"Are you excited about it, Dan?" a voice said behind the cellphone.

"Of course I am. Did you choose your class already, Nate?" Dan asked. Both he and his friend Nate planned on playing together the new game that would launch that day, Coliseum Online.

"Probably a mage. You will choose the rogue class, right? ' Nate knew that Dan loved the stealth aspects of games, so it would be no surprise if he chose the Rogue class.

"You are right. So, see you inside the game?"

"You betcha. Bye!"

Dan tossed the cellphone on his bed, and went to the kitchen to get a quick snack before the game launch. Coliseum Online had its release scheduled at 9 pm, and Dan surely wouldn't miss that. He wasn't that great on the kitchen, so he opted for a fried egg alongside some slices of bacon. He knew it was not a healthy snack, but he did not have time to cook something more refined, so that would have to do the trick.

He thought it was a good idea to take a warm shower before starting to play, so that was what he did. A stream of warm water passed through his body, wetting his well-developed muscles and his brown hair.

Dan didn't have many fancy clothes, so he opted for a simple t-shirt and shorts. He sat on his bed, wearing his blue game helmet. Coliseum online would launch in a couple of minutes, and Dan didn't want to be late. Every second counted in the long run of achieving the rank 1 spot.

A soft voice ranged inside his head, indicating that the game was about to start.

Game Syncronization

Welcome to Coliseum Online

Dan's mind got transported right after that sentence. He stood inside a medium-sized room, with all walls being of the white color. A beautiful woman was standing in front of him.

"Hello Adventurer. I'm here to help you with the game basics," she said. Dan was lost for a moment in that woman's beauty, but soon he managed to escape that charm.

"The game is divided in four initial classes, these are: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Healer. All of these classes have more sub-classes that can be choosen later on in the game. Another awesome feature of Coliseum is that, there are hidden classes, and one will prevail among the best with one of them."

Dan knew all of that. He had read some online guides, and it was similar to some other RPGs, so no big deal. He chose the Rogue class because he thought it fit with the techniques he learned from his family. The next part was the race, and Dan chose the human race, and he didn't want long ears like the elves and neither an ugly face like the orcs.

One could not change that much of the character appearance, so he only did some small changes on his face. Dan decided to name his character as Void Stalker, and then, finally, he entered the game.

Soon countless players entered Dan's sight, and a huge city made his eyes shone in excitement. The amount of details was something one couldn't explain, and the game company was serious when they said 'the game was more real than real life'.

Dan was level 1 and only had leather armor and a rusty dagger. It was obvious that one would not start strong in an RPG, so Dan's first goal was to find some monsters to kill and earn experience points. A quest would be ideal, as it gave even more rewards to the player, but these were hard to find, at least the game company said so.

Suddenly, everyone's character stopped. They couldn't move. This happened not only in the town Dan had respawned, but also in every town that had players. Then a massive figure appeared in the sky, covering everything.

"What is happening?" a player shouted, afraid of who exactly was that figure.

"I don't know. Perhaps is some launching event?" another player said.

The strange figure wore a golden armor that shined more than the sun, and it spoke in a loud voice.

"Hello everyone. I am the Game Master, one of the creators of the game. I'm here to welcome everyone to, Coliseum Online," as soon as they hearded that, they relaxed. It was just the Game Master. Of course a Game Master would appear in the game launch, they thought.

Dan thought the same, but something inside of him made him feel uneasy. He felt the same when facing his daddy, but the difference was that his father was a cold-hearted assassin.

"I'm also here to tell you some things. First of all, you all can notice that there's no log off button. That's no bug, this is a feature of the game," the figure said.

Everyone's heart beat faster and all went to check if what the figure said was true, and unfortunately it was. The log off button was deactivacted, and all of the players couldn't understand what was happening.

"That's not the worse part if you ask me. Everyone listen carefully as it will only be said once. All of you will not be able to log off, and if any of you die inside the game, you will also die outside of it", all the players went silent after hearing that.

"Stop messing with us, that's bullshit," one player yelled, and soon all of them were doing the same. They couldn't believe what Game Master said.

"Believe it or not, that's the truth. You'll soon discovered that the log off button will not show up again, and I advice you to not die inside the game, or else your life will be over. There's a way to get out of the game, but you'll need to figure it out. Now, happy adventure to all!' And just like that, the figure vanished, leaving a crowd of players who could not respond.

"AAAAAGGGGRRR!" a young girl fell on its knees, unable to withstand what the figure said to them. Soon, many players were losing their minds.

Dan wasn't one of them. He was rational, his father had taught him that way. He didn't know if the IRL part of getting killed was real, but it was true that the log-off button was non-existent, so that part could also be true.

"Calm down Dan. When the government discovers this, they will do something. I don't know if they can get us out of the game, but I think they can at least send our bodies to the hospital. If we are unable to log-off, then we will all starve to death." Dan thought, running throught the crowd of players.

He knew that if he wanted to be successful and get out alive, he couldn't waste time crying like a baby and needed to do things.

"I'll find a way out of this damned place."