Chapter 2 : Family Heirloom
The old records preserved through ages spoke of a time long before the present day, back when mankind stumbled upon a strange glowing stone buried deep beneath the earth.
Researchers of that era documented it carefully, though much of their work was dismissed as myth.
Yet, hidden in their accounts was a peculiar saying.
Something like a prophecy.
It claimed that one day, the Earth itself would face destruction.
A world ending event would descend upon humanity, and the only salvation would lie in mastering the world of New Eden.
To ordinary people, such words sounded laughable.
A silly prophecy.
A bedtime story.
But to the select few who had access to those ancient records, it was no joke.
They guarded the truth in secret, refusing to dismiss it.
They knew the clock was ticking, and it was ticking fast.
Thus came the birth of the project known today as the game, New Eden.
The advertisements, the wealth promises, the hyper-realism gimmicks… those were merely distractions, baits to pull in as many individuals as possible.
Behind all the glitz and flashing lights, the true goal was much simpler.
The singular aim for this project was to find the ones capable of mastering New Eden.
The chosen.
The ones who could become humanity's final light when darkness arrived.
******
*Creak*
The door to Axton's small apartment swung open.
He walked in with slow steps, his shoulders dropping with exhaustion.
He tossed his bag carelessly to the side and went straight for the bed.
Dropping down with all his weight, he let out a groan of relief, as if his bones had been carrying bricks all day.
"Finally…" he muttered under his breath, almost moaning with satisfaction as he relaxed his body.
For a while, he simply lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling.
His head felt foggy, like his thoughts were wrapped in mist.
After a minute, he sat up halfway and searched for his TV remote.
He wanted some background noise, anything to distract him from his worries.
*Click* *Click*
The television came alive.
However, the very first thing that greeted him was the exact same thing he had seen everywhere else.
The launch of New Eden.
Every TV channel showed it.
Some even plastered giant timers on the screen, ticking down to 9 o'clock sharp.
"Seriously?" Axton muttered with disdain, dragging a hand down his face. "What kind of company spends this much? They must be swimming in billions."
He wasn't wrong.
A ginormous sum of money had indeed been pumped into the game's marketing campaign.
For weeks, there had been no escape from the campaign.
Billboards, TV ads, online spam, even news anchors were talking about it.
"The future of humanity," they called it.
To Axton, it was nothing but noise.
He watched the countdown halfheartedly, his thoughts drifting back to his real problem—his unemployment.
A so-called 100% realistic game wasn't going to pay his rent or put food on his table.
It wasn't going to magically pull him out of his financial hole.
What he needed wasn't some immersive fantasy.
What Axton needed was a job!
******
Across the world, however, millions of people were thinking differently.
*Click*
Seconds before the clock struck nine, countless men and women lifted the sleek, futuristic headsets onto their heads.
The first edition of the New Eden headgears had sold out in seconds.
They were limited, with just 50,000 units available.
The lucky few, who had gotten one of these gears, were preparing to enter what was promised to be the greatest game ever created.
If one could somehow hear the entire planet at that exact moment, they would have heard the clicks strangely happening simultaneously.
"If I can make some money, maybe I can save my company from bankruptcy."
"God, please… just give me an S-rank talent."
"Let's see if this game is as good as they claim."
"If I can earn enough, I'll finally quit this dead-end job!"
Different people.
Different lives.
Different struggles.
But there was one unifying dream among them all.
They all wanted to lay their hands on a talent of their own.
In New Eden, talent was everything.
A person with a low-ranked talent was as good as crippled.
It was like starting a marathon where everyone else had strong legs, while you were forced to crawl.
Everyone prayed they would not be cursed with mediocrity.
[5]
[4]
[3]
A giant black number on white background hovered before every player's eyes, counting down against a dark background.
[2]
[1]
[0]
A burst of light exploded across their vision.
Eyes squeezed shut on instinct but surprisingly, the glow was not painful.
When they opened them again, soft bluish-white text appeared before their eyes.
[Welcome to New Eden]
******
Meanwhile, in his room, Axton rubbed his eyes in confusion.
'What the…?'
He hadn't worn any headset.
He didn't even own one.
Yet, a similar burst of light had flashed right in front of him.
When he looked down, he realized the source wasn't his television.
It wasn't his phone or any electronic device.
It was his bracelet.
The same bracelet his father had given him before his death.
It glowed faintly, pulsating like a live, beating heart.
He had worn that bracelet for years, sometimes even thought about selling it when things got rough in his life.
But he never once suspected it could… do this.
Before he could process anything further, an AI-like voice rang inside his head.
*Ding*
[Welcome to New Eden]
Axton froze.
"Huh…? New Eden?"
Another line of text appeared, floating in front of him like a hologram.
[You possess a relic of New Eden and are eligible to enter the world]
[Do you wish to enter?]
His mind spun in circles.
A relic?
What relic?
This bracelet?
And how was he seeing this without the gear?
Only 50,000 people were supposed to log in today, and he sure as hell wasn't one of them.
He remembered the official announcement clearly.
The headgear alone cost over eight thousand dollars, far beyond what he could afford.
$8499.99 to be exact.
Yet somehow, here he was, invited by a piece of jewelry?
Axton swallowed hard.
His thoughts were jumbled.
But after a moment, he clenched his fists.
Maybe it didn't matter.
Maybe this was an opportunity he couldn't afford to throw away.
Slowly, his eyes drifted back to the floating panel.
[Do you wish to enter?]
He took a deep breath, heart pounding.
"Yes."
******
*Swoosh*
The world tilted.
His vision spun.
His body collapsed back onto the bed as if drained of strength.
It felt as though his consciousness was being yanked out of his body, pulled into a current flowing toward some unseen destination.
For a while, there was only darkness.
Then…
…Light.
When Axton opened his eyes, he stood in a place unlike anything he had ever seen before.
It was a massive temple, its marble floors reflecting a faint light.
The walls stretched endlessly upward.
The towering pillars were carved with symbols he couldn't recognize.
And above, spanning the entire sky like a banner, appeared glowing text.
[WELCOME TO NEW EDEN, PLAYER]
*Ding*
[You entered the world of New Eden with a relic]
[You have been blessed with a divine bonus]
*Ding*
[You have received the 100x Multiplier Effect]
Axton's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
His jaw dropped so far it might have hit the floor if not attached.
A hundred times… what?
"W-what the hell…?!" he exclaimed.
His thoughts scrambled desperately for an explanation.
A glitch?
A bug?
Some kind of hidden error in the system?
But no matter how he reasoned, the truth was clear.
Whatever had just happened to him… it was real.
His bracelet, the so-called relic, hadn't just let him bypass the gear.
It had given him a divine bonus.
And not just any bonus.
The 100x Multiplier Effect.
Axton's hands trembled.
His lips curled into a disbelieving laugh.
"A multiplier…? Hundred times…? That's insane!"