In a rundown fighting ring, two hefty men were battling it out with sweat-soaked, exhausted expressions. This was one of the underground fighting arenas owned by a local mafia lord in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio. Hundreds of people stood in the audience, yelling at the top of their lungs, cheering and booing the fighters. Amid the rowdy crowd, a teenager around 18 or 19 years old could be seen outside the ring, shouting advice to one of the fighters, clearly out of place yet acting as both cutman and cornerman.
"Calm down and keep your eyes level!"
"Stay steady and wait for him to attack; use force to redirect force!"
"Uppercut!"
"Knee strike!"
"Don't tap out!"
"You've got this!"
"Ugh, dammit!"
A few minutes later...
"I don't understand why you gave up the match. You could've won if you had a little patience," the teenager said unhappily.
"Haha, little James, you won't understand until you're the one in the ring. It's easy for those outside to judge," replied the man, wiping sweat from his face with a towel.
"But Uncle, I'm sure you heard my voice. If you'd followed my instructions..."
"He still wouldn't have won," interrupted a man passing by, handing a drink to the seated fighter. The newcomer, who appeared to be in his early 30s with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, had just been the opponent in the concluded fight.
"Why do you say that?" James was clearly displeased.
"A fight at our stage isn't just about throwing punches. Third-person advice only goes so far. You give good pointers, kid, I'll admit that. But half of it is useless inside the ring. As they say, it's only good on paper. You've got theory, but you lack the experience." He smiled, offering James' uncle a handshake. "Good fight, by the way."
"Hello, I'm Blake, this kid's uncle. Don't mind him—he fancies himself an expert even with his weak body."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Michael. No problem at all. The kid's got rare insight for someone his age," he replied, glancing at James.
"Mr. Michael, is this your first time here? I haven't seen you around before," James asked.
"Yeah, just moved to the city a few weeks ago. I'm exploring around," Michael replied.
"Then you definitely have to visit our gym; it's a few blocks away from here," James said, visibly excited. He rummaged in his bag, pulled out an advertisement flyer, and handed it to Michael. "We give a 20% discount on elite memberships with top-of-the-line equipment," he added with a businesslike smile.
"Sure, I'll check it out," Michael replied, tucking the flyer into his side-bag. "See y'all around."
"See you," Blake replied.
"Let's head home before Aunty gets mad," Blake added, leading the way to the changing room.
---
A short while later...
"I seriously don't know why finding a taxi is getting harder these days. We've been standing here for ten minutes!" Blake complained, frowning.
"You really don't keep up with the news, do you, Uncle? The world government started free training for taxi drivers to transition to commercial aircars. Only those without enough funds to buy an aircar are still driving regular taxis," James explained with a shrug.
"Since when did those greedy bastards become so charitable? I bet they're doing this to boost Earth's civilization tier on the Galactic Alliance Council. Ah! Finally, a taxi," Blake muttered as one pulled up.
"Where to, lads?" asked the old driver as he rolled down his window.
"Cardinals Avenue," James gave the address.
"That's 300 credits. Hop in."
"What?! It was 50 bucks last week! What changed—does this cab come with a 5-star experience now?" Blake shouted.
"He's just saving up to buy an aircar when the next batch comes out," James replied with a smirk.
"Fine, fine. 50 credits. Get in." The driver grumbled and muttered under his breath as they climbed in.
"Damnit, this driver must be ripping people off left and right. These seats are so uncomfortable," Blake muttered.
---
**Beep Beep, Beep Beep**
"Hey Adam, what's up?" James answered a video call on his holo-watch.
"Wassup, boss! Are you coming to the gym today?" Adam's face appeared on the small screen.
"Nope, we're late for dinner. Uncle Blake tried to recoup our losses at the ring today and ended up losing to a new guy," James sighed.
"Why am I not surprised? I told Uncle Blake to retire already," Adam chuckled.
"I can hear you, you know! You youngsters don't know anything," Blake grumbled.
"Anyway, we're not going to the gym today. Why did you ask?"
"Well, we need your help. There's this new VR game releasing tonight, and we need you to guide us, as always, Lord Alexander." Adam grinned.
"Wait, what? A game? How come I didn't hear about a game release?" James was surprised.
"There was no beta test, maybe not even an alpha. The World Council helped advertise it, though. The game's called *Tower of Apotheosis*, and there's a ton of hype despite zero marketing or headquarters information." Adam frowned.
"Alright, I'll check it out once I'm home and update you."
"We'll be waiting!" Adam said, ending the call.
"The government is up to something, first with the free aircar training, and now they're pushing a game? Suspicious." Blake remarked.
"Yeah," James agreed, directing the driver, "We'll be dropping off at the Worthington Estate."
---
As they entered the estate, a woman's voice called from the balcony, "You're both late for dinner, so no dinner for you, Blake!"
"Why only me? What about James?!" Blake protested.
"The only time James is late is when he's with you. You're a bad influence!" she teased.
"As your husband, I demand dinner!" Blake said with mock authority.
"As your wife, I beg you to be responsible and come home on time!" she shot back playfully.
"…"
"…"
"27–1, in favor of Aunty Amy," James broke the silence, laughing. "Good evening, Aunty Amy, sorry for being late."
"It's not your fault, James. Go on in. I need to have a word with this husband of mine." She glared at Blake with a raised eyebrow.
James whispered to his uncle, "I'll write a thousand-word article about how good the food was." He smirked, slipping inside.
"You… little..." Blake muttered, his face turning red.
---
In his room, James got ready, slipping into comfortable clothes before sinking into a high-tech gaming chair. He addressed the screens before him, "Wake up, Fixi, we've got work to do."
"Welcome back, Master. How was your day?" a robotic female voice greeted him.
"Not bad. Any updates from the internet?"
"You've got invites from 14 gaming companies for beta testing, five news requests for interviews, and I successfully blocked 1,644 intrusion attempts, thanks to your last programming update." Fixi's voice carried a hint of pride. "Logs saved to the private server."
"Reject and delete all messages. And let's send a little 'thank you' to those trying to hack us." James smirked. "Anything happen here at home?"
"Nothing much. Another servant tried to access the private server. I reported him to Amy, and he's been let go," Fixi replied.
"Sigh, these greedy bastards." He shook his head. "Now, what's with this new game, *Tower of Apotheosis*?"
"It was created by 'NEON Corporations,' though there's no information on them or their location. When I tried to access their site, I was caught immediately and given a download link."
"Interesting. Download it and check for viruses."
"Done. It's clean."
"Fifteen terabytes?! What's it made of?!" James exclaimed.
"Only one way to find out," Fixi replied. James chuckled, then leaned back in his gaming pod as it transformed around him.
"Start *Tower of Apotheosis*."
[Initializing Tower of Apotheosis…]
[Installing Tower of Apotheosis…]
[Updating software parameters…]
[Checking hardware configuration…]
[Updating gaming pod to latest specifications…]
[Binding gaming pod to current user…]
[Binding to user's DNA…]
[Matching user's information…]
"What's with all these…!" James muttered.
[Good evening, Worthington James.]
[WELCOME TO TOWER OF APOTHEOSIS]