Julianne's eyes narrowed as she looked at her son.

It's one thing to not give up when one finds oneself in a tough spot, but this...?

The idea of him not having many options was not lost on her.

If Tiffany only got faster, then Max would eventually lose.

She knew just how difficult it must have been for Max to have kept going in spite of hearing that he would eventually lose.

She could feel it.

He was still giving it all.

And she felt for him.

Just how much pain must he have been enduring?

She couldn't take a sip of coffee, not at that point. As, deep down she knew, she couldn't let herself lose heart in Max. Even though, at that point, it did seem pretty hopeless, to say nothing of how tense the situation was.

Rose herself was forcing her mouth shut with her hands.

One thing kept bothering her, or perhaps it would be better to say, perturbing her.

Her heart.

She had known Tiffany Chang for a long time, and she was, to her, a very good friend.

But, ... this one feeling in her heart, this strange feeling, somehow overwrote reality.

Now, somehow, she was, in some sense, and perhaps not completely... rooting for Max.

She would tell herself that she'd wanted Tiffany to win... however, her heart would always sink on hearing those words.

The question she kept asking herself being... why?

Why did she feel this way?

And so, she closed her mouth... as she felt like squealing.

Luke, on the other hand, did not feel all that strongly about the match.

But... knowing Tiffany, deep down, expected her to win.

In fact, being her friend, he truly wanted her to win.

But also, being her friend, he knew all too well that a win and/or a loss didn't mean much to Tiffany Chang.

And so, he remained particularly unbothered.

As for Ken, he simply waited.

The match would soon come to an end.

37 seconds left.

Ken: (thinking: Because Tiff just keeps improving... at an even faster pace than my bionics anticipated... the actual finish time may be just a bit lower. And that being said, Max better hurry.)

To fully explain as to how this match came to an end, and further, as to how the winner of this game was decided, one would have to understand the mechanics of the game Warring Dimensia 2.

The game, in and of itself, was particularly advanced.

From the graphics to the gameplay, it was clear that the people behind the game were not only exceptionally intelligent... but also put a massive amount of effort into every setting.

Be it movement, be it game controls or mechanics.

Everything was almost as if primed to make each Warring Dimensia 2 player not only feel like, but also actually live by the rules of the class they played as.

That was true of many, if not all, aspects of Warring Dimensia 2.

And that was also true, of the Dextrous class.

They, like every class, had a philosophy of their own.

That philosophy being... that human ingenuity was the greatest weapon ever created.

Genius, quick thinking, mental and physical perfection.

Such a man is a perfect man.

A mentality that would, in fact, in some ways fit Tiffany Chang.

However, the same could also be said of Max.

Quick thinking, depending entirely on your own abilities.

Such was Warring Dimensia 2's Dextrous class.

And, as though to further elucidate this point, the game developers made, not only the gameplay, but also the controls so needlessly complicated, that unless one was a natural or worked really hard on their gameplay, there would be no chance of taking full advantage of the Dextrous class.

All this thought, just for a single in-game class.

And this.... was the reason as to why the Dextrous class was, more often than not, shunned.

It was the same to be said of another class, the collaborates.

If the two players were not in sync, almost poetically, they would also fail.

With the ballistic, depending on their incredible firepower was their best bet, and, to anyone who'd not been blown up by a stray bullet, a funny quirk made by the creators of the game, would know just how quickly the ballistic could potentially end a fight.

The attritious, Ken's favourite class, playing the long game... was their goal. As they'd say, play the long and sure game. All that patience, planning, and care taken to every step they'd make.

This would always result in them gaining the advantage the longer the math went on, as they had the most resources, ammo and, fittingly, had the minigun, the machine gun, and the gatling gun. Three weapons whose multiple shots made death for the enemy certain.

To the Chameleous class, striking when the iron was, well.... not aware of what was going on, staying silent, and avoiding sight was their main goal. All the while, ursurping the enemy, taking them down one by one.

Of course, such a class would have a weapon... such as a smoke bomb, which indeed they had.

And, to add on to that, because they were bent on killing sneakily, due to their desire to avoid death, all their armour was based more on adaptability and less on defense, and their weapons all had the ability to land quick decisive blows, but because they were so powerful, they had long reload times, and so, knowing when and when not to shoot, when to be patient and when not to be, that was the Chameleous class.

Simply put, each class had its own gimmick, flaw, and gameplay that all came together to turn into some kind of perfect storm. If one played aggressively, one would be inclined to try the ballistic... if one liked to be sure of themselves, the attritious would be their choice, and... so on.

This also... resulted in a particularly expertly made result.

The result being, that each player was, in an odd sense, "congratulated by the game" for  playing the way the game intended for them to play.

If a Chameleous player tried to play as a ballistic... or vice versa, the results would be dire.

And if a Chameleous tried to play as a Chameleous, the results would more often than not be successful, or at least more successful than a contrarian attempt.

In fact, the more like a Chameleous the Chameleous player played, the more success said player would find.

In fact, to double it, any player who choses to try such a method, would continue to realise that the game would "congratulate" the player more and more for leaning towards the class's strengths.

And this... was the same for the Dextrous class, whose strength was quick thinking.

This was further elucidated by the absurdity that was the tiny amount of time required to make a jump.

And so, only one who could click the button at the right time could manage this class.

Hence, a player had to remain on his or her toes at all times.

When the signal was shown on the screen, the player had to tap the button immediately.

And being, the Dextrous class, requiring that the player used their head to think out of situations... and the race being a situation, ....