Prologue

As she sat hunched over her computer, her fingers ached with weariness from the countless hours of typing and inputting an endless stream of numbers and paperwork. Despite her diligent efforts, she knew that her employer and the company saw her as nothing more than another faceless worker lost in the sea of their countless employees. The lack of breaks and constant pressure to perform had become the norm, leaving her feeling undervalued and underappreciated.

But would she cry about it? No, what would be the point of it all? Nothing really mattered. Truth be told, the numbness in her was proof that she no longer cared about anything. The only thing she cared about now was going home and losing herself in the only escape in her life.

"Miss Elaine," a voice said from behind as she froze immediately. Soon enough, Elaine began to sweat anxiously, hearing the voice of her boss nearby. Her body unconsciously recoiled at each step the man took towards her. Elaine took a deep breath, refusing to let him dominate her again.

"Yes, Mr. Wilson?" Elaine replied quickly, gulping deeply and doing her best to look calm from the outside. Perhaps, with any luck, he would ignore her.

"Have you finished the list for this term?" Mr. Wilson, the pig man, asked, creeping a hand on Elaine's shoulder, an action that made her sense danger. But again, she refused to look frightened. Nothing good would happen if that person saw her like that. Elaine has learned the hard way not to give this type of person the satisfaction of feeling empowered.

"I have, Mr. Wilson," Elaine replied calmly, showing an emotionless face. "It should be in Mr. Stephen's mail by now."

Mr. Wilson hissed slightly, annoyed by her lack of response. "I see. Great job, Miss Elaine."

"Thank you, sir," Again, Elaine wasted no time replying, and for a brief moment, she thought he'd leave her alone. But that was wishful thinking.

Without bothering, Mr. Wilson let his hand roam freely on Elaine's chest, groping to his heart's content and smiling to himself as he expected a reaction from her to allow him to do more. But nothing of the sort came. Elaine remained unfazed, motionless as if she were not there.

"You're well-endowed, the same as my daughter. You're young, aren't you? 28 years old? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have sex regularly?" The pig spoke lustfully. Gradually, the pleasure he had been experiencing started to fade as Elaine's lack of response became more apparent. It seemed as if her piercing blue eyes were silently taunting him, which only added to his frustration.

"Would that be all, sir?" Elaine asked, showing nothing but emptiness in her eyes.

After letting her chest go, Mr. Wilson scoffed and walked away. Elaine did nothing but gaze; her face exhibited no expression, but the rest of her body certainly did. Her hands trembled, and she felt the sharp pain of her nails piercing into her palm. Did she feel scared? Yes. Was it guilt and embarrassment from being helpless to stop it? Of course, it was. Mr. Wilson was the son of the company's founder. He had free reign to do whatever he wanted, much to the horror of Elaine and many other women in the company.

Like a pig that rolls in the mud and then walks away, leaving his squatter's footprints everywhere he goes, knowing no one will dare to stop him.

Elaine was ashamed and embarrassed, but her anger at her own weakness was worse. For years, she buried her head in the sand out of helplessness as she watched and endured abuse. But Elaine couldn't do anything to stop it or help others. Elaine has been on both ends of suffering for so long—as a victim and a witness—that she now feels hopeless and powerless to escape the cycle.

Perhaps there was an exit, but it was one that Elaine refused to take. She was not that brave.

So, without much she could do, Elaine finished her work and returned home, the only place she could feel safe.

The year was 2099, and the start of a new century was coming close. Everyone always spoke about how bright the future would be and how the next century would be better for all. Elaine doubted it. Each year was the same. Each decade did not make things better. So, why would a new century change all of that? A naive thought—that was what Elaine believed it was.

"A simple wish to forget it all."

Elaine sighed, finishing her small grocery store trip before reaching home. She lived in a high-end apartment—quite a luxurious place for someone like her. The only good that came out of working for such a monstrous company was the pay she received, which allowed her to live quite a good life. But looks were often deceiving. While it was true that Elaine was technically wealthy, she had no one to share it with. She had no family to speak of, no lover to hold her at night, no friends to share connections with, or even pets that would make her feel wanted after returning home from work.

Elaine was alone. Or perhaps not truly. After all, she had something to look forward to every night.

"I do hope the new patch didn't mess up the launcher again," Elaine muttered, annoyed, as she put on her VR headset and dived into the only place where she wasn't herself. Elaine entered a game called Antherion.

A VR-MMORPG that shook the world when it came out eight years ago. It was a vast world filled with such a large quantity of races, weapons, classes, and more that every player would be so different from one another that even creating class guides was almost impossible. And not because it was a bad thing. Antherion rewarded creativity above all else, to the point that no player on a whole server would have the same build, class, weapons, armour, or hairstyle as another.

A place where it was said that dreams came true. But for Elaine, Antherion was a world that made her forget about the reality of her life, where she could be someone else.

Someone she could be proud of being. Someone ferocious who won't be humiliated or frightened by anyone, and above all else, someone powerful.

Those emotions drove Elaine to play the game, to grind her way up, and to truly be the person she always fantasised about being.

"Let's see, what's the patch about?" Elaine muttered as she moved around the game's menu while Antherion's theme menu played in the background. "Uh, there's nothing written in the Dev blog?"

Elaine frowned underneath the VR headset, watching how there was nothing at all on the patch notes, too. "Could it be that they forgot to... update it? It could be, but I truly don't think so."

Then Elaine saw something popping on the screen.

You've been chosen; a call for help arrives, and you have a new world to explore. Would you assist them? Or would you destroy them?

Accept?

->Decline.

Elaine stared, confused, at what was in front of her. "Ah, is this a new event or something? Did the patch note bug out for me? I don't remember reading anything about new content for the game in the forums."

Elaine frowned, but she accepted, thinking that she would just enter a new event in the game and nothing more.

->Accept

Decline.

"I do hope the event has good mounts. The last one had nothing good to offer."

Elaine simply shrugged it off as she entered the game and was soon met with her character profile.

[Character Profile]

->Avnas = Level 180

-[Race: Demon.]

Elaine grinned, proudly watching her character. A towering demon with dazzling white hair. Deep yellow eyes with gold flecks. Two horns and a lengthy tail highlight her appearance. After hundreds of hours invested in character, one should be proud to have accomplished that much. And Elaine did, because who wouldn't be pompous after fulfilling all of the objectives of their own character?

After truly checking every box of challenges one sets for themselves. Elaine knows she wasn't the only one who thought the same.

"And here I thought they'd widen the level cap. But that was wishful thinking on my part. It would have produced further problems for the players, who didn't know how to level up correctly."

Elaine muttered to no one but herself. She began to check her email before diving into the game. She wanted to make sure no one would bother her. These were sacred hours for her.

"Well, truly, levelling in this game is quite confusing," Elaine's inner monologue was out loud. She has become a master of speaking to herself.

If she was honest, Elaine was being unfair. It wasn't the fault of some players for not levelling up their characters correctly. She made the same mistake when she started playing.

Maybe it was because of how big the level gap looks to new players. It could genuinely be intimidating for people who are casual.

The level ceiling was 180, which could seem exaggerated, but it wasn't. It was actually a four-division level put together.

Ninety levels were the maximum for the main class.

Fifty levels were for sub-class.

Thirty levels were for job-specific talents.

And the last ten levels were race-unique levels.

It was a straightforward way to see things and play with them. It was not complicated at all. For example, Elaine's character, Avnas, was a level 90 [Arcane Spellcaster]. She then devoted 50 of her sub-class levels to making her class more unique and filling the gaps of apparent weakness a magic caster would typically have in a game like this. She took [Arcane Warrior], making both her main class and sub-class sync better, allowing her to fully use her abilities without a downside.

Then, there were job-specific talents.

Job-specific talents were things like [Blacksmith] [Craftmen] [Sword-dancer] [Erudite] etc. Each job had a cap level of ten, which generally allowed someone to choose three job traits.

One could also divide the levels to get more job-specific talents, but in Elaine's humble opinion, the trade-off was not worth it. One would have a bunch of job talents that were unmaxed and useless.

Elaine chose the best job-specific talents that could work with her main class and sub-class. [Academic Wizard], [Arcanist and Mana Reservist] and [Demonic Knight].

Now, race-unique levels were the most important and the ones that took the longest to level up. Reaching level 170 was easy. One could do it in two weeks with XP Boost. But those ten last levels could not be boosted by anything in the store. They were locked behind special quests, events, and time.

They were so vital and game-changing that a level 170 player could never beat a level 180 player. The 10-level gap was as big as a level 10 facing a level 170.

Each level offered an attribute called race mastery that served as a particular talent, skill, or characteristic. It was simple enough for many to understand and implement.

"Tomorrow is Sunday. At the very least, I don't have to work," Elaine sighed deeply, deciding to ignore the emails from work and just focus on playing the game she loved so much.

She adjusted her VR and leaned backwards on her chair. Soon enough, Elaine expected to be in her character, but something wasn't right. Her eyes were looking at how the loading screen was stuck in place. Strange, but not uncommon.

"For crying out loud," Elaine groaned as she pushed the reset button. But again, something was wrong. The screen was still stuck on the same loading screen. "I really don't need this right now!"

Elaine hissed angrily, but as she was about to reboot her entire system completely, she began to feel sick and in pain. Elaine felt as if something was ripping her apart, then squeezed. It was like being sucked into a vacuum, and as fast as that horrible experience came, it vanished. She wanted to take the VR headset but couldn't. It was stuck around her head somehow.

Arghhh! Please! Someone help me! Elaine wailed inside her mind because her voice did not obey her.

It seemed as though something was slowly and cruelly crushing her brain. Fear and despair set in, along with disorientation. Was she going to die? Was she having a seizure? Elaine didn't know. But one thing was clear for her: I don't want to die!

Those were Elaine's last thoughts—her final human thoughts before darkness took her.