I took a moment to gather myself together for the second time. The tears subsided, but the grief remained. The casual evil of it all made me sick to my stomach.

I was not ashamed of my tears. It was only natural as I accepted all I had lost. My friends, my family. My wife. Surely, she was somewhere in this world, leading an unwilling life. If she was out there, I was going to find her.

Val explained more about the situation to me as I sat on the floor of the cave. The Dalari’s body wasn’t far away, my sword still sticking out of his chest. I tried not to look at the hole where his eye used to be.

Apparently, the sphere of energy that formed around Earth allowed some super AI to manipulate the world at the atomic level. It moved mountains, emptied oceans, and reformed vast swaths of the planet just to build the perfect world for its creators to LARP in.

However, Val made it clear this game was far more than just a LARP. The stakes were real. If a player died here, they didn’t come back. For some players, this game was seen as a grand adventure. For others, it was about battle and glory, gaining power and prestige they would otherwise have no chance of achieving in their real-world civilization.

The unnatural feats I had seen from the Kurskins and the Dalari were skills granted by the sphere and its AI. As a Player in this game, they grew incrementally stronger as they gained experience, and in turn, honed their skills and learned new abilities. They grew in power while we puny humans remained fodder for their enjoyment.

This game they were playing wasn’t just about war and conquest. Sure, winning the war was the overall point of the game, but there were countless other activities and ‘quests’ for them to undertake. Val told me that quests from the human NPCs were one of the most effective ways to gain experience and unique rewards that would serve them well in future battles.

NPCs might task a player with rescuing a loved one, hunting a fugitive, or retrieving a stolen heirloom from a dark, gloomy cave. Some quests could be as simple as delivering a letter. Some of the tasks were mundane, but the rewards were apparently worth it to most Players.

If an NPC didn’t have a quest to give, they could be utilized in other ways. Take me for example. King Constance, the human leader of Vedra, allowed the Kurskins to conscript me into their army. One week, I was working on the farm, and the next, I was handed a sword and sent to a training camp. Thousands of other fighting-age men like me were forced to fight on behalf of the Kurskins because our king falsely believed they were our allies in the fight against the Dalari.

Both were our enemies.

There was a third race involved, the Voxals. I’d never heard of them, but Val said they were the true power of the Triarchy and the ones who initiated the first official game a millennia ago. She said they were here but in smaller numbers. A few participated in the game, but most preferred playing politics or acting as overseers. They worked with both the Kurskins and the Dalari to shape the outcome of the game.

The Master Control Intelligence rarely interfered in the game after it had begun. It was like a watchmaker. It skillfully built an intricate system with countless moving parts and then turned it on. Just like a clock, once the game started, it ran perpetually. Only in rare circumstances would the Master Control AI alter the code after a game had begun.

Val warned that a select few Voxals on the planet acted as system administrators. Like the AI, they typically did not interfere but remained in the world to ensure the integrity of the game, whatever that meant. If I saw a Voxal, Val said I was to leave the area immediately. She left it at that.

My mind had spun at the onslaught of information, but the tempest was beginning to calm. I was accepting the truth of what had happened to my world. It had been turned into a vanity project.

Val said the Triarchy regularly used the game to settle disputes between their people. War among their race was intolerable, and any violent action was counteracted swiftly and mercilessly. For these hyper-technologically advanced species, a real war outside this game would destroy their society. So, they took out their aggression here, on Earth, and apparently had done the same on other planets as well.

I understood what Val was telling me, but I couldn’t help but feel it was all just an excuse for these aliens to have fun, to pursue vanity and pleasure and power. I betted they cared far more about glory and fame than settling real-world disputes about trade embargos or something equally mundane.

“Hey Val,” I said, after absorbing everything she had just told me. Briefly, I wondered if she could read my thoughts and if she knew what I would ask before I asked it. I’d have to question her about that later. “Earlier, you said you were going to save the world. How do you plan on accomplishing that? It seems…impossible.”

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“I will not save the world, Ethan. We will.”

“I’m just a human. What can I possibly do? That Dalari was already near death, and I still almost lost.”

“This is true. Had I not broken its control over you, you would have died. The effort on my part was taxing.”

“You saved me?”

“Correct.”

“Why?”

“Because you needed saving,” she said.

“Well…thanks, I guess. I still don’t see how I can make a difference.”

“You can’t. Not as you are now. But we can change that.”

A sense of hopeful anxiety washed over me, and goosebumps rose on my arm. “What are you saying?”

“I can grant you access to the same system your enemies use. I can turn you into a Player. I only need your consent.”

I laughed. “Consent? You didn’t ask for consent before crawling into my brain!”

“That was different. My Dalari host was going to die, and I cannot travel far on my own. You were my only option.”

I snorted out another laugh. “Lucky me. So, what will happen if I become a Player?”

“You will be granted all the same privileges under the system as any other Player. You will gain access to the quantum inventory system and a mental interface, which will help you track your progress as you grow stronger and gain experience. As you increase your level, new feats will become available. These feats are based upon a myriad of factors that would take far too long to explain in detail. Essentially, if you are good at something and do it often, you will become better at it, and the system will reward you accordingly.”

I was a bit confused. “That’s it? I don’t get attribute points or mana or whatever?”

“What you would refer to as magic does exist here, and many players can wield it, however, your aptitude with magic is based on your inherent characteristics, although how you interact with the game can have an effect. I do not know if you will have access to magic right away as I did not design the prerequisite coding for this world. It would be beneficial to me if you did start with some inherent magical ability.”

“Okay.” I didn’t quite understand her response but decided to let it slide for now. “And what about my stats.”

“I assume you are referring to attributes such as strength, dexterity, and wisdom, like from many of the video games your people created?”

“Yeah, you said this was like a video game.”

“In many ways, the system is like a video game. However, realism is greatly valued among the Players. There are no stats. Growth is incremental and earned. Your actions determine your strengths and your aptitudes. You do not build a character. You are the character.”

“Got it. Half video game, half real.”

“You could look at it that way.”

“But I can still die, and so can the other Players?’

“Yes.”

“Why do they play it then? Is some glory really worth the price of death?”

“As I explained earlier, there are many disputes among the Triarchy, and this game is a better way to settle those disputes than destroying their own worlds with nuclear weapons or gamma radiation. These games can bring them prestige and wealth if they live through them and can aid their families for generations. The vast majority prefer to sit it out and watch the exploits of their peers unfold from the safety of their home world. Regardless, there is always a long waitlist for those who wish to participate in a game.”

“Wait? This shit is televised?”

“Of course, that is how the game receives most of its funding. The Voxals make a fortune selling different shows from all the drama happening within the sphere.”

“You all are sick.”

Val sounded annoyed. “Do you have any more questions, or have you made your decision?”

“I have a million more questions,” I said. “All but one can wait.”

“Please, ask your question.”

“If I join the game, will I be noticed by the other Players or the Master AI?”

Val laughed delightedly. “Not with me around, you won’t. I’ve taken extensive precautions to block myself from detection by the Master Control, and I can extend this protection to you. The AI will interact with you the same as any other Player.”

“And the other Players?”

“Players don’t walk around with bright tags above their heads. That would ruin the immersion. Most aren’t even able to see the names or levels of their peers without permission. Although some special items and skills allow a Player to see important information about their target, but those skills usually only reveal some of your basic strengths and weaknesses. It will not reveal you as a Player, as it works the same on NPCs.”

“So, if I encounter a Kurskin, they won’t attack me?”

“They won’t attack you because you are a human Player; however, they may still attack you because they are violent little green monsters. The Kurskins place little value on NPC lives.”

“Human lives,” I said.

Val ignored my correction. “Just don’t level up in front of another Player or do anything un-NPC-like. It is still early in the game. There is plenty of time for you to grow stronger and for us to formulate a plan. We need not interact with other Players any time soon.”

I began to pace about the cave, considering Val’s words.

I let my emotions guide me. The most prevalent of them was anger. It fueled my thirst for revenge. They took everything from me. They stole my world, and I wanted to make them pay.

Curiosity pushed itself forward, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to grow powerful, to become stronger and faster than any other living human. Perhaps even magic would answer my command.

That was lust, trying to sneak forward. I lusted for the power I could hold, for the destruction I might wrought upon my enemies.

But who was I kidding? I’d probably die the first time I fought another Player.

There it was. Doubt. It tried to overtake my feelings, but I blotted it out. It was an easy thing to do because I now had hope. Maybe, just maybe, I could make a difference in this world.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’m ready.”

“Excellent. You may feel a slight tingling sensation, but don’t be alarmed. It won’t last long.”

I felt a jolt in my brain. Then, a wash of pain brought me to my knees. It felt like someone was taking a knife to my skull, trying to chisel down into my gray matter. The pain crashed through my entire body, and I collapsed to the floor, convulsing. I bit my tongue and tasted blood. My vision faded, and I slipped away into unconsciousness.