Volume 1 - Chapter 2

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After watching my boss kill one of his own, the character I would become had secured a bottle of brown booze from someone in The Green Fists.

I spent the rest of the week finding more prohibition alcohol and drinking myself half-to-death rather than doing the work I was tasked with.

There was no wonder I had started the game as an alcoholic. I could see the writing on the wall.

When I thought back on the opening sequence of events, there was no indication Mr. Gallagher was aware I had seen him.

He simply wanted me to do my job, and he clearly wasn't afraid to kill.

It gave me good motivation not to anger him.

“You better shape up, and do it quick. You know who I’m with. I ain’t afraid to make a drunk like you disappear for good, if you catch my meanin’.”

I was still thinking about how this might impact my future in the game, even as I flew through the night sky in the opening teaser.

I was floating above a few wispy clouds and the megacity as it all continued developing around me.

A female narrator said, "Welcome to New Horizon City. This is a sprawling urban jungle home to one hundred million people. One thousand players will be randomly distributed across several unique districts. You, Ethan Jones, are one of seventy-five players who now live in Grimsborough Heights.

“There is no moral right in this city. You do what you have to do in order to survive, and that’s it. Do what you want, but most importantly, entertain and grow your empire.”

The camera panned out and the city still stretched across my entire view. I saw the bright outline of a gulf coast in the night, with the population wrapped densely around an oval shoreline.

Before I could study it further, my view jumped into rapid fire cut-scenes featuring dozens of different locations.

They each flashed before me as if I were truly experiencing the events.

A man in a suit and tie, scars across his face, carried a tommy-gun into an old church. Stained glass windows shined down on the congregation.

The gangster aimed his weapon at another mobster, who looked surprised he was about to get gunned down.

“Saint Michael welcomes you!”

The gangster with the gun squeezed the trigger, and the scene cut suddenly away to some boring shots.

In another, a swooning Sinatra-type singer in a smoke-filled club sang about desires to a small crowd. Sophisticated patrons at a long, fancy bar listened to the singer as an elegant redheaded woman was approached by an attractive man.

I marveled at the designs of their outfits and the historical accuracy of the social club. The NPC acting was excellent. It was all top-notch, and I truly believed I was in this world.

The charming man smiled at the woman, exposing two long vampire teeth. She smiled back at him, revealing herself to be human. He offered her a hand, and she lingered, deciding whether to take it.

The scene cut away to show the two in bed, having passionate sex with one another. Her natural, voluptuous breasts bounced with the force of his actions, and she experienced bliss.

In that beautiful moment he stopped and plunged his fangs into her neck. The sexy woman with red hair would no doubt be turned into a breathtaking vampire.

Another dark scene, mobsters ran down a brick road, yelling, "get in the machines!" before climbing into some 1920s vehicles.

The old sedans and roadsters roared down a street, mobsters hanging out of the windows. They shot pistols, rifles, and shotguns at something behind them.

Vampires blurred into focus, running faster than humans possibly could. They leaped at the vehicles. One mobster was yanked from a sedan and thrown to the street.

His body rolled and then was run over by a car. The thin wheel pinched his already torn body, nearly cutting the man in half. He screamed in disbelief at the gash through his midsection.

One vampire's head exploded from a shotgun blast. His body fell as the cars continued out of focus.

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My view stayed with the fallen vampire, his head missing most of his brain. The other vampires stopped to look down at their fallen companion. They looked disappointed, but well acquainted with death.

A ravishingly handsome vampire wearing a maroon pin-striped suit shook his head in disgust and said, "The Borrells were prepared for us. They're using silver slugs."

The scene cut away, and some other clips continued.

The video was packed densely with action and violence, and was very clearly designed to look exactly like a 1920s American city on steroids, controlled by gangsters and vampires.

I had a much better understanding of the world I was uploaded into, and I was not prepared for this. It looked like a wildly dangerous urban environment.

Like all other games before it, this one had been a complete mystery all the way up until launch day. It was NexaTechNeuro's eighth unique world, and I had only won a slot after buying a single fifty dollar raffle ticket.

So many people from around the globe bought tickets that the odds of my number having been drawn were more ridiculous than if I had won billions in a national lottery.

Being non-transferrable, I either took this chance of a lifetime or I refused to sign the contract. Signing the contract meant plenty of rules. NexaTechNeuro now effectively owned my mind, body, and likeness for a significant period of time.

I underwent the brain-chip operation one month prior to the launch and had experienced no complications. From that point on there was no turning back unless I paid my debts, and that wasn't possible for me.

I was in this game to live as long as possible.

My new false apartment came back into focus, and I was standing exactly where I had been previously.

I still couldn't move, and I was beginning to question whether I would ever get to.

The woman’s voice returned again.

"Do you wish to enter New Horizon City? Answering yes begins the full-immersion control. Answering no means you will be disconnected from the servers and billed one-hundred thousand credits, as detailed in your contract and your non-disclosure agreement. Please verbally answer yes or no."

It was easy for me to make the choice.

Most of the speculation about NexaTechNeuro’s new game had centered around rumors of a pirate world. Understandably, all the players that signed contracts had spent plenty of time preparing to sail the high seas.

We had all been wrong. We were not in a pirate world, but an old megacity filled with mobsters and vampires.

Shifting my expectations to this new reality, I began thinking about what I wanted from the experience. Vampire killer was the first thing that came to mind, but I hadn't even gained full control of my character yet, so I didn't know what to expect.

It was obvious I would start the game as an alcoholic handyman working for a member of The Green Fists, who'd just done a hit on one of his own.

Grim stuff.

Saying no would break the contract I had signed, and I would have to pay for NexaTechNeuro's costs of uploading me into a digital cloud. All the medical and training required to connect me to the system wasn't cheap.

I was sure some people would opt out after witnessing the trailer, but I didn't see any real reason to. Even if I entered the game and then died quickly, at least I wouldn't owe them anything.

“Please verbally answer yes or no to the question. For safety reasons, you will be disconnected in twenty seconds if you do not answer the prompt. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes,” I said, knowing that I had been doing too much thinking.

“Thank you."

I returned to my previous starting location, standing in my small apartment. The floor was solid hardwood, well-worn.

My nostrils picked up a scent of cigar smoke, stained into peeling wallpaper. The sweet, thick aroma nearly overwhelmed me.

I was impressed by the sensory elements.

Against the wall to my left was a five-drawer dresser. Directly ahead of me was a solid door. A deadbolt and a catch-chain were both unlocked.

I remembered the introductory scene just moments before.

My boss Mr. Gallagher visited to remind me I was lazy. At a certain point I would need to begin what I assumed was his mission or quest line.

For the time being, I just wanted to get acquainted with the game.

To the right was a thin mattress on the floor, next to a toolbox and a few empty whisky bottles.

Billions of people were potentially watching me play, although I was not able to interact with them. NexaTechNeuro owned me during my life within the game, and they livestreamed me and all the other players across the globe for entertainment purposes.

Anything I did and every encounter that was funny, ridiculous, or memeable would get shared for all of eternity, or at least while civilization existed.

No pressure.

I considered the introductory video. I had to get my bearings straight and my head in the game. I had just learned that I was in a fictional 1920s American metropolis known as New Horizon City.

My mind began to think of what life was like before all the modern conveniences I had come to know.

Beyond regular items and lifestyles, I considered weapons. If mobsters and vampires were going to be around, I doubted basic weapons could help me, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to look for one.

I doubted the game would start me off with access to tommy-guns or silver slugs. Finding a standard, simple weapon like a baseball bat or a knife would likely prove beneficial.

The system finally said, "All players are now loaded in."

When I thought about the physical act of moving, I did. It was a simple enough thing and I was no longer locked in place, seemingly free to go about my new life.

Players had been given multiple training classes on the basic thought operations controlling the user interface, although the training grounds was of course done within a pirate world.

I had not experienced any side-effects from those instances or from this one, and I was ready to go.

It was on.

I immediately opened each drawer of the dresser. All I found inside was used underwear, socks, overalls, a key, a wrist-watch, and three dollars.

"That's it?" I said, before remembering that money probably had a different value set in the 1920s.

I had no idea what three dollars could buy, but judging by the apartment and my job for Mr. Gallagher, I figured I was poor. The money and the key both went in my front right pocket.

I put the watch on my wrist and looked at it. The time was 1:32 a.m. I was unsure if there was a direct time translation between the real world and this one, but it seemed to be a normal twenty four hour day.

There was no reason to question it.

A series of notifications began. They flashed in my bottom left field of view, accompanied by the system voice.

Unlocked Inventory - You picked up your first item and you now have access to your inventory screen.

+100 XP

You have 100 XP total

You need 900 more XP to reach level 1

"Excellent," I smiled, happy with immediate progress.