Modern Earth, Year 2042.
This is an era of advanced informational age. The trend of time has shifted and entertainment reign supreme.
All this began two decades ago.
[Nebula Online], the first virtual reality, mmorpg experience ever released was the catalyst. A game which feature a number of race, monsters, challenges, and freedom to players.
Since then, this virtual reality technology has advanced leaps and bound, expanding toward other field.
Medical, physics, fundamental science, all can be simulated inside virtual reality given enough data and variables.
Thus, automation began to rise, mindless job became obsolete almost everywhere.
With so much free time, people began migrating their attention to games. While the entertainment industry boomed as many companies came together to create games in droves.
[Nebula Online], like the mindless job of the past, became obsolete, forgotten and left to drift in the river of time.
Great City of Lunden, Undercity.
Early mornings in the undercity never changed. The absence of fresh air is always the same, as it has been for years.
The air itself is foul and rotten, perhaps the only thing positive is the occasional glow of sunlight penetrating through the upper city.
"Damn Upper City dogs!" A man bit into his half-rotten apple with deliberate spite, glaring upward. "Always dumping their trash on us."
"You know how they are, it is not like they care about us undercity," The bartender said, putting the wine glass filled with purple 'liquid', on the table.
Damien Clementine barely registered the commotion from downstairs. He was currently sealed inside a cabin, playing [Nebula Online].
This cabin was crude and messy. Gears and tubes hanged outside in the open, followed by lines of questionable 'green' liquid running through each tube.
It is as though with the slightest touch, the whole thing would unravel itself.
However, for an undercity like Damien, just having the chance to use this cabin is already beyond what he could ask for.
Of course, this is not without a cost.
After all, this cabin did not belong to him, merely a rented piece.
At this moment, someone walked through the door and headed toward Damien's cabin.
Knock. Knock.
"Wake up boy, your time is up!" Tuman's gravelly voice pierced through the cabin's hum.
The scarred giant had to duck just to fit through the doorway, his massive frame filling the cramped space. When he straightened, his head nearly touched the ceiling.
Immediately, Damien body shuddered. The cabin cracked glass opened and the green liquid in the tube began to boiled.
"What was that…" Damien whispered quietly, his eyes dazed and confused, as though he just woke up from a dream.
The tall bulky man, without caring about Damien state quickly shoo him out the room, then closed the door shut.
Damien quickly recovered from his stupor when he walked down to the first floor of the Bar. His appearance cause a few eyes to look over in amusement, but no one walked up or speak to him.
As Damien exit through the entrance, some can't help but ridiculed the young boy with black hair.
"What is up with him? Spending all that hard earn cash to waste his time on that useless game." Someone said, snickering loudly as he sip on the purple glass of drink.
Immediately, another chimed in.
"That cabin might be trash compare to those upper city, but it ain't cheap. Who the hell would waste it on that antique game when you could…" He paused, his eyes turning toward a voluptuous woman sitting at another table.
The people who heard him understood what he meant and began laughing.
"That's right! I heard there is a new private release simulation of Madame Theresa from the upper-city… There is rumors that her 'measurement' is quite accurate!"
Immediately, a crowd of men began to gathered around this person who spoke.
"Seriously? Give me the invite code!"
…
Damien was walking down a narrow alleyway, toward the abandoned Silo deep in the cliff of the Undercity.
As he walk, the scraps and tubes protrude through the buildings, followed by rusty metal scent and dense toxic fog of waste.
'What was that message?' He thought to himself, disregarding the quality of the air.
His pupil lit up in the darkness like a cat due to how accustomed he is to the absence of light.
Damien, at a young age, lost his parent to the toxic fog of the undercity. Since then, he has always survived by himself.
Friends? He couldn't make many.
Perhaps it is due to his personality being unapproachable. And like many undercity looking for a rush of dopamine, or an escape from solitude, they came to one place.
Virtual Reality.
One day, he stumbled across [Nebula Online] and since then, it has became his only source of warmth and joy in life.
Unlike the dull life of constantly starving and struggling to scrape together a couple coins each week in order to survive. [Nebula Online] gave him a purpose, a challenge, a light in the plane of darkness.
A mean beyond just an end.
After exiting the cabin, Damien remained confused.
'I definitely reached the end of the Nightmare Tower… But I couldn't clearly see the reward message at the end because of Tuman interruption.'
Recalling Tuman sudden intrusion, he grew mildly irritated. However, before his irritation could settle, a flashing light suddenly struck him.
'What the hell?!' He jumped back in shock. Damien grew up walking in the dark corners of the undercity. Often sleeping and resting in places others wouldn't even considered pissing.
Due to this, this flashing light startled him greatly. Given a couple of seconds, he recovered his stance and opened his eyes.
'N-No way this is impossible! I must be hallucinating!'
It was a sight he never thought to see. A familiar screen which only existed in [Nebula Online]!
This small message window petrified his mind and stunned his body. For a moment, he couldn't pick up his feet as his attention is spent on the notifications.
[Ding! First Time Pioneer Achievement!]
[Congratulation on being the first human to climb the Nightmare Tower.]
[You are given a special reward for the descent of Nebula Online.]
"What? Special reward? Descent of Nebula Online?"
[Reward: Corrupted Divine Saint (Mythical Rank ★★★★★)
[Please be advise that the first descent will commence.]
Before he could process anything, his vision dimmed.