3 years has passed since the successful first release of the ever so popular game, Royal Road a virtual mmorpg with a ground breaking system of 99% realism. Capsules designed for the game were sold off like hot cakes and the numbers of monthly subscriptions rose astronomically. Big companies rushed in to place ads providing further increasing the already substantial amount of funds for the rapidly growing company that designed the game, Unicorn Corporations.

Time passes 4 times faster inside the game; meaning that 4 days of game time was the equivalent to 1 day in real time. This perk attracted many working companies that soon found themselves saving a vast amount of time by holding meetings in the game. It soon became a common trend for other businesses and it wasn't unusual to see avast amount of players invading castles or fighting boss class monster while discussing about stocks and trades.

Royal Road also provided the benefit of becoming a small vacation for those with hectic and busy schedules. Even students could benefit by regularly entering the game in order to gain extra time to study, which some did but the majority would often get sidetracked as they soon become engrossed in a quest or the many unique and exquisite events constantly occurring in Royal Road.

In other words Royal Road's success is due to it's convenience and unique traits, a miniature yet vast world filled with opportunities and adventure; a world that was welcomed to all.

Click*

Scroll scroll scroll*

Click*

Going through all the reviews and articles, Dave Grudginer, a 42 year old man continued his task of opening and closing the list of links his 13 year old niece had provided for him. Dave Grudginer lived in a small apartment, which was as clean as a public outhouse at a fully booked rock concert; in other words his drab apartment was not clean at all. Through the rays of sunlight peeking through his blinds a dimly lit living room could be seen.

Dirty clothes in desperate need of a good washing could be seen laying everywhere. Crumbs and spills from his messy eating habits littered the floor and a recent coffee spill stained his dusty coach leaving another dark patch which would eventually match the myriad of other old stains on his already dingy couch.

This was the everyday life of Dave Grudginer, a messy, uncared for room befitting of it's current owner.

However today a peculiar object intrudes on Dave Grudginer's usually mundane day. Right in the center of his living room where his coffee table used to be was a gleaming giant silvery pod, akin to something seen in an alien movie. As to how the foreign object happened intrude upon his usually mundane and messy world a peek into Dave Grudginer's mind would reveal all as he recalled the past; he didn't have to recall far for the event had taken place only 3 hours ago.

Knock Knock Knock*

Sipping on a very bitter black coffee devoid of any sugar Dave Grudginer continued to drink the bitter concoction ignoring the banging on his door.

Knock Knock Knock knock knock knock*

Turning on the TV Dave proceeded to raise the volume to drown out the increasingly louder banging on his door. Thanks to the blaring sound as he set his TV's volume to the max Dave failed to hear the sound of his door being unlocked and could only stare in utter surprise as a team of buff men, a butler and his 13 year old niece walked nonchalantly into his living room.

"Excuse me, Ma'am? Where do you want the package to be installed?"

"Hmm, here is just fine"

"Sorry, but I don't think this um...place has enough room"

"Just throw the coffee table out then"

"Excuse me, Ma'am but we're a delivery and installation company not the garbage man."

"Samuel"

Walking up to the largest man who appeared to be the leader of the group the butler took out a stash of 100 dollar bills which soon vanished.

"Let's get this coffee table out of the way then! Hurry up men! We got 5 more orders today so be quick now!"

The mug of coffee dropped onto the arm of his coach as Dave silently continued to watch in disbelief as he processed in the sight of a group of men marching out with his coffee table only to march back in carrying what appeared to be a giant alien spaceship pod. The whirring sound of nail being screwed in could be heard as the crew quickly went to work. While the group of men were working the butler who was accompanying his 13 year old niece started to walk straight towards Dave who was still staring in shock at the workers.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With a flick of his hands the butler procured a spray can and a towel out of nowhere. The glint of light reflecting off the cylinder can caught Dave's attention as he finally noticed the approaching butler.

Huh? What was that light? Hmm? It's that butler...what's that in his hand?

Squinting his eyes Dave tried to read what the label on the can said.

...Bath in a can? Wha-?

A spray of liquid white foam cut off any thoughts Dave had as the butler continued to spray the foamy concoction all over him causing Dave to cough in sputter, caught by surprise a mouthful of foam entered his mouth causing him to cough in spit as he desperately sought for air.

In a matter of seconds a snowman made out of foam could be seen sitting on the coach. The rough feeling of a towel could be felt as the butler wiped the foam of Dave. Dave swore inside his mind as he thought to himself that the butler unnecessarily put to much force for when the butler was wiping his face it felt as if the towel would rip his face right off.

A blast of hot air removed the last of the foam as the butler, or as Dave would later dub him as the "Crazy Magic Man", seemed to once again procure another object out of thin air, this time a hair dryer. During this whole scene the team of buff men continued to work diligently ignoring the butler's antics.

"Boss, what is he doing?"

"Ignore it men."

"But..."

"Like I said ignore it. Better not to get involved and hurry up. The sooner we get done the sooner we can get out of here."

Bobbing their heads in unison the workers continued to install the capsule.

The spray can and the hair dryer vanished without a trace and once again the butler procured another object out of nowhere, this time it was a small laptop. Dave continued to stare silent as the butler placed the small laptop in his hand. Running toward his side and giving Dave a quick peck on his cheek was his 13 year old niece.

Taking the butler's hand the two proceeded to leave his living room along with the team of buff men that had quickly finished their task. The whole scene had lasted only an hour but another two hours passed until Dave finally snapped out of his disbelief of the entire event.

Not sure of what to do Dave opened up the laptop the magic butler man handed to him. On the screen was list of links and after giving the links a brief glance he quickly figured out that the alien space pod in his living room was in fact a giant game console. He wasn't an avid game player and he had no interest in playing the game his niece had given him and planned to just leave the capsule there to collect dust like everything else in his living room.

With a few more clicks and scrolls Dave finally finished the last of the links. Closing down the windows he paused at the title of a single file on the laptops screen. The title was addressed to him and out of curiosity Dave opened the file which contained a video file. Clicking on the file the media player popped up and soon Dave found himself staring at the face of the butler who was staring at him with an expressionless face.

For some reason the beginning of the scene showed the magic butler man. Suddenly the butler's lips raised revealing a smile. The smile was rather creepy causing Dave to shudder as he felt a sudden chill despite how hot it was in his dusty and unkempt room. Not knowing what the purpose of this video was for Dave continued to watch the video. As time passed Dave's puzzled face slowly transformed into a mask of pure and absolute terror and after another 3 minutes he soon found himself on his knees holding a trash bin to his face; a pool of bile soon formed inside. With shaky knees Dave got up, his hands holding onto the capsule for support.

Turning his head slowly back Dave caught the message at the video's last scene.

Play the game Dave or else.

With a gulp Dave pressed the glowing red button at the side of the silver pod or as he now knew as the capsule. The capsule whirred as the top slowly opened up revealing an electric gel bed. With a final glance at the video's end message Dave reluctantly crawled into the capsule. As he got in the capsules whirred and soon everything was dark except for the dimly glowing buttons next to his side. Pressing the light blue button Dave felt the world fall apart as he plunged into an abyss of darkness.

Nervously looking around Dave continued to fidget until a message popped up in front of him.

Do you wish to connect to Royal Road?YesNo