1 Prolouge

Lex's heavy arms pushed open his apartment room door, from the get-go you could tell that he was a minimalist only having a few things in his room that he thought necessary, his bare; white, clean room was as empty as he, with only a few things that stood out such as his workspace, unkempt bed, closet and dusty VR Pod that hadn't been used for years.

Lex took off his shoes, kicking them to the side before sluggishly walking towards his bed throwing his backpack and falling onto his bed.

As his body landed on top of his bed he had a feeling of warmth and relaxation overcome him, Lex genuinely appreciated anything that didn't make him feel miserable, as short-lived as it was.

His now very creased work uniform looked as if he had never grown into hand-me-downs that he had received years ago, Lex loosened his tie and undid the first couple buttons on his shirt with each button seeming to ease the tiring feeling he felt.

Lex, took a deep breath and muttered

"I can't believe I was so stupid."

Lex had thought about all the times he was praised as a child for how smart he was and how others "Couldn't believe" he was so smart, because of this everyone around him thought everything came to him easily and well, It did. Lex eventually assumed that everything would and became extremely lazy thinking everything would come to him like it always did.

Yet, his luck had run out at some point, as he finally had to rely on himself, something that was a lot harder than he expected it to be.

"If only I could get a do-over." Lex continued to mutter under his breath with self-hatred.

No one was near enough to even hear him, but out of habit he always spoke quietly and was cautious anyways. He had always been the quiet type unless you were good friends with him, which, no one was in his eyes.

Lex had always done his best and it was clear he was above average in everything, however, Lex was never good enough to be recognised nor bad enough to be the odd one out, this caused Lex to fade into the background, something he didn't particularly hate.

One such place where this started was a popular VR MMORPG called World Of The Chosen, Lex fondly remembered this world as if it were a part of his very being.

The grass that resembled a sea of green ever swaying in the calming wind that he could feel upon his face or the proud standing trees fighting to stay standing when the wind harshly attacked before its retreat. The animals that walked around the forests; deserts and fields. The NPC's that went on with their days walking around their villages and living their lives fascinated Lex.

Lex even admired the small details like the water that would cause your clothing to become damp and feeling the chilly breeze blow upon you as you came out of the water, each pebble you could pick up and throw or skim across the reflective surface of the ponds; seas or oceans.

Lex also fondly remembered how much he enjoyed playing with his virtual friends and conquering dungeons and finishing quests, Lex truly treasured those moments however like all things they couldn't last forever, he had to log off at some point right?

However, like the real world, there was always something hiding beneath, either it would be lurking beneath the pure surface of the water, hiding behind the many trees or even within some people there was always and would always be something hiding somewhere. "If only life were as simple as the game, maybe I wouldn't be where I am now," Lex said to himself aloud as his chin started to move.

As Lex's eyes were being taken over by the ever slowly creeping darkness he noticed he was falling asleep. "I wish I could live in a world as simple as World Of The Chosen," Lex said, as his vision was about to fade he noticed a turquoise light that was illuminating the room.

'Weird I thought I turned the lights off.' Lex thought as he fell asleep.