by R. H. Tang
Julian groaned.
Power creep had destroyed several popular games in the past. Competitive players hated having to deal with so many new factors. Casual players would be upset too—they'd have to compete against wealthy pilots who could immediately purchase the Reality Shapers instead of grinding for them.
The Reality Shapers' overpowered abilities significantly reduced the skill gap. For instance, one of the most challenging things about using a melee machine was making your approach. The Heaven's Boxer's teleportation abilities completely removed the close-combat Mech's primary weakness.
"Ideally, I'd like to stop Liefield as soon as possible. His perfected process is eroding a lot of community trust. He sits in a random lobby with an accomplice—a guide with a good reputation for training newbies—and waits for beginners to join. Players are giving horrible ratings to the guide's ranking and making threads in the forums, but the posts keep getting deleted. Very few people know who's responsible. Instead, the entire process of working with beginners has tanked in popularity."
Julian's stomach twisted. It felt strange to get so invested in a video game, but he scowled angrily. Emma had complained about the lack of players joining the Forever Fortress ever since he'd met her. Come to think about it, he'd met Emma right after Liefield stole the Mech from him.
She and the Forever Brothers had worked so hard to create the Forever Fortress and develop it into a map beginners could learn on. There were so many determined members of the Overdrive community who loved the game and spent countless hours working as guides for new players.
Liefield was jeopardizing all of that.
"But wait. He has the logout bug! If I take him out, he'll just disconnect."
"The log out bug's been patched. My buddy flagged it right after I told him what happened. We'll just have to wait until then. That's not the problem."
Julian felt a surge of hope.
After losing the amazing golden machine, Julian had eventually given it up for good. Brandon had even speculated that it was just a bugged drop that'd gotten automatically deleted. That would have been heartbreaking. The Boxer was the most powerful Mech Julian had ever encountered and a perfect fit for his close combat playstyle.
If there was any way to get it back, Julian would do it, no matter how hard it was.
"The bug isn't the problem. It's that Liefield only plays against beginners. He'd never battle you."
Julian's excitement was instantly snuffed out.
Right.
The cowardly pilot's strategy of posing as a friendly player before using the Challenge System let him pick who to fight. Liefield would recognize Julian from their previous defeat. He'd never accept a rematch.
"Do you think we should recruit someone else? Maybe Tyler? It definitely sounded like Liefield wanted to steal the Roar."
Although Liefield would be scared of Julian, he might pounce on a chance for a rematch against Tyler. Liefield would probably think that he could take Tyler one-on-one, but Julian's best friend would surprise him.
Tyler was getting good.
Tigger sighed.
"There's a chance he'd let Tyler in, but I'm not sure. From the report my friend gave me, he's been exceptionally conservative. He's even canceled a lobby just because a player had more than half a year of experience.
"Wow."
Considering Overdrive's popularity, hundreds if not thousands of new pilots created accounts every day. Liefield had his pick of victims. He was unwilling to take any risks. Perhaps Julian shouldn't have been surprised. After stealing the Boxer, Liefield had mostly used the almighty Reality Step to run away.
Tigger smiled grimly.
"Even if Liefield would accept Tyler, your friend just isn't good enough. He's got a lot of talent, but no beginner that can clear Liefield's mission."
Julian blinked.
He had an inkling of what TiggerLuvr was suggesting. A faint pressure built on the back of Julian's head as his suspicions grew.
Julian wasn't morally opposed to playing on someone else's account—at least not to reclaim the Heaven's Boxer—but it was shocking to hear Tigger propose such a thing.
The big man was famous for his fair play and sportsmanship. Was this some sort of prank? Or maybe this was a trap, a test that The Mechanical King pushed on everyone trying to participate in the Selection.
That had to be what Tigger was suggesting.
He wanted Julian to play on a beginner's account to defeat Liefield.
"Are you talking about account sharing?"
Julian thought that Tigger might sound guilty or hesitant, but the big man simply nodded.
"Yeah."
There was no dramatic reveal. To Tigger, it seemed like account sharing was no big deal. He was so calm about it Julian thought he might have been the person boosting players into the Selection.
"I've got a buddy who can meet up with us at dinner. He's a full-time booster who can get us the equipment we need. Are you familiar with the motion suit?"
Julian's eyes went even wider.
A full-motion suit was the absolute peak of account sharing technology. One person would wear a transmitter suit and play on a separate control board. The second player—the legitimate account owner—would wear the receiver suit, which moved their body to replicate the movements of the first. As far as account sharing went, it was completely undetectable. It was almost like piloting a person.
However, the general consensus was that the device was just an urban legend. It sounded incredibly expensive to create. There was no way people would pay that much money just to cheat at Overdrive.
Then again, someone had paid Julian $500 for ten games.
"Wait. You mean those are real?"
Tigger nodded.
"Yeah—there's a few sets out there. If you want to do it, that's how we can get the Mech back from Liefield."
It was such a surprise to hear Tigger openly endorse account sharing. He even had a good friend who boosted full-time.
"Is your friend the guy boosting people into the Selection?"
Julian had encountered a number of those accounts himself while researching the Database. They'd all used a similar build—a highly mobile spearman.
Tigger shook his head.
"No. I don't know who that is. The majority of his business is pushing people into the top two thousand. It's way more efficient than trying to get into the Selection."
That made sense. The gap between a top two thousand player and a top five hundred player was substantial. Julian assumed the gap would narrow as more and more players joined Overdrive, but for now, Julian probably could have gotten a new account into the top two thousand in just about two weeks of gameplay.
A climb into the top five hundred might take four times as much time.
"What do you think about boosting?"
Tigger shrugged.
"It's just a job. Like yes, it violates the game's terms of service, but it's pretty complicated. I do feel bad for people who miss the Selection or whose climb to the top 2,000 is delayed because of a booster, but it's hard to fault my friend when I look at my position. I'm an extremely fortunate guy."
The smell of frying oil wafted into Julian's nostrils as they pulled into the packed parking lot.
"I'm lucky enough with my stream and competitive team that I don't need the money. If I were in his position, I'd definitely do it. It's a comfortable job that pays well. He can work from home and spend tons of time with his family."
If Julian were being honest with himself, he'd considered boosting too. If it weren't for his recent improvements, he probably would have done it.
His college graduation was looming. Julian had seen some pretty insane fees, something like a thousand bucks to push someone into the top two thousand. After all, once you got the special customized pilot suit for breaking the top two thousand, there was no way to lose it, not even if you fell out the ranks. And the demand was significant enough that you could always ask for payment upfr
ont.
On top of that, Julian knew there wasn't any difference between what he'd done and the boosts that violated the terms of service.
He supposed that playing in the games made his clients feel like they'd earned the victories, but a top three hundred player like him playing against unranked opponents was utterly unfair. He could have won four against none.
"In a weird way, I feel the same way about the Selection. I'm lucky I don't need to go through it. I get to just come and meet everybody. Ideally, I want everyone to make money playing Overdrive and doing what they like, but not everyone is lucky enough to make money streaming. This guy is a childhood buddy of mine. Very skilled player, but doesn't speak a lot of English. As a result, he's had a hard time finding a pro team, and The Mechanical King would never pick him to be a Fortress Master."
Tigger cleared his throat.
"Now, I don't know anything for sure, but if I had to guess, almost every semi-notable pro or streamer has boosted before. I definitely did it back in my FPS days. If I'm guessing, that's where the blackmail part comes in. This person probably found some old boosting receipts."
"Wait, really?"
Tigger's allegations were totally new. Julian had never heard of anything like that before.
Every pro used to be a booster?
"Yeah. Not everyone was independently wealthy when they first started playing. Think about what a risk it is to quit your job to play video games. I had my career as a computer engineer and a lot of savings, which let me take time off. But it's not like that for everyone."
Tigger sighed again.
"I feel pretty bad for everyone who got caught. They were just trying to put food on the table, but now they're stuck under a gun. This person says stuff like 'give up 20% of your stream revenue, or I'll tell The Mechanical King.' They're deliberately picking on smaller names who don't have contacts in the game administration. The victims don't really have a choice but to pay up."
Julian turned to the big man and frowned.
"Why are you cool just telling me all this? Won't it be a big scandal if you're caught?"
Tigger laughed.
"Well, now you know why I didn't want this in writing! Especially with the strange leaks recently. But talking about it is fine. And I trust you. I know you're not going to report me to the game administration. It was the same with some of the other pros I talked to. I only asked people I trusted. They politely declined, and then I kept on going."
Wow.
Tigger had invited other professional players as well. It must have been a nightmarish mission if Tigger thought he needed backup. What exactly was Liefield doing?
"But hey, you know. Even if you reported me, what would happen? It would definitely suck to get in trouble with the game administration, but it's important to stand up for the community. They've really given me a lot, and I'm not okay with Liefield attacking new players."
After driving around the parking lot for about fifteen minutes, Tigger finally found an open space.
He parked his car. Tigger raised a hand when Julian opened the door.
"Let's talk here. I get recognized a bunch when I go out to the streets. I don't want any eavesdroppers."
Los Angeles was packed with Overdrive fans.
"Think about it. Even if I get banned, I've already made a ton of money streaming my games. Even better, I built a big fan base that's cool with watching me play something else. Even if I drop out of Overdrive, I'll still be able to make an excellent living playing game with my kids. Sure, there are people who watch me because of my skills, but my main audience is just families like mine, where parents want to play games with their kids. So really, I don't think I'm risking anything here. It's only fair that I do this. After all, I made my money off of the Overdrive community."
The big man grimaced.
"And if I'm being honest, there's a chance Drake would just try to hush everything up. Considering his big publicity approach, he probably wouldn't want to ban one of his most popular streamers. But you're not established yet. Drake would happily make an example out of you. If you get caught, you could lose your chance to make money off of this game for good."
11
"I saw how you beat Phillips. That was some clever thinking. You've got a real chance."
Julian blinked.
He'd already completely forgotten about his duel with Phillips. The news about Liefield had been far too stressful.
"Do you know her?"
"Who, Phillips?"
"Yeah."
"Not at all. The first time I saw her was today. She seemed good though. Probably a grinder."
"Did you hear the stuff she said? About how she was psychic?"
Tigger chuckled.
"Yeah."
Unlike Sunflower, Polygon, or even Julian himself, Tigger didn't seem freaked out at all.
"Do you know how she did it?"
"No. I want to put my mind to it, but I've been so focused on Liefield."
Julian licked his lips.
"Someone said that she was cheating."
Tigger shook his head.
"I wouldn't throw that around. It's a heavy accusation, especially with someone blackmailing pros. Of course, I don't think she's actually psychic. It's just some gamesmanship to distract people. But before thinking of cheating, I would look for an in-game explanation."
"Right."
There was an awkward silence. Julian's idol worship of TiggerLuvr made it hard to disagree with him.
The big man eventually moved back onto topic.
"I know you want to do the right thing and help the beginners. Plus, grabbing the Boxer will obviously help your career, but I want you to understand the risk. It should be safe with the motion suit, but with the spy going on, no other pro wants to risk it. As I said, I don't think it's a sacrifice for me. It is for you. I'm only asking because I don't have any other options."
Who could the spy be? That might have been the most bizarre part of the story.
If they were blackmailing pros, it couldn't be someone from the Overdrive Corporation. Had someone else found a way to access internal chat logs? Perhaps it was one of the bugs that the Overdrive Corporation's rushed coding had caused. Or maybe there was some sort of Reality Shaper that let you spy on someone else's messages.
Julian shook his head.
It couldn't possibly be that simple. Nobody was dumb enough to talk about boosting on their main account. They'd use outside sources like texting.
Julian's head spun faster and faster. He'd come to Los Angeles to learn more about Overdrive, not to solve mysteries.
The new information bombarded his brain.
Phillips and her psychic abilities.
The Mechanical King and his power creep.
Liefield and the Heaven's Boxer.
And on top of all that, a spy was blackmailing pro players.
"I don't even know what to think."
Tigger nodded pulled out his phone.
"Take your time. What do you want to order? We'll eat in the car."
There was a slight pause, and then the two laughed at how ridiculous their behavior seemed.
They were acting like spies, all to cheat at a video game.
But their paranoia was justified. The Fortress Master position paid exceptionally well. Tigger's streaming career paid even better. As strange as it seemed, there were hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake here.
Julian asked for two burgers, fries, and a large strawberry milkshake, hoping one of his favorite meals could brighten his mood. A lot of people criticized In-N-Out's thin fries, but Julian liked them. The few times Tyler had come to visit California, he'd loved everything but the fries.
It was probably because Julian, Felix, and Edwin had grown up having them. Edwin lived practically next door to the local shopping mall, so the three had burgers almost twice a week.
As they waited for Tigger's friend to arrive, Julian realized another problem.
"Wait. What if Lie
field reports us? You said no beginner could beat him, right? Won't he realize we were account sharing?"
Tigger nodded.
"Yeah. It'll be obvious. Like I said, it's an incredibly difficult situation. It's tough enough that I'm not confident we'll be able to win. But he won't have a leg to stand on. The administration might review the footage and note the exceptionally high game ability, but there won't be any evidence. More likely than not, they'll ignore Liefield's report entirely."
It was an open secret that most reports were ignored. The game administration was stretched very thin. They only investigated players after a long track record of poor behavior. A new account wouldn't have any history at all.
"Even in the worst-case scenario, they won't be able to trace it back to us because of the motion rigs. My concern isn't the administration. It's the guy spying on pros. My friend's had clients banned before, but he's always been safe. As for the Boxer, I've already devised a way to transfer it to you. We'll have the player whose account we're borrowing battle someone else. Then that person will continue forcing battles until the Mech eventually makes its way to you. It'll look like you found the Mech naturally."
Tigger chuckled.
"It's like money laundering."
Despite the mounting stress, Julian laughed with him. First, it was this clandestine meeting. Now it was Mech laundering.
Tigger's friend arrived, holding paper boxes stuffed to the brim with burgers. He knocked on their door right as Julian's phone buzzed with a text from Emma.
"Hey, what's going on with your schedule? Did the Selection end yet?"
He groaned.
Meeting Emma in person had been the number one thing he'd been looking forward to, even more than becoming a Fortress Master. But the day's events had blown that concern right out of his mind.
In-game, he was finally getting better at tracking multiple factors. In real life, he didn't stand a chance.
"Yeah—I'm actually at dinner with some other pros right now. I don't know how long it's going to be, but I'll text you as soon as I get back. I'm super sorry. I got excited about what we were talking about and forgot."
"Wow, 'other pros' LOL. Someone is a bigshot!!!"
