The Offer

"Jason, there's a Top Secret mission that I want to invite you to be a part of."

Jason felt a little surprised at his moment.

'A top secret mission? This wasn't a part of my past life. Did I cave too early to the first offer in my past life?'

Chief continued, "Before I continue, I would like to ask you what your plans are, once you leave the military?"

Jason paused for a moment thinking about how to respond. In his past life, his plans had originally been to work at a desk job at a local firm but he had given up that offer when he had re-enlisted. Now, he still had plans to renege the desk job offer and play --Might, Magic, Mayhem-- full time. Besides the opportunity to grow stronger and stop the apocalypse from happening, the game was also a massive financial opportunity just waiting be bent over and taken advantage of.

With the online launch came a trading forum where people could post their in-game money and others could trade real world currency for it. This quickly became a feature that many individuals and corporations with too much money used to quickly advance their position.

Gold to dollar ratio at the beginning was 1:$1000, and would slowly decline as more gold became available but never went below 1:$50.

Jason already had several treasure mines he planned to exploit to make some big money in the beginning, yet he couldn't let anyone know that. He would become the laughing stock of the century if he told people he had plans to make millions off of a video game that hadn't even been released yet.

Jason quickly replied with the intent to hide his true plans, "I already have a job offer lined up in town. A boring 9am-5pm desk job, but at least I'll get to see my family every day. Plus, I won't be traveling at all like I did here in the military and Beth will certainly be happy to have me around more often."

"I'll have plenty of time to hang out with family, so maybe I'll even try out that new game that comes out tomorrow that everyone's been talking about." Jason shrugged, and leaned back in his chair, doing his best to give off an air of nonchalance.

Chief studied him for a moment and slowly started saying, "Listen, I understand not wanting to continue within the Navy. We've already taken you away from your family enough, and I know its pretty hard on the wife and kids."

Chief snorted, "Hell, I've already been through 3 divorces during my time here. It's a wonder that you and Beth were able to make it through these 8 years."

Jason smiled, and nodded; silently hinting towards the chief to get to his point.

"Jason look, I've been tasked with setting a team for --Might, Magic, Mayhem--. The hire-ups see a lot of potential in this game and I want to extend an offer to you to join. You would receive the same pay as you have before, only you wouldn't have to travel anywhere dangerous."

"You would be able to work from the safety and comfort of home," Chief continued, "what do you think?"

Jason was a little shocked. He had no idea that the military was already deciding to put it's interests into the game.

In his past life and in this life, the military had forbidden it's members and its members families from participating in this game. They had claimed that it would be a waste of time and effort. It wasn't until about a year later that they had openly sent service members into the game to exploit it's secrets and wealth.

"Chief, if I may ask, why is the military interested in this game?" Jason inquisitively asked.

"That information is classified Jason. You would be under my direct command and just play normally, and report any suspicious activity or information you receive to me. You would also hand over any special items and gold you obtain in game." Chief firmly spoke, clearly intending for there to be no negotiation on Jason's end.

'This old fart' Jason thought. 'Does he really take me for a chump? With the pay the military offers that's a blatant slave contract!'

Jason paused and looked down at the desk; acting as if he was thinking the offer over. He may have no intention of accepting the offer, but he didn't want to burn bridges with his superior. Even if Chief had taken advantage of him in the past, Jason knew that Chief could be an important bridge to the higher ups in the government if needed in the future.

"Chief," Jason took in a deep breath, wondering how best to let him down.

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't intend to earn a living through playing video games. Playing for more than entertainment would give me a headache and I just have no interest in your offer."

'Yes! That should let him off easy!' Jason smirked in his head, but made sure to keep a steady and slightly apologetic expression.

Chief looked slightly downcast upon hearing this news.

"Well, to be honest I'm slightly disappointed Jason. You're a good man and a hard worker. We could really use a man like you. If you change your mind, our doors are always open. I truly wish you the best in your endeavors in life."

He turned around and picked up a manilla colored folder, and placed it in front of Jason.

"These are your discharge papers, I just need your signature and your free to go."

Jason quickly picked up a pen lying on the desk, scanned through the paperwork and after seeing that everything was in order he placed his signature at the bottom.

The two of them then stood up, shook hands and spoke a few words of parting before Jason turned around and left the office.

After saying his farewells to his co-workers he walked out of the building towards his vehicle.

As he walked out of the building, he took a deep breath of the fresh mid-morning air. It was as if a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders and a feeling of profound satisfaction spread throughout his soul.

His position and job in the military made it so that he was traveling 95% of the time. His relationship with both his wife and kids had been strained because of it. In his past life when he had re-enlisted, he had been traveling just as much if not more.

While he was traveling he would always keep up to date on the happenings in --Might, Magic, Mayhem--. Even though he couldn't play, as a video game fanatic there was no way he was going to miss out what was going on in the game.

Every chance he had he was surfing the forums, fascinated by the triumphs and success of the users online. As soon as the military raised the restriction to play on it's members, he was online every chance he got; with the knowledge he had obtained through the forums he was able to speed run through his levels to catch up and surpass the other users.

His connections in the military also helped him obtain the resources in game to level up and break through different tiers.

'I wonder how things will change from here. Now that I'm not in the military, I have absolute freedom to live my life the way I want. I can finally give my wife the life of luxury she deserves and have a better relationship with the kids. This decision will definitely impact me and my family for the better…'

Jason smiled as he got into his car and clicked the autopilot function to begin driving home. "I wonder how the kids will react when I give them their headsets."

He took out his phone that he had put on silent when he entered the building, and saw 30 missed calls and multiple unread texts. All from his wife.

With a sense of dread he opened the first message.

{WHAT THE F*#K HAPPENED TO OUR SAVINGS!?!?} Beth.

'Sh*t'.