The bright lights of the hospital room made everything look washed out and kinda sad. I was just laying there on the stupid crinkly paper of the exam bed, staring up at those white ceiling tiles. Mom—Carol—always said I had an overactive imagination, but no matter how hard I stared, them tiles wasn't giving me any answers today. The whole place smelled like that strong cleaner they use, the kind that burns your nose a little. Honestly it smells like shit I'm sure most of you guys are familair with if you ever been to the hosptial. God damn I envy you normal people who dont even need to visit the hosptial every couple of years if you ain't unlucky like me. I was probably a peice of shit in my previous life to deserve this.
Dr. Evans came in, his white coat all crisp. He had that look on his face, the one where he's trying to be all professional but you can tell he feels bad for you. But come on i dont need your sympathy.
"Leo," he says, his voice all calm and doctor-like. I only turned eighteen last month, but I already felt older i already accepted i cant live past my 20s. "Your Rapid-Onset Muscular Dystrophy... it's treatable. There's new therapies, myo-regenerative treatments they call it. With that and regular physical therapy, you could live a long, full life. But the cost..." He kinda sighed here. "It's significant. Over five hundred thousand dollars a year. Are you absolutely certain you're refusing treatment?" Like why would he even ask that. Does he think a normal working class family can afford that much a year.
I didn't even look away from the ceiling. I'd been thinking 'bout this for months, ever since the weakness in my legs got so bad I needed the chair most days. I knew what was coming. This is my reality.
"Yeah. I'm sure."
His eyes got all wide. "Leo, this is a serious condition!" He looked over at my parents, at my dad, Frank, and my mom, Carol, who were just sitting there looking like their whole world was ending. "How can you possibly—" But why is he acting all surprised. It all looks too fake to me.
"Doctor," I said, cutting him off. I made my voice sound firm. "It's my decision."
Frank and Carol, they ain't got money like that. Dad works construction when his back is good, and Mom cleans offices at night. We was already struggling with the bills for all the tests and everything. This new treatment? It would've buried them. I wasn't being brave or nothing, I was just trying to do the right thing. Even if it meant... well, you know. Im sure they are already in debt because of me either borrowing from family or god knows where some of the treatment money comes from. Hopefully dad aint doing any illegal stuff on the side
Dr. Evans let out a big breath. He's seen lots of sick people, I guess, but this was different.
My dad, Frank, he mumbled something, his shoulders all slumped down. "It's the genes... my fault... from my side of the family. Why's it always gotta be us?"
I finally looked at them. At my mom Carol with her red eyes and my dad Frank who looked older than he should. "Dad. Mom. Listen," I said, trying to sound calm. "For the time I got left, I don't wanna spend it in and out of hospitals. I don't wanna watch y'all have to sell the house and everything just for me."
Carol was crying quiet, her hands shaking as she held a tissue. "Oh, Leo... honey... is there anything you want to do? Anything at all?"
I was quiet for a minute. The real answer was, I just wanted to be in control of something, anything, for once. My whole life lately was about what I couldn't do—couldn't walk far, couldn't lift things, couldn't even feed myself some days. But this, I could choose.
Then I saw it out the window. Across the street, on one of those big digital billboards, a new ad flashed up:
OBLIVION ONLINE.
The game was launching tomorrow. Full immersion, they said. You just think and you're there. It was supposed to be a whole other world. A place where maybe my body wouldn't be a prison no more. I can actually do whatever i wanted to. Much better than this dull hosptial bed life.
I almost smiled. Maybe... maybe this was it thinking more about it.
"Dad. Mom," I said, my voice real quiet. "I can't change what is. I can't get more time. But for the time I got... I wanna be somewhere I ain't trapped in this... this broken body."
Frank and Carol looked at each other, and then at me. My dad nodded, his voice all rough. "Alright then. We'll get it for you. Whatever it costs. This... this is your choice, son."
Mom nodded too, tears just running down her face. "We'll make it work, baby. If this is what you want, we'll find a way." Honestly i feel bad for them. Their only child being like this. it was more heartbreaking seeing them work themselves or blame themselves than the illness.
So later that afternoon, these guys in uniforms came and installed the big Neuro-Link capsule in my room. Cost one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars. I heard Mom on the phone later, talking to the bank about a payment plan. For them, that was a fortune. But they wasn't just buying a game. They was buying me a way out, even for a little while.
When I finally laid back in that capsule, it felt... peaceful. I wasn't so scared of dying no more. This was just the next thing. I was ready to experience a life without something holding me back.
Everything went dark for a second. Then, whoosh! I was standing in this huge, glowy palace, right up in the clouds! I could see mist swirling around my feet and everything. It was insane. it felt sooo real. Actually I couldnt tell I was in a game. Crazy how people can create something like this. It's almost godlike.
SYSTEM ALERT: Welcome to Oblivion Online. Proceed with character creation?
"Yeah," I said.
And then there was... me. A guy that looked just like me, maybe a little skinnier, standing up straight in a plain grey tunic. I didn't change nothing about him. What was the point? This wasn't about pretending to be someone handsome or strong. It was about just being me, but somewhere I could be free. Not like I was ugly or anything. Im pretty sure if i was jacked I'd be able to get a bunch of girls haha.
SYSTEM ALERT: Avatar confirmed. Please assign a character name.
I thought about it for a second. I didn't wanna be Leo in here. Leo was sick. Leo was dying.
"Null," I said. Like nothing. Like a blank page. A fresh start where there wasn't no sickness, no bills, no muscles that didn't work right. I took a deep breath and ...
Then this big, flashy roulette wheel popped up. It had all these sections from F to SS, all different colors. But way on the edge, I saw this tiny, tiny little sliver of gold. It was almost like it wasn't supposed to be there.
SYSTEM ALERT: Proceed with Trait acquisition? (Traits are influenced by neural patterns, physiology, and psychology.)
Everyone got one Trait when they started. F was basically garbage, SS was like, legendary, super rare. I stared at that golden sliver. A glitch, maybe?
"Alright," I muttered to myself. "Let's just see what happens." Anything is better than my life right now.
The needle on the wheel started spinning. It whizzed around and then slowed down... and landed on D-Rank. Of course. Just my luck. I sighed. But then, the needle... it twitched. It kinda jumped, clicking past C, then B, then A... it went past S... past SS...
It clicked right onto that tiny, almost invisible gold sliver.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Congratulations! You have acquired [Unique SSS-Rank Trait: Null-Command].
I just blinked. I couldn't... believe it. But weirdly, I felt calm. I had already made peace with dying, but this... this felt like a door opening. Like i was a main character or something. Like you know one of them online novels you real where the main character gets a golden finger.
[Null-Command] (Unique, SSS-Rank)
Description: You are a glitch in the system. Ignore all external game rules and restrictions. This is so over powered.
It wasn't a sword that did more damage or magic or nothing. It was... a key. A way to just tell the rules of the world to take a hike. Level locks, material costs, all of it... I could just ignore it.
My heart should've been pounding, but it wasn't. I was just... calm. Ready. maybe i am the mc.
SYSTEM ALERT: Oblivion Online will open at 9:00.
When the clock hit 8:59, I didn't hesitate. I touched "Enter World." but It was still grey. well honestly I just couldnt wait
SYSTEM ALERT: You have entered [New Haven Settlement]!
[New Haven Settlement] (Safe Zone)
Description: A rough-and-tumble collection of log walls and determined survivors, clinging to safety in a broken world.
Light exploded everywhere. Suddenly, there was people everywhere! Thousands of 'em, all popping into existence at once. It was a madhouse.
"Whoa! I can feel a breeze! Is that wind?" some guy yelled next to me.
"No way," a girl answered, her voice full of wonder. "I can feel the sun on my skin, it's actually warm! This ain't like any game I ever played."
"Hey, smell that? Like... woodsmoke and pine needles. That's crazy detail."
"Move it, you're standing on my foot! And it actually hurts a little, what the heck?"
I just stood there, taking it all in. The chatter about how real everything felt just made me feel calmer. This was it. This was the escape I needed. I could feel the solid ground under my feet, something I hadn't properly felt in months. I took a deep breath, and the air really did smell like a cold forest morning.
A little smile finally touched my lips. All those months of being sick, of knowing what was coming, had burned all the panic right out of me. Now, I had a choice. I had a chance to become something. someone.
This is my new beginning, I thought. My other life. My world... and my rules.
And for the first time in a real long time, I didn't feel like I was just waiting to die. I felt like I was actually alive.