"What are you waiting for? Come and join-" *bzzt*

*sigh* "Don't they have anything new to show on TV? I think I've seen this BCO (Birth of Cosmos Online) ad more than a hundred time this past week..." A standing man with short hair and an apron on his body commented tiredly, as he put the remote he was holding on the counter.

"Just relax Soren. *sip* Once the game goes live tomorrow, the ads should die down a bit and things will be back to normal." A middle aged man with curly brown hair and a black suit responded to the young man's outburst, while calmly drinking his espresso coffee.

"Don't you have anything else to comment on, you old man?" Soren inquired sarcastically, as he swiftly cleaned the mixing spoons with soapy water, before giving them a quick rinse and putting them away, before checking on the analog clock that was hanging over the glass door, nearing at 8:00 PM, his coffee shop's closing time.

"Thanks for the espresso as usual Soren. It's a shame that not many people come to your coffee shop." The middle aged man commented somberly, as he looked at the empty coffee shop, before adding: "Otherwise, this could have been a nice hideout for people who want to escape from the monotonous hustle and bustle."

"I don't expect too many people to appear in such a place. Such a place like this is nothing more than a relic of the past and it doesn't help that people have to be constantly on the move, so they can't afford to relax for even a single minute, lest they end up being laid off for... 'Inadequacy'."

*sigh* "Anyways, I've left my payment on the counter. See you tomorrow at the same time Soren."

"Take care Dr.Morgan..." *sigh* "I doubt I'd be able to keep the shop open for longer anyways..."Soren commented Somberly, as he touched at the light brown walls of his shop, before he moved towards his door and turned the sign that was hanging on his door, from "Open" to "Closed", turning off the lights and locking his shop.

'Another long day with few customers as usual... Let's hope I can make a quick buck out of this game, otherwise I may have close down the shop soon...'

*beep* *beep* *beep* *click* "Soren speaking. How may I help you?" Soren responded calmly, as he was met with a rather loud and energetic male voice from the other side of the phone.

"It's me Roland! No need to act so seriously. Anyways, how're you doing? Are you feeling excited for tonight?"

"Tone it down a bit Roland... I know Birth of Cosmos Online is launching tonight, so need to act like a kid who overdosed on sugar. Anyways, I'm doing fine. How are the others?"

"Everyone's doing fine and preparing for tonight's launch. So, what will you be playing as? Front-line DPS as usual, or will you mix it up with something else?" Roland asked casually, as he knew that Soren would always stick to playing either assassin or warrior classes in games.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I'll see once we get into the game. I've heard that instead of the usual class system, they have a revamped system that allows you to choose your position in battle and you'd be able to learn skills that complement that position. Besides, I'd like to switch things up a bit and I'm curious of the whole 'Specialist' category that they've mentioned in some of their promotional material."

"Good to know. So, shall we meet together in the game and talk more there, or do you want to talk about the game tomorrow with the others at your coffee shop?" Roland asked calmly, as he heard Soren's response and silently supported this change.

"If possible, let's talk in game. If not, come in the evening. I don't have many customers during that time."

"Alright then, see you on the flipside."

"See you guys there." *click* With that greeting, Soren closed his phone and slowly made his way towards his apartment, which as located in the outskirts of Glaxion City of the United Nations, one of its three major cities. While slowly making his way there, he spent some time searching and combing through articles about BCO, its features and anything else that could prove useful. Unfortunately, the only thing he kept finding, was constant hype for its release and the amount of praise and hype he had to sift through, was nearly enough to make him feel nauseated. After almost 30 minutes of pointless searching, he had finally arrived at his apartment building and swiftly made his way towards the third floor of the building, then entered the first door to the right, which as numbered 301 and locked the door behind him.

"Home sweet home... Too bad no responds whenever I'm back home." Soren commented jokingly, before he had a depressive expression and laid down on his couch, as he stared at the dimly lit ceiling of his living room, which was lit from the street lamps outside of his window.

'Let's prepare for tonight. The game's launching soon and I don't want to leave any unfinished business for the night.' With that thought, he powered his body up from his couch and turned on the light switch to illuminate his living room. The living room itself was a small room that only housed the blue couch he was laying on, a couple of tree paintings, a small 14-inch TV and a small table, which was an empty AION Helmet delivery box. After lighting up the room, he closed the shutters on his window and picked up the empty box and put it next to his trash can for its eventual disposal.

After walking past the only other door in the living room, that led into a small corridor and entered the only door to his left, which was his bathroom and took a hot shower, to wash away the sweat, fatigue and stress of the day. After finishing his shower, Soren couldn't help but give his healthy, albeit slightly thin body and face a check. His features weren't anything special to go by, he only have short black hair, dark brown eyes and smooth skin and only thing he would have to periodically take care of, was his ever-growing facial hair, lest he wanted to look like an old man, but with a long black beard.

Once he finished his shower, he swiftly made his way towards one of other two doors of the hallway, which housed a small kitchen with a small fridge, oven and a couple cabinets and after whipping up something for himself to eat, he spent the next few hours watching at his TV the local news channels, which were mainly speaking about the release of BCO, which was going to happen soon. Aside from BCO though, the news channels occasionally covered other news, such as talks about the import of a new batch of robotic servants from Kanera City, which was one of the other two major capitals of the United Nations, which were founded 24 years ago, after the end of the third World War. Aside from minor incidents and a bit of gossip though, there was nothing else of interest for Soren, so he swiftly closed the TV.

Once he closed it, he went to the kitchen, to open one of the cabinets and grab a metallic helmet, with a long pair of wires sticking out from behind it, before attaching them to special sockets he had installed a few days prior, for connecting the game into the internet and its main power supply. Once the game helmet's cables were connected, he did one final check on the entire helmet, mainly the dial that read the word "Realism" on top of it, which was set at 40%, as it was the recommended setting from AionTech for both a safe and immersive gameplay experience.

"I have nothing else left to do. Time's also midnight as well. Let's hope this game doesn't f*cking kill me from the get go." Soren commented resolutely, before putting on his helmet and letting his consciousness drift away into the darkness.