Eli stepped inside the large office room, closing the door behind him. It was quiet save for the sound of his footsteps, and he felt the tension building with each step he made towards the chair waiting for him. When he reached it, he sat down, straightened his back, and looked straight ahead.

In front of him were two men and a woman all in business attire, illuminated by the light of the afternoon sun shining through the windows behind them. He himself wore his finest clothing, a white dress shirt buttoned up with black dress pants and shoes to go with it. It made him look older than his age of 18. He brushed his hands over his short brown hair casually, concealing his true purpose of making sure it wasn’t sticking up. He needed to impress these three.

They remained silent, the sounds of papers shuffling as they read over the documents on a large table in front of them. Eventually the man in the center looked up, clearing his throat. He was the youngest of the three, looking barely older than Eli.

“So, Eli Winters. You wouldn’t happen to be familiar with David Winters would you?” The young man spoke, this prompted the other two to look up as well.

“Yes, he is my father.” Eli politely replied.

“No way, really? THE David Winters? The same that plays as Makarath in The Shattered World Online?” The man was unable to hide his excitement.

“Yes, the same one.” Eli remained calm as he’d gotten used to this reaction.

“Wow. What’s it like to have a Dad that’s so famous? I heard that his guild made it across the Eastern Deserts last week. I bet you were with them, right?” He spoke gleefully, leaning forward over his desk. Eli hesitated to answer. He looked to the female interviewer who seemed equally excited to hear his response, while the third man on the left, much older, did not.

“No, I’m not a player myself.” Eli replied.

“What? Are you kidding me?” The young interviewer pulled back in disbelief. “It’s got millions of players worldwide, and your dad is one of the most famous players in it. Heck I plan to go watch his streams once these interviews are done today. And you’re telling me you don’t even play?”

“No, I’ve been focused on my studies.” Eli stayed calm, keeping his posture straight.The young man let out an audible sigh of disappointment. While the woman shook her head and looked down at the papers in front of her.

“Now that that's done...” The older gentleman spoke up. “Your grades are impressive. Easily one of our top candidates for this Scholarship. Tell me, why is it that you want to study at Equinor University?”

“I’d like to become a doctor, sir.” Eli turned to face the older gentlemen in an attempt to ignore the disappointed glares of the other two interviewers. “I’ve read a lot about my options to reach that goal and found that Equinor is the best.”

“Why do you want to become a doctor?”

“Well, my mother is a nurse, and I’ve spent a lot of time with her in the hospital growing up, and I’ve heard they make a respectable income. I like the idea of being able to help people while at the same time making enough money to allow my mother to retire early.” Eli performed his rehearsed response.

“Why not take after your father?” The woman interviewer asked. Eli turned to her and hesitated.

“I don’t want to be like that man.” Eli replied coldly.

“That seems a bit inconsistent, if you want a respectable income. He’s got hundreds of sponsorships and has tens of thousands of viewers on his streams and content. I’m sure if you followed in his footsteps you could do the same. You’re young and handsome, you’d appeal to a wide audience.” The young man suggested.

“I don’t want anything to do with that useless guy.” Eli was getting annoyed now at the reverence his father was receiving from these people, but did his best to stay composed.

“Useless guy, are you kidding me? Your father rose to the top in the biggest virtual MMORPG of our time and has achieved things other players can only dream of. He’s on talk shows and has had interviews on famous news sites. Do you know what success is?” The young interviewer snapped back.

“What he doesn’t talk about in those interviews is what he was like before the game came out. My mom worked endlessly every day to support us as he attempted to make a ‘gaming career’. Since I was born, the only time I’ve seen him is when he took breaks from playing to use the bathroom. I didn’t understand it, but my mom always believed he would catch his big break some day and everything would turn out great.

She was right, he finally did get famous and made millions 6 months ago when Shattered World Online came out. And he left us, abandoning my mom for a woman from his guild. After all the things she put up with from him. So yeah, I’d say he’s a useless guy.” Eli snapped back. The room fell awkwardly silent, until the older gentleman cleared his throat.

“We’re not here to talk about his father. We’re here to talk about you Eli, and why you think you deserve this Scholarship.” The older interviewer said.

.....

Eli stepped out of the room 10 minutes later. Once he closed the door behind himself, he let out an annoyed groan. He didn’t need to wait to hear the results of the interview, the two had made up their mind the moment he talked badly about their idol. As he stood in the hallway and saw other students waiting to go into the interview room he saw that several of them had various transparent screen devices over their eyes, watching various videos on the Shattered World Online. Guide videos, or streams of players doing dangerous quests. It was all around him.

It had been 2 months ago that his father had left them and started living in a mansion with his new wife. He claimed that because neither he nor his mother played the game, he couldn’t relate or connect with them anymore and wanted to be with someone who understood him. His mother was destroyed by it, but has been slowly recovering. Seeing his face plastered everywhere didn’t help, but the blow was softened by the fact that there was some truth to his words. His mother was too busy working all day to spend any time being interested in his most recent gaming endeavor. He barely spent any time with them in the first place.

As Eli headed from the building to the bus stop, seeing adverts for The Shattered World online on the side of the terminal, his phone rang in his ear as a small transparent screen appeared in front of him showing the caller ID. Derrick, his best friend and classmate. He accepted the call and a small dim blue light lit up on his ear, signalling to those around him that he was speaking on the phone.

“What's up?” Eli asked.

“How’d it go?” Derrick replied, his voice coming from an ear implant so that Eli could hear him clearly.

“Terrible. Two of them were fans of David.”

“You didn’t trash talk him again did you?” Derrick sighed.

“Can’t help it. Pisses me off when people put him up on a pedestal.” Eli replied.

“You’re never going to get a scholarship like that. Pretty much everyone plays that game now. We’ve even got a few big name players in our school.”

“You and I don’t play.” Eli replied as the bus pulled up. He ran his wrist over a scanner on the bus which confirmed he had an active bus pass, then moved to find an empty seat and sat down.

“The only reason I don’t play is because I’m broke and can’t afford a Sim Box. But you said your dad left his behind right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been using it to study... My mom worked her ass off to pay for it so no point letting it go to waste.”

“Still a waste to just use it for the default simulations. Just try the game out. I’ve heard it's crazy fun, insanely immersive. You could be anything you want in it.” Derrick championed the game. “Almost got enough money saved up to buy my own Sim Box.”

“Not interested. It’s just a game, and just thinking about it reminds me of David.”

“You’re being too stubborn man. Forget your shitty Dad for a second. Besides, you can make money in that game super easy. That’s one of the reasons you want to become a doctor, right?” Eli went quiet for a second. The idea of being able to make a bit more money on the side while he was studying was tempting, if he could pay for his own tuition he wouldn’t have to put up with anymore scholarship interviews.

“I don’t know anything about playing it though. How would I make money, and how much? More than a part time job?” Eli asked.

“If you’re good, way more. You just sell resources, even the low level stuff. People have full time jobs doing that. Richard from our chemistry class literally just mines all day and sells it on the Market Exchange for money.” Derrick replied.

“How much does that make?”

“I think I saw a video guide on how to get 10$ an hour mining, so something like that.”

“Seriously? 10 dollars an hour? That’s less than minimum wage.” Eli groaned.

“Yeah but Richard’s an idiot. You could do way better than that, and you don’t even need to be good at games.”

“Who the hell is buying stuff in a game with real money?”

“Tons of people. Too lazy to farm themselves, or don’t have the time and just want to level up and fight monsters when they get off work. You’re underestimating how big this game really is. How do you think your Dad got rich?”

“If I play I’ll be doing exactly what he did.” Eli sighed.

“Well you’re going to need to find a way to make money somehow if you keep screwing up Scholarship interviews.” Derrick replied. “At least think about it. You could probably ask the big shots at school to help you get started, since you’re so damn popular.”

“People only want to talk to me about David... Look I’m at home, I’ll talk to you later.” Eli replied, hanging up the phone as the bus pulled up to his stop. He got off and walked down several blocks to arrive at his small townhouse building, crammed between several other houses. It had a small walkway leading up to the front door.

The neighborhood was rundown but his mom and him had made an effort to at least keep the front of their house tidy. Their clean and well tended small garden contrasted heavily with the surrounding houses.He put his key in the door and walked inside, taking his shoes off.

“Mom, I’m home.” He called out, but got no response. He walked through the kitchen, living room, bathroom, all doors were open but no sign of his mom. “Mom?” he called again, going upstairs into a narrow hallway. He looked in his room, her bedroom, the upstairs bathroom. All were empty. He turned to see the door to his dad's gaming room closed.

Eli opened the door to see that the Sim Box light was on. It was a slick white round edged box about the size of a bathtub with a height of roughly one and a half meters. Similar to a tanning bed, the top of the Sim Box was closed over the bottom but a bright light came from a screen on the side.

Eli walked towards the screen and saw the buttons and interface he’d grown familiar with since his dad started using it all the time. It showed who was inside playing, what they were playing, and had buttons to communicate with them and pull them out of the simulation in case of emergencies.

He saw his mom was inside the machine, playing as a level 1 character in The Shattered World Online. He didn’t understand, why would she play it after everything it had done to their family? He pressed the button that allowed him to talk to her while she was in the game world.

“Mom? I’m home…” Eli said.

“Oh, be right out sweetie.” Her voice came through the speaker. A few seconds later the light turned off and the Sim Box opened with a beeping sound. He saw his mom laying in the Sim Box in her pajamas as if she’d just gotten out of bed.

“How long have you been playing?” Eli asked, seeing her clothes.

“Oh, you know… I thought I’d try it out this morning on my day off, just to see what it was like. And wow is it incredible. You can eat food and taste it, and ride a horse, it all felt so real. I just lost track of time… how did your interview go?” She asked as she sat up and got out of the Sim Box.

“Terrible, more fanboys.”

“And you talked badly about him again? How many times have I told you not to talk badly about your father.” His mother scolded him as she headed through the house towards the kitchen.

“How can I not?” Eli grunted back as he followed her. She sighed as she began pulling out food from the fridge, preparing to cook. Eli quickly jumped in to help as he had usually done, getting out the pots and pans, but he eventually paused. “Mom, why were you playing that game?” She didn’t reply at first, she continued preparing the meal until finally coming to a halt.

“I know you hate it, it’s just that a bunch of my co-workers are playing it and I was starting to feel like an outsider. I promise it’s nothing to do with your father. And I actually had fun, surprisingly. I never knew horseback riding could be so exhilarating. You should try playing it, just once.” His mom suggested.

“Not you too.” He groaned. “No thanks.” Eli replied.

After finishing eating with his mother, having small talk about her day and the interview, the two made their way to the living room. The moment the TV flicked on though it was advertisements and media revolving around the Shattered World Online. It didn’t seem to bother his mother much, despite the mention of the top ranker Makarath and his recent progress towards being the first player to reunite the Shattered World Online.

“I think I’m going to go upstairs and study.” Eli said after the 5th channel went by talking about the game.

“Alright sweetie, don’t stay in there too long.” His mother replied. Eli grabbed his school bag from near the front door of the house, then headed upstairs into his dad’s office and approached the Sim Box, tapping the screen to turn it on. It proceed to display a simple menu.

Registered Calibration Settings:

Jillian Winters - (Selected)

Eli Winters

David Winters

New User

He clicked on his name and the menu popped up indicating that the system was recalibrating. Inside the Sim Box he heard a few electronic noises until it was complete.

Load Program:

Recent:

The Shattered World Online

Office Environment

Surgery Simulator

Sports Stadium Online

Tourist World Simulator

All Programs

Program Shop

Promoted Programs

He hovered his finger between office environment and surgery simulator for a moment, eventually deciding on office environment, and a new menu loaded up.

Office Environment 2090

Start Simulation

Input Material Manually

Download New Material

Delete Material

<- Back

He pressed the input material manually button, and a small flat tray extended out of the side of the Sim Box. As it did, he reached into his school bag and pulled out a large text book on rare medical diseases. It had a small label on the front that indicated it was borrowed from a library. He placed the book on the tray and pressed a button on the screen which caused the Sim Box to fire off a green grid-like light over the book.

Scan Complete: The new material will be loaded into your office.

The small tray retracted into the Sim Box. Once it had he touched the screen pressing Start Simulation. The Sim Box made a few more noises before the top opened up, revealing the interior. It was a padded blue seat with armrests, tilted back to the point where the person seated would be practically laying down. He took off his socks and stepped in, settling into the seat as comfortably as possible.

He placed his arms on the armrests while pressing his head down on the back of the seat. Once he had, the sides of the Sim Box closed in around his head gently as the top moved down, shutting him inside. A message on the top half of the Sim Box appeared on a small screen in front of him.

Please select the desired simulation speed.

Current: 4(Max) (1s Realtime = 4s Simulation Time)

Information: Simulation speed is the rate at which the Sim Box will speed up your neural activity, changing your minds perception of time by improving the rate at which it can take in information and output actions.

< Back Begin Simulation

He pressed begin simulation quickly, as if by habit.

Confirming User: Eli Winters

Confirmed

Confirming Backup Power Supply…

Confirmed.

Initializing Neural connectors…

Do not move during this process

Initialization Complete, loading Simulation…

Once he saw the message, his vision went blank temporarily. Afterwards, he found himself standing in a small office room. There were several shelves loaded with books, a desk with a computer, and a window letting in bright sunlight. The room was well furnished with a beautiful carpet, pictures of his mom and some famous scientists alongside popular movie posters he enjoyed watching while growing up.

He walked over to the desk and pulled out the chair. Laying on the desk in front of him was the book he had just scanned. He sat down and opened it, and began flipping through the pages. It wasn’t long before he pulled out a notebook from one of the desk drawers, then snapped his fingers causing a pencil to appear in his hand. He used it to take notes as he studied.

Thanks to the simulation speed, even though it took him roughly 16 hours to get through the book, in real time it had only been 4. Just as he started going over his notes, a screen appeared floating in the air in front of his face.

Incoming Call: Derrick

Answer Ignore

He pressed the answer button without looking up from his notes, after which several buttons appeared on the side of the screen. The screen remained persistent in the top right corner of his peripheral vision regardless of the direction he looked in.

“What’s up?” Eli asked.

“Yo you’re never gonna believe what happened.” Derrick said excitedly. “Check out what simulation I’m in.” Eli heard him and pressed a few buttons on the interface.

Caller Information

Friend: Derrick

Status: In Simulation

Simulation: The Shattered World Online

Character Information: In Character Creation Menu

“You bought a Sim Box?” Eli asked in disbelief.

“Nah, not exactly. The Public Sim Box Center on Avern Street just had their Sim Box’s updated and they installed The Shattered World Online on all of them. Now I can play for just 2$ an hour.”

“That’s great, just don’t waste all your savings on that or you won’t ever get your own.” Eli replied.

“You kidding me? I’m gonna be makin 2$ easy in this game. So you’re gonna come right? We can start out together, I know a sick grind spot for low levels.” Derrick couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Nah, I’m busy studying right now.”

“Seriously? Dude you get perfect scores on every test. You don’t need to study. Just hop on and try it out.”

“No thanks.”

“C’mon man, don’t leave me hanging just cause you’re dads a dick. You know I’ve been dying to play this, and you’ve been my best friend since middle school. Just try it out, forget your old man for 5 minutes and think about me instead.”

“I don’t know anything about that game.” Eli sighed, he was having trouble resisting his friends enthusiasm.

“It’s fine man, I’ll walk you through it.” Derrick shouted excitedly. Eli tapped his virtual pencil on the desk. He thought about how his mom had enjoyed it, how he couldn’t get through interviews because he couldn’t talk about it to the interviewers.

It was as if a battlefield suddenly appeared inside his mind. On one side was an army made up of his anger for his Dad. The other side was an army made up of Derrick, and the idea of making some money to pay for tuition. The two armies charged at each other, swords and shields clashing as the knights trampled over the soldiers on their armored horses, shouts and cries of war everywhere.

“Listen, just try it out with me, please. If you hate it, I’ll never bring it up again, deal?” Derrick said. Suddenly the tides of battle began to shift, the army of Derrick pushed forth and overtook the angry dad army. It wasn’t long until a clear victor could be seen.

“Alright fine, but only if you show me how people are using it to make real money.” Eli sighed as he leaned back in the office chair.

“Fuck yeah! Let’s go baby!” Derrick shouted. Eli waved his hand in front of him to make a simulation menu appear in front of his eyes.

Simulation Details

Current Simulation: Office Environment 2090 (Change Simulation)

Simulation Speed: 4 (Change Simulation Speed)

Time in Simulation: 16h ST (4h Realtime)

Exit Simulation

Eli pressed the change simulation button, and a menu popped up with the available simulations installed on his Sim Box. He held his finger over the Shattered World Online button for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure if he’d regret it or not. Remembering all of the annoying interviewers and members in his class who wouldn’t shut up about it. He shook it off for the sake of his friend, reached forward and pressed it.

Changing Simulation to: The Shattered World Online

Info: This simulation is locked at Simulation speed 4.

Loading Simulation....