Vincent Blackwell reclined in his chair and looked around his room. In the center of the room was a large table which carried a powerful gaming PC. The screen shined harsh light on Vincent's pale face, and the fan inside the machine whirred quietly as it tried to simultaneously run a 4x strategy game and download a brand new VRMMORPG. Sitting on the table next to the PC was the Kabuto device, a cutting edge full-dive VR headset that had seen its fair-share of use. The Kabuto device looked like a metallic golf visor with lenses in the front and a protrusion in the back. The protrusion in the back contained a subtle needle which would be inserted into a small device that had been surgically added to the back of Vincent's neck several years ago. This was how the Kabuto device interfaced with the user's nervous system.
To one side of the room was a shelf that contained several large trophies. Vincent did not need to get closer to know what they said: Ninth Oasis Large Group Champion 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031. The trophies weren't addressed to Vincent Blackwell, however. On each of the four trophies the name of the recipient was written: Tantalus45. On the wall next to the shelf was a gold YouTube play button similarly addressed to Tantalus45. The fact that these trophies were addressed to Tantalus was partially Vincent's fault. He really didn't like giving out his real name.
He thought for a moment about the origin of his username: Tantalus. For a long time, he had felt that happiness, the fruit of the living world, was laid out right in front of him. No matter how much he reached out, however, he could never grasp it. No matter what Vincent achieved, he always felt that what he really wanted was just outside of his grasp.
With a sigh, Vincent checked his phone. It was 10:35 AM. He had completely missed the release of Ferrum Online. Vincent had been awake for about twenty-five hours at that point, and he had completely lost track of time. In fact, he did not know that the sun had risen until he had turned away from his PC about an hour before. Vincent's sleep schedule was seriously messed up. He pondered this as he reached down under his seat and pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. With his phone in one hand, Vincent put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Luckily, he owned the building, so no one would complain. Vincent thought for a moment. He couldn't recall the last time he had left this building. It must have been a week or two. Well, he had essentially been living like that since 2022, thirteen years ago. The only difference was that now the YouTube money meant that he could afford to have other people shop for him. As far as middle-aged shut-ins went, Vincent was doing pretty well.
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Vincent's phone pinged as he got a text message. Strange, there weren't many people that would text him on that number.
The message read, "Hey Tantalus, I think something went wrong with the release of that new Far Caster game. There have been reports of people using the Kabuto system not being able to log out. I've messaged Ashcroft and Izanagi, but they haven't responded. Don't log in until they've investigated."
The name above the text message was "Kingfisher," one of Vincent's old friends from five years ago. Vincent did a cursory search online for information about the release of Ferrum Online, but he could not find anything except for a few forum posts. No news organizations had even mentioned Ferrum Online or the Kabuto system.
Suddenly, Vincent's PC beeped. He turned to see the notification: "Download complete."
Vincent reached out and held the Kabuto in his hands. It suddenly felt much heavier than it ever had before. He thought about Redgrave, Izanagi, and Ashcroft who had probably already logged on. Most of the people he would consider "friends" had already logged into the game.
Vincent slowly put on the Kabuto headset as he had a thousand times before. He guided the anchor to the base of his neck and reclined his chair back as far as it would go. Before he initialized the dive, he said one sentence:
"Whatever happens, it can't be any worse."