Interlude - I

Ben logged out of Apotheosis Online after almost dying for the second time. Thankfully, he managed to keep his dream of going pro alive, albeit barely.

Relief washed over him finally as he removed the VR helmet off his head. The constant pain in his muscles and tendons was no more, nor was he thirsty as hell, although there was a prickling ache in his head.

Probably for playing for an exceeding amount of time than what should be healthy. But Ben was pulling everything out of his depth for this.

"Maybe I should hire a couch for this," Ben mumbled. Not that anyone had better idea of the game to help him.

Ben checked his log on the Apotheosis Exclusive smartwatch and found he had played for thirty-one hours since the game's release.

That's thirty-one hours out of thirty-nine hours. For the rest of the eight hours, Ben simply slept and ingested food for the much-needed energy. Still, he wasn't getting there.

Only two of his stat reached 15, as he still couldn't use the full potential of his class. He thought getting the class would be his breakthrough into Esports, but this game was terrifyingly hard.

There was no noob town, no NPC asking for lost cats, or quests for killing rats. He had to battle those terrifying zombies and wild beasts that could easily scare the shit out of him.

"I guess I'm doing better than those who died."

Ben stood up from his bed and started stretching. Thankfully, all three of his friends managed to keep their life in the game, though David was low-spirited after getting the short end of luck on most occasions.

Ben barely managed to warm up his sore muscle, feeling the electricity churning through him when his stomach growled, reminding that he had eaten nothing in the last eight hours.

"Mom's going to kill me!" Ben's expression developed into a panic-stricken look as he shot out of his room.

To his delight, Ben only found his father in the living room, reading the news on a holographic window from the couch. The kitchen was adjusted to the living room, so his father could easily see what he was cooking up.

"Your mom is out with your sister," his father said, noticing the look in his eyes. "She left food for you in the fridge. Warm them up before you eat."

Ben nodded, halting his haste. Only now he remembered it was the weekend, so his father had days off to spend time with his family, though Ben was busy in the game most times, while his sister had an appointment with the doctor, leading his mother to leave the house as well.

Well, his family had given their support in his dream of playing VR games for a living. His skills at the game were good enough to convince them of all that mattered. Besides, his family was financially well off. His father was a shareholder of a company that was one of the big investors in Avalon—that was how he managed to get into the beta.

The same was true for his other friends. They had connections one way or another, some were in a better position, and some were simply chosen for their skills.

Ben was ready to gobble up the food his mother left for him. However, before he could do so, his father's voice entered his ears, stopping him.

"You're supposed to warm them first."

"Yes," Ben said, grunting inwardly, "sorry."

He prepared to heat the food as his father made small talk with him, which wasn't really something his father ever liked to do. He had a precise way of doing stuff, but Ben figured it was another effect of the game, as he was spending too much inside the virtual world.

"So, how's your play going?" his father asked.

"Well," said Ben, "It's tougher than anything I faced, but I got this class. . . Well, you won't understand it without context. Basically, as far as I'm concerned, only I have it so far. Well, maybe a couple more people."

His father's expression lit up as he lifted his head from the holographic newspaper to look at him.

"A class," he reiterated, thinking, "what's its name? What can you do with it?"

"It's a Knight Squire class," Ben said, flustering a little. He could do pretty much nothing other than swing his sword, infusing some mana. "But the NPC god told me it has a lot of growth potential and can evolve into a unique class."

"Hmm, I don't know if I can follow," said his father. "Well, it's good, as long as you're happy. Although I don't understand these virtual games, I understand the world. I understand the business. This game will take over the world even more so than the other game did."

Ben nodded. His father got back to his reading, and Ben was done warming the food. He was about to take the first sip of the soup when a bell chimed with a slight haptic vibration on his wrist.

A transparent notification tab flashed before the eyes.

[President of Avalon Conglomerate, Stephen Archer will appear in a press conference in five minutes in Virtual Capital Tiana. You're welcome to attend.]

Ben completely forgot about that with everything going on in the game. Thankfully, five minutes were enough to fill his stomach.

Barely finishing his soup, Ben scurried back into his room, causing his father to frown. But Ben was already gone to his room, reaching for his VR helmet.

In haste, he clutched the wrong helmet, as he needed the one for Avalon Online to get into Tiana—Avalon's capital.

Ben logged into the free server of the game and used the transfer link to get there immediately.

Thankfully, being a beta player gave him free access to the press release, along with many other important figures and journalists. Still, the thousand upon a thousand players crowded before, creating a ruckus before the press conference could even begin.

[Welcome to Tiana, Big_Brother_Ben]

There was no shortage of protesters either, with their virtual placards, demanding refunds and many other things.

All of them went silent when a notification hit them all at the same time, even those that muted notifications.

[Please provide us with your inquiry about Apotheosis Online. . .]