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 energy fluctuations emanating from Eldryn were simply incredible. Alex had never seen anything like it before. Not even during Eldryn's fight against the cultists did he use so much of his power. It only demonstrated how challenging the ritual he was performing was.

Eldryn began speaking in a language Alex didn't recognize and drawing strange symbols with his hands. The herbs he had placed around the altar started to glow, as did the symbols. For a brief moment, when all the energy from the symbols and herbs converged in one place, Alex noticed Khalita breathing, if only for a millisecond. That gave him even more hope that the ritual would work.

They continued in the same vein for about thirty minutes until Khalita finally woke up. "W-Where am I?" she said softly.

Roadside Tavern