CHAPTER 4

Varz didn't know how far he and laha had been walking, but he didn't really care. laha was godsent to him in his time of need. varz had asked laha a multitude of questions, and no matter how stressed she was, she would always try to answer to the best of her abilities.

Varz knowledge on the world of layfim was still small, but thanks to laha it was getting better. During their seemingly endless trek in the wastelands of sakor, laha also tried to teach varz how to manipulate fire to his own beck and calling. it was because of this passive skill that she was able to form fire walls and other fire constructs while fighting the hellhound even though it was not in her skill window.

when varz found out that laha knew of her status window, he was really surprised at how chill she was when it came to her eventual destiny of dying to the endless horde called players but soon theorized that maybe she didn't know what NPC meant. Almost as if the game was trying to prove him right, one day varz and laha suddenly had a vision of humans coming into the world from the skies through a white light in large numbers. when the vision came to an end, varz soon realized that those humans were most likely the players. and although they came down in large numbers, varz was sure that this was actually the game was just released in it's beta form.

*****************************************

"Today the game known widely expected game ' The world of layfim' is finally in it's beta stage as the public is expectant on videos and reviews from beta testers all over the world."

"Well Mary, have you heard that some people are saying that ' the world of layfim' is being called the second world by most youth's right now'?"

"Yes Trent, I am. and to be honest I don't blame them. this is the first game ever which is applying deep dive technology from tokra soft. which means that players would be able to send their consciousness into the games and live the kind of life that they want to live. in fa..."

The news reporters voice was suddenly cut off with the press of a button, effectively turning off the tv.

"ugh my head!?" in the dark apartment, a man groaned. He slowly got up from the ground, pushing away the beer bottles on his body and slowly walked towards the bathroom with with unsteady steps. He opened the tap and put his head under, letting the water run on his head slowly easing away the throbbing headache he was feeling. when he finally felt a bit better, he looked into the mirror at his unkept appearance and couldn't help but let out a broken smile remembering how he got to his current condition.

Yan ming was regarded as one of the 12 gods in the gaming community, leading his gaming team rising Phoenix to win different cups and championships in popular gaming competitions. However, due to a myriad of reasons, he is kicked out of his team and replaced for younger player.

Yan ming looked into mirror, and couldn't help but feel that he was betrayed by the people he once called teammates. not only was he forced to quit the gaming team, he was also forced to leave his gaming accounts for his replacement. With no work to do and no where to fall back to, his gaming team left him stranded.

Yan ming shook his head and once more rinsed his face to remove all sad thoughts from his head. He walked out of the bathroom feeling a little better, and sat on his sofa thinking of his next possible actions. He knew no professional gaming team would accept a man almost in his forties if they wanted to win atrophy, and no good company would want to hire a man who had been playing games for most of his life.

"sigh!" he felt that all hope was lost. he was about to lay on his couch, when his T-phone suddenly lit up with a message.

With eyes filled with hopelessness, Yan ming slowly opened his mail. As he scanned the first couple of lines, he recognized what the message was about. 'Maybe, I'm not done yet.' He smiled as he thought about the possibilities this letter could give him. Once again, he read the first couple of lines.

'Dear Mr Yan ming, we would like to invite you to participate in the beta test for our newest game. world of layfim…'.

Being invited to a beta test was quite a big deal. Yan ming could use the knowledge gained from it to earn a living for a while. This would require knowing the right people to sell that information to. At least he had that going for him. In his time as a pro gamer, he had met plenty of people. He was sure at least a few of them would play this game eventually.

The mail itself did not have many details about the game itself but a link and a security code, which made him wonder what kind of game it was,but he was sure it would be some kind of RPG.

As soon as he tapped on the link, he was directed straight to a secure site. It immediately asked for his security key code to gain access. He wondered if this was really necessary just for a game. He entered the credentials written in the mail that he had received, and the next moment a contract suddenly appeared on the screen.

He had thought it was just going to be the usual terms and conditions that everyone would usually just accept without reading them. However, that was far from the truth. A full-blown contract stated that anything he discovered about the game must be kept confidential until the game was released. It also stated that he as a beta tester, also had to select footage 1 hour in length to send to tokra soft for analysis.

Without a second thought, Yan ming quickly accepted the terms and was redirected to the central hub of tokra soft. As he promptly looked at the tabs' names on the screen, he felt a bit of dismay sinking in. Not a single one seemed like they would hold any relevant information about anything in the game.

Although the game 'The world of layfim was very well advertised, tokra soft really didn't say what the game was about and what was in it.

Yan ming quickly clicked on the tab to register and filled out all of his information. He promptly got a response saying he would recieve a complementary gaming capsule in seven days to coincide with the beta test release. 'I guess all I can do now is wait…'