CHAPTER 2

It’s been 6 months since I somehow managed to get my parents life insurance money. I used the money to try to get a job and finally I caught a break.

I was hired.

A TV center in downtown Hamilton hired me.

I work as a janitor, I’ve got two shifts 4am-7am and then later at night from 6pm-9pm.

I work alongside 2 janitors both of which are kind elderly men. They spend dinner and breakfast breaks playing poker together and let me join in.

There’s 3 main floors to the building and I am in charge of the top floor. It’s usually the busiest so I have to be very discreet and not bother any of the people as I’m working or else I could get fired.

The center itself is pretty amazing, they host TV shows that are broadcasted all over the world on an international online Channel Called GAMENATION. They invite pro-gamers and other famous people from the gaming world, some I remember back from when I used to play Corecraft and others are completely new. It seems that now days they all play a different game though, some game that’s known for using VR tech successfully called Darkstory.

I find it kind of ironic that the job I got was so closely related to my obsession from back then, what are the chances of that happening huh?

Even though I got this job I’ve been stressed out by my financial situation.

I had been homeless for four years and there’s many things that had changed that I didn’t notice.

Ever since the current prime minster got elected. Rent and living prices have gone through the roof. I got 20,000 dollars from my parent’s life insurance and I’ve already used a lot of it.

It costs me 2,000 a month to pay just rent, and I live in a worn down one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living-room and bathroom. I couldn’t find any apartments with a lower price than mine, 2-grand a month was the cheapest deal I found after over a week of searching.

10 to 15 years ago I wouldn’t have to worry so much.

Back then there was a lot of government aid provided for the poor.

Health insurance was free.

Getting a Social Security number was free too, now it cost a large payment to get one. Paying to get my SS number and health insurance cost me about 10% of my money

Now as an ex-homeless I’m worrying that I’ll be homeless again.

Minimum wage is 7 dollars an hour.

I make 840 dollars a month.

I can’t even pay for rent every month just from my job.

I tried to find other work during the day between my shifts but I didn’t get lucky.

I’ve already applied, begged and asked every place for a job around me.

No degree, No qualifications or trade-skills, I don’t even have a high school diploma

With food, bus fare and rent I pay 2050 a month.

I don’t eat well either, most of my food isn’t much of a step up from soup kitchens.

I need to find a way to make a little over a 1000 more dollars a month before I run out of money.

And fast.

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It was early in the morning as Jennifer Crossly, world famous TV reporter was in the women’s bathroom fixing her hair. Although her make-up team repeatedly forbid her from messing with her hair, she always snuck into the bathroom before appearing live to give it a proper adjusting herself.

While she was immersed in her daily ritual, another lady walked in.

“Jenny! It’s so nice to meet you in person!”

A small women came up to Jennifer and they hugged briefly, Jennifer then excitedly said

“Kim! Oh my God I’m so happy I get to finally see you! I’m a big fan, I remember the first time I watched your guild’s 40 man raid against that Named Monster! I was breath-taken by how well you played, truly an honor meeting the descendant of the greatest swordsmith in china and one of the best Darkstory players!”

“I’m not even close to the top level, I can’t really call myself one of the best. There are God-like players out there, they never coming out into the public but they exist. I am only in the top 1000th highest level players but the difference between me and the number 1 is like heaven and earth.”

“Oh come on don’t be modest! Are you nervous for today’s interview? Just talk to me like normal and everything’s going to be fine, I promise.”

“I’m not too nervous “

“By the way, have you heard about the discount LIZZARD is offering to everyone all over the world? To celebrate their one year anniversary they’re making it so for a limited time you can install a VR capsule and buy the game for fifth of its original price!”

“Yeah people all over the world who couldn’t afford the 5,000 dollar price to play the game are going to buy it now that it’s only 1,000 dollars. I’m expecting that as soon as Lizzard’s offer goes out tomorrow, even more people are going to be playing all over the world. It’s already amazing that 120 million people play Darkstory. That number is going to jump up by millions after this Jenny.”

“Yeah and considering that if you’re good enough you can make a living just from the game, a lot of people will want to play it”

The two ladies continued chatting amongst themselves before departing together to begin their interview.

The door next to the women’s bathroom opened and out came a young janitor from the men’s toilet with a mop and bucket. He kept his head down and walked to a staircase leading to the lower floors. From there he went down to the first floor, then into a janitor’s closet.

He changed out of his work clothes as his shift had just ended and left the building.

As he was leaving the building, you could see a hopeful twinkle in the young man’s eyes.

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-1 week later

This may be a crazy idea.

There is a game called Darkstory that has a cash transfer system hosted by the company itself.

You can trade gold for cash to players through an anonymous auction house system.

For an average player the auction house wouldn’t be of much use but to a high level player, being ahead of the curve meant that you could reap profits from trading gold for cash.

From my experience in online games, earning game-currency was all about being ahead of everyone and playing efficiently.

Which meant that if I bought Darkstory even though the game came out a year ago, if I caught up to everyone else and then even further surpassed them I would be able to make a living off it.

But catching up…..and even going ahead of all the players would require skill.

I would be betting everything on the fact that I could become really good at Darkstory.

If I failed…..in a few months I wouldn’t be able to pay rent……If that happened everything would go downhill.

I would end up homeless.

-Knock knock knock-

I heard shuffling outside my door, my delivery had arrived.

I got up from my beaten chair that I had bought from a second-hand store called good-will, and walked over to the front door of my apartment. I peeked through the peephole on my door and found two deliverymen standing outside with a cart containing a huge box.

I opened the door

“Hello is this the residence of a Mr. Skyler Valeri?”

“Yes that would be me” I quietly mumbled.

“We’re going to need to see ID and would like you to sign here on this delivery form, we are employed by LIZZARD to both delivery and debrief all customers who buy VR-tech capsules for use.”

I turned around and left to get my health insurance card from my room. Shortly after I gave it to them and they confirmed that I was indeed Mr. Skyler, they then entered my apartment with the cart.

“I would like to inform you that we can also set-up the capsule for free of cost if you do not want to do it yourself”

“Please go ahead then. I think here in the living room would be best.” I replied.

With a nod, the men began cutting the box open and placing a large man-sized machine in the corner of the room.

“We would like to inform you Mr. Skyler that LIZZARD is not liable for any mental or physical changes that occur from use of this VR-tech.

Also please note that one minute in the real world translates into 5 minutes in the virtual one.

Also, the capsule can be used as a replacement to sleep but every 4-5 days about 8 hours of actual sleep is needed or mental fatigue and health problems will occur.”

“Additionally in any case that a malfunction happens while the machine is in use there is a safety system built in that will forcefully eject you out of VR. Please discontinue further use and immediately call tech-support on the number provided and your machine will be replaced or repaired free of cost if your warranty is still active.

Your warranty can also be renewed after it becomes inactive after a year for a minimal payment of 234 dollars.”

“Also Since you have bought the Darkstory package which comes with the game pre-installed into the capsule, I would like to inform you that LIZZARD takes no responsibility of any mental trauma caused by the game.

The game’s best selling point is the fact that it very closely replicates real life.

If you are experiencing any kind of distress you are advised that you discontinue further use of any VR-tech and seek out professional advice from a phycologist before continuing your adventure in Darkstory.”

“umm thanks…” I muttered

The most important thing I got from that speech was that 5 minutes in the game only meant 1 minute in real-life. That could be huge! Considering that I could also play the game instead of sleep and play it between my shifts, I could play Darkstory for about…..16 hours every day!

And 16 hours is only the real-life time…In game that would be…..80 hours!

I went into my living room and sat in front of a small coffee table that I used as a dining table and thought about the things I would do in the future, I was going to able to play a game

again!

I felt filled with nervous excitement. I knew that buying this game could end up being a huge waste of money, I was working against a timeline, and I really would run out of money in a few months.

But I didn’t have to earn 1,000 dollars a month right of the bat, every little bit I could make would help delay the moment I couldn’t pay for rent anymore.

After a few hours the delivery men finished setting up the capsule, after going through the safety measures and proper use of the capsule, they both left and I was once again alone in my apartment.

Thankfully since today was Sunday and I didn’t have work and could start playing the game today.

I felt excited. Bubbling with energy I entered the capsule and closed the see-through door in front of me. Then I put on the in-built headgear device and turned on the machine by the button on a panel to the side.

“Initializing dream space, please relax, keep your eyes open and look directly into our display while we transfer your awareness to virtual reality.” Said a monotone voice.

A weird feeling took over me, a white space was shown on my display while at the same time I felt that I was being….being pulled into it….

Suddenly I felt drowsy

Then all of a sudden I became alert, as after the small moment where I was drowsy had passed, I was in an entirely different place.

I was in a large empty white room. I didn’t feel as if I was dreaming at all, the disconnected feeling that you usually get while sleeping wasn’t there. Instead everything felt extremely realistic.

I moved around the white room, my sense of touch, even my sense of smell and taste were all there. It was as if I was in the real world.

“Hello my name is VR-COM1 and welcome to your own VR-space, this is the first place you will be brought to upon entering the Virtual Reality.

Please note that standard issue capsules only come with this white room, any additional programs must be installed for you to use them.

I have noticed program Darkstory in your directory, would you like to launch Darkstory?”

“Umm yes, I would”

“Launching Darkstory, you will be re-directed shortly.”

The white room faded away and then I found myself in a completely different room, this one had wooden floorboards, and a low wooden ceiling. A large mirror was on one side of the room and the other end had a closed door.

Then suddenly, a women’s voice sounded off in my mind.

“Welcome to Darkstory! Today is February, 16th 2032, Darkstory was launched approximately a year ago from LIZZARD gaming! The same company that brought you other great games such as Cardstone, Diablog, Suncraft, World of Corecraft and more!

Working alongside another Japanese game company known as To-Software, which have their own great game titles such as the Blood souls series and Demonbourne, we created the first ever internationally successful VR-MMORPG.

The vision behind the development of this game was to make something both realistic in its game-play and Visual style! What happens if humans have to fight monsters with swords in real life? Well now you can find out!”

“Now then please make your avatar!

A mirror has been provided! Simply say out loud what you want to change and it will automatically be applied to your appearance.

Please note that the only features you can change in your appearance are; Age, weight, height, Hair color and skin embellishments!”

“Additionally Age parameters for you at the age of 18 are set to only allow an increase in 15 years and a decrease in 5.

Skin options such as hiding or adding scars and removing acne or spots are available to you!”

I looked at the reflection of myself and was surprised to see how identical it was to how I looked. It showed a 6-foot young man with European skin (an inheritance from my dad’s grandfather) staring at the mirror. My hair was black. My eyes were hazel with light gray edges and an orange ring around my pupil.

I didn’t have any acne though, thankfully my skin was not prone to it.

“I’ll go with how I look”

“Next you can decide your in-game Name! Please note that Darkstory has a very different naming system than other games, only your first-name, middle-name or last-name can be chosen for your in-game name.

This does mean that your name could be identical to many others but fear not! Similar to the real world, having a name identical will not be much of an issue, additionally a number will be provided and attached to your game ID making your ID completely unique!”

I thought back to when I first bought the game. The employees told me that they required a Copy of your passport and one additional proof of ID, I guess this is why. They wanted people to play with characters using their real names.

“Umm, I’ll just go with Skyler then, that’s S-K-Y-L-E-R”

“Congratulations! You have completed your character creation!

Please note that each different player starts with different stats depending on their muscle mass and body assessment!

This gives a real advantage to players that train their bodies outside of Darkstory and come into the game!

There are 4 main stats in Darkstory. Agility, Strength, Intellect and Stamina, only Intellect is a stat that remains completely unaffected by your real world experience!

Please note that stats added from the real world only work during character creation. If you are to increase your strength in the real world and come back to the game, no additional points will be added!

The base for all characters will be 0 stat points for every stat at level one, additional points are added depending on your real world specs! Also you are given one stat point every level you gain that can be freely added to your character!”

“That will be all for your tutorial! Note that there is an item in the game called the information bracelet that can answer questions on the game based on the content of the question, there are four levels of questions.

Level 1 questions are beginner class questions and are free! Level 2 questions and upwards will deduct in-game currency to tell you the answer! You can buy the bracelet for 1 silver at any general goods trader in the world!”

“Do you wish to finalize your avatar?

Please note that once finalized you will never be able to create another character, characters cannot be deleted and you are only allowed one!

Say Yes if ready, Say No if you want to continue character customization!”

I processed the information the tutorial lady just told me, then after a moment of thought I whispered

“Yes”