"Mr. Grey, I present the future of degenerate entertainment," a sickly pale man announced, holding a VR headset. "Myriad Online: a true utopia where murder is rewarded, theft is a sport, and all actions are legal as long as you don't stream them.

It's a land of limitless opportunity. If someone wants to jackknife a horse in public, a developer made it possible, and a planet made it legal. Want to start a protection racket? Register a guild. Enjoy late-night slaughter? Countries stage contests to see whose intergalactic war crime can claim the most casualties!

I assure you, Mr. Grey. There has never been a greater opportunity for organized crime."

While Myriad Online had yet to launch, Grey scoffed as if the man had announced soap as a recent discovery. "I'll be frank with you, Mr. Jones," he began. "While I'm confident rich, loli-hunting perverts would spend a fortune to watch slimes eat clothing off female players in virtual reality–video games will never satisfy my clients.

They live for [risk]: the rush from staking legal, financial, and emotional destruction for instantaneous rewards. That's something a [risk-free] game could never provide them."

Grey's words and countenance befit a sharply-dressed man sitting behind the desk of a downtown nightclub office, guarded by an armed, over-protective redhead. However, none befit a seventeen-year-old, painting a story of a teen with a questionable upbringing.

"Myriad Online isn't just a game, Mr. Grey," Mr. Jones claimed. "It's a solution.

As the world's resources near depletion and the economy teeters on the brink of collapse, governments have invested trillions in creating new worlds to exploit rather than committing to responsible resource management for this one.

The result: Myriad Online.

Initially launching as a game to drive adoption, it will soon become an economic necessity as people establish in-game enterprises to cover real-world expenses. Once that occurs, in-game imprisonment and permanent bans will equate to financial ruin. Since the dawn of gambling, no opportunity has held a greater potential for risk."

The teen's eyes widened. If the man's claims were accurate, he could establish real-world criminal networks with state-endorsed legality. It was a crime subsidy! However, there was a catch.

"Even if your assertions are true, video games document every player interaction," Grey reminded the man. "Legal or not, my high-profile clients won't expose their proclivities and desires on record."

"That's the genius of Myriad Online," Mr. Jones smiled thinly. "As an international project, no country wants to risk espionage or blackmail.

Therefore, it randomizes interactions using quantum encryption, decipherable only by the algorithm. Laundering in-game currency is also straightforward and lawful. In an ironic twist, it offers greater anonymity than the real world."

The redhead navigated to Ryker Corp's privacy page on her phone. Dozens of articles on G20 rulings, legal precedents, and protests popped up, painting a vivid picture of its controversial anonymity and security.

"How true to life is it?" Grey asked, visibly stunned.

"Rest assured, Mr. Grey," Mr. Jones smiled knavishly. "Whether you're curious what your enemy's eyeball tastes like or want to know if a bear's spleen would make a great pillow, a creepy developer somewhere has certified its realistic integrity."

While the teen's eyes flickered with greed, he reigned himself in, "You'll have to speak with my adoptive father, Vincent Maxwell," he sighed. "I doubt he'll let me neglect his ring to play this game."

"No need to concern yourself with Maxwell, Mr. Grey," Mr. Jones replied enigmatically. "If you wish to play, I can ensure it happens."

Grey's heart pulsed abnormally, and his vision became hazy. While he didn't trust the man's words, they were still intoxicating. "Then let's set up a demonstration. The game opens to the public in three weeks, correct?"

"Why delay?" the shady man inquired. "As one of the developers, I can offer you a demo immediately."

The slender redhead unclipped her pistol's holster, narrowing her eyes. "Do you think I'd let you hover over Alyx's body while he's in a catatonic state, Casper?"

"You can watch me closely," Mr. Jones taunted. "I'd love the attention; dangerous redheads with anger problems are my type."

"Tricksie, if he insists on a demo, hold him at gunpoint," Grey instructed, holding her back. "You can kill him if he tries something sketchy. I'm sure this arrangement is agreeable for both of you, yes?"

The man smiled chillingly, and she unholstered her Glock and pointed it at the man's head. "If you're sure you're okay with this, I won't refuse," Tricksie grinned. "I haven't killed anyone in a while."

Grey smiled at her words, hesitantly accepting the helmet. After putting it on, he laid down and started the game.

-

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Ryker Corp VR | Aspectum - Platinum

Welcome, User!

Setting up your device, please wait…

[██████████████████████]

Set up complete.

Loading Myriad Online…

[███████████████ 73%]

User configuration error!

Resolving the issue….

[█████████████ 66%]

User configuration cannot be fixed. Profile data is corrupted.

Attempting to fix data corruption....

[█ 7%]

Data corruption cannot be fixed.

Creating a new profile for the user....

[▌ 1%]

Unique profile detected. The admins have locked the new profile creation for this user. Using a system restore point to reset the profile to the initial state....

[ 0%]

Restoration error! No system restore point exists. Determining whether the profile meets the requirements to play the game....

[██████████████████████]

No items or interactions were found. The profile meets playing standards.

Beginning user configuration. Please wait….

[██████████████████████]

Welcome to Myriad Online.

─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─

-

Grey tried to rip the headset off after seeing the errors, but his body wouldn't move. A violent wave of pain assaulted his mind, his vision became hazy, and he lost consciousness.

When he regained awareness, he was plummeting 20 feet into a misty abyss. "AhHHHhhHhhhHhhHh!"

SPLASH!

The teen reflexively gasped for air when he suddenly found he couldn't breathe. Unfortunately, he had abruptly landed in hot water, and, as promised, the game felt real—too real! His lungs filled with the scalding liquid, causing him to kick upwards and cough while submerged.

A pair of hands gripped his collar, hoisted him to the surface, and dragged him to a shallower area.

"GuhhHhhHhh!" Grey gasped, inhaling before coughing the water from his lungs. As his blurred vision cleared, he noticed peculiar words floating before his eyes.

-

[Aphrodite's Spring of Cleansing, Lower Realm, Myriad]

-

Grey's eyes widened at the familiar Greek reference and scanned his surroundings. He stood in a vast hot spring encircled by mist-shrouded mountains that appeared to touch the sky.

He wore the same attire, albeit wet, including a charcoal gray dress shirt, black slacks, and matching shoes. However, his dry, straight black hair had become brown, wet, and curly.

Six voluptuous beauties waded around him in their birthday suits. There was a stunning redhead with radiant white wings, a blonde elf, a sexy woman with black hair, cat ears, and purple eyes, and three other fantasy women. He also noticed something fluttering in the distance, but the mist obscured his view.

Each had an abnormally perfect body. Even with him pissed off and in business mode—cutting his sex drive to zero—it was hard not to examine their form, trying to find flaws.

"Are you done sightseeing?" a male scoffed.

Grey looked around in perplexion, seeing fantasy women but no man! He instinctively looked down to eliminate possibilities and found himself face to face with a short bearded man. "My apologies...." the teen said. "I wasn't expecting a dwarf to be here."

"I'm not a dwarf; are you blind!?" the man scoffed with murderous eyes, stark naked with water to his nipples.

"So… a midget?" Grey asked hesitantly. He wasn't trying to be offensive—he genuinely didn't know what to call someone with dwarfism! Unfortunately, things went as he expected.

"It's [little person], bitch!" the little person scoffed. "Did you cliff diving into my operation without any preparations!?"

"Excuse me, what?" Grey laughed in bafflement, looking up. "Do you think I asked to be summoned 20 feet in the air above this place? I could've died!"

"You've got some serious balls," the man chuckled murderously. "The last person Casper Jones sent killed one of my clients with that fall. You haven't even paid the reparations yet, and you're complaining? Do you want to die, bitch?"

"Wait, who are you?" Grey asked with narrowed eyes.

"Who am I?" the little person chuckled, holding out his hand. A curvy woman with blue skin and double D's waded to him, handing him a sword engraved with glowing red runes. "It's Matious 'pay-me-my-fuckin'-money' Little," he announced. "That's who the fuck I am—it's nice to meet you."

"That shady son of a bitch!" Grey seethed, his eyes flashing with killing intent. "He wasn't giving me a game demo; he sent me here as a fixer!"

"You're a fixer?" Matious chuckled, putting his sword against the teen's neck. "Well, I suggest you start fixing. Cuz if you think that you can transmigrate to your world to get out of this, you got another thing coming."

The teen's eyes widened in horror. "Log out."

─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─

Enemies are attacking. The player cannot log out.

─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─

Grey chuckled murderously, looking at the system screen, "The things I'll do to that man."

"You get it now?" Matious smirked. "Good, then let's get started. Casper Jones sent you here to deal with reparations. So. Where. Is. My. Mutha~fucking. Money?"

The teen grinned ominously as he analyzed the situation. The little person was strong, angry, and holding a sword against his neck; he was weak, surrounded, and weaponless. There was no hope of leaving the situation alive—and he was okay with that!

Grey wanted to leave to prevent future suffering–dying was the easy way out! So without warning, he swung his neck down on the man's blade, grinning about everything he'd do to Casper Jones in his next life.