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I did it! I actually did it! Staying up for 8 days straight to register as a beta tester for Mystic Lands, the VRMMORPG that was promised by the company to be the best one yet. Going behind my parents' back to spend my savings on the system helmet and the game. I think that this will all be worth it.

I prepare my room to let me lay down comfortably for this last sprint. I crank up the AC in my room because my heart is racing and I feel really hot. Come to think of it, I actually feel fine not sleeping for this long. I should go to see the doctor about this. Eh, I'll do it after I become the first player of Mystic Lands. I just have to stay awake for another hour.

After swallowing down another cup of Death Wish, I settled in for the last stretch. I'll be fine. . .probably. After this, I'll go back to my regular sleep schedule. As I slip on my headset and start up the system to access Mystic Lands, everything was black.

'Of course, what was I expecting?' The game hasn't been released yet so of course nothing would pop up. However, with the newest helmet with the fastest connection speed and the fact that not many people would sit there for an hour, doing nothing except waiting for a game to be released, I guarantee that I will be the first guy in.

As I was waiting for the game to be released, My body started relaxing, rejoicing over the fact that it could sleep soon. So with my tension leaking away, my sleep started overpowering even that extremely strong coffee. That was the moment that the game released and the starting screen loaded up. So with the last of my willpower, I managed to start the game up. The game played triumphant music saying 'Congratulations on being the first player of Mystic Lands. The reward for being the first player will be given after character creation.' The last thing I heard before my brain blacked out was the system blaring alarms and talking about my body being in critical condition. It also said that an ambulance would arrive in about a minute.

The next thing I see is a blurry view of a moving hospital ceiling, faintly hearing the whine of a defibrillator, and a doctor saying "What in the world did this person do? Hyper-metabolism, stomach inflammation, starvation, heart flutters, a whole gift package. I would give this guy a piece of my mind if he could listen. Honestly, I don't even know if he'll survive even with the technology we have at our disposal."

'Huh,' I thought, 'I'm quite screwed, aren't I? My friend warned me not to do this time and time again. I always thought that I would be able to get past this due to my body being extremely healthy, working out, eating healthy when my buddies haven't. Is this karma for not listening to them? If I survive, I'll wholeheartedly apologize to them.' Then I blacked out again. When I woke up, I was at the Mystic Lands character selection screen. I was shocked. "What the f--!" A weird aberration of pixels popped up. It was like a human figure but it was glitching, like it wasn't fully implemented in the game. It said "Careful, Jirel, this is your new life. Think about it, because this is your first and last time." and disappeared before I could ask it anything.

I calmly thought about what just happened and came up with some ideas. This isn't realistic. Judging from what the doctor said, my body is in shambles right now, if not dead. Nobody in their right mind would put my VR helmet on me and risk stressing my mind and body even further. Even if they did put it on me, why didn't the system start up screen appear first? This could also be a dream, but that's no given.

So I'll just treat this as an actual life that I was given and if it is a dream, I'll wake up eventually. I won't do this halfheartedly and regret it later if it actually is a new life. So with that in mind, I accessed the character selection screen with the intent to be cautious and to start my life anew.