Nathan tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. Being in virtual reality while it loaded was a strange experience, and he had yet to figure out what to do during this period. He thought about adding some minigames in the room to keep players from becoming impatient. It was something he would have to add later, though, as the main game came first.

"Just watch, I'll blow that shitty game out of the water, carve it up and devour it piece by piece while I laugh at your expense!" he said with a smirk. He had focused his mind on revenge. Nothing else mattered when dealing with his two scumbag ex-partners.

He watched as the central area finished loading, and a portal opened at the end of the room.

"Finally! Took it long enough... I'll have to optimise the loading area, maybe make it smaller again."

Nathan walked through the portal as he felt his body become weightless. The introduction began, as he had reset the game intro area for testing.

"Welcome to Celerin, the world of fantasy, magic and wonder."

He had created this voice-over himself, but it had been changed and edited to sound much older and more profound. He was proud of it, as the audio course had several hours to complete. It wasn't that much, but for his tight deadlines it caused much havoc.

The intro began as he flew across a wasteland. There were no trees, water, plants, or anything alive at all. There was only broken dirt and stone as far as the eye could see.

"The creator god first made the world. This broken world was made to challenge his children. Seven of his divine offspring were sent to change and mould this place to become paradise."

In the distance stood seven distant figures, all different sizes, shapes and colours, though too far to make out any specific details.

"The current time is 4000 B.E, the start of the seven divine's efforts to create a living, breathing world. It would take another four thousand years before the first races were born unto this world."

Time sped up, dozens of years flying past in the blink of an eye, four thousand years passing in just under a minute. The colours of the world turned from greys and browns to a lush green landscape, filled with blue oceans, red deserts and other vibrant colours.

Everything had changed in a moment, as the world had become a paradise. Distant children ran around screaming. The sounds of wind rushing through wheat fields accompanied the gentle hum of a mother's singing as she watched her children play.

"It was not till 667 A.E that the world lost its lustre, and everything turned to ash."

The world again morphed to a mottley mixture of browns, blacks and greys. Fires raged as races clashed in brutal battles. Two towering figures in the sky battled with unbelievable power as millions could be seen killing each other on the ground below.

"It's unknown what started the divine war, but you, young demi-god, have been sent to ascend into the world and resolve the crisis! Bring back the peace that had long reigned, this is the decree of the creator-god himself!"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Nathan nodded his head in pride. Of course, he knew the whole plot, and what had started the war, though he would never give any spoilers. The most vital aspect to making any good game was letting the players explore and find these things for themselves.

The next part was character creation. In normal games, one would customise a character's appearance freely. But, due to the method of connection via the helmets, it was possible for one's in-game avatar to match their appearance in real life. Still, he always recommend against this option.

"There are crazy people online. If your avatar looks like you, then it's gonna cause some issues."

The intro was still ongoing, and he noticed that something had gone wrong as he watched the armies still fighting each other.

=== Would you like to enter the world ( Y / N ) ===

He blinked for a few seconds. This wasn't correct. It was supposed to take the player to the character creation area before they could begin. He knew that it must be a bug with the system, as he narrowed his eyes, slowly waving his hand to open the admin menu.

"What? Why isn't it opening?" He muttered.

It could be an issue with the cutscene, Nathan thought. If that was the case, then opening the character menu or admin menu would be impossible. He would have to first skip past the cutscene.

"Fine, I'll enter the world. Bugs these days are getting annoying."

He pressed the 'Y' option on the screen, and soon felt his body becoming lighter before floating towards the open sky. The entire world shifted and he felt his body starting to swim, the scene changing again to an ocean of sand. This was not the starting location in the Valley of the Gods, that was for sure.

"What broken ass location is this!?"

He looked around to see a massive desert that covered many miles in all directions. At the edge of his vision was a gigantic wall that seemed to be divine, almost like a barrier to keep everyone out of this barren land.

"Or more like to keep everyone inside. This place is massive..." he muttered once more.

He came to realise that he was not standing on the ground. Instead, his body was floating, but gravity caught up to him as he plummeted to the ground like a comet. The sound of screaming echoed through the sands, before Nathan found himself crashing face first into the dust. His rag-doll body rolled down the dunes until he eventually spread out on the sand. He soon coughed out that sand before standing and looking around, confused.

He had been summoned into an area he did not recognise. There was some cruel irony in the fact, as he had spent many hours carefully sculpting each and every area as if they were his own children. For this place to be unknown to him was very strange. His mind began to work overtime, his pride hurt by the brutal fall. He felt his rage building as he screamed to the skies.

"FUCK YOU GAME! I made you and I can unmake you!"