Jacquilin Wentworth wasn't just a gamer, far from it. Jackie, as her friends called her, was a shooter. An Olympic skeet shooter, for England. When she competed, she came seventh. Not a bad result for her first Olympics considering her, youthful age. People often said Jacquilin had great prospects to look forward to, in the sport.

There was, however, a small problem. Jackie earned very little money as an Olympic shooting athlete. It wasn't a high profile sport, and it wasn't a big money sport. There were few bunkers available for her practice at, and every practice was expensive.

Looking for alternatives, she found the neural dive platform. As a shooter, she discovered an amazing environmentally realistic game, Interstellar Grunt. Sure, the weapons ranged from the conventional to the fantastic and futuristic. However, everything a shooter needed to consider when taking a shot, was included in the environmental mechanics. Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind, light, and air quality, it was all there, and it all affected the performance of a shot.

The essential things about Interstellar Grunt, was the cost, after trying it at a game center, she found herself a second-hand dive unit for a reasonable 19,000-dollars. An outlay less than half a new one, but still expensive for Jackie. Then again, a single days training at a bunker cost her 420-dollars. The unit could be paid for in a few short months as a substitute for her regular practice. Sure she would still need real-world practice sessions, but long term, she could save thousands.

Through all this, Jackie paid zero attention to other details of the game. She was simply focused on the realism of making the shot, and training for her sport. So the small aspect of just how popular Interstellar Grunt actually was, well, Jackie just never noticed. At a minimum, there were 22,000,000 people logged into the game maker at any time. Every country had a league, and there was an extensive international tournament pro-tour. A tournament couldn't become a participant of the pro-tour unless it could offer a 5-million dollar prize pool. The pro-tour consisted of 10-person teams, and a first-round loser meant each person walked away with $4,000. Enough to get by on until the next tournament, so long as the teams ranking was sufficiently high enough to keep them qualified. The big tournaments though had 20-million dollar prize pools.

A few months in on the game and dominating with her outstanding shooting skill, she was quickly noticed and received numerous offers to join league teams and lower tier tournament teams. Her career as a pro-gamer took off shortly after, and she never looked back.

Fast forward nine years and Jackie found herself scrolling through Extant Upgrade Store in the Loop Elimination Event. In the Weapons section she was reading the category [Rifle], her eyes lit up like an 8-year-old opening birthday presents. Most of the rifles were just so damn expensive though, so she didn't even bother. She decided to check out the cheaper rifles though, and after scrolling through the list, she decided upon a purchase.

Hopers & Ressem SR420-L Rifle (Quality 85%):

This rifle is one of the latest weapons designed by the Hopers & Ressem, Guncraft Specialists. It is rifle and comes with a 30 round clip. Single round fire only, it has a shorter barrel, its accuracy like all reactive propellent based weapons, is partially dependent on dexterity. The weapon is most effective in mid range combat against low pierce resistant foes. Allows for one free add-on.

[Purchase: 780 (Minutes)] Descriptors: Variables: Item Type: SR420-L Rifle Item Material: DuraSteel Alloy Item Size: 2-Handed Gun Length (mm): 560 Barrel Length (mm): 420 Round (mm): 6x18 Feed: 30-Round Detachable Magazine Pistol Grip: Palm Shaped with Rose-Steel Alloy Pistol Trigger Vertical Foregrip: Palm Shaped with Leather wrap Buttstop: DuraSteel Alloy Accuracy: AC to 80m; XC to 180m Damage: Round Dependent Special Feature: Ignores a percentage of damage resistance depending on range.

- AMC 00-10m, XMC 00-15m: 60-85%

- AMC 10-20m, XMC 15-30m: 35-60%

- AMC 20-35m, XMC 30-50m: 10-35%

- AMC 35-50m, XMC 50-80m: 00-10% Recoil: Below Average Rune Points Available: 150 Rune: [Upgrade] Requirement:

- Strength:

- Dexterity:

80

100 Weight (g): 3,810 Durability: 480 / 480 Round Propellent

Propellents determine the range a round will travel. Descriptors: Variables: Air Crystal (AC)

- Range (m):

- Damage Multiplier:

- Cost (Seconds):

100

1x (inside (40m)

0 eXplosive Crystal (XC)

- Range (m):

- Damage Multiplier:

- Cost (Seconds):

180

1.2x (inside 80m)

2 Round Material

All rounds do pierce damage, materials affect the damage a round will do. Descriptors: Variables: Iron

- Damage:

- Cost (Seconds):

200

10 Steel

- Damage:

- Cost (Seconds):

220

12 Carbon Steel 2

- Damage:

- Cost (Seconds):

240

14 Carbon Steel 4

- Damage:

- Cost (Seconds):

260

16 Siluminium

- Damage:

- Cost (Seconds):

- Effect (Damage per Second):

160

20

5 (Silver Vulnerability Required)

The rifle was inaccurate from long range, but Jackie had been on the loop long enough, she knew that apart from a couple of small straights at the start and finish of the lap it was continuously curving to the right, voiding long range accuracy requirements.

The trumpets of fanfare, or whatever you would call them, and a fancy chest appeared before her in a show of lights. Jackie opened the chest and admired the form of the rifle she purchased. It was made of a brownish alloy though it had a beautiful curved form. It was like some of the old weapons from a hundred years ago, bullpup magazine load, and compact. It wasn't like the semi-auto and full-auto assault rifles of those bygone days. This weapon fired once each trigger squeeze.

With 10-minutes remaining on the timer, Jackie checked out other stuff available in the store. They included a variety of magazines, scopes, shoulder straps, bayonets, etcetera.

Undermount Rose-Steel Sight with Vertical Foregrip Interlink (Quality 85%):

This targeting add-on requires a low injection of mana through the foregrip to activate the red targeting sight beam.

[Purchase: 180 (Minutes)] Descriptors: Variables: Add-on: Targeting Sight Location: Undermount with Vertical Foregrip Interlink Cylinder Length (mm): 50 Rune Points Available: 150 Rune:

- Cost (Rune Points):

- Activation Cost (Mana):

- Activation Duration (Seconds): Focused Light Rune (FLR) - Red

320

5

10 Rune: [Upgrade] Weight (g): 40 Durability: 180 / 180

After this free selection, Jackie decided the weapon was currently heavy enough. There was another item she looked at, though it was far beyond what she could afford after purchasing the rifle.

Orichalcum [Iron-AC 6x18mm] Round Complex Summoning Device (Quality 100%):

This device is a magnificent piece of complex summoning design. Containing a perfect [Tier 4 Mana Crystal], 8 small diamonds, and exquisite [Tier 6 Complex Summoning Runecraft]. This pure rectangular bar of orichalcum contains a single hollowed out bullet mold offering highly efficient summoning process.

[Purchase: 1660 (Minutes)] Descriptors: Variables: Item Type: [Iron-AMC 6x18mm] Round Summoning Device Item Materials: Orichalcum

Tier 4 Mana Crystal

8 Small Diamonds Dimensions (mm): 40x40x100 Rune Points Remaining: NA Rune:

- Rune Cost:

- Activation Cost (Mana): Advanced Runic Summon Mandela

6800

92 per round Weight (g): 420 Durability: 180 / 180

Since she couldn't afford the device, she invested in a full magazine of rounds from the store for a cost of 5-minutes. Jackie then had to load the rounds into the magazine, a hidden cost of the weapon choice she made.

Towards the end of the timer she made an additional purchase for 180-minutes she added her Personal Status information. It was something she considered crucial for progressing effectively.

The timer ended, and Jackie stepped through the passage into the Loop and a steady jog. A slime, she moved into point-blank range, and with careful aim, she shot. It sounded like a silenced ballistic weapon from old movies and did impressive damage to the core despite the glancing blow. She adjusted her aim, not worrying about activating the FLR targeting. If she needed to shoot at range with high accuracy, she would enable it then.

A second shot blasted the core more accurately, though it required a third shot to finish off the first slime. The second died from just two shots and was mostly static from there. Two shots and 5-seconds per slime, Jackie considered progress satisfactory. As she progressed, she put [Development Points} into movement skills as they became available. Jackie hoped she could move faster and more efficiently by gaining the [Movement Forte] suite she noticed from the [General] skill list while browsing.

Further, she added points into her [Endurance Regeneration Stat] to allow her to keep running longer. The weapon did not consume much endurance while shooting but moving with it did raise consumption quite a bit due to its weight. As long as she could complete each lap ahead of the loop timer, even while buying rounds she was sure she could be the last contestant standing.

The slimes turned out to be very vulnerable to Jackie's weapon choice of a rifle. The Lachtressia Grubs proved to be the opposite and quite annoying. They had high health and few vulnerabilities. She tried firing directly into the fleshy sides of the monsters, but the creatures required 6-rounds to take one down at close range. She tried firing down the length of the beast, to capitalise on the rifles firing velocity. It helped, requiring 4-rounds to kill the ugly things. She tried firing into its head, but there was a difference between firing against resistance and firing against armor, such as the grubs carapace spade-shaped head.

In the end, she worked out that the 4-rounds with firing time would work out at 20 minutes, plus the time to run the lap. If she pushed the running, she would be down 9-minutes each lap, in 10-laps it was a significant loss of time, and so soon in this event.

Did she choose with emotion and fail in reality? It certainly felt like it. What could she do? Fortunately, during the Powered1 beta, she adventured with one of the exploration teams, mixing it up with hand-to-hand weapons and a bit of magic. With a quick consideration, she decided to go for a bladed weapon. Looking at a few of the choices she was comfortable with, Jackie decided to go with one of the cheaper ones, a 2-handed axe with the axe-head made of steel, a war axe. Just before she hit the purchase button for the 180-minute item there was something that made Jackie stop. It was a detail from the summoning device. She went back to [Axe] sub-category and spent a few minutes looking at the various materials. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, in the form of a [2-Handed Elven-Steel Battle Axe].

'Yes,' she thought, 'that is the weapon I need.' It was indeed better than the steel variant. A little bit better damage, a hundred grams lighter, slightly more durable. The rune points available though was double or more from most of the other metals. If Jackie was going to spend on another weapon, she decided that she was going to get a bloody decent one despite the cost. The material cost had jumped the weapon up from the 180-minutes for steel to 300-minutes for Elven-Steel. She purchased the weapon confident in her choice.

Her outlay to this point had not been cheap:

720-minutes for the rifle,

180-minutes for access to her [Personal Status], and

300-minutes for the axe. Leaving just,

240-minutes remaining.

With battle axe in hand, she selected the rune [Upgrade]. Jackie had 680 rune points available to spend, and so immediately purchased the following:

[Full Restore (180 RP) (60 minutes)] - Completely restore damage and durability of the weapon to when the rune was applied. Damage is restored first, then durability, at the cost of 100-mana per point for both.

[Conserve Endurance (240 RP) (60 minutes)] - Reduce endurance use by 25% for 2-hours. Activation cost 200-mana.

Jackie wanted to add several:

[Enhanced Sharpness (30 RP) (15 minutes)] – Add 5 more damage to the weapon (Stackable).

Unfortunately, she just couldn't afford to spend any more minutes right now. Her current time ahead of the elimination boundary all told was just floating around the 120-minute mark. She really needed to kick things up a notch. She ran her rifle back to the safe room before coming back out and collecting her new weapon of choice.

She activated the [Conserve Endurance] rune and then charge at the next Lachtressia grub. Sidestepping she moved past its head and before it even started to react spun 270-degrees slamming down with all the might she had into the center mass of the creature just a bit behind its head. The blade sunk down to the haft, it was a simple design with a small crescent-shaped blade one side and spike for some counterbalance the other. Though simple, it was exceedingly effective. Jackie was rewarded with both brutal and critical damage notifications informing her she had chopped through the beasts main artery. It was good to land the blow dead centre, a little to the left and right or with less force and she would not have hit such a vital location. She did though, so she put her booted foot on the top of its carapace head and with a sucking sound levered the axe head out. The beast was not dead yet, but it obviously wasn't going to survive with that sort of damage. It would bleed out in another minute.

Meanwhile, Jackie could continue down the loop. She decided to repeat the attack and see if she could one shot the next mob. If not at least she was practicing her [Side Step] and hoping to gain the notification, she could activate it. Further, Jackie figured at worst two wacks with the axe should be enough against any and all of the ugly shell heads.

It was her time, to make up time, which is precisely what she did by using the axe to full effect. Until she came across those small bark spiders, those little buggers were just full of trouble. After facing off against the first two Jacquilin headed back into the safe room and came back with her SR420-L Rifle and axe. After purchasing 23-rounds of Iron Bullets for a cost of 3-minutes, 50-seconds Jacquilin used a single shot to wound each spider. The tactic proved exceptionally effective, having a substantial effect on its attack capability and reduced there mobility. The meant the spiders became a much easier mob to chop up with her axe.

Jacquilin continued to use both axe and rifle on her laps depending on the type of mob. If it was less agile, she would leave the rifle behind. Carrying the two weapons consumed more endurance with the additional weight, and she needed to conserve as much as possible. Doing this Jacquilin managed to make it through the first day and gain several hours on the loop boundary, adding to her confidence. Taking her first rest, she woke up six hours later feeling refreshed and ready to go. The loop had, of course, unceasingly chased her and Jacquilin found herself with a margin of just less than 5-hours to the boundary. She continued to improve her [2-Handed Axe Fighting Forte], and [Rifle Shooting Forte]. Any spare DP went to [Frame], [Strength], and [Agility] to assist with axe attacks and melee combat in general. Jacquilin also brought up [Dexterity] to 120-DP, it helped with both weapons, the Rifle for shooting accuracy and cleaning, the axe for targeting critical spots and actually hitting them with more than a very rare lucky strike. The second and third days past similarly to the first, gaining ground then losing it to sleep. The largest problem she found was that the mobs she fought kept increasing in their attack strength and defence. The defence really made a difference, as it eroded the effectiveness of the rifles damage. She found herself vulnerable to mobs that had good agility and resistance to the rifles attack. Jackie couldn't maim the mobs sufficiently to give her enough of an upper hand and so she started taking the odd blow form the mobs as they gradually whittled her health and mobility down.

Jacquilin gained less ground on the elimination boundary while she fought, so she had to sleep less. This meant that she reached the higher fatigue levels where she was gaining debuffs to defence and attack sooner and eventually forced her to rest sooner than she would have liked. It seemed to happen in the space of about half a day, she was going fine and then all of a sudden she was under pressure and losing time by being forced to rest and heal. It quickly turned into extreme stress as Jackie fought with everything she had.

There was literally nothing she could do, the elimination boundary made contact with her while she was fighting a mob, she found herself transported back to the safe room mid axe swing.

"Damn it," was heard uttered inside the room along with a sigh of disappointment. "I would have loved an item reward of a rifle."

Many others fell to this exact same situation. Fatigue turned out to be the greatest enemy experienced by many of the competitors.

The event dragged on, day after day.