Stargaze city, Lunaria, Earth.

Year 2025.

Alexander sat at the back of the classroom in his usual seat like any other day, his grey eyes wandering out the window. He glanced at the birds in the sky, a nest in the tree, students down below. However nothing seemed to interest him, and he hadn't put anything in his eyes for too long.

The aura he gave off was a bit lonely, but there was a sort of pride and solitude emanating from this loneliness. He didn't seem to be out of place, and he was the kind of guy that fit the image of a lone wolf. He didn't seem at all disturbed that no one ever came to talk to him or try to be friends and was already used to it.

Even though he was never interested in VRs, the people in the class never spoke ill of him or judged his choices and as such there was never any bad blood between them. His classmates had already understood that Alexander was this sort of person. At most they would greet him like any other classmate, but it would never go beyond that and Alexander quite enjoyed that.

It was currently a free period and the students were huddled around in their separate groups discussing the hot topic Natural World. A free period was like God's gift to these enthusiastic gamers and they couldn't wait to talk about the speculations made about the new game Natural World.

"Seriously man! You really think those Beta Testers would tell us everything?.. I mean come on, your smarter than that bro! I, Daniel, have never heard such a foolish question" A burly classmate with a pony tail and insomniac like eyes, couldn't help but admonish his sturdy looking friend seated beside him.

"The fat one speaks the truth, naturally they would keep the knowledge beneficial to themselves a secret. Any knowledge revealed by a Beta Tester should be common knowledge known between Beta Testers" A dark skinned student fixed his glasses as he stated his opinions, despite having on headphones with loud music; he could read the lips of his friends and knew what they were saying displaying his incredible intelligence.

"..O-Oye who are you calling fat Michael..I told you It's w-water weight" Daniel stated in a wronged tone inciting laughter from a female group not too far away.

"As expected of a noob, believing everything he hears" An asian student seated in front of them turned around and laughed as he chewed on a stick of candy and gazed at the sturdy looking man with a bit of provocation. This student was a bit short and had a mischievous child-like grin plastered on his face. His slanted eyes narrowed a bit more as he gazed at the sturdy looking man.

"...Ugh..Shut it Zheng" The sturdy looking fellow beside them couldn't help but grow red like a tomato in shame. It seemed he had said something without thinking leading to the group's anger.

"My family has a saying "A noob has but one cycle of life, to exist" I think that one was for you Jason" Zheng laughed as he teased the sturdy looking fellow a bit more.

The sturdy looking caucasian man, Jason, got even redder as he stood up with a "Hmph" with his fists tightly clenched, but Zheng had already arrived at the door.

"Hahaha! See how slow you are! If you weren't an advanced muscle-brained noob, you would have predicted I would run! Hahaha! The beasts of Natural World will surely be safe in your hands!" Zheng flew out the classroom leaving the class in roaring laughter.

Alexander had gotten used to these four, they were a pretty good bunch of friends and from the conversations he's overheard; they seemed to be guild mates in previous VRs. Alexander wasn't one to eavesdrop but being as silent as he was, and as noisy as they were it wasn't hard for their daily conversations to enter his ear.

This group was aptly named the "Four Horsemen" because of their different personalities and because they were all from different backgrounds yet strangely they melded together quite perfectly.

This group was particularly responsible for a lot of the laughs in class and as such had quite a reputation. The interest only lasted for a while before Alexander once more shifted his gaze through the window, passing the day slowly by...

Time continued to pass while the conversations filled the air along with delicate female laughter. Alexander's eyes traced the laughter to a black-haired beauty that sat at the front of the class.

Her smooth and silky long black hair resting on her delicate shoulders had become the only thing that could attract Alexander's gaze for a few moments. However, there was no longing or lust in his eyes. There was absolutely nothing as he gazed at the back of the girl, and his gaze once more moved on to something he considered more interesting.

As if she felt someone was staring at her, she turned around a beat slower and saw Alexander gazing outside as usual. She had a straight nose, and a perfect line of milky white teeth, light blue eyes like the reflection of a clear shore. An exceptionally beautiful woman would be an understatement.

This young woman was Valeera White, the without a doubt most beautiful girl in Stargaze College, Stargaze City.

As she gazed at the seemingly uninterested Alexander, a complicated gaze flickered in her eyes, there was also a tinge of regret and also a bit of sadness that she suppressed. She bit her lips and took a breathe before she once more turned back to her friends and continued laughing and chatting.

*Chatter*

*Chatter*

*Open*

Suddenly the door opened as a man about 35 years old with short hair and glasses stepped inside, he was dressed in formal wear and carried himself in a scholarly manner. It was obvious this man was a teacher, this was Mr. Igor and the head teacher for this class.

"Ok! Ok guys! Settle down now!" Mr Igor commanded as he entered in a seemingly flustered manner.

As the Class Teacher had arrived, the class gradually became silent and the students all showed focused expressions. Had it been any other teacher they would misbehave for a bit longer and chatter for a while but Mr. Igor's temper was quite known and no one wanted to suffer at his hands. Being the Class Teacher, he without a doubt had quite a few means to make life a living hell.

"Ok! Today we are going to be doing things a bit differently!" Mr. Igor suddenly had a weird expression on his face as he said this, for some reason he threw a bit of a glance at Alexander before continuing.

The class seemingly had no idea what was a bout to take place but they knew if Mr. Igor didn't start class off immediately, he probably had something else in mind. Sometimes they wouldn't have much to do, and sometimes they would get heavy assignments so they had no idea what to expect.

"...Our school had a bit of a meeting with the government, and it seems they would like to try a new kind of program. I can tell you now that you all will enjoy this to no extent!" Mr Igor suddenly had a bit of pride on his face as he declared this.

"With the introduction of the new VR, Natural World. Our class has been drawn from a random lottery to participate in it's opening day. This means for this entire year, you will have no classes"

"Natural World has become so influential that economists believe that if we do not have outstanding players among our government that we will fall behind the rest of the world!"

"Therefore in almost all institutions across the world, classes of students are being sent up and their progress will be recorded"

"Naturally, this isn't something you can decline. For one year, institutions across the world will have their students play Natural World and the one year that school has been missed will be funded by the government for those who choose to participate in this endeavor"

"The future of Natural World is boundless, and as such our government must have a hand in this" Mr. Igor fixed his tie as he did a short fist pump knowing he would be hailed as a King for this deed.

"Oooooo!!!!"

"Sir! Are you being serious?! Woo!!!"

"Oh my God! I'm calling my cousin!"

"Mr. Igor! Mr. Igor! Mr. Igor!"

The class immediately flew into an uproar, cheers could be heard from other classrooms so it had become obvious this wasn't a joke.

"What?!!" Aside from the happy cheers from the classmates, only one person couldn't accept this. This was naturally Alexander, the class spun around and all threw weird gazes at him.

Valeera looked at him, and didn't seem surprised. A young man seated behind Valeera with short spiky hair and pierced ears, looked at Alexander and had a look of ridicule in his eyes, a sliver of a smile on his lips. This person was Jeoffrey Goodwin, a classmate of theirs.

Mr. Igor seemed to have predicted this, he looked at Alexander sternly and opened his mouth.

"Alexander, you must also be a part of this. If you cannot show versatility then you will no longer be a pupil of Stargaze College. Your parents have already agreed to this and I contacted them immediately because of I expected this reaction"

"They will directly cut you off from your trust fund and no longer fund your school tuition if you do not comply" Mr. Igor stated firmly

Alexander's face distorted in hatred for a second, he took a deep breathe and his emotions instantly became steady. As if he had never heard anything in the first place.

"I understand" He only said a single sentence and took his seat. With his head lowered, no one could see the expression on his face.

Mr. Igor was shocked, he had expected insults and at the very least a bit more pleading from Alexander. His change in attitude left Mr. Igor speechless, and a bit wary as he knew it would never blow over so easily.

Mr. Igor was in fact, Alexander's uncle. A fact very few people knew, and no one was more well acquainted with Alexander than he was, that's why he was sure this would never blow over so easily.

Alexander was by all means a good student, he was extremely quiet, never caused problems and always had remarkable grades. Perhaps maybe two decades ago Alexander would be popular in his class and would be every teacher's favorite student, but because of his dislike for VRs and the fact that the times had changed he had remained an oddity.

In this new age, teachers got involved with students in various different VRs and naturally the teachers got closer to the students who played VRs.

Mr. Igor sighed as he knew Alexander had a temper and he would probably find his own way to damn this program to hell. Also, he knew one of the major reasons Alexander also hated VRs, and knew this was akin to placing a bomb in Natural World.

However, because of Alexander's parents encouragement, Mr. Igor decided to get his class into the program no matter what to force Alexander to play them. His parents had decided that since VRs had become a big part of culture, Alexander's personal demons shouldn't stop him from enjoying something so miraculous.

The truth behind why Alexander hated VRs only few knew, in truth Alexander had once enjoyed them to some degree. The one who had introduced him to VRs was none other than Valeera White, the college's most beautiful girl.

At one point, she was a friend of Alexander. The two did grew up knowing one another and doing everything together, till one day Valeera acquired a capsule. She urged him to get one and after a week of harassing she had gotten her wish and Alexander had bought one as well.

At first everything started off extremely well, but Alexander loved doing physical activities as well. He would never give them up completely and as such his gaming time was only a few hours every other day. So he would only play whenever his friend, Valeera, asked him to come online. Slowly, Alexander started noticing Valeera started calling him less and less to join her and as such he had logged on one day and using Map-Finder, he traveled for a few hours all to surprise her.

What Alexander didn't realize, was that he himself would get a surprise. Valeera had already distinguished herself in an amazing guild and seemed to have a quest friend already. Apparently, she had long out-leveled Alexander and because of her love for VR gaming she unknowingly started grouping with someone else to become stronger and see more of the VR content.

The person whom Alexander saw, was the older brother of Jeoffrey Goodwin, Jeremy Goodwin.

He wasn't angry that she had found someone else to level with, what he became angry about was that Valeera started ignoring him for this person and their activities had cut down by a large amount. Alexander knew that he would never be able to catch up to her as she had suddenly become famous in a huge guild and was being cultivated into a strong player.

While Alexander was still questing in one of the beginner areas, she had already been conquering dungeons with her guild mates and the leader of the guild, Jeremy Goodwin.

As he stood from a far and saw her with her new guild mates and quest buddy, Alexander stared at her for a bit as if engraving the moment in his heart. Whether she had checked her "Online Friends" or felt someone gazing at her, she had turned around and met Alexander's heartbroken eyes. The later never touched another VR again. Valeera had tried to get into contact with him several times afterward but he either rejected her calls or had his butler turn her away at the door.

He didn't care about anything she had to say. In Alexander's mind, he had already lost his best friend.....and the girl who he had loved since he was little. She had chosen VRs over him and Alexander had his own morals and values, neither was he an idiot. Weeks had gone by and she did not contact him, only when he had seen her with Jeremy did she suddenly started calling him frequently, he would never forget the guilty look on her face.

When Valeera met him again in Stargaze College, she was astounded when she realized that even though he noticed her; he passed her straight as if the two had never met before.

Just like this Alexander made his way home with a heavy heart.

As he recalled Valeera's face and the youth that sat beside her, he remembered the scene of her and Jeremy Goodwin chatting happily and his hands gripped so tightly that his fingernails pierced into the palm of his hand and a stream of red leaked down from his fingers.

Alexander was naturally tall, and as he made his way through the college gates, the cheers of fellow schoolmates sounded like someone cursing his name. His distorted face and towering figure made the students part a bit fearfully as he made his way forward.

"You want me to play?...Fine I'll play"