Jason shot a glance at Stephanie as the two of them walked to the hangar.

Although the artillery pilot had eagerly agreed to rechallenge the mission, she seemed pretty tired. The Overdrive server didn't emulate a player's body movements - the pilot was just sitting at home in front of their computer. However, the virtual reality simulator copied the player's face and expressions.

Stephanie was grinning and joking like normal, but she seemed pretty strained beneath the surface. Jason already knew that she hated letting her teammates down, and he was worried she was pushing herself too hard. Normally, he observed other people and kept that information to himself, but it felt right to say something here...

He wouldn't have any problems just waiting until later in the day.

Then again, he was still worried about hurting her feelings. Jason definitely wasn't known for his tact, and he didn't want to say something inappropriate. It might be easier just to play it through. In addition to using his Red Lamia, Jason had several other ideas on winning the race. The battle would be a lot easier without the shield. Instead of saying anything, it might be easier to just carry harder.

Beep.

Message incoming.

A notification popped up at the bottom of Jason's screen - he had a message from Wendy.

WindyWendy222: Hey! We're about to battle the Knight next. Could you send us the details? I saw on the screen that they adjusted the conditions. I'm guessing that's why you guys lost.

Ah!

He should have remembered to do that from the beginning. Sharing details on changed stages was a big part of playing in a guild together. Jason promptly started typing up a storm as he sent over all the details.

In the end, Wendy thanked him and asked if they were planning on challenging the mission again. The Guild Wars veteran responded with cautious excitement when Jason answered affirmatively.

WindyWendy222: That's awesome. I'm glad Stephanie is feeling it - she's always been a pretty high potential player, but I think she only played casually before joining up with us. One thing to keep in mind - she's probably pretty tired. I would suggest taking a break first - maybe to grab lunch?

Jason nodded thoughtfully.

He hadn't been sure before, but Wendy's advice was on-point. She had much more experience dealing with the BAG Guild's newer players than he did. Even better, she'd given him a pre-set excuse. Jason himself was getting pretty hungry too.

He stopped walking forward then turned to Stephanie.

"Hey - I'm feeling pretty tired. You wanna grab lunch first, then reconvene later?"

Though she tried not to show it, Stephanie eagerly leapt at Jason's suggestion. The other woman beamed brightly.

"Oh! Yeah, good call!"

Jason smiled back and took a look at his phone. It was noon right now - they could take a pretty long break before playing again.

"Alright. Let's grab lunch and take a break before meeting up again. I was thinking maybe in three or four hours."

That was a bit long for lunch, but he might as well use the excuse to give Stephanie a more extended break. Besides, Jason figured that he wouldn't be able to get to the Good Game Shoppe tonight. It took three hours just to fly back to the Palace of Emotions. He wanted to get his usual long walk in even if he wasn't headed to the store - he always felt like it cleared his mind and improved his performance.

Stephanie nodded.

"Yeah, let's do four hours - how about we meet again at four? I don't have work on Fridays, but I'd like to go out for lunch and take a break before playing again. I'm actually pretty tired."

Jason smiled. Now that Jason had mentioned taking a break first, Stephanie felt better about being honest.

"Sounds good. I'll see you then, I just got to call my friends at the Good Game Shoppe and let them know I'm not going in tonight."

"Oh!"

Stephanie started a little, tilting her head to the side and frowning thoughtfully.

"What's that? It sounds familiar..."

Jason definitely hadn't seen Stephanie around the Good Game Shoppe before, but it was a pretty well-known store. She might have heard about it from someone else on the server.

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"Yeah, it's my local game store. They host a ton of tournaments. Back when I was in high school, they even did a few regionals."

Stephanie laughed in a self-deprecative manner.

"Nah, I don't think that's what I know it from. I don't know if you could tell, but I'm not really the kind of player who regularly goes to tournaments."

Jason logged off and went up from the basement to make some lunch. He made two egg sandwiches, called Jacob to let him know he couldn't make it tonight, then headed out for a long walk.

On his walk, Danny sent him a quick text update on the Overdrive app.

LuckyDuck7: Hey - we ended up playing through it. Thanks for all your details. We had only a thirty percent or so win rate. I was able to get it, Owen got it, and the new girl you brought in got it. Stephen and Wendy failed, unfortunately. I heard you're going to try again with Stephanie, so good luck. If need be, Owen is willing to give up his lance - the Belcher can't hold it anyways LOL

Jason stopped and waited at a nearby bench before responding. After his recent mishap, he definitely didn't want to text on the street.

Devourer22: Thanks! I hope to get it done. If not, I'll let you know.

It was a good thing the BAG Guild had gotten some backup items - if Jason and Stephanie lost tonight, he didn't want to bother flying back and forth again. Three hours was still a big time commitment, and Jason didn't want to strain himself for the descent.

When he headed back, Stephanie was waiting for him in the central space station. The artillery pilot grinned excitedly.

"Alright - let's get going!"

The two of them headed to the hangar and summoned their Mechs. In Jason's case, he picked the Vampire Brawler again. With just two days to go until the Tournament of Assassins, he was still well aware that he needed to keep his main machine a secret. Stephanie reacted with surprise, but Jason explained that he'd swap back to his main Mech once they reached the Palace of Emotions.

Meanwhile, Stephanie locked in her artillery Mech. Before she did, she turned to Jason.

"Hey, I don't think we'll have the time for it now, but I was wondering if you could help me upgrade my alien after a few days."

Jason definitely wanted to help, but he also didn't want to overplay his expertise.

"Well, to be clear, I don't know all that much about alien Hemoborn. I'll definitely do my best, though - maybe I can find some guides online."

The two of them launched into open space, just like during their previous excursion.

This time, nobody bothered them. There were a few larger groups, but most of them were focused on training for the upcoming Guild War - they only battled appropriately-sized groups. Nobody wanted to bother two stragglers, especially now that nobody was chasing after them. Come to think of it, Jason hadn't actually asked his rival for her name.

He thought about texting Danny to ask, but then he shrugged it off. From the sounds of it, she'd help them during the descent on Castle Notoria - he'd ask her directly for her name then.

As they flew, Jason and Stephanie discussed how they could win the match. It was clear to both of them they needed to dramatically revise their strategy.

The artillery specialist tsked and shook her head.

"I hate to admit it, but things would probably be easier if you focused on shooting. You're still a better shooter than I am."

Initially, Jason had the same thought, but now that they could prepare ahead of time, he thought they could do better.

Jason shook his head.

"I'm not too sure about that..."

After all, the Red Minerva was still much nimble than Stephanie's Cannonblaster. The faster the runner was, the less effort was needed to hinder the Knight of Friendship. Shooting wasn't Jason's forte, and he wasn't sure he could hit the Knight enough times so that Stephanie's artillery Mech could overtake it.

Jason continued musing as he flew past an asteroid.

"I noticed that the Mech's damage sticks after you go up to the race - after the Squire blasted off my leg, I still had to heal it before I got to the top. That means we can deal with the Knight at the start - we won't have to bother fighting it and the Squire."

Stephanie nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that's definitely true. Owen mentioned that he was able to destroy the Knight almost immediately. He just brought down the other machine with his Belcher. Sadly, I'm not nearly as good at shooting as he is. Did you know Wendy is trying to bring him along with her for the next Guild War?"

As the two new friends continued discussing the match, they realized there was a much better solution - instead of using Stephanie as a conventional artillery unit, they could use her as a support.

"There's no need for you to hit the horse. Why don't you try slowing it down instead? You know, stuff like laying traps on the ground."

Soon, Stephanie was nodding along.

"Yeah! That's great!"

Although Stephanie wasn't confident she could hit the Knight of Friendship, she had no problem affecting the field conditions - shooting at the ground didn't take any special skills. On top of that, Stephanie could scout out the Squire's moves ahead of time - she could let Jason know where the other Mech was shooting ahead of time.

"Oh! How about this? I can use caltrops."

Stephanie smirked.

"Unlike trenches, those were actually affective against horses."

That was a great idea - the surface-level traps would hinder the centaur, but Jason could avoid them without any trouble.

"Yeah! You can probably grab some from the space station store."

The space station item stores were owned directly by the Overdrive Corporation, and the prices were much worse than what could be found at player-owned stores.

Due to the long distance of open space, players usually had no choice but to pay the higher prices. Normally, Jason would have wanted to fly back to the store, but caltrops were exceptionally cheap. Like the scissors Jason had once stored in his wristbands, caltrops were extremely niche picks. In a world where most Mechs could fly, nobody wanted them. As a result, the items sold for a super low Credit cost even in official Overdrive stores. In the worst-case scenario, they could simply make their own by honing sharp bits of metal.

As they continued flying, their plans grew increasingly advanced.

When it came to dealing with the Knight of Friendship, Stephanie was full of ideas.

"Oh! Here's another good option - in addition to caltrops, I can also try to water down the ground. Just bringing a hose and a water tank with me will also be super cheap. Horses definitely have a tough time running in the mud."

She answered Jason's next question before he even asked it.

"Yeah, I was definitely a horse girl growing up. I still am, actually!"

Three hours later, the two players found themselves back at the Palace of Emotions. Stephanie purchased the new equipment as Jason switched back to the Red Minerva.

Moments later, they descended safely to the Palace of Emotions and challenged the Knight and Squire of Friendship to a rematch.