Prologue: New Dawn

XX30, the day of a new update. Black Gear Studio, the studio that made Tainted Release, has announced the Version 10 update, Tainted Uprising. Stocks for the company and many as well as the many guilds and business that support them within the game. Within a conspicuous mansion on a planet different from Earth, Dylan is getting ready for a big day. he found out some corporate secrets which should never see the light of day, and he is going to use it to get some money from a rival corporation, then leave the game and have a nice life on a paradise planet without worries.

As he dreams of his new life, the shadows in the back of the room open their eyes. Stretching out a hand, the assassin quickly aims for Dylan's neck. Though Dylan has honed his instincts in the game, that was when he had a body that could respond. In real life, although he wasn't overweight or anything, he also wasn't someone who worked out a lot. And so, he watched the assassin as he pulled out his blade, and set up the illegal antimatter bomb. A small one, sure, but it would destroy all evidence. In his final thoughts, Dylan swore he would never let Eleanor go.

'Damn you, Eleanor! I should have never-'

But before he could finish his thoughts, he was dead. Before the antimatter bomb could set off, however, weird lettering appeared on the Virtual Connector Pod, and they began to glow. The assassin had already left for fear of being caught in the blast. Time seemed to slow down. Around Dylan's body, white light particles began to float around, as if they weren't affected by time slowing down. One slowly approached the weird lettering, and started a chain reaction. All of the particles were soon absorbed into the VCP, and the lettering changed color to a deep purple. However, before it could finish what it was doing, the bomb set off, destroying the pod, all evidence of the death, and created a kilometer wide crater.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Black Gear Studio HQ, a computer monitor showed several numbers. Standing imposingly over them was a man who wore a black coat and had a cold face. He looked to be in his late thirties. Another, younger man, who seemed to be in his early twenties, came over to him, seemingly devastated.

"S-sir, we got another soul, but..."

"But what?"

"Umm, well, the VCP was beginning the tainting process when it was thoroughly destroyed, most likely by an antimatter bomb as there was nothing left at the scene. However, the problem is that the soul never even began the corruption stage, and is entirely gone, so we don't know what adverse effect it might have."

The man in black stood silent, before opening his mouth again.

"Well, try to bring some equipment over, see if we can gather data. It might be more useful than any we have now."

"Alright, we'll try sir, but the problem is that right now, the police are swarming the place."

"Huh, high profile victim, huh? Alright, wait for it to blow over and then go."

"Yes, sir."

The young man went back to his monitor before putting out a QuantumMail to the Investigative Branch.

"Hmmm... I wonder what happened to your little soul...."

The black man stood in a daze, seemingly lost in thought.