Seb kept looking at the car until it vanished in the distance, then let out a deep sigh. He immediately started wondering whether he made the correct decision, but what was done was done.

  Besides, the capsules have already sold out, so there's no point in thinking about it anyway, he thought.

  He packed up his archery equipment and set off to go home.

  His car was not as luxurious as the SUV his former teammate was driving, but being the best player in Valhalla for all those years meant he could still afford a decent life, even after losing most of what he had earned to Jack Goldmane and the rest of Avalon.

  Every time he thought about his former team, the feeling of anger formed a cramp in his throat.

  Despite his calm demeanor, he yearned to give payback to Ryder and the rest of Team Avalon. He dreamt about it constantly, and it got to a point it even affeced his social life as well. He knew he had to let go, but one thing kept creeping back into his mind.

  It wasn't fair.

  The only time he wasn't ruminating on the past was when he was practicing archery, but nowadays even that had only caused a fleeting sense of tranquility.

  With Godsrealm, he could have had a second chance. A chance to reach new heights, to achieve greatness once again, to reclaim his throne and to reconnect with his lost friends.

  He almost convinced himself to look for a capsule online. He wouldn't be able to start the game today, and losing out on precious launch time was crucial, but it would have still been better than nothing.

  Vengeance isn't a good guide, he thought.

  He was pretty sure something similar had been said by one of the great philosophers before, and it was befitting the situation, so in the end, he let it go.

  As he was driving home, the weather cleared, and it almost seemed like the sun was going to shine as well; a phenomenon very rare in these parts of the world at this time of day.

  He arrived home in about 20 minutes.

  Seb parked the car on the driveway of a spacious condo with well-kept grass and neat bushes, wrought iron fences, and an ornate gate. There were no other properties in the vicinity; in fact, the closest town was more than ten miles away. Seb chose this remote location because he had had enough of people, but nowadays he felt a little bit too isolated.

  Just as he was about enter his home, he saw a transport truck turn onto the street; a weird sight for sure, as during the time he lived here, he never saw a truck come through these parts, and this particular road was a dead end.

  He must have gotten lost, Seb guessed.

  As the vehicle stopped in front of his house, Seb turned back and went back to the gate to give the driver directions or whatever help he could offer. Two men stepped out of the truck, wearing work overalls and caps, and one was holding papers and a pen. As they went to the gate, the driver nodded and said.

  "Delivery for Sebastian Quill."

  Seb didn't understand the situation.

  "I didn't order anything," he said.

  The worker looked into the papers.

  "This is 99 Strathy Point, Strathy, Thurso KW14 7RY, right?" he pointed at the house.

  "Yeah?" Seb said, but it sounded more like a question.

  "And you're Sebastian Quill?"

  "I am."

  "Then this is for you," the man said, while the other worker unloaded the truck. He used a machine to do so, lifting out a massive box from the vehicle.

  "What is it?" Seb asked.

  The man laughed and pointed at the logo on his overalls. The letters NWE said everything he needed to know.

  "Just sign here and here, please," the driver pointed to the documents. "Oh, and you've also got a message that was sent with the delivery. Here."

  He handed Seb a piece of paper.

  In case you change your mind

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  It wasn't signed, but it was obvious. Ace knew he'd get no for an answer at first. He knew, but he still traveled here and gave it a shot.

  But Ace, being Ace, he already had a plan B.

  "Where should we set up the capsule?" the other person asked.

  I didn't order the capsule, he wanted to say, but even as he was thinking about it, his hands were already moving to sign the documents.

  Maybe I'll just look into it, just a little. It is groundbreaking technology, after all.

  "The living room's fine, follow me," he said after doing the paperwork.

  The two gentlemen set up the capsule in about 30 minutes.

  It was a sleek design, one that could easily fit a man much bigger than Seb. The leaning chair was comfortable, and the controls were easy to understand. All you had to do was put on the helmet and gloves, lie inside the capsule, and turn it on.

  "If you experience any dizziness, unusual headaches, or similar symptoms, exit the machine immediately. It monitors all your vital functions and has been tested for years, so there's nothing to worry about, but it is a safety protocol. Just don't forget that eating and drinking inside the game will not satisfy your real-life needs, although it might feel that way once in-game. Your body will be in a similar state to hibernation, so you won't necessarily need as many nutrients as you'd do on a day when not using the capsule, but it is still advised to keep a healthy diet."

  "The machine will give you periodical updates about your body and will notify you when you have to get out of the capsule. You can also check your body functions from the in-game menu," The other man added.

  As they briefed Seb on the initial setup, they connected the machine to the power system.

  "If there is a power outage, the machine will notify you about it. It can still run on its own power for 12 hours thanks to the built-in generator, but it's best to log out immediately in such a scenario. Recommended maximum game time is 12 hours, but the capsule won't force you to exit until 24 hours have passed. There is a cooldown period. It is developed for your safety," the driver said, checking boxes on a list before continuing.

  "Cooldown period is a period of time after logging off when the machine locks you out. The length of this period equals the length of the play session. This means that if you play for four hours, you will not be able to enter the game for four hours after logging out. If you play for 24 hours, you will have to wait a whole day to log in once again."

  The briefing lasted about an hour and was exceptionally thorough. After the men explained everything, they left Seb's house. He quickly checked the game's website and began browsing blogs and forums to gather as much information as possible.

  Maybe it is time I returned.

  Bow God Zephyr, once again at the top. Rallying together with his old friends, conquering the unknown. He liked the sound of that.

  He had played MMOs in the past, when he was a child, but not extensively. His only major gaming experience was with Valhalla, which didn't have players leveling up and gathering gear; it was a purely PvP game.

  As he read through all the available information, he noticed that almost nothing was available about the actual game. No maps, items, skill trees, or classes were leaked.

  This made his blood boil with excitement. Without online guides, all of the world will be theirs to conquer. Pioneering through a whole new realm would excite even the most skeptical people.

  After an hour or so, the Public Service Announcement had appeared all over the internet:

  Character creation is now available!

  Seb didn't waste any time. He didn't contact Ace, as he didn't want to suffer through all the "told-you-so's" just yet, but he made a mental note to thank him later.

  He entered the capsule, put on the helmet and the gloves, and powered on the system.

  The character creation screen had appeared in front of his eyes. It was already announced that the customization and registration were not done in the virtual world, but rather from a "normal" VR viewpoint, using the helmet.

  Welcome to the world of Godsrealm! Diagnostics have been completed. Complete body scan has been completed. We have created a character template for you. You can customize your looks now.

  Attention! Customization is limited to 20% difference from your real body! This is to ensure that your character's physics work as intended!

  One could alter their height, weight, muscle mass, various colors, hairstyle, and a few other things, but only in a limited fashion.

  Seb didn't want to be recognizable in the game. At least for a while, he wanted to stay relatively unnoticed, at least long enough to scout the scene.

  He altered his hair color to white and his eye color to green. He also altered his facial structure a bit until he was satisfied with the result.

  Character customization complete?

  "Yes!" he said.

  Choose the Kingdom you wish to be part of!

  Kingdom of Hawken

  Kingdom of Vegir

  Kingdom of Ravenloft

  Kingdom of Pendragon

  Kingdom of Arith

  Kingdom of Westphalia

  Kingdom of Irongate

  Kingdom of Nox

  Kingdom of Ignis

  Kingdom of Cheps

  Kingdom of Baal

  Kingdom of Dracia

  Seb froze. What did Ace say? Which one will they choose? He kept scanning the kingdom names with his eyes, but his mind went blank. I wish I paid more attention to him.

  After a good ten minutes of thinking, he was about 75% sure Ace mentioned the Kingdom of Ravenloft.

  He could have logged out and asked, but that would have meant that he would have to remake the character once again.

  Trusting his intuition, he chose the Kingdom of Ravenloft. Hopefully I won't regret this later, he thought.

  Character origin: Kingdom of Ravenloft

  Initiating virtual sequence. Entering the world of Godsrealm in..

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