Hearing his cousin talk about ‘New Earth,' Jack remembered the ads he’d seen all over town. “New Earth, as in the game?”
“Yeah. I’ve been playing it every night for the past few months. You can sell in-game items for real-life money. See the TV? Sold a rare gem at an auction online, and BOOM!” he shouted, “New TV!”
“Wait, you’re actually making money from playing the game? That’s pretty wild.”
“It’s awesome. That way, even when I’m sleeping, I’m making money. You know you can play it while sleeping, right?”
Jack had read online about how more and more people were making a living through gaming. Auctioning in-game items for IRL money and making gameplay videos and guides was a market that kept growing year after year. “I’d love to try it, but those helmets are crazy expensive.”
“Yeap. 1000 credits only gets you the worst model.”
Jack grimaced. That was too much.
“However, if you’re short on cash, some companies rent a helmet for 50 credits a week.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. It's a big business. If I had the money to invest, I’d open a helmet rental business myself. Lots of people can’t afford to buy helmets, or they want to try the system out first.”
“What about New Earth? How much does it cost?” He remembered that the bus ad mentioned a monthly fee.
“It’s 100 credits a month,” he answered.
“That’s steep. I don’t know if I can swing that at the moment.”
“I know. And it’s still the most played game right now, which shows you how good it is. They do offer you the first month free if you get a referral from an existing player. I can hook you up if you want.”
Jack thought about the money he'd receive from Cheap Mart and the rent he had to pay. “How much money do you make on New Earth a month?”
“Depends. In my worst month, I only got 300 credits. In my best month, which was when I found that rare gem… 900?” he said after some thought. “But I only play at night. Some people make much more.”
Jack thought about his day. He had no choice but to find a way to come up with 400 credits. He got all his jobs through his father’s friends and connections, but that would probably not work this time.
When he compared the hassle of sending CVs and going to interviews to lying in bed playing a game, the choice seemed obvious. Sure, it wasn’t guaranteed money, but neither were his job prospects. At least this way, he’d enjoy himself. “I think I’ll want that referral, cous.”
“You got it!”
Jack grabbed his phone and checked his balance. Cheap Mart hadn’t paid him yet. “By the way, Rob.”
“Yeah?”
"Could I borrow 50 credits? I’ll pay you back next week."
*
Jack carefully entered the house and removed his shoes. After being scolded by his father earlier today, the last thing he needed was to be told off for being out this late at night.
He climbed up the stairs on his tiptoes and gently turned the doorknob of his room, careful not to make it creak. He stepped into his room and shut the door behind him.
Relieved to have accomplished his stealth mission, Jack opened the box he'd been carrying. He hesitated as he picked up the VRX helmet. The dents and scratches didn’t inspire much confidence, but the clerk swore it worked fine. The only one available at the store was pink, which was far from Jack's favorite color. He just hoped that the investment was worth it and that the money-making method that worked so well for his cousin would also work for him.
As he put on the helmet, his first impression was how heavy it was. No wonder people played with these while lying in bed; otherwise, they would sprain their necks. He looked for a button on the side of the helmet and, finding it, pressed it.
A blue window appeared in front of him.
"Wow!"
This is your first time wearing this helmet. The system will now synchronize with your nervous system.
Please look up.
He obeyed.
Please look down.
He followed each command the machine gave him. He raised his arms one at a time, then his legs. He walked around the room, and finally, the synchronization was complete. He created a username, but the helmet didn’t ask for a password. It would probably scan his retina or something.
He could operate the system in the helmet just by willing it. He opened the VRX store and immediately found what he was looking for. The logo for New Earth, with the image from the ads of a warrior in shiny armor battling a dinosaur, was the first thing to appear in the store.
He took his phone out of his pocket, checked the message Rob had sent him earlier that night, and read it aloud.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
“J-N-R-H-1-2-7-1.”
We’ve activated the referral code you’ve received from Roberto Sousa.
Congratulations! You can play New Earth on trial mode for the next 30 days. The game is now installing.
A progress bar started loading. The internet at his parent’s house wasn’t the fastest, but it had a decent download speed. Even so, the game download and installation would last several minutes. He wished the bar would finish loading already, but he decided to use the time and check some things his cousin had told him about earlier.
He set the helmet aside and started researching the game. The first thing he checked was the auction site.
A series of colorful flashing windows competed for his attention. Seeing some of the prices being asked for in-game items, he couldn’t help but gasp. At the center of the website, there was a picture of a sword. The pommel was made of dark metal, and the blade was green. It seemed to be dripping acid, which sizzled as it fell off the sword and hit the border of the window.
“Sword of the Slime King,” he read aloud, “2000 credits? What?!”
This was four months of rent! Five, if his mom’s help turned out to be an every-month thing. He scrolled down and saw many other items sold for equally exorbitant prices. He found a section with gems and remembered his cousin Robert's story. Sure enough, some gems were for sale at 900 credits and more.
Why weren't people talking more about this? This was a fantastic money-making opportunity. Visiting Roberto was the best thing he could have done today. Maybe this was his ticket out of his predicament. If he could make good money, he could prove to Lydia he was planning for the future and pay his father his cursed rent.
He peeked into the helmet and found that the progress bar was still loading.
“How to make money on New Earth,” he wrote on the search engine, and thousands of results popped up. He scrolled down, looking through the different guides, but quickly lost patience and randomly selected one.
New Earth, Money Making Guide
I’m DoomBringer, and I’m a level 38 warrior. Today, I’ll tell you how I quit my day job to become a full-time gamer. I used to work at the court as a clerk and hated it there. Then, I found New Earth and discovered that many people bought in-game currency in exchange for real money. As I researched, I discovered a whole economy attached to the game and started to explore and experiment. Three months after I started the game, I quit my job at the court, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
“(Yawn) Blah, blah, blah,” yammered Jack. He didn't remember ever feeling this tired. He felt as if he'd taken a beating. Thinking of Lydia and his dad, maybe, in a sense, he had.
He forced himself to refocus on the guide, scrolled down, and found a question-and-answer section that summarized the main points.
Q: How much money do you make a month?
A: These days, I can obtain 4000 credits a month easily.
Jack let out a whistle. Now, he was getting somewhere.
Q: How do you make money in the game?
A: I might disappoint some of you here because I won’t reveal how I make money. If I told you what I do, many of you would try the same method, saturate the market, and force me to find something else to do.
Q: OK. But really. How?
A: In a nutshell, you have to find your niche. It all boils down to focusing on something that gets you items other people want to buy. Some people focus on hunting, others on exploring, and others on gathering or crafting. Those are all great ways to get good items.
Q: Which is best?
A: The wealthiest players in the game are all craftsmen. However…”
“(Yawn) We get it. Crafting’s the best.” Jack was eager to get the helmet on, go to bed, and start sleeping while playing the game. Hopefully, he would know how to make money in New Earth when he woke up.
Ding!
The game had finally finished installing. He put on his pajamas, went to bed, and put the helmet on.
Synchronization complete. Would you like to start New Earth? [Y/N]
“Yes.”
Warning!
While inside the game, all your nervous commands will be intercepted, and you’ll be only able to move your avatar in the game. Make sure you’re in a safe, comfortable environment.
Warning!
Don’t spend more than 10 hours at a time in full dive. Pause the game frequently to hydrate and stretch.
Full dive in 3, 2, 1…
The room around Jack disappeared, replaced by never-ending whiteness.
“Welcome to New Earth!” he heard someone say. It was a masculine, deep voice.
Choose your avatar’s name.
“JackOfSpades,” he said.
Error, JackOfSpades has been taken.
“What? It’s taken?” He deleted spades and, after some thought, wrote something else.
Are you sure you want to be called JackOfDiamonds?
He was in this game to make money. It seemed appropriate that he changed his tag from spades to diamonds. Today was hopefully the start of a gaming career that would make him rich and allow him to buy all those cool things he had seen at his cousin’s house. More importantly, it would allow him to settle down with Lydia if she was willing to take him back.
As he thought of Lydia, all the excitement of buying this helmet withered. Whenever Jack paused for a second, the things Lydia and his dad said crept back in. Sure, maybe they had a point, but he wasn’t about to let himself dwell on that. He didn’t want to think about it—not now. He had to move forward, had to prove he wasn’t stuck.
Please select your appearance.
Jack selected the option to randomize his appearance, and the system scrambled his looks. He studied the avatar on the screen and saw his bushy brown eyebrows were intact, but his eyes were now hazel. His hair had become even shorter, and his avatar had become clean-shaven. Satisfied with the result, he finalized the customization, and epic music started playing.
“In a world…”
“Skip!” he called.
Do you want to skip the opening cutscene? [Y/N]
"Skip. No time for cutscenes when there’s money to be made," Jack muttered, even though he knew he’d probably end up watching it online later. There'd be time for the cool stuff—just not now.
The cinematic ended before it began, and the scene around him changed. He was atop a green hill with one lone old tree. He heard chatter and, looking around, found many people wearing similar clothes: a gray linen shirt and loose gray pants. He held up his hands and, catching sight of his sleeves, he noticed he was wearing the same outfit.
He experimented with moving his fingers one at a time and then took a few steps. Emboldened, he tried jumping, sprinting, and even threw a few punches in the air.
“Awesome,” he said giddily. “It feels real.”
Feeling more accustomed to the new landscape, he looked out into the distance and found a tall wall. It looked far away but close at the same time. The wall had to be huge.
What was hidden on the other side of the wall? As he kept looking around, he saw another wall. Two opposing cities? He walked around the tree and soon discovered he was looking at it incorrectly. Wherever he looked, there was the same white tall wall. They were inside it. Why was there such a large construct? Was it designed to keep people in? Or to keep something out?