Just an average day until...

The day that Wesley Phillips got sucked into his computer screen started just like any other. Wesley, or as his friends preferred to call him- Wes had become somewhat of a shut-in as of late. Wes had become so self-isolated that it had become hard to picture the faces of his afore mentioned "friends". It wasn't as if he had intended on abandoning his social relationships; he didn't find his South Florida two-bedroom condo to be appealing enough for that to be the reason for his loner tendencies. The true reason for him shutting the proverbial door on people and all the things that inherently came with them was a mixture of trauma, guilt and a genuine dislike of himself.

Wes raised his head from his well worn and honestly overused pillow and tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. On the bedside table sat a photo in a dusty frame featuring an older looking woman who resembled Wes and two young looking boys. Wes had never invested much time in his family, instead he focused on his law degree or his night life. That was the sin that caused him the most shame in his life. Wes took one longing gaze at the photo and snapped his eyes away. Today was going to be the start of a new a brand-new adventure for him after all and there was no room for self-pity.

For the past two years the gaming industry had enjoyed an explosion of growth and interest due to a game that had taken the world by storm since its early development. Chronicles of Retribution was the newest and most advanced MMO RPG fantasy game. Players had the option of choosing different kingdoms and factions to fight in while competing for the top of the leaderboards. The last eight months had proven frugal for Wes, dropping out of law school and becoming a hermit aside. Wes had found opportunities for wealth and fame when he made the decision to become a full-time gamer. Although he had gained a sizeable following in his time playing Chronicles of Retribution or (COR for short), Wes had grown bored of the monotonous grind and was seeking something new.

For Wes who enjoyed a more spontaneous playstyle, keeping up with the faction that he belonged to had grown almost chore like. The admins of his faction limited his freedom when playing and the combat system of his chosen race proved to be sluggish and unreliable. All of this together made the choice to delete his character one of the easiest in his life. Staggering out of bed, Wes made his way to his treasured game room as was his daily routine. Plopping down into his usual spot in his gamer chair, Wes was internally debating the idea of truly deleting the character that kick started his gaming career. While his mind was busy weighing the pros and cons of the situation, Wes's fingers flew all over his keyboard with blinding speed. Getting past the COR login screen and into his setting menu, Wes slowed his pace as he scrolled to the bottom of his screen knowing what awaited him. There at the bottom of the screen sat the delete button, steeling his resolve Wes decided to hit go for it before he could change his mind.

Wes watched as almost a year of his life vanished in the blink of an eye. With that out of the way, it was time to get to work on pioneering a new era for himself in the gaming community. When it came to Chronicles of Retribution, what separated it from other games was its sense of realism. Not only were the graphics and characters designed with extremely realistic features, but it was also impossible to switch characters' after the initial creation process. The only way to have a new experience was to delete the old one. There were a number of classes, factions, kingdoms and legions to choose from; however Wes already had his eyes set on one: The Adventurer.

While Chronicles of Retribution was a game all about war, and each class had unique skills and advantages to use on the battlefield; the Adventurer class was the only exception. Adventurers were typically not the most powerful in a fight nor did they have any truly exceptional skills, thus making the class appear obsolete in the eyes of players. Nonetheless, this was the class that appeared to have the most challenging qualities. Wes began to fill out the new game standard procedures like sex, weight, height etc… and when he finally got to the class selection he stopped. Millions of thoughts started to fill his head like 'What if this was a mistake?', 'Will this character provide me with the same level of popularity as before?' and 'I wonder if I could reach out to the development team for a character retrieval..'. After what felt like an eternity Wes finally selected his intended class and proceeded with the new game process. After all of the required fields were filled in, Wes received the standard welcome message that accompanied all new players upon creating a new game. Deciding to skip all of that, Wes found himself looking at a new, unfamiliar screen.

[WELCOME NEW ADVENTURER!]

[ALL CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING CURVE HAVE BEEN MET.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED?]

[Y/N?]

Wes stared at his screen with confusion, never had he heard or even read about a message like this popping up for anyone else on the game forums. Not wanting to miss out on a secret feature of the game, while also caught in the curiosity of it all, Wes felt he had no choice but to accept. He slowly moved his cursor to the YES and clicked. For a few moments nothing happened, and Wes thought his computer may have crashed. Suddenly the screen began to whir and whistle with a sound of motors spinning, as the sound got louder his screen became brighter with an intense green light starting to encapsulate the room. Through all the noise, Wes thought he could clearly hear a deep and angry scream. Then everything went black as Wes felt a strong force pulling him in the direction of his computer screen.