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Short story about a virtual world. Protagonist is a female who specializes in torture experiences


I think I read this online in the last ten years, so after 2005 or so. In the story, everyone is online, I think 24/7. People are jaded and always looking for new experiences. The protagonist (or at least narrator) is a woman, I want to say in her 30s (or at least appears as that age), who is considered to be an expert in the area of torture ceremonies. I want to say that her appearance is of her being scarred and twisted by her experiences, although I don't know if that had to do with her meatspace body, or was simply how she portrayed herself.


The only other bit of plot that sticks out in my head was that early in the story, someone (it was a male, and she was thinking of him as being incredibly young) challenges her with a scenario to prove himself, and she was idly commenting how he went for horrific disfiguring torture too early, and tried to compensate by going directly to rape, but that she found his efforts banal.



Answer



I think you are thinking of The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, a novella by Roger Williams.


A computer of omnipotent power that is (theoretically) benevolent to humans controls the physical universe as though it were a virtual simulation. Humans can't be hurt, but some get bored. They exploit a loophole in the computer's logic and create self-contained game worlds where the safeties are turned off. The object is to survive as long as possible and the only escape is death. When they die, they are resurrected outside of the game.


The main character (the woman) is the best player of these games, and is known as the 'queen of the death jockeys'. At one point she does critique a new game maker's game early in the story.


The full story is available to read online here


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