Chandra Alistair is a competitive gamer, which might not mean much to most people. But in an era where realistic VR games dominate the market, some obviously better than others, that niche has seen an explosion of genuine talent and wannabes. Chandra herself is at the top of her game, and 25 years of age, she is the holder of several world championships for a variety of games. All is going well in her little corner of the world she’s managed to carve out for herself, until the day her rig sent her somewhere new shortly after a mandatory update period has elapsed.
Chandra finds herself in a fighting competition, one that uses her own body’s stats as her avatar. In this place, she is dressed in what looks like a cross between a wrestling outfit and martial arts outfit worn by martial arts archetypes in most games. She finds herself there with dozens, possibly more women when the ominous voice of a male announcer broadcasts to all the women there that they have been selected for a special competition, the “Cerebral Brawl,” the rules give her and several other women that are panicking pause. The rules state the winner of each round will be gifted a random physical improvement to their avatar, but there is a catch, all loser of the matches will have their tactical and threat assessment abilities given to their opponent, and they will be forced to spin a wheel that enforces set physical changes that can be as potentially beneficial as they are detrimental with an added punishment that alters their mindset, three trips to this wheel and all changes are permanent. What they aren’t told, and discover later, is these changes, both mental and physical, don’t stay in the game but also crossover with them to the real world when the whole thing is finished. And they can’t log out until they complete the tournament. They are also told that if certain changes are extreme enough, then they’ll just get isekaied to another world and all evidence of their existence in their original world will be purged.
So now, Chandra has to find a way to keep her brain and get everyone out with minimal changes, minus the mean bitches that she thinks deserve to be punished. The changes do mildly appeal to Chandra, mainly because her looks are slightly above average. As she wins and climbs the ladder, Chandra watches as cunning foes turn into airheaded bimbos with a rather overt sex drive, and are openly opportunistic about their partner regardless of what their potential partner’s sexual orientation and/or preferences are. Chandra is liking her buffs as she climbs the ladder, at least until she starts noticing that she is growing progressively more…
That part is left intentionally openly vague to allow for the story to have diverging variations. What changes will Chandra go through? Will she win the crown? What will complete victory mean for her? Why do some of her “buffs” feel more like penalties? Who and/or what is behind this sick and twisted game she has found herself in?