Aleksandr Regnovictov, still had plenty of self-belief, despite what happened to him at the end of the beta. He was a two-hand sword damage dealer, not a tank, he told himself. Even so, having his life ripped away by the bastard ogre in a single attack lasting only a second before looking at the respawn screen, it hurt! In truth, it shook him because he really did think he was strong in the beta world. He now realised how narrow a perspective that was. To come across something that dwarfed his own power so utterly, was humbling.

From the perspective of his friends, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. His efforts were far greater while practicing Loop runs during the two weeks since beta ended. If asked, they would say they never saw Alek so focused and hardworking, impressive considering those attributes would be regarded as his strong points on any given day.

As a gamer who and been part of the fantasy genre from his early teens, he had carved out his niche as a skilled two-handed sword user. He tried the other styles, healer, bow user, spell slinger, defensive tank. He liked being a defensive tank and was pretty good at it, but he was also an outstanding commander and being a defensive tank on the frontline provided too narrow a field of view, to command appropriately. The others, he could do, but was bored being a healer, completely sucked with a bow and just got no excitement from being a spell caster. Large, heavy-hitting weapons just suited him best, and of the various weapon types, swords were his preference. What is more, as a melee DPS, he could pull back to see what was going on during a battle. He could intercede on behalf of the squishies, and he could use his large weapon to just plain wreck shit.

His style of fighting was straightforward. In Alek's opinion, simplicity in group battles had fewer complications and a far greater chance of success than convoluted and overly complex strategies. His simple though effective approach placed him at the pointy end of the top MMO players for the fantasy games he played. Over the years, he developed a loyal following as a group leader. By the time he was professionally streaming as a fantasy MMO pro-gamer, he was constantly fending off requests for grouping or guild invites from other players, pro or not. There was a downside to always streaming, meaning he always needed to be polite to people. It wasn't always a great thing, not when constantly being bombarded by requests from strangers. To be honest, it got downright fucking annoying sometimes. However, using expletives would be bad for his rep, leaving him to shut up and suck it up silently until the stream ended. Then he would go outside, grab a piece of bent gal-pipe wrapped with a grip, and lay into a tree stump in his backyard. Because of this, his neighbors shunned him out of fear, never looking him in the eye nor speak to that crazy angry man with the pipe.

Then PURG came along, inviting him to join the most revolutionary beta in years. PURG offered incredible remuneration and bonuses for the live world. Alek immediately wanted to jump at the opportunity. In the end, though, he held off on the offer negotiating to get

the rest of his team invites. He had been with them for years, and he knew he could count on them to have his back. The team took their time considering the offer once Alek explained the significant change joining the beta would make to their lives. He was saddened not all of them chose to become employees of PURG, but he understood. They had families, and they did not want to be separated from them. The majority of his team did join. They had less familial ties, and so they were eager to explore the lands of the working titled world of Powered1.

The lot of them had a great time during the beta, it was trying at the start and demoralising, as everyone was slaughtered so easily at the end. Overall though, the in-between was really, a total blast. A world that large, breaking new ground, fueling the construction of towns, spawning NPC's. The world itself was so incredibly vibrant. A person's sensory system almost seemed heightened. Everything was incredibly scenic. There was an untainted natural purity to the world. Something that was mostly lost in the real world.

After completing the beta and entering the Hub, the entire beta cohort had been debriefed and had seminars bombarded upon their roles and responsibilities going forward as employees of PURG. The Loop Event was included and explained as a showcase of the flexibility and potential of the new world system, PURG, had developed. After the reveal to the beta testers regarding what 'legacy item' actually meant, the hunger in everyone's eyes increased tenfold. The salivating horde was undeniably hungry to get their hands on the potential held within such prizes.

While the MDP people had their free-for-all battles to win their chance to compete in the Loop challenge, the beta group was practicing their arses off in Loop instanced runs. They were trying to prepare as much as they could before the event got underway.

Unfortunately for them, they got to practice on the same system as the MDP trainees. Meaning their intense practice sessions, were mostly irreverent. When the beta testers were ported into the event instance, they were greatly surprised to read the message from Richard Isaccs Shrodastower. Yet, these were some of the best pro-gamers going. Meaning they were not averse to adaption. Evolving strategies and changing their approach to an unexpected encounter was a basic prerequisite for successful pro-gamers.

So, when Alek read through that message and mentally called up the [Extant Upgrade Store] for a look and see. He was delighted while investigating the [Weapon] selection section, seeing a wide array of swords for him to choose.

While looking through the list, Alek found one of his favorite sword types and could not help but admire and desire it.

Two-Handed Bastard Sword (Quality 85%)

This common quality two-handed bastard sword combines a longer grip with the slightly shortened blade length. Creating a sword good for both slashing and piercing enemies while making it highly maneuverable

[Purchase: 210 (Minutes)]

Descriptors: Variables: Item Type: Two-Handed Bastard Sword Item Material: Steel Damage: Slash: 

  - Stat Effect: 17-25

 (Strength*1) Damage: Pierce: 

  - Stat Effect: 14-22

(Strength*0.5) + (Agility*0.4) Requirement

  - Strength: 

  - Agility: 

  - Dexterity: 

90

85

85 Rune Points Available:  170 Rune:  [Upgrade] Weight (g):  1420 Durability:  240 / 240

 Alek was in two minds. He really wanted the weapon but was hesitant, not knowing what awaited once the red screen came down, and the event began. After a few seconds of uncertainty Alek gave in to his love of the sword type, how could a weapon like this do him wrong no matter the circumstance.

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He purchased the sword, there was a chiming sound, and a long chest materialised in front of him. Opening the chest, Alek withdrew the sword, holding it up to examine and admire it. To Alek, it was shiny and sexy beast of a weapon. It had a nice weight to it, and with the large handle, there was plenty of grip spare between his two hands. Giving it a bit of a test swing from high to low at first, he eventually worked up to a phantom duel. He practiced swinging the blade in all sorts of different paths to test its balance and get used to the weight of the weapon. It felt good, really good. He could barely contain himself waiting for the red screen wall to change over so he could get out into the tunnel of the loop and start cutting and stabbing stuff.

When he did finally get out into the loop, he found himself facing a blob of gelatinous matter with a tiny crystal inside it. With a sigh and dropped shoulders, Alek jogged back into the safe room and left his sword there.  There was no point running around with it wasting endurance. Slimes and swords were not a great combination. The cores, while not a particularly tough crystalline material, would roll away from the weapon unless the strike was perfect. He could swipe with the flat of the blade at the viscous fluids that made up the slime's body. But that would quickly tire him after only a few kills.

The slime was blue, so it was most likely just the most common variant. Alek dipped his finger in and out of the slime's body in a flash while stepping away from the mob. A second later, he read the damage notification. Nice, just a common one like he hoped. 'So, how should he do this?' Alek contemplated. 'I have my sword, and I do not want to waste minutes on unnecessary things. I could reach in and grab it real quick, but the damage will add up. No, that would be stupid, slime cores are weakest to crush damage. I just need to find the cheapest viable option.'

Several minutes later, an extra-long chest materialised. Opening it, Alek pulled out a long, sawed-off tree log. It was from the firewood options as part of the general section of the store. It was about 34-centimeters in diameter and 80-centimeters long, and it cost just 8-minutes. It looked as though a couple of branches had been sheered off by an axe or something. Picking it up, it was far more cumbersome than his sword. He walked over to the slime and slammed the sawed end down through its body onto the slime core. The faceted crystal was smashed directly into the concrete surface. Crack! A second hit and Alek received a kill notification on the combat log along with his first experience reward for the Loop.

Looking at the experience, it was a lot for such an easy kill. He moved to the next slime. The progress was going to be fast attacking like this. The weight of the tree branch was also going to become considerable. 'I will need to pump up up my [Stamina], so I don't get exhausted too quickly,' Alek planned.

He moved along to each slime, slamming his tree log onto each one until he completed lap-10. Looking down the length of the start straight, he was glad and sad to see something new. Glad, because slimes were a messy mob to face, goop could splash anywhere, including on him. No one sane ever wanted to feel the pain as skin started dissolving. Sad, because little slimes like these were just so easy to kill, it was almost like free experience. He entered the safe room, where he broke to eat and quench his thirst and regenerate some endurance and ease his fatigue.

After the 3-minute break, Alek headed down the hall towards the new mob type. It was an ugly, carapace armor headed, fleshy worm. No problem, not with his bastard sword. He stepped to the side and chopped down with an overhead strike just behind its head. With the 2-handed sword and the massive swing, his attack bit deeply into the Lachtressia Grub, causing significant damage. Striking a second and third time in the same location, he was rewarded with the kill message in his combat log. With a quick read, he realised he cut through the central nerve and artery of the creature leading to its death. It was easy, and Alek was making excellent progress during these early stages of the Loop Elimination Event.

Gaining valuable minutes with each lap, Alek focused on building up his [Stamina], [Vitality], and [Constitution]. He activated a few sword skills that he received from his efforts and soon added [2-Handed Bastard Sword Fighting Forte] into his skill list.

Keeping things simple, he upgraded physical resistances when needed along with his [Frame] and [Strength] for additional damage.

With all his efforts, Alek found himself in the enviable position of being ranked first for boundary position. He gained that top place on the third day and maintained it for over 2-weeks. But, no matter how much he tried, he found himself always left with a bad taste in his mouth. His Lap Position could never get past, second place. Someone was in front of him in real terms, and nothing he did seemed to change that circumstance.

It was a conciliatory reward when he received notice that he had gained additional benefits by completing lap-800.

Each time there was a change in a mob type, they kept gaining in strength and capability. While the Elimination Boundary adjusted upwards with its times less frequently until it eventually capped at 60-minutes per lap.

Eventually, everyone would be caught. That was the purpose of the event, to see who would survive the longest.

Alek was starting to feel the boundary closing in on him. No matter what he did, he could only defeat each mob with his best efforts. Like everyone else, the damage he suffered was in the small stuff. Time to eat and drink ate up precious minutes. Time to rest and reduce fatigue ate up large chunks of time. If he took damage from an attack, it would slow him down or take time from him while he rested. There were many factors, all steeling snippets of time, and they brought the inevitability of elimination closer each time.

Again he felt as though he received a conciliatory reward when the boundary timer caped out at lap-981. Try all he liked though the boundary continued to close.

Notified of the additional rewards awaiting him, he could only grimace and keep going. He could already tell, lap-1050 was simply impossible to reach for the next bonus.

Alek kept going anyway. He wanted to give everything he had and leave nothing in the tank. He wanted to be able to say with conviction, he gave his absolute all and did the best he could during the event.

With a frustrated groan, Aleksandr Regnovictov was caught by the red semi-transparent screen of the elimination boundary on lap-1006.

As with everyone else, Alek was first ported into the safe room.

< You have been caught by the elimination boundary, in position 2. >

< You have three minutes to collect any gear you brought in with you. No items purchased from the Extant Upgrade Store will transport to the Hub. >

He received his elimination position and was given 3-minutes to collect his things.

At the completing of those 3-minutes, he was ported again. This time into the Hub's Main Stadium, on a large podium in the center of the field.

* * *

There was the expected stomach-clenching white-out of being ported from one quantum data point to another. As the sensation retracted, Alek's arrival was swamped in applause, cheering, and congratulatory shouts by the MDP trainees, beta testers, staff, and NEC personnel alike.

Over the top of it, all was the announcement of Alek's arrival, listing his various achievements and the additional rewards he could choose. Alek was carried off the stage on the shoulders of two NEC golems standing nearly 3-meters tall. The carried him over to the stands, right before his RPG team and beta testers. The two golems lifted him into the stands where he received hugs and congratulatory slaps on the back for doing so well.

Over the arrival platform, a giant screen lowered and began showing some of the highlights of Alek's efforts during the Loop Elimination Event. After half an hour, people started to leave. They could go back to doing their own thing for a while.

Once the final competitor was close to being eliminated, they would all be called to the stadium once more.