"Yes, like I told you, there's a lot of things that you need to know and it will take some time to ingrain these things inside your head like second nature."Matthias stared at Larsen as he lay down in one of the capsules to try the game that was being described to him."My assistant, Kira, will be logging in with you, so please wait for us at the cathedral after you create your character," Larsen told him one last time before closing the lid of the capsule to officially start his gaming journey.When Matthias opened his eyes again, he was in a very white place where he could not perceive depth."Hello?" he called but there was no sound coming out of his mouth.Then zzt...and a small window with a keyboard opened.[Please enter your name]Matthias keyed his name but changed his mind halfway and changed it into Mias. But that sounds too girly so he changed it again into Sai, taking the last letters of his name.[Welcome, Sai.] The screen says and then it shows him ways to customize hi

As Larsen faded, Matthias slowly walked away from the monsters so that he wouldn't end up like their last victim, hanged upside down and conscious while being bitten bit by bit by the monsters as if savoring a delicacy. Small dark elves, that’s what the monsters are and they are burning and tossing the other humans they captured, shouting and cheering as they pass it to each other to have their comrades taste it. But as Matthias tried to run away from the busy elves, he did not notice a stone in the ground and fell belly first to the ground. Without thinking, he used the ability [Blink] but instead of getting himself far away from the monsters, he ended up back to his previous position which is just barely a hundred kilometers away from the elves. In haste, he tried to crawl out of panic. This led to one elf learning his location. Soon, each of the elves started to recognize that there is an intruder in their vicinity. Squeeee! The tiny humanoid creatures squealed like goblins a

“Same as…me?” “Yeah… you. How do you describe yourself?” Matthias told Larsen as he studied the capsule where he’s been laying down for a long time…which felt exactly 3 years for him.Complicated, maybe? Larsen thought.Ah! So that’s how it is.“Aren’t you going to ask me something important?” Larsen smirked at Matthias.“Not interested. Anything that you’ll say won’t be taken seriously by me…Dear Emperor.”Larsen gave a deep sigh at Matthias’ stubbornness. Well, that’s to be expected from him.“If I were you, I'd start taking over land now. It could be something that’s not Penoma but that’s the place I recommend. That’s because in 3 weeks time, I will officially launch this app out in public. Meaning, you’ll be taken over by those who really know how to beat a game. You should hurry.”Then Larsen left the room, leaving Matthias who is still engrossed at the structure of the giant device in front of him.Two weeks passed and the rumor about a new virtual reality game that extends to

Nelson's uploaded video took up the charts in trending topics. He was even interviewed for an evening magazine show just to talk about his experience in meeting the rumored Duke, who everyone thinks is the top player within the game because currently, he's also the one dealing with the empire's affairs more than the emperor. "Isn't this a problem?" Clementine said to Matthias when Matthias went out of his capsule that day. "That Camilla will see you.""See me?" Matthias thought for a while before stepping out of the capsule. "What is it for her then? I don't remember offending her except for that one time when I—""She's out for your throat and money," Clementine informed Matthias. "And because of that, here's the report that I need you to read."Matthias read the report with a serious face, tapping on the floor with his foot. And after two minutes, he sat down on the chair not too far away from him. "These...is she seriously trying to start a war? Isn't the sales and manufacturing