The prime minister of Great Tribain leaned back in his plush leather seat. He pressed a button on his desk to turn on a radio station and closed his eyes.

“—than expected, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Sam, I have to agree with you on that,” a feminine voice said. “There are thousands of posts on numerous forums discussing the difficulty of [Resolution]. Around 99% of the posts on these forums say the game is too hard. The remaining 1% are essentially ‘L-O-L, get good’ posts, telling the others to learn how to play. What aspects about [Resolution], do you think, makes it so difficult compared to other VRMMORPGs we’ve reviewed in the past?”

“Well, Natasha,” Sam said. “There are many aspects, but the biggest one that stands out to me, is the realism. [Resolution] is fully immersive.”

“Fully immersive?”

“Fully immersive. That means once you put your VR drive on and access [Resolution], it’s almost like stepping into a teleportation portal. It’s entering another reality. If you get hit by a fireball, you’ll really feel like you’re burning. If you perform hard labor and your body isn’t used to it, you’ll be sore the next day. There are no levels to magically increase your strength the more you play. Other games weren’t able to achieve total immersion due to hardware limitations, but [Resolution] is the result of the whole world’s combined effort. The research they’ve done and resources they’ve spent on creating [Resolution] is on a whole ‘nother scale when compared to a privately funded company.”

“This level of immersion, is it dangerous?”

“Not at all. Well, actually, if you didn’t have the VR drive, then it would be, but that’s a non-issue. The VR drive is fully equipped with the best healing spells out there. Even if you suffer from a heart attack from stress or fear, the VR drive can bring you back to life. Ah, I probably shouldn’t have said something like that, right? Would it hurt the sales? Let’s edit that bit out when it goes live, just keep the not at all.”

“We’ve been live, Sam.”

“Really? Well…. Uh, yeah. There have been no accidents regarding [Resolution] whatsoever. It’s perfectly safe to use. If you’re a parent and wondering whether or not you should let your child play [Resolution], let them! It’s not an exaggeration to say the fate of the world hinges on the results of the game. Besides, in Great Tribain, even children will be paid if they join the Great Tribish sponsored guild and there will be no conflicts with child labor laws. If you’re listening in on this broadcast from another country, please check your respective laws regarding child labor.”

“Let’s move away from legality and safety issues, shall we, Sam? What do you think about the top player, Lukroix Adveign Desrigard? Clearly, he’s not having any issues with the difficulty of the game.”

“Lukroix Adveign Desrigard is a bit of an anomaly. Publicly, he’s not affiliated with any country. He’s amassed over 3,000 achievement points which is already more than double second place’s 1300. Considering a regular monster gives 1 achievement point and a regular quest gives 2 achievement points, what he’s done is simply amazing. It’s possible he’s been going on a killing spree to take half of his target’s achievements points, but there haven’t been any forum posts complaining about him, have there?”

“There’s lots of posts claiming he’s cheating. In fact, an employee who was in charge of monitoring [Resolution] leaked his stats. He has over 800 intelligence and spirit.”

“What!?”

“That’s right. The employee was promptly fired, but he said it was worth it for the number of fake internet points he got for posting. He declined appearing on our show as a guest.”

“That’s insane. I have a PhD in mathematics and spell theory, but my intelligence isn’t even a quarter of his! Could he possibly be an A.I.?”

“On the internet, nobody knows you’re an A.I..”

“Unbelievable. I’m stunned, Natasha. Stunned. We—”

Ring, ring.

The prime minister’s eyes snapped open. He sat up and smiled at the caller’s name. “General Jackson,” he said with a smile. “I suppose you’re calling to tell me the good news?”

“I…, I think I should retire, sir.”

The prime minister’s face fell. “Retire? You’re under contract. You can’t retire. What happened?”

“Everyone…, everyone in our settlement, except for me,” General Jackson said, his voice wavering, “died.”

“What the hell did you do?”

“I hired a group of NPCs to clear out the quarry,” General Jackson said. “I brought our three SFs. It was going well until we encountered a dragon. We couldn’t defeat it and had to run away, but our three SFs died while retreating. And when I got back to the settlement…, everyone except for the NPCs was dead. None of them saw their assailant. All the victims recall losing their vision before being slashed apart. A, a few of the citizens told me they wouldn’t be coming back.”

The prime minister exhaled and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose. His brow furrowed as he groaned. General Jackson stayed silent on the other end of the call. After a few moments, the prime minister inhaled and sat up. “Listen up, general. It’s not your fault. No one died in reality. In three days, they’ll be coming back. And weren’t the rest of the SF on their way to the settlement? We can still make a comeback. Sure, development will be halted for three days, but we’re the Tribish! A minor setback can’t stop us. I apologize for rushing you to clear the quarry. I’ll handle any flak from the top. You can’t lose heart, general. You’re the best person we have. There’s still a year before the game really begins. We have time.”

General Jackson was silent for a moment. “I understand, sir. I—huh!? My vision!”

The prime minister’s face paled as unearthly shrieks wailed out of his call interface. A few seconds later, they stopped. There were a few splashing sounds before the call ended.

***

Lorin stared down at the dead general. She wiped her sword on his clothes before hanging the rusty weapon on her waist. Her wings flared open as she raised her head towards the sky. Red sunlight shone down on her, and she smiled. A new day was starting. She hummed as she flew into the air, chasing after the wagons that had set off a few moments prior. It was her turn to make lunch for Khrx.