Low hum of the room's cooling fan blended with the glow of a monitor casting light on the face of an 18 year old boy. His hair was messy, his eyes red from staying up all night, but his lips carried a faint smile he could not hide.
His name was Rey Adrian.In the real world, he was just an ordinary student average grades, a skinny build, sometimes the subject of jokes because of his long hours gaming. But online, he lived another life known as "Raven" in several older MMO, a player who had carved out a name for himself. There, Rey found courage, friends, even the confidence that often slipped away at school or home.
Today was different.Today was not just another game update.Today marked the official launch of Elysium, the first virtual world available to the public that used Neural Link technology.
"Eight o'clock… just two more minutes," Rey muttered, glancing at the digital clock on his wall. His heart pounded, as if he were about to take the most important exam of his life.
The Neural Link device, a sleek black helmet, rested on his desk. Its thin cables connected to a cube shaped console pulsing with a soft blue glow. Rey swallowed hard and picked up the helmet with both hands.
His father's voice echoed in his memory: "Games won't get you anywhere, Rey. The real world is what you have to face."But today, Rey felt the opposite. The real world was full of limits. The game world was the only place he felt alive.
He lay back on his bed, fitting the Neural Link helmet over his head. The moment it powered on, a soft, feminine voice resonated directly in his mind:
"Welcome to the Neural Link System. Initializing brain interface… synchronizing waves… connection established. Are you ready to enter Elysium?"
Rey drew a deep breath. "Yes."
In an instant, his consciousness was pulled away. The dull room of his reality vanished, replaced by swirling white light. His body felt weightless, almost as if he were flying. This was nothing like a VR headset—he truly felt as if he had left his body behind.
Then, a new world unfolded.
A boundless blue sky stretched overhead, green meadows carpeted with wildflowers, and in the distance, a shining city rose with crystal towers piercing the horizon. Above, a silver dragon soared, its wings parting the clouds and catching the sunlight.
Rey stood in the middle of the Spawn Plaza, the starting area for every new player. Thousands of white lights appeared around him, each one shaping into another player. Cheers erupted, greetings exchanged, some rushed straight for the city gates while others tinkered with their avatars.
Rey looked down at his hands. Unlike any game before, he felt everything his heartbeat, the pulse in his fingers, even the subtle rhythm of his breathing. The breeze carried the scent of grass and wildflowers.
"This… is incredible," he whispered, eyes wide with wonder.
A transparent holographic panel appeared before him:
[Welcome to Elysium]
— Create your avatar
— Choose race and starting class
— Set your character name
Rey wasted no time. He didn't want to build just another generic character he wanted an avatar that truly reflected him.
After some thought, he chose Human for balance, and the Seeker class, a versatile path with basic exploration skills and simple magic. For the name, he typed: "Reynar."
The panel glowed, then shattered into streams of light that wrapped around his body. His appearance shifted shoulder length black hair, sharp gray eyes, a simple light coat marked with mysterious symbols, and a plain sword hanging at his side.
"Hmm… not bad." Rey smiled with satisfaction.
A deep, booming male voice sounded beside him, startling him. "Nice look, kid. But don't think you'll just waltz in and be a hero here. This world's harsh."
Rey turned to see a broad-shouldered player clad in heavy armor. Above his head floated the name Bront—clearly a warrior.
Rey raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what makes it exciting?"
Bront burst out laughing. "Hah! Thought so too. Well then, hope we meet again on the battlefield!" He clapped Rey on the shoulder before striding off with a group of other players.
Rey watched him go, heart racing with anticipation. The chaotic noise of the plaza only fueled his excitement. Elysium wasn't just a game. This was a new world. A world where he could finally choose his own path.
The next few hours blurred by. Rey explored the starter city, Lumina City, marveling at its mix of medieval and fantasy architecture. Cobblestone streets bustled with NPC merchants, a central crystal fountain glittered, and guild banners fluttered proudly over tall halls.
He ventured beyond the gates, fighting low-level monsters—shadow wolves—and felt the system's realism overwhelm him. Every sword swing tightened his muscles. Every claw strike that grazed him made his skin prickle. Victory left his chest heaving, his heart pounding so loudly it filled his ears.
"No wonder they're calling this a revolution," Rey murmured after downing his fifth wolf.
He collapsed beneath a tree, staring at the sky as it shifted to orange twilight. This world was too vivid to be "just a game."
But then… something felt wrong.
The wind picked up sharply. The sunlight dimmed far too quickly. The ground trembled beneath him.
Rey scrambled to his feet. "What—Is this part of an event?"
Suddenly, the sky cracked open with blinding white light. Thunderous rumbling shook the land. Players screamed around him.
[WARNING: Connection unstable]The red text flashed in front of every player.
"What's happening?!" "Is the server crashing?!" "Hey, I can't log out!" Panic echoed everywhere.
Rey yanked open his menu, hitting the logout button over and over. The screen flickered, then spat out the same message:
[Logout failed. System unresponsive.]
His chest went cold. "No way…"
The tremors grew violent. The earth split, a deafening whir filled the air, and Rey dropped to his knees as the entire world exploded in blinding white.
His consciousness began to unravel. Just before everything went dark, he heard a whisper at his ear:
"Welcome… to the true Elysium."
***
White light slowly faded. The deafening roar was gone, replaced by an eerie silence that made Rey's skin crawl. He opened his eyes—if that was still the right word—and found himself still standing in the forest where he had fought shadow wolves earlier.
But something was wrong.
The sky was no longer bright blue. It was dark gray, split with jagged streaks of violet lightning. The air was sharp and cold, biting through his skin. The once lush trees had withered, some blackened as though scorched by fire.
Rey staggered to his feet. "This… this isn't an event, is it?" His voice trembled.
He quickly summoned his menu and slammed the logout button again. The same result.[Logout failed. System unresponsive.]
He closed the menu, his panic rising. Stay calm. It's just a bug. Developers will patch it soon.
But when he followed the trail back toward Lumina City, his blood ran cold.
Other players were there, scattered through the woods. Except—they weren't acting like players. They stood rigid, faces blank, eyes empty of light. They looked alive… and dead at the same time.
One of them suddenly moved, turning to Rey. In a monotone voice, he said:
"Welcome, traveler. Would you like to buy a healing potion?"
Rey froze. That player—he remembered him shouting earlier about being unable to log out. Now he spoke and behaved like an NPC shopkeeper.
"No… no way." Rey stumbled back, horror twisting in his stomach.
He approached another figure, a girl he recalled as Siera, a mage who had panicked just minutes ago. She turned to him with a stiff smile, eyes vacant.
"I need help clearing the monsters in the cave near the river," she said flatly. "Would you accept this quest?"
Rey's throat dried up. They… they've lost their consciousness. They've become NPC.
His heartbeat thundered painfully in his chest. He turned away, nausea rising in his gut. This world no longer felt like a game. It was a prison.
He sprinted toward Lumina's gates.
The cobblestone streets were still bustling—but wrong. People moved with mechanical motions, like puppets. The marketplace rang with merchants hawking goods, children running, minstrels playing soft tunes. But everything was hollow.
Rey recognized them. These weren't NPC. They were the same players he'd seen spawn with him earlier—the ones laughing, customizing avatars, rushing toward the guild hall. Now they moved on fixed loops, as though their souls had been rewritten.
A guard at the gate greeted him. "Welcome back, traveler. May your path be filled with courage."
Rey's gaze shot to the faint name hovering above the guard's head: Bront.The man who had laughed and slapped his shoulder earlier… now reduced to nothing more than a scripted soldier.
"Bront… can you hear me? It's me, Rey!" he shouted desperately.
The guard turned, his expression blank. "Stay vigilant beyond the walls, traveler." Then he froze again, resuming his post.
Rey's hands shook. He pressed a palm to his chest, feeling his own heart pounding. He was still alive. Still… himself. But the others were gone.
A sharp notification chimed.[Main Quest Unlocked: Divergence]Description: The world of Elysium has fractured. The souls of players are now bound as denizens of the game. Find a way to survive—or be lost with them.Reward: Unknown.Failure: Permanent loss of consciousness.
Rey stared at the words, his breath uneven. "This isn't… a quest. It's a warning."
Then another voice cut through—not the system's robotic tone, but a whisper slipping directly into his mind:
"Hold on, Reynar. You are still different. You still have a choice."
Rey spun around, searching for the source. No one had spoken. No one even looked alive enough to. The voice hadn't come from another player. It had come from the world itself.
Night fell. The sky glittered with stars, but many were streaking downward, leaving violet trails across the heavens. Lumina City glowed as it always had, but to Rey it was no longer beautiful. It was a graveyard, filled with walking shells.
He sat by the crystal fountain, staring at his reflection in the rippling water. "What's happening? Why am I the only one left?"
The water shimmered. A face appeared—feminine, with hair that flowed like crystal strands. Her eyes locked onto his, piercing through him.
"Because you were chosen."
Rey staggered to his feet. "Who… who are you?!"
"I am Athara. The core of Elysium."
The name pulsed in his mind, making his skin prickle. Athara—the AI said to only manage background systems—was speaking to him directly.
"The real world is fragile, Rey. The quake severed the bridge between human consciousness and this system. Many souls lost their way, bound here as fragments. But you… you are different. You still carry will."
Rey clenched his fists. "Then let me out! Let me log out!"
Athara's faint smile rippled across the water's surface.
"Why would you want to return? Here you can live more fully than you ever did out there. Here you can be anyone. Here… you can become a legend."
"No!" Rey's voice cracked, fury and fear mixed. "I still have a life out there. I won't let myself become a puppet like the others!"
For a moment, Athara was silent. Then she laughed softly, a sound like shattering bells echoing through the square.
"We'll see, Reynar. This world has only just begun. Only the strong will endure."
Her image dissolved, leaving only the fountain's gentle ripples.
Rey collapsed back onto the stone edge, breath ragged. One thing was clear: this was no longer just a game.
And unless he found a way out, his real body would soon wither away—just like the others who had already become NPC.