In the far end of a reality known to bored gods as the Divine Playground, on a mundane Earth much like many others — a crossroad for the pathways to more interesting places — in a country that vaguely resembled the United Kingdom, at the top of a skyscraper whose inhabitants no doubt considered themselves very important people, a cough rang out across a packed room.

It was a cough that many had learned to dread — a cough that heralded total silence. It was a cough that begat a question.

Alan Roller steepled his long fingers over the mahogany wood board table and stared directly into the eyes of the suited man standing at the front of the room.

That man was sweating. The massive holographic television behind him projected the potential earnings for his project. He’d no doubt been working solidly on it for weeks, checking and rechecking every last number.

It was just a shame for him, that the man who’d been chosen to assess his proposal was he, Alan ‘awkward question’ Roller.

The nickname wasn’t one he’d have chosen, but it had stuck.

In the last four years, he’d only greenlit three projects, while most of his colleges had accepted anywhere from ten to fifteen.

One might think this wouldn’t be looked on favourably by the higher-ups, but to think that, one would have to be ignorant of the fact that a successful project in this game could 10x your investment, while a loser could easily return less than nothing.

His peers had been lucky to get one winner in seven or eight.

He’d scored big on all three.

Alan leaned forward and pinned the man with a gaze that said, ‘don’t you even dare try any bullshit.’ “Tell me,” he said, “What specifically makes you think that you can win big on this Total-VR MMORPG project when in fifteen years since this technology matured literally no one else has managed to even turn a profit?”

The man at the front of the room clearly hadn’t been trained in the subtle arts of appearing to not give a toss. He stuttered and babbled for a minute or two before Alan finally managed to piece together something about innovative new technology and an experience unlike anything the world had ever seen.

“Look,” he interrupted the man again. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? You don’t have anything to show me here except numbers more fantastical than the plot of the story you’re shilling me.” He pushed his chair backwards. “Unless you have something concrete to show me, I think we’re done here.”

“Wait!” the man said desperately. “We do have something!”

“Oh?” Alan raised an eyebrow.

“Quick,” the man motioned to one of his many underlings. “Bring it in. Now. Yes, I know we were going for a big reveal, just do it!”

Alan stared on in interest. In truth, he had actually been kind of enjoying the presentation, sort of. The core concept sounded fun. He himself had been a Total-VR gamer when younger. A good one, too. He’d transferred that competitive attitude to the corporate world and made an absolute killing.

This was his game now.

His own incredibly expensive suit had to be at least several raid tiers above his current interlocutor’s.

His epic mount was a supercar.

His star was rising and his reputation grind was progressing well.

But that was exactly the problem. He wasn’t a Total-VR gamer anymore. He was a corporate player. A budget high-roller. A contract sharpshooter. His time was valuable. And if this project didn’t look like it would score big, then he wasn’t staking his perfect win streak on it.

The man giving the presentation eventually got the heavy equipment set up on the perfectly polished mahogany table. After a quick run-through of the terms of use, Alan signed the non-disclosure agreement, the investor-use agreement, and several other pieces of paper, giving them enough of a glance through to ensure that nothing under the table was going on, before sitting down in the chair at the front of the room and donning the Total-RV helmet.

A screen popped into his vision that read, “Character Creation.”

All pretty standard stuff.

Alan was about to start scrolling through the options when something decidedly less standard and altogether more terrifying happened.

A portal of black energy opened up on the screen. It looked so real that he instinctively pushed backwards. He fell off his chair and onto the floor with a loud crash. The back of his head smacked against the helmet.

“Sir! Sir! Are you alright!?”

Alan groaned and opened his eyes. The black portal on the screen still filled his vision.

“Yeah,” he groaned. “What the hell is—”

And that was a far as he got before the portal expanded like a supernova, he felt an overwhelming sense of speed, and his whole world went dark.