Kieran Vale stared at the sleek black VR headset resting in his hands. It looked like any other piece of gaming tech, but the weight of what it represented felt crushing. This wasn’t just another game—it was Eclipse of the Arcanist, the most hyped immersive RPG ever created. For him, though, it was more than an escape. It was a chance to rebuild something of the life he’d lost.
He exhaled slowly and slid the headset on. The world around him vanished into black.
“Welcome to Eclipse of the Arcanist,” a soft, melodic voice announced. “Initializing neural sync. Please relax and prepare for entry.”
A rush of light hit him, colors swirling like a kaleidoscope, until he suddenly found himself standing in a forest. Only… it wasn’t just a forest. The ground beneath his feet was firm and damp, the air carried the faint scent of pine, and sunlight filtered through crystalline leaves. It was beautiful. Too real.
“Damn,” Kieran whispered, brushing his hand over the rough bark of a tree. He could feel the grooves under his fingertips, the faint stickiness of sap.
Before he could marvel any longer, a voice called out. He turned to see a woman dressed in leather armor, her auburn hair tied back in a practical braid. Above her head floated glowing letters: Lyria (Questgiver).
“Traveler,” she said, urgency in her voice, “the Veilwood is under siege. Dark forces gather, and we need your aid.”
A menu appeared in his vision with dialogue options:
1. “I’ll help. What do you need?”
2. “Dark forces? Sounds dangerous.”
3. “Not my problem.”
Kieran smirked and chose the first. “I’m in. What’s the job?”
Lyria’s face softened with relief. “Sprites corrupted by shadow magic have infested the eastern forest. We need their cores to purify the land. Bring me five, and I shall reward you.”
A waypoint lit up on his map, marking the Veilwood a few clicks away. Kieran checked his inventory, noting the basic staff and starter gear the game had provided. He chuckled to himself. “Alright, let’s see what this world’s got.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
As he moved deeper into the Veilwood, the forest seemed to change. The vibrant colors dimmed, replaced by shadowy greens and grays. The air grew heavier, and an unnatural silence settled around him.
A hiss broke the quiet. Kieran turned just in time to see a sprite—a small, humanoid creature made of jagged shadows—launch itself at him. He raised his staff on instinct and shouted the name of his basic attack spell: “Arcane Bolt!”
A shimmering blast of light shot forward, slamming into the sprite and knocking it back. It screeched as its form crumbled into a pool of darkness, leaving behind a faintly glowing core. Kieran bent down and picked it up, the orb vanishing into his inventory with a soft ping.
“One down,” he muttered. “Four to go.”
The next few sprites came in quick succession. Each one was faster and more aggressive than the last, forcing Kieran to get creative with his spells. By the time he collected the fifth core, his health bar was dangerously low, and his mana reserves were nearly tapped out.
“Basic quest my ass,” he grumbled, wiping virtual sweat from his brow.
Just as he turned to leave, a faint glow caught his attention. Through the trees, he spotted a small clearing. In its center stood a pedestal of black stone, and above it hovered a shard of light, flickering erratically.
Curiosity overrode caution. He approached the pedestal slowly, the glowing shard pulsing faintly in the dim light. As he got closer, strange symbols appeared in his vision—lines of code flashing red and erratic. They didn’t look like part of the game.
“What the hell is this?” Kieran whispered.
Without thinking, he reached out to touch the shard. The moment his fingers grazed it, the forest around him twisted. Colors distorted, and the air felt like it was vibrating. A deep, mechanical voice rumbled:
“Unauthorized access detected. Proceed with caution.”
Kieran stumbled back, his heart pounding. The shard vanished, the pedestal left bare. His HUD flickered briefly before stabilizing. Whatever that was, it wasn’t part of the quest.
He retraced his steps back to Lyria, handing over the cores. She gave him a warm smile and a pouch of gold. “You’ve done well, Traveler. The Veilwood is safer thanks to you.”
But Kieran barely heard her. His thoughts kept circling back to the shard and the strange warning. He logged out of the game, the headset lifting off with a soft hiss.
He rubbed his eyes and reached for his phone, but the screen displayed something that made him freeze.
It wasn’t a notification. It wasn’t an email.
It was a message, glowing white against the black screen:
“You’ve seen too much, Kieran.”