CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Jason stared in disbelief.

A Grunt?

She was just using a Grunt against him?

For good reason, professional Overdrive players - independent mappers, esports competitors, and Overdrive Corporation employees - followed a strict hierarchy based on competitive results and career status.

Jason knew better than anybody that someone's economic situation could impact their stardom. For example, someone who had to sell all their rare parts would have a hard time standing out from the pack.

However, the talent discovery process of Overdrive was far superior to other video games.

Overdrive's popularity meant that there were many skilled players who'd come from unlikely backgrounds, including Vile herself. As a result, a player's results were usually an accurate measure of their true skill level.

When it came to the players working for the Overdrive Corporation, Vile was at the top of the rankings.

In comparison, a One Star Boss like Jason would be at the absolute bottom of the rankings.

Now that Jason had quit his old job to be a mapper, his accomplishments had gone up a little. There was no glory in being a One Star Boss.

He'd certainly earned a lot of respect from his peers at the Good Game Shoppe by beating the first stage of the Tournament of Assassins.

However, that still wasn't enough to impress a pro's pro like Vile.

After all, she'd built countless multiple maps just as challenging as the Tournament of Assassins.

However, Jason hadn't expected the disrespect to be quite so blatant.

The forty thousand Credit difference between Grunts and Aces translated to an enormous disparity in their strength.

While certain Grunt specialists used Grunt frames no matter what, Vile was not one of them.

Jason understood that there was an enormous status disparity.

He hadn't expected Vile to bring out her treasured Jekyll/Hyde machine, but he'd anticipated at least a map mini-boss! It felt like she wasn't taking him seriously at all.

Bzzt.

Vile's face flickered onto Jason's camera.

The famed Fortress Master had tied up her hair to battle after getting into the pod, but otherwise, her appearance was unchanged.

The skilled player bit her lip and made a face.

"Hey. I'm here to test out a new machine for a map as part of one of our store promos. I don't want you to think I'm looking down on you."

Her voice was just as soft as before.

However, she spoke very quickly and hurriedly, almost like she was trying to get her words out as soon as possible.

Historically, Jason had always been a skilled reader of other people. He felt like anticipating other people's emotions was the best way to avoid trouble.

As a result, he'd also spoken hurriedly many times before.

He wasn't very good at figuring out what would offend people, but he was very good at figuring out if other people were offended by his foolish words.

Jason's words caught in his throat before he could get them out.

"Yeah, no problem."

He was surprised that Vile was worried about offending him.

Most players - especially players with her elite pedigree - wouldn't care what random players like Jason thought.

Vile was so high up on the hierarchy that Jason might as well have been a random locals player.

The skilled Fortress Master smiled.

"Thank you. This is a new machine created for the Overdrive Corporation martial arts map. I just wanted to show it off to people at the store. It's one of our sneak previews."

Ah!

Jason had heard about these sorts of events before.

In fact, he'd been in the store for two of the Overdrive Corporation's previous community engagement events.

The Overdrive representative hadn't been as famous as Vile. However, the whole store had been extremely excited to see one an all-new Mech in action.

Jason hadn't liked working for the company, and he couldn't see himself returning as a random behind-the-scenes pilot.

However, the player experience was absolutely fantastic.

The Overdrive Corporation also understood the importance of cultivating events by promoting local game stores and gaming cafes.

Jason knew that the random high school players would go home and excitedly tell all their friends what they'd seen.

Jason took a closer look at his opponent.

Devoted Monk (Martial Arts Event Unique Machine)

Type: Paragon

Class: Melee

Average Statistical Tier: B+

The proud humanlike machine knelt on the ground, completely frozen in place.

The Mech was painted in shining white from head to toe, and it wore thick and compact armor.

Just like the Red Minerva, the creature's thrusters were built directly into its limbs, allowing for increased striking power.

The arms and legs were about twenty percent lengthier and thirty percent wider than the standard machine. The machine's form was modified to excel in close combat.

The body type was similar to the builds pioneered by other martial art specialists like goldenangel and Twister.

Compared to the Red Minerva, the Devoted Monk Grunt Mech had an advantage in reach and physical strength.

His opponent would probably try to close the distance as soon as possible, and Jason would lose if it came to hand-to-hand combat.

He absolutely needed to keep his foe at bay with the Blazing Avarice weapons system.

Jason did a double-take as he saw the machine's Average Statistical Tier.

The Devoted Monk was far more powerful than the average Grunt.

Grunt Mechs with an Average Statistical Tier in the B range were extremely uncommon.

A simple look at their Credit cap revealed why Grunts were far weaker than their mass-produced counterparts. They couldn't equip many items.

However, the Overdrive Corporation bent the rules for their special events. The company's exclusive events, such as the Martial Arts event, used more powerful Grunts than the standard.

Although they were still restricted to the 10,000 Credit Cap, special event enemies carried rare and exclusive weapons.

Much like the Dragonbane Sword or the Wrath of the Flame Gods sniper rifle, the Devoted Monk's weapons were extremely undercosted relative to their power.

From the looks of it, the Devoted Monk's weapons were based on weapons from traditional Chinese martial arts - a good fit for the stage's theme. The Mech carried a three-linked staff across its back and it'd strapped a pair of butterfly daggers to its waist.

The Devoted Monk also wore a pair of gloves meant to empower close combat strikes.

All of them were rare items that Jason had never seen before.

This was all-new content for the mission.

Unfortunately...

Jason couldn't actually claim his opponent's weapons.

Even if he burned them with the Blazing Avarice, the game server would revert the changes at the end of the match.

Right now, the battle setting was Casual Match.

Casual Matches had absolutely no stakes. The damage your machine took after a Casual Match would be automatically healed at the end of the battle.

If Jason wanted to claim his opponent's parts, he had two options.

His first option was an Ante Battle where both players put their Mechs on the line. The winner would claim all the parts.

However, asking for an Ante Battle would be overkill.

For the first time in a very long time, Jason was using the technologically superior machine.

Admittedly, his opponent was using a well-built Grunt with several rare and exclusive items. Vile's machine was no average Grunt.

However, Jason's frame was still far more powerful.

In addition, the Blazing Avarice granted his partner an absurd diversity of high-tier attacks. If one of his opponent's weapons was too powerful, Jason could steal it with the Legerdemain Blade.

With all that considered, Jason was still nervous going up against Vile.

He'd never battled a player of her caliber, so he didn't even have a good anchor point for her strength.

But even though Jason wasn't willing to accept everything, he was still willing to take on a large risk. The temptation of acquiring uniquely powerful items before they were available to the rest of the server was simply too great.

However, there was a compromise - an Expert Level Match.

Mechs retained the damage they took after an Expert Level match.

For example, losing an arm meant that players would have to replace it.

In addition, if you stole an item during an Expert Level battle, you kept it. Jason would be able to absorb Vile's items via an Expert Level Match.

Under standard convention, battles between two highly skilled Overdrive players were now always Expert Level Matches. It was essentially a slightly gentler variant of the Salvage Rule.

The recent change to professional play meant that countless valuable parts were already changing hands.

Jason had heard of certain players who didn't even try to win - their only goal was to steal parts from their competitors before surrendering.

Jason cleared his throat and requested an Expert Level Match.

Vile immediately refused.

"No."

Her normally soft voice took on an unusual firm tone.

"If you beat me, I will be happy to take you on in an all-out battle. But right now, I don't think it would be fair."

Previously, Vile had done her best to spare Jason's feelings, but now that push had come to shove, she was being blunt and honest.

She felt like her skills were far greater than Jason's. An Expert Level Match between the two of them would be unsporting.

In that case, Jason's only option was to prove her wrong. That was the only way he could gain the rare items on his machine.

After the two players locked in their Mechs, the stage started randomizing.

STAGE SELECTED: RING

Jason smiled.

Interesting.

The Ring stage was basically a gigantic boxing ring expanded to the size of fifty-foot tall machines.

It was one of Overdrive's more whimsical options, but it was an exciting option for a match between two close combat machines.

The countdown finished, and the two Mechs loaded onto the stage.

Jason and his Red Minerva stood at the blue corner.

He raised both his hands and adopted an open-ended stance as he promptly started walking to the middle of the battlefield.

Instead of walking, Vile quickly advanced.

Her strategy was obvious. She wanted to corner Jason and get him up against the ropes as soon as possible.

The Devoted Monk strode forward with steady but balanced footsteps.

Jason counted out his opponent's steps, then nodded. The Grunt's speed was excellent, but the Red Minerva's was far better.

This was the perfect time for him to catch his opponent off guard.

He suddenly fell to all fours, sprinting across the ring at top speed.

Vile reared back.

Her skills were immaculate.

She promptly responded to Jason's strange move by going on the defensive. Instead of continuing to chase after him, she wanted to counter with a forceful push kick.

Her overall goal of cornering Jason against the ropes was still active. However, she knew she needed to temporarily adjust her strategy.

Fortunately, Jason had his own counter.

Vile's kick flew right over Jason's head as the Red Minerva abruptly dove into the ground.

On the surface, the Ring stage was rather straightforward.

Players were not allowed to leave the premises of the Ring ropes.

However, players could fly up to the ceiling. Even better, they could also dig under the mats.

The Red Minerva hid underground for a brief moment.

Vile backed off, rapidly retreating from the hole in the ground. She wanted to establish a defensive stance as soon as possible.

However, that was useless when against the Red Minerva's incredible smell and hearing. Jason knew exactly where she was.

Under normal circumstances, Jason would have charged up his Pestilent Snipe.

However, he was afraid to stay underground for too long.

He wanted to attack his opponent from behind. Vile was already backing off to put her back against the ropes.

Jason sprinted through the dirt before popping up behind his opponent.

He clapped his hands together.

BLAZING AVARICE: VALOROUS JI

Vile jerked around.

By combining his Mech's new abilities with its old ones, Jason had caught her off guard with his ridiculous speed.

As a result, the infamous Fortress Master didn't have time to pull out a weapon.

Instead, she just empowered her close combat gloves.

Both of her Mech's hands suddenly began glowing with sky blue energy.

It seemed that the Devoted Monk, a Paragon Grunt, could manipulate beam energy the same way that legendary martial artists could manipulate qi.

Jason's eyes narrowed with concentration as he handled the Red Minerva's complex controls.

The beam-energy empowered hands wouldn't be enough to stop him.

Jason had enormous respect for martial artists in real life.

The mere thought of training your mind, body, and physical expertise to such an incredible extent was utterly breathtaking.

However, there was a reason why many pure hand-to-hand machines struggled on the server.

Weapons had superior length and reach.

Jason jabbed straight at his opponent's chest.

The Red Minerva's newly empowered arms streaked forward. Flames billowed through the stadium as the Valorous Ji blazed towards his foe.

In response, Vile calmly swept the spear aside.

Jason's eyes widened.

Her Mech's left palm had perfectly intercepted the pole of the Valorous Ji replica.

The air hissed as the sky blue light clashed with Jason's searing flames.

Jason cursed.

She'd discovered the weapon's weakness.

The Blazing Avarice weapons system created flame replicas of the weapons it downloaded.

Although those weapons were made of flames, they maintained the properties of the initial item, including sharpness and density.

Of course, the solid fire copy did not identically imitate the initial replica.

After all, solid fire was a different substance than the initial components of the object. Jason often observed this effect while using the Titan's Macuahuitl, and the Valorous Ji copy also had its own differences.

On a normal spear, the pole was not particularly useful. It was mostly to carry the weapon at the end.

In the case of this copy, the Valorous Ji's burning pole still inflicted damage. If it weren't for the layer of protective beam energy, the Devoted Monk's palm would have caught on fire.

However, just like a real spear, the pole was not nearly as menacing as the head.

As a result, Vile had stifled his attacks.

But once again, Jason had a counter.

He dismissed the spear, causing the Devoted Monk to stumble.

The white Paragon had just twisted its waist to put its full weight behind the shove.

Jason had metaphorically pulled out the chair from under his opponent by suddenly dismissing the weapon.

Jason jiggled his thruster, and the Ghostfire Dagger emerged from the wristband.

He stabbed, but his attack never made its mark.

Huh?

His screen went spinning as his Mech fell to the floor.

What the hell?

Just moments ago, Vile's Mech had been stumbling and falling.

However, she'd smoothly recovered, turning her fall into a powerful roundhouse kick.

As Jason fought to get back to his feet, Vile smoothly chained her kick into a forward punch.

The grimly resonant crunch echoed across the battlefield as red blood gushed through the air.