'What just happened to me?'
Luke sat on his bed, completely alone in his half-empty 250 square feet studio apartment as he asked himself this question.
His room was very small, even for an average studio apartment. It was also sparsely furnished; not because he was a minimalist, but because he could barely afford to eat, not to mention decorating his living space with basic necessities.
This was why, other than the bed that existed in the right corner of his room, and the VR Pod that stood at the very opposite side of it, there was no sign of sophistication or technology present.
Everything else had either been sold off or never bought, to begin with. Even his clothes were folded in neat rows right beside his bed, and besides the bathroom that was a few steps away from his bed, only the door to leave his room was in sight.
To cut down on electricity bills, Luke did not even have any air conditioning and instead relied on the fresh breeze that blew from outside the single window in his room.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was living a pauper's life.
But how could someone like him afford to have a VR Pod in his room? It was the Year 2040, and even though VR Technology was pretty mainstream, it wasn't cheap to obtain.
—Especially for someone like Luke.
"Everything about this is strange…" The thin and slightly tall young man muttered to himself, his voice low and somber—the exact opposite of Draco's from the game.
This wasn't the only difference the two had.
Luke had blond hair and bright orange eyes akin to amber. With a gentle, awkward face that could neither be said to be handsome or ugly, and an overall unimposing presence, he seemed like an ordinary man in his early twenties.
A rather unremarkable person.
"I suddenly received a package delivered to my doorstep, and it turned out to be this…" He looked at the VR Pod and narrowed his eyes.
He had never received anything so grandiose; even for his birthday.
'There was no note or clue from the owner, but it definitely had my name and exact address on it.'
It didn't make sense to Luke, but he had ignored all of it due to one specific reason: he was desperate.
He was so excited to receive a VR Pod, even if it was by mistake, because he could sell it for a decent price and fetch sufficient money to get him out of his immediate crisis.
'But, before I could sell it I had to first be sure it was working and also check out its specs.' Luke reasoned pretty soundly.
After all, the VR Pod looked very different from every type he had seen around. His guess was that it was an older model, or perhaps it didn't even work at all.
In order not to get his hopes up and jump the gun by attempting to sell it, Luke decided to test it out for himself.
'It even came with a game pre-installed in it, so I had to give it a try.' He sighed. 'That's the last thing I remember before entering that strange world and then coming back out.'
What exactly happened to him during that time?
Luke had no idea!
He didn't know where the VR Pod came from, nor had he even heard of the pre-installed game before.
"Hunters & Dragons… What exactly are y—?"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Before Luke could even finish his train of thought, he heard loud knocks that threatened to break down his brittle door.
His face instantly paled the moment he heard this noise, gulping down saliva as he jumped on his feet and rushed to answer the only person that could be knocking so violently.
"I know you're in there, you good-for-nothing! If you don't open right now, I'll—!" Right as the loud, gruff voice was about to conclude the threat, the door opened and revealed a short and stout man.
He looked to be in his late forties, with a balding head and a terrible attitude. He had a deep frown on his ugly face, revealing his yellowish teeth as he growled at Luke the moment he saw him.
"You idiot! Who do you think you are to make me come all the way here to ask you for my rent money?"
Luke's face immediately turned apologetic as he began to plead.
"Why don't you answer your phone, huh? You punk! Is this the thanks I get for taking pity on you and offering you this place for dirt cheap, huh? Answer me, you little shit!"
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!" He continued to plead. "I'll do better next time."
Luke could not tell his landlord that he had to sell his phone the previous week to meet up with his necessary expenses. If he did so, the landlord would definitely know how horrible his financial state was and would not hesitate to kick him out.
He could only hide this fact by pretending his phone had some battery issues, mixing in one or two more lies to make it more believable to the enraged man.
"I don't want your excuses! I want my money!" The Landlord screamed.
"And you'll get it… I promise." Luke said sincerely. "I just need a little more time."
"No! No more time! You have until the end of this week to get me my money. If not, I'll kick you out in the most humiliating way possible."
Luke wanted to protest, but was instantly shut down as the short fatty stomped his foot and glared at him.
"Think I can't do it? Looking down on me, huh?"
"I-I understand, sir! I'll get you your money by then…" Was all he could say as he sighed in resignation.
"Good! No more excuses by then!"
Letting out one final scoff, the Landlord stomped off, clearly fuming as he did so. Luke watched all of this silently, feeling a strange mix of both humiliation and relief.
Humiliation because all of his neighbours in this cheaply made apartment complex would have heard his Landlord's extremely loud complaints, but relief because he wasn't being kicked out just yet.
As slim as his chances of gathering the money in merely a few days was, there was still time.
'I can work with that… especially if I can find a way to sell this thing.' He slowly closed his door and looked at the VR Pod, feeling extra relief that his landlord didn't enter his room and see the machine.
'I need to find out as much as I can about this VR Pod.' Quickly proceeding to put on a proper shirt and trousers, he rushed out of his room to visit a nearby cyber cafe.
********
A few hours in, and Luke already found himself in a rabbit hole.
For one, he was actually correct about one thing.
'This VR Pod is truly an old model. It was made by Nexus Co, a company that went bankrupt nearly a decade ago. Strangely enough, they're also the developers of the in-built game I played.'
—Hunters & Dragons!
'Apparently, their original game was never even released to the public due to how financially draining it was. Ultimately, their VR Project failed and their Pods were discontinued…' This was, however, only the tip of the iceberg.
He had done all of this research because he wanted to know how much the VR Pod and game were really worth, but he ended up finding something even crazier.
"Hunters&Dragons.Nexus.Net… an online forum where someone asked the same question on my mind about a year ago."
This User
… And he actually got an answer!
"To answer your question, I have to inform you first of all that you can't sell the VR Pod to anyone else, as it isn't compatible with any VR Game in existence, and the pre-installed game only works if you're the one in the pod.
In essence, it is bound to you.
Also, note that you are not the only one who has gone through this. There are several of us who experienced the same thing you did, and we have now adapted to our new lifestyles as Players: Hunters in the world of Te'rah.
Now, before you discount everything I have just told you, please have a bit of patience and go through the other posts and threads in this forum.
We have a FAQs section as well, so please check it out. I do hope you make very good of this extraordinary opportunity and pray we meet in Te'rah one day.
And to anyone out there reading this, whoever you are, know that you are among a very select group of people.
You are special… don't forget that!"
Those last words pierced through Luke's heart, causing it to race. He tightly clutched his chest, feeling as if the one who wrote this response over a year ago was talking directly to him.
She was telling him… that he was special!
'I need to know more!'
Something suddenly sparked in his mind and he began to go through as many posts as he could, also looking through the FAQs to understand the terminologies and explanations he didn't quite understand.
Before Luke realized it, he had spent all night on the Forum, learning all sorts of things about Hunters & Dragons.
To summarize:
"The VR Pod somehow links Earth to another world called Te'rah, where Dragons exist and Dragon Hunters are tasked to fight against them. Players are typically Hunters, and they go about killing Dragons to get stronger and explore more of the world."
What made this different from other games—asides from its deeply immersive power and top-notch graphics quality that simulated real-life experiences better than the most sophisticated Full Dive VR Technology—was the perk that the Players had when they returned to Earth.
"The rewards they get in the game translate to reality!"
It was an absurd claim, and at first, Luke didn't believe it.
But, after watching the videos posted on the forums that showed some very insane things: like money appearing from thin air and abilities that were borderline supernatural, he found himself getting convinced.
Perhaps he was just some gullible idiot latching on to the crazy beliefs of this online forum of 500 people.
What if they were simply weirdos trapped in delusion? What if this was a cult? What if they were playing a major prank?
All of these thoughts entered Luke's mind, yet he still found himself believing.
Somehow, he was convinced.
After returning home from the cafe early the next morning, his hands holding all the printed posts and messages on the Forum—including a newbie guide—he sat on his bed and processed everything.
"If… if all of this is true, then I can earn money from this game and use it to pay my rent."
Not just that, but he could also cover all of his overwhelming expenses—things that his part time job could not meet up with.
Still, a tiny flicker of skepticism remained in Luke's heart. This tiny nugget of doubt squirmed in his thoughts, refusing to disappear.
Luke sat there, staring at the VR, as he waited for the only thing that could dispel this last strand of logic.
"When will it happen?" He asked himself, tapping his feet impatiently as his unfocused gaze traveled all around the room.
The Forum spoke of several things—many of which Luke was yet to fully understand—but he understood one thing extremely clearly.
"The timing varies slightly for each individual, but something is supposed to happen within 24 hours of first playing the game." He whispered under his breath. "This will be the ultimate proof I need!"
Right at this point, something suddenly popped up in front of him as he heard a notification sound go off in his head.
[System Notice]
~New Player Has Been Recognized~
[Synchronizing now…]
Luke smiled as soon as he saw this.
"It's real."
He was so happy that he temporarily forgot about what would come next… until it was already too late.
"ARRRGHHHHHHHH!!!"