It's already been a few decades since the beginning of the VRMMO craze swept the world. These games were originally too expensive or too involved for the casual gamer to just jump into. Now however, anyone can own a pod for just about any game they intend to play regularly thanks to the companies deciding to include an automatic livestream system into the core functions of the pods.

Sure, the players can't use the money that would be generated by the videos for themselves, but at least the games would be self sufficient so long as they were being played. Additionally, research has been conducted to allow individuals that are deemed unfit or deterimental to normal society to be permanentally placed in these games through a neural link system, removing the possibility of them returning to their bodies indefinitely. This has been used to remove criminals deemed too deranged or violent from society and as an option for the elderly to have an afterlife, of a sort, of their choosing.

The primary benefit of the Afterlife program would be that family members would still be able to meet with those who chose to pass on early in the virtual world through the normal usage of their own virtual reality pod. At first the media created a huge uproar, but after a few reporters were able to interview the retired and their families; the public acquiessed and accepted that, for the purpose of giving the elderly another hundred or so years of simulated life, this wasn't a bad development.

Children and young adults were affected by the inclusion of VR technology the most. Almost all schooling and training was carried out in a simulated environment that allowed for graduation with a diploma as early as age 12. Those that stayed in the virtual schools longer could easily earn a college degree in the amount of time it would have taken to get a diploma. The young adult crowed were able to acquire specialized training in time dilation environments, thereby becoming masters in many tradeskills to fill out the workforce.

I thumbed through the world list for the umpteenth time while sitting alone in my room. My decision had been made a long time ago, but I was hoping to see my family one last time in the real world before going. I talked to my son and grandkids a few times on the phone, but they are always too busy to talk for long. I haven't had a visitor once in the two years since I was abandoned in this hellish nursing home.

I suppose it wouldn't be a bad place if I weren't the only patient but alas, everyone else just jumps into their afterlives without so much as a hello to the oldest resident of this home. I guess I should just go with it and maybe once I'm not here these nasty nurses will become unemployed, what a pitiful revenge. I press the call button and wait for one of the inept nurses to show up.

If I'm going, I at least want to be out of here before it becomes feeding time again. I swear the food is still alive when it arrives on its styrofoam tray. I filled out the forms to move on to the best of my abilities, but my shaking hand doesn't make it easy to write, so I just sign the spaces with a crooked x and hope I get a nurse that has legible handwriting.

Almost ten minutes after I pressed the call button a nurse finally shows up with a scowl on her face. "What? Did I interrupt your shit break, med-school dropout?" I asked as rudely as I could. These nurses have never once been nice to me, they make themselves scarce at all times unless it's feeding time or pill despensing time. I'm not likely to treat them any different now that I won't have to see them again. Though I will miss the orderlies, They listen to my stories and would sometimes tell a good dirty joke.

"I'm not in the mood to play today Mr. Reiner, what do you want?" The bitchy nurse responded sharply. "Did you wipe? How about washing your hands? If you've done that you can wear the gloves and fill out the blanks for me, I don't want to catch anything from you before I leave. You get all of that head tramp?" I purposely insult her despite the monitoring. The orderly on duty today is Joe, ihe's a good guy and finds it funny when I give the girls hell. He's probably laughing his ass off right now.

"Oh so you're finally going to leave?" She smiled in a smug manner. "Yeah, just fill this in, you'll love the world I chose. I guarantee you couldn't visit to torture me without dying at least four times." I baited her to see if she'd respond. "Yeah yeah, if it's so tough you won't make it two minutes." She took the paper "It'll be a minute and fifty-eight seconds longer than your man lasts." I said, watching her turn beet red. I could hear Joe's howling laughter as he pounded on his desk down the hallway.

The nurse collected he composure and tersely said "Whatever, just tell me which one it is." I cleared my throat and calmly said, "one one zero dash five, Earthlike, plus magic and monsters. If I find one that looks like you I'll make sure to stuff it and use it as a sandbag." I sensed that she had enough so I toned it down a bit and said, "Seriously though, try to be nice to the next scared old man that visits." She looked shocked by my sudden admission which for once, wasn't mean. I saw a tear forming in her eye as she turned to leave with my Afterlife program form. I smiled as the door closed and waited for the doctor to come in.

The doctor was here in under a minute. He always treated the job seriously. We went over the transfer procedure together as a technician made sure the connections on the VR pod were correct. I was given the option of using the pod normally before entering the Afterlife program, but I couldn't even get to it by myself. This would be my first and last use of the pod.

I took the last of my dwindling savings and had it converted into the money of my chosen world, Magras and I was lowered into the gel-filled pod. The technician connected a cable in the gel to a port in the base of my skull, one of the very few modifications I had implanted into my body and then lowered the lid of the pod.

I closed my eyes and waited for the splash screen that I heard would appear once you were connected to the neural network. Soon enough a pixellated blue word appeared before me. The one-word splash screen said PRIME and it reminded me of an old console game my gramps and I played together when I was a kid, except that one said Sega. The splash screen faded away and I had a satellite picture of the planet Magras floating below my suspended frame.

A feminine face that looked like it was made of plastic greeted me in a soothing yet mechanical voice. "Hello Mr Reiner, I am here to guide you through the steps to creating the image others will see as you travel through Magras." I thought about it for a bit, "I guess I can consider this to be character creation?" I asked tentatively. "Something like that, but you shouldn't take this lightly. This isn't a game, this is your life from now on Mr. Reiner." The face answered, "And furthermore, because of the world you chose, there won't be any assistance from me once you leave this area."

"You won't know if or when your stats change without going to a cathedral or visiting a priest and you won't get little boxes telling you information about objects. You will have to learn what things are in this world as you would in your old world." The face was quite informative and helped me iron out some of my misgivings about Magras.

"Okay, that is fine, show me the race options." I said to the mask like face. A series of five husk-like bodies appeared before me all of them were male and appeared to look much like my real self. I wasn't bad looking even as an old man. I was thinner now and my back was bowed when I was able to walk last unassisted, but none of these figures were at my age.

The first body was a generic human. I had my six foot four inch height, as well as my lean 180lbs and was built in a way that suggested it was used to moderate exercise. The second figure was slim and had pointed ears, clearly an elf. The third body was bulky and somewhat shorter at around five-one, The beard and highly muscled figure easily gave it away as a dwaf. The fourth body was even shorter at just under four feet tall. The body seemed soft and round and had very little in the way of muscle. I had no idea what it was, maybe a hobbit?

The last body on display was a hulk among men, taller than me by at least a foot with chiseled features. It had oiled up muscles that would fit a professional wrestler better than they would me. All of the bodies had my dark facial features, and all but the elf and the fourth body sported a goatee or beard. I couldn't place the race of the fifth one either, but it was likely some sort of barbarian.

"I recognize the first three races, but what are the other two?" I asked, perplexed at my inability to place them. "The fourth body is that of a gnome, they are not very physical and are adept at working with complex machines and enchanting. The fifth body is that of a half-giant, they posess very little magical aptitude and are also not very good at delicate tasks, but have monsterous strength and endurance as a trade off." The mask answered my question and waited for my response.

I thought about how useful being strong and tough would be for a moment before discarding the idea. I was an amateur boxer and had competed in a few wrestling matches in highschool and college. I was no war monger though, so choosing the half-giant would work against me just as much as it would for me. "Remove the half-giant please and arrange the remaining bodies by life expectancy." I requested.

The half-giant went away and the remaining bodies were shuffled around until the order was Elf, Dwarf, Human, Gnome. "What is the drawback for the gnome?" I asked quizzically. "Gnomes have less strength and endurance than any other race, they tend to die quickly to monsters thus the life expectancy is only forty years or so. If they aren't killed in battle they rival the elves in longevity though." I thought a bit more, "Wait, then this isn't life expectancy by longevity, this is by likelihood of survivng an attack?"

The face's expression changed as it responded, "Of course, the order by longevity would be more like this." the races rearranged themselves again. The new order is Gnome, Elf, Dwarf, Human. "So, Gnomes outlive Elves?" I asked. "Yes, by about half which is around 500 years, give or take a century." The face responded. "I choose gnome then." I said, "What is the default starting age?" I asked. "Adulthood or birth, you choose, an adult gnome would be around fifty." I quickly chose to be an adult. and was deposited in the gnome body to be transferred down to Magras. "Good luck" The face said as it drifted out of sight.

Thomas Reiner Gnome Level 1 Engineer Strength 5 Perception 8 Endurance 5 Charisma 5 Intelligence 10 Agility 8 Luck 6 0 points

I quickly distributed the thirty-five points and noticed that I started with six in luck before everything went dark. It was time to take my first step in Magras. I noted that my class was already filled in, but I doubt I'll keep it for long.