The New Hype

"What's the holdup?

"Get a move on!"

"Just pay and leave, why is it taking him so long"

Voices of anger and discontent rose for the umpteenth time in a huge parking lot, where peculiarly there were no cars, instead, a long line of grumbling men and women snaked through the huge empty space, extending beyond it even as more and more people stood on the streets in wait

And the line was getting no shorter as the outflow of customers came to a halt due to a singular customer hogging the storefront as he argued over the phone with his bank, the details of the ordeal unclear in the mess of insults he was hollering, but one thing for sure, he was not budging until he got what everyone else came here for

"Let him have his turn when he is ready, just let us take our turns"

Said the third in line, garnering the support of those behind him, alas the receptionist could only point them to the glamorous sign above, First Come First Serve, it said

"That's ridiculous!, No one is stealing his spot just let us get on with it"

"Yeah, so what if it is first come first serve? Cant anyone just impede the line from moving at all like this?"

The mob quickly got riled as everyone felt the need to pitch in, if only to vent their frustration, a very normal ordeal of customers complaining while workers were helpless as they waited for their boss to respond to the situation, perhaps the only weird thing about the whole scene was the person standing right behind the preceptor of this entire mess, unbothered and silent

He never took his eyes off the screen, reading through large paragraphs of text before choosing among the available options of actions, what one might call a text-based game

Standing second in line should have at least made the man call out the questionable actions of the store, but he never said a word, just waited in silence

But the crowd was much unlike this man, for they grew restless, and before things got out of control a few men pushed their way through the crowd, earning a few glances of ire until the badge pin on their neat black suits was recognised, turning everyone quiet

"Excuse me, we are the response team, could you brief us on the situation"

"Yes, this man's credits have been frozen due to his growing debt's risk factor, he has been negotiating with his bank for over ten minutes now"

"I see"

The men turned their sight toward the problem person, who spared no more than a glance toward them

"Sir, is it true that your credits are currently frozen?"

The man kept arguing over the phone and did not respond

"Sir, please answer me, are your credits frozen as of the moment"

"Huh? Yeah yeah, just give me a minute and I will solve it"

A reply finally came but it was not apologetic and rather hurried, as if he did not want to bother with the few of them

"I am sorry but you are hindering business and delaying other customers, please step out of the store's area"

"I said I will be done in a minute, so give me a minute"

"Please move or we will have to do it"

His two companions stepped up, they were not so intimidating in build but the watching people knew not to judge purely based on that, for these were trained and tried enforces

"Is this how you treat your customers? Huh!? You throw them out just cause of some delayment! Some business you are!"

It was astonishing how he suddenly became the victim, somehow irritating the onlookers even more, there was a limit to how unreasonable a person could get

It was at this moment that the man standing behind this drama queen took a moment to look up at the scrunched up face, almost breaking in laughter at how funny it was before returning his sight to the names scrolling through his screen, marking the end of the short yet plentiful journey of his latest playthrough

'They paid him well, I might even get to finish the first boss on my next run by the time they kick him out'

It was all too common, a rival company hires some hobo to do legal sabotage and then use the media to paint a bad image over the employees' actions, which is the reason he did not bother getting angry and merely pressed the restart button, tracing his steps through the story until he chanced upon a divergent path, that's when he had to read through his choices once more

Unlike what the young man had thought the situation did not play out for long, only a couple of minutes passed before the response team handled the situation quite well, barring any media worthy response and removing the man from the scene

"Hey buddy, it's your turn"

Feeling someone nudge him the man playing on his phone looked up, noting that everyone was waiting for him to step up and make his purchase

He said nothing, pocketed his phone and stepped up to the counter before waving his watch over a scanner

"Thank you for your purchase, may we see you in heaven"

A small box was handed to him with a smile, to which he nodded before leaving the store

There was a lot of traffic that day and thus he thought against taking a cab, instead, he walked through the busy streets, taking no more than half an hour to reach the residential complex building where he resided

"Hey Cid, where is Harry"

"Morning Thet, out to buy himself that new game everyone been crazy about, I'm covering for him"

"Oh, hope he gets it"

"Oh lord I hope not, he would have to abandon his night shift if he does"

Thet smiled at the old man and said nothing more, he knew Harry only took the nightshift to gather money and buy a good game, half the complex knew, only they chose not to say anything in front of Cid since they would have to listen to the old man ramble on about how young people these days were wasting their money, time, and life on games

The complex was empty at the moment, its residents either at work or out to buy themselves the new craze, either way, it meant Thet would not have to waste time waiting for the elevator, which took him quickly to the fourth floor

Unlocking his apartment with the wrist watch he plopped onto the couch, taking a breather after the walk

"I should grab some food before I get stuck adjusting"

As he did so Thet finally took the time to look at the box he queued for four hours to get

It was rather small for a seven month saving's worth, even the painted logo, LH, partially hidden behind clouds seemed a bit cheap

Ignoring this tacky packaging Thet opened it to reveal a smooth metal stick, the size of a usb, with the words Lost Heaven written across

With a sandwich in hand he walked toward a big metal box taking up the bulk of his one room apartment, taking his shoes and socks off on the way before pressing a button on this box with his toe

Light came on within this device, multiple words and logos flashed on the lid before eventually dying down, returning it to the black metal colour, only the buttons on the side were still lit

Once more using his handy toe he pressed one of those buttons, promoting something like a cd drive, but with a size fitting a usb, to pop out

There he jammed the metal stick in his hand in, and the device auto closed, unloading the new contents

[Please note that a one time Acclimating Process is required to start ten hours before Launch]

Such text became visible on the top

"I should do it now so I have time to stretch out and eat again before sleeping"

Gobbling the rest of the sandwich up Thet pressed his hand against the device, which took a moment to turn transparent, as if it was not metal but glass, showing a cushioned space inside

That's when he took off his hand, and clothes too while the device opened up so he could lay down before shutting close

[Proceed with Acclimating Process?]

"Yes"

[Acclimating Process Initiated]

The lights dimmed and Thet quickly lost control over his body as a deep sleep took over him

Contrary to his stiff body, Thet was now doing various forms of workouts in an empty white expanse, going through differing degrees of temperatures, and adapting to control certain muscles that one would find uncomfortable to move in real life

The training went on for a total of eight hours, two hours less with Thet's proactive training, giving him ample time to relieve himself, make some food, and even scroll through the news before hopping back in as the clock approached midnight

[Launching Lost Heaven]

When the time came a scene of sorts played before him, briefly describing the history of this newfound land, one lost to the many races of the world, one of peace and bountiful resources, ripe for the taking

But it was no child's play, for there lurked many dangers, ones that were nurtured by this land, far beyond what the races could handle after their years of devastating wars

And so the nine races, for the first time in many millenniums, created a united front to explore this land of fortune, giving birth to a rising profession, Explorers!

There was a brief moment of silent darkness following the not so epic opening before Thet found himself within a small room, bare of any furniture, its only residents being him facing a 1:1 copy of himself

[New User Info Registered. Input Name …]

"Ingram"

[Ingram Registered. Choose Your Path]

Next to his copy, there were two choices, the right being an Explorer, with a glowing light surrounding it, and the left being Dungeon Lord, emitting dark mist

'Finally starting'

Thet, or Ingram in this world, smiled gleefully, it was at this moment that the fun truly started!