Chapter 1 : The Launch
"Damn it!"
Axton angrily kicked a can of juice out of his way as he walked down the street.
It was a cold morning, and everybody was already going about their business, giving a sense of liveliness to the city.
For a moment, Axton succeeded in gaining the attention of passersby with his act of kicking a random can on the road.
He was not happy this morning at all.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and exhaled in frustration.
"So you can't get anything anymore if you don't have connections or some rich family backing you," he complained bitterly to himself. "What a joke of a world."
This was the third time this week that he had received a rejection response from the jobs he applied for, and for some reason, this particular one hurt more than the rest.
He had done well during the interview and even felt more confident when a staff member of the company confirmed that he did well, only to hear that the job was given to another person—someone whose family was connected to the board.
Axton was tired of the back and forth. He was not even certain if he had the energy to keep applying for jobs anymore.
It had been 2 years since he graduated from the university, and it was one story after another.
All he wanted was a simple life. Get a job, find a beautiful wife, and start a family with whatever they could manage.
That was not too much to ask.
Axton might not have been the top student in his class, but his academic work was certainly above average, and yet he was facing such difficulties.
He did not come from a well-connected family, nor was his family rich.
All he had inherited from his father was the place he was currently living in, the bracelet wrapped around his wrist, and his final words of encouragement.
Tempted many times to sell off the bracelet, Axton could not bring himself to.
It was made of some rare gemstones that even he did not know of, and his father had warned him to always keep it with him.
Axton never understood why.
All he remembered was the old man telling him that he would understand it with time.
For how long was he going to be patient?
Years had come and gone, yet nothing changed.
As Axton passed a certain electronics store, he heard something that drew his attention instantly.
"You can exchange your items in the game for real money. Heck, you can even become rich when you sell them," a random person explained to another as they stared at a box of gaming helmets.
Axton slowed his walk, hoping to hear everything.
Hearing the words "sell" and "rich" was more than enough to catch his attention.
He eventually stopped and turned in their direction, looking into the shop and seeing a familiar advert playing on the large screen inside.
[New Eden!]
[Do you want an opportunity to change your life and turn it around for the better?]
[Delve into the world of New Eden, where all possibilities exist. Money, fame, power. You can have it, but to achieve this, you must rise to the top.]
[Exchange your items for money and gather allies to conquer worlds in New Eden.]
[Grab your gaming headgear for just $8499.99 now.]
New Eden.
Axton had heard about it.
Everyone knew about it.
It had been the topic of discussion for weeks now in the media.
Many digital and manual banners displayed the new game.
Adverts on television forced the information down everyone's throat whether you were interested or not.
The publicity for the virtual reality game was crazy, and even the story behind it got people excited.
New Eden had been said to connect to an alternate world where all sorts of possibilities exist. It was discovered many decades ago by researchers back then as a strange glowing rock like nothing they had ever seen.
Decades of endless studies and funding from different nations of the world birthed what they now knew as New Eden.
It was simply more than a game.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, dude. I read that it can be linked to your bank or card, whichever you prefer, and you can make a buck just by doing nothing much, and even more if you are really active in the game."
"You should get one soon, man."
"It's launching by 9 a.m. this morning anyway."
"9 a.m.? That's an hour and some minutes from now. If I get it later, does it change anything?"
The other person shrugged. "I don't know though."
Axton's attention was fully caught now as he stared at the several helmet packs inside the store.
People were lined up this early just to purchase one.
"What the hell are you doing?" Axton snapped himself out of his daze.
He laughed at himself and shook his head. "Even if I believed this and wanted to buy it, I have no money on me."
He stayed a few more seconds before turning away and heading back home.
While he couldn't be blamed for being too broke to afford the game helmets, Axton did not understand that the first set of helmets on sale were limited edition helmets.
Only about 50,000 of those were in existence, and after the sales, the second edition of these helmets would be released.
This first limited set were runic helmets said to have been discovered and modified in the past.
They offered more advantages since the least talent they could grant was a C-rank talent and the highest was an S-rank.
The synthetic helmets that would be released after the first edition granted between F-rank and A-rank talents.
There was no hope of an S-rank talent.
This information was made public, and that was why everyone was rushing to get the helmets before the game launched in barely an hour.
Who wouldn't want to have a shot at an S-rank talent?
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Author's Note : Your powerstones help.