Level 25

Level 3 Battle Royale

“What’s happening with Level 3?” Oben Ken inquires sitting in a closed conference room with his top developers and managers. Mr. Rory just informed Oben about launching the weekly battleground event and how it will help test Level 3 in action. “Level 3… I don’t really find it interesting. It’s traditional battleground gaming. You land, you loot, you survive and you kill.” explains Sam keeping his voice cold and slow like always. Mr. Rory further explains the conditions for Level 3. He says it will need a single person to win three matches in a row of a particular event session. Three battleground matches includes one solo, one duo and a team match. Moreover the player has to have 25 kills at least in one of them. “That would be pretty difficult.” Oben expresses, “You participating Sam?”

“Obviously” answers Sam. He approves Mr. Rory to launch the event and hurry with Level 25 tests. Mr. Rory enlightens the team about another recent event in ICBA. Players have been increasingly using the controller patch as they find thought controlled movements a bit difficult. The market research team strengthens the argument to officially release this patch as it seems to attract more gamers. Oben has no problem with this. “More customers, more sales, I think adding a controller option would do us good,” he says. “This game is to offer realism, I don’t see how a controller fits into that. No matter what, we cannot approve such nonsense. We should ban any players with a controller. Did you forget about the upgraded neural command features already?” Sam intervenes rather harshly. The room acknowledges Sam. Oben decides to allow the patch unofficially for now until the test for these new features are completed. The meeting concludes and all except Oben and Sam stay behind.

“Can you be a little...” Oben forgets what he is about to say, “you know... chill... we were just throwing ideas.” Sam smirks at his comment. “Are you sure the upgrade will work?” Oben asks directly. Sam stands and walks around thinking for a few seconds, the room grows silent. Oben has worked with Sam for years now, even though they are different in all aspects they work well together, enough to build a company capable of advancing the human race to a new era.

“Yes, we can.” answers Sam. ICBA will allow humans to have a complete virtual body capable of doing more than their original with flawless movements, he explains. Once you put on the helmet you will have a completely new life. You can feel the gales when you fly and the coldness of water when you dive, Sam continues. “I like your vision Sam, but that last part won’t work, sending signals back to the brain comes with a lot of risks. It also means a player will feel pain. You know the research, the game may generate enough pain to even cause death.” Oben elaborates himself so Sam could get that thought out of his head. Sam keeps silent to listen to all the worries Oben may have before making his point. Oben does not want to risk the position of Networld Games CEO to fulfill a fantasy.

Sam Coben is a genius and ICBA is his dream, his world and he wanted to make it real. He stands still, looks at Oben and speaks slowly in his natural cold voice. Sam proposes to find a solution to avoid gamers from feeling any pain and take full responsibility as chief developer for any health issues should they arise, in return Oben would launch the upgrade with feelings included. Oben could hear the joy in Sam’s voice and knows it would be a hard deal to avoid. Furthermore, he wants to do this.  If Sam succeeds ICBA will no longer be a game, it would be the Networld and Oben could very well become the richest man on Earth. 

Otto, Lenny and Sasha complete the first week of the battleground event. “Congrats Len, you were awesome, too bad for Mr. Omega there” taunts Sasha bursting in laughter with Lenny. Sasha stops laughing abruptly and announces that she has to go now because Ted’s there. Otto reminds Lenny to stop jumping, “You and Alisha, remind me how the fight was.” Lenny hates to remember his courageous challenge only to fail as quickly as Johnny in the hands of Otto. Being close to Sasha and unexpectedly mending all their problems has finally made Otto free after years. He jokes around more often than before and his quest for Level 25 does not seem to bother as much as it did a week before. Otto continues to taunt Lenny, reminding him of his second challenge with MotaStricker. He got beat quickly again. Lenny reminices the battles of that day focusing on his third fight with Johnny where he finally achieved victory and beat level 1. 

Otto remembers it as a great battle. His actions today were unlike any top gamer. He barely survived the two battlegrounds with the help of Sasha and Lenny and in the last one he dies rather quickly in the hands of Lenny nonetheless. To his surprise Lenny has become the first player to ever beat Level 3 as he managed to kill 28 including Otto in his single match.

Otto blames the use of controllers for his loss. It is hard to feel a weapon in your hand when it’s empty. Otto can see the players jump and dance while shooting while the mind controls before the neural upgrade does not allow such swift movement. He cannot move as freely as he did in the future. Lenny suggests Otto use a controller. The only online game Otto ever played religiously was ICBA. He never liked competitive online games as they lead to frustration for him, meaning he is just as bad or even worse with a controller in his hand. They keep playing and practicing for next week's event.

Curious Lenny finally asks “I thought she was your girlfriend.” it has sat in his head for a while now. Otto gets a little startled “No, she is my best friend and I am happy with it”. Otto smiles by himself. He cannot believe his luck to have done nothing yet changing almost everything from his past. Lenny doesn't get the reaction. It might have been a couple of weeks but Lenny and Otto spent hours together dominating the server beating anyone who dared to challenge the powerful duo. Through their constant battle adventures they have become really good friends. If Otto has shared anything about his future life it was Lenny. He quickly became a friend who did not really believe but accepted the time travel as Otto’s truth. So, Otto really wanted to share when Lenny asks the reason for him being overly cheerful in the past week.

To know the reason Lenny had to believe Otto travelled back in time. Otto crushed back in time a week before ICBA official release. Another week or so earlier Otto did something he regretted for the past four years of his life. Otto wanted to come back in time to undo his mistake but not be back to a time where he had to face the consequences all over again. Otto explains everything in detail to Lenny, their characters are still inside a battle royale not focusing on gameplay anymore. Soon enough, they get shot to death. They laugh and spawns back into ICBA; Otto continues his story.

I did something pretty selfish, foolish. You should know Sasha is sick… She has a rare blood disease, something that has no available cure. Sometimes she is cheerful and joking around and sometimes she is mad and irritated with pain... I loved her all my life and I knew I would be able to express my feelings some day, when everything is right, but that day never arrived. She would die and I would lose her forever. Ted was there for her, but I didn't know if he would stay until the bitter end. I wanted her to be with me. So… I confessed, asked her to be with me disregarding her thoughts and feelings completely. She was mad, furious and told me to never show up in front of her again. I quickly realized my mistake and obliged her words. I never contacted her until that night. Ted called me; all terrified, saying I should come as soon as possible, it was about Sasha. I showed up to find her parents and Ted held on to her as she growled with anger. My presence did not help, she became worse and began cursing me. They had to call the doctor who finally calmed her down with anesthetic. Her madness was not part of her illness, it was her being angry. She was scared of death and I couldn’t do anything to help. Sasha did not want to see me and she never did. This time, I cried remembering her pain but remained still. Didn’t really know what to do. Next Morning, I knew she would be calm, calm enough to hear my apology. So, I can at least see her again. I did not want to miss the chance. It’s funny considering how she greeted me. Everything’s changed for good I think. But… I still cannot save her Lenny.

Lenny hears Otto in silence, without the bit about time travel everything seems honest and true. They see the clouds from below without talking, breathing. “What happened this time?” Lenny finally asks. 

I did not know first, Sasha would not talk about it but I finally learnt everything from Ted. Sasha asked for me and kept waiting and waiting until the doctor gave her a dose of anesthetic. She slept and woke up fresh for her party still anticipating my arrival, but she was no longer held captive by anger. 

The whole situation and problem Otto had died away into something great. Now Otto appreciates Sasha as his friend and would be there for her even if she is acting crazy or mad because he knows deep down how much she actually cares for him.

“Let’s say I believe you, how did you come back or what’s the last thing you remember?” Lenny got curious as it did not seem like an elegant lie but a heartfelt story from a part of Otto’s life. Otto could not remember what happened or how he woke up in a different time; he just knew there was a war. The last thing he remembers is being logged into ICBA. He felt like dying with pain with a war raging around him. But something is different after his fight with MotaStricker, he believes to have ventured within the laboratory in his glimpse before and something terrifying happened there.

Days pass while Otto learns to move and shoot with more fluidity. He does not play ICBA as much as he used to in the beginning weeks. Searching for explanations in time travel has become Otto’s new pass time hobby. His YouTube channel featuring various tips and tricks for ICBA soon hits a large number of views. Otto was always smart, he found a way to earn millions of subscribers fast with his future knowledge.  His explanations of ICBA felt more personal and involved. He talks from experience and knowledge of future updates. Who's to say he did not copy the person he replaced in this timeline. 

Another week, another failure. Battleground just proved to be something Otto should avoid. He is better may be the best when it comes to fist fights and superhuman battles but using virtual guns can be very irritating. The rules of ICBA battleground are simple; a small portion of the ICBA world is chosen at random where about hundred people are spawn in by teleportation. You loot to find human weapons, some special weapons capable of harming even invulnerable skins and blue pills. They are rare but one is guaranteed in randomly teleported loot boxes. Once you are on this pill you can trigger a single super power from your arsenal for a small amount of time. More blue pills equals more chances to use super power. OmegaWarrior does not have invulnerability, something very much required by Otto to survive from sniper shots made from long distances. Hence, he gets easily frustrated with battlegrounds. 

It’s the third week and Otto does not feel like participating this time as well. He converses with Sasha on the phone asking her about her days. She wants to know how the progression for Level 25 is coming along. Otto expresses that it doesn’t matter to him much anymore. Sasha persuades him in her own aggressive way to keep playing. Otto does not budge. So, she tries something a little more genuine and less aggressive “You feel more confident and I know you enjoy the game so give it one more try for me.” Otto reluctantly agrees. Sasha tells Otto to look for something in his old storage. Otto does not like where this is going. He goes in there and searches for the trunk with toys. Otto coughs from the dust settled, he rarely gets up to clean his room, who cares about the storage. Sasha wants him to describe all the toys to her. Otto sighs, he picks up one after another with simple descriptions like “An icecream van”, “A cop car”, “a water gun”. Sasha tells him to stop. She wants her to use the gun in his hand to better shoot in ICBA. Otto likes her idea and is astonished by the fact that Sasha knows where he would find it. Otto has an idea. Somehow, with Sasha’s help he found a motivation he lacked just some minutes ago. 

Otto joins in at the time of the event to find Alisha and Arun online. They both hope to take part as well. Lenny is already there waiting for the events to start. Otto wonders if Lenny has a life outside ICBA. He rarely logs out. Maybe, Lenny actually sleeps in ICBA. Otto proposes to Alisha and Arun to join in the group tournament with them. Sasha has plans with Ted and her family so she could not join them today and it is best for her to play less games considering her health. Alisha and Arun join their team and it would be pretty unlikely for anyone in the server to stand a chance against such a powerful team. 

The first match starts and Otto still misses due to recoil. He follows around Lenny and Alisha who kill one after another. Arun is not that good, but he can still look after himself. It’s nearing the end and the team finds itself in a sticky situation. Otto has no idea what’s happening. All around them Alisha and Lenny used boxes to barricade themselves from getting shot. They are almost in an open field and two other teams might be working together to take them out. Alisha and Lenny shoot to knock them out but they keep coming back with the help of their teammate. 

The constant bombs and gunshots are not doing well with Otto. “Run! Run!” a mysterious voice keeps shouting. Otto runs while a shower of bullets covers the land beside him, he barely survives and keeps running. Everywhere it's dust and darkness. “Logout! Why can't I log out?” screams Otto. Cries and moans of players surround him in this hellish chaos. Soon, he realizes the pain is real too. A bomb drops near Otto and he loses his power of hearing only to come back to reality where Arun, Lenny and Alisha are still trying their best to push towards the zone. 

Both the enemy teams converged near the zone and now they either push forward or die trying. Otto wants to know if everyone has a blue pill. They all do but Otto himself. “Can anyone give me an extra pill?” asks Otto. Lenny comments on Otto’s skill and drops a pill for Otto. Alisha has no idea how to win this time “What now” she wants to know. 

Otto commands Alisha to use gust and cover enemy sights, when he will fly above to pinpoint their exact locations. Lenny and Arun will then use the gust to move forward and on his mark  they should activate the invulnerability to get rid of them. With no other options the team follows Otto’s plan. Otto dives beneath the harmless gust and pops his head to spot the enemy location. They have all their guns pointed. One of them even has a pulse rifle that could even harm invulnerable skins. Otto alerts the team of enemy position and launches forward keeping close to the winds. His ability timer is running low, Otto points his real gun and virtual gun straight. The gust timer runs out and Otto comes out flying his aim targeted on the player with the pulse rifle. Headshot and dead. 

Before the teams could retaliate against Otto they had  to face Lenny and Arun both almost indestructible. Alisha didn’t mention she had an extra pill which she gulped immediately to activate super speed. She joins in and soon enough all is dead. “That was intense.” blurts Arun. “This is the best game ever. Whoa!” joins Lenny. Otto is hurt and in need of a revival. His character cannot stand. They win the match as Alisha finds and kills the last enemy hiding behind a wall with her incredible sniper shot accuracy. Otto wins the first round of Level 3, yet he has to face two more rounds and get more than 2 kills. Almost like 23 more kills.