1 E2 and The Misfit Toys

All around him, Mikax watched as his fellow guild mates celebrated. This was the guild hall of The Misfit Toys. It wasn't as grand and spectacular as you might imagine a guild hall would be, it was more of a military strategy room with some cheap decorations strewn about the walls. However, it did not lack expensive barrels of alcohol in all corners of the room at the moment. Music was being played and sung by some extremely drunken bards. Today they had been named as the number 1 guild in all of the VRMMO E2.

Despite VRMMOs being available for nearly 5 years most people couldn't play them due to the "Virus Wars" that had begun in 2023, most able-bodied people of all genders were required to enlist in the army. Those wars had lasted nearly 10 years and ended with the human race nearly killing itself with nuclear warfare. Shortly after the final peace treaties were signed and over half of the world's population had been killed the game E2 was released to the world.

E2 was different than the games that had been released before it. It boasted full immersion and unlimited customization. This meant everything you saw had vibrant colors, foods could taste and smell both like heaven and hell, you could feel sensations that would make you crave them for years to come or you could be tortured till you nearly lost your mind. They had added some parameters that would safeguard younger users from experiencing the truly horrible and adult things available in the world, yet didn't hide the fact that these existed so that they could be better prepared for what life might have in store for them.

All of this was just icing on top of the cake that was E2. While playing the game 1 day of real-world play equaled 5 days of play time. Because of this many aspects of people's lives immediately switched to the Online world. From that moment on this is where real life started to happen. This was only possible thanks to the game company refusing to make a profit on its device and game. All products had been made, sold, and shipped at cost so that everyone no matter how poor or wealthy had the chance to purchase the product.

E2 was released 5 years ago. That means the players celebrating had spent almost 25 years moving towards this goal. They had never intended to get here in the first place. The Misfit Toys were just that. Misfits. They had started as individual players who wanted the protection and benefits of a guild while still having the freedom to play and live as they pleased. In the early stages of the game, solo players were constantly harassed to join factions and guilds. Even most governments had created a fully functioning system inside of E2. Despite the power they may have held in the real world they could never fully translate that into in-game dominance. This meant that The Misfits had become arguably the most influential group of people worldwide.

Mikax was one of the founding 2 members and had been a vice guild leader since day 1. He was currently ranked 53rd on the player rankings and 3rd for his class Magic Assassin. He had added his skill points and sought items that differed from most others in the class. Instead of fully specializing in agility and strength to max out his speed and damage, Mikax had added just enough points into intellect to increase his mana pool so that he could cast max-tier magic as well. It might have left him completely devoid of mana after a single max tier spell but it had saved him on more than one occasion catching his opponents off guard. Also, he did it because it made him feel cool to completely obliterate his opponent suddenly.

The other founding member was Keanor. Keanor was currently the number 1 ranked player in the game and had been for well over a year. Despite having a target on his back Keanor had thrived. The reason for this was the environment that he had created in the guild. No one questioned him and were all willing to die for him. This wasn't because he ruled with an iron fist, it was actually because he would (and had) died for each and every member. What started as a group of players merely working together when they had to do group quests, had turned into an entire guild of players who fought fanatically by each other's sides. Under Keanor's lead, they had completed impossible missions, fought in countless wars, and slowly became the strongest ruling force in the entire world. No one was quite sure who Keanor was in real life to have gained this ability to lead. Some thought he was a former military general from the Virus Wars. Others swore he was trained in special ops and had carried out hits in secret for his former government. The only thing that all of the rumors had in common was that he was no ordinary civilian.

Mikax watched on as the celebration continued and countless guild members approached the stoic and domineering commander that oversaw all guild activity. He was the only person who knew the truth. Keanor was 22 years old currently and never received any training of any type. He had just missed the ending of the Virus Wars and had graduated high school with average grades. He was extremely shy when in real life and struggled in most social situations. For some reason, he was a different person once he logged into E2. The reason Mikax had known this was that he was his older brother. Only by a year of course but still, it was enough that of the two he had unluckily been drafted. He had finished basic training for the military and was deployed, albeit very shortly, to the front lines. However, he had never helped his brother achieve anything, it was the opposite way around. Mikax was very short-tempered and did not put up with people giving him attitude at all. This caused Mikax to constantly end up in fights that he could have avoided with a little patience. The fact that Mikax was a maxed level 250 Magic Assassin and ranked 3rd in his class worldwide was due to the items his brother had helped him acquire, as well as the leadership his brother had displayed.

Thinking about all of this caused a sense of pride to appear in Mikax's heart. Their parents had died when they were still teenagers near the start of the war. With the government's assistance, Mikax was able to make it by just enough to keep them both in school and not starving. He felt like to some degree his brothers' accomplishments were his own. Not entirely, he wasn't that conceited, but that didn't stop him from feeling that pride inside him. They had now lived a lifetime by each other's sides. They had struggled in the real world and virtual world clawing their way to the top.

It was at this moment while watching his brother quietly from across the room that he noticed a tiny circle of light appearing underneath him. He curiously watched it as he had never seen anything like it before and being inside of their guild hall should have been almost completely safe. After another 5 seconds of watching, it had slowly grown bigger, now about the diameter of a baseball. About 4 seconds later it was the diameter of a basketball. That's when Mikax realized that he recognized the patterns. They were the runes for a near-maxed tier long-distance transportation spell.

Panic immediately overtook the pride he had felt moments prior. Someone was trying to kidnap his brother during their celebration. As far as he could tell, no one had noticed or even acknowledged the growing teleportation circle under their guild leader. Mikax immediately started sprinting using all of his movement abilities to cross the room as fast as possible. The teleportation circle continued to grow at a faster and faster rate until it was almost completely formed.

Mikax did not slow down as he came within striking distance of his brother and intended to use his momentum to barrel through him to knock him out of the circle. He lowered his shoulder and braced for impact.

*BOOM*

Mikax might as well have run straight into a mountain with how quickly he came to a dead stop. He didn't care. All that mattered was that he had made it, even if just barely. He had just enough time to see his brother's confused look as he flew through the air away from him before the spell had completed. The beam of light erupted straight into the sky blinding everyone present in the guild hall. Once it had completed Keanor's face had contorted into pure and unadulterated rage. Although Mikax would never know it, this day was the start of the bloodiest war E2 would ever see.

Mikax was currently surrounded by lights of all different colors as he felt like he was being torn apart by the spell. He had used this exact spell on multiple occasions but it had never been like this. He could feel his consciousness being pulled away from him as he grit his teeth and closed his eyes trying to hang on. Sadly, moments later he passed out.

Although he had fought to stay awake, if he had known that this process lasted almost 10 hours, he would have given up immediately.

Once the spell had finished his body had appeared like a rag doll with a loud *thud*. The room was a dome shape with bench seating similar to the Roman senate. These benches were packed almost shoulder to shoulder with mages who had either passed out or were on the verge of it.

"We have done it!" An older-looking man in a deep blue robe said to a similarly dressed man next to him. "Send a messenger to the King and let him know the hero has been summoned! Also, gather the priests to heal him. I'm not sure how the trip has affected his body."

Immediately multiple runners were sent off to make sure this man's orders were followed. The people who were conscious started to show signs of recovery and excitement could be seen on all of their faces.

The old men in blue robes approached Mikax's body and used an appraisal skill on him.

Name: Mikax

Race: Human

Alignment: ???

Level: ???

Class: ???

Strength: ???

Agility: ???

Intellect: ???

Endurance: ???

Vitality: ???

Skills: ???

Spells: ???

After gaining no information the man was stunned. Never in his long life had he not been able to see another person's information when using an appraisal skill on them. Some people near his level would have some question marks but never were they all completely blank. "This won't do. We should take some precautions in case he doesn't agree with the king."

With that, the man turned around and walked out of the building.