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    "YOU DAMN LUNATIC!"


    Zack panicked as he started trying to tear apart my head while his spears moved towards my back, three towards me and three towards my spear, now controlled by Eleanora.


    Yeah, maybe I was a lunatic, but how else would I win against this man and his unfair machine? Even more, even with how premium this machine is, it cannotpare to the real deal.


    It feels much slower and weaker. It''s obviously not the same one used to fight Xenoids.


    Obviously, these machines are all specialized to battle other machines.


    Crack, crack…


    The sound of metal breaking apart and shattering reverberated, from both my own machine and Zack''s amazing mech. Cracks spread, and seconds passed. Eleanora continued spinning rapidly.


    Crack…!


    The three spears evaded my machineguns at longst and aimed at my back and shoulders. Zack wanted to either tear my head off, blow my back, or destroy my shoulders so I lose all matter of resistance.


    And unfortunately, the other three spears finally reached Eleanora, moving at lightning speed, aiming to stop her at all cost.


    Crack, crack…n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Who will shatter first?


    CRAAASH!


    None.


    The three Spears hit Eleanora, throwing her away and stopping my only chance to defeat Zack.


    "Aha! I got you!"


    Zack quickly lifted his mech''s body into the air and then began spinning in, attempting topletely demolish my machine.


    Yes, unfortunately.


    There was another add-on I had; one I haven''t shown anybody else.


    "No, I got you."


    My machine warrior''s chest suddenly opened, revealing a cannon inside.


    Energy gathered, rapidly forming a sphere of sma.


    The three spears behind me pierced my machine once.


    CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!


    However, I had already calcted their impact, which pushed me forward.


    I spun my mech''s body in thatst moment, using Eleanora as a way to grab onto something.


    She floated right towards me, knowing this was my n.


    "Huh?!"


    Zack panicked.


    It''s over buddy.


    "You were amazing, Zack. Thank you for the money."


    "SHIT! YOU FUCK-"


    TRUUUM!


    A small beam of sma was fired at the "wound" Eleanora left behind right on his mech''s neck.


    Because I was right below him while he was trying to crush my head and then my entire robot spun in midair.


    It was the perfect angle.


    The beam pierced through the neck, leaving a huge hole that spread countless cracks.


    And then the head came off the mech.


    BOOOM!


    And a huge explosion of sma engulfed everything else left behind.


    Zack''s Legendary ck Pdin fell into pieces into the arena.


    His six spears stopped moving as well, falling like inert sticks.


    "Looks like it''s our victory."


    My mech was barely standing, it could have pretty much been destroyed if I had gotten hit once.


    "T-This was intense…"


    Hah, can''t me her for think that.


    Maybe… video games aren''t so bad.


    This gave me more insights than I could have ever thought about machines, and also revealed to me that there were amazing pilots even within normal civilians.


    "Hm?"


    Silence.


    The entire arena was in utter silence.


    I suppose they couldn''t believe I won, whatever.


    I''m not doing this for attention, this is a trial and this is something I did for convenience so-


    "Amazing…"


    "This guy''s insane!"


    "So many trump cards…"


    "He had even more shit up his sleeve?"


    "This whale''s not bad…"


    "He won against Zack!"


    "Fuck! Holy shit! That was amazing!"


    "Has there even been a fight this intense before?"


    "They used every single mechanic in the game… and their control and synchronization were top notch."


    "S-So this is a battle between two pros…"


    "WOOOOOOHHHH!"


    One person screamed, and then, the rest started cheering. They raised their arms and started pping and celebrating my victory.


    "Hah…"


    I stood up, ncing around me.


    So this is the "glory" that warriors in arenas feel, huh?


    "I can tell why you would be addicted to this, Zack."


    I nced at his destroyed mech, as I heard his voice.


    "You won fair and fucking square, damn it… Take it, take it all, you son of a bitch…"ughed the man. "Just like I''ve plundered so many yers before, I must also abide by the rules! It''s all yours!"


    He epted my victory withoutins.


    DING! DING! DING!


    [We got a winner! yer ke has won thest match!]


    [You have obtained all betted Add-Ons.]


    [They have been stored in your Inventory.]


    [You earned +56.400 Warrior Points and +15.000 Credits.]


    [You have be the Winner of this 50 Versus 50 Match! You have gained +1.000 Prestige!]


    [You have been added to the Machine Warrior Arena Rankings!]


    [You''re Ranked 46th!]


    "Wee to the top fifty."


    Zack continued talking to me.


    "Will you keep ying? You''re amazing. I want a rematch already. No betting this time, let''s just fight."


    "Hah, sorry but I only y for money."


    "Seriously? Hahaha!"


    As we heard the celebrations of everyone, we were teleported to the lobby, where I met Zack''s avatar, a tall man with a bald head and sharp emerald eyes.


    "Nice to met you ke," he said, extending his hand towards me.


    "Likewise," I nodded, giving him a handshake.


    "You…"


    However, he continued holding my hand tightly, very tightly.


    He nced into my eyes.


    "You''re not a citizen of this mothership, aren''t you?"


    "Hm? I am though."


    "Nah, you''re different. I can tell… Your reflexes, your ability to fight… That''s not something a yer can easily learn, even less aplete newbie."


    "…"


    "You''re a pilot… Aren''t you? You''re those people fighting and risking their lives for our sake… You''ve fought Xenoids, right?"


    "Yeah, keep this a secret though."


    He was smart enough to figure that out immediately. It''s not like it was illegal for pilots to y video games on their free time, so I wasn''t particrly afraid of him divulging anything anyways.


    "Sure! But this is amazing! You''re really a pilot?! Please, I want to know how the job is! How many Xenoids have you killed? How are they? Are they different than normal mechs?"


    "Much different and deadlier," Iughed. "You wouldn''t survive against a single one."


    "Fuck! Are you kidding me?!" he gasped. "And I built my machine just to confront them…"


    "It''s a great design, but lightweight machines get easily crushed by their attacks," I said. "You need heavy and sturdier shapes."


    "Hoh!"


    At the end, we continued talking for more than I thought.


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