BigToad

Alex Mercer was a legendary thief known for his audacious heists and cunning skills. However, his criminal streak comes to an abrupt halt when he is finally apprehended and sentenced to prison.

In the midst of his imprisonment, a revolutionary virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG) is launched, called Eternal Realms, captivating the attention of the entire world. The prison authorities, seeking to introduce recreational activities for the inmates, decide to allow select prisoners to participate in the game as a means of passing the time.

Eager to escape the monotony of prison life, Alex eagerly takes up the opportunity to join the immersive virtual world. To his surprise, he discovers that his notoriety as a master thief has caught the attention of players within the game. They started offering him IRL means to reduce his prison sentence in an exchange on a daring quest to retrieve valuable treasures scattered throughout the virtual realm.

With a hidden class known as the "Shadow Hunter," Alex possesses unique skills and abilities that make him an invaluable asset to the players seeking rare and precious items. As he delves deeper into the virtual world, he finds himself entangled in a complex web of alliances, rivalries, and dangerous quests that blur the line between the game and reality.

As the stakes rise, Alex must navigate treacherous dungeons, confront formidable adversaries, and outwit both in-game challenges and real-world dangers. Along the way, he forms unexpected alliances and confronts his own inner demons, questioning the choices that led him down a path of crime.
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For anyone wondering about the romance, it will take a long time as this is not the focus of the book.

MMORPG: Shadow Hunter

The two left the village during the morning hours. Alex had trained his Shadow Blink once again, yet did not learn it. It was proving to be a harder skill to learn than he had initially thought.

Alex used his whistle to summon his horse again while Jhin grabbed his from the village's stables. While waiting for Jhin to arrive near the road, Alex saw a message from Anna! Anna was the girl he hired to take care of his shop's financial aspects.

Anna314: Hey, boss. The sales from the other day were incredibly high! We got 700 gold coins as profit in one day! I will keep you updated in the following days till you are back.

'700 profit?' That amount of profit was quite high, especially for only one day of sales. Also, Alex was not there, so the players went to the shop because they liked it more, not because the player Shadowborn was present.

Mysterious Creatures in the River