"...And then there are the most dangerous people: the Players whose only goal is to WIN."  For Johnny Max Riker it is time to move past his career as a professional gamer to the next step in his life. Fortunately there was a convenient alien invasion recently, bringing with them "The Game". What better next step is there for a Video Gamer than to move beyond the screen? But, like everything, nothing is easy when the stakes are high and winning only means that the next big challenge is even harder. Eventually a guy just has to ask the question: What is the point of playing The Game, and what does it mean to 'win'? Entering a world where high magic, planet-cracking superpowers, and end-point technology combine and butt heads ends up being far more than just a simple game; especially when they start bleeding over into the real world. Updates on Tuesday and Thursday. Bonus Chapters occasionally. Average 2k wordcount updates. What to expect from the Main Character:A story focused primarily on the Main Character's viewpoint and the interactions he has with potential allies and real threats.A MC who isn't weak, and may even be strong for his level, but is dealing with much more powerful threats.A MC who uses caution and audacity in equal measure.A MC who isn't perfect but recognizes that fact and wants to be better.A MC who, while smart, doesn't think of himself as a genius.A MC who weaponizes bad luck.A MC who is loyal to those who are friendly, friendly to those who are neutral, and uncaring to those who show enmity.No Paragon MCNo EVIL MC What to expect from the Secondary or Side Characters:All named characters have a background, history, and an unseen storyAll named characters have goals, morality, and circumstances where they might fail those idealsAll named characters have faults, embarrassments, and weaknessesAll unnamed characters have goals, motivations, and a slipping point. All unnamed characters are treated as real people by the story and the charactersAll unseen forces are directed by a personalities with their own goals, strengths, and weaknesses What to expect from the setting:A 'virtual' world that scales into DBZ levels of powerA 'real' world that has to deal with the consequences of The GameMagic, Superpowers, and High Technology combine and competeInteractions and cross-pollination between Magic, Superpowers, and High TechnologyNo OP power fantasy.No special power that makes things easy. What to expect in terms of rated content:A PG16 rated story (acceptable to minors and could be shown on public television with the right camera shots but not intended for children)No gore (weekday evening TV levels of violence)No explicit sex (80's public television method of 'cut away and imply')No haremNo direct references to torture, rape, incest, suicide, self-harm, etc.A few characters who like to swear, but whose character isn't built around it.No glorification of evil behavior. What to expect from the author:I am writing this as a fairly simple project to learn to write better over the long-term. Issues and darkness will appear, because how can any story move forward without challenges to overcome, but this is not intended to delve into the deeper aspects of that darkness. Very little focus will be given to those things that are not pertinent to moving the story forward, because fluff is easy for me and I don't need to practice writing that. There will be no long drawn-out descriptions of people and settings because Purple Prose is not hard for me and I don't need to practice writing that. There will be no long drawn-out descriptions of fighting scenes because it creates word-count padding, generally adds little to the content of the story, and would tempt me to shift my focus away from plot and meaningful interactions and into multi-update long fights that are part of even longer battles (though I might need some practice in fight choreography, but not in this story). Because this work is intended as constructive practice, it is definitely a work in progress and any constructive criticism is appreciated. Chapter by chapter criticism is especially helpful as it is more immediately useful (I can usually update the following chapters with the feedback right away), more pointed to the specific issue (I can look at that specific chapter and see what was problematic), and I can ask for clarification and even advice more directly (there is no 'respond and ask questions' options for story reviews). I hope you enjoy your stay.