Like most stories worth telling, this is one about a man and a woman. You may think it’s the type of story that has been done to death, but let us face the facts, it is what we all want and only a few achieve it. Unfortunately that will have to take a back seat while the main focus for now it is all about the adventure.

This is the story about a man named Presscot Miles. Presscot prefers the name Scot and is currently 15 years of age and lucky enough to be born in to a rich family. Due to his father’s business he moved around a lot and never really had close friends. Currently he lives alone at the Miles manor in England while his father is all over the world making it a better place (more like making money). His mother tells people that she tags along sometimes but actually spends most of her time abroad with charities and the like (funny how most of them are in vacation spots and places where his father is not).

He is not alone at the house; he has a few servants and maids that keep the estate in order, a full time cook and a steward that handles the funds and pretty much runs the place and makes sure everyone does what they are supposed to do.

Scot is not like the standard rich kids that are in his private school. He is too wealthy to get picked on and does not have any weird looks or anything. You can say that he is just another average Joe that people greet and soon forget. On the academic front he is below average but that does not bother him because his great grandfather founded the school with 2 other lords, the library was donated by his grandfather en his father donated all the latest tech to run a private school and more. Teachers and tutors never said bad things about him and did their best not to kiss his ass in front of the other students. In short you can say he is not just ‘’a legacy’’, he is ‘’the legacy’’. Since he arrived half way through the school term he was given a free pass to the year and would have his own private exams that he would have to prepare for.

You might think he has it all but his people skill are very lacking and when he arrived at the school he got the feeling every one that invited him over and talked to him, wanted to talk and invite the ‘legacy’ and not the real him. So naturally he smiled and always had creative ways to sneak away during long conversations and not really talk about himself.

Scot was not really interested in sports. He usually spent his free time playing games on computers or the latest xbox and playstation. Everything from first person shooters to MMORPG’s and real time strategy games. Whatever kept him entertained long enough, he mastered to a degree. By master I mean he was not called a noob and even received a few invites to parties and guilds. At the school he had many options to join book clubs or a lacrosse team or the very popular school editorial.

Naturally he passed on it all and was on the prowl for a new game to play. One day at lunch break a kid Scot did not really like, started boasting how his father bought a new game from Korea which allows one to enter a virtual world where one can be a grand adventurer and explore the world within. Being very pessimistic about a new virtual world Scot chose to ignore it. He followed his own set of rules when it came to his nerd way of life.

Later that night he was online looking at game reviews and upcoming games from his favourite gaming companies. While browsing he read an article about a person selling his Continent of Magic account for a lot of money. It was said to be the strongest character ever in the game. Scot thought back to when he played the game. He got around to level 100 or so and then quit. He was no stranger to the grinding but for him it was reaching a point where the strong rule and pk you if you don’t fit in or give them what they want. At the time he recalled there was a player that the whole world formed an army to hunt and failed to get him. That was the final straw. He cursed the game makers for not balancing the game and put the game on the shelf with so many others he had accumulated over the years.

Another game that showed promise was Space Invaders Ultimate. Where a person gets your own space ship that you modify to fit your play style and shoot invading aliens. Once a week all players on the server participate in a planet wide defence. A person is assigned a grid to defend depending on your type of ship and battle rep. He asked his father for the money and he gave it to him while laughing and said, “just remember not to stay on the same spot for ever”. Apparently there was a game called space invader on a platform called TV games which his farther use to play before he grew up. It ran on 16 bit colour and had only few sounds or some such tragic stuff. He thought his father sure grew up in the bad ages.

His father always wanted to know what all the money was being spent on before giving it. Since his father was probably feeling guilty for not being around most of the time he gave the money if it was not for an insane reason. Scot always told the truth and usually got what he wanted. He could still not believe he got the dirt bikes that are currently standing in the back yard gathering dust.

So he decided to read up a bit more before he bought the game, but at least he had the money now. He noticed that the virtual reality multi massive online role playing game (VRMMORPG) was getting a lot of attention. Apparently some prodigy and a handful of top scientist really did make a game just like that annoying kid talked about. It was not receiving many positive reviews and criticism was overwhelming. Like most things that came from the east it must be bad for the western people. They used new tech where you get into a capsule and enter the world. How sci-fi is that. Your body stays here and your mind goes into the game. He hoped they have good layers and programming to safe guard your mind. This was interesting and could be good fun and the potential for abuse was high. But it violated the first rule on the list. ‘’The nerd way of life’’ was a list most gamers have in their mind.

This list was first thought up when Scot was young and had a bad experience. A few more rules were added over the years.

1. Don’t buy the first version of a new platform, always wait for the next. They are way less buggy and glitchy.

2. Play games that are balanced

3. Trust no one.

4. Be polite to others at the start before you show your true colours.

5. Find a strong person or guild and leech of them.

6. There is always something to learn or gain from losses and unexpected diversions.

7. When winning, or achieving greatness don’t act overjoyed, just play it cool and act like you do this every day

So he kept on looking for something new till it was time for bed.

That Monday was the same as most. He woke up, ate, got ready for school and went. Nothing special happened that day but at lunch break that annoying kid was again talking about this game in a bit more detail.

Kid “You guys won’t believe me. This game is the real deal, it is just like the real world. You breathe and walk normally, can smell and taste and even feel the sun on your skin. It’s amazing. At the start it felt weird like I was in a dream but less sluggish’’.

Most were in awe, but some smirked at that. As he kept on explaining a few other things Scot thought how would this capsule be able to fool a brain like that or even if it’s possible to stimulate the brain in multiple ways like that…

Kid ‘’AND THAT’S NOT ALL you can even change your appearance, I am a 20 year old looking male human, with broad shoulders and a tanned skin, it’s really awesome’’

Hahaha imagine that. there will be so much chaos as pink 13 year olds run around looking like grown men. I pity those fools, he thought.

Kid ‘’Right now I am still getting the feel for the game, I only got it on Friday and then started playing, but so far so good. In a week I am already lvl 2, I got lucky and found a lot of easy quests to do. I almost died when I forgot to eat in game and once during a struggle with a guard, but lucky for me every one is so helpful. There was a jerk that pk’ed another player and he was tossed in jail. Afterwards there was a mark on his head and his name showed, so we all knew he was a pk’er’’.

That sounds fair, hope it lasts. Scot recalled that the game was mainly played in Korea and the kid does not seem like he spoke another language. I wonder if the western people get their own starting town, probably far away from the main action.

Kid “There is a in game translator so everyone understands everyone else, and 1 hour played is 4 hours in game, and for the first month you have to stay inside the city walls. So next week I am going to go outside and kill any monster I can see. And then…’’

As Scot took a moment to think about it all a few thoughts crept up in his mind like, how is the 1 to 4 play ratio even possible? How much is he exaggerating? There are a lot of complex games out there, but to take that all and make a VR with it? It sounds a lot like a new world, a new way of life (sure the adverts for the game said something similar) but this sounds just too good to be true. He decided to look for more info about the subject later online at home.

After a few days of browsing and reading forums online, he came to a conclusion. There is just so much data it’s hard to list it all. The most reliable info would probably be on Unicorns home webpage; the company that made the game. After reading through a lot of topics and game info he felt a tingling sensation crawling up his spine and he whispered ‘’I need to be part of this’’.

Unbeknown to Scot another group was also listening from a distance to the annoying kid. Brad ’’You think it’s true? Sounds a bit farfetched to me’’.

Steven ‘’It does, but if is the real deal it would be one hell of a game’’.

Yuri ‘’A new game, is just what we need, I was getting tired of the game we playing now’’

Tara “I Think we can have the game by the weekend if our parents buy it for us. I just get all fired up thinking about it’’.

Brad ‘’So it begins. Come to my house Thursday with what you can dig up and we will take things from there’’.