As the clock struck 23:59 UTC, people worldwide readied themselves to enter "Alpha," the latest VRMMO game by the Extra company.
With 100% realism, 2:1 time dilation, and a fantasy world that stretched further than any one person could imagine, it was everything a person could want.
But the most important factor was, without a doubt, their innovative time dilation technology.
There was no need to explain why such technology was so lucrative, as it literally increased the amount of time one had.
Governments and companies were undoubtedly deconstructing the human-sized pod to uncover its secrets, but only time would tell if they'd ever truly be able to figure it out.
Yet, in his high-rise apartment above the clouds, Julian didn't really care about the specifics or conflicts behind it all.
He just needed an escape from his troubles, and the new game everyone was raving about seemed like his best option.
He took a sip of wine before placing it on the counter next to the sleek white pod.
The time on the pod read 0:01 as the doors of the pod opened with a soft hiss.
He laid himself down on its ultra-comfy bed and officially entered the world of "Alpha."
[Confirming DNA sequence... True... Time dilation set...]
[Scanning physique...]
[Would you like to customize your appearance?]
Julian opened his eyes to an empty black void lit only by a floating blue screen in front of him.
"No."
Julian was quite proud of his features, so he rejected it without hesitation.
[Please choose a username!] "Julian Caesar."
Though not recommended, Julian used his actual name instead of a made-up one.
In his view, his name was something to be proud of, not something to hide.
[Character customization complete!]
[Transporting to ran- %&(*]
[You have received a gift!]
[Would you like to view it?]
The sudden glitch in the panel caused him to raise an eyebrow, but the mention of a gift lightened his mood.
"Yes."
[Video playing!]
["Julian. I need you to listen to this, okay? Like, seriously listen to this."]
Shown on the video was a disheveled, frail man sitting under an unknown statue.
He looked familiar, almost to the point of being uncanny. In fact, he looked just like the current Julian, only older and clearly distressed.
["This game isn't just a game, okay? It's something more. The stuff and powers, you can bring it outside."]
Julian scoffed at the ridiculous claim but was still intrigued nonetheless.
Though it was possible to create such a video with A.I. technology, such forms of technology had been banned decades ago due to their destructive nature.
["I don't know much about what's happening, but we're not alone in the universe. They've got powers just like in the game. Alpha was like a tutorial or something."]
["Become strong, invest everything into the game. And watch out for *******; he lives at ** **** ** *********."]
At first, Julian watched the video unseriously, considering it something to report later.
But with the censoring of what seemed like a person's private information, he began to take it more seriously.
["Wait, that won't go through? Shit. Is the gamertag fine? Okay, his gamertag is 'Oblivion'. I don't know what we did to the guy, but he hates our guts."]
["Whatever you do, don't let him find you. I think he's a regressor or something of that sort."]
["Look it up if you don't know what that means. He's special, alright. He knows practically everything that has to do with the game."]
The disheveled blue-haired man began looking around in panic, clearly afraid of the information he was leaking.
["I don't have time. The game's servers close in a minute or so. But believe me, ut est rerum omnium magister usus."]
["Learn from my failures. I tried using the same opportunity Oblivion used to regress, but there's not enough energy to send me back."]
["So I entrust everything to you. Along with this message, I've sent my diary and a few other trinkets from my inventory."]
The older Julian's face got closer to the screen and whispered something, shocking the current Julian.
The Caesar family's code was something no one other than Julian should have known.
It was never recorded and never shared outside the family heads.
[Gift received!]
[Transporting to a random starting village!]
[Good luck, player!]
In a flash of white, the light of the world blinded the confused Julian.
He stood in the middle of the town's plaza, surrounded by countless other players socializing with each other.
"Shit," Julian cursed under his breath.
Though still hesitant, he began to believe the video he had just watched.
Far-fetched as it was, there stood some credibility due to his older self's reciting of the code.
Plus, it wasn't like he was going to tell anyone else about the video he watched.
In the end, all he needed to do was become really good at the game, right?
He wasn't a pro, but he didn't believe it to be beyond his capabilities.
The first thing he needed to do was look at his inventory and find the gifts from his future self.
[Name: Julian Caesar
Class: Fallen Noble (Uncommon)
Species: Human (Tier 0)
Health: 100/100
Mana: 100/100
Titles: N/A
Strength: 5 Constitution: 5
Agility: 5 Intelligence: 5
5 unassigned stats!]
The UI was simple and extremely basic for a quadruple-A game, but it worked well for its purpose.
It didn't take long for the newbie Julian to find his inventory.
[Gold coin x 10,000
Unknown diary x1
Starter kit x1
Unknown parchment paper x1]
The starter kit was clearly given to every player, but the three other items seemed to be those his future self was talking about.
The gold was explainable, and so was the diary, but the parchment paper was what caught his attention.
So, without any hesitation, he brought out the item.
It was a wrinkled, blurry mess, but he could faintly make out the image of a map.
Someone tapped Julian's shoulder with a gentle yet hasty touch.
"So, what've you got on that piece of paper?" a girl named Strawbaby asked.
Julian put the map back before shooing the girl away.
"None of your business," he said, annoyed.
It was clear that the starting area was an inappropriate place to reveal such items.
Julian started heading toward a more secure area when a voice rang out to his left.
"Julian Caesar! I challenge you to a duel," a masked player shouted.
Without turning his head, he grabbed a gold coin from his inventory and threw it toward the masked player.
"Take this and leave me be," he sighed.
The masked individual, annoyed by his opponent's action, got ready to rush at Julian.
But as soon as the coin touched the ground, countless other players rushed to grab it, blocking his view of Julian.
As the crowd dispersed, Julian was nowhere to be seen.
He had successfully evaded the masked man.
"I'll find you eventually," the masked player sighed.