Facing Fear | ✓ ONC 2023 Honorable Mention

| 𝟏𝟐𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 | An ex-gamer enters a virtual reality ruled by a rebel AI in order to rescue her younger sister and shut down the death game.
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Eight years ago, Mori Fukutomi held the rank of number two player in the tactical hero shooter game SniperX. But fate and her parents had other plans and Mori now works as an accountant with her dreams of being a pro gamer long since buried.

Games like SniperX are old relics in the face of virtual reality tech and their latest gem, Facing Fear--a simulation designed to analyze the psyche of its players and adapt itself accordingly, creating a safe terrain for players to take risks and discover themselves.

Until FEAR, the AI governing the virtual world of Valor, decides the thing humanity fears most is death.

Despite the rising death toll and Facing Fear closing its doors, when Mori discovers her sister Shiori is trapped in the game, she does the unthinkable. She goes in after her. But she'll soon discover they're not the only ones desperate to make it out alive and there are worse things in Valor than the monsters.

There's more to FEAR than fear itself.

✧ 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 ✧ 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 ✧ 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 ✧
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Completed: 4-23-2023
Word Count: 35,000 - 40,000