mercury vapor to emit ultraviolet light that is then fluoresced to green by a coating of phosphor.