2 The Golden Lamp

The calm and collected demeanor he's been managing to hold up to this point, shattered into a million pieces. He nearly jumped for joy like a little kid but he immediately calmed himself. Other than his looks and personality, almost everything about him sucked, especially his luck. He ate from cheap places, had a horrible job, and wasn't able to afford a decent college so his future had always looked bleak.

He dialed Andrew's phone number once he took a couple of deep breaths. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, an excited voice started talking on the other line before he could even get out a word.

"Tyler guess what! I got placed in the top 200,000 on Monolith lottery!" he was obviously ecstatic. He imagined a goofy grin that only a child could make, on Andrew's face.

An idea came across Tyler's head and he grinned, "We have to celebrate. What do you think?"

"Of course we have to party! How about my place?"

"I was thinking more like Golden Lamp tonight? I'll pay the tab so don't worry."

"Go-Golden Lamp! For real?!"

Golden Lamp is a high-class night club with amazing service and great drinks. To get in, one would need a lot of money and a membership. Andrew's family was quite well off so he owned a membership, but the money for even the smallest service would make a rich boy like him think twice.

"Don't worry about it. Let's have a good night."

"Are you sure?" Andrew knew the cost for Golden lamp was staggering, so he didn't want Tyler to jump through hoops for him.

"Absolutely sure. I had a really good day today..." he couldn't help but smile wider.

"Alright, I'll tell everyone to meet in front of Golden Lamp at.... 8:00."

After hanging up, he grabbed his favorite suit and some other stuff before turning off the TV heading out.

.....

The Golden Lamp's was a large 5 story building with a modern white and yellow style. The surrounding buildings were all much taller than it, but that didn't stop it from sticking out.

Inside a private room, Tyler, Andrew, Amelia, and some other close friends sat on a couple of fancy leather couch in front of a coffee table covered in unopened wine bottles and exquisite wine glasses.

Amelia was Andrew's girlfriend and they sat really close to each other. She was a dark blonde beauty with beautiful green eyes and her seductive red cocktail dress complimented her subtle curves. Andrew was reaching over the back of her neck as he fiddled with one of the straps to her dress, sometimes caressing her shoulder.

She swatted his hand away with her usual indifferent look, "Will you stop that. We're not alone."

Andrew had dark brown eyes with platinum dyed hair pulled back into a bun. He also had a devilish aura around him that went with his childish attitude.

Andrew grinned mischievously as he leaned in a little closer to her, "C'mon Amelia~ You know you look like a snack when you're in that dress~" he leaned in and whispered something else in her ear that no one could hear. Her face turns tomato red as she looked away from him with defiance.

They've been head over heels for each other for more than a year now so Tyler had long since gotten used to their open displays of affection.

Tyler uncorked a bottle and started passing out drinks as he tried to get Andrew's attention, "Hey Andrew? I got a question."

He turned his attention to Tyler while still playing with Amelia's dress strap, "Shoot."

"I've never really had time to play video games for a couple of years now, but AlKo online caught my attention. Could you tell me a little bit about it?"

An excited expression appeared on his face as he forgot about Amelia at the mention of video games.

Although she was a little upset that Andrew stopped paying attention to her, she knew he was a game fanatic so she wasn't really bothered.

"So glad you asked! AlKo online or Allos Kosmos Online is a fantasy game like no other. The name is Greek for 'Other World' and the Monolith Foundation are certain this game will be like a second reality for all of humanity!

Its world is absolutely massive compared to Earth and it's most likely going to be the most immersive game ever made, meaning it should feel like you're in a real-life place!"

Andrew was practically bubbling with excitement. He was a hardcore gamer so this was his element.

Tyler was slightly stunned by his description of the game. Andrew wasn't one to blow something out of proportion. Even though he had many questions, he listened intently.

"Your actions in the game will have small or major effects depending on what you do, just like real life. They say that players will be capable of ruling entire continents or destroying the world if they so wished. Sadly Monolith won't release any information on the game's storyline or DLCs(1) so there are only unproven rumors about what will happen once inside."

"Destroy the world?! Won't the system not allow that to happen?"

"No, it's possible but it would be so difficult that no one would ever actually attempt it. Plus that would end the game and nobody in their right mind would want to do that!"

He was now thoroughly interested in the game. It sounded like a haven compared to his life as Tyler.

"I plan to give the full dive set I got from the lottery to Amelia cause I already have a full dive pod..." he paused for a second as he looked at Tyler with a little sympathy, "Kinda sucks that you didn't win the lottery though. If you're still interested in the game, then I can scrounge up some money to get you some gear before the public beta. It might take a while though."

Andrew had always put family and friends first. Even though Tyler didn't have even a fraction of the money or power he had, Andrew didn't care. He would include him in almost everything he did ever since childhood no matter how expensive. This made him feel indebted and thankful to Andrew.

Tyler let out a wide grin as he pulled out his phone and showed him the message. Andrew was confused by his actions but read it anyway.

"T-This is-" the glass he was holding in his hand fell and shattered on the hardwood floor, startling everyone present while he shot up, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIRST PLACE!?!?! THAT WAS ACTUALLY YOU!?!?!"

Andrew lost his cool as he snatched the phone and thoroughly looked over the contents of the message. He also didn't think that he was the same person as the first place winner. It wasn't a secret that his luck was garbage. It's why they stayed away from luck-based games like spin the bottle. Those especially always ended in disaster when Tyler played.

"No wonder you were so adamant about paying the bill! That was a 1 in 8.6 billion chance!" he looked at Tyler as though he was a monster with unrivaled strength, "You must have had a one night stand with the Goddess of Luck or something like that..."

The group laughed and partied, filling the air with chatter and alcohol.

.....

The next day, Tyler called in sick at work and made himself and the house presentable. After he finished cleaning, he watched TV while he waited.

*Ding-dong*

He got up, straightened out his outfit, and opened the door. A familiar face greeted him on the other side and he nearly lost all of the power in his legs.

"Anthony M-McBell?!" Tyler unconsciously staggered backward as the man before him was more famous than any celebrity could ever be. He and Monolith were becoming main figures in history books and his prestige was higher than most small or medium-sized countries!

"Hahaha, there's no need for that. May I come in?" he displayed his usual ancient and mysterious aura as he sized up Tyler.

"Of course." He stepped out of the way to let him in. He kept a calm and collected demeanor despite his rapidly beating heart. "Would you like anything to drink? Perhaps some wine?"

"That sounds excellent." he came in and followed the not so calm Tyler to the kitchen while he inwardly chuckled at the youth's obvious attempts to keep calm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1: DLC) downloadable content. Sometimes entails new storylines and expansions for video games.