The Real Game Launch

*Ding*

"Log out sequence complete."

*HUUH*

I gasped as I took my first conscious breath in over 16 hours. That was how long this last play session had lasted.

My body felt shriveled and dry, not an ounce of moisture on my skin or in my mouth. Without even taking the headset off, I grabbed the full water bottle from my nightstand.

*Glug* *Glug* *BLEH*

Water went everywhere as I choked on it. My dry throat just wasn't able to handle the speed at which I tried to drink the water. It was to the point that I was nearly inhaling it.

I began gagging as water sprayed out of my mouth, soaking my shirt. Instinctively, I sprung up to get the water that I had inhaled out of my lungs, but then the dizziness hit. I thought this was bad enough but no… it wasn't over.

I nearly collapsed when I stood up as the soreness of my muscles paralyzed me. My hands fell to my knees as I used every meager ounce of strength to keep myself upright.

Slowly, I straightened out my body and began walking at a pace that would make a turtle look like a formula one supercar.

Across the hall. That was the short distance I had to cover. Nothing, right? Nope, it felt like miles. Each step was a gargantuan effort and I felt like I was dying. Somehow I still had the water bottle in my hand. That was a plus, I guess.

The human body was not built for this shit. How can anyone actually play this game for real without logging out every few hours? How do I not feel any of this while in the game? Moreover, HOW IS THIS SHIT LEGAL?

I made it into the bathroom. Rather than going to the toilet, I open the door to the shower, nearly falling on my ass as I did so. I then entered the shower and collapsed on the floor.

Every inch of my body was throbbing. I imagined that I got hit by a train. Reaching up, I tried to turn the water on. I just wanted some cold water running over my body right now. I didn't even care to take my clothes off. Regardless, they were drenched with sweat anyways.

Unfortunately, my arm wasn't long enough. It wasn't even close. I wished I could just extend my arm another foot or two. Then I'd be able to turn the faucet.

*Squeak*

I heard the faucet start to turn, but I didn't even have the energy to open my eyes and find out who had just blessed me. I hoped that whatever power is out there would bless this person with everything they so desire.

The squeaking of the faucet was accompanied by the most refreshing thing I had ever felt in my life. Cold water instantly soaked my hair and washed away the nausea. I was even able to feel the soreness receding slightly. My entire body relaxed as I dropped my arm down and my back slid down the wall of the shower a bit.

Nearly an hour passed before I was able to stand up. I checked the clock in the bathroom and it read 10:03 AM.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and shook my head. Low and behold, no nausea came. I think I was fine now, just really hungry.

With that, I slowly stood up. Using the wall as a crutch, I gradually made my way to my feet and emerged from the shower as a new man.

Leaving the bathroom, I hobbled down the hallway, still using the wall to support myself. After getting down the stairs with a firm grasp on the railing, I saw my dad sitting at the island in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea.

I sighed, removing my hand from the railing. I continued stumbling towards the kitchen and drank a small sip of water. The sip felt great and I was able to keep it down.

My dad turned away from his tablet that he was holding and glanced at me before looking back. "Good morning."

I nodded and walked past him towards the fridge. I needed something light to eat so I could prepare my stomach for a proper meal.

As I was rummaging through the fridge, I decided I needed to say something. "Dad, I don't know if I can keep playing this game. I feel like utter shit every time I log out."

I hadn't planned on looking at him while I talked but my intuition told me that my dad was trying to make eye contact with me. I thought nothing of this since I've known him all my life. He usually likes making eye contact when we have a discussion.

Thus, I turned and then he spoke. "I would suggest that you rethink that."

I opened the bag of carrots I had just taken out of the fridge. "Why?"

I reached into the bag and grabbed a baby carrot, putting it into my mouth.

*Crunch*

My dad placed his tablet on the counter and spun it so it faced me. "Take a look at this. Apparently, Disney made some announcements this morning. The currency exchange is going to go live in 2 days and they have started selling what they are calling The Expedition Package."

I tilted my head as I finished chewing the carrot. "Expedition Package? The fuck is that?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just read the article."

I nodded, walking over to the counter and trading my carrots for the tablet. My dad took a handful of carrots and started snacking on them.

As I started reading through the contents of the article, I became more and more shocked. The implications of these two things were huge! This article was published about 10 minutes ago. This was only 50 minutes after the announcement was made.

In just these 50 minutes, Disney's stock price had gone to the moon and the rate of sales for the game had increased by 7853%. Everyone and their mother was trying to get into the game.

The article had also presented a mind blowing statistic. Apparently, as of this morning, the highest number of concurrent players in the game had increased to 6% of the global population. That's over 500 million people! In addition, experts are predicting that this number could increase to as high as 20% within the year.

The growth rate in terms of player count was completely out of proportion. Nothing in history could compare to it. The annoying thing would be the influx of people that were going to have no idea what they were doing.

All of this was attributed to the "Expedition Package" and the currency exchange. A large portion of the article focused on the currency exchange. Apparently it would function similarly to a free market. The exchange value would be set by the people. No set value would exist so it would be entirely dictated by supply and demand.

Another amazing thing about it is that the exchange is entirely anonymous. The only way one could possibly connect it to an individual is if said person deposited the funds into a bank account. However, this would be highly unreliable as a form of identification.

In addition, they opened applications for debit cards that would directly use the funds within the currency exchange. This would make it so that you don't even have to take the funds out of the exchange account. Of course, the funds you spend have to be in real world currencies and not credits. This means that you can't directly spend credits in real life.

Lastly, the article covered the "Expedition Package." This package included a suspension capsule to play the game in, a lifetime data plan for the capsule, and a one year supply of intravenous (IV) drip. Let's just say that there was a lot to unpackage here.

The suspension capsule was an insanely advanced piece of technology. Essentially, it would literally suspend your body in a saline solution that would keep you under virtually zero strain. The only downside to the device was that you had to get into it completely naked. However, the entire process aside from securing the breathing tube and headset was automated.

My only question was how it would handle human waste. The article mentioned it briefly but it stated that it was best that we don't think about it and that we are under zero risk from that function of the capsule while inside.

I shrugged upon reading that. As long as I wouldn't log out and find myself covered in shit, I wouldn't complain. I'd probably take a shower every time I came out of the capsule due to the saline solution so it didn't matter that much.

Then, I got to the price tag. I was stunned to say the least. After seeing the price, I turned to my dad. "These are fucking expensive. You could buy a house for that much!"

He shrugged. "Eh, for the benefits, I think half a million is well worth it. So, still quitting?"

I shook my head. "Hell nah. Are we getting capsules?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Even though we have the money from your mother, it would be quite wasteful."

My expression sank slightly before I suddenly perked up excitedly. "Wait, the currency exchange!"

Dad looked at me cockeyed like I had just suggested the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen in his life. "With what credits? I only have like 10k."

I smirked. "I don't exactly have credits, but I think I have something that would help. Even if each credit is only worth two cents on the dollar, we could get two capsules. How do you think the exchange is going to be?"

He shrugged. "Financial analysts and economists are estimating that the exchange should start out around 50 cents."

Upon hearing that, I could only grin. "Well, I guess I'm a millionaire at 22."

My dad furrowed his brow. "What do you have?"

I grabbed a carrot and started twirling it in my hand like I was showing off. "Oh, just a vial of refined coaxium, nothing major."

His eyes shot open. "Excuse me?"

I shrugged and took a bite out of the baby carrot. As I chewed, I replied. "You heard what I said."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Holy shit! How much is that worth?"

I smiled. "Sixty million credits."

*PSHHH*

The mug he was holding hit the floor and shattered, tea going everywhere. He was frozen with a stunned expression.

I chuckled and walked up to him, waving in his face. "Hello? Earth to Ethan."

He blinked a few times. "I guess we are getting capsules."

I nodded, before glancing around the house. Dust was starting to build up all over the place and it was quite dirty. In addition, no laundry had been done since the game launched. "Let's hire a maid too. They can clean, do laundry, and cook for us. They can use the guest room."

My dad still had a stunned expression and was unresponsive. He merely nodded. But remained silent.

*Snap* *Snap*

"Dad… DAD!"

He shook slightly and looked at me. "I'll get that stuff ordered."

I nodded. "Get four capsules."

He tilted his friends. "For your two friends?"

I nodded, affirming his thoughts. "Yep."

He reached for the tablet. "What about Galen?"

I shrugged. "He should have something that's around the same value so I don't have to worry about him. Make sure you get the maid too."

He nodded, gesturing towards the mess he had just made. "Can you clean that up? I have an obnoxious amount of money to spend."

I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, I'll clean up your mess."