Setting down the last box in the storage unit, I ran an arm over my brow clearing the sweat before it could drop like stinger missiles into my eye for the umpteenth time today. Reaching up I pulled down the metal door with a grunt, locking it before taking a step back and letting out a deep breath. This was really happening; I had to keep repeating it to myself through each step of the process till I finally believed it.

Four weeks since it was decided, or more four weeks since Zancress had decided it for everyone. After logging out to allow the team to deliberate on who we’d send, Zan had stepped down ceding the event to me. He’d claimed that it’d be more fun for him to start playing without all the expectations of the guild on his shoulders. Part of me believed that it was true, but I always had that nagging doubt that Zan did it for me. He gave up a sure thing to give me a chance at redemption.

The last four weeks had been spent locked away in various simulated survival situations with the old marine. Surviving on snow swept mountainsides to trudging through fetid swamps bare foot. Zan pushed me every step of the way, and when I wasn’t locked in his torture camp I was systematically dismantling my life. A task that took depressingly little time, breaking the lease on my apartment, quitting my job and getting packed up to leave. In the end those four weeks flew by faster than I’d ever imagined, I’d even been given a list of wants and needs for the guild to review till I was dropped in world.

Threading the storage locker key onto my keychain I slid into the worn cloth seat of my Chevy. Pulling away from the storage unit I really hope that I’m ready to put my life behind me for the next year.

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Pulling into the drive way of a rather nice suburban home I couldn’t help but feel that stomach flopping twist of nerves deep down. I was at Helena’s house and it was finally sinking in that I was just a few steps closer to a completely new life for the next year. Killing the engine I took a deep breath before hopping out and walking up to the door to ring the bell. Helena looked just like her avatar; the only difference was instead of a set of long knives on her hip she had got a cute chubby cheeked baby, happily bubbling away as he tugged on the loose fabric of his mom’s shirt.

Helen looked me over slowly head to toe before I saw a kind smile warm her face. “You’re taller than imagined; it’s good to meet you Gideon. Or should I call you Luke?”

“Gideon is just fine; it’s good to meet you too.” I looked down over myself for a moment. At six foot four I’m taller than most, if not in the realm of freakishly tall. Filling out a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, I’m also a bit bigger than most. Formerly a fat kid, the last four years I’d lost most of it while working my shitty laborer job, but no matter what some stubborn baby fat still clung to my frame though no matter how much I worked. No one was going to be calling me up for a leading male role anytime soon, especially with my slightly crooked aquiline nose and my strong brow. I really missed the mark of ruggedly handsome by more than a few centuries, because suit me up as a centurion and I’m sure I’d have had all the women of the Holy Roman Empire swooning.

“Well get on in here, Alex is already unpacked and helping make dinner.” She said as she juggled the baby and the door.

“Thank you again for letting me stay with you, you’re doing more than anyone could ask of you.” I said as I stepped into the cozy family home. Helena lived close to where the event was being held and had offered to me and Alex a room for the next year and then some. Not that I’d be here at all, but it was nice knowing that I’d have somewhere to come back to at the end of it all.

Following her through a family room strewn with toys as she lead me to the kitchen where two men are preparing dinner, or more where one was preparing dinner and the other was wrangling a half-naked toddler. It was so homey I couldn’t help but smile, I really hadn’t had this since my own childhood, and for a moment it was nice to just steal a bit of it as a bystander.

“Paul, Alex this is Gideon.” She introduced me gesturing to the men in the kitchen. “The naked wild child is Jack, and you’ve already met Will here.” She bounced the little cherub on her hip for emphasis.

I stepped forward to shake her husband’s hand as he finally gets Jack under control by simply trapping him between his legs. “Nice to meet you Paul, you’ve got a lovely home here.”

“Oh don’t go complimenting me; I’m just the help here. Helena does all the real work” He responded.

Alex turned around from the dinner he was preparing and I was just stunned for a moment. Our quiet little editor slash rogue out of game looked like he was cut off the cover of GQ magazine, with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes I was a bit taken back for a moment as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and offered one to me. “Nice to finally meet you man, I’m really excited to work together.”

“Right back at ya, I really appreciate you getting us this invite for it and I’m looking forward to see what you come up with from my gameplay. Hopefully you can make me look at least competent.” I replied as I quickly picked my jaw off the floor. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not of the persuasion to really enjoy such a handsome man, but at least I can appreciate him objectively.

“Come on Gideon, how about I help get you settled in and we can get some food in everyone before it gets too late, big day tomorrow.” Helena said as she guided me up a flight of stairs to the room I’d be sharing with Alex at least for tonight before they shoved me into a pod.

Getting everything settled into the room that I wasn’t comfortable leaving in storage I sat on one of the two small beds, just staring at the wall. In my mind I knew it’s just going to be me laying in a pod or whatever they’d cooked up for a year, but it feels like I’m about to step through some portal to another world for real. If it’s as life like as they say, I didn’t really see the difference I guess. Taking a deep breath I pushed down the knot of apprehension and excitement, tonight I was still in the real world so I’m going to focus on that.

The night was uneventful in the best way, after a dinner prepared by Alex the three of us spent the evening talking about the game and recounting funny stories of our time adventuring together. For his part Paul sits and listens, sharing where he can and simply being a part of the moment. All in all it’s just what I needed to calm my nerves, and when this was all over I needed to make a real commitment to getting together with my friends more. Finally saying goodnight Alex and I headed up to the room to at least lay in our beds for a few hours and try to get some sleep.

“Hey Gideon, eh sorry Luke” Alex said from across the dark room. Clearly unable to get any sleep just like myself.

“Just stick with Gideon man, it’s what I’m going to use in game anyways so no point getting used to something new. What’s up?”

“I don’t know exactly how much we’ll be able to communicate when you’re in the game, and I know we’ve never been all that close. But if we’re going to make the most of this I really want you to trust me.” He said earnestly, talking to the darkness.

“Look man, I know we’ve never really clicked like some others in the guild. But if I’m going to trust anyone it’s going to be you. I’ve always admired you man, I know that everything with Boomer couldn’t have been easy. You gave up a pretty cushy gig just to do the right thing, and that means a lot more to me than us spending time questing or whatever. I trust you to do the right thing.” I spoke to the ceiling, no point trying to find him in the pitch black room. Silence returned to the room as we both go back to our own thoughts.

Alex finally broke the silence for the last time of the evening. “Thanks.”

The next day was a hectic mess; I rolled out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to the sounds of screeching children and the smell of coffee. Grabbing a ratty t-shirt of some band I used to follow from my duffel I pulled it on with a pair of jeans before heading downstairs barefoot. Seems I was the last one up, as Paul was already fighting the losing battle of feeding the kids without letting them make too much of a mess. Helena and Alex were packing up a few things for the launch event as I snagged myself a cup of coffee and tried to piece together enough of my brain power to function.

“Alright, we’ve got to be there by nine. Seems everyone is arriving in time slots based on their area of recruitment. Guest invites, pro teams, streamers, and then natural pros.” Alex read off a list

“Hold the fu…heck up just a moment.” I looked over to Paul as he gave me a thumbs up at my stellar save, only to get pelted with a handful of soggy cheerios. “They’ve got true pros involved in this, like their own or what?”

Natural pros or true pros are a trend of sorts started over two decades ago in China. It started with gaming companies hand selecting child prodigies and raising them to master their games before release. Sort of like a hype piece to jump start the competitive side of a game. It was quickly picked up all over the world; it really started to pick up steam after that. Companies were involved with everything from gene therapy to secret indoctrination that was whispered about on various message boards. They’re called true pros because they have to separate them from actual competitions to make it fair. They only ever rolled out their investments when they needed to generate hype in one versus all events or something else. Needless to say going up against true pros was not something I have any desire to do at any point in the near future, especially with pain dampeners off.

“Yeah, it seems they’ve got a few retired from other games and three of their own, including Stalwart.” Alex said as he flipped the paper he was reading from for me to see.

Nearly choking on coffee at the name drop I grabbed the sheet. “Well shit, guess better avoid any of the holy casting classes.” Stalwart was Shards of Eshur’s resident cleric true pro. He was known for breaking the mold and doing it all, including one video circulating where he both main tanked and healed his way through a raid boss.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure if all else fails you can just run away…really really fast.” Helena laid a hand on my shoulder with a wicked grin.

Fully recovered I tried to regain my composure ignoring the comment by quickly filling my mouth with delicious coffee. After a quick bagel we were out the door in Helena’s mini-van, a short fifteen minute trip to the facility where the event was being run from. Along with another fifteen minutes getting badges issued and getting past security before we were finally taken to a side entrance into a waiting room.

The rest of my morning was spent going through a series of medical tests and paper work. It seemed that while I’m in the game I could opt for certain medical procedures in the time along with a slew of other bonuses. While it sounded appealing, the prices left it far out of my range. I was relieved to find out though that with their new technology I wouldn’t be experiencing any muscle atrophy from my year in the game. The last part of my morning was spent sitting in a quiet room speaking with a psychiatrist, while not a wholly unpleasant experience it was a bit unnerving with everything else going on.

Finally I was given a promotional shirt marking me as a participant, and ushered out for the start of the festivities. Which consisted of a red carpet of sorts, I was able to make it through relatively unscathed with only a few keen eyed reporters recognizing me from the whole Boomer drama. Heading inside I found Helena and Alex talking to a short round man in a three piece suit, as I approached they broke off to come see me.

“Who was that?” I asked, watching the rotund figure slip back into the crowd.

“Well…” Helena looked around uncomfortably. “That was Boomer’s agent.”

“What! He’s here?! And he’s got a fucking agent now?! What the hell for?”

Alex snapped his fingers interrupting my tirade before it can properly start, staring right at me he smiled. “Look you’ve got to trust us man.”

Holding up my hands in defeat I took a deep breath. “Alright, alright. Trust. So what exactly did he want?” I didn’t expect him to drop the whole trust bomb on me so fast.

“He wants you to punch Boomer” Alex deadpanned

“Well clearly I’m on board, but what the hell for?” I stopped myself as I put it together a short moment after. “They want me to be the villain…look are we sure we want to start this all up again?”

Helena nodded her agreement for the plan. “We’ve got it all cleared with Bastion personal and Boomer’s team, the only person who doesn’t know is Boomer himself and they’ll convince him after the fact that it’s for the best. It’s not going to be like last time, you’re side of everything will be out there too with our stream and it will help generate a lot of initial views which could really snowball for us in the long run.”

It was a lot easier to come to grips with the thought of sucker punching a guy than I’d thought. In fact knowing that it was all for a good cause, I figured it was best if I tried to enjoy it. “Alright, I trust you guys. Where do you want me to do this?”

“Out at the end of the red carpet, and just the one punch Gideon. Also you should know, some of the other participants are coming on as part of team or bringing hangers on in with them based on how popular they are. So you’re going to be setting yourself up against more than just Boomer.” Alex laid it out for me, putting a lid on some of my enthusiasm.

“I think I can handle a few lackeys in game.” I slapped Alex on the bicep as a commotion on the red carpet drew my attention. It seemed the real celebrities had started to arrive.

It wasn’t long before I spotted him, recognizing him from the vlogs he did. The red carpet was a buzz as groups of streamers started to roll in. From genera specific favorites to massive talents who are a brand all in themselves.

Waiting at the end, but still near the cameras I tried and look as intimidating as possible, folding my arms over my chest and pursing my lips. Some of the reporters caught on and there is a bit of buzz as a familiar looking face tapped Boomer on the shoulder and pointed to me. As he walked over I tried and size him up in person, a bit shorter than I figured maybe coming in three or four inches under six feet, though he looked to be in good shape. With bright multicolored hair and a clean black goatee he looked every part of the internet entertainer. Making a b line right for me, it wasn’t long before we were squared off across from each other.

“You know when I heard that the guild had received an invite; I was really hoping it would be you that came. I never really got to properly pay you back for getting me black listed.” He said in a low threatening tone, while his face was all smiles for the cameras now watching us. “Though from what I’ve heard, I don’t really need to, do I?”

Biting down on the inside of my cheek I took a breath trying to draw it out a moment longer as more reporters seemed to catch on. If I was going to play the villain I planned on making it count. “You know Boomer, there is something I’ve always wanted to say to you.”

I didn’t bother cocking back my fist like it was some after school special, instead dropping my arms to my side before swinging a short straight right towards his solar plexus. As my fist was sailing through the short distance between us, my brain picked the worst time to click over as I recognized two of the men with him. Keez and Faith both of whom were and are probably the most competent of the deserters and were bad news for me. That was about all I had time for before my fist connected, hard. I heard him let out a sharp breath of air, gasping to inhale as he doubled over from the blow. Stepping back quickly before anyone else could escalate it further I turned on my heel heading back inside. As a commotion burst out behind me, all I could think about is how I might be really screwed if he’d brought the actual gamers instead of just the crowd favorites with him.