Chapter 1

"What do you mean, 'No college will accept me'? You just said that I have the highest grades in the state." Luther was sitting in front of his guidance counselor.

"It is precisely how you said, college criteria has changed. Tell me, if you would, what level are you in the game SECOND CHANCE?" He spoke in a way that didn't hide the fact he didn't want to be there.

Luther was a little taken aback. " I've never played."

" Exactly. Each player gets their own digital ID that has their information. Their level, occupation, their skills, and how much money they can make. The information found on those IDs are much more valuable as they can't be forged or hacked. Colleges don't trust our information."

Luther didn't know about that. He had been studying and exercising while everyone has been playing that game for two years.

"My advice is to join as soon as possible. It might seem unprofessional to recommend a game to a student, but that's all the advice I can give you. If you were a couple years older you could most definitely get into Yale."

With that Luther walked home.

He was eighteen and was graduating that year. Did he really have to play the game to get into college? He didn't want anything to distract him from Science and Engineering majors at Yale.

He entered an empty apartment. His parents were at work. He started doing pushups in front of his capsule.

SECOND CHANCE was a virtual reality MMO game. It was the product of two separate companies and games merging together. 'the twelve kingdoms' was a midieval fantasy game with magic, knights, and dragons. 'Accension dreams' was more eastern with cultivation and immortals at its base.

SECOND CHANCE was a worldwide merge of the two separated by east and west servers. It was like a second chance, anyone becoming anything they wanted.

He never used his capsule because you were almost entirely cut off from the outside world once you were in. There was only a call button for his parents to tell him when it was time to eat.

He wiped the sweat off his muscles. He couldn't study or exercise inside, and he was a little miffed at that.

"It better be worth it." He mumbled to himself as he entered the capsule.

He booted up the game and found himself standing naked on a glass floor in space.

A panel popped on front of him. <Scanning brain for talent> He heard about this from the game first released. Talents are something everyone started with. A person's persona is scanned and appropriate abilities are added to your character.

<Thirst for knowledge found. 'Basic Magic Understanding' added to character.>

<Unbreaking workout routine found. 'Basic Martial Arts Understanding' added to character.>

While it is rare to have multiple talents, it isn't impossible. He has never stopped working out since he was fourteen. Is dad works in construction and you should always have a fall back.

Did the capsule know that? His thoughts quickly disappeared when another panel appeared.

< Chose your appearance.>

He kept everything as he was in the real world, with one change. He changed his fire red hair to ocean blue.

5' 11'' with a lean ,yet muscular, build.

<Are you sure? This is permanent.>

He tapped YES and he closed his eyes and fell asleep standing. He woke up standing on a grassy hill overlooking a village.

"Status." He said without any hesitation. If he wants to go to college he needs to know what he is dealing with.

< Player: Luther

Level: 1

HP: 600

Strength: 8

Speed :6

Mana:10

Qi : 10

Talents: Basic Magic Understanding; Basic Martial Arts Understanding >

Qi? Was that because of his talent? Normal players on this side of the ocean don't get this stat. Typically, the others don't usually get the Mana stat. They only get MP.

He smiled a little. "This might not be so bad." He said to no one. He personally wants a magic class. In order to do that, he needs to get to level 5. He sat down on that hill in lotus position.

He treated this game as another test to reach his dream college. He studies for every test did some research before logging in. He closed his eyes and searched for the energy inside him.

Most players start with 5 MP. He has 10 MANA and 10 QI. He doesn't have just one stat.

Inside himself, there was a small collection tiny blue bubbles. The bubbles were either light or dark. He just observed them float around aimlessly. He watched as a light blue bubbles and a dark blue bubbles collided. A ring formed that was half dark and half light. It made two rotations before the two colors separated and floated around again.

He opened his eyes and saw an alert.

< Basic Magic Understanding has improved>

<Basic Martial Arts Understanding has improved>

He was confused at first. But he realized something important that made him excited. Mana and Qi are compatible and can be interchangeable.

With this information, he walked down the hill into the village. He looked forward to something other than school. His thirst for knowledge made him pick up the pace a little bit.

He was immediately disappeared once he made it past the hate. Kokiri village was a ghost town. He walked around and only found abandoned houses and a barred up adventurer's guild.

This had to be a mistake. Right? He walked behind the guild and found a paper nailed to the backdoor.

"Notice of bankruptcy." He read out loud.

Now it made sense. From what the forums stated, a guildhouse like this one was the actual heart of village economy. They commissioned jobs and payed. Food and monster parts could be traded for other materials, making guild houses into trade houses as well.

Their fields could no longer yeild crops and the monsters got stronger. He was the only one here. This was a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because everything in this village was free by default. It was a bad thing because he couldn't get Quests and had to hunt to level up. And he was unable to fight as he was now.

He knew what to do next and broke down the backdoor to the Adventurer's guild.