Infinite Online 2

He looked around the room.

There was no one beside him in the one-room 'apartment'.

Did he hear the voice in his dreams?

No.

He was sure he had actually heard the 'wake up'.

But seeing as how there was no one in the room he could only guess that he had dreamt of it.

Finn suddenly noticed the time.

"Sht! I'm late!"

He ran out of his rented room and jumped on the bicycle, peddling as hard as possible to reach his destination on time.

There was not much time left.

The newspaper delivery was about to leave when he arrived.

His set of newspaper stacks was missing. 

But he ignored it and went to Mr. Adam who was the manager in the place.

"Sir, good morning."

"Morning, Finn."

The two stared at each other.

Normally, Mr. Adam would tell him to take a newspaper stack and give him the delivery addresses.

Why was he not doing it today?

An ominous premonition rose in Finn's mind.

He recalled the missing stack of newspapers that should've been kept aside for him.

"Finn, our company is cutting down its costs to divert the expenses into more productive places."

Mr. Adam added.

"You don't need to come from tomorrow."

Finn felt his world crashing.

This was a job he barely found after weeks of searching.

He did not know what he would do without it.

"Sir, please, don't fire me. You can reduce my salary. Sixty percent, no, fifty percent, I'm okay even if you pay me less—"

"Finn!" Mr. Adam's glare made him flinch. "You're fired. Take your payment for this month and leave."

Finn opened his mouth and closed it.

His throat burned and a heaviness pressed on his chest.

In a daze, he took the salary before returning to his room. 

The day passed in a blur.

"What should I do now?"

Should he just give up?

But.

His parents had expectations of him.

He did not want to leave them devastated.

What would they, who spent their life-time savings on him, feel if they found that all of their hard work ended up in vain?

How would they feel if they realized that their son was a failure?

Tears fell from his eyes.

He felt like he was walking on a road with no destination, that no matter how much hard work he did, he would never achieve anything.

A way out of this situation…

His eyes fell on the VR headset.

The eBay price spiked to 15,000$ due to the shortage of headsets.

With his 300$ from part-time job, it was 15,300$.

15,300$...

Even if he lived frugally, it was not enough for more than two months.

He was staring at the smartphone when a spam message arrived.

[News: The Epic-grade Sword 'Desire' sells for 50,000$ on Infinite Online 2!]

He frowned.

50,000$?

Opening the internet, he saw Infinite Online 2 trending on #1.

The game had overwhelmingly positive reviews.

The gamers and gaming communities were going crazy at the VR quality.

According to them, there was no difference between reality and the world of Infinite Online 2.

The five senses were completely replicated.

The News of an Epic-grade weapon being sold for 50,000$ was also trending.

Not just that.

There were a lot of in-game items being exchanged between players for thousands of dollars.

Finn understood.

If Infinite Online 2 could perfectly simulate the human senses, then this was just the beginning.

The game would soon become a second 'real world'.

Infinite Online 2 was a new frontier.

It was a world where everyone had the same starting point.

Many others realized this fact. Thus, they were scampering around to buy in-game items even if they cost fortunes.

"A single item was sold for 50,000$."

He held the headset in his hands.

This was a chance.

A chance for him to overturn his crappy life.

However…

"I can't sell the headset if I use it. The headset registers its user, so only they can use it."

It was a gamble.

He could either bet everything on a chance to reach the top of the world.

Or he could wait for his eventual demise.

"I'd rather die trying than just sit on my ass."

Finn made his resolve.

He took out the headset from the box.

It had a sleek black body. The head was covered completely save for the face.

He checked the instructions for using the headset in the manual.

After downloading an app for the headset, registering his ID on it, he connected the headset and the app with wifi.

Golden lights lit up on the headset, signaling that the registration was complete.

He wore it and laid on the bed.

According to the instruction, he had to sleep to access the Infinite Realm – the official name for Infinite Online 2.

Supposedly, he would feel sleepy as soon as he completed the instructions on the manual.

He was skeptical.

Did such a technology exist?

He decided to trust it for now and waited.

His breathing was tranquil. 

The events of the day caught up to him and he felt lethargic. 

His eyelids felt heavy and he slipped into the realm of dreams.

A voice, soothing and serene, entered his years.

"Welcome to the Infinite Realm traveler."

Finn woke up.

He was feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

The part-time jobs and constant hunger had taken a lot out of him, but he felt as good as new at the moment.

Finn looked around.

He was floating, naked, in an endless expanse of darkness.

"Is this inside the Infinite Realm?"

He muttered in amazement.

He moved his body and did not feel any different from when he was in the real world. 

It was as if he was not inside a computer-generated world, but another real world.

"Not Quite, traveler. You are currently in the Void which connects to the Infinite Realm."

The ball of light appeared before him.

As soon as he placed his eyes on the ball, he felt incomparably calm and composed for some reason.

"Traveler, the Infinite Realm are filled with treasurers that will grant any request and dangers that can vanquish worlds with a breadth. 

"It is a land of opportunity and demise. 

"It has given birth to countless heroes and watched the destruction of innumerable civilizations.

"The Infinite Realm are miraculous, true, but they are dangerous.

"Do you wish to enter the Infinite Realm? Do you dare to claim you will leave your name on its infinite history? Do you believe you can overturn the wheels of destiny and overcome your fate?"

The ball of light buzzed.

It waited for his answer.

"I do."

"Very well, traveler! In that case, I will pave the path for your legendary journey!"

The intensity of light suddenly increased by a hundred-folds.

A fragment of light broke from the ball of light and seeped into his body.

Finn felt a surge of heat inside his abdomen.

"Awaken, traveler! Unveil the power hidden deep within you!"

[Awakening Class…]

[Class 'Nirvana Blacksmith (Legendary)' has been—]