It might seem like an invasion of privacy to not only open someone else’s mail, but then upon discovering an unreleased video game inside, play said video game, but Colton rationalized it to himself thusly:

‘I didn’t technically open the package, the egg cooker did, and whether or not I play it for an hour or two before Winston gets home, his actual playtime won’t be effected in the slightest.’

Their lifelong friendship also meant that only the most extreme crossings of personal boundaries would be considered offensive. While Colton definitely did eat more than his share of the groceries, and probably paid less on their rent than was strictly equitable, he also did more than his share of chores since Winston could rarely be motivated to do them. In the end Winston contributed more to finances, and Colton contributed more to cooking and cleaning, and neither had ever objected to the other’s deficiencies, having entered into a sort of comfortable homeostasis a decade ago.

It also helped that the fact that Winston’s computer functioned at all was due in no small part to Colton. One would think that being interested in video games would make Winston also interested in the hardware to play them, but such was not the case. While no means an expert, Colton was able to watch enough YouTube videos and read enough forums to build a powerful gaming PC using Winston’s funds, but also to swap out parts and perform occasional maintenance to keep the machine running so little more than a double-click on a desktop item was needed to start playing.

Ultimately Colton’s decision to play his roommates game might be an invasion of privacy, but it was such a small one that neither was likely to notice or object. That decision made, he walked into the only bedroom in the house, Winston’s, and sat down at his gaming station that barely fit in a room already taken up by a twin bed and armoire.

In the off-chance this was a ploy by a competitor to wreck Winston’s gaming PC, Colton decided to take some basic precautions. While he probably could wipe the drive and reinstall the OS and any software without too much difficulty, that would take time away from either of the roommate’s ability to use the gaming PC for its intended purpose, resulting in one of the very few things that would actually make Winston angry.

Opting for a safe approach, Colton ensured that any USB’s plugged into the computer were not set to autorun anything, and then fired up a virtual machine that Winston probably was not even aware had been set up on the computer, and loaded the USB drive into the virtual machine. Running some quick scans to make sure there was no easily identifiable malware, Colton saw a single file on the USB drive: Isekai.exe.

‘Interesting name for a game.” Colton thought to himself, and decided to run it in the virtual machine first to keep things safe. A simple black box popped up with the words “Hello, Winston, please put on the headset to proceed.”

‘Very matrix,” he couldn’t help but notice the similarities to the “Follow the White Rabbit” Neo/Thomas Anderson received in the first Matrix film.

Seeing that the virtual machine seemed safe from any malware that might have been on the USB, he shut down the program, and then closed the virtual machine. He then ran the USB drive from the actual desktop, since if it was a game of any complexity, he had not allocated enough resources to the virtual machine for a modern game to run. Before hitting enter, he placed the ornate headset on his head as he had been previously instructed.

“Welcome Winston, and thank you. If your affairs are in order and you are ready to leave your world, please hit enter.”

Colton could not help but be impressed that the headset automatically registered as being worn, despite not having a power button or anything else that might toggle it from off to on. Perhaps the headset Nintendo remotes that could register angle and rotation, and only turned on when they were at position indicative of usage. Whatever the case, Colton was fairly fluent in basic technology, but had definitely not kept up in every single advance in neural feedback technology. Rather than wondering what was happening, he decided to just be impressed.

He thought about the potential technology involved: ‘Well, it might know if it is being worn, but it does not know I am not Winston, so it can’t be that advanced. Still very impressive, and shows promise for whatever game it might be, might as well give it a spin.’

With that thought, Colton hit enter, and everything went black.

True darkness is a funny thing. Just saying “true darkness” evokes dark nights, maybe a cave, closed eyes, or maybe a bedroom at night. The truth is that it is very rare to experience true darkness. True, complete darkness is so foreign to the human brain that when it is actually encountered, people often report hallucinations as the brain gets confused at the lack of input and starts making things up. With rare exceptions, it is very hard to really experience true darkness. Between uncountable electronic devices, constant lighting, and starry skies, most people do not experience true darkness more than once or twice in their lives.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Right now, Colton was experiencing TRUE darkness. In fact, he was experiencing a lack of any sensory input. Trying to locate his hands and legs, proprioception failed to kick in, and even attempting to wave his arms or move his legs resulted in no feedback whatsoever.

A lot of people consider themselves to have strong wills, and the ability to handle any situation they find themselves in calmly and rationally. While generally level-headed in day-to-day activities, Colton did not consider himself one of these people. He went out of his way to avoid stress because, besides being easier, he really did not feel like testing what he was truly capable of.

In this case, he was not underestimating himself. Some people might have found themselves suspended in darkness, with only their internal monologue for comfort or stimulus, and slowly thought through the implications. Instead, Colton panicked.

‘OMG, OMG, WTF, WTF, OMG, OMG.’ Colton’s thought process went on for some time, the lack of stimulus not provide any feedback upon which he could measure how long he let that panicked train of thought go on. ‘What did that game do to me? Is this a stroke? Is this death? Did the lights go out and I also got paralyzed at the same time.”

His internal monologue paused for a moment before proceeding…

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!!????”

It is very likely that he would have continued in a similar panicked loop if a voice had not suddenly cut through the darkness.

“Good, you finally made it. Come, there is little time.” The voice was deep, calm, and contained the sort of implicit authority a self-help speaker or would-be dictator would probably strangle their own mother to possess. “I know this is disorienting, but follow the light.”

“What light?” Colton couldn’t help but ask. As if in response to the question, he saw the thinnest pinprick of light in the distance. How far away it might be was impossible to tell given the lack of any and all markers in the darkness.

His panic slowly died down, as he realized how silly he had been. Overall, the time spent in darkness was probably no more than a few seconds, and now this light and prompt to follow it was probably part of the feedback and response loop that would help properly configure the headset. That being said, if he was not impressed with the technology before, he definitely was now. This was far beyond any technology he was aware of at this point. No wonder whoever sent it left it unlabeled, as the technology alone was probably worth a fortune.

Now at least with a goal in mind, Colton found himself moving towards the light which grew larger as he approached at a rapid pace. Before he knew it, the white had grown and expanded until he was no longer in a space of pure black, but instead was in a space of pure white, which he guessed was an improvement.

The voice spoke up again: “Thank you for coming. You may not know this, but you are the fulfillment of a millennia-old prophecy. Our world has been at conflict for ages, with only the most remote of villages knowing anything akin to peace in these last few years.”

Colton could not help help but find the exposition a little interesting. Normally he would expect a video to have an elaborate cutscene, but he had to admit that the yawning white void definitely made sure he focused on what was being said.

“Countless eons ago our world was created by an entity powerful beyond description. So powerful and enigmatic the priests of this world have not named it, as it is felt any name is inadequate to capture its essence. After creating our world, the creator left for purposes beyond our comprehension, but left the eight gods to maintain order and balance.”

‘I’m getting hints of the Silmarillion here…bet one of these gods is going to rebel and cause all the conflict,” Colton wondered at the exposition dump he was receiving.

“Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Order, Discord, Life, and finally Death were created to ensure the world continued to progress smoothly, and it did for ages.”

‘Until…”

“Until conflict grew among the gods. Initially they were embodiments of concepts, they grew personalities and gave themselves names. Fire became Ferrous, Water became Aqueos, Earth became Igenous, Wind became Aeolus, Order became Themius, Discord became Erious, Life became Phaneous, and lastly death became Fineous.”

‘No points for originality then.”

“With personalities and names came disagreements. Most of these were mild, until the first sapient life forms arrived on the planet. Most of the changes they made the gods considered them minor. Many extinguished fires, but they also started many more. They dammed up rivers and dug canals, but ultimately water still flowed. Earth was dug up and mined for minerals, but the end result was even stronger metals and alloys than almost anything naturally created. Order and Discord occurred in equal measures as the new creatures unmade the natural and remade the world in their own image. Finally, as they grew more intelligent and more powerful, their numbers grew as fewer died in childbirth and what was considered old age became later and later in life.

“It was Fineous who eventually grew the most dissatisfied, for theirs was the domain of finality, but as it stood, everything was in a cycle. Yes, individual creatures died, but ultimately new ones would take their place. ‘How can one be the god of something that never truly comes,’ Fineous thought to themselves.

“Still, it would be an age before any change was implemented, and as time passed the personalities and domains of the gods changed, some even taking genders for themselves. Phaneous manifested to the beings below as a beautiful woman in the prime of her life, and also encompassed aspects like healing and childbirth in addition to the general concept of life,

“Igenous presented himself as a massive rock-like colossus towering over those he visited, and also grew to include things like mining and smithing into his domain. Erious had perhaps the most curious transformation as well. Presenting as a genderless trickster god, they grew less obsessed with disorder and chaos, and instead delighted in things like comedy, practical jokes, and general merriment.

“The others changed as well, but no so much as Fineous. While most delighted in the antics of the beings in their care, Fineous grew to detest and hate those lesser beings. As his hatred grew, so too did his domain grow to encompass things like pestilence, famine, and rot.”

‘Hmmm…. seems like now we’re getting to the good stuff’

“Unpleasant as these changes were, it would be the next actions Fineous undertook that truly changed the world.”