Several hours and 19 matches later, Gray and the rest of the team had finished their 10th team deathmatch and finally were given a rank in Team Deathmatch. Team Assault and Team Capture the Flag shared ranks as they were both considered objective-based, while Team Dodgeball was unranked as it was just for fun.

As for their rank, a Bronze Star Icon with a 'IV' appeared next to their team name over the place that indicated their Team's Deathmatch rank. The bronze star had 4 of the 5 arms lit up of the star, which seemed to be a visual indicator aside from the Roman numeral 4 inside of it.

"Bronze rank division four eh?" said Gray a little dejectedly.

"You sound disappointed with that," said Geoff.

"A little, I know we only won 6 out of the 10 matches; but the 4 we lost, we barely lost, and most of the ones we won, we only lost one of us," admitted Gray.

"Firstly, we do not know exactly how it determines the rank. It could take into account our team's performance or merely the end result of the match. Secondly, Bronze is the lowest tier, but we're in the second highest part of it, and we don't know what everyone else is yet. We could be in the higher tier of ranks for all we know. Of course, we could also be in the lower tier, but given we have a winning record, we should statistically be in the top 40 percent at least," analyzed Caleb.

Gray chuckled at Caleb. "Not sure if you're trying to comfort me or not, but I guess you do have a point. We just don't know enough yet."

"I did notice one thing though, look at how much merits we earned in our last match," Caleb pointed out to everyone the stats on his HUD.

"268 merits!" said Yurika excitedly

"Indeed, and if you select that amount, it will give you a breakdown of what caused it," replied Caleb.

200 points came from entering the Bronze Rank and 36 from unranked matches. The remaining 32 came from their last match with the Bronze Rank adjusting the base merits per win and applying a bonus.

Caleb continued, "So it looks like we will get 20 points per match at Bronze rank and a 60 percent bonus for wins. It is a safe assumption that higher ranks will get even more merits."

"Still, it will take a lot of matches to earn better mechs to play with," said Gray, slightly annoyed still.

"Indeed, but this is also so that one doesn't dominate a single rank early on and hold others back," replied Caleb. "I also imagine that they don't want the lowest tier players goofing around with the higher tier mechs."

"What do you mean?"

"When you buy a mech or any part, you not only gain access to the component in the simulators for matchmaking, but you get a copy of it for use in the game." Said Caleb. "I am interested to know where it is stored if we don't have a virtual storage like most games usually have."

Gray missed having a virtual storage space. The ability to carry unlimited items without bulk or weight was invaluable in games.

Regardless of the nuances of this game, Gray and the others started to feel hungry.

"Wait, hunger?" Gray couldn't figure out why he would be hungry in a virtual world, but he figured maybe it was the game's way of saying to eat in real life.

It was getting, so everyone agreed it was time to log out and get a meal. Everyone returned to their own quarters and logged out from their beds.

Gray pulled off his neural link from his head and looked at the time, saw it was indeed late, that he missed lunch and was just in time for dinner.

"I need to remember to eat instead of just playing games," Gray thought. "Although I really do enjoy Alterra Online, so I'm not surprised for losing track of time in it."

Gray heated up another instant meal consisting of generic pasta and grabbed a cold pop bottle. Even at the age of 29, he still ate like a college kid. Granted, he wasn't THAT much older than a college kid. He just felt like it sometimes.

Gray noticed his message icon flashing on his HUD and saw that Jono and a representative from Alterra Corporation had left him a message while he was in the game. It was Saturday night, so he was sure that Jono would ask him to some sort of social outing that involved trying to get with girls. Frankly, Gray was terrible at picking up girls. He was grateful that Jono liked to include him, just that he felt like dead weight as Gray's normal social replies when he got nervous usually ended with him putting his foot in his mouth. (Metaphorically, not literally, thankfully)

Gray opened up the message from Jono first and heard Jono's voice. "Gray! Quit playing without me and come with me to tomorrow's launch event! You already missed today's event so come with me tomorrow!"

Gray didn't feel like it, as going to a launch event for a game he had early access to was almost pointless. Still, he did admit he was feeling cooped up, so he figured he'd go with him anyway. Gray then opened up the second message that was from Alterra Corporation.

"Congratulations, team 'Steel Wolves,' your first match as the 'Enter Team name here' team has been selected for a promotional video. Alterra Corporation cordially invites you to our second day of the launch event for Alterra Online, located at Alterra Corporation's public banquet hall. Install this ID certificate to your armlet and you will be allowed free entrance and a VIP access pass!" said a feminine AI.

What surprised Gray about this was he thought their first battle was one of the more wasteful ones but figured that all of the gunfire must look pretty neat even if it didn't do anything. He installed the certificate to his armlet and would use it as his ticket for tomorrow, then he called up Jono to let him know that he would come with him tomorrow.

Gray went over to the banquet hall a little early the next day to meet up with Jono. Of course, Jono called him up and said he was running late. This wasn't really that surprising as Jono had a tendency to be late for everything and anything. Still, he saw other people entering the banquet hall and the staff handing out a pamphlet and ID badge on a lanyard to wear. He noticed that some people's badges had different color backgrounds, which he assumed referred to the various tiers.

Gray asked a woman attendant greeting everyone at the door what the different colors meant.

The woman looked at Gray, slightly bored, and said, "White is a value pass, blue is a normal pass, and red is an advanced pass."

Gray remembered he had a VIP pass and asked, "What about VIP?"

"V… VIP?!?" The attendant seemed a little shocked and thought to herself, "Those are not marketed, so just knowing about them could mean this guy is important."

The attendant suddenly became much friendlier to Gray and added sweetly. "Esteemed guest, the VIP pass will have a metallic purple background and is only given under special conditions. They cannot be bought directly. One with said access will be given complete access to everything at this launch event and behind-the-scenes access if one so desires! They would also have access to a private suite in the staging area to watch the event presentations and game demonstrations in comfort. Furthermore, a representative from Alterra Corporation can be requested as an escort."

While this was more than what Gray had actually asked her about, Gray was surprised that the VIP access had such special treatment. "How many VIPs currently preside at the event?"

"Currently, only three have appeared. For privacy concerns, I cannot say who they are, but just the amount of them would not be a problem!"

Gray started to say absentmindedly, "Guess that means I'll be the fou_."

"GRAY! Dude! Come on! I was able to get a freaking Advanced Pass so quit hitting on girls, what would your wife say?" Jono interrupted Gray while giving him an evil smile.

The female attendant smiled warily at Gray and returned to her less than enthusiastic state from before as she now thought he might be a guy that cheats on his wife. Gray didn't even have a girlfriend, let alone a wife, but frankly didn't feel like arguing with Jono as this guy was loud and shameless.

"About time, Jono. I've been waiting."

"Sorry! Dude, check it out!" Jono whipped out his lanyard with a red background on his ID badge. "See, I can get in to everything at this event and get to cut in line at various booths. Alterra Online may be the main headliner here, but it's still a gaming conference after all! I hope you at least got the normal pass, but your poor ass probably got the value pass!"

"Yeah, I didn't get the advanced pass or the normal pass," Gray said smugly as he walked up to the entrance and let his armlet be scanned. When the attendant looked at the scanner, his eyes went wide. He apologized to Gray and said he had to get his pass from the security office.

"Don't tell me you forged your pass Gray?" said Jono, smilingly mockingly at Gray.

"I don't know what's going on either."

The attendant quickly returned with another female attendant and handed Gray a lanyard with a purple metallic ID plate. "Esteemed guest, we welcome you as a VIP and apologize for any delays, this is Felicia and she will be your personal escort and guide for the event." The attendant motioned over to the beautiful woman next to him.

"Welcome, Gray Wilhelm, it will be my pleasure to serve you in any way during your visit. You may follow me inside."

Gray and Jono couldn't help but become slightly dazed when they saw Felicia. She wore a dark blue pencil skirt, a white low-cut blouse, and a matching jacket that accented her perfect figure. Felicia kept her long blonde hair in a ponytail that kept her looking youthful no matter what age she might have been. Combined with her bright red lipstick and deep brown eyes, Gray felt his soul being sucked out when she didn't break his gaze.

Suddenly Jono came back to

reality when he realized that Gray had a VIP pass that he didn't even know existed. His face started to turn right red from embarrassment.

"Hey, buddy, your face is matching your badge there." Gray said while grinning at Jono.