8.6. - Big edit, after having reread the last bit again and again and having come to the conclusion that this entire Lion throne Thing was stupid as heck, I switched it out to something less.... stupid. Still contains all the same Information though.

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“Okay then.” Said the man sitting in front of me. “We have a deal.”

That person himself wasn't very attractive, quite the opposite rather. He was short, with a big belly to carry around for show and more golden teeth in his mouth than I had pennies in my pocket.

His face didn't do him any favors either and neither did the fact that he wore a gray suit while decorating his head with what appeared to be a fedora...

Yet that person currently held more power over my life than I ever had myself. Which was due to the following reasons.

Surrounding me and standing watch in every corner of the tiny underground cellar I currently found myself in were at least... One... Two...

'Thirteen goons it is...'

“So we conclude then, you shall receive a sum of ten-thousand in total. One year for you to pay us back at an 'interest' rate of ten percent per month.” Fatty was speaking again, all the while he carefully wrote down each sentenceon on a slip of paper. “Then, if you were to just sign here.” 

He slipped the message over to me, across the table separating us. Which I immediately picked up and carefully proceeded to read.

All was written as the man had said, plus a few additional lines stating me to pretty much give up all earthly possession were I to not fulfill the contracts conditions within the stated time limit.

Not mentioned was the permanent threat to my life that would continue to persist for as long as I was in acquaintance with these people. As I had pretty much surrendered my life to the whim of these people, the second I had stepped into this den.

This had been a one way trip from the beginning and I was being lucky to have negotiated myself through this mine field that had been the past two hour long conversation.

Without another word left to be said there was nothing left for me to do but to sign what had been but a piece of paper before and now turned into an official contract. The most powerful artifact of modern times which held the power to bind a persons whole being in the worst way possible. By law.

As soon as my signature found itself on the contract, fatty snatched it out of my hands and slammed down a stamp onto it, making the deal official.

“Here's your money, you can start counting outside. Monkey one and two, see to it that Mr. Quellbach finds his way back home would you? As for you...” He stared at me for a second before continuing. “You will do good in keeping this meeting a secret. We will find you should we need you for anything else.”

I barely had the time to grab the paper bag that was handed to me by the fatso, before someone pulled a bag over my had.

Everything happening afterwards I endured in silence, as I was grabbed below the shoulder caps and lifted up. I was carried... or rather dragged across the ground and up a set of stairs. And whoever it was that had grabbed a hold of me, wasn't acting very caring for me or my body.

Fresh air tickled my skin soon thereafter and I knew we had left the building behind to find ourselves in what smelled like a wet back street, though I still had no real clue as to where exactly I currently was.

I had these met this conspicuous group of people in a similar fashion. After having made contact with these folks online, reaching them by the means of browsing through the dark web, I had soon found myself kidnapped and dragged off in the same fashion as I was now to returned back home.

A short walk followed and by the end of it I was shoved into the back of a car by my escort, which then proceded to ask me for my apartments exact coordinates. I had of course no other choice but to answer truthfully, but while trying to differentiate between the numeral voices sounding through the cramped car, I became almost certain that it were indeed only two people escorting me.

For just a second my brain turned full retard and without even thinking I spoke out aloud. “Monkey one and monkey two, lovely names.”

I didn't remember the rest of the journey...

Two days later I awoke in front of my apartment, the front door having been left wide open to reveal the horror that was my life to the outside world.

I died a little on the inside, but stood up regardless, when suddenly it felt as if I were dying on the outside, too.

Pain surged through my entire body, with an intensity I had never experienced before in my life. I couldn't even differentiate anymore just what or where I was hurting.

Eventually I reached my bathroom and started my day by vomiting right into the sink after having looked into the mirror.

After only two hours I was somewhat patched up, freshly showered, all the blood washed off and all wounds cleansed. I was only missing three teeth, too... Which meant I would never be able to smile again... Not like I ever did these days...

I let out a pained whistle as I dropped down into what I would consider the worlds most comfortable chair and soon thereafter a wave of gratifaction replaced the pain.

For just a second I felt that everything was okay again, the world had been returned to normal, back to the way it was supposed to be and everything was alright. But then I opened my eyes and seeing no trace of Alice I knew, nothing was okay.

Not having any more time to waste I picked up the paper bag I had received and looked inside. There were indeed bundles of cash inside of it, but as I started counting I came to the realization that I had been scammed. Inside the bag were not the promised ten but only seven thousand bucks.

'Of course they would do this.' I thought. 'What else did I expect... Fucking criminals...'

I wished there had been another way, wished I hadn't had to resort to the path I had taken. But I was left with no alternatives the moment my mother had turned me down and as of now there were only two possible outcomes left for me.

One was to find Alice within Second Life and succeed at paying back those thugs or fail and most likely die at their hands. Which would leave Alice to share the same fate soon therafter while leaving her to corrupted data to be trapped forever within the virtual realm of Second Life.

I pulled up the written copy of Alices' letter on the holographic screen of my HPCC-watch, my computer currently in the process of booting up and reading it out aloud one more time I confirmed her position within Second Life one last time.

'Currently I am staying in a place called Bramblingen-' she had written. So that was where I would start my search, but first I had to get my hands on a copy of Second Life...

It didn't take me long to do so through the online customer service of 'Virtual Realm' and to my surprise I found my VR-capsule starting up on its own soon after having filled out a contract.

I went ahead and took a peak inside the capsule upon which I was notified of a huge update currently taking place and was once again reminded and also given a virtual copy of the contract.

From today onwards I would owe Virtual Realm one thousand bucks a month... for ten months. All the while I had only seven thousand to spare and not a whole more time to pay back the other, more life-threatening loan I had made.

For now though I was ignoring these facts.

I was already well aware of the amount of shit I had driven myself into and had done a decent amount of calculations. By my estimations I would have to get my hands on at least thirty thousand bucks by the end of this year. Not even taking into consideration living expenses and such... 

A truly hopeless endeavor, but not needlessly worrying about it I was instead wondering and thinking about the currently happening update itself, without which I would unable to enter Second Life.

'Really? This is what they meant with a capsule upgrade? I expected at least a technical adjustment to be made, but they are just throwing a software updated at me? Well... okay then, at least I won't have to tidy up the room then...'

I removed myself from the capsule shortly thereafter without having figured out the exact duration of this processing update.

Only one thing was for sure and that was that this update didn't end anytime soon and as the outside sky was already turning dark, I started to prepare myself for what was to come.

For the better part of two weeks I was busy gathering data on Second Life during which I barely ate or slept. Sadly, even though the game had been released for an entire month already, there were barely any topics specifying game mechanics, talent trees or even skill paths to be found online.

All I found instead were discussions concerning quests, the viability of different races, descriptions of different locations and such likes.

It seemed as if no one had yet been able wrap their heads around the game and everyone playing it had instead found himself completely absorbed within its virtual world.

After a week of scrolling through message boards like these and without getting none the wiser, I switched my approach and instead went on to watch streamers online.

I did nothing but watch different people play the game day in day out, completely blown away by the images I saw on my screen as they revealed an entirely new world to me. Nothing I had seen within 'Lands of Arcania Online' could have prepared me for this.

I had been used to impressive landscapes, terrifying monsters and other such sceneries which one could only dream to witness within a game. But never had I seen a world this alive within a virtual reality before. I would even dare to say that not even the world right outside my front door was this bursting with activity.

Said two weeks  passed in the blink of an eye and awakening me from one of my short, by exhaustion forced slumbers, were the loud beeping noises emitted from my VR-capsule.

Without another warning, streaks of light were released from its insides and a holographic ray shot forth from within the capsule. It reached up all the way to the rooms ceiling and, as it rested there for a second, suddenly expanded to form a giant holographic web that split the room in half.

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This net made its way down along the walls, slowly engulfing the entire room and phasing through objects and me alike. It reached the ground but didn't stop there. Not until it had taken in the entirety of the room, upon which it returned to make its way up the same it had been going down before.

I rose from my chair, slowly, watching the different lights flashing off and on within the capsules mechanic interior, while the web of light once again merged into a single ray after having reaching the same central point up above on the ceiling.

By the time I had reached the machine, it had gotten almost completely silent again.

Opening its lid and removing my shirt and pants, I took my position inside of it, placing my limbs in the specific spaces laid out for them. Afterwards I could feel several simultaneous stings all throughout my body as multiple plugs and cables plunged into my flesh.

It was no lasting but only a short pain though, after which a helmet like contraption was lowered onto my head. The lid above me closed.

Blackness engulfed my vision, as warmth started to spread through my body. My eyes slowly closed...

Soon thereafter I found myself standing within my capsules' virtual HUB. Only this time it wasn't an endlessly wide space with screens floating around, but a perfect replication of my room. Just here it was clean and tidied up.

I couldn't believe it... there used to be a couch in the corner of my room, a corner which in real life was only occupied by boxes and trash at the moment. And there was a bike leaning against the opposite wall... where did that come from?

But what most surprised me was the female voice, suddenly speaking out with a charming voice.

“Welcome Mr. Quellbach. My name is Solana, how may this unit be of assistance to you.”

I whirled around, my eyes darting from one corner of the HUB to the other, no longer being oblivious of the fact that I wasn't alone in this space.

“Who... No. Where do you come from and what is your purpose?” I asked.

A light chuckle rippled through the fabric of the room.

“There is no need for agitation Mister. I am merely a unit introduced during the latest update and here to guide you through your new interface. Has Mister read the patch notifications and update information yet? If not, does Mister which to do so now?”

My thoughts were racing. I had been peacefully sleeping until a few minutes ago and now a completely unbeknownst to me AI had suddenly appeared within my capsule? No. Had been put there... Why?

'No. This is all irrelevant...' 

“Hey you... err... Solana. What about Second Life? Can I enter the game yet?”

The room lighted up and was suddenly deconstructed. Walls and objects, the couch, the table, everything crumbled apart, transforming into a heap of numbers and disappearing into thin air. At the same time a pillar crashed down into the ground somewhat a few hundred meters away from me.

“But of course you may...” a rumble sounded throughout the virtual realm. Interrupting the artificial voice, which sounded so much more mechanical compared to Alices'. “Preparing ° ° ° Full Dive ° ° ° Entering ° ° ° Second Life”

'Wait wha-”

Looking up I saw numerous objects flying down from the sky, multiple structures most in different-, others in similar shapes, seemingly pulled up from thin air.

“Before you are granted access to Second Life you will have to sign our terms of Agreement and specify your purpose and intended usage of Second Life. Also we will have to test your capabilities before proceeding.”

No more objects rained from the sky, but by now several pillars had encircled me, all the while a huge altar rested in the middle of this formation, raised on top of a high up circular set of stairs leading which was laid out to be ascendable from any direction.

Torches, one hung on each pillar, suddenly lighted up as the light within the virtual space was gradually dimmed. Causing each pillar to throw a long shadow towards the middle of the room.

Left with no option but to approach the set of stairs I made my first steps. Suddenly the ground beneath my feet rippled and slowly shifted to turn liquid. This effect spread out throughout the entire virtual space, only the pillars and central positioned staircase left untouched by the transformation of the ground. As I took step after step it became gradually harder to move, as the water had already reached to my waste, though I had to note that it wasn't actually rising, as the stairs were still left untouched above it, but rather the ground appeared to be constantly sinking.

The entire virtual space had gone dark and only the distant flickering flames shone a light into this weird world.

I pulled myself up the first ledge after having to swim the last half of the distance, the clothes I wore were drenched and clinging to my skin, effectively limiting my movements as I crawled up the first few steps on all four.

Slowly and steadily I approached the top and unfolding bevor my eyes was the majestic appearance of the enormous altar. It shone White and shining with the reflection of the distant flames, it towered above me.

I finally reached it and while I instantly droped onto my stomach coughing and struggling for breath, I happened to notice the elaborate decoration carved onto the altars surface. It showed hundreds of men atop a wall, fighting off what appeared to be an army of canine monsters, with big maws covered with countless teeth. Up above the fighting masses stood several massive figures, each and every one of them wearing an expression as if the world belonged to them.

I didn't knew exactly what I had been looking at, but I didn't spare it much of a thought, either. I simply didn't care about the meaning hidden behind the images.

Having rested enough and my thoughts leading me nowhere, I stood up and finally approached the altar. I took note of the gigantic scroll that rested atop of it, already unrolled and burying the altars entirety under it and was just about to reach out for it, when suddenly lightning struck down from the sky.

The darkened virtual space lit up and I gasped for breath, as my eyes rested on the world beneath my feet. What had been at most a waist deep pond moments before was now a raging torrent of an ocean. Waves the size of a building were crashing into each other off in the distance and slowly but surely the masses of water shifted. Slowly but surely a torrent raged in a circle around the stairs and soon thereafter formed into a giant whirlpool. I was left to stand alone in midst of this spectacel, my mouth unable to be shut closed as I found myself frozen in astonishment.

Then the thunder clap hit me and with a ear cracking boom caused me to drop onto my knees, my hands firmly pressed onto my ears.

What followed left me barely clinging onto my consciousness, as my mind was seemingly crushed beneath an all mighty voice, speaking directly into my head.

"Mortal!" It shouted, drowning any other sound. "Turn back! The place you which to enter is not for the likes of you to behold."

I felt irritated and unable to grasp what was Happening. I had expected to find myself sitting through a minute long intro cinematic or even to have to perform some sort of physical fittness test, but not this. All I wanted was to get into Second Life and to where Alice was, I didn't have the time to deal with this... Circus.

Irritation soon thereafter turned into anger and I rose to my feet, my hands clenched into fists. “Spare me your speech." I screamed, directing my voice up into the sky and with a tone unbeknownst to me. "I don't care for who you are or what you have to say. I'll go where I must and neither you nor this theather shall stand in my way."

A thunderous chuckle rippled through the air and the whirling mass of water beneath me rose into the sky as a column. Keeping me and the platform I stood upon trapped in its midst.

"Well spoken mortal, that's the spirit. Go on then, prove to us that you are worthy!"

The voice ebbed out of existance and I was left to stand alone, encircled in the midst of the watery tornade. Still completely ignorant as to exactly what was going on. Yet, I could finally move on and no longer intending to dilly dally I approached the scroll still resting on the altar.

Written on it were numerous rules one had to abide within the world of Second Life. Though it would seem that those rules only served the purpose of increasing a player's immersion within the virtual world, while not limiting us in any way whatsoever as to how we wished to play the game.

As such, the term 'game' or any information about the real world were to never to be uttered to anyone within Second Life. Neither were more specific terms all commonly seen used within games such as mmorpgs'. It was clearly stated that we players were to treat this world and the people inhabiting it as 'real' and that any disobeyance of the rules were to be followed by a serious debuff to ones person.

Also listed were game mechanics such as the initial set pain reception, which was limited at twenty percent the real deal and stuff such as the maximum dive time limits, which stated to allow a player full immersion for an entire week.

The last part of the text was filled with more generic rules and conditions, all to similar to the terms of Agreements of any virtual reality game nowadays and which I simply overflew.

I then proceeded to write my signature at the very bottom of the scroll, with a feather that had magically appeared in my hand the second my eyes had passed the last passage of the text.

After which a lightning strike soared down the heavens and which, accompanied by a ear shattering boom, crashed right into the altar in front of me, which was instantly reduced to ash.

The platform I stood on started to shake and soon thereafter I found entire bits of the steps below me crumble apart.

I was left with barely any time to panic before only the platform I stood on remained. It didn't take long though for even that to crumble apart and I soon found myself inevietable falling into the gaping abyss below.

My scream was lost to the violent torrent of water and within the instance of a few heartbeats I found myself completely engulfed in darkness, left to fall for what felt like hours.