The sun was up. Slowly, Peter got up from the bed. His eyes were tired as if he didn't get enough sleep. With a shrug, he jumped out and moved towards the shower.

Every corner of the room was littered with newspaper cuttings. From a single peek one would know that Peter needs a job. But this was a common occurrence in the modern world.

Ever since the Internet age, manual labour was cut down at a tremendous pace. Even the companies who helped to cut down labour are now being cut down. Almost no one today has a stable job.

With a towel around his hip, Peter got out of the shower and put on his uniform. With still wet hair, he proceeded downstairs. On the way out he grabbed a cookie and canned coke. Nice breakfast!

It was almost 8. Peter was to open the shop at 8. Since the shop was close, it was pretty easy. Soon the front doors were open and Peter was behind the counter.

All of Peter's customers were regulars. Since the store was operated by the local government, the earnings were given to the orphanage. Peter has been working here for the past two years.

With little steps, a girl came in the door. With a smile on his face, Peter welcomed her. This was always Peter's first customer. Sicily was a little short at 5 foot, but her curves more than made up for her lack of height.

Sicily got a packet of milk from the fridge and proceeded to the counter.

"Hi, Peter. Couldn't sleep? You have red eyes again."

"Yeah. The stress is getting to me. I only have a few days to get a new place."

"No jobs yet?"

Peter simply shook his head. Sicily lowered her head a bit and then looked at him in the eyes.

"Why not try the local agencies? I got mine from them."

Sicily was working as a receptionist in a local clinic. Being a beautiful girl, it was almost impossible for her to not get hired.

"They said there are no vacancies for guys yet."

"Don't worry Peter, something will come your way soon."

With a wave of her hand, she proceeded to leave. There was a little hesitation in her steps. After lingering in front of the shop for a second she disappeared around the corner.

Since no one else was supposed to come till evening, Peter turned the tv on. It always showed new job openings but every time peter tried to apply, there was none available. Most of the available positions were pre-booked by job agencies.

He kept his eyes focused on the screen till noon when one of his old friends, Sam, came in opening the door. Peter locked the door and went with sam to the local agency looking for a job. The receptionist was familiar with the two of them and smiled at them.

"There are a few vacancies available if you are interested. But they are all construction-related. "

Sam and Peter felt as if there was a jolt piercing them. They readily took the offer and thanked the lady. Soon, they both reached back at the orphanage with a smiling face. After lunch, Peter still had to go back to man the counter.

That night, Peter had a good night sleep

Contrary to daily practice Peter woke up early. He was a bit excited about the new job. After cleaning himself and having the regular breakfast, he soon left for the construction site. He met sam who was already at the front office.

"You got here early," Peter told Sam with a smile.

"Couldn't sleep much. Was way too excited.." Sam replied nervously.

An older guy in his fifties approached the two through the rear door.

"You two are the new help? Can you even lift anything?"

It was reasonable to doubt. Both Sam and Peter were lean. There was almost no meat on their bones. But both of them were a lot stronger than the regular teens their age thanks to the rough upbringing. He collected the slip provided by the agency and took them both out through the front.

They were both assigned to the cement mixing unit. It was the one that required the least effort. The job required them to make sure that the mixture was uniform. Soon Peter got the hang of things.

It was almost noon and the mixing machine stopped working. Since they were both free for at least till two, Peter went to get lunch at the orphanage. Sam stood back saying he was not hungry.

For a few weeks, the work went on and Peter had already made a few thousand bucks. With the average renting cost at 200 bucks a week, he had enough not to worry for two months. Since Peter was not interested in the daily work at the site, he went and opted for a part-time work shift. Sam was employed full time.

Soon they had to move out. Sam had to leave first. With a full-time job at the construction site, he was able to get a decent place to stay. Peter was expected to go meet with the orphanage managers soon to discuss his progress.

Two months later, Peter was finally out free and moved to a nearby flat. Since the location had low value, he was able to get it cheaper at 150 a week. Still, the work at the site was tiring Peter down.

Peter kept looking for a better job.

The time flew and already a month had passed. It was time for the elections. The atmosphere was chaotic and noisy. Since it was a once every ten year process, most people celebrated it. This was also Peter's first voting, he was also excited only to later get discouraged as you had to pay to cast a vote.

A few rallies passed his flat and it was always noisy. Peter prayed that it would be over soon.

After the election period one day, Peter met Sicily again at the old grocery shop. He felt a bit more confident to speak up probably due to him living on his own.

"Hi, long time no see." Peter waved at Sicily.

"Hi Peter, I see you got a new job." Sicily was smiling at Peter again.

"Yeah. I got one at the construction site. Sam too works with us there. "

"That's good. It shows on your face. You don't look tired anymore."

"Do you still working at that clinic? I always thought you might be rich. Haha"

"Well, it seemed a good idea back then. No, I left there a month ago. Hmm, listen are you interested in video games?"

"Video games? Sorry, I don't have enough time to play games. I have never played any yet."

"That's ok. So there is going to be a new game releasing soon and it's one of a kind. Me and my few friends were planning to start playing it as well. If you are interested just tell me. We could use a few extra people. "

"I am free every other day. Ok, I will try it then. If I get busy I will still have to drop it tho. "

"Oh, do you think we are just messing around? See, some games give you money too. The one we are planning on is pretty good to make money."

"Can you get a lot?"

"It works the same as a store if you find pricey things you make a lot of money. If not then nothing. But at the start, they are providing a 1:1000 exchange rate for the game coin to bucks. And I heard no one can buy coins with bucks. Only those earned through the game can be sold to others."

"That makes sense. Else the rich ones would just take everything anyways. So what is this game you want to try?"

Sicily came a bit closer to Peter.

"See this is a secret. A few of my friends were working on closed beta testing for a new game. It works with nerve gear and is supposed to be next-gen. They say it's insanely good. The gear alone cost around 1000 bucks but it's worth it since there are no subscription fees. "

''A thousand bucks?!?"

Peter hesitated a few seconds and then agreed to buy the gear. He had always wanted to play video games but never had enough money or time to play any. Now that he was free he wanted to dive into this pothole and see for himself what it's like.

Sicily gave Peter her number and the address to the site to register for the nerve gear. After a bit more of casual talk, they decided to split.

Peter went back home and looked through the phone for this new game. Soon he found some ads and received a few offers too good to be true. People were hired to play the game and farm. Most of the time it was those rich folks with too much money to burn. Slowly, he reached the site and ordered a set of nerve gear. Sicily was not lying. It was expensive but wth the amount he saved up, it was fine to spend a few bucks.

After a few days with nothing noteworthy happening, a truck came to his home and delivered the little nerve gear. It was fun to watch the mechanics working on to set it up. The user had to put on a suit which was skin tight and lie down in a suspended chamber. Peter has never seen it before.

The whole cabin had a grand look. A metallic logo, Tango was shining on the cabin. Also, seven pairs of skin-tight suits were provided with the cabin. There was an extra headgear to stimulate vision and hearing.

The launch day for the game was closing in and since there was nothing else to do, Peter decided to call Sicily once. The call went through.

"Hi, you finally called. I thought you lost my number."

"No, I ordered the stuff and just received it. They showed me how to put it on as well. It felt like I was an astronaut. So what kind of a game are we playing?"

"It's just roam around, kill stuff kind. You will understand once you get in. Just wait for a few more days. Let me know when you have made a character. I need your name to add you to my friend list."

"Ok."

Sicily cut the phone pretty fast. With nothing better to do, Peter went to call Sam. Sam was still busy at the site and so he decided to just hang around.

Soon it was time for the launch. Peter was already inside the chamber completely dressed. He then locked the cabin. The helmet faded and it was pitch black inside.

Soon it turned 6. There was a word. 'Welcome.' Then there was light. Then came the rest of the world.

A sweet voice rung in the background.

"Hi, welcome to Almost Heaven. Valued user, please register your name."

"Peter"

It proceeded to ask for the spelling and Peter had to pronounce it a few times till it got it right.

The name was available. With nothing else to pick and choose he was dropped into the world of Almost Heaven.

The world he saw was one of the fairy tales. There was dirt on the ground and most people dressed up as if they lived in the iron age. There were a few that screamed rich but most were poor. Peter had a torn cloth suit that provided no armour. With little game knowledge he received, he checked the inventory to find an equipable sword in it with 10 silver coins as a starting fund.

The world in front of him was awe-inspiring as he took in and admired the sight. It was a lot more open.

The moment he tried to put one leg forward a new message popped up in front of him.

Welcome to Almost Heaven.

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