It’s not just about fighting well. It’s about making sure my code supports my strategy.
She had spent so much time optimizing her combat logic that she had almost forgotten about an equally important factor.
I actually need to practice fighting.
She wasn’t new to combat.
In her past guilds, she had been a combat healer, and unlike pure healers, she knew how to fight and survive on her own.
High DPS, high sustain. I can hold my own in team fights and solo duels.
But none of that matters if I can’t execute properly in live combat.
Just as she was about to pull up some sparring simulations, a notification popped up on her screen.
Skatz: Combat training events are now live! I’ll be running these for the next three weeks until the competition. Multiple guest instructors. Free entry. Come get wrecked!
Sarah’s eyes widened.
Three weeks left?!
She quickly scanned the rest of the message.
Training will be run by leaders from various Combat SIMs across Another Life. Each event follows the same format as the competition: scripting + performance in battle = final score.
Sarah’s pulse quickened.
This is perfect.
Without hesitation, she teleported to Skatz Island.
The moment Sarah materialized, she was hit by a rush of sound—weapons clashing, spell effects bursting, and the distant roar of engines from aerial combat drills. The training grounds were massive, with multiple combat arenas, recruitment booths, and merchants selling combat gear and enhancements.
She quickly scanned the crowd, spotting Hexa Dean and Byte Knight standing near the entrance.
Dani (Private Chat): Wow. There are a lot of people here.
Byte: Well, yeah. It’s the best place to train, and it’s free. You think people are gonna pass this up?
Hexa: Also, don’t forget—some of these combat SIM leaders are here to recruit people, not just train them.
Sarah raised an eyebrow as she watched several armored players huddled together, speaking in hushed tones.
Dani: Recruit? You mean like… for in-game guilds?
Hexa: Not just guilds. Mercenary groups, military units, and specialized tactical squads. Some of these groups operate like actual paramilitary teams.
Byte: And a few of them are… sketchy as hell.
Before Sarah could ask for more details, another notification appeared.
ALERT: Shiro Bitters has entered the area.
Shiro's avatar shimmered into view a second later, landing with a dramatic roll before dusting himself off.
Shiro: What’s up, nerds?
Hexa: Oh great. He’s here.
Dani: Took you long enough.
Shiro: I had to make sure I looked cool before teleporting in.
Byte: Spoiler: You failed.
Shiro: Wow. Hurtful.
Sarah smirked, but Shiro quickly turned serious, his gaze shifting to the crowds of combatants warming up in the arenas.
Shiro: Okay, so… this is actually kinda huge. I need to make a good impression.
Dani: Oh? On who?
Shiro: The Hurks.
Sarah blinked.
Dani: The who?
Before Shiro could respond, Hexa beat him to it.
Hexa: The Hurks are a bunch of glorified pirates. They specialize in air and marine combat, and they have a reputation for raiding unprotected islands.
Byte: Translation: They’re a mix of hardcore fighters and professional griefers.
Shiro: You say that like it’s a bad thing.
Hexa: IT IS A BAD THING.
Shiro: Look, not all of them are bad. Some of them are actually great players.
Hexa: Yeah, and some of them are just trolls who enjoy wrecking people’s builds and stealing resources. They’ve been banned from most major private SIMs.
Sarah’s curiosity piqued.
Dani: Wait, they get banned?
Hexa: Oh yeah. Landowners have to set up security systems just to keep them out.
Byte: Hexa was actually one of the first people to ban them back in the day.
Sarah’s eyes widened.
Dani: Wait—seriously?
Hexa: Yep. I remember the exact moment, too. They weren’t even an official organization yet. Just a bunch of jerks running around in a griefing group.
Shiro: Oh, you mean the camping island?
Sarah tilted her head.
Dani: The what?
Shiro: Back in the day, some groups used to pay players to camp on their land. More visitors meant better visibility on the marketplace, which meant more sales.
Byte: Yeah, and the Byte-types—no offense—used to just sit there AFK, collecting money for existing.
Sarah laughed.
This game has so much history I never knew about.
Hexa: At least things have changed. Now, private SIMs are fully developed with custom battle zones, security, and economy systems.
Sarah scanned the crowd, taking in all the different combat units preparing for duels.
This is more than just a game for some people.
She tightened her gloves, her competitive fire burning brighter.
Time to train.
As she approached the combat registration booth, she glanced at the leaderboard screen showing the upcoming matches. Her name was already in the bracket.
No turning back now.
Before she could check who she was up against first, another message popped up.
New Message from Mackiaveli.
Sarah’s heart jumped.
Now what?
She opened it quickly.
Mackiaveli: "Training already? Good. Don’t slack off, Dani."
Sarah scowled.
Why does he always act like he knows what I’m doing?
She typed quickly.
Dani: "What, are you spying on me now?"
Mackiaveli: "I don’t need to. I just know you."
Sarah’s breath hitched. For a moment, she hesitated, her fingers hovering over the keyboard.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Before she could respond, Mackiaveli logged off. She stared at the empty chat window, her mind spiraling.
Does he know?
Does he suspect who I am?
Is he already in this competition?
She exhaled sharply, shaking off the nervous energy.
Focus, Sarah.
The training was just beginning.
And if Mackiaveli really was in this competition… I’m just going to have to beat him.
Sarah exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders as she adjusted the grip on her staff. She had just gotten through her first match, and to say it had been rough was an understatement.
That was embarrassing.
She had always been a skilled combat healer, but the one-on-one dueling format was completely different from the team battles she was used to. Her first opponent, a heavily armored tank named CrushCore, had barreled through her defenses like a wrecking ball.
If she hadn’t modified her weapon mid-fight, she would’ve been smeared across the arena floor. Instead, she had barely edged out a win—not because she was stronger, but because she was smarter.
But smart isn’t enough. I need to be faster, stronger, and better at adapting.
Her eyes flicked over her interface, scanning the cooldowns and spell timers.
Her current loadout was good, but not good enough.
Alright, let’s fix this mess before I get my ass handed to me.
Sarah quickly pulled up her coding interface, fingers flying across the keyboard as she made modifications to her gear.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
- Armor Buff: Increased resistance while casting.
- Siphon Strike: A spell that healed her for a percentage of the damage dealt.
- Auto-Counter Script: If an enemy attacked while she was healing, her weapon would automatically retaliate with a quick pulse of damage.
Let’s see someone steamroll me now.
She saved the code modifications, watching as her armor shimmered slightly to indicate the changes had taken effect. Sarah exhaled sharply, stepping off the battlefield after her first match. Her body still buzzed with adrenaline, but her mind was already running diagnostics on her performance.
That was too close. I need better positioning.
She plopped onto a nearby bench, opening her combat logs to review the fight while messaging her friends.
Private Chat – Hexa, Byte, Shiro & Dani
Dani: Okay. That was terrible. I almost got flattened.
Hexa: LOL I saw that. At one point, I thought you were about to just accept death.
Dani: Almost did. But I made some last-second upgrades.
Byte: Tanking damage isn’t your thing, Dani. You need to maximize evasion and control.
Shiro: Or just get really good at screaming for help.
Dani: Wow. Encouraging.
Before they could continue roasting her, a new notification popped up.
New Message from Mackiaveli.
Sarah’s stomach flipped. She opened it, expecting another cryptic taunt.
Mackiaveli: "You're thinking too much. Stop reacting—start predicting."
Sarah stared at the message, her brows furrowing.
Ahh! this man. What is he trying to say?
She started to type a response, but before she could, a system announcement flashed across her screen.
Dani vs. Korthog the Ruiner. Prepare for battle.
Sarah sighed, cracking her knuckles.
Alright. Let’s try this again.
Her new opponent, Korthog, was a hulking orc-like warrior, standing nearly twice her height with massive dual axes strapped to his back.
Sarah grimaced.
Oh great. A berserker. My favorite.
Korthog: "Hah! They send me a healer? This will be quick."
Sarah smirked, raising her staff.
Dani: "Oh, honey. I’m not the one you should be worried about."
Korthog charged instantly, his axes glowing red-hot as he swung for her head.
Sarah ducked, barely dodging, feeling the heat of the attack as it sliced through the air.
Predict, don’t react.
Mackiaveli’s words echoed in her head. Korthog was fast, but he was predictable. His movements followed a clear rhythm—heavy swings, short pause, step forward. Sarah smirked.
I can work with this.
She baited him into attacking again, and just as he went for another overhead strike, she cast Phase Step, teleporting behind him.
Dani: "Whoops. Missed me."
Before Korthog could recover, she slammed him with a Siphon Strike, draining 10% of his health into her own. Korthog grunted, spinning to face her.
Korthog: "You slippery little—"
Sarah teleported again, landing another hit.
Dani: "I think you mean deadly little—"
Korthog roared in frustration, his swings becoming more erratic. Sarah grinned.
Berserkers get sloppy when they’re angry.
One last Phase Step behind him—then she unleashed Radiant Purge, a burst of blinding energy. Korthog staggered, his health dropping to zero.
System Announcement: Winner—Dani!
Sarah exhaled, stepping back as Korthog’s body dispersed into pixels.
Dani: "Huh. That wasn’t too bad."
Korthog’s voice echoed before vanishing.
Korthog: "Stupid mages…"
Sarah snickered.
Alright. Two down.
As soon as Sarah stepped off the battlefield, she got another notification.
New Message from Mackiaveli.
Sarah clicked it open.
Mackiaveli: "Better. But you still hesitate before finishing the fight. You let Korthog get an extra swing in before your final strike. Don’t play with your food, Dani."
Sarah’s jaw dropped.
Dani (Private Chat to Hexa, Byte, Shiro): …How does he always know what I’m doing?
Shiro: LMAO is he watching you?
Byte: Probably lurking in the crowd.
Hexa: Maybe he’s just psychic.
Sarah groaned, shaking her head. She was about to type a response to Mackiaveli, but before she could—
Dani vs. Ulfrik of the Wastes.
Prepare for battle.
Sarah sighed, rolling her shoulders.
Alright, bring it on.
Ulfrik was a desert-themed warrior, clad in tattered robes and wielding a curved scimitar. He bowed before the match started.
Ulfrik: "An honorable fight, then?"
Sarah grinned.
Dani: "Sure. I’ll even let you hit me once for free."
Ulfrik avatar snorted.
Ulfrik: "You won’t have to."
The match began, and Sarah immediately realized—
Oh. This guy is fast.
Ulfrik closed the distance instantly, slashing with his scimitar. Sarah barely dodged, feeling the edge graze her armor.
Alright, no playing around this time.
She countered hard, casting Gravity Bind, slowing Ulfrik’s movements. He tried to break free, but Sarah bombarded him with spell attacks, wearing him down bit by bit. Then, she saw her opening. She baited him into one last charge, then activated Radiant Purge at the last second. Ulfrik’s health plummeted to zero.
System Announcement: Winner—Dani!
Ulfrik nodded in approval before vanishing.
Ulfrik: "Well fought."
Sarah grinned, stepping off the field.
Three down.
Sarah dropped onto a bench, catching her breath.
Before she could process her next fight, another message flashed on her screen.
New Message from Mackiaveli.
She opened it immediately.
Mackiaveli: "You’re getting better. But the next fight won’t be like the others. Be careful, Dani."
Sarah stiffened.
Dani: "What do you mean?"
There was no response. She scowled, staring at the empty chat window.
He’s messing with me. Again.
But a small part of her couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew something. As she stepped onto the battlefield for her next match, she saw her opponent—A tall, snake-like woman with piercing green eyes. Sarah’s stomach tightened.
System Announcement: Dani vs. Vessa. Prepare for battle.
Sarah took a deep breath.
Time for the real test.
As soon as she stepped onto the battlefield, Sarah’s stomach tightened. Her opponent was a tall, eerily graceful woman with emerald-green scales running down her arms and a long, sinuous tail where her legs should be. She wore gold-trimmed armor, and her serpentine eyes gleamed with a sharp, predatory intelligence.
Oh. I don’t like this.
System Announcement: Dani vs. Vessa. Fight begins in 10 seconds.
Sarah readied herself, gripping her staff tighter.
Vessa: "Ahhh, a healer. How unfortunate for you."
Sarah narrowed her eyes, already not liking her tone.
Dani: "Why? Afraid I’ll outlast you?"
Vessa's forked tongue flicked out as if her avatar was tasting the air.
Vessa: "Not at all. I just hate wasting time. Shall we?"
Before Sarah could even blink, Vessa struck first. Sarah barely had time to dodge before a flash of green energy whipped past her, missing her by inches.
Poison attacks. Great. Just my luck.
Sarah immediately countered, firing off a Siphon Strike, but Vessa twisted unnaturally, avoiding the blast.
Vessa: "Tsk. You’ll have to be faster than that."
Sarah’s eyes narrowed. Fine. If speed was the game, she’d play along. She quickly activated her modified auto-counter, setting it to trigger whenever Vessa landed a hit. A moment later, Vessa lashed out with her tail, striking Sarah across the side—only to be met with a burst of retaliatory energy.
Vessa hissed in surprise, recoiling slightly.
Dani: "Hah. Didn’t see that coming, did you?"
Vessa’s eyes flashed, her lips curling into a wicked grin.
Vessa: "Oh, you clever little thing. I think I’ll enjoy breaking you."
Sarah’s stomach flipped—not in fear, but in excitement.
Alright, snake lady. Let’s dance.
The fight escalated quickly. Sarah kept up a relentless cycle of attack, dodge, heal, making sure her Siphon Strike kept her health from dipping too low. Vessa, however, was incredibly fast, slithering around the battlefield with an unfair amount of agility. At one point, Vessa faked a left strike, then coiled around Sarah, trapping her in place.
Vessa: "Gotcha, healer."
Sarah’s mind raced.
Think. Think.
Then she saw it.
Vessa’s tail had wrapped around her, but it left her chest exposed. Without hesitating, Sarah thrust her staff forward, activating a point-blank Siphon Strike straight to Vessa’s core. The blast sent them both flying apart, Vessa hissing as her health dipped.
Dani: "Whoops. Did I do that?"
Vessa laughed, wiping blood from her lips.
Vessa: "You are infuriating, little one."
Sarah grinned.
Dani: "Thanks. I try."
She feinted left, making Vessa think she was going for another Siphon Strike—but just as she swung her staff, Vessa struck first. A dark green mist exploded from the snake woman’s mouth, hitting Sarah square in the chest before she could finish casting Radiant Purge.
Sarah’s avatar jerked violently, her vision blurring as her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Poison attack—damn it!
Her movements slowed, her spell failed, and before she could react—Vessa lunged forward, striking with deadly precision. Sarah’s health bar hit zero. Her avatar convulsed, shriveled, and disintegrated into pixels, vanishing from the platform.
System Announcement: Winner – Vessa!
Sarah respawned back in the waiting area, her screen flashing red for a few seconds as the poison effect lingered. She slumped against a virtual bench, fingers twitching over her keyboard.
I lost…
Her heart pounded, frustration and disappointment twisting in her gut. She had been so close.
Damn it. I got sloppy at the end.
Before she could dwell on it too much, a message popped up.
New Message from Mackiaveli.
Sarah hesitated before clicking it open.
Mackiaveli: "Tough loss. But now you know—hesitation gets you killed."
Sarah gritted her teeth.
Oh, screw you, Mack.
She typed quickly.
Dani: "I didn’t hesitate. I got poisoned."
Mackiaveli: "Same thing."
Sarah glared at the screen, resisting the urge to throw something.
One day, I’m going to wipe that smug energy off his face—even if I don’t know what his face actually looks like.
Taking a deep breath, she logged out for a break, rubbing her temples. She needed to clear her head. She needed to be better next time.
After a short break offline, Sarah logged back in to spectate the next few matches, still thinking about her loss. She had just finished scanning the leaderboard when a message appeared in her private chat.
NEW PRIVATE MESSAGE REQUEST: VESSA
Sarah looked at the name for a brief moment and then accepted the request.
Vessa: "You still alive, little healer?"
Sarah’s eyes widened as she spotted Vessa standing near one of the arena vendors, watching her with an amused expression. Sarah quickly teleported over, keeping her face neutral.
Dani: "Barely. You hit like a truck."
Vessa: "And you fight like someone who doesn’t know when to run."
Sarah folded her arms, smirking.
Dani: "I take that as a compliment."
Vessa: "You should. You lasted longer than most."
Vessa tilted her head, studying her.
Vessa: "I like you. Let’s spar again sometime."
Sarah blinked, surprised at the offer. Most competitors just moved on after a match, but Vessa… she was different. She grinned, nodding.
Dani: "Yeah. Let’s."
As Sarah turned away, her mind buzzed with everything that had just happened. The fight, the poison, the loss. And Mackiaveli’s damn message afterward—almost like he had been watching her.
Was it a coincidence? Or was he actually here?
She rubbed the back of her neck, her avatar still moving slow from the phantom effects of the poison attack, then pulled up her combat logs, skimming through them. Mistakes. So many mistakes.
I have a lot to improve on. But I’m getting better.
As she was scrolling, something felt off. Sarah paused, her eyes narrowing at the bottom of her screen. A new system message had appeared.
New Friend Request: Zeus
Her breath hitched.
Zeus?
She didn’t know a Zeus.
Her mind immediately raced, thinking through every player she’d encountered.
Wait… why does that name sound familiar?
Her fingers hovered over the ‘Accept’ button, but something about it made her hesitate. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears.
Is this just some random player? Or… is it someone I already know?
She quickly checked the profile—but there was almost nothing there. A blank bio. No other visible connections.
Just a name:
Just Zeus?
And a single title beneath it:
"The Watcher from Olympus."
Sarah’s stomach twisted.
What the hell?
Her finger twitched over the ‘Accept’ button. Her mind screamed at her not to overthink this. But she was already spiraling.
Who the hell is Zeus?
And why do I feel like I’ve just stepped into something much bigger than I understand?
She took a deep breath—And clicked Accept.
This is part of a series of stories that have lived solely in my head for many years, and I’ve finally started writing them as serialized fiction books. If you think the story sucks, feel free to tell me—it’s all part of the process. That said, I’m also looking for constructive criticism, so any suggestions are welcome and will be considered as I work to improve the series.