Prologue

I took in a deep breath. I rubbed my sweaty palms together once more as I stared at the helmet. Several years of doing nothing but backbreaking work, tirelessly putting up with annoying customers, malevolent bosses and irritating co-workers in a dog-eat-dog world had finally come to fruition. The device was smooth, and I trailed over it as though it were my lover. The feeling of cold metal that I could not identify responded and I let myself drum over it quietly, contemplating if this was real, and if it was about to happen. Then my mind easily recalled the sheer unease I had felt as I had collected the thing from the black market dealer, and I instantly knew that this was the real deal.

I had already put most of my affairs in order, I had quit from my job, paid my rent and bills, and I had even gone as far as to tell people around me that I would be travelling. Most would have considered this excessive and somewhat risky in case anything went wrong, but I simply did not care – this helmet was my ticket out of this world, and I wanted nothing else reminding me of being in it.

I had positioned myself on the couch, placing the device over my head with a little bit of trepidation and I could not ignore the shiver that ran down my spine as a dry laugh escaped my lips. This was it. I was going to do it.

“Immersion Helmet, Activate.”

Commencing Immersion…

WARNING!

The software found in Immersion Slot is the highly controversial “Avarice”, and has been banned in thirty-six countries. This game is illegal to own, it is connected with over a hundred cases of missing persons and it is suspected to be used by gangs and notorious mafia organizations alike.

I grinned. At this juncture, a normal Immersion Helmet would have failed to continue working on the software, and my apartment would have been invaded by police teams in the next fifteen minutes. But this was no normal helmet.

“Bypass. Activate Lazarus Code: Zero-Eighty-Fourteen, Forty-Nineteen, Omega, Alpha.”

The words that would change my life were uttered, and at that very moment, I peaked in happiness.

Chapter 1

Welcome new player to Avarice!

The feeling of having one’s own consciousness travel from one place to another was something that was ineffable to describe. I did not want to question it, or rather, I could not question it, and instead it took everything in me in order to curb my giddiness.

Welcome to the world of Avarice! The new full virtual immersion software that will utterly alter the world and advance technology to the realm of gods!

Fine, fine, I did not care about the specifics, all I wanted was to get launched into the story.

Terms and Conditions

By agreeing to play Avarice, you are agreeing to all the terms and conditions of the developers. Would you like to read the terms and conditions?

I snorted. Really, who did they think I was, reading the terms and conditions? I knew what I was getting into when I decided to spend over six years’ worth of pay to buy the goddamned helmet and software. I had spent tireless hours doing research upon research in order to make sure that this would be the solution that I would find to my dull, meaningless life. I had no family, no friends, very few hobbies and interests, and all of that would change by entering this, a virtual immersion software that was globally banned.

Psychologists had claimed that the simulation was capable of turning all those who played it into sociopaths that would not be capable of properly functioning in society. That the simulations of Avarice supposedly turned all those who played the game into expert killers, liars and manipulators.

What a load of baloney.

Most likely they had come up with that theory in order to shut down the facts that anyone could do anything in the simulation. Wanted to find out what it felt like to take hallucinogenic drugs without actually having it damage your system and make you dependent? You could do it in Avarice. Sit down and get high in the Simulation, without it affecting you in real life. Enjoy the tastes of alcohol without permanently damaging your kidneys or liver. Smoke endlessly without it ever affecting your lungs. Avarice catered to every vice in existence, possessing all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.

The game had also been called sexist, hedonistic, and devoid of any such thing called human decency. Or in particular, the fact that one could pimp NPCs, own them, marry them, or do pretty much anything they wanted with them.

Admittedly, this was one of the reasons I wanted to enter the simulation in the first place. I could already feel my mouth water at the concept. Endless sex without having the fear of STDs, pregnancy, or all the other complications? That was all I needed to sign up.

The World of Avarice is designed to be in two: a Utopia and a Dystopia. All starting players will have to climb their way up from the lower Dystopia in order to reach their utopian ideal.

Well I certainly did not know that. Fine, it didn’t make much of a difference to me anyway.

Would you like to create a new Character?

Mentally, as I noted that the commands could be subvocalized, I agreed.

Select your Gender:

Male

Female

Custom

I did not hesitate for a second as I chose the male option.

Your chosen Gender is Male.

Select your build:

Tall and Buff

Tall and Regular

Tall and Lanky

Medium and Buff

Medium and Regular

Medium and Lanky

Short and Buff

Short and Regular

Short and Lanky

I wasn’t egotistic enough to pick the first option, or any of the buff options for that manner, and instead I chose the Tall and Regular.

Your Chosen Build is Tall and Regular. Note: Your choice of race may or may not alter any selected build.

Choose a Race:

Human

Elf

Human-Elf Hybrid

Dark-Elf

Human Dark-Elf Hybrid

Demon

Druid

Dwarf

I almost snorted as I looked at the last option. I really pitied those people that would actually choose the dwarf option.

Here was the tricky part of course, I knew that each race came with its own benefits and disadvantages, and these racial benefits would make a huge difference eventually. The only problem was that Avarice was not exactly a ‘fair’ game, and you wouldn’t know what benefits each race had unless you picked it. You could gripe about this being crummy, except that no one would care, and the GMs would probably just flip you the middle finger for your griping. Hell, since being banned globally, those who still played it knew that the GMs pretty much had the power of gods in what they could do. It wasn’t like the players could sue them or even so much as complain about the simulation’s unfairness, because by all rights, you weren’t supposed to be playing the game in the first place.

You have selected Human-Dark Elf Hybrid.

Are you certain?

Of course. Benefits of a human plus the special allure of a dark elf would mean that I would have a little bit of versatility here and there.

You are a Human-Dark Elf Hybrid.

Your Race Benefits Include:

Elvish Senses: +10% to Perceptiveness, +15% Boost to Ranged, +15% to Agility

One With Night: +15% to Stealth

Your Race Drawbacks Include:

Half-Breed: You gain a negative interaction score with Dark-Elves.

Dark Blood: You gain a negative interaction score with Elves.

Well screw them. Just what I needed thrown into the mix, some racism.

Select a Starting Class:

Soldier

Pilferer

Bionic

The infamous starting trio. I mused over the explanations for the classes.

Soldier: Traditional frontline fighters. You deal heavy damage and can take the most damage. Traditionally deals damage with close-combat weapons and shields.

Pilferer: The nimble scavengers. Moves fast in the battlefield, hard to catch and even harder to hit, but somewhat fragile. Traditionally deals damage with long-range weapons, and traps.

Bionic: The power freaks. Capable of performing ludicrous feats of power with their mind, from telekinetic attacks to altering gravity. Incredibly fragile with-nonexistent skill in weapons.

Speed or power, speed or power, the mantra repeated itself over and over in my mind before I contemplated which would be ideal. These were starting classes, though, and there were class hybrids that would exist at much higher levels. For now, I wasn’t stupid, if I wanted to stand a chance against threats, I needed to move fast and not hit hard. The Bionic option was tempting, but I did not fancy the idea of being a glass cannon. The Soldier would have been another valid option, but I did not want to be some bulking knight.

The Pilferer however, was up my alley. I had always been the guy that would run away from a fight when it came down to it, screw pride and call me a coward. I’d rather be a living coward than a prideful corpse. It was probably the only thing that kept me alive this long after all.

You have selected the Class: Pilferer.

Class Bonuses Include:

Scavenger: Higher Success Rates in searching for items

Thief: Grants you the ability to steal from other players.

I shrugged. The game was called Avarice after all, who could blame him for using any method at his disposal to get ahead? He certainly was not going to lose any sleep over it.

Compiling Character…

Enter Character Name.

I stroked my chin. I needed a name, something that would strike fear into the hearts of all that saw it, or something that would make someone blink twice as they heard it. Or, I could just screw it and go all nerd-like for it by giving my character a name straight out of one of the most famous fantasies of all time. I chuckled at the thought. It was so bad that it could probably be one of the greatest sins of gaming.

Bad… Sins…?

It was simple, plain, a bit odd to actually think of it, but who was going to judge? Though I highly doubted if it would actually be available.