When Simon took off the VR helmet, Kenny was busy playing an old computer game called “League oh Legends”, with an intense look on his face. Sweat dotted his forehead, as he mashed his keys and furiously made comms.

Simon could now understand VR games but these ancient computer games? He wasn’t so sure. After playing this “League oh Legends” game, Kenny only seemed to be getting continuously more annoyed.

Why would he play such a game if he disliked playing it?

Simon shook his head. Humans from this “modern” world were just too strange.

Nevertheless, seeing the look of concentration on Kenny’s face, he decided to save his questions for later and instead, pondered over his plans once he joined Island Ascension Online.

It was no longer a question of if he would play - it was a question of when! After all, the trailer and the quality of VR had fully convinced him of it being worthy of a try.

And so, he laid down on the cot with his eyes closed, allowing ideas to continuously stream through his mind.

Soon enough, an absurd idea suddenly appeared in his mind, which he almost immediately discarded.

However, he couldn’t help but to entertain the thought.

‘What if... I recreate my old world?’ he thought amusedly, the edges of his mouth curving up slightly.

It sounded utterly ridiculous at first, but after a bit of contemplation, he realized that it wasn’t entirely impossible...

When Simon was in his old world, he was not only a proficient farmer, but a proficient mage as well; the two subjects were closely intertwined, as only the merging of the two would yield truly significant results in the field of agriculture.

As a result, Simon always had enchantments applied on himself from a young age. Some boosted his senses, others his mental capabilities, and most importantly, some even improved his memory.

In other words, he essentially had photographic memory at all times!

Combined with the fact that he had spent many years wandering through the lands, it just so happened that he had a fairly complete collection of the layout of his previous world.

He grit his teeth at the thought of the monumental task but couldn’t ignore the feeling of excitement that was building inside of him either!

This was what he had been unknowingly looking for since his transmigration - a reason to truly live. And the more he thought about it, the more firm his decision became.

Though he had initially resigned himself to mediocrity in this new world, he was naturally uncontent at a deep level; he was typically a man with lofty ambitions after all. This just so happened to be the perfect chance to rekindle his ambitions, so why would he stifle himself any further?

‘Great, then this shall be my new reason for living! I shall strive to recreate an entire world, no matter the difficulty! If one man stands in my way, he shall be crushed. If an army stands in my way, they shall be crushed all the same!’ he swore to himself solemnly while clenching his fists.

With a heart full of conviction he made his decision, and his once dull eyes seemed to have fires ignited within them!

In his previous life, he came damn close to being the best farmer in the world. He even singlehandedly suppressed dozens of agricultural organizations with rich histories, entirely by himself! His reputation as a genius farmer was truly not unfounded.

This time, why not try recreating a world in a game? If he dared to call himself incapable of doing so, then who could stand up and say that they were capable!

Indeed, there might not even be a better suited person for the task than him in this world. After all, despite losing a majority of his magical power, he still had many tricks up his sleeves.

Becoming the strongest island owner? To him, that would only be a warmup! After all, becoming the strongest island owner was merely an inevitable step to creating an entire world.

Though his goal was infinitely far, and the chances of success were infinitely low, he nonetheless, had a goal... To him, it was enough.

As Simon was buried in his thoughts, Kenny slammed the desk when a large “Defeat” appeared on his screen.

“It’s not my fault that you braindead teammates opened mid too slow! You’re getting reported for throwing!” he bellowed furiously before promptly leaving the game.

Kenny then turned around, and his dark expression quickly mellowed out when his eyes landed on Simon.

“How was it? Try telling me that you don’t want to play now!” Kenny said gleefully. Based on Simon’s expression, he could tell that he was right all along; Simon was most assuredly hooked.

“Alright, I admit it, you won. So where can I get a VR helmet?” Simon said with a wry grin.

As it turned out, Kenny did not exaggerate in the slightest with his praise of VR; it truly was worth experiencing!

Kenny immediately stood up from his chair and walked towards a corner of the room. He then bent down and lifted a cardboard box, before handing it to Simon with a victorious grin.

“I’m one step ahead of you bro! I already knew that you would like VR so I already bought one for you!” he exclaimed smugly.

“...”

For a moment, Simon was speechless.

He was extremely touched. To have such a thoughtful bro was really a blessing! However, his reaction certainly differed from his thoughts.

“How much did this cost you?” he immediately inquired as his brows furrowed.

While gently pushing the box away, he continued, “This sort of quality product can’t be cheap. I can’t keep leeching off of you!”

Despite his intense desire to play Island Ascension Online, he didn’t want to freeload on Kenny either.

Kenny forced the package into his hands and shook his head. “Don’t you dare refuse this! You made me like 500,000 F-Credits of extra profit and this thing only cost me 75,000 F-Credits. We’re bros! Do you think a couple grand changes anything? Hurry up and accept it!”

His expression and tone suddenly became much more serious as he continued, “Plus, having a new gamer buddy is easily worth a 75 grand investment!”

Simon chuckled upon hearing his bro’s response but could not refute the overall point of his words, so he begrudgingly accepted the helmet.

“Then I will shamelessly accept your gift. Don’t worry, I’ll make you proud by becoming a renowned gamer!”

But then he scratched his head before hesitantly asking, “However, isn’t it an exaggeration to call gaming a career?”

Kenny shook his head and sighed.

“It isn’t nearly that simple.”

“These games really are no jokes. Gaming is a multi-trillion dollar industry and people getting killed over VR games are not uncommon. If you mess with the wrong people, you may actually find yourself in the grave the next night!”

He then paused to let Simon process this information. After all, it was quite a heavy subject, and was bound to take most people a while to digest.

But surprisingly, Simon didn’t flinch upon hearing these words, and so he continued, albeit with a newly raised brow.

“Becoming one of the top players definitely is no joke, and neither is playing games for a living. So much importance is placed into these games, that many professionals even have monthly salaries in the millions! That’s why I hesitated to show you VR in the first place - it really is a dangerous profession to be ambitious in”

His voice lightened up as he continued, “But don’t worry about it. Island Ascension Online is mostly single player in the early game so you should be fine. I also have some connections in the gaming industry so it's not all bad news.”

Hearing this, Simon had to admit that he was somewhat startled.

‘People kill each other over these games? Then this must be the real deal!’ he thought, with a hidden glint of excitement in his eyes.

He was not unfamiliar with dangerous conditions in the slightest. Back in the day, he even had to deal with plenty of assassins and bounty hunters. After all, he was a thorn in the sides of the various major agricultural powers of his past life. How could his life possibly have been peaceful?

To him, if anything, the importance that people in this world placed on VR signified its true value! As a result, instead of being discouraged, his fighting spirit rapidly rose.

Kenny must have thought that he was a newbie when it came to dealing with powerful figures. Fortunately, he could not have been more wrong! Dealing with powerful figures used to be part of his daily routine.

“That’s no problem man, competitiveness is the point! All the more reason to become a top gamer; if it were easy, it would simply be too boring!” Simon said with a casual tone, completely brushing aside Kenny’s previous words.

“...”

Kenny was speechless for a brief moment.

However, he knew that Simon was no fool; he would not brush aside his warnings for no reason, which meant that he had confidence in himself...

After a moment of surprise, Kenny slapped his thighs and roared out in laughter. “Are you kidding me? That’s a first! You seemed dead inside earlier, now you’re suddenly domineering as hell, I like it! VR was what finally did it, huh.” he exclaimed with a brilliant smile.

After all, at long last, he had finally managed to awaken something in one of his best bros - Simon, who had previously seemed depressed beyond compare... It felt like Simon had undergone an earth-shattering transformation in every aspect, and was no longer comparable to his previous self.

Indeed, Kenny’s instincts were spot on. The personality that Simon maintained after his transmigration was nothing like his usual self, who was normally domineering and unyielding. He had only remained subdued due to the mundane nature of this world. But now… his old aura was starting to show signs of returning.

Kenny then continued in a worried tone. “Well, you should probably get going now. It releases at 10AM in our time, after all. You definitely have to make sure that you’re well rested.”

Simon nodded appreciatively. “Yeah you’re right, I should probably get to sleep. Again man, I appreciate everything!”

“No problem, no problem. But, I want to see you on the leaderboards within a month! If you don’t, I’ll be very disappointed in you!” Kenny joked with a grin.

Little did he know that his joke would soon become reality...

-----

After leaving the apartment, Simon looked up to the sky wistfully while quietly standing on the empty, yet brightly lit sidewalk.

At this moment, he had the demeanor of a man who was battered by decades of hardship, and his previous act had completely evaporated. His eyes seemed unfathomable deep, as if a boundless galaxy was contained within, and his aura was reminiscent of a vast ocean.

‘Why must fate toy around with me like so?’ he let out a weary and emotional sigh as he gazed helplessly at the starry night sky.

After his transmigration, Simon was tired of living a high profile life and was content in living normally. After all, the many years of living in the center of attention wore him down on the deepest level, leaving him with nothing but a deep set sense of fatigue.

As a result, his transmigration seemed to be the perfect chance to escape his stress filled life.

But now, it seemed that escape was impossible… fate would not allow him to live a peaceful life this time either!

‘Well, I was given a young body and even a goal. Fate wants me to fight some more, eh? Well then, I, old man Simon Ji, will gladly oblige!‘ he thought with an excited grin, once again overflowing with youthful vitality.

Alas, he was finally ready to rewrite his own story and make his name resound throughout this world!

Soon enough, a cab arrived next to the apartment. After giving the driver a nod and heading in the car, Simon was on his way home.

...

A couple minutes later. The streets within the city were still sparse at this time of the night.

After thanking the driver and getting out of the cab, Simon was now in front of a fairly decent looking condominium, which resided in a middle class neighborhood. This was where he had been living for the past three months.

Then, after entering the building and heading into an elevator, he got off at the fourth floor and quickly entered his place.

Simon’s condo was somewhat messy, but things were nonetheless at a manageable level. He didn’t keep many worldly possessions, after all.

He immediately took off his shoes, before setting the box that he was holding down and he excitedly opened it up!

Riip!

Upon removing the packaging, an exquisite helmet which was covered with a stunning mix of viridescent and azure patterns was revealed to him.

‘Damn, Kenny really went the extra mile here!’ he thought with satisfaction. The color mix was exactly to his liking.

He then gingerly removed the helmet, as well as the other items that came with the package, which included a charger and a manual.

After leafing through the user manual for a couple of seconds, he set it down. He could tell within moments that the VR helmet was fairly easy to understand.

He then plugged his helmet’s charging wire into an electrical outlet and quickly got changed.

…

A few minutes later...

Simon was currently laying on his side in bed, while browsing articles on Island Ascension Online. He had already freshened up before laying down.

As he read the text on his phone, his eyes gradually widened.

‘Damn, the trailer doesn’t give this game justice... There is so much more than just building empires and fighting! There are guilds, raids, trials, dungeons, random encounters, travelling NPCs, and all sorts of events, this is just too much!’ he thought, slightly overwhelmed.

From what he read, the essence of the game was resource management, diplomacy, and military strength. These three factors were required for success, but by no means fully encompassed what the game had to offer.

Moreover, the level of skill needed to manage one’s island well was not to be understated... It was even more brutal than reality!

At any time, one could be raided, sabotaged by one’s enemies, and even directly killed by opponents, causing one’s island, the accumulation of one’s efforts... to forever be lost!

In such a world, ruthlessness and shrewdness - attributes that not many in this modern world had - was a must. With that being said, it was easy to see how difficult it would be to truly prosper in such a game, and the amount of people who would thrive in such an environment were few and far between.

Not to mention, just the level of realism within the game could leave one speechless. The system was all encompassing, and could even process information regarding ethics - impartially and righteously. Moreover, one would hardly feel any disconnect from reality and the virtual world, as bugs and glitches were said to be nonexistent; the NPCs were even said to be as smart as real people!

Simon’s opinion of the game once again rose, and he could no longer wait for the release.

‘Ah! I have to sleep first! It’s the fastest way to pass time!’

He then set an alarm for 30 minutes before the time of the release. After which, he closed his eyes, and gradually fell into a somewhat fitful slumber.