**October 26, 2052 - Warri, Nigeria - 4:37 PM**
The rain came down in thick, unrelenting sheets, transforming the cracked pavement outside the Jhaymon Corporation distribution center into a shallow river. Justin Ubiri shifted his weight from one foot to the other, the water in his worn sneakers sloshing with each movement. He'd been standing in line since dawn, and the tropical storm that had rolled in that afternoon showed no signs of abating.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating for just a moment the desperate faces of hundreds of others who had camped out overnight. In that fleeting flash, Justin saw mothers clutching children, businessmen in ruined suits, even elderly grandparents who had somehow braved the storm - all united by one singular obsession.
Nine Heavens.
The line inched forward. Justin wiped rainwater from his face and checked his wrist-com for the seventeenth time that hour. The glowing display showed 4:38 PM. He'd now been waiting exactly nine hours and twenty-two minutes.
A man behind him coughed wetly. "They say only the first million get guaranteed access," he muttered to no one in particular. "After that, it's lottery-based."
Justin didn't respond. He'd heard all the rumors - that the neural sync technology could fry your brain, that early beta testers had woken up screaming in languages they'd never learned, that the Jhaymon Corporation wasn't actually a tech company at all but some kind of cult. None of it mattered. Not when this game promised what it promised.
**The New World Order**
The global economic collapse of 2025 had reshaped civilization in ways no one could have predicted. When the United States defaulted on its debt and China's real estate bubble finally burst, the domino effect had been catastrophic. Countries that had seemed invincible just years before dissolved into chaos overnight. Nigeria had been one of the lucky ones - its diversified economy and young population allowed it to weather the storm better than most.
But the world that emerged from the crisis was fundamentally different. Traditional industries collapsed. Governments fell. And in the vacuum, one sector rose to unprecedented dominance: gaming.
Not the primitive consoles and PCs of Justin's childhood, but something far more profound. The lines between virtual and reality had blurred completely. Esports athletes became the new celebrities. In-game currencies replaced unstable national economies. And when the Jhaymon Corporation announced that territorial disputes between nations would now be settled through Nine Heavens rather than warfare, the world took notice.
**The Price of Admission**
A sharp whistle cut through the rain. Justin looked up to see a harried Jhaymon employee waving him forward. His pulse quickened as he stepped under the makeshift awning, finally free from the punishing downpour.
"ID chip," the woman said flatly, her fingers dancing across a holo-display. Justin pressed his thumb to the scanner, wincing as it took a blood sample along with the digital signature.
"That'll be 850,000 naira," she said, barely looking up.
Justin swallowed hard. Nearly six months' savings. Enough to pay his family's rent for a year. He hesitated for just a moment before transferring the funds.
The woman handed him a sleek black case about the size of a suitcase. "Standard disclaimer applies," she recited mechanically. "Jhaymon Corporation is not responsible for neural feedback incidents, psychological dissociation, or failure to reintegrate with baseline reality. Do not operate heavy machinery for twenty-four hours after gameplay. Consult your physician if immersion lasts longer than-"
"I know the risks," Justin interrupted, taking the case. It was heavier than he expected.
The woman finally looked up, her eyes tired. "They all say that. See you on the other side, I guess."
The walk back to his family's compound took nearly an hour through the storm. By the time Justin arrived, his fingers had gone numb from clutching the case so tightly. The Ubiri home - a modest three-bedroom bungalow with peeling yellow paint - had never looked so welcoming.
"Finally!" His younger sister Adanna nearly tackled him at the door. "We thought you drowned out there!" She reached for the case. "Is this it? Let me see!"
Justin held it out of reach. "Careful with it. This cost more than Dad's car."
From the kitchen doorway, his mother frowned. "And how exactly are we supposed to eat now that you've spent your entire savings on a toy?"
"It's not a toy, Mama," Justin said, setting the case down gently on the living room table. "This is an investment. The exchange rate in Nine Heavens-"
"Yes, yes, one gold equals one thousand dollars," his father interrupted from his armchair. "We've all heard the advertisements. But tell me, how many people actually manage to earn that gold?"
Before Justin could respond, a voice came from the hallway. "He'll be one of them."
Alice leaned against the doorframe, her university textbooks tucked under one arm. At eighteen, she was technically Justin's cousin by marriage, though they'd grown up as siblings after her parents' accident. Her sharp eyes studied the case with clinical interest.
"You actually got one," she said. "I thought they'd be sold out by noon."
Justin grinned. "You underestimate my stubbornness."
Alice set her books down and ran a hand along the case's surface. "Do you know how this works? The neural interface, I mean."
"Some kind of quantum entanglement with the brain's-"
"Bullshit," Alice cut him off. "There's no way they're actually doing what they claim. The energy requirements alone..." She shook her head. "Just be careful, okay? I don't want to have to explain to Auntie why her son turned into a vegetable."
That night, after his family had gone to bed, Justin cleared a space in his room for the pod. The case hissed open, revealing the sleek black capsule within. It did, he had to admit, look disturbingly like a coffin.
The instructions were simple enough. Strip down to underwear. Lie inside. The nanogel lining would do the rest.
Justin took a deep breath and climbed in.
The moment his back touched the surface, the gel came alive, oozing over his skin like liquid metal. It was colder than he expected. As it crept up his neck, a sudden spike of panic shot through him - what if this was all some elaborate scam? What if he was about to be dissolved into some corporate AI's neural network?
Then the world went black.
[System Initialization]
When awareness returned, Justin found himself floating in an endless starfield. A voice echoed through the void, genderless and vast:
[Welcome to Nine Heavens, Player. Please state your name for registration.]
"Justin Ubiri."
[Scanning biometrics... confirmed. Neural synchronization at 98.7% - above threshold. Proceeding with character creation.]
The stars swirled, resolving into a mirror image of Justin himself - same 5'9" frame, same brown eyes, same faint scar above his left eyebrow from a childhood accident.
[Nine Heavens operates on authentic identity protocols. Avatar customization is restricted to equipment and acquired traits only. Please select your starting class.]
A wheel of icons appeared before him: Warrior, Mage, Archer, Rogue, and several more obscure options.
"Warrior," Justin said without hesitation. Swords had always called to him in other games.
[Class selected: Warrior (Sword specialization). Proceeding to talent assessment.]
The starfield darkened. Justin felt an odd pressure in his skull, like fingers brushing against his thoughts.
[Assessment complete. Anomaly detected.]
Justin's pulse quickened. "An anomaly?"
[Talent awakening in progress.]
Suddenly, pain lanced through Justin's body as four notifications burned themselves into his vision simultaneously:
[Ancient Talent Unlocked: 10,000x Converter]
- All rewards, experience, and loot multiplied by 10,000x
[Ancient Talent Unlocked: Copy]
- Replicate any skill, item, or ability below the talent rank
[Ancient Talent Unlocked: Fusion]
- Combine copied elements to create superior versions
[Mythic Talent Unlocked: Weapon Master]
- 10,000% increased weapon proficiency gain
Justin gasped as the pain subsided. Ancient and Mythic talents? Those weren't even supposed to be available at launch! According to all the pre-release information, players could only awaken talents ranging from F to SSS rank initially.
Before he could process this further, the system voice returned, its tone subtly changed:
[Player Justin Ubiri, you are being rerouted to Brightmoon City for... special onboarding.]
The stars blurred. Justin felt himself falling.
First Light in the First Heaven
Cold air slapped Justin's face as he materialized on a snow-dusted cobblestone road. The shock of the temperature change made him gasp - he could actually feel the chill, could see his breath fogging in the morning air. The realism was terrifying.
All around him, the imposing stone walls of Brightmoon City rose against a pale pink dawn. Players and NPCs alike bustled through the streets, their voices creating a constant hum of activity. Somewhere in the distance, a blacksmith's hammer rang against steel.
A notification blinked in the corner of Justin's vision:
[New Player Quest: Trial by Combat]
- Kill 10 Forest Wolves (0/10)
- Reward: 100 EXP, Basic Sword Technique Manual
Justin exhaled slowly. With his 10,000x Converter talent, that reward would actually be... 1,000,000 EXP. Enough to jump straight past the early levels.
He reached for the simple iron sword at his hip, marveling at how perfectly weighted it felt in his grip. The Weapon Master talent thrummed in his muscles, whispering of untapped potential.
As Justin turned toward the city gates, he failed to notice the figure watching him from a nearby rooftop - a woman clad in snow-white robes, her expression unreadable.
But she had noticed him.
And in Nine Heavens, being noticed was often the most dangerous thing of all.