It was currently 8:00 in the morning. The golden-red glow of the morning sun showcased its brilliance as Morales rushed to set everything that was required before he would report to his new workplace.

His dark-toned skin glowed a bit like sparkling red wine as a consequence of the small sheen of sweat now on its surface. His dark unkempt beard made him look unruly like a middle-aged gangster with no purpose in life.

His dull grey eyes and dropping chin did not help matters either, they made him look like a depressed man. After putting on his black overcoat, he finally started preparing the things he needed for his journey.

Today was a day that he had long been waiting for as the long-time goal that he was fighting for was finally accomplished.

Space world was the new reigning virtual reality game that was currently rocking the stats and the whole games world.

From its advert simulations alone, the game was already long accepted by everyone to be a hit in this jet age of video games.

After its official launch, it did not disappoint all the hype that was generated. It became a video game that completely changed the notion of what people originally knew as video games, thereby generating a huge fanbase.

Though the game became a huge success, the developers still wanted to take the game experience to the next level. After a lot of research, they finally decided on the perfect way to enhance the gaming experience to make it even more lifelike.

To make this a reality, they decided to hire 20 of their most loyal top supporters to make them the new revolution NPCs of the game through neural manipulation.

Morales Clifford, he was also one of the few lucky supporters of Space world that was chosen to undergo this revolutionary experiment.

He was originally a soldier that served in his country’s army for almost half his life. But due to an incident, his career was cut short as he sustained an injury that incapacitated him.

This incident happened to him at roughly the same time that Space world was launched. To curb his depression, he decided to devote all his time to the game, and here he was.

In less than 5 minutes, he finished gathering all his luggage as he was already short of time. He left his house immediately before taking the next flight to Space world’s headquarters in the U.S.A.

…

In a large white-colored research lab, 20 individuals were restrained to seats like those for execution by thin but durable metal holding belts.

Despite this seemingly inhuman treatment, the individuals nervously but excitedly watched the scientists and game developers attending to them.

Only Morales had a little bit of calm and anticipation for what would really happen. As a retired soldier, he was less nervous as he calmly watched the scientists.

After asking them to brace themselves and endure any slight mental prick, the researchers finally activated their devices.

…

Wom!! Wom!! Loud alarm sounds rang, reverberating round the big research lab as the scientists worked with a panicked, anxious, and confused expression on their faces.

[Ding!! Patients’ have been detected to suddenly receive huge spikes in their brain activity, calming methods are advised to be utilized immediately.]

This ominous message from their work A. I made the scientists and game developers more panicked as they tried harder without much result to pinpoint exactly where the problem came from.

They already tried to switch off their devices and stop the operation, but their operation devices mysteriously refused to be hampered.

Morales and the other NPC candidates were already feeling alarmed at the continuous ringing of the warning bells, they all looked at the working researchers with hopeful expressions on their faces.

This hope proved to be brainless as they suddenly felt an intense mental prick impacting their brains.

Ahhh!! They all suddenly yelled in pain as 15 of the candidates’ heads burst into a bloody mist immediately, raining blood and gore.

The remaining 5 candidates watched with horrified expressions on their faces as their comrades died pathetically. Before they could think further, they felt in intense mental pain again before they fainted.

Before Morales fainted completely, he didn’t feel much regret, the only thought on his head was that at least his brain didn’t explode like some of the other candidates.

…

In a black mist-filled expanse of space, yellowish-green glows shone, illuminating the atmosphere as they were the only source of light in the unending darkness.

Among these countless green lights that were drifting aimlessly, 15 other glows suddenly joined them as they all also entered the vicious circle of drifting around aimlessly.

After what seemed like just a moment had passed, another group of glows suddenly appeared again to join their counterparts.

Unlike the other glows that drifted aimlessly, these 5 new glows appeared to be unique. It seemed like an active consciousness lived in them as they pulsed in a life-like manner.

It was at this moment that a black hole-like vortex suddenly appeared, revolving randomly like a deflated balloon. It spread its invisible tentacles to these 5 new glows, moving them closer without them offering much resistance.

Whoosh!! With a sound like that of something warping across, the 5 glows disappeared with the revolving vortex, restoring the calm to this strange world.

…

Ding!! A short but loud notification sound suddenly rang, vibrating and reverberating around a small debilitated room.

Morales finally opened his eyes from the disturbance of the noise as he squinted them to adapt to the dim light in wherever he was.

He narrowed his still groggy eyes a bit as the familiar mechanical restraints that held him and the other candidates were no longer there.

The familiar experiment lab was no longer before him, instead, he was facing a completely unknown room.

The walls that surrounded him were no longer also the regular white color of the experiment lab. Instead, he was in a grey and dull-looking metal walled room.

He was surprised on seeing this dungeon-like room. Surprise was an understatement; he was amazed as none of his dreams were able to simulate something so fictional to him before.

Everything looked like something out of a fantasy world, so lifelike. The black and gold-rimmed coating of the metal walls reinforced this notion of his, this dream of his was surely HD quality.

“Did I get high before fainting? I really need to tone down on my drinking, but the beverage company said their products contained only 20% alcohol”.

As he complained, though he did not know where exactly this was, he still remembered what happened around him before he fainted.

He felt slightly relieved on seeing his skin; at least his skin was still dark-toned so he was not suffering from brain damage.

“Am I in the hospital? Did the game developers already remedy their mistake in the experiment? Why the hell will they even subject us to such dangerous experiments?”

Clang!! It was at this moment that the door to this room was yanked open by a group of 5 thugs.

He wanted to concentrate and see who these people were, but he could not as he suddenly felt like a large amount of data was being transmitted into his mind forcefully, causing his head to ache severely.

“The hostage is finally awake. You two, quickly go and inform the dungeon protector”. The one who seemed to be the leader of these newcomers ordered as the 2 thugs that were ordered obeyed without complaints.

On hearing these ominous words and phrases instead of the medical verdicts that he expected to hear, Morales’s heart suddenly started palpitating rapidly.

As the 2 thugs that were sent left, he finally internalized the information that was just dumped into his brain.

“I…, Did I just transmigrate into Space world?”

“What the f**k, is that even possible?”

His limited petty human reasoning tried to impede his thought process, but the evidence before him was undisputable.

After he came to this realization, before he could think further, a glowing line of text suddenly appeared in his sight.

­­________________________________________

Name: Morales Clifford

Race: Human/?

Model: Mutated NPC

Level: 5

Experience: 42

Main Class: N.A

Sub-Class: Young lord Lv. 10 [Limit of sub-class reached, cannot be leveled up again]

Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 2, Endurance 3, Intelligence 3, Charisma 10, Luck 2

Free attribute points: 0

Energy: 0 Lv [0]

Energy rank: 0

Talent points: 0

Grade: F [Normal human]

[Overall Verdict: A spoiled noble brat that is just reaping off his family’s influential reputation and wealth with no achievement to his name. Baggage of spoiled trash.]

Health Points: 15/50 [Injured state.]

[Weakness Penalty: Attribute’s reduction- 80%]

Stamina: 38/50

Passive Abilities:

Low-level overwhelming charisma: +10% to charisma and all charisma-related abilities.

Skills: …

__________________________

Seeing this, he released a breath of fresh air that he unknowingly held in since it became known to him that he transmigrated.

“Damn, yeah man, thank God! I transmigrated with the game interface!” He felt ecstatic as without this very important resource, he would have surely been a headless chicken without any sense of direction.

With all these new clues, he finally calmed down as he tried to thoroughly go through again and understand his situation clearly.

What bugged him was that he still had no idea how he was able to transmigrate into the game world. This was in itself both baffling, ominous, and terrifying.

Secondly, he felt relieved as with his interface present, this meant that he could still level up normally like in the game.

The last but most worrying thought that plagued him was that his current situation was not looking good no matter which angle he looked at it from.

He was held by a bunch of bandits in a dungeon that he could not recognize at the moment. And they sent 2 to go call for a dungeon protector, which would most likely be a mini-boss NPC.

He already noticed his body that was bloodily battered like something that just underwent a ruthless round of torture, hence his injured state.

Clang!! On hearing the sound of the dungeon room’s door opening again, he braced himself like someone on the slaughter ground to see whoever was coming.

“Man, I hope my luck is not as dangerous as in the game. Please, let these 2 points of luck help me”. He prayed in resignation as the thudding sounds of footsteps got closer.

[Hey, new reader, thanks for trying out my work. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.]