CHAPTER NINETY THREE

Even though they'd won the match, Jason and Danny were still flying around freely. This wasn't like a conventional map, where the instance would automatically end as soon as you fulfilled a mission. The Illusionists didn't have full control over the planet, so they couldn't apply full map rules.

Instead, a notification appeared on Jason's screen.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE LOBBY?

IF YOU CHOOSE YES, THE COMPETITOR'S MARK WILL DETONATE, SENDING YOUR MACHINE BACK TO THE LOBBY.

IF YOU CHOOSE NO, YOU CAN LEAVE THE PLANET BY YOURSELF. AS A ROUND TWO WINNER, THE SALVAGE RULE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE

Jason already knew what his decision was. In the past, he probably would have wanted to keep flying in space. After all, Castle Notoria was deep in unmarked space. There were probably other planets and quests he could take. For now, though, he wanted to relax and celebrate with his new teammates. He wouldn't have gotten that far without the BAG Guild and he wanted to thank his friends. He would bet anything that they were all waiting together at the central spawning station after getting sent off by their non-competitor marks.

Besides him, Danny was making the same decision. They both accepted the offer, and then their machines exploded. Moments later, they found themselves back in the central station with confused looks on their faces.

Jason turned to Danny.

"In hindsight..."

Danny nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know what the point of those marks is. We probably could have just exploded our machines ourselves!"

Then again, asking your contestants to blow up their own machines was a little unprofessional. The Illusionists took care to make the stage as much like a real map as possible.

Just as Jason predicted, the BAG Guild was waiting for them in the central station.

As far as Jason could tell their digital avatars all reflected their real-life appearances. Wendy and Stephanie were about the same height, whereas Lynn was tall and gangly - about half a foot taller than either of them. Anthony was there with Gavin and Franz, who'd logged into the game just to watch the rest of the team.

Steven towered over everybody else, to the point that it was almost comical. The vice-captain of the BAG Guild must have been at least seven feet tall. He was chatting with three men Jason didn't recognize. They must have been his fellow College Cup teammates. Jason knew the three of them played sporadically with the BAG Guild, but they were currently busy looking for jobs.

Of course, Danny was automatically at the center of the group. The rest of the BAG Guild eagerly surrounded their charismatic leader. They excitedly congratulated him for the win, but before long, the group seamlessly put Jason into the fray. The Overdrive avatars couldn't be touched or thrown. There was a nonviolence clause in the lobby, which made it impossible to move avatars around. Instead, the whole group just moved to surround him.

"Nice one Jason!"

"Man! I was so worried when you went for that kill!"

"Hah! I thought you guys were screwed when they booted you out of the castle. Way to turn around a terrible position!"

Danny nodded.

"Dude! That was crazy! I wanted to drag us back to the castle, but Jason knew we could do it!"

The deluge of praise continued for the next ten minutes. At the start, Jason thought the BAG Guild was just easily impressed. After all, it was a bunch of newer players trying to form their own ragtag guild. It was only after working with them that he saw how hard they worked. The veterans like Wendy and Owen knew what it meant to be good. Players like Stephanie worked hard to reach that standard.

It was best to just accept their praise and congratulations.

After seeing the results from his training, Jason knew that this was a group where we could continue learning and improving. The gap between the second round and the finals was much larger than the gap between the first and second round.

Each player would have a full month in order to train, and Jason planned on continuing his current training routine, including doing quests and missions with the BAG Guild. It was extremely likely that he and Danny would end up fighting each other after the Illusionists dissolved the alliances, but Jason knew this was a group he wanted to stick with long term.

In fact, Danny turned to him moments later. Instead of speaking openly, he sent Jason a private message. The notification popped up at the bottom corner. It seemed like Danny didn't want to dim the celebratory mood with business talk.

Rooster7: I know that alliances are dissolved for the final, but I'd like to play together as long as we can - and after the tournament too, if you're interested.

Jason smiled. This was a new fun thing he'd learned about Overdrive, and it'd bolstered his already great obsession with the game to a new level. He loved the thought of having a friendly rival he could train alongside and grow with.

Devourer22: Yeah, I think we're thinking the same way. Let's do it.

Afterwards, Danny proposed that the BAG Guild log off and get onto a voice call so they could watch the remainder of the tournament together. The group vanished from the central lobby. Jason tossed off his headset and found himself back in his parent's basement. He headed upstairs to grab a ham sandwich and some chips before logging back into the BAG Guild's chat room.

Instead of watching the current stream, the BAG Guild rewound to the start, so they could watch the whole tournament in its entirety. Jason eagerly watched the matches as the BAG Guild chatted with each other. Jason didn't really say much, but he carefully paid attention to his friends' comments. Although he improved in this area, he still mostly saw himself as a replicator of strategies. He might come up with some new insights on his own later on, but he mostly wanted to see what everyone else had to think.

The first competitor who'd won the match was Petroman, a pilot who used a stealth bomber-type machine. Unlike a real-life stealth bomber, his machine was capable of turning invisible. The machine was very well-built and the powerful cloaking system would only be deactivated once it started attacking. The pilot used a variety of attacks, but he seemed to favor ramming his opponent with his Mech's wings, which had built-in blades.

Lynn commented that he was also a seeded player from the Illusionists Guild. He was a highly promising new member who'd been allowed to compete in the tournament with a promise that they'd promote him to a Guildleader position if he won.

He'd won in a simple and direct manner, sneaking up before slicing the Parachuter in two with its blades. The machine didn't even have the chance to activate its powerful shields. According to Lynn, Petro was more of a strategist and crafter rather than a pilot - he succeeded due to skilled building and planning.

Castor was the next winner, and he'd succeeded without even revealing his partner. His Mech had fought through the event all while holding the storage cube in its hands. After seeing him fight, the BAG Guild could only praise Jason for his stalling. His brutal and direct tactics eviscerated every watch group sent after him. In fact, he wasn't much of an assassin at all, he was much more of a straight-up brawler. He'd wound up killing his target by jumping right out of the castle after them, a move the top-shaped Mech had later emulated.

The remaining two winners were a little lesser-known, but Jason was still impressed by their final assassination tactics. The third winner was Theodore Piker, a player who used his real name as his in-game name. He was one of the martial artist guildmembers. Most of his guild was offended by the Illusionists hosting the guild on their planet, but he'd decided to battle anyways to try and learn more.

Jason respected him for that decision. There was no use sitting around and moping that other people were stronger than you. If you wanted to improve, your best bet was learning from other people who were stronger, just like what Jason had done with Vile.

Theodore's Mech was a humanoid Paragon that fought with a pair of bladed clawed hands. Although it only could use melee strikes, the machine's high attack and mobility stats meant it couldn't be trifled with. Theodore had won via an exceptionally unusual strategy. Due to his guild's convenient location, he'd simply climbed up the Castle Notoria before killing his target by stabbing them through a window.

The very last early winner was Neonica, a player from the Dragon Tamers.

According to Owen, she was one of the five best pilots in the match. If he had to guess, some of the other Dragon Tamer members had probably allied with her. Her Mech was a two-headed dragon with four arms. Like the Red Minerva, used a bipedal stance. However, the base species had much higher specs and it was capable of independent flight. Despite her machine's innate abilities, Neonica had won the match by gunning down her opponent from afar with a sniper rifle.

After the four early kills, a great deal of time passed before the next pilot managed to bring down a target. Jason and Danny's initial surprise was correct - the four competitors had clearly established themselves as a cut above the rest. Jason would have to watch out for them when the finals came.

In fact, it turned out that Jason was the next player to land a kill, followed shortly by the top Mech pilot. The skilled player had returned back inside the building, only to grab a kill using a bonus portal of their own.

Steven laughed as soon as he saw the top Mech pilot qualify.

"Man. That guy is going to gun for you two from the start. I'd be so pissed if I were him."

Danny laughed.

"He should be pissed! I didn't know Jason would be so sneaky!"

Although it made things more difficult, Jason was glad to see the sphere-shaped top advance to the next round. The build was extremely unique, and the pilot seemed to know what he was doing. Jason hadn't truly beaten him, and he hoped he'd get that chance as the tournament continued.

In the end, the Illusionists announced the format for the final round. Despite the previous changes, the final match's rules remained the same. The tournament finals were very popular and many fans watched the match on stream. As a result, the event organizers wanted to keep everything as simple as possible.

All alliances would be dissolved. Instead, the final competitors would battle in a two-part fighting tournament.

The first round was a free-for-all. The final eight surviving machines from the melee would then compete in a single-elimination tournament. By the end, only a single winner was allowed.

Danny grinned. Although it was just a call, Jason could hear the smile on his face.

"Alright guys - my plan is to meet Jason in the finals, so make sure to cheer on both of us!"

After that, the BAG Guild went their separate ways and finished the call.

Jason stretched. He planned on heading to the Good Game Shoppe soon.

He was already excited to see his friends there and get started.

He knew he still had a long way to go, and this month was the perfect opportunity to increase his strength.

The one-week preparation time had led to a rush job, but now he could do things properly. He had to fix up holes in his game and work on his shooting. On top of that, he needed to fix one of the biggest weaknesses in his Mech - its inability to fly. He could use the same solution as the Assault Mode and construct a new flight-capable armor.

However, there was one key step he needed to make first.

It was a special challenge he'd put off due to the urgency of maximizing his current training, but now that he was headed to the finals, he had to challenge the vampire vault and gain its rewards.