Ryan POV
The headset rests against my temples. I can feel the sensors—small points of pressure where they touch my skin. Daniel stands in front of me, holding a wireless controller in each hand
"These are your movement controls," he says, handing me one. "Left stick moves you forward and backward. The right stick turns you left and right. The buttons are basic—attack, interact, jump. Everything else you’ll figure out as you go."
I turn the controller over in my hands. It’s heavier than I expected. The buttons are responsive when I press them—satisfying clicks.
"The VR covers your entire field of vision," Daniel continues. "So when you’re in, you won’t see me, you won’t see this room, you won’t see anything except the game. But we’ll still be connected through audio. I can talk to you the whole time."
"Will I feel like I’m actually there?" I ask.
"That’s the thing," Daniel says. "You won’t feel like you’re there. You’ll feel like there’s nowhere else you could be. Your brain won’t register that you’re in a headset. It’ll just process it as reality. Full neural immersion. It’s why people are going crazy for this."
He’s trying not to sound excited, but he’s failing. His voice keeps getting faster.
"How long can I play?" I ask.
"As long as you want. Eight hours is the recommended max before you need a break. Your body gets tired even if you’re sitting still. The neural link is intense." He sits down on the couch. "When you want to log out, just hold down the menu button for three seconds. You’ll see an exit prompt. Confirm it, and you’re back here."
I nod. That’s simple enough.
"Character creation is automatic," Daniel says. "You’ll see a screen asking for your name, your appearance, your starting class. Make those choices, and you’re in the world. The tutorial takes about ten minutes. After that, you’re free to do whatever."
"What do you mean by starting class?" I ask.
"Warrior, Mage, Archer, stuff like that. It affects your starting stats and abilities. You can change things later, or so I’ve heard. Most people just pick one and go with it."
I turn the controller over again. My palms are slightly sweaty. That’s weird.
"One more thing," Daniel says. "The immersion is intense, right? But it’s still a game. You can’t actually die. If you die in the game, you just respawn. There’s a small penalty—some experience loss, maybe lose some equipment—but nothing permanent. So don’t panic if something bad happens."
"Something bad?" I repeat.
"Monsters," Daniel says. "NPCs with swords. That kind of thing. You’ll be in a starting area, so nothing too dangerous, but still. Don’t freak out if you get attacked."
I set the controller down on my lap. I’m going to put on a headset and enter a fake world where I might get attacked by monsters. This is the weirdest decision I’ve made all month.
"You good?" Daniel asks.
"Yeah. Fine."
"You’re not fine. You look like you’re about to throw up."
"I’m fine," I say again.
Daniel grabs the second headset and sits down next to me.
"I’ll be in there with you. Same world, same server. I’ll be at the starter town when you log in. Find me, and I’ll show you around."
That helps. Knowing I won’t be alone.
Daniel reaches toward my face. "Let me adjust this."
I feel him tightening the straps. The headset becomes more secure. The sensors press slightly harder against my temples. There’s a weight to it now—I’m conscious of it in a way I wasn’t before.
"Good?" he asks.
"Yeah."
He stands up and walks to the other side of the room. I hear him putting on his own headset. Movement. Clicking sounds. The soft beep of activation.
"Can you hear me?" His voice comes through the headset’s audio. It’s clear. Crisp. Like he’s standing right next to me even though I can’t see him.
"Yeah," I say.
"Okay. When you’re ready, just tap the activation button on the controller. It’s the blue one on top."
I found the button. It’s smooth under my finger.
"Here goes nothing," I say.
I press it.
For a moment, nothing happens.
Then the world shifts.
It’s not sudden. It’s not like a screen appears. It’s more like my eyes are adjusting to something that was always there but I couldn’t see before. The darkness of the headset becomes color. Shapes. Depth.
I’m standing in a town square.
The first thing I notice is the sky. It’s blue. Actual blue, not a render of blue. The clouds move. They’re white and gray and they cast actual shadows. The light on them shifts as they drift across the sky.
I turn my head to look around. My eyes follow the movement instantly. No lag. No delay.
The town square is busy. NPCs walk past me. They have routines. A merchant is setting up a stall. A guard walks a patrol route. Children are running somewhere in the distance. They’re not identical. Their clothes are different. Their faces are different. They move with different gaits.
This is too detailed to be a game.
"Welcome to Silverwood City," Daniel says through the audio. I look around for him and spot him standing twenty meters away by a fountain.
He looks exactly like he does in real life, except more... everything. His clothes are cleaner. His posture is different. His avatar is just him, but rendered with perfect clarity.
I move my left stick forward.
I walk forward.
The sensation is wrong. I’m moving through the world, but my body knows I’m sitting in a chair. It’s a strange disconnect. My brain is processing two different realities at once.
"You’ll get used to that," Daniel says. I don’t remember telling him I felt weird, but he knows. "It takes about five minutes. After that, you won’t even think about it."
I continue walking. The cobblestones beneath my feet feel solid. When I look down, I can see my hands. I can see my boots. I can see the space between me and the ground.
"First, you need to create your account," Daniel says. "Look in the upper left corner of your vision. You should see a menu."
I look. There’s a translucent menu floating in my peripheral vision. It doesn’t obstruct my view of the world, but it’s clearly there. I read it.
"Login Menu. Create an Account. Character Creation. Server Select."
"Select Create Account," Daniel instructs.
I focus on it. The moment my attention lands on it, a new menu appears. It asks for a username. A password. An email address. I fill them in with the controller. The interface responds to my inputs instantly.
The next screen shows character creation.
There’s a figure in front of me. A generic human shape. Customization options appear around it. Hair color. Hair style. Facial features. Height. Build. Clothes.
I change my appearance to roughly match my real appearance. Dark hair. Pale skin. Lean build. Nothing fancy.
"What’s your name going to be?" Daniel asks.
I think about it. I want something simple. Something that feels natural.
"Ryan," I say.
I enter it into the username field.
The next screen asks me to choose a starting class. There’s a list.
Warrior
Swordsman
Knight
Archer
Mage
Healer
Assassin
Summoner
Each has a description when I hover over it. Warrior has balanced stats. Mage has high intelligence but low defense. Archer has speed and range.
I picked Warrior. It seems safest for someone who’s never played before.
"Ready?" Daniel asks.
The confirmation screen is in front of me.
"Create Character—Confirm?"
"Yeah," I say.
I select confirm.
The world flashes white.
For a second, nothing exists. No sky. No ground. No NPCs. Just white.
Then the world loads back in. I’m standing in a slightly different location. There’s a building in front of me—the Adventurer’s Guild, according to the sign.
There are other players scattered around. Some are talking to NPCs. Some are checking their inventories. Some are just standing still, probably new like me.
A tutorial prompt appears in my vision.
"Welcome to Eternal Realm, Adventurer. You have just arrived in Silverwood City. Your journey begins here."
"The first tutorial is boring," Daniel says through the audio. "Just follow the markers. Talk to the NPCs they point you to. It’ll take about ten minutes."
I follow the first marker. It leads me to a weapon merchant. An NPC with a gruff voice explains how to purchase equipment. I bought a basic sword. The metal looks real. The weight feels real.
The next marker leads me to an armor merchant. I buy basic leather armor.
The markers continue. Training grounds. Tavern. Potion shop. Each location teaches me something about the game’s systems.
Then the final marker appears.
It’s pointing to an area outside the city. The marker says "First Hunt."
I walk toward the gate. The NPC guards acknowledge me as I pass. The world beyond the city is green. Forest. Mountains in the distance. And scattered throughout the landscape are wolves.
"These are weak monsters," Daniel’s voice says. "Meant for new players. Just attack them a few times and they’ll die. Get your first kill and the tutorial will complete."
I approach the nearest wolf. It’s real. Its fur looks real. Its eyes look real.
It turns and sees me.
The wolf charges.
I panic and swing my sword. The blade connects. The wolf staggers. I swing again. Again. The wolf falls.
Notification: "First Kill—Gained 10 Experience Points."
The tutorial completes.
I’m standing alone in the field, breathing hard, my character’s breath matching my real breath. The sun is setting on the horizon. The sky is turning orange and pink.
"You did it," Daniel says through the audio. "Welcome to Eternal Realm, officially."
I turn around to look at the city behind me. The lights are starting to glow in the windows. NPCs are moving through the streets, preparing for the evening.
"So what now?" I ask.
"Now you explore," Daniel says. "Meet other players. Take quests. Find dungeons. Whatever you—"
His voice cuts off.
The world goes dark.
Not fade to dark. Not gradually darkening. Instantaneously dark.
Complete, total darkness.
"Daniel?" I called.
Nothing.
"What’s happening?"
Silence.
I can still feel the controller in my hands. I can still feel the headset on my face. But the world is gone. There’s nothing to see. Nothing to interact with.
A single line of text appears in the void.
White letters on the black nothingness.
"YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE."