New Reality

Even in the dead of night, there was a mass of bodies entering and leaving [Raincloud] when Peter arrived.

Metal threads composed the gothic building. Each no bigger than his pinky, woven together like a behemoth dollhouse. Streaks of ore pulsed their light in every thread.

He filtered through the crowd's conversations, honing in on interesting information. Apparently this place was run by artificial spirits, which had strikingly similar compositions, and cost a fortune to produce. They could use some type of analysis, and ranked adventurers as they signed up.

Peter was sceptical of the gossips' details, but when he passed the guildhalls soaring doors, his mind exploded. The inside appeared larger than the building itself and reminded him of a giant's castle.

Artificial spirits were everywhere. Five-foot women donning black and white maid uniforms. They were impossibly identical, something that could only result from cloning, or programming.

'This is a game, after all.' He reminded himself. It was easy to forget in this world, as the air held a faint humidity and his heart beat with warm blood.

One spirit popped out of the nearby crowd immediately, pinching a fold on Peter's vest. Her enormous, solid-black eyes glittered with moisture, evenly spaced above a perfect button nose.

"C-can I help you?' Peter stuttered in surprise.

She tugged a bit on his sleeve, so Peter bent down to be head-level with her. She had strait black hair, which fell neatly around her shoulders. Her skin was milky-white, as if she was malnourished, and her bright-pink lips pressed together in an attractive pout. She would've been cute if her striking similarity to the rest of the spirits wasn't so clear.

Leaning in, the spirit pressed her mouth against Peter's ear.

"Relin sent you. Follow me."

As soon as the last syllable left her lips, she pulled him forward with enough force to make Peter stumble, but he quickly steadied his steps.

"Wait, wait! Relin from SUN? How do you know that?" he protested, but the spirit wasn't listening. The word 'SUN' turned a couple heads, which spooked Peter.

She led him deeper into the guildhall, behind the main room, and then up an impossibly long flight of stairs. At the top, Peter anchored his feet on the ground to catch his breath. His sleeve ripped, and the spirit turned to face him with a confused look.

"A room." She stated matter-of-factly.

"A room? I would like one of those, but lets slow the pace... I've been walking all day." he admitted.

After allowing him a quick break, the spirit led him even deeper, until they were in front of an ornate wooden door in an empty hall. Similar doors lined either side as far as the eye could see. Peter was sure there must be some kind of special magic in this guildhall. They'd long since passed the point where this building should've ended.

"Open." the spirit stated, placing her hand flat out in front of her.

'Does she want me to follow suit?'

Peter copied the spirits gesture, who subsequently placed a key, and a sealed letter in his hand. Without explaining herself, the spirit spun around and sprinted out of sight before Peter could open his mouth.

"What the hell was that?" he grumbled. 'So... Its over. Sun must've prepared this room for me. I'm coming home, Sarah.'

Emotion welled from his belly, but Peter swallowed it down. He wasn't out of hot water yet, SUN still had to hold their end of the deal. He'd already made peace with his cancer, but if there was even a slight chance they could cure him...

Peter hurriedly unlocked the door to his room. Despite the glowing metal threads, the room was plain. There was a bathroom, a bed, and a tiny kitchen. Nothing for laundry, but this was a medieval world, and Peter didn't plan on staying in it.

After entering the room, locking the door, and plopping on his bed, Peter waited for the [Log Out] Screen to appear. He'd placed his key and envelope on a desk nearby.

...

...

Nothing.

'Maybe I have to fall asleep or something.' he wondered, but he asked his system first.

'System: Log out.'

[System]-{Invalid command.}

'System: Settings'

[System]-{Invalid command}

The more Peter tried, the more his curiosity about the letter grew. When it became too much to bear, he cracked its seal.

"OW!" Peter screamed.

As soon as his fingers separated the seal from the paper, a strange light shot into his chest, and an excruciating pain racked his whole body. It was only for a split second, but that split second was enough for Peter to fall onto the carpet.

[System]-{Shard of Levi: Germinating}

"What the fuck is this" He cursed. The pain dulled, but that initial shock to his nervous system was filling him with dread. Peter stood and observed the envelope on the ground. The message inside had fallen out, and sat in a neatly folded rectangle nearby.

He couldn't help himself... he had to read its message.

//

Congratulations Peter!

If you're reading this, you've completed the Alpha-Test of our new VRMMORPG [Grand Void]! Your reward is... the truth.

You've probably already noticed, but the world you 're in is too vivid, too data packed to be any feat of modern technology.

Well, we can't explain everything in this terse letter, but you should become familiar with our motives, as they most likely align with yours!

See, we realize you want to see your sister, and we'd like nothing more than to make this dream come true. However, your body was too far gone. By now, we have pronounced you dead, so the only hope you have is to find a way back in your new body! Don't worry, SUN is committed to helping you achieve this, as bridging your world and this one has been our goal for longer than you can imagine.

Stay tuned for more letters <3

-SUN

P.S: Your first step to getting back to your sister is: level up! I know I kind of admitted earlier this isn't a game, but there are rules in this world that make it game-like. Use your knowledge well! (that's partly the reason we chose you, after all. Well, among other reasons...)

//

Peter's face flushed with anger.

"FUCKING LIARS!!" He screamed, ripping the letter in half. His head was light, and his heart was beating so quickly he thought it would burst.

Falling onto the soft mattress of his bed, Peter felt molten tears stream down the grooves of his face. This letter was too detailed to be fake, and there should be no reason why SUN would play a mean trick on him.

"I really thought it was over... I thought..."

If this letter was true, that meant he'd really left his last friend to die. They'd transmigrated into a new world.

"I don't deserve this life... any life..." he blubbered in self-pity.

{You can't give up.}

Amid his agony, a small voice talked him off the cliff of despair.

{Neto may still be alive.}

This was the last thing Peter heard before exhaustion claimed him:

{She's still waiting for you. Make it back, or everything will be in vain.}