The First Step

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The alarm woke Kaito up and he turned around in bed to look at the blinking digits on the clock, it read; 8AM, 'perfect' he thought. Now he had time to go out and buy the full dive gear set before the game would be released at exact midday.

He quickly turned the alarm off and got out of bed. The slivers of sunlight getting through the blinds lit up his stunning figure, he softly groaned as he stretched his arms upwards. A picture perfect scene the girls from his former class could only dream of.

Kaito lazily made his way to the bathroom and took a quick shower, he then got dressed. To an outsider it would look as if though the young man was dressed in the finest garments, but to Kaito this was what he called "casual clothing".

He made his way to the kitchen and prepared some breakfast, a simple meal would satisfy. he would wolf the meal down along with a cup of coffee, something that rarely happened, but right now Kaito was alone in his apartment so he didn't care about his manners. Not only did he feel freedom, but he felt excitement; excitement to go out and buy the new game.

*click*

The reassuring sound of locking the door was heard as Kaito spun around and started to walk out of apartment complex.

The sun hit his face and he had to put up his hand to shield himself, it was a lovely warm summer's morning and people were out and about on their way to work or just doing general chores.

Some people stopped to look at the finely dressed man who had just exited the building. he looked noble and handsome, "must be a rich fella" some whispered, others told their friends "he's probably a model, right?".

Kaito, who was oblivious to the stares lowered his hand and started walking, he had one goal in mind: The video game store, which was also where they sold the full dive gear set.

As quickly as Kaito entered the store one of the store clerks appeared before him ready to welcome him into the store. The employees had spotted Kaito outside the window and knew this was a chance they couldn't miss, and this was simply because the way Kaito dressed, he looked rich(which he was).

'Such quick service' Kaito thought has he told the store clerk that he wanted to buy the full dive gear. "Sure thing!" the employee answered gleefully "right this way!". The employee walked eagerly with a man who looked out of place in tow, they reached a section in the store filled with white and black helmets, "so what kind of quality of gear are you looking for?". Kaito didn't ponder for too long, "the best i guess".

A big smile formed on the store clerk's face, "of course sir, that would be the newest version that was released last week to promote the new game PARACOSM: Online, it costs 24999$".

The employee looked at Kaito in anticipation, nobody had bought this equipment yet, it was far to expensive for most standards. "Sure, sounds good" Kaito answered without changing his expression.

"He really bought it?" one of the employees asked the other as they watched the handsome man leave the store, "yep, although he didn't look like a gamer, probably spontaneous purchase" the other store clerk answered.

Kaito hurried his way home, taking long steps as a slight smile formed on his lips, the women who saw him felt their hearts flutter. He rarely smiled, but right now he felt hyped. His expression quickly changed to his usual icy cold, he knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, but the excitement was hard to shake off, he sped up to reach his apartment quicker.

Once he was home he changed into a more comfortable attire and slumped down onto his bed, Kaito checked his watch: 10.25AM. He still had 1 hour and 35 minutes before the launch of the game. He decided to open the box and take out the helmet, reading the instructions he found the gear only needed to a power source through a cable and then it was all ready to go.

he connection the device and put it on his bed. he decided to work out the remainder of the time until launch.

Anxious to miss the launch he put the helmet on 30 minutes before the estimated time, the helmet fit snugly around his head, and when he closed his eyes complete darkness greeted him. He powered it up.

〖Welcome user〗

Amidst the endless darkness the white glowing text greeted him. His view was filled with a page filled with games and options, he quickly understood how to control the device as he navigated the page using thoughts. Kaito quickly found the game he wanted to buy : PARACOSM: Online. He bought it, not even giving the price tag a glance, the system quickly downloaded the game.

Opening the game he was met by a big countdown reading 18 minutes 45 seconds. He had nothing better to do so he laid there, watching the time clock ticking down. What he wasn't aware of was that he wasn't the only one doing this, far from it.

The new release of PARACOSM: Online was groundbreaking around the whole world. It was the first game to have a AI controlled system, an ever-changing world and almost human-like NPC's. The Developers promised a lot, but they also had enormous amount of backing from companies around the globe, making PARACOSM: Online one of the biggest project ever funded in history.

Of course a lot of people were questioning these promises of an ever evolving AI world, calling it bullshit or fake news. But nobody dared to take the chance, everyone wanted to try the game for themselves.

5 minutes left, the glowing digits started to glow brighter as the countdown continued. Kaito felt a tingling sensation throughout his whole body, he could no longer hide his smile, he was hyped.

4 minutes...

3 minutes...

2 minutes...

1 minute....

10..

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Endless void filled his sight, but then: light.