Four circles began to slowly fill up in a clockwise motion, each one centered on the chest of an enemy before her. A satisfying click graced her ears for each enemy that her ULTRA augment had fully tagged. Once the ULTRA augment had been primed, Owen activated yet another augment to retrieve a small crystal-like concave mirror from the non-existent pockets of her latex suit. The joys of video game logic. Owen couldn’t help but lean forward in her chair with a growing smirk. The beauty of a well executed surprise attack was the speed at which kills could rack up as soon as the preparations were complete. She could hang ten on the wave of dopamine for minutes on end after a successful ace.
With her dominos meticulously placed for the final few seconds of the round, she was finally ready to tip them over and reap the rewards. Owen broke out into a sprint and flicked her wrist to launch her [Reflective Agony] mirror directly towards the ground in front of her. A loud sound effect was played globally to indicate that Owen had confirmed the locked on targets for her ULTRA augment. Anyone unlucky enough to be tagged by the lock on received an additional warning message alongside the global activation sound effect, letting them know that they were within line of sight to the player who locked onto them. Not that it would matter much for them to know. All it really did was allow them to begin to turn around in horror to face the flanker who had infiltrated their defenses.
Before they had the ability to activate any defensive augments, Castle was already being pierced by a flurry of plasma that killed them in a single volley. Owen knew her plan wouldn’t work if Castle was able to shield any of their teammates, so she devoted the first of her shots to taking out the backbone of the team.
[Sarah6258: What was that?!]
Sarah had never seen the peculiar combination of augments before. Her confusion at the quick dispatchment of their backline was coupled with amazement. A real tremor of excitement and pride reverberated through her cheer.
[Sarah6258: We’ve only got 14 meters left!!!]
The remaining three members of Team A had found, and subsequently begun charging at Owen. She could only let out a soft laugh as they closed the distance towards her. They were unaware of her strategy, and were actively accelerating their defeat by doing the opposite of what they should have been doing. With [Gaze of Inevitability] locked on to each of the enemies, Owen had 100% accuracy on them for the next eight seconds. Four with the base duration of the ULTRA, and an additional second for each enemy targeted by the ability when it activates. By itself, the augment was powerful, but could be outplayed by overwhelming the target before they start to pick off the players that were marked. It was likely why they were attempting to rush Owen before she had a chance to kill more of them with her autoaim ULTRA augment.
But Owen wasn’t relying on [Gaze of Inevitibility] to do the heavy lifting of her plan. That’s what the small unassuming crystal mirror that the barrel of her shotgun rested on was for. Like most of Owen’s favorite augment in UMDK, [Reflective Agony] was considered a gimmick augment. One of many that were so niche in their use cases that they were almost always overlooked in favor of augments that were much more reliable in the vast majority of matches. The augment allowed a player to bounce their bullets off of the mirror, with the implication that it could be used to secure corners or flush out enemies in cover. But there were plenty of better augments if you wanted to accomplish such tasks. [Reflective Agony] caught Owen’s attention around a month and a half ago, when a major balance patch gave a huge buff to the augment since its pick rate was pathetically low. Any bullet that hit [Reflective Agony] would be duplicated. A very simple and powerful change to the augment that still didn’t raise the pick rate by much, because players found it extremely difficult to hit their shots while ricocheting them off of a mirror.
Owen saw the ridiculous DPS potential of the augment, and decided to combine it with the ULTRA augment that would completely eliminate the downside of [Reflective Agony]. With Team A locked in her sights, all Owen needed to do was fire her [Gravplazz] into the crystal mirror at an angle and watch as the plasma curved through the air to perfectly track the closest enemy. The [Gravplazz] already had one of the highest projectile counts in the game, making the duplicated volley of plasma particle effects look almost comical as it traveled through the air like a supernova of purple light. Steven was unfortunate enough to be the closest to Owen when she fired her second shot. He was quick enough to activate [Smoke Scream] out of pure defensive instinct, but it did nothing to stop the ceaseless stream of plasma projectiles from finding their target and ripping through his health bar in an instant. Owen gave Steven the benefit of the doubt and assumed that he activated the augment in a panic and not because he thought it would do anything to actually help. It was well known that [Gaze of Inevitability] ignored obscurity, hitting marked targets through smoke, holograms, and even invisibility once they were confirmed targets of the ult upon activation. Castle might have been able to avoid the targeting if they had been invisible when Owen was first locking on to Team A without their knowledge, but without any immediate danger, Castle hadn’t thought to activate [Camouflaging Strafe].
Unless they put a solid piece of cover between themselves and Owen, Team A would continue to be hit by the outrageous amount of auto tracking plasma. After Steven fell to a single shot from the [Gravplazz], Richie and Malik seemed to recognize their mistake. Against Owen’s patented “Reflective Inevitability", there were really only two effective counters once you were locked into the ULTRA augment. You could duck behind cover as fast as possible, or make enough distance away from the mirror that the heavy damage falloff of the shotgun allowed you to survive one or even two volleys. With their positioning at the very end of [Terminal Velocity], there was very little cover. It made sense since all of the cover provided to the defenders was positioned towards the skyrbridge, where the attackers would presumably be coming from. That made the first counter of finding cover implausible, leaving the second tactic of putting a lot of distance between themselves and the improvised plasma mortar that Owen had made. Unfortunately for Richie and Malik, they had just spent the past few seconds running directly towards Owen.
Unlucky.
[Witchofthew3st: Feels good to put that damn pertinent horse behind me.]
Before Owen pulled the trigger for a third time, Malik desperately cast [Adrenal Overdrive] on Richie to reduce the bullet damage he took. Owen snickered to herself as she fired a third volley towards Richie without a sliver of worry in her chest. She played UMDK almost religiously and knew exactly how the math would come out in her favor. With his aggressive tank augments Richie had an additional 75 health, putting his total up to 275. Every “pellet” of the [Gravplazz] dealt 11 damage, with a full volley of 20 “pellets” dealing 220 damage. That’s what gave the [Gravplazz] its rare, but possible, one shot potential. With the guarantee of every “pellet” hitting, and the duplication from [Reflective Agony], the [Gravplazz] was dealing 440 damage per volley. It dealt somewhat less to both Castle and Steven due to the steep damage falloff that came with using a shotgun, but even with the falloff, it had been more than enough to shred through their 200 health. Richie was well within range for the [Gravplazz] to deal maximum damage, seemingly bolstered by the newly obtained [Adrenal Overdrive] buff that gave him 35% damage reduction. Owen had already calculated Richie’s imminent demise before she pulled the trigger, something which Richie had not yet considered based on his relatively calm demeanor in his chair. The full 440 damage, even reduced by 35%, was still 286 damage. More than enough to eradicate Richie during his moribund sprint as the flash of text at the top of Owen’s screen indicated that the game had gone into overtime. The payload that was being diligently pushed by the remaining members of her team was mere meters from reaching its destination. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Malik didn’t seem content with letting the payload roll over the finish line uncontested. An admirable display, given he was forced into a 4v1 with the only goal of stalling long enough for his team to respawn in 7 seconds. His first act of defiance was activating [Expeditious Shadow] to teleport away from Owen and her crystalline one shot machine. He reappeared near the payload within range to contest the objective and stop it from moving the final 2 meters that it needed to end the game. His cunning reposition also put him on the other side of the payload from Owen, obstructing her line of sight to stop her from being able to use the rest of her ULTRA augment. With three enemies standing before him, he immediately activated his own ULTRA augment while reaching out with his [Leech] weapon to-
[Wr4th: Yeah, yeah, your ult isn’t gonna save you, buddy.]
Interrupting Malik’s final stand with his [Penitent Chains], Deacon raised his hand cannon as nonchalantly as he could to point it at Malik’s head. Aoife seized the opportunity to line up a shot of her own while Malik’s movement was restricted. With a synchronous cacophony, Deacon and Aoife fired their shots at Malik’s head before he even had a chance to use his ULTRA augment.
[VICTORY!]
The wavering sigh that emanated from Owen’s lips was laced with unfettered stress. The steady easing of the match’s tension took the better part of five whole seconds to pass; the muted noise of the room couldn’t begin to compare to the unvarying pulses of blood rushing through her head. It was easily the most stressful game of UMDK that Owen had played in months. The match itself was by the books, but the surrounding circumstances had escalated it to icarian heights. The arrogance to burn their lead away during such a close match had gone unpunished due to her practiced obsession with the game. Owen had not fully considered just how close she had been to dropping the porcelain vase she had been recklessly playing hot potato with. But a different member of her team had considered the risk.
“You’re real fuckin’ lucky, mama’s boy. Don’t ever pull that shit again.” They were the first words to break through the hypnotic miasma of Owen’s heartbeat that had been capturing her full attention. The second Deacon’s words broke through the haze, the surrounding clangor of cheering from her own team and sour jeers from the opposing team crashed against Owen’s senses.
“You’re welcome.” Owen uttered her response as Deacon walked away. She had no way of knowing if he had even heard her response for if he did, he made no indication of such as he swung open the door and vanished from sight.
“That’s the wicked witch I wanted to see.” Aoife pressed a finger gently into Owen’s sternum, the bright grin across her face filling every millimeter of Owen’s heart in an instant. The rush of the match had already been incredibly intoxicating with its seemingly endless supply of heartracing adrenaline, but it seemed to pale in comparison to the pride that was evident in Aoife’s smile. There were scant few on earth that Owen valued the respect of, but her snarky roommate was easily near the top of that list. “I was just doing it for the Frisky Frogs, I’ve got a craving I need to fill.” Owen’s wryly grin caused a near instantaneous rolling of Aoife’s eyes.
Sarah looked nervously towards the door that Deacon had stormed out of. There was a moment of visible consideration on her face before she turned towards her two remaining teammates. A smile slowly grew across her face. “That movement was amazing! I’ve seen clips of people doing those techs on TikTok but I’ve never seen it used in an actual match! Where’d you even learn that?” Sarah had come over to Owen’s chair to stand over her next to Aoife. Owen admittedly felt a little awkward with her two teammates standing over her while she remained seated. Unfortunately for her, the eased tension of her body was still running its course through her body, and she felt like her shaky legs would fail her quickly if she stood up to talk to her team.
“Through far too many hours in custom matches. I’m glad they don’t keep track of how many hours I’ve spent alone in lobbies practicing that shit. Still kind of worth it though, people don’t ever expect those kinds of flanks in their games, even in comp.” It felt nice for her to finally feel acknowledged in this room, appreciated even. In the few times she had been in this room, it felt almost like a humiliation ritual to be performing so horrendously at a game that she took real pride in. “I’m so glad you’re actually using your main account now, I’ve never even seen some of those augment combos before! Makes me wonder what I could start mixing into my own builds if Deacon thinks it would work.” The last part of Sarah’s sentence soured the initial excitement Owen felt. She seemed genuinely passionate about experimenting with more augments, the kind of experimentation that felt immediately neutered by having to get permission from someone else. Sarah’s whole attitude seemed so contrary to Deacon, it practically screamed the question of ‘why?’. Why did she put up with it? Why did their relationship even start in the first place?
Aoife clearly shared the same opinions, though she hesitated to address it at the moment. “I’d love to see what you come up with. Even if it’s not meta or anything, it might be nice to play around with some fun alternatives. You can always queue up with us if you want to try some of that stuff out.” Aoife’s offer caused a hesitant pause in Sarah’s excitement. The pause had quickly been bulldozed through the sheer curiosity in her eyes. “Yeah, I’ll see if I can fit it in sometime. It’d be fun.”
The idea of another friend to run quick play matches with was awfully appealing to Owen. But she couldn’t help but mull over a specific moment in their recent match. The distinct change in the way that Sarah referenced her stood out. A very apparent and intentional usage of ‘they’, when discussing Owen. She couldn’t tell if she was overthinking the small detail, or if it was some sort of sign that Sarah had picked up on something about her. Was it safe to discuss that with her? “Anyway, I should probably catch up to Deacon now. You two have a great night!” A discussion that would happen another time, it seemed. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
As Sarah slipped out of the room much more politely, Richie finally stood up from his seat with a start. “Wait, Sarah!” She had already left earshot. “Ugh, I didn’t even say they could leave! Is this why my professors are so passionate when they yap about waiting until dismissal to leave? Please do not leave until I dismiss you! …ugh, I’ll just catch up with them later.” Richie walked around the corner of his station on the table to stand at the head of the table. “I guess that’s the end of our practice then. Good job everyone! It was certainly an… interesting match. Next time we meet up I think it would be best if we set our phones to ‘Do Not Disturb’, yeah?” Owen sheepishly glanced down to avoid the clear attempt at eye contact Richie had made. “Clearly we’ve got some good energy amongst us, though. We can use that! I’ve got some pretty high hopes for EU esports! Now go home and get some rest, which I’m sure means play endless hours of UMDK to some of you.” Richie moved away from the head of the table and back to the computer that he was using to shove his personal belongings haphazardly into his backpack. In the silence of his packing, he finally looked back to the other five people in the room that stared at him with apprehension. “What?” A sudden epiphany about his previous statement hit him squarely in his face. “Oh! Dismissed- you’re all dismissed stop staring at me please.”
Owen and Aoife giggled to each other as Owen finally stood up from her chair having settled the intoxicating rush of adrenaline within her body. “Well since you did it for the Frisky Frogs and absolutely no other reason, I guess we should get you that glorious reward, huh?” Aoife pushed her shoulder into Owen’s, in the same playful manner she had done numerous times before. But the emotions that bubbled to the surface this time were far more trepidatious than the usual elation she felt. She couldn’t help but be conscious of the words that Rebecca had said in conjunction with the four other people in the room. Without turning around to check, Owen had no way of knowing if they were watching them, but the panoptic anxiety of knowing a picture had already been taken of them in this very room made the smallest gesture of playfulness feel uneasy.
She wondered how Aoife would take it, if she were told that others assumed the two of them were dating. The potential for a positive reaction almost made Owen want to blurt it out then and there. But why jeopardize the sweetness of some frozen yogurt? Owen felt fine delaying that conversation as long as it happened before the dinner with her parents.
“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Owen asked.
“...meeting up with my mom for coffee in the morning.” Aoife’s response carried a melancholic tone.
“Ah. Well, I’m gonna have to adjust some things then.”
“What’s up? Were you tryin’ to make some plans?”
“My mom wanted to have dinner with me and I wanted to know if you wanted to come along. But I can tell her tomorrow doesn’t work! I’ll just find a better time for it.” Owen was doing her best to approach the dinner gently. She felt like it was already a strange request to invite her to meet her family, especially since that sort of thing was usually reserved for people who were dating. They were not dating.
“I appreciate it. I don’t think I can handle those two social interactions on the same day.” Aoife hadn’t put much effort into disguising her apprehension. There was an anxiety lingering around her as they left the student union to walk towards Frisky Frogs.
“No problem. We can talk about it more when you’re back from your meetup.” Owen gave her best performance of a reassuring smile, something which clearly resonated with Aoife, though she did little more than smirk back.
“You gotta start thinking of a new order, I don’t want you showing up to Frisky Frogs without a new invention prepared.” It was a challenge. A challenge that Owen was happy to accept due to the simple fact that it was a challenge, and those were made for accomplishing.
“You want me to change things up?”
“Experimentation is the spice of life, girl. You gotta get a lot more spice in your life.” Aoife spoke with such vigor that it was irresistible to feel a portion of it through simply standing next to her. Experimentation was terrifying and exciting in equal measure as Owen recently discovered with her dorm room makeover. That change was difficult, but it brought her such euphoria that her mind continued to wander back to those moments whenever she was bored. Aoife had made it clear to Owen that she wanted her to make some changes. Owen couldn’t help but think that one of those changes could be to the very nature of their friendship. If experimentation was the spice of life, Owen was going to ravage the spice cabinet tomorrow.