June 12, 2026, 4:49 pm at Southeast Asia
An 18-year-old boy woke up. He has long black hair, abyss eyes, tan skin and an average face. He has a malnourished physique, wearing a plain white t-shirt, black shorts above the knee and slippers that are not matched with each other.
He is Yuuri, he doesn't have a last name since he grew up in church. He doesn't know his parents, nor want to know.
At the age of 5, he already knows the dirty part of society. He witnesses how the pope and other church officials rape the orphans, whether it is a girl or a boy.
A beautiful appearance is a curse in the lower class.
Yuuri is not the chatter type. He silently observes, takes notice and studies the surroundings. He doesn't have what you can call a friend, he interacts with others but doesn't stay long with a group.
The only thing he experiences is abuse and bullying.
Although he hears those screams with moans, a plea that is not helpful and even witnessed the suicides of others; He doesn't move, no, he can't do anything.
The church teaches them how to write and read. Yuuri himself knew that he can do more but choose not to get attention. He is not a coward, he only does that for survival.
What is the use of justice if you are dead?
At the age of 10, Yuuri still chooses to stay in the church. He collects money and keeps it in a safe place, the money that he gets for collecting trash and selling it is more than enough for him to survive for 2 years if there is no economic crisis.
The church has books, books for every subject that you can learn in school. There are even advanced books that are only for college students. When Yuuri is assigned to clean the library, he reads in his free time.
At the age of 15, Yuuri chooses to be independent. He may experiences abuse in the church but at least they still feed him once a day. He also eats sometimes outside before coming back from collecting trash. But it is still not enough for him to gain weight.
The money that he accumulated in his 15 years in church, can help him rent a house for 3 whole years in a city. But it doesn't cover his expenses for his daily needs such as food, clothes and water.
He still rents a room. It is a house that costs a room $100 per month. He rents it for 2 whole years. He bought clothes that is second-hand which is a bargain.
The room contains a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a big space for you to arrange. It is like a mini house in a big house. The big house contains many mini houses. A condominium.
He has neighbours but doesn't interact with them, most of his neighbours are students in college.
There is a popular VR game called "PARADISE" that is released on June 12, 2019. Everyone can play it, there is a VR helmet, and capsules that you can rent. $20 per hour for a helmet and $100 per hour for capsules.
Yuuri's money is $4000, that is what he accumulated for 15 years collecting trash. You can earn in a game but Yuuri who is underaged can't open his bank account. He also plays late, 2022 is the year when he starts to play he is already 14 years old at that time.
Plus the time he plays is only 5 hours per week, it costs $100 for a week. Sometimes he didn't even play for months. So the thing that he accumulated for the past year is small. If he were to sell that, he will only get around a thousand dollars.
He is a mage in the game, so the time when he is 15 he opens a bank account. He put all his money there, as of now he only has $1000. A helmet costs $890 which will leave him $110.
At least he bought daily needs that will help him last for 6 months. The foods are all cup noodles, canned and only in the first week does he have meat and vegetables.
Since he already pays for 2 whole years' rent, he doesn't have to change houses for 2 years. At the age of 15 being independent, he starts making money thru the game.
But as he plays the game, did he discovered that he is not suitable to be a mage. You can't change your account because only one account per person.
So for the past 3 years, you can see that the others are already in the capital while he is still in the city. He is stuck in the city, but he has an income of $550 a month. But it continues to decrease as the gap between players widens.
He is not clueless about the changes, Yuuri always does research in the forum. He knows the trends. He even knows the weaknesses of monsters that are above him since he also watches videos.
3 years later, Yuuri is already 18 years old and 3 hours will be PARADISE's 7th anniversary. His bank account has money that can let him live for a decade. That is what he accumulated for 3 years.
The highest level of players now is 430-450 while he is still at level 80. He doesn't resent it since being a mage is his choice, he only regrets that he doesn't do more research. He only bases that mage is money profiting due to hearsay.
The PARADISE will launch an event for its 7th anniversary. That's why the players are enthusiastic. 85% of Humans are playing PARADISE, whether it is old, teen, kid, or adult. That's why the Earth is awake.
PARADISE already affects reality. Yuuri chooses to go offline and wait on his computer for the announcement. Since every time PARADISE has an event it will force the players to log out. So Yuuri chooses to log out.
30 minutes more before the update.
25 minutes...
15 minutes...
7 minutes...
3 minutes...
1 minute...
30 seconds...
As the time gets closer and closer, Yuuri does a refresh on his PC.
10 seconds...
9...
6...
3...
2...
1..
Then a ground shaking that is so intense shook the Earth. Yuuri immediately found a balance and look out at the window. Several flashes of light appear in the sky, even where Yuuri is standing has a blinding light.
Yuuri choose to close his eyes, the ground is still shaking but the intensity is fading.
Minutes pass, and then a monotonous voice that is neutral can be heard in Yuuri's mind.