[Intergalactic: Online 1]

[Intergalactic: Online], the world's first-ever MMORPG with true immersion thanks to the development of the gaming devices called Neuro-connect. The devices allowed the users to immerse themselves in a virtual world where anything was possible. The premise of the game being, 'You are free to carve out your own path and forge your destiny!'

It all started when the mysterious GX-Corp announced the revolutionary game and the Neuro-connect system that went along with it. Many were skeptical when they first heard about it, but it took meer days for the world to be taken by storm after its release. Whole economies were built around the game as players spent incalculable amounts of money to try and get ahead of others, making GX-Corp, the largest private company within a matter of months.

When other companies realized the goldmine, which was [Intergalactic: Online], they began to invest heavily into sponsoring some of the best players and groups in the game, leading to the creation of the first in-game corporations.

Fast forward ten years...

Creed took off his old Neuro-connect device with a sigh. He had bags under his eyes, and his hair was messy. However, despite his dirty look, his tiny room was relatively clean, as if it had never been lived in.

Creed walked over to the fridge and made himself a snack while listening to the latest news on his data-pad.

"Intergalactic Online has broken another record and now boasts 70% of the planet are active users!..."

"There is no question that GX-Corp is worth untold trillions, but do we know what they're doing with that wealth?. The company has not released much information about itself over the last ten years!..."

"This just in, a fleet battle between the Red-Star Corp and the Three-Way-Alliance has broken out over planet RW-471!. Those who have been following this conflict will know that RW-471 is a recently discovered resource world! rich enough to turn anyone who controls it into an instant millionaire!..."

Creed sighed as he turned off the news and ate his snack while reading his recent conversations. He was an unfortunate late adaptor to Intergalactic: Online because he decided to focus on his studies and only got into it two years after the release. As a result, Creed could only play the game as a lackey to one of the existing corporations.

While the game touted itself as an open exploration world where players could do whatever they wanted, it was a challenging game to progress in, especially for solo players like Creed, who didn't have unlimited funds. Creed remembered that he had to work for months as a lackey to get his first ship, only to have it destroyed by a group of lunatic pirate players with him inside!.

There was no respawning in this game world, and the things that we destroyed stayed that way. Once your character died, you could only do one of two things. Transfer consciousness to a clone or start a new character with inheritance. The first option allowed you to keep 100% of your wealth and stats but was clearly for the rich who could afford to maintain a secret, well-defended facility full of clones. The second option was free but only left you with 50% of your previous wealth and stats, which was a massive blow. The main issue was if you kept dying, your already halved stats and wealth would continue to reduce.

Many players, including Creed, had initially gone down the traditional path of combat classes to fight beasts and creatures for money and experience. This worked well in the short term but was an obvious trap since those who wanted to keep progressing on this path would have to move on to bigger and stronger creatures with more expensive materials. These creatures were insanely powerful, leading to many players dying constantly.

After months, a small group of players found the solution to this problem. Players simply began employing NPCs to do the more dangerous jobs while they commanded from a safe distance. These players quickly became known as Commanders.

It quickly became clear that the Commanders were far superior thanks to their low death rates; they could gain resources quicker and much safer, thus allowing them to invest in advanced cybernetics and cloning facilities to enhance themselves.

The game meta shifted forever when a player who had gone down the Researcher's path thoroughly defeated the best player at the time who had been diligently following the path of the Warrior in hand-to-hand combat for months.

This event shocked the world and showed the true power of the non-combat paths.

"Had I not wasted so much time initially..." Creed mumbled to himself quietly.

"Whatever, the game is supposed to be fun, so I don't mind being a lackey....I also get a decent salary which is nice...". Creed said as he tried to console himself.

Creed worked as a contracted field commander for a small corporation. It was a somewhat dangerous position, but the pay was pretty good compared to other, much safer jobs. He was put in charge of a platoon of about 50 NPCs, all enhanced with cybernetics, and carried out dangerous frontline combat missions.

As Creed thought of this, his data-pad beeped, indicating that his platoon was being called on for another battle.

"Well, I better get back to it since I'm still on the clock..." Creed said as he stood up and went back to his chair. He connected the Neuro-connect device and slowly re-entered the virtual world.

However, Creed found himself in an empty white space instead of the usual login screen.

"Is this old Neuro-connect finally malfunctioning?. I knew I should have bought a new one. Disconnect! "Creed said loudly and then waited to be disconnected. However, after a few minutes, nothing happened.

Creed tried every emergency disconnect prompt he could think of, but nothing worked. After what felt like hours of frustration, cryptic-looking words suddenly appeared in front of Creed.

[Data anomaly detected. Corruption Unknown. Reboot sequence to begin in 5...4...3...]

"Oh finally...wait, corruption?. No, just disconnect me!" Creed yelled, but it was too late.

[2...1...Reboot sequence initiated]

Creed felt himself lose consciousness as the world around him broke down and disappeared.

When Creed finally opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that he was locked in a pod filled with a strange liquid. He panicked until he realized that the liquid wasn't drowning him.

'What happened...where am I?', Creed thought to himself as he looked through the pod's glass window. He could barely see anything, so he started to move around to see if there was anything behind him. But then the glass pod suddenly opened, flushing all the liquid out onto the floor, taking Creed along with it.

Creed hit the floor hard and felt a sharp pain in his arm when he suddenly saw a familiar interface.

[1 Damage taken] [HP 4/5]

"That's the Intergalactic: Online game interface! Am I still in the game?...No, the pain I just felt seemed too real. Could this be a new update?" Creed thought to himself as he struggled to stand up.

Creed looked around the shabby room covered in moss and overgrowth. He could quickly tell that it was nighttime, as half of the roof was missing, exposing the facility to the harsh environment. Creed was utterly naked but had more important things to worry about as he looked around the empty room, which seemed to have been a lab.

'Interface' Creed thought as he would in the game. Immediately, the game's user interface appeared in his mind.

[Interface]

[Name: Creed]

[HP: 4/5]

[Paths: None]

"Strange, it's missing a lot of options. Also, where is the log out button?..." Creed thought to himself as he started to get nervous.

"Disconnect!..."

"..."

"Call Support!"

"..."

"Get me out of here!"

"..."

Creed fell to his knees in absolute resignation when he realized that none of the prompts worked. He felt a chilly breeze hit his body as he looked up into the starry night sky.

"Am I stuck in the game?" Creed thought to himself with mixed emotions.