The World of Aeternium: From Players to Prisoners

In earth, year 2245, humanity’s greatest obsession is Aeternium, a fully immersive VRMMORPG played through advanced capsule technology. With over fifty million active players worldwide, it's more than a game; it's a second reality. Players can choose their starting point across four vast continents, each holding unique dangers, quests, and opportunities. The western continent, the most dangerous, is where only the bravest or the one with an endless bank account can start their journey. Inside Aeternium, adventurers form parties, grind tirelessly, establish guilds, and challenge dungeons filled with strong monsters. NPCs issue quests that blur the line between reality and fiction, their intelligence so uncanny that some players whisper they are more than just code. Among the millions, five players rise above all others. Together, they form the strongest guild in the world, leading the game with respect and fear alike. Years of battles, endless raids, and fierce rivalries lead them to the top, the ultimate challenge: the Final Boss Event. But when Chronos, the final boss, descends upon the battlefield, reality itself shatters. The instant the world clock strikes 23:69, every player logged into Aeternium vanishes. Fifty million people across the globe disappear in a single heartbeat. Their VR capsules stand empty, their bodies are gone, and the game’s servers are shut down. The developers vanish without a trace, leaving only hollow buildings behind, as if they never existed at all. The world is thrown into chaos. Parents mourn vanished children. Friends and lovers cry out for those who will never return. Entire communities collapse under the weight of loss. That day becomes etched into history as The Vanishing, the day fifty million souls were erased from Earth. Yet for those players, the end is only the beginning. Chronos, the final boss, didn't kill them. Instead, he summoned them. Every soul still connected to the game is transported into Aerternium, a living, breathing world where magic flows like blood through the land, where dungeons hunger and kingdoms rise and fall. No longer players behind screens, they awaken as their in-game selves, adventurers bound to a world of endless magic and peril. Now, they must fight not for glory, but for survival. The five champions who once stood at the pinnacle of Aeternium must rise again, not in a game, but in a new reality where death is absolute. And in the shadows, Chronos watches.