Ughh… My head…

I groaned, wincing as I felt the pain in my head slowly subside to a dull throb.

It was then that I realised I was lying down on the floor, which was weird considering that I already had been sitting down in the VR Capsule so I should not be on the ground even if I passed out.

I pushed myself up to my feet as my vision came back into focus, revealing that I was standing in a room that was somewhat alien yet not entirely unfamiliar to me.

Wait… This isn't my room? Where the hell am I?

Right in front of me was what looked like a cockpit surrounded by consoles and several screens that were currently switched off. Flanking on both sides of the wall were two more console panels each with their own seat in front of them.

And in front of the cockpit were several windows that showed a sea of stars outside.

It slowly dawned on me where I was.

This was the cockpit of one of the starter ships in the game that you could get by picking a specific perk, the Mercenary.

It was one of the better starting ships in my opinion as it boasted the highest firepower amongst the starter ships and it even had good mobility to boot. Although its cargo space is much lower compared to the Trader starter ship, it's still enough to at least accept small delivery missions in the game, making it the perfect ship to start with if you are going the Mercenary route.

Huh… So I guess the game actually managed to start up after all? But what happened to the opening sequence? Did I actually pass out and skipped through it?

I looked down and did a quick check on my character.

Hands? Check. Smooth, long legs? Check. Long white hair that reaches my lower back? Check. Vagina? Also check. Butt? Bubble. Boobs? Nice, firm F cups and very squeezable.

What? Like you've never seen a guy make a female avatar before. Please.

Hmm… Is it just me or is it cold in here?

Wait… Cold? How can I feel cold here? The VR Capsule should not be able to make you experience temperature changes… So why does it feel cold now?

Was this a new update or something? But the hardware didn't change and there were no news about such a feature?

I flicked my hand instinctively to open the machine's settings menu.

Nothing happened.

Eh? Eh??

Wait, wait… No, no, no… This must be a mistake…

I flicked my hand a few more times but the results were the same.

My head felt a little dizzy and I had to lean against the chair for support.

No way… Did I… Did I get sent to another World? Or in this case… Another universe?

Did I die in my original universe?

…

No, no, no…

Arrgghhh! God damnit! If I had known this was going to happen, I would have spent more time in the character creation menu instead!! I should have made myself taller!! Or at least given myself longer legs and wider hips!! Fuuuuuck!

…

Haha… This… Isn't a dream, is it? Is this actually real? Did I really--

My thoughts were interrupted when the console in front of me beeped out a warning.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

[Warning! Detecting high energy signatures on approach!]

I turned my attention to the console, the map display showing a blip that was slowly getting closer to my ship.

I reached out and tapped on the screen, my experience with the game kicking in as I switched the display to show the external cameras.

A red ship with a distinct skull and crossbones insignia on its side was in the midst of docking alongside my ship.

Two figures were already floating out of their ship towards my ship's external entry hatch.

Great… A pirate boarding event just as I started? At least they were kind enough not to blow me out of space…

I guess for now… Let's just accept that this is real and I should deal with the more immediate, pirate problem first.

I went towards the back of the cockpit where a square metal safe locker was bolted to the side of the wall.

If this was similar to the start of the game, they should have given me some starting weapons in the safe here. Otherwise… I guess I'm fucked.

I pulled open the locker door and thankfully, there was an energy pistol alongside some spare energy cells stashed there.

It wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

I picked up the pistol and cells before heading towards the hatch, making sure to check the gun was loaded on the way.

I pressed myself against the wall close to the door, hiding in the shadow of the wall as I heard the sound of the outer hatch cycling close.

With shaky fingers, I tapped the console beside the door, giving me a live feed of the other side.

"Are you sure about this?" One of the pirates asked.

"I already told you, yes. Did you not see for yourself? The scan showed the life support systems were offline. Only the artificial gravity systems were online. This thing is empty."

"But it's completely intact…"

"Then maybe if you find anyone inside just shoot them dead. Is that so hard? Now shut up, I still have one more door to hack unless you want to do it instead."

"Fuck… Fine…"

I shut off the console and thumbed the safety off on my pistol, letting the weapon power up while I tried to press myself even closer to the wall, hoping that they would not spot me as they entered.

There was a hiss and the door started to cycle open.

I slowly lowered myself to a squat to hopefully be less visible that way, though I could not stop myself from shivering slightly both from a little fear and anticipation.

The door finally spun open and two pairs of boots stomped in, the two pirates sweeping their gazes around the dimly lit interior of my ship with a casual air.

The one closest to me looked down at a wrist mounted tablet, "Hmm… Looks like there's still air in here but the main power is off. Whoever this belonged to left in a hurry."

With that news, the two of them reached up and took off their helmets.

"Remember. See anyone, shoot first, ask questions later. Got it?" The closest pirate ordered.

They then pulled out their weapons, both of them wielding what I assume to be ballistic assault rifles in their hands.

I slowly levelled the blaster to the head of the furthest guy and held my breath.

This… This is a game… This is a game… This is a game…

I squeezed the trigger.

A ball of blue plasma shot out from the barrel of my gun, hitting the pirate dead in the head.

The pirate closest to me flinched and turned to look at his comrade, the momentary distraction giving me ample time to shift my gun to point at his head, the world seemingly moving in slow motion and my heart pounding like a drum in my chest.

With another squeeze of my fingers, another energy bullet was fired to hit the last pirate in the head, also killing him instantly.

The two pirates fell onto the ground on top of each other with a thump, their guns clattering onto the ground noisily.

I let out the breath that I had been holding.

Then the smell of blood hit me and I felt my stomach churn.

Oh god… This isn't a game… The bodies don't just despawn and if I wanted to loot bodies, I actually need to pry it off their cold, dead hands…

I looked down at my hands, finding that they were shivering noticeably.

Yeah… This wasn't a game… I just took two lives in a span of a few seconds…

I thought that I would be fine since I've killed plenty of enemies in VR which would arguably be close to real life but since not all of your senses were replicated in the game… I was still not that prepared for the real thing.

I was brought out of my thoughts when a voice came from the bodies which made me jump.

"Hey, you guys are done with the entry hatches right? Hurry up and open up the docking hatches, we're waiting over here."

I almost tried to shoot the dead body again, stopping when I realised the voice was just coming from their communication device.

Right… I'm not in the clear yet… These two were just the advance party to help the others gain entry… There's no way they would be wanting to transfer the loot they got from this ship by floating across the void of space.

Judging by the size of the pirate ship, I would guess that it should hold around five to six people, which means I might still have four other pirates to deal with…

What… What do I do?

Even though I might have played VR shooters to the point that I felt I'm actually pretty decent at the game, but if I die here there won't be any respawns or reloading of saves.

I will actually die if I'm killed…

Can I run away?

No… They're currently tethered to me so I can't even run…

I'll need to fight but can I take on four enemies on my own?

I would think they would be on guard if they don't see their friends at the door so I doubt I would be able to use the same tactic again.

Wait… That's it!

Ok, this is pretty risky but it's better than nothing! I just need to move fast and with a little bit of luck I might actually be able to pull this off!

Alright, let's hope they don't mind waiting for just a few more minutes…