A young female nurse ran her daily tests while making an honest attempt at conversation, “You know Cyrus, you should try to get to know some of the people here. It wouldn’t hurt to make friends right?”

Emotionlessly, the young man answered, “Why should I try to make friends when I’m probably going to die pretty soon? And you already know my parents sad excuse because it apparently 'breaks their hearts to see me in this state.' Not even my parents want anything to do with me anymore. The only thing that keeps me going is FU and that’s coming to end too. Why not just pull the plug?” He knew he was being rather harsh with the same nurse he’s had since being admitted into the hospital, but he was frankly too exhausted to care.

He looked at himself in the mirror only to the shell of the person he used to be. Dull yellow hair that used to shine golden in the sun, hollow cheeks and bony chin adding depth to a once strong yet gnetle jawline and pale white skin. But what really stood out the most, were his eyes. Dull and lifeless blue eyes stared back, only to elicit a sigh from the young man as he wondered what he had done to deserve such a miserable life.

Cyrus had been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer that had slowly and painfully spread throughout his body by the time of discovery. He was given only a few years left to live, which was miraculous given his current state, but he was never allowed to leave the hospital for fear of his health and his parents had given up on him, currently grooming his older brother to take over the family pharmacy. It was during this difficult time that Cyrus discovered Fantasy Unlimited. Whenever Cyrus had free time, which was pretty much all the time except during his daily tests, he would spend his time playing Fantasy Unlimited, for tens of hours continuously. Ever since discovering VR and the game, he dedicated his sole time to his alternate reality, one where he could enjoy his freedom and near limitless possiblities, things which his current life denied him. He had no need to go to a bathroom anymore with a catheter in place and his meals were being pumped into his stomach due to complications with a growing tumor in his throat.

In the span of four years, Cyrus’ time spent on Fantasy Unlimited paid off as he climbed the ranks to claim the number one rank in the game, as a solo player no less. But that wasn’t truly the greatest feat by Cyrus. In the game, where realism is a constant motto, players can pretty much do whatever they want, and obtain whatever class they want. It was similar to how you could attempt to obtain another degree or learn a new profession. However, the creators understood that doing this should be rather difficult and time consuming just like how in reality, most people didn’t have the time to spend trying to learn craft after craft after craft. Therefore, the creators came up with a simple formula to make it all the more difficult. For each new class claimed, the time needed to spend to learn and master said class, raised by a hundred percent. This deterred nearly every player except Cyrus from attempting to master multiple classes. Not only did Cyrus have the time to do it, but he had nothing better to do. Cyrus had became the first player to master not only a second and third class, but even a fourth class. However, because of Cyrus’ incredulously high level and lack of friends, no one knew about him mastering multiple classes and no one could analyze his profile either when playing with him.

Fully aware that the game will end tonight at midnight, Cyrus dejectedly stared outside the window pondering the insane amount of time spent playing and his decision to play until the bitter end. Maybe it had something to do with his boredom or maybe it had to do with his inability to cope with his failing body, truthfully he had no clue. There was one thing that Cyrus knew and that was his determination to see his alternate reality end in-game. Putting his VR helmet on, he dove into his only escape from reality.

He appeared in a large yet modest bedroom. The room was barely furnished with just a queen-sized bed, a dresser and a mirror. A crystal chandelier in the ceiling gave off a light bright enough to light the entire room but not enough to hurt the eye. A large window next to the bed showed that the room was on the second story. Glancing outside the window, two bright moons in the night sky overlooked a clearing surrounded by a dark forest.

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This was Cyrus’ home, which he purchased using his in-game currency. Of course all the land and the house had cost him quite a lot, but granted Cyrus had gained so much money over the years that price no longer mattered to him. Of course, Cyrus never become overly materialistic but he wasn't some poor penny pincher either. Rarely did Cyrus splurge, often attempting to find his own desired items through trades or requests and rewards.

The creators receiving feedback that pop up menus were outdated and that a telepathic menu linked to a player's memory would be more convenient, a recent update came to fruition. Ever since, players only had to use their thoughts to peruse the menu while the information from the menu was like an extension of their memory.

Without so much as a word, Cyrus changed into his best lightweight gear, put on a pitch black cloak with a hood and equipped his most powerful sword, which also happens to be the most powerful sword in the game. Cyrus had won the sword through the most recent and final event in which he had to fight the final boss within the game. The community thought it would be fun to have a final boss, that truly was a final boss and the creators answered with such, a boss that no one could defeat but was not overpowered enough to deliver utter defeat so that it was both fun and a challenge for everyone. Although Cyrus had died several times and used multiple revival pills, each costing nearly the same amount as his land and house, it was all worth it to beat the boss that no one had been able to beat. As a reward for being the only player to win the event, the creators awarded Cyrus with more money than he knew what to do with, an ancient tome on all the monsters and plants in the game and the sword that the final boss had used, said to be the best in the game, or at least that’s what the backstory said anyways. 

Of course, Cyrus also spent an enormous amount of time reading the tome as well. In the game, tomes can become a part of your in-game memory, but must be read first and the game made sure that a player read the entire book before becoming a part of a player’s knowledge. Of course, this took too long and there weren't many tomes given as rewards, so they eventually became a rare but useless collector's item and to find someone who had read an entire tome, like Cyrus, even rarer. Although, that was the only tome Cyrus decided to read.

Although Cyrus never had the chance to use the sword because there was nothing or no one to use it against, he felt the need to wear it in order to display his love for the game and his desire to end it in his most prized possessions.

As Cyrus sat on the bed, fully changed, he could only stare at the two cream-white moons, deceptively close together as the minutes ticked by. His land, his home, his gear, all of it reflected Cyrus’ dedication to the game. He knew that soon, all of it would end though. Although he never took the game for granted, he also knew that FU was only a game, yet Cyrus was still quite sad to see it end. 

Soon the countdown began:

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Thank you playing Fantasy Unlimited!”

As the countdown reached its end, darkness ensued and Cyrus lost all connection to the world he loved.

A/N: Although I am a native English speaker, my grammar and use of the language isn't perfect so if you spot any mistakes let me know! Thanks for reading