The last school bell of the day rang, announcing that it was 3:30 pm and that we students had earned our freedom back. That alone was cause enough to celebrate but I was even more exited since today was Friday. I had a full weekend of playing games to look forward to. Best part was that I had finished my current game last Sunday so I had to go shop for a new one.

I left my classroom and zigzagged my way trough the herd of loud, pimply teens towards the school’s exit as efficiently as I could like I was doing a speedrun.

“No running in the hallways, Mr. Winters,” I heard the hall monitor shout at me but didn’t slow down; I was a man on a quest. Once out, I snatched my bike from the rack and raced towards Geekvania, an independent store that catered to and sold geek products to geeky people. I was very much one of those.

I put my skinny gamer legs to work as I pedaled like a madman through the quiet neighborhood, taking the same route I had used countless times before. I knew all the little hidden passages that shortened the trip, like using the hole in the fence at the other end of Leland park.

On the last stretch of the journey was Elemental hill. It was really just a huge slope on Crescent Street but my friends and I renamed it when we were kids because apparently, back then, we thought that everything that seemed cool would even more awesome with a fantasy name. I still do.

I entered the slope from the top as fast as I could and then let gravity and physics take over. I loved this part. The thrill of the speed. The way the wind hit my face and made my shirt billow. I always imagined that this is how it would feel to ride a dragon or a magic broom or other similar magical modes of transportation.

Recently though, I’ve also been thinking what would happen if rolling downhill this fast would loosen the bolt holding the front wheel, sending me face first onto the pavement, promptly riping it off. I guess living 16 years on this planet starts to instill fear in you as you learn that reality can be randomly cruel and no one is safe from it. But heck, what is life without a dash of adventure spicing it up.

Down the hill and a few turns later, I arrived at the store. I left my bike leaning against the wall and stormed in.

“Hi, Mr. Peterson”, I said to the owner who just smiled and waved as he was busy talking trading cards with another customer.

“Jordan, my man,”said the only other employee in the store, who was stocking shelves.

“Hey, Eric,”I replied, reciprocating his fist bump. I’d been coming here since I was a kid and knew everyone. I could go to a chain store and get slightly better prices and more selections but I liked the atmosphere here best. We chatted briefly, me telling him what I was up to and him telling me what new items they’d received and giving me some suggestions on what to play next. I then made my way to the back wall where the vrmmorpg games were displayed and began scrutinizing each one. To be honest, we were in a dry season for new releases. Only a few seemed worthy to pick up but they all had a fantasy theme which I was getting bored of. Still, I wanted to play something this weekend. I walked up and down the aisle, narrowing down my choices until there were two contenders left.

I had both cases in my hand, looking for reasons why one one be better then the other when a customer walked by. I was partially blocking the path so I took a step back and bump against the metal basket acting as the bargain bin. I glanced down absentmindedly, waiting for the man to pass but then did a double take. I could swear I saw the word vrmmorpg mixed in with the pile of sub-standard console games.

I moved these “gems” aside until I found what I was looking for. It was indeed a vrmmorpg game. I’d never seen one in the bin-o-crap before. It was called Mesozoic wars. The cover showed an action shot of a caveman jumping towards a armor clad humanoid reptile while holding a big rock over his head. Surprisingly, I knew nothing about this one, which was rare as I keep myself well informed on everything game related.

I took out my phone and did a quick search. The game was made in Canada by now defunct studio “Slick Pixels” and released four years ago. It didn't do well in the North American market and quickly faded in obscurity but found a dedicated player base in Asia. The servers were saved from being shut down when a South-Korean publisher bought the intellectual property.

The reviews were polarized, with half of them mostly lamenting the difficulty and the locked story progression while the other half saying they loved their experience for the same reasons. I looked up a gameplay video and it actually looked fun to me. There didn’t seem to be anything off with the graphics or the game design and the audio was on point.

I finally looked at the blurb on the back of the game case. “Join Mesozoic wars and discover an alternate Earth were the meteorite that caused an extinction level event millions of years ago instead shattered into shards while entering the atmosphere. Journey through a land ruled by reptilian overlords and find meteor fragments that hold hidden powers. Grow stronger and survive encounters against dinosaurs which have further evolved into bigger, stronger and stranger beasts.

You are a proto-human, member of a fledgling race, born to one of five distinct societies. The odds are stacked against you but with perseverance, you will thrive in this hostile environment."

Below the blurb were bullet points with additional information.

-Realistic survival conditions: Avoid death by exposure to extreme weather or environmental hazards; Eat and drink regularly or pay the consequences.

-Advanced weather system affects the world: Stat boosts or reductions based on current weather, state of the terrain and your characters stats and equipment. E.g., Speed and stamina decrease when running on muddy roads, stronger ice magic in snowy areas, etc.

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-Story-lock™: Deep main campaign story, meaningful side-quests and plentiful end-game content only accessible when the community unlocks them by fulfilling secret triggers, solving mysteries scattered throughout the land or by completing hidden quests that changes the world on a grand scale.

I was stunned. This game sounded amazing, and challenging by the looks of it, which was fine by me. Current mmo’s were too simple and easy for my taste. Seems like players needed to keep and eye on the environment and use their head. And I never heard of this story-lock thing before. If I understood correctly, the story only advances for everyone in the game when the locks are lifted. So for example, a party could find a secret cave, clear it, which let’s say accidentally unleashes a demon, then the story would move forward as that demon was necessary for the scenario further down the road. This meant that all important plot points were in fact part of a series of massive treasure-hunts.

That blurb had gotten me giddy with excitement. There was additional information such as install size and Synapse-boost compatibility but I already made up my mind. Add to that a 9,99$ price tag and it seemed like a steal. Yup, I was getting this game.

I made my way back home, newly purchased game in tow.

"Hi mom”, I yelled as I barged in the house, then ran up to the second floor were my room was without waiting for an answer. I had a decently sized rectangular space to call my own with the usual bed, dresser and study desk combo that most kids have.

This left me with one corner which I had transformed into a dedicated console gaming zone. I had newer consoles hooked up to a 8k 3d tv, and retro consoles-my dad’s when he was a kid-hooked up to a old crt tv. I had a few shelves adorned with statues and weapon replicas from collector edition box sets I’d purchased over the years and I had slapped gaming posters and stickers all over the walls.

My favorite gaming memorabilia though, was the life-size cardboard cut-out of a game character I love. Geekvania had run a promo for the newest installment in the series and I was given it afterwards. There were motion sensors in the eyes. If someone passed in front, it would activate and would belt out a quote from the game. I had always loved the character’s quips so always left it on.

“Can't go wrong with more guns” it said as I put my backpack on my desk, hung my green and gold tri-force hat on my cap rack and switched out of my good school shirt and into my “Sabin train supplex” one. Sure, it was faded and had gained a few holes over the years but nothing was as comfy and this is what I wore for long game sessions.

My vr console, which looked like a large obsidian pc tower, sat between my bed and dresser, with the helmet connected to it hung over my headboard for easy reach. I booted it up and waited for the faint, white, pulsating power indicator light bars across the sides to become solid.

I set the helmet down on my bed then inserted the game, which was just a small cartridge with an unlock code on it, inside the slot in the back. I could've bought the game online and received a download code instead if i wanted to but I liked owning physical cases and was brought up in an household that believed in helping local businesses.

I turned on the wireless controller connected to the console via bluetooth then donned the helmet. By default, it loaded a basic display mode which allowed users to access the main menu without needing to go in full-dive vr. The first thing that appeared was the live feed of my room, projected on my screen via a camera located on the front of my headgear. Then a basic menu was overlaid on top as if I had on a pair of augmented reality glasses. That way, I could do things like browse through my favorite apps while keeping an eye out for a mischievous sibling trying to sneak up on me.

Once in the menu, I logged in my account “BehelitYell” which I had created a few years ago when I first got my vr rig. The name was based on my favorite manga series Berserk. I clicked on the “Meso wars” game icon and the code unlocked the full game. I could then begin the three terabyte download needed-the process bar said it would take around four hours.

My father once told me that back in the day, you just had to pop the games in and could begin playing immediately, no download or update patches necessary. Sadly, that was unheard of nowadays.

While the game was installing, I set up the recurring monthly subscription payments using my mom’s credit card info. She let me use it since I always did chores around the house and paid her back whenever I got money from odd jobs or selling old games I wasn’t playing with anymore.

With nothing else to do for the time being, I went back downstairs to hang with my family. I had a nice meal with my dad, mom and eleven year old sister, and since we were all in the mood, we broke out our old monopoly set and played a game. I got my ass handed to me by both my sister who owned way too many buildings and my dad who had become a evil tycoon, holding all train tracks and utilities and cackling like a maniac every time one of us fell on his turf.

Even with all that, I still had an hour to wait. Oh how I hated the wait. I decided to head back to my room to get my weekend homework done now instead of waiting for Sunday and then rushing to complete it in time. I put on a 24/7 cyberpunk/retrowave music livestream on my phone, then got to work.

I was midway through my calculus assignment when the telltale jingle that announced that all the updates were done chimed. Huzzah, time to wreck some dinos. I put my homework away then walked over to my bed. As I was crossing my room, I heard a noise that sounded like a strangled whimper coming from my sister’s room. I stopped for a moment and listened intently but heard nothing else. I shrugged, guessing that my sister had just sneezed weirdly or something then hopped on my bed.

I put the helmet on and laid down comfortably under my covers, making sure that my neck and body weren't under strain-nothing worse then exiting a vr session with a headache and a nasty kink in your neck. Once all snuggled in and finally ready to begin, I switched to full-dive vr mode.

First came the paralysis as neural networks were created and the signals that my brain sent to my limbs were being digitized and rerouted, so that I could control my avatar as if it were my own body.

It was then that I noticed, through the live feed, my bedroom door opening slowly. Who was that? Sara? It had to be my sister. Since I was a teen, my parents knew better then to come in without knocking. It was kind of late for her to be barging in my room tho. The door swung all the way but after a moment passed, no one was coming in. It had to be my sister trying to play a dumb prank.

I sighed internally. I wanted to tell her to get lost but I couldn’t speak right now. Dammit, I was going to have to go through the entire loading process only to have to log back out to deal with her. I was getting angry when I saw a sight that chilled my to the core and made my stomach drop. A face I didn't recognize peeked at me from behind the door jamb. A stranger, a man with dark sunken eyes and the haggard look of someone mentally unstable peering back at me. His smile, which didn’t reach his eyes, was predatory.

Fear gripped me, my instincts kicking in, every fiber of my being screaming at me to jump out of bed and run away somehow but I couldn't move due to the paralysis effect. The last thing I saw before my consciousness was transferred into my avatar was this stranger taking his first step into my room.