March 1st, 2098

"Monster Mayhem Online is the first VRMMORPG that this world has ever seen. Our technology offers a new gaming experience unlike anything before, indistinguishable from reality. This game is filled with Majesty, Mystery, and most importantly, MONSTERS. At this point, it is a phenomenal game; however, we continue to astonish and amaze. Of the millions of monsters in here, including the bosses, every Single monster has it's own unique skill repertoire made of the tens of Millions of skills in this game; and yet, there is still another kicker. Every Single monster and NPC can be bent to serve any player. These monsters or NPC, once trained or befriended, can operate autonomously and independently of the player. The possibilities of this are Endless. Want to found your own kingdom? You can. Want to raise an army? You can do that too. Want to conquer the world? I'll leave the possibilities to your imagination. The first 20,000 buyers will have their capsules installed in their place of choice free, and will obtain a lifetime subscription. This game will be released tomorrow. That is all."

This was the spiel that the sweaty little CEO of Potato Industries gave to the world as he walked off with a smug little smile. Of the millions of people that saw this, over 80% were instantly hooked. They rushed to the stores en masse. Among this mass, was Sameul Atronov.

As everyone rushed to the stores, and he waited outside of 'Phenomenal Purchase' (A replacement for B*st B*y). He was panting with excitement and joy. He had driven to the store as fast as I could, and still there were people their ahead of me!

They waited outside and out breath crystallized in the air as we waited... The cloud of crystallization hung in the air over us as we were all silent as we saw the pimply store clerk come and then... turn over the closed sign to open... ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!

It was madness, punching and screaming. He thought he may have broken someone's nose, but to be fair, some girl kneed him in the balls, so he wasn't too terribly happy.

Sameul somehow was able to get a copy. The only thing he could think of while he was giving my address to the clerk was "YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS."

Sameul was walking out, nearly skipping out of elation. Then, he made a choice which he does not regret, but would change his life.

He saw a girl skipping merrily, holding the certificate for the game, and a car (Little tiny electric car) came barreling down from the right. He looked at the driver and saw his eyes filled with a crazy glint. Sameul knew what that glint was, the flames of greed. The greed for the game

The world seemed to slow down as he ran out and pushed the girl out of the way. He felt an intense pain in his side as he was thrown to the left. He saw a group of red liquid drops sail through the air, painting the concrete with red.

Sameul looked at the girl to see if she was alright, and she seemed fine, though really angry for some reason. She came up to him and kicked him in the gonads while yelling "You idiot!!!!!" Though her words and expression seemed to contradict each other because there were little crystal droplets streaming from her eyes.

That wasn't the only thing that was wrong. He couldn't feel her kick. Come to think of it... He couldn't feel anything. And that is when the world went dark and void...

Sameul awoke in a small, uncomfortable bed draped in scratchy white sheets that felt extremely uncomfortable against his skin. He groggily say up and observed his surroundings. His bed was in the center of a small square room with white walls. This room was sparsely decorated with furniture (consisting of one desk, two tables, bed, lamp). To one side, there stood what seemed to be hospital equipment...

Sameul sat up straighter with his eyes bugging out at the needle that was jabbed into his arm. He surveyed the room again and thought to himself "Crap, what did I do this time?"

At that moment, an older man with greying hair stepped opened the door with a smile.

""Looks like you're finally up kid. Good to see you awake, though it would have been better to not have seen ha at all. You must have been the 200th victim of that Monster Mayhem stampede... Kids these days."

"How long was I out?"

"Hm? Oh about two months."

He stared at him slack jawed

"Two months?! Are you kidding me? How unlucky can I be?!"

"Well, you can count yourself lucky you didn't die at least. I heard there was one fatality in this mess. Some poor sap got himself shot and the game was taken. Consider yourself lucky!"

He just stared at him incredulously.

"You're kidding right? Two months, I better get going" He said as he moved to swing his legs off the bed... But they didn't move.

He looked at his legs curiously and tried again. No response. He began to get scared and he turned to the old man.

"What's wrong with me doc? WHAT IS IT??"

"First of all young man, I am not a "doc" my name is Richard Strolonhoff, creator of the technology for the VRMMORPG that caused this mess. Secondly, we had to pump you up with drugs to make sure you survived."

Sameul stared incredulously at him

"You're kidding right?"

"Awww, you found me out? Darn. Okay, truth is, you broke your spine and so it is very unlikely you'll every regain control of any of your body that is below your waist." He said with a smile that belonged on the face of a little child that did something naughty, not on some OLD GUY!

"I was questioning your identity! Not the state of my body! Dang it!!!"

"I said it was unlikely you would regain your bodily controls, not impossible. Actually, that is the reason that I came here today. To give you a solution to your.... Unique predicament."

He stared at him for a second.

"I'm listening"

"GOODY! So then Sameul - Can I call you Sammy? Splendid! So Sammy, your predicament is unique, but also offers me, the producer of the technology, a brilliant opportunity. We have been trying to test our technology to see the medicinal possibilities and poof, here you are. We would like to extend to offer to you for a two month, full dive environment to see how your body will respond to the treatment that you will be undergoing during this time. We will cover the expenses and of course, take care of your dogs."

"So what's the catch. Wait, How Did You Know I had Pets?"

"The catch is that... There is none. Take it or leave it, thought I don't think you can afford to leave it. Your insurance doesn't cover the operations you will be needing."

He stared at this man cautiously. This man, Richard, seemed to know everything, and was willing to playing dirty. His offer was splendid and a gift, though Sameul was not quite sure how he knew all this about him, which put him on edge.

Sameul clears his throat and says with apprehension

" I accept this deal... Though I do have a condition."

"What might that be?"

"I'd like to be able to break off this agreement at any time."

"*sigh* You really don't trust me do you? Okay deal" said the strange old man as he takes out the head gear for the VRMMORPG. "Here, put this on and say, Connect to Monster Mayhem. I already have an account for this device. You just have to make your character."

Sameul took the headgear from this strange man, and put it on, looking at the man with a cautious look. He lay down in the bed.

He breathed out "Connect to Monster Mayhem"

And with that, the world went bright and white