Four o’clock...already?, Serenia Sorcha thought as she made her way out of the university lecture hall.

She’d had enough math for the day.

Computer engineering was definitely her thing, but a day full of math could get… fatal after a while.

Bleh, and I still have a program to finish. It’s not even going be useful to anyone. Who has ever heard of Virtual Sewing Machine?

Regardless, the sewing machine was due at midnight and she needed the course credit.

Enough things had gone wrong that day.

First it rained. Then it poured. Then it drowned the whole city in buckets of water.

She’d had to stay inside the whole day while the Absorbency System cleared the water away.

It was amazing how it worked and it kind of fascinated her. The concrete lining the streets and sidewalks was specially designed to drain the precipitation and channel it through the underground water networks to a filtration system, before releasing it into lakes and streams.

That being said, Serenia’s temper was especially higher than normal.

Being pent up inside all day with the worst assignment in the world due, she was ready to kick someone at any given moment.

Funny enough, this wasn’t Serenia’s normal self.

Usually she’d be very calm and easygoing. She was a patient person, and it took a lot to set her off.

She’d make that exception for her oldest brother Haduwig, though she’d normally just call him Needawig.

It was easy for him to get on her nerves.

He was a graduate student doing his business major, and he knew everything about the world… according to himself, that is. He was drowned in routine seminars, meetings, and conferences, and rarely broke character. Serenia really couldn’t deal with that.

Sure, he was her brother, but he acted more like a politician. A sneaky, two-faced politician.

Then there was her second oldest brother.

He was a real whiz at making life interesting, but in the Sorcha family’s opinion, he did it all wrong.

Jaakan was a fisherman.

That was all he did. Fish.

It wasn’t even remotely a lucrative business, since a lot of people in Intellantia avoided fish.

Too much mercury, apparently.

Unfortunately for him, what little money he had was wasted on gambling away in some casino on the border of the nation.

The Sorchas would never see him. He was always in the middle of the ocean, somewhere between the border of Intellantia and Megapolitis, indulging his unhealthy obsession with fishing.

The poor thing was in debt too. Having eaten too much fish, he suffered from symptoms of mercury poisoning on a regular basis.

At first they were mild, but eventually they got out of hand, and so did his medical bill.

To Serenia’s relief, her younger sister provided some respite from her inane brothers.

Galyn was quiet and content with her everyday life, and was quite satisfied with being ordinary.

She was the only one that Serenia could trust to be sympathetic to her incredibly cynical rants.

To her dismay, however, Galyn was too comfortable being ordinary, and it brought the rest of the Sorcha family to view her as potentially useless.

Serenia would try very hard to make Galyn’s life better, more interesting, with more substance to each day, but it was fairly hard and she’d often get tired, sad, and frustrated that her efforts weren’t working as she’d hoped.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she continued on to the library.

Serenia couldn’t help but notice that the library had a strange shape.

It was very narrow entering the library but once you were past the check in desk, everything grew, and the roof was suddenly immensely high.

If you walked a little further towards where the computers were, the ceiling suddenly dropped to a couple feet over Serenia’s head and the lab area itself was very compact and clustered. Hanging in front of the computers up against a wall was the map of the world with the four factions outlined in detail.

To the west of the map was home, Intellantia. The world’s greatest innovators and thinkers lived here.

They were the ones who made life easier for everyone, the ones who could turn the future, change the world, set the standards.

They earned much of society’s honor and respect, alongside the citizens of Parabellum, of course.

The great faction of the East, Parabellum, was the military powerhouse of the world. Housing the most elite athletes and leaders, it is a place governed by power and prestige.

Maybe Jaakan belonged there more than in Intellantia, Serenia had always thought, but again, fishing wasn’t exactly the signature sport there either.

Higher up on the map was the highly-advanced, tech-industrial city of Megapolitis.

The northern continent contained the world’s wealthiest citizens and most successful businessmen.

A gathering of people living off their inheritance and mini-Haduwigs, that summarizes Megapolitis.

And, deep in the South, there was Inanis, the continent of chaos. According to her professors, it was a dark and lifeless place, devoid of innocence and filled with the world’s worst criminals. Not much else was mentioned, but it was understood that Inanis was a forbidden land never to be treaded upon.

Not like it was easy to go anywhere else in the first place though. The world in 3077 was highly compartmentalized, with little interaction between the continents. Due to advanced technologies, there was minimum need to trade; almost everything could be produced locally and quickly upon need. Each faction focused on what they did best, whether it be physical or intellectual activities, and paid little attention to the events of the others.

To each his own, the world is just that kind of a place.

Serenia sat down at one of the computer stations.

Her surroundings changed automatically. The small room became a dark and endless space, while the computers around her disappeared, leaving her alone in silence.

“System,” she said in a clear voice, “connect to ID 4027, Serenia Sorcha. Password, *******.”

The room suddenly lit up with multiple projections, surrounding her like thousands of little screens.

System Prompt: What would you like to do today? A female voice asked.

“Please provide access to the Virtual Creator.” Serenia directed.

Acknowledged. Access granted. Please proceed.

Alright, I must get this done soon and catch the last Wrap Shuttle back to the dorms, Serenia thought as she began to code her sewing machine. Hours passed, and soon she lost track of time.

System Prompt: The network will reset for the new day in 30 minutes. Please save your progress and log out accordingly.

“Eh?” Serenia said in surprise, “System, display current time.”

July 7th, 3077. 6:28 AM Intellantian Time.

Shoot. I’ve done it again.

Things like that happened to her all the time.

The Perfectionist Disease, as she called it. Maybe one day someone would cure it, but until then, there would be a lot more dinners and nights of sleep missed.

------------------

Getting out of the system, she quickly dashed out of the library.

She had exactly 30 minutes to take the Shuttle back to the dorms, get herself cleaned up, grab her breakfast on the go, and shuttle back to her first class.

Easily done, it has happened countless times before. As she got back to the campus, she noticed the sky was turning a weird shade of red. Most likely the weathermen playing around with the control systems again, nothing out of the blue.

But on this particular day, something was off. It was eerily silent. No birds were singing, no sounds of traffic moving through the rush hours. She could see her classmates laughing and talking to one another, yet it was all quiet.

Dead silence, like a wordless dream in slow-motion.

A few seconds later came the light.

It shone through the wine-red clouds, almost blinding Serenia in its radiance. Similar pillars of light erupted across the sky, as if preparing the stage for someone’s entrance.

But...who?

“Citizens of the world,” a deep male voice said, the sound resonating in the air, “I am here to announce the coming of a new era. In exactly five minutes, the world, as you currently know it, will cease to exist.”

Serenia narrowed her eyes, glancing at her surroundings in attempt to find the source of the voice.

It seemed to be all around her, spanning across the sky itself.

“You must all be very shocked to hear this. After all, this may seem to be a ridiculous and surreal proclamation. But, I reassure you, that I am being very serious. The core of the world, at the very center of the artificial island in the middle of the Satin Ocean, that dominates all aspects of the technology that sustains humanity, is now under my control. Atlantis, the mother system of every network of life, is no more! But fear not. In a few moments, every structure, every mountain, every tree and even every small blade of grass, will be replaced by things in your wildest fantasies. Rejoice, in the dawning of the most realistic, most exciting Virtual Reality game!”

There was a pause as the words slowly sunk in.

“To you, those who have lost all hope. To you, those that seek to live a better life. To you, those that humanity itself had abandoned…now is the chance to change, to start over. What is it that you desire most? Is it money, fame, love, friendship, or is it something like…revenge? Or perhaps something even greater? In this new world, you can become even God.”

“So there is no need to panic. Those that wish to seek for answers, you will find me in a place called ‘Eternal Eden’. Everything will resolve itself in due time. Now, the 7th hour of the 7th day in 7th month of 3077 has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to world of Dark Eden.”

Time sped up.

All the suppressed motions and sounds came all at once, and Serenia covered her ears in order to block out the chaos.

In front of her eyes, the world began to fall apart, like pieces of a broken puzzle.

When it all dissolved into nothing, the light disappeared for good and darkness fell.

----------------

A completely dark and empty space. Was she awake, or was she in a dream?

System prompt: Do you wish to continue living?

The words hovered in the air, followed shortly by a set of choices.

Yes l No

Serenia stretched her hand toward the “Yes” button.

Please insert your desired name.

Was this…that virtual reality game mentioned earlier? Then, what was the first question for? She thought, as she wrote out a name in the air.

Serene. Her younger sister’s nickname for her.

Name changes are forbidden. Please confirm the name [Serene].

She pressed the “Confirm” button.

Please choose your class.

A set of avatars appeared in front of her, projected on a moving circular platform.

Warrior, mage, archer, and rogue.

There was no description provided.

Well, it doesn’t really matter.

Serenia closed her eyes and selected randomly.

You have selected [Rogue]. Class changes are also forbidden. Please confirm the selection.

She selected “Confirm” once again.

Due to the need to keep the game as realistic as possible, there will be no guides in-game. All physical characteristics and abilities of the player are kept. All beginning gear is randomized. The starting location is also randomized. Are you ready to enter the game?

Yes l No

Way too many confirmation requirements…I hope I can get this finished before class starts.

She pressed “Yes”.

Welcome, player [Serene], to the world of Dark Eden!

And with that, blinding light replaced the darkness.

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*As per request to space out the chapter. Sincerely, Hikaru.*

Advance to Update 3: In the Beginning...there was Chaos >