I hadn’t thought, when I was a kid, that my life would ever end up like this. Somehow I’d imagined something better.

A cool job, for one. Maybe not as an astronaut, but something I could never have imagined as a kid. Something involving technological innovation or cutting edge research or artistic achievement, something that changed peoples’ lives.

Instead I was stuck here, in a hell of spreadsheets. My whole life was spreadsheets. Sometimes, I even dreamed about them. I couldn’t escape.

Thankfully, I was done for the day. I gathered all my things, made sure my computer was turned off and my desk was neat, and started making my way out of my cubicle.

Honestly, I was a little worried because I was leaving early. I didn’t often leave early, but today was a special day. I was hoping that because I got all my work done today, no one would say anything.

“Gray, is that you?”

A bolt of anxiety and irritation made its way up my spine as I realized that I’d been caught after all.

“Yes, Robert?” I turned around in the direction of my manager’s office. He was looking at me from where he was standing in the door frame, and I felt like an idiot who’d been trying to sneak out.

“You got those reports to me, right?” asked Robert, raising an eyebrow.

I almost breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, I emailed them about a half hour ago.”

“Oh, good,” said Robert. “You heading home early today?”

“Uh, just a bit,” I said, unsure of what to say. I wanted to get the hell out of there and yeah, I technically had to have my butt in the chair until 5 pm.

Robert looked at me sternly, but he didn’t say anything. “Have a good weekend, Gray.”

“You too,” I said with a tight smile, and I dashed off around the corner before he could say anything else, waving hastily at the few coworkers I actually liked.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief when I’d exited the building into the cool spring air. It was a gorgeous day outside, and it was only going to become more perfect, but I had something better I wanted to do.

NEON. Nexus Online. The world’s first fully immersive MMORPG.

One of the great passions of my life that made it bearable was video games. I’d been a gamer ever since I could hold a N64 controller. My parents kept thinking I’d grow out of it, but I never did. I loved video games.

So of course, when the opportunity came to play one that was so immersive, I jumped.

It didn’t hurt that the premise was super cool too. It combined cyberpunk and fantasy in a way I hadn’t seen a lot of games do before. I loved fantasy games as much as the next guy, but I wanted to do something more interesting than mow down orcs in a forest with a broadsword.

NEON promised much more than that, beyond its cool setting and characters. You see, when they said “fully immersive,” they meant that players actually got mentally transported into the world of the game. I wouldn’t have to hit a button to attack someone or buy something, I would do it with my hands—just like in real life.

I wasn’t entirely sure how the technology worked. The game came with a headset and a dongle that plugged into your computer, and all you had to do was put the headset on and close your eyes.

When you opened them, you’d find yourself in the world of NEON, seeing, smelling, touching, and hearing it just like it was reality.

Gamers had been clamoring for something like this for years—decades, even—and NEON was the first game to have pulled it off. I was sure that others would follow, but there was no way I was missing out on the chance to be one of the first people to have this experience.

That was why I’d wanted to leave the office early. I’d have all weekend to do absolutely nothing but play video games.

My kind of weekend.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I couldn’t drive home fast enough. When I finally pulled in to my apartment’s parking lot, my heart sank as it usually did. I lived in a shitty apartment because they didn’t pay me enough to live somewhere better. There was a high cost of living around here, and it was the best I could do.

But none of that mattered anymore because now I had NEON. Who knew what my fate would be there? Maybe I’d end up being one of the richest players, with an awesome sci-fi apartment.

A guy could dream.

I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. The sour, somewhat musty smell of my apartment greeted me, and I wrinkled my nose. No matter how many room sprays or scented products I used, I couldn’t get rid of it.

I placed my backpack on the tired couch in my living room. The nasty old pleather blob was covered in cozy throws, making my house look more like a grandma’s house than anything. It didn’t help that I had a couple of dead plants on the windowsill, and a shitty piece of framed art on the wall that looked like something from the back of a Goodwill. You could tell I’d tried to beautify the place but soon given up.

I grabbed a meal shake from the fridge and downed it, then freshened up in the bathroom and changed into my sweatpants. I wanted to make sure I was totally comfortable before I settled in for the night. I’d gone through some of the NEON literature earlier, and they’d suggested keeping meal shakes on hand, to minimize disruptions for eating. They’d also suggested all kinds of other unusual tips, like making sure your head was supported while you were in the game.

These meal shakes were a fucking blessing. Somehow they gave you all the nutrition you needed and you didn’t have to do anything to prepare them. It was a lifesaver for a cooking-challenged bachelor like myself. And even more of a lifesaver now that I was starting NEON.

The one problem was liquid intake—the shakes had some, but not enough. I’d deal with that problem later. There were already forums for NEON players online that went into detail about how they managed all the details of their lives so they could play this game as much as possible.

In any case, I was done thinking and ready to start doing. I settled down in my chair and my desk and woke my computer from sleep. I picked up the box NEON had mailed me and took out the headset and dongle. The dongle was simple enough and lit up when I plugged into my computer. I’d already downloaded and installed the NEON software.

Now I just had to put the headset on and start my journey.

I was surprised to find I was actually a little anxious. I’d been so gung ho about the game all day, but now that I was taking the first step, I was hesitant. It was going to be a very different, novel experience, unlike anything I’d ever done before. I’d never even traveled out of the country; I’d never been able to afford to. So how was I going to handle a fictional city?

I just had to get over myself and dive in headfirst. I picked up the headset, which was a slim, light thing, less like a bike helmet and more like a very complex pair of sunglasses. There were two nodes that had to go directly on the skin of my temple, and they attached easily. Supposedly the software would be able to communicate with my brain through these nodes. The whole thing seemed so unlikely; I was half expecting it wouldn’t work at all and turn out to be an elaborate hoax.

The instruction booklet had said that I could just “think” commands. This had sounded completely fake to me, but as soon as I thought to turn the headset on, it did. A blue light came over the lens part of the “sunglasses” and I heard a pleasant female voice in my head tell me to close my eyes.

Wow, that was spooky. I put on this headset and suddenly I was able to control it with my brain and hear voices even though there was nothing in my ears. I vaguely recalled reading something about how the human brain’s perception was easy to trick—which was why people had hallucinations—and that was basically the science behind NEON.

I was glad it was working, anyway. I finally followed the prompt to close my eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to relax my body. I was actually shaking a little with anticipation.

The first thing I saw was blackness. What I didn’t expect was the sensation of my entire body being in what I could only describe as a neutral state. I no longer felt the chair I was sitting in and I couldn’t smell my apartment anymore. I couldn’t see my hands or anything, either.

The only thing relevant to me right now was the prompt in front of me. In soothing blue letters, it asked for my legal name, gender, and date of birth.

I only had to think the answers and they were automatically filled in. This was pretty cool so far. If only the rest of the internet was so smooth.

Another prompt popped up with an explanation of what would happen next—which was great, because I was getting impatient.

WELCOME TO NEXUS ONLINE!

As a new player, you will be transported to the city of Goldstooth, where you will decide the form you will take in the world of NEON. After a brief tutorial to help you get acclimated to the game mechanics, you will be let loose to explore the world or follow campaign quests.

Are you ready? Let’s get started…

The prompt somehow knew when I’d finished reading, because it evaporated. I saw an electric blue flash of lightning, and then I opened my eyes—again.

I found myself in a room. A blank room with black walls and traces of neon light in my peripheral vision. I was lying on something, maybe a table.

“Welcome, Gray,” said a mischievous voice.

What had I gotten myself into?