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.
*
For anyone wondering about the romance, it will take a long time as this is not the focus of the book.

MMORPG: Shadow Hunter

Seph showed Alex and his friends a crew of experienced sailors that would be of great help to their future ocean adventurers. It would still take some time for them to go with Fried Bacon – they needed to reach level 40 — but there were a few missions in the adventurer's guild that Alex could accept, and that is what he did.

"This is the first time I am inside a ship," Divine Flower said as she looked at the waves.

She was marvelously watching the ocean, yet she could not look too far because it was night at that point, which made it impossible for her to see anything at all.

The fact it was night time was something a few sailors from Alex's crew disliked, and they were not scared of showing that to Alex.

"Captain Shadowborn, are you sure we should be leaving during the night? We are all tired after the long day of work in the docks," one of the sailors said.

Island Murder