We sat in a circle, our boxes in front of us, knees practically bouncing with impatience.

Alex had pulled out three gaming chairs and arranged them in a circle around a low table in his room. Entering the game would make us appear unconscious to the outside world. Once the headset was active, we’d lose control of our bodies completely. If we didn’t want to wake up with sore necks or bruised heads, comfort was essential.

I’d made it to Alex’s house in less than five minutes as it was just down the street. Jack lived farther, but she’d convinced her dad to drop her off so she could beat me there. Naturally, I’d made a snide remark, and she’d fired back with an insult. It had taken Alex pointing out that maybe we should focus on the life-changing tech sitting in front of us to shut us both up.

“Alright, let’s get to it,” I said, unable to hold it in any longer.

As if we shared a single brain cell, we ripped the wrapping off in unison. In seconds, three identical helmet-like headsets gleamed up at us. Each was about the size of a motorcycle helmet, with a sleek black visor pulled down. Two thin wires poked out from the interior, each ending in a small suction cup meant to latch onto the sides of our heads.

We’d seen the design online a hundred times but seeing it in person hit different. I picked mine up carefully, running my hands over the smooth, cold surface. It felt like it had just been pulled from a freezer and sealed away.

A grin crept up my face.

“Shall we?” Jack asked, her eyes glued on hers.

“Whenever you two are done drooling,” Alex muttered.

I lifted the headset and lowered it onto my head. To my surprise, there was a bit of room left. It felt light, airy, easy to breathe in. I reached up along the sides and pressed the suction cups into place against my temples.

“You could give us a slight heads-up next time,” Jack said, strapping hers on too.

Alex followed, rolling his eyes. “Power buttons’ underneath the left side,” he reminded. “And don’t forget, we’re spawning in Hollow Vale first. Don’t be stupid and wander off.”

“You hear that, Danny?” Jack smirked.

“Yeah, I hear you.” My finger hovered over the button, ignoring her attempt at taking a jab at me. “Can we go now?”

“You want a countdown or what?” Alex scoffed. “I’ll see you two in a bit.”

And with that, he pressed his down. His head lolled back, hitting the headrest with a soft thud. His hand slid limply off the armrest, his body slumping like a marionette with its strings cut. Only the steady rise and fall of his chest betrayed the fact that he looked dead.

“That’s so cool,” Jack giggled. “Let’s go, Danny boy!”

She pressed hers next, her body folding into the same lifeless stillness as Alex’s.

Smiling to myself, I pressed the button.

My eyelids slammed shut as if someone had flipped a switch inside my head. The sound of the room faded, weightlessness wrapped around me, and in the space of a single heartbeat... reality was gone.

***

For a heartbeat, there was nothing. No sound. No light. No air.

Then a burst of white light exploded behind my eyelids, flooding everything. For a second, I thought I’d gone blind. My body felt weightless, like I was floating in the middle of space. A faint hum vibrated through me, slowly growing louder, warmer, until it wrapped around me like a heartbeat.

And then the voice came.

{Welcome, new Ascendant. Initializing neural link… syncing consciousness… connection stable.}

The whiteness shattered like glass, and suddenly I was standing on a glowing platform suspended in a sea of stars. Above me, countless constellations shifted and danced, like the sky itself was alive. My hands instinctively curled into fists, but what surprised me most was, I could feel it. The slight flex of muscle, the faint air brushing against my skin.

{Please create your Ascension profile.}

A transparent panel flickered to life in front of me, lined with golden light. Text and icons hovered in the air, each pulsing faintly. It wasn’t like looking at a normal screen; it felt real, as if I could reach out and grab it.

I hesitated for half a second, then lifted my hand. To my amazement, the panel reacted immediately. A trail of light followed my fingertips like sparks from a match.

“Holy crap…” I whispered.

The interface broke down into neat categories: Appearance, Race, Class, Active Skill, Username.

I started with appearance.

A glowing silhouette of a default avatar rotated slowly in front of me. It was bland—short hair, neutral expression, average build. A slider bar floated beside it, and as I dragged my finger through the air, the figure shifted. Taller. Broader shoulders. Sharper jawline. I didn’t go overboard, just enough to look a little cooler than I did in real life. I retained my eye and hair colours, content with what I already had.

For clothes, I simply selected a long, green robe, a long-sleeved white tunic, and a pair of dark pants. Going overboard with character appearance was usually Jack’s thing. I only cared about looking decent enough and getting into the game as fast as I could.

“Not bad,” I muttered, turning the avatar around with a swipe.

Next came Race. A new set of glowing icons materialized, each one with a brief description that expanded when I hovered over it. I already knew about the seven races we would choose from, but like everything else, seeing it up close was breathtaking.

Human, Vanirborn, Rakshai, Drachenkin, Jotunborn, Ifritian and Sylphid. Seven races created to mimic a form of mythological being. Asides from human, the others had a special bonus trait attached to them. As I read each one, I finally settled on the one I felt suited me best.

“Sylphid,” I said, tapping the icon. The avatar shifted, solidifying with subtle features.

My avatar increased in height slightly, still retaining my humanoid appearance. I was slightly slimmer as well, but my build was still slightly muscular. Thin, curved lines floated up and down my skin as if several worms were crawling all over my avatar. I found it slightly disturbing, but the robe would cover most of my skin up. Thankfully, the lines didn’t seem to crawl up the avatars face.

{You have selected Sylphid, Wind-touched spirits freer than birds. +5 DEX. +5 LCK}

{Increased movement speed and reduced fall damage.}

{Confirm selection?}

Satisfied, I selected confirm, eager to move on.

Then Class. Like the races, there were just seven as well. Hoplite, Aegis, Runeseer, Sylvianis, Nightrunner, Jinnborn and Hierophant. They also had descriptions attached to them, but without even thinking, I scrolled to the one I had already set my eyes on.

{You have selected Nightrunner: shadowy assassin archetype. +5 DEX. +5 LCK.}

{Confirm selection?}

I confirmed once again.

{Select an active skill}

A list of twenty-eight skills appeared. Fourteen were lined up on the left, while the other fourteen stood at my right. A brief text hovered above them, explaining the ones on the left would require less mana, while the ones on the right would drain almost all of it. I selected the first on the list as it would be the most convenient for me.

{You have selected Shadowstep: You can instantly teleport short distances for the cost of 5 mana}

{Confirm selection?}

I looked through the skill list again, but the ones I really wanted would burn through my mana reserves too quickly. I would focus on evasion till I could pick another skill at level fifty. I confirmed the selection reluctantly, biting my tongue as I contemplated on whether I had made a mistake.

Finally, {Username.}

A golden keyboard hovered in the air.

I’d already thought about this and typed it in with zero hesitation. Jack and Alex had wanted us to go under different aliases to what we normally used, but I had opted against it, convincing them to stick to our regular names. They had wanted to stay low for a while and use our one name change when we had levelled up enough so we could avoid being targeted early on. But I believed showing who we were right off the bat was the better choice.

As I hit confirm, the name pulsed once in gold.

“Username available. Character creation complete.”

A glowing circle formed beneath my feet. A gust of wind whipped through the starry void as the platform began to hum.

“Welcome to Ascension, T1tan”

My heart pounded. The circle flashed, the humming growing louder. My avatar rushed forward, enveloping me in blinding white light.

And just like that, I was in.