Chapter 1: I Rage Quit Real Life Before I Rage Quit My Game
If there's one thing I've learned at sixteen, it's that high school is basically a Hunger Games arena—except with more homework and fewer helpful sponsors dropping you parachutes. Also, your best friend might betray you for a volleyball club. Yeah, that happened.
I was sitting on a cement bench under what some genius architect had decided should be called a "shade tree." It provided as much cover as a spaghetti strainer. With the sun frying the back of my neck and my PSP heating up like a miniature toaster oven, I was not having the best Thursday.
Break time was supposed to be fun. Or at least bearable. But today? I was playing Monster Hunter solo because my best friend Adam—my co-op partner, fellow anime nerd, and brother-from-another-mother—had decided to join the volleyball club.
The problem? He knew the captain of that club, Malcolm, hated my guts.
And I don't mean casual dislike. I mean full-on anime rival-level hate. Like, if I walked into a room, Malcolm would glare like I'd just stepped on his pet turtle. All because—wait for it—the girl he liked, Diana, was friends with me. Not dating me. Not even texting me after 9 p.m. Just friends.
Apparently, that was a crime now.
So Malcolm told Adam he couldn't join the club if he was still friends with me. And Adam, being the absolute genius that he is, joined anyway. Without even telling me.
Hence the silent treatment. On both sides.
Around me, other students laughed, chattered, flirted, and generally lived their best teenage lives like they weren't trapped in a daily prison with surprise tests and broken vending machines. I tried to focus on my game, but my Rathalos was being annoying, my battery was dying, and—okay, maybe I was a little jealous of everyone else having people to talk to.
And by "a little," I mean a lot.
I finally had enough. "Screw this," I muttered to no one. I shoved the PSP into my bag like it had personally offended me, stood up, and turned my back on the chaos of the playground.
My sneakers crunched over dry leaves as I headed back inside the school building, which, fun fact, felt exactly like walking into a fridge after baking outside. The hallway was half-lit, empty, and echoey, the way abandoned castles probably felt right before ghosts showed up in horror movies.
I didn't care.
I just wanted to get to my classroom, flop into my chair, and sulk in peace.
Spoiler: I didn't make it that far.
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I was about three seconds away from dramatically flopping into my chair like an overworked anime protagonist when something launched onto my back like a caffeinated squirrel.
"Gah—!" I staggered forward, arms flailing like one of those tube men outside car dealerships.
"CHRIS! You won't believe this!" came a very familiar, very excited voice in my ear.
I didn't have to look. I already knew who it was. Long blond hair. Hyperactive energy. Smelled faintly of strawberry shampoo and poor impulse control.
Diana.
The very same Diana who caused my exile from the volleyball club by—gasp—being friends with me. Which, apparently, was a bigger crime than tax fraud in Malcolm's eyes.
"Diana," I groaned, trying to keep us both upright. "Some of us are trying to sulk in peace. Personal space exists for a reason."
She jumped off my back with zero shame and landed like she was auditioning for a superhero movie.
Her blue eyes sparkled like she just got her dream loot drop. "Chris, I'm going to become a real mage."
I blinked. "You hit your head this morning?"
"No, dummy! I mean it!" She struck a dramatic pose, arms raised like she was channeling ancient arcane power. To a teacher passing by, she probably looked like she was trying to summon lightning or having a seizure. "Foo foo foo—I'm calm. I'm calm now. Okay. Chris, do you remember Dark Fantasy Online?"
Oh no. Here we go.
I instantly had a flashback to me in my room, lights off, hoodie up, pretending to be Azrath, Lord of the Abyss while I cast demonic spells on people who were just trying to complete quests in peace.
"Unfortunately, yes," I muttered. "Those were… dark days."
She grinned. "They're launching a real life test event for it! Like, VR plus real-world movement stuff. Super advanced tech. And guess what? You use willpower as mana. Isn't that insane? We can actually cast spells!"
I squinted at her. "Diana. Please tell me you haven't joined a cult."
"It's not a cult!" she said, which is exactly what someone in a cult would say. "This is legit! It's the second phase of testing, and they've got formal reviews. People said it's more immersive than anything before. Like actual magic!"
"And you believe that?" I asked, raising one eyebrow so hard I thought it might leave orbit. "They're probably just zapping you with TENS machines and calling it 'arcane feedback.' And since when can tech read willpower? What are we—Green Lanterns now?"
She crossed her arms and pouted. "Why have you become so picky, Chris? Is this because Adam ran off to the volleyball cult?"
"That's not a cult either," I grumbled. "Probably."
She leaned in closer. "You're mopey. And sarcastic. And playing solo. You need a quest. And I'm giving you one."
"I'm not exactly Frodo."
"Fine. You can be my edgy rival who reluctantly joins the team but ends up being the MVP."
...Okay, that was a little tempting.
Still, I narrowed my eyes. "What's the catch?"
She beamed like she'd just rolled a natural 20. "We go after school. Together. You, me, and your grumpy attitude. If I can prove it works, you owe me a boba tea."
I sighed. "And if it turns out to be a glorified laser tag?"
"Then you get to say 'I told you so' all week."
Tempting. Very tempting. Plus, if I said no, she'd probably follow me home and throw Pokéballs at me until I gave in.
"…Fine," I said. "But if I end up on fire because my 'willpower' is only strong enough to microwave popcorn, I'm blaming you."
"Deal!" she said, skipping ahead like a cheerful mage with zero regard for danger.
And just like that, I, Christopher "Definitely Not a Mage" , had been dragged into what was definitely not going to be a normal after-school activity.
Spoiler alert: I had no idea what kind of madness I'd just agreed to.
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After school, I did what any normal teenager would do when faced with a possible magical VR game that could either be super cool or fry your brain like a hot pocket in a broken microwave.
I waited for a convenient excuse to back out.
Maybe I'd get a surprise dentist appointment. Maybe aliens would invade. Maybe I'd develop a sudden allergy to excitement.
But nooope.
Instead, while I was zoning out in the back of the city bus like the mysterious anime side character I always pretended to be in my head, my phone buzzed.
📩 Notification: Dark Fantasy Online – You have been selected to participate in Phase 2 of Project: Real Mage. Click here to accept your invitation and learn more.
I stared at the message.
"Are you kidding me?" I muttered.
"AH-HA!" someone squealed from over my shoulder like she'd been waiting to jump me—which she probably had.
I flinched. "Diana! Were you tailing me?!"
She slid into the seat next to me with all the grace of a Labrador puppy on roller skates. "Tail you? Nooo. I just happened to be checking your phone over your shoulder like a perfectly normal, respectful friend."
I gave her a look. The kind that said 'Boundaries. We need them.'
Her eyes sparkled with victory. "This is destiny, Chris. Destiny. You and me. Fighting side by side as chosen warriors. Like Frodo and Sam, or—or Ash and Pikachu—no wait, I'm definitely the Ash in this analogy."
I rubbed my temples. "Calm down, Diana. I already said I'm going. There's no need to start a fantasy speech about fate and crusades."
She raised a dramatic finger. "On the contrary! We must prepare ourselves for battle. For glory. For freedom from the suffocating chains of boredom!"
A guy two seats down glanced at us, clearly wondering if we were cosplayers who'd missed the convention.
I leaned away and whispered, "It's not happening until next week. Please wait at least three business days before you summon the Fellowship of the Ring."
"But next week is so far away!" she whined. "Do you know how much caffeine I'll burn just waiting?"
"You'll survive."
She slumped dramatically against the bus window. "Fine. But I want you to know that every moment we're not training, our future magical selves are crying."
"Yeah, and every moment you talk like that, a brain cell dies."
She smirked. "Chris, that was dark. I'm proud of you."
I sighed and looked out the window at the streets of New York speeding by—taxis honking, people yelling, someone in a banana costume advertising smoothies. Just a regular day.
Except, of course, I'd just been officially recruited into a magic VR experiment where people were apparently flinging spells using their willpower like it was solar energy.
And worst of all, I had Diana.
Which meant there was zero chance this would be a normal experience.