TETHER

A vast expansive land. Originally this was part of the unexplored wild lands, but with time, the various species which had advanced to the level of civilisations began conquering it. With the advance of civilisation, the forest was forced to retreat, and it did so without any retaliation. After all, how could a forest retaliate?

{Author's notes: I am not the Lorax, I do not speak for the trees}

Unfortunately, with the advance of civilisation, conflicts between the various civilisations also broke out. Not just from the greed of more resources, but for various other reasons as well. Differences in cultures, goals, personal and communal values, prejudices, politics, and even reasons like 'For the fun of it', all led to the countless conflicts within this incredibly vast land called 'Tether'.

Within the various battlefields of this incredibly expansive land, a commander lay on the blood saturated soil, facing the dark grey sky, with clouds hanging low, as though holding in the lightening and rain until this particular battle was concluded.

The human commander took in a breath, mixed in with the gurgling sounds from blood rushing into his lungs as he reached out his disfigured hand to the grey clouds, as though taunting them to strike him.

"Holy Sh*t! He is still alive? Just how much health does he have?" An enemy human solider who was nearby exclaimed in disgust, fear, and sheer awe.

"We've spent nearly two hours trying to kill him, and he is still holding on after fighting with the entire United Front together!" Said another human soldier, who was joined by others as they surrounding the dying commander.

"Well… he did have his guild members…" another soldier said.

"They were nothing more than cannon fodder. Most of the elites of his guild had already left him. Yet…" before he could finish, a voice echoed in the battlefield.

"JACK! THIS IS THE END FOR YOU! JUST HAND OVER THE STONE, AND WE WILL NOT HARM YOUR FAMILY AFTER YOUR DEATH!" Yelled the enemy human commander as he got off his mount and walked towards the dying commander named Jack.

"He really is an idiot. It's not like Lucky Jack will die in real life, and it's not like he can go after his family. Plus, upon dying, the player would drop their most precious equipment as loot, so why not just kill him?"

"Shhh! Charles might hear you! Did you forget who he is in the real world? He is the first son, and the heir to the Frost Group! Plus, once Jack loses the stone, his value to the government will decrease to rock bottom. Added to the fact that he does not have any friends in high places, he will be bound to end up in the hands of the Frost Group sooner or later."

"Ah! I completely forgot! Damnit! If he heard me, would they really make my entire family, and relatives vanish off the face of my planet?"

"But is he not being too blatant about his threats?" A soldier who seemed oblivious of the situation questioned.

"Ha, it's not like anyone here is willing to testify to the Galactic Court about the wrong doings of the Frost Group, that too, within a game, which cannot be considered real evidence. Or else countless people would have been sent to their deaths by merely saying role-playing dialogue like 'I'll see you in hell' or 'I will kill you and rip you limb from limb!' Plus, once the case was buried by the Frost Group, you would be the next target! Even the United Human Council cannot do anything to the Frost Group. After all, they have a member of that group on the council itself! The only reason Jack had survived until now was due to the other members of the council strongly opposing the Frost Groups attempts to kill him"

"Yeah. But they nearly succeeded. I heard he and his family had survived an assassination attempt by the Frost Group, for this very item. Well, him and whatever was left of his family after so many years of being on the run. Sadly, it seems that after today, the tales of Lucky Jack will be coming final closure. After so many losses, the Frost Group finally pulled out the big guns and roped in the other Families and conglomerates who were on their level, having a member on the United Human Council, to bring Jack down once and for all!"

Many of the soldiers present whispered to each other while the enemy commander waited for a response. Beside him, a few more people got off their mounts and stared down at Jack with gleaming eyes.

Each one of them was the guild leader of the top guilds within the world of Tether, each of them being humans.

*Cough**Cough*

Jack struggled to take in a few more breaths before he finally began to speak, causing the 7 guild leaders, who had joined forces and formed the united front against Jack, to move in closer to hear his world.

"Alright. I will tell you."

*Breaths in*

"Instead of creating a united front against the other races from all over the universe who are trying to invade the Human lands, you guys decided to satisfying your F****** egos and kill me? F**k you and your ***** *** ******** families who have ***** **** and shove it up you ***** until it comes out of your mouth. Then ***** you mother and her ******* father who brought her into this world, only to have a ******* ****** like you. The first ***** that even considered ***** a cheap w**** which led to your very existence should have just become a eunuch. At least he would have been of help to the Human race-"

Before he could complete his ingratiating speech, one of the guild leaders delivered the final blow, unable to stand the insults not just to him, but all the way up to the countless generations of his ancestors. Such insults were not something the ordinary person could handle. One had to have exceptionally thick skin in order to even be able to hear this much before bursting.

…

Jack opened his eyes to find himself in an oddly familiar room, but he just could not put his finger on it. A moment later, his heart nearly kept out to his chest as he realised this was his room! His room from nearly 20 years ago, before he became enemies with the Frost Group, before his friends betrayed him, before he found the stone, before he was picked as a candidate for drafting into the Human Army, before he began playing Tether… Before his parents died and he was forced to sell the home to pay off the debt they owed to a small time loan shark, who unexpectedly had connections to the Frost Group.

Immediately getting out of bed, Jack noticed his old touch-screen phone. This was after all the cheapest phone money could buy, and was the only phone his family could afford for him at the moment. After all, they were currently part of the small minority of human population who were living in extreme poverty.

Of course, there were humans living in far worse conditions, but those were not due to poverty or not being able to afford the basic necessities of life, but rather due to the harsh conditions on the planets they were living on, and refusing to leave.

Looking at the date, Jack was frozen on the spot.

[United Human Calendar Year 4702, 2nd of December]

About two days away from the release of Tether, and about 3 months away from the death of his mother in a 'accident' by the very loan shark who belonged to the Frost Group. It was very clear what he had done to Jack's mother, but the Frost Group covered it up saying all the bruise marks were just from the accident with a hover-truck.

Since they practically owned this entire star cluster, they had access to the local authorities, and were even able to get rid of the 'DNA' related evidence from his mother's corpse. His father somehow figured out the truth and raised his voice both physically and on the network. At first he tried with the authorities, but they failed him, then he tried to go to the higher ups of the Frost Group to try and convince them about his side of the story and get the loan shark punished. However, they said they would think about it, and just a few hours later, his father vanished from existence. Just like that, within 12 days of his mother's death.

At the time, Jack was barely 17 years old, as his Birthday came on the very day his mother was killed. He was too young and was not told about anything by his father, who vanished just as quickly as his mother. And even if he did, it was unlikely he would understand everything fully. The only family he had left was his younger sister, however, those Frost Group b*stards did not leave her out either. They actually got her into an accident with another hover-truck, trying to kill her and Jack on their way to school.

Unfortunately, Jack had gone back home because he had forgotten his homework, and his sister was alone. Thankfully, because he was already on his way back to school, he discovered her while she was still alive, unlike his mother who was left in the streets for almost half a day before the authorities arrived to take her body and dispose of it silently.

However, due to the accident, despite her life being saved, she had lost the functioning of both her legs, and was permanently paralysed. Well, that could be solved with enough money, however, that was something he greatly lacked until he acquired the stone.

It was both a blessing and a curse. It brought him enough attention to allow him to fund his sister's operation, and live a satisfactory life, while on the other hand it also brought the much less wanted attention from the higher ups of the Frost Group, ultimately leading to his dead in game, and him losing that very stone.

Within just a few moments of that, he remembered soldiers in the Frost Mercenary Group barging into his room which had been given to him by the government, before mercilessly turning him and his sister into laser drilled Swiss-cheese.

…

Well, that was his life story.

But what the hell was he doing here?

Was this the afterlife? Heaven? Hell?

Or was this supposed to be some sick VR torture room created by the Frost Group to torture him and his sister until the end of time, despite having their bodies filled with holes? Did they just select save his brain and a few other important organs, and put them on life support, before throwing him into this VR scenario to simulate his most loving memories and turn them into horrid nightmares until he broke?

Ha! What a joke! Jake never begged anyone! Never once in his life. Not even to his own family, not even to the kind, old couple who took him and his sister in after paying for the medical fees of his sister.