In My Game

**Welcome To Battle Royale! The Match Is About To Start! Get Ready, Paradoxer!**

Those were the first words Trent heard as he materialized into a vast arena teeming with other players, all eagerly awaiting the start of the game.

Trent gently stroked the head of his virtual bird companion and glanced around, immediately recognizing the environment or rather, the vehicle. This was the Battle Royale VXY flight, a massive virtual space like a booth, capable of hosting 200 participants for each Royale.

As he observed the other gamers, he noticed some testing their controls, running around and ensuring that their gears or consoles were functioning properly.

Trent couldn't help but chuckle at those with console setups. Their movements would be challenging compared to gamers with the full VR gear. Console players received the basics: goggles, gloves, a chest plate, and a gaming pad. Meanwhile, VR gear users stepped into a fully immersive experience with a Vyle-manufactured pod, complete with a treadmill, a full-body reactive suit, and high-definition goggles. Yet here he was, in the game, equipped with neither.

On taking an intent skim, Trent noticed he had the flashiest skin among all his soon-to-be opponents. 'That's how it should be,' he thought. 'This is my realm.' He also scanned for any other flashy skin that might signify the avatars of his killers, but everyone was dressed in Common or Rare skins. Trent sighed. 'What are the odds they would be among the 199 players competing against me, out of the forty million players in the game?''

A holographic countdown materialized before all of them, starting from the number 20.

[Your hollow watch is available in case you need to view the system while in battle. Because I may obstruct your view if I do it the traditional way]

'I understand.' Trent stretched out his arm, and with a resonating whirring sound, his lightsaber materialized. 

"Get out of town! Look at that bloke's skin!" Trent could hear a character exclaim. He couldn't pinpoint who it was, as many of their microphones were active.

"Nah, that's crazy!" Another voice. "That a bird companion?"

"We got a rich kiddo in the lobby, pals!"

"Flashy for failure!"

"Is that Crimson Knight?! Legendary!"

"Bro has a hollow watch?!"

Trent smiled within his mask as he heard them complementing and condemning him. They all assumed he was merely a flashy player because if one had been gaming nonstop since the release, the highest they could achieve was Journeyman, perhaps even just Amateur.

Trent brought his left arm into view and swiped, revealing the map of the Paradox world's segment where they would begin the Battle Royale. It was Apocalypse. His eyes scanned the map, which he knew like the back of his hand, searching for the locations marked in red, indicating high loot zones and only a few gamers here would know that. 

He chose Icecap, an icy area that, when marked red, had the highest loot 40% of the time. Once again, he knew this already.

When the holographic countdown concluded, it shimmered out of existence, and the large parachute door platform, stretching as wide as sixty feet, descended with a humming sound, accompanied by a gust of wind that rushed into the aircraft.

Trent remained unfazed as he walked alone toward its end with whispers coming from the other gamers. Without thinking twice, he let himself drop and his wingsuit protruded and extended its length, powering his flight as the cold wind brushed against his mask, leaving a trail of red smoke.

The flight took seconds and Trent did not bother to release his parachute, instead, he expertly landed on the roof of a multi-story building, becoming the first player to touch down. He looked up, watching the large aircraft and its convoy zoom overhead, trailing red smoke from other gamers who had also dived.

Trent took a moment to savour his world....or at least, the world which he forged an unreal gaming connection to. 

The sky of the Paradox World was mostly dark like obsidian, but with slight faints of blue and red hat provided natural light as the sky stretched endlessly into the vast cosmos. And even though the region he had landed was icy, the ground beneath was mostly dark too with purple and brown vegetation. 

Trent hopped off the roof and landed with a crunching thud on the ice just as Claw, his bird flew up to keep an eye for him. 

--:--First blood! 456HeavenGamer ~Knife~ JaydenX

Trent dived into the building through a window, breaking the glass in the process as he rolled on the wooden floor. 

[I advice you find Substore]

Substores are like vending machines or ATMs, located and sprawled around the map where a gamer could go to withdraw any amount from his Paxcoin or Neoncredits balance to use in the game to upgrade weapons or other items.

Just as Trent had expected, there were so many things to loot in this region, and he had already loaded himself up just from this house alone.

[Deploying Armour..... Armour deployed! +250HP!]

[Picked up Talon Blaster! Equipped Talon Blaster!]

Talon Blaster was Trent's favourite firearm. It had a high fire rate and accuracy on its own, and imagine how good it would be when he equipped it with perks.

[Picked up Hawkeye67 Blaster!] Trent's favourite sniper rifle blaster as well.

Just as he checked his hollow watch for the map in search of a nearby Substore, Claw came flying back and perched on his shoulder, passing the information that there were a few other gamers nearby.

Trent gave a happy smile as he dismissed his arm after taking note of the location of the nearest Substore. He took one last look at the sophisticated shaped building with glimmering golden lights before leaping out of the next window and his boots meeting the white ice again.

[Stealth perk deployed!]

[Hawkeye67 Blaster deployed!]

The long, futuristic sniper weapon with a large muzzle and slim barrel materialized in his hands just as the Talon Blaster dispersed. The sniper rifle quickly took on the camo designated to it, blending seamlessly with Trent's red.

Trent put his red visors for eyes to the scope of the sniper rifle as he quickly spotted a full squad, still descending, attached to their parachutes. A smile played on his masked lips as he equipped certain individual perks that would make him execute what he was about to do with ease and efficiency, something no other gamer could pull off.

[Multi perk deployed!]

[Stability deployed!]

[As silent as a guardian deployed!]

Trent pulled the trigger, with the first target in the center of his crosshairs.

[Headshot!]

He shot again.

[Headshot! Double Kill!]

He shot again.

[Headshot! Triple Kill!]

And the last, he didn't miss.

[Headshot! Quaaadruuuple Kill!]

The gamers he eliminated simply dispersed into blue energy and hovered up to become part of the sky, as Trent had successfully sent them back to the lobby.

--:--Multikill! Nightingale ~Hawkeye67 Blaster~ Squad Wipe!

Trent undeployed his weapon and casually slid down an icy slope toward the nearest Substore.

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A/N:This initial gaming arc would last for only a few chapters. I intend on gradually introducing everything.