It was supposed to be just another miserable Monday.
Wayne Pierce stood by the loading dock of Grand Tier Logistics, his worn-out boots soaked through from last night's snowmelt. He'd been working there for six months. No promotions, no gratitude. Just long hours, a degrading boss, and a paycheck that barely covered his mold-infested studio apartment. The city skyline in the distance mocked him, glittering with unreachable dreams.
And then, it all ended.
"You're fired, Wayne."
The words hit harder than expected, despite how much he hated the place. Apparently, telling off the manager for screaming at a single mother on her shift wasn't "team-oriented behavior."
Wayne didn't argue. He didn't beg. He just walked away—backpack slung over one shoulder, the biting wind slapping his face.
On his way home, he found it.
A crumpled receipt, half-covered in gutter water, pressed against the wheel of a rusted-out shopping cart. Most would've ignored it. But something about it—about the strange symbols scribbled across the back in glowing ink—drew him in.
It read: "|001101|Initiate Level 0|---||...|"
He blinked.
And then the voice came.
[System Activation Detected.]
[New User: Wayne Pierce.]
[Initialization commencing…]
His breath caught. "What the hell—?"
The world shimmered slightly. The HUD appeared in his vision, transparent like a video game menu. A prompt blinked red:
[Welcome, User. Begin Tutorial? Y/N]
He stared, frozen.
In the span of a single receipt, his life had changed forever.