"Hey, Colin!" McKenna called as she closed the front door with a groan. "Your surprise is here! Oh man," she exclaimed with an exhaled breath, "it's heavier than you'd think."

"Really?" Colin asked, walking into the front of the house and watching his wife struggle with the large box for a few seconds with a smirk. "And why did you get me a heavy surprise? Wait, don't tell me… You're pregnant."

McKenna gave him a look that was somewhere between a glare and a playful sneer, "This is literally heavy. Not emotionally heavy," she said while she moved to the living room with the box. "Besides, if that were the surprise, I'd be shoving my foot up your ass for the unplanned inconvenience."

Wincing at the thought, Colin moved to take the box from her for the last few feet, and she sighed in relief. He held it, gave it a little shake, then looked at his wife with an eyebrow raised. "Why did you get me a heavy surprise, dear?"

"Just set down and open it up. I'll explain when you open it up," McKenna assured him as she produced a box cutter from her pocket.

Obeying, Colin walked over to the Coffee table that sat in the space between the couches and set it down gingerly. Taking the box cutter and frowning at it for a moment, it was much too flimsy a tool, he cut through the box's sturdy tape in three deft movements. Sliding the blade back inside the handle, he gave the knife back to McKenna and opened the flaps of the box only to frown at the contents.

"Um, Honey. Why did you think I would enjoy an empty styrofoam box," he asked her, barely managing to hold back the smirk.

"What?!" she said in a quick and sudden panic. Looking inside, she smacked Colin's arm and glared at him pointedly. "you asshole. It's under the styrofoam."

"Oh. Well, now I know that" Colin said, smiling widely. "You're so smart, dear."

"Yeah yeah, open it up so I can explain this before I decide to send it back out of spite," she said, pointing at the box.

"Yes, honey," Colin said, sliding his fingers around the styrofoam and pulled it free. Now visible, a black helmet of some kind sat in the styrofoam next to a small thin plastic box that looked kind of like a computer tower.

"McKenna? Is this what I think it is, and why did you get it for me?" He asked, confused.

Walking up to the box, McKenna gestured to the open package and smiled, "it's the Ineffable Gaming System. You know! The one that's been all over the commercials for the last two years," she said, lifting the helmet free from the styrofoam.

"I can see that. Why are you giving me one as a surprise? You know I'm not into video games." He told her while she proceeded to unpack the black box that laid underneath the helmet.

"Of course, I know that. Who do you take me for?" McKenna told him bluntly.

Giving her a devilish grin, he responded quickly with, "a beautiful woman with a fantastic taste in men." He said, waggling his eyebrows at her playfully.

"That's true, but I'm not talking about my Ex." She said, giving Colin a naughty smile. "Also," she added, "don't forget that I'm the brains of this house too. How else do you think we've managed to keep ahead of the bank with our money."

"Then why did you buy this? Doesn't this system run at three thousand dollars for the basic package?" he asked.

Pulling a plastic bag that held several bundles of cords, she set it on the coffee table next to the first two items and took a deep breath. McKenna heeded to give herself a few seconds to organize her thoughts before she defended herself. McKenna looked up into her husband's deep brown eyes for a second; then she started into her explanation as calmly as she could.

"Colin. We've been together for several years after you quit your job. You've never complained about how you missed your work, no matter how hard it was emotionally. But lately, it feels like you've been getting more and more restless, and I think you need an outlet. Hence the game," she said, pointing at the headset.

"Really? You couldn't have talked to me about this before you bought it. This headset must set us back quite a bit McKenna," he said with a sigh, his gaze aimed at the ground in front of her.

"Actually, no. I was going to tell you this later tonight but I got that promotion at the office. I'm now the head of my department and got a big bonus with it." She explained with just a little bounce of happiness.

"Really! That's amazing!" he said, his eyes instantly up at hers. A second later, he was leaning down to give McKenna a full hug before releasing her enough to give her a peck on her lips. Then he looked back at the Ineffable Gaming systems box, and a sober look crossed his face. "Wait. How much of it did you use on this game?"

"Not all of it. Just most," McKenna whispered, while she gave him a sheepish smile.

Smiling at him, McKenna responded succinctly, "you can kill without worry. Players can respawn at a penalty to their character, and none of the monsters or people inside the game are real. Besides, I've wanted to play a game with you for ages, and this might be right up your alley," she said excitedly.

Glowering at the woman for a moment as he considered her words and hated how appealing it sounded. The Ineffable Gaming System was a full-dive virtual reality system that made everything feel extremely real, with the exception being its pain filters. It was the game's biggest selling point through all of the commercials that had been playing for the last couple of years.

"That's two reasons, dear." was his only response.

This time, McKenna wasn't angry or annoyed at his snarkiness. Now, she beamed at him because he did not say no, and he didn't want to admit to a yes. That was just his way, and forcing him to say yes would only lead to him being obstinate and saying no just to spite her persistence.

"Wanna try it now?" she asked, looking up at him with eyes that would have been sparkling happily in a cartoon.

Sighing, Colin looked at his beautiful wife. Her short Icy white-blonde hair was cut to just below her sharp cheekbones and somehow really complimented her aqua green eyes. Looking a smidge closer, he could see that her dark roots were showing. She'd probably need to dye it again soon. Her gray tank top and loose green cargo pants hung off of the whipcord frame of hers. Though, Colin learned early on in their relationship, never to call her petite. It was a sore point of hers.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked with a thin smile.

"Of course you do. You can either try it now or help me with the taxes. It's that time of year, and we need to get them done before-"

"I'll try it now then," he said quickly.

"I thought so," she smirked. "Would you like to play on the couch or in our bed?"

Colin suddenly seemed to think of something then looked at her quizzically, "aren't you gonna join me?"

Looking away, she said, "I want to, but I, unfortunately, can't. The IGS gave me a choice. Buy one and get it ASAP or two and be put on the waiting list. They said something about backlogs and limited packages. I just chose the first option so that one of us can have fun."

"Then why don't I wait until you get yours so that we can start together?" he suggested.

"And let this beautiful thing gather dust for several months?! No sir. Just start today, and I'll join you eventually. Just make sure to turn on the PlayShare feature in the settings before you start so I can watch and not get too jealous of you, 'kay?" she said sweetly. "Now again, couch or bed?"

Shrugging, I pointed at the couch, "the couch is comfortable enough."

"Yes, it is," she agreed with a playful wink. "Now go and lie down while I get everything set up for you."

"I can do that," he said, reaching for the cable bag that was on the table.

Moving quickly, Mckenna snatched the bag off the table and hissed at Colin comically, "no, you cannot. For someone who claims that he can defuse a bomb in thirty seconds, you can't seem to handle setting up less dangerous technology." She teased.

"That was one time. I broke one game console, one time, and I'm branded for life," he harrumphed as she walked over to the couch and sat in the reclining section.

"Yup," she confirmed as she got to work. Plugging in several cables to both the helmet and the small console box, then plugging both into the wall with the two longest wires in the bag. The headset and console let loose a short series of high pitched beeps that ended after the sixth tone.

Grabbing the guide, looked it over and nodded, "And according to the little booklet, that means all the hardware set-up is done. Ready to go on an adventure, Colin?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said, giving Mckenna a small, nervous smile.

"Oh," she chirped. "I almost forgot. Gimme your phone," she ordered, sticking out hand in a very 'hand it over' way.

So, of course, he handed over his smartphone, and she immediately pulled the USB cable for the phone out of her pocket and attached it to the console that sat on the floor. Both the smartphone and console beeped for a few seconds until a large 'SYNCED' message appeared on the screen of his smartphone.

"And now we're done. With this, if you get any texts or calls, they can be routed through the game's systems." She told him.

My eyebrows raised appreciatively, "wow. That is pretty cool. I did not know it could do that."

"It was added to the systems last year as a free upgrade." she told him with a 'matter of fact' shrug.

Then with a smile, she hefted the full dive VR helmet over Colin's head and carefully snugged it in place, making sure he was as comfortable as possible. The headset weighed more than he thought, and it felt like it was pressing his head into the rest of his body. Mckenna checked with him about how comfortable he was, and Colin flashed her a thumbs up. "Just a little heavy."

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She sucked in a breath between her teeth and shrugged. "Yeah, sorry, Colin. There is nothing we can do about that. The only other option would be to get the gaming capsule, and that wasn't in my budget."

Nodding, along with her statement, he added, "I doubt that I would be very comfortable in a gaming capsule anyway."

Agreeing with him, she moved on. "Okay, Colin. All you have to do is say is 'start game,' and it will boot the game and start up the system," she instructed him.

Colin gave her another thumbs up and said, "start game."

Almost instantly, all of his senses went dead quiet for a long and frightening moment. It almost felt like he'd passed out but was somehow still conscious at the same time. The sensation was infinitely disconcerting, and he could feel his heart quicken out of his control. It lasted an undetermined long time until a flat, blue-tinted screen floated a foot in front of his face.

Welcome to Rosengard. Before you officially enter the world, we have a few small items to discuss. First, you are going to need to pick a screen name that will be displayed on your account and your character sheet. Please select one now.

Well, at least they started me off with a simple choice, he thought as he looked at the screen. Making the decision quickly, he looked for some sort of keyboard to type the name in, but none appeared or became evident as an option. For a moment, he pondered the conundrum but shrugged and figured that if the device he was wearing started with a voice command, then why not this function.

Looking at the screen in front of him, he said, "Colin."

Error. That name has already been taken. Please pick another.

Of course, it was already taken. Thinking about it for a few seconds, he also decided to try Col1n, C0lin, Collin, and ColinBrand, but none were accepted. This prompted Colin to think about his options for a few seconds and about the kinds of names that he could live with being called. He thought about some variation of his last name but thought someone could find him in real life if someone figured that out.

So Colin decided to focus on another aspect of his life beyond his name. Unfortunately, in that regard, he only really had one idea. So, looking at the keyboard again, he focused on the username input screen and thought about a name he had tried not to think about for the past few years. With that thought, he intoned, "DevilWalker."

He had been hoping that the name would not be accepted, but his luck seemed to hold, and it was taken without delay. Another screen open in front of his face, and it read;

Are you sure you want to go with DevilWalker? You cannot change this name without taking unique and challenging quests. Yes Or No?

Well, at least he could change his name later if he needed to. But for now, DevilWalker would work. Focusing, he selected yes and waited for a second as the screen vanished.

You now have the option of custom designing your character before you begin. You can either take your current look as seen through your minds-eye or custom create your character. What would you like to do? Current real-life look or custom create?

Deciding to indulge his curiosity, Colin selected yes. He immediately felt the world around him subtly shift as the game pulled him back several feet and left a perfect 3-D rendering of himself in the spot. It was unnerving to see his body double with his same brown crew cut, brown eyes, and even the same sun tanned skin. Hell, the game got his musculature close to perfect with the runner muscles he had all over his… Oh god. He knew the game was showing his look to show him what he looked like, but did they have to show him in his… Full glory.

Shaking his head, he ignored his own accurately rendered penis and just opted to keep his current look. Ignoring the myriad of options to change everything from his hair's color and length to his junk's shape, Colin skipped down to the bottom of the list. Better to avoid the temptation to change anything that McKenna would tease him for later. He hadn't even been on his appearance change option for a minute before he focused on the keep current appearance option, and he chose it.

Thank you for choosing the Ineffable Gaming System for your entertainment choice, and we welcome you…

A second screen overlapped that one the instant he had finished reading it.

To Rosengard! The land of infinite possibility.

The screens vanished seconds after he had finished processing what was hovering in front of his face. The void that was around him eased into a warm, comfortable sensation sort of like the moments before awakening.

This feeling was mildly disconcerting because he had been standing mere seconds before but now was lying down, eyes closed, with no idea of where he was.

"Hello there, what are you doing lying in bed? It's time to get up and moving so we can decide what you will do next." The voice of what he assumed by sound to be a middle-aged man said to me. He certainly sounded more eager than Colin wanted to be. It was weird, only a few minutes ago, he was wide awake in my house in the real world, and now he was lying down in a bed honestly, feeling a little tired. Weird.

This is a game; after all, odd sensations were to be expected here and there. So Colin opened his eyes and looked right at the man who was talking to him. He wasn't an overly tall man standing at five-foot eight-ish, but of course, that didn't make him short either. His bare arms showed off the lean muscles that he must have spent years training and working to build. The man's near-black hair was cut short to a military-esque style make giving him an even more substantial presence. This was mollified a bit by his dark red sleeveless shirt and olive drab pants worn over combat boots that made the man seem more relaxed.

Colin looked around himself for a moment, finding himself in a Barracks-like room with over two dozen bunk beds lined the walls and two closed trunks at the foot of each bed. He then took a second to look at himself, and his eyes widened. It wasn't anything special, but the neutral gray shirt and loose-fitting navy blue pants were not what Colin remembered wearing last. It was a little disconcerting, especially since he was wearing boots and a belt in bed. 

He turned his attention back to the man as he reached over and grabbed something that hung off of the frame of the bed. It was a small card, maybe a three-by-five card, and from his angle still lying on the bed, Colin could not see what it said. So he swung his legs over the side of the bunk bed and sat up, careful not to hit his head on the bunk above his head.

With his change perspective, he was able to see what the card said; 'DevilWalker.'

"DevilWalker, huh? Strong name. I hope you live up to it. But going to a different topic, allow me to be the first to welcome you, DevilWalker, to Willows Cross. More importantly, allow me to welcome you to the continent of Rosengard, where adventure awaits."

Internally moaning, Colin shook his head at that cliched line as he stood up from the bed. Taking two steps forward, he stretched out his hand, and The Stranger grasped it heartily. "Thank you," Colin told him honestly, and he smiled at me then gestured at the door.

"Come along then, DevilWalker. Let us begin."