Part 1

TeddyPicker stood surrounded by his enormous harem of beautiful women. All the different types were gathered: dark-skinned, fair-skinned, oriental and more. Only the most beautiful of women were fit to be in his presence. With a wave of a hand he summoned a buxom, and nearly naked, blonde to his side.

"Feed me," he said, simply.

With a swish of her hair and a jiggle of hair enormous bosom, she turned away, leaving a floral scented aroma behind. Within a few seconds she returned with a platter of fruits.

Without a prompting, she began to break off a large green grape. She put the glistening orb between her lips and edged forward. Slowly, nerve-wrenchingly slowly, she inched closer.

And then her lips were touching his!

Bliss!

TeddyPicker felt a shiver run up his spine as her tongue forced his lips open and teased the entrance of his mouth. Just as he began to want more, she forced the grape into his open mouth.

Where did the grape come from?! TeddyPicker was shocked for a moment before realising he had asked to be fed.

With a sultry giggle, the blond leaned backwards, and gave TeddyPicker the opportunity to munch noisily on the damned grape.

Ah, I'm living the dream here...

...the dream...

TeddyPicker froze, eyes began to widen in fear.

Hold on...Is this a dream again?!

He tried to get a grasp of his surroundings, but they immediately eluded his grasp.

He reached for the hot blond, but she was just out of his reach.

”...no..." he cried weakly in regret, as he half-woke up from his dream.

In the darkness his eyes began to adjust, and his conscious came fully awake after a moment.

"Why do you torment me like this," he said, sighing. This time his words were tinged with bitterness.

Part 2

Mark was young. He knew he was young, and he knew he had a wild imagination. But lately he wasn't able to get any sleep. The erotic dreams had been plaguing him for over a month already. At first they were fun and exciting, and they had lasted much longer.

Then he began to realise it was the same dream over and over. An unending pattern of lustful dreams followed by bone-achingly early mornings...

He was losing sleep now. His mind was filled with thoughts of boobs and asses and jiggling flesh and alluring fragrances.

Ah, if only I could sin like that once, he thought. I'd be happy for the rest of my life!

"Hey Mark, why are you so deep in thought?" A voice called out to him.

Mark paused his walking/musing, and turned to see his best friend.

Why do you think?! He thought, spitefully, before quickly erasing the thought.

"Hey man, no reason..." he said, trying to sound cheerful. Attached to his friend's arm was the sole reason why Mark's dreams had began. "Hey Jennifer," he nodded at her, before resuming his walk.

Jennifer was the very same buxom blond from Mark's dream. Or at least, she would have been if not for her icy attitude. From the beginning she hadn't really taken a liking to him. Mark had to give her credit though. On his scale, she was about 9 out of 10.

On a normal day, Mark always felt a bit envious of his best friend Michael, even on the best of days. But now, this 'Jennifer is always by my side' -thing was just driving him insane with jealousy.

Michael was the epitome of manly. Even at 16, he was tall, athletic, well-spoken and charming, and he had a wit that belied his age. Add to this the fact that his looks seemed to have been taken from Adonis himself, and the fact that his parents were enormously wealthy, and you have a recipe for success.

In addition to his external qualities, Michael was also funny, extremely caring and down-to-earth, and he didn't have a mean bone in his body.

How could Mark compete? His parents had won a lottery that had allowed his mother to move to an extremely upper class neighbourhood 3 years ago. The fact was fresh in everyone's mind, and the children of these prudes were quick to point out the lack of Mark's 'breeding'.

Mark worked hard at school, even though he affected a care-free attitude. He made sure his marks were always in the top five, and played a number of sports proficiently enough to get regional colours. Of course Mark wasn't interested in any of that.

Mark was a gamer. He lived to play games where he could control both his and his enemy's actions. Outsmarting them was a sort of ecstasy for him. It was the only place in his current living circumstances, where he would get any sort of recognition. And he adored the recognition he got from it.

He, TeddyPicker, was a founder of one of the top three clans of pro-gamers in the world, and even though he wasn't a pro-gamer, since he was only fourteen, he was hailed as one of the top twenty active gamers.

Mark had begun introducing Michael to old-school console games like the Xbox 360, but then Michael had been snatched away. It was as if his parents had noticed Michael spending too much time with the 'ill-bred' child, and acted to take measures into their own hands.

Certainly it was strange for Jennifer, who was turning 19 in a few months, to want to date a 16 year old, even one like Michael.

Mark turned around and began walking for a moment, before pausing and turning to them again, "Hey Mike," he said. "I'm gonna catch up on a session of gaming. You feel like coming along?"

Michael had, in fact, been interested in those games, but hadn't had time recently to do any activities with Mark. "Sur-" he began to say, before feeling a sharp pain in his arm. He turned to see Jennifer give him a sharp glare. "Uh," he began.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Mark turned and began walking. "No problem man, I'll see you tomorrow."

Mark walked off, his face pale. For a moment, a split second, Jennifer had revealed her true feelings. He had faced it for the last three years, but not to that extent. That single look had the power to shake his entire self-worth.

He knew he'd dream about again – the buxom blond feeding him. Only this time the look on her face wouldn't be a sultry look.

No.

The look on her face was engraved in his memory.

A look of complete disgust...

Part 3

"Mark!" His mom shouted. "There are people waiting for you here! Come down!"

Mark sighed.

'LOL'

'Mommy's looking for you, Marky!'

"Hahaha, idiots," he said, facetiously. He began exiting the game he was playing. "You caught me at a bad time. It's my birthday today, so there is a fairly big party."

'What?!'

'Birthday?!'

'WTF man!'

"Hm, what's up?"

'You know, we've been gaming together for like 3 years...'

'This is the first time I hear that you have a birthday.'

"You say that like I'm some sort of robot..."

'Yea whatevs. I'll think of something to give you.'

'Pfft, such a suck up. Besides, I only ever get greetings and well-wishes. Why does he get gifts?'

'LOL it's your birthday every other month, man...'

'If we gave you that many gifts, we'd all be broke!'

"Hahaha, anyway, I gotta go before my mom comes shouting again. Cheers!" Mark shut down the system and quickly packed it and the accessories away.

He quickly checked out his appearance.

Not bad...he thought.

He had begun weight-lifting and eating more food a few months ago, and he was starting to show results.

Now if only my height would catch up...

He was unsurprised by the small growth spurts he'd had over the last few years. He knew it was a lost cause. His dad hadn't been a tall person, and neither was his mom. It made sense that he wouldn't be a tall person himself. Still, his master always said, "Even if you aren't tall, act tall, and people will see you that way."

Mark left his room at a half jog. As he descended the steps, he heard voices.

"Oh there he is – quickly!"

"Hap—"

"Happy Birthday to yoouuu! Happy Birthday to yoouuu!" a large chorus of voices sang the song.

Mark descended the stairs at a slower rate. An embarrassed smile crept onto his face, as he looked into the faces of friends and family.

His mom rushed over to give him a kiss on the cheek as they finished the song. "Happy Seventeenth Birthday, Mark," she said, beginning to tear up.

He hugged her tightly, "Thanks, mum."

Mark went around thanking people and making conversation for about an hour. His head repeated the same motion over and over, and the smile was almost permanently plastered on his face.

After most of the guests had left, his mom came to him. Mark was opening presents and reading cards.

"Why don't you leave this to me? There's something very interesting in your room," she said to him with a smile.

"Sure mom," Mark replied. "Thanks."

Mark shot up the stairs. All the attention was extremely annoying. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate it, but it seemed that actual interaction with people was not his strong point.

In the corner of the room was a large horizontal object with a cloth over it.

What's this... a self-tanning machine? Mark thought, sourly. Someone's idea of a practical joke maybe...

Mark pulled off the cloth and revealed a large capsule, straight out of a space-opera type movie. Or maybe it was one of those cryogenic machines?

A small card lay inside the cover of the capsule.

Hi Mark!

It's been a while since we've been able to see each other. I hope this reaches you in time for your birthday. This is the latest technology, currently only available in South Korea. Try it out, even you will be amazed!

Happy 17th Son, I hope this gift allows you to do everything you've ever imagined.

[p=center]Love Dad[/p]P.S. Read the Manual

P.P.S. Don't go for the obvious

Mark's dad was the main reason he had such a liking of games. His dad was an AI-designer for a games company. It had shut-down, and he had been recruited to a games company in South Korea, many years ago.

Mark glanced at the machine again; the metallic base and crystalline bed, and the metallic lid. He noticed the control pad at the base of the machine. He opened it to find a small book in the cover. The control pad simply consisted of a power button, a port, and a large removable try with some sort of device.

He quickly read through the manual, and was shocked by its contents.

So this is Royal Road, huh? He thought excitedly. The path of the Emperor awaits...

He opened the capsule lid and lay down, closing the lid.

*Scanning*

Connect to Royal Road

Yes

No

"Yes!"

**

:arrow: Chapter 1