001 "THE BLACK COCK"
Leo sprinted through the sleek, newly built Hyperport, chasing down his ride on the cutting-edge "Hyperloop" — the first of its kind in pre-commercial service.
The Hyperport was spacious and modern, reminiscent of a high-tech airport, but instead of airplanes, it housed sleek pods designed to travel at the speed of sound.
As Leo neared the terminal, he noticed the walls lined with advertisements for a new virtual reality game—'The Realm of Sins'. The game was in its beta testing phase, launching in tandem with the Hyperloop trip as part of a bold marketing strategy.
During the short journey, passengers could experience a beta preview of the game, a twisted fantasy world of survival, filled with violence, anarchy, hedonism and sexual fantasies.
"Sir, please put on this VR device during your ride," a stewardess approached Leo, offering him a small device resembling an earpod, not the bulky goggles he expected.
"Why do I need this?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Hyperpod is fully sealed, so there's no external view. The VR device is our recommended form of entertainment for the ride. You can also opt into the beta preview of The Realm of Sins during your trip to Sinne City," she explained with a smile.
Leo, a professional programmer and hacker with a specialty in network security, was intrigued. The stewardess attached the small device behind his ear.
"That's it?" he asked, surprised.
"Yes, it's the latest brain-connection technology. This device links your neural activity directly to our servers," she said, her tone businesslike yet proud.
Leo's curiosity deepened.
As a hacker, he was always on the lookout for vulnerabilities, and a system this advanced was bound to have flaws.
He settled into his pod, a stark, white-metal interior that felt more like a sterile capsule than a luxurious ride. As the pod sealed shut, there was nothing but white walls, but then they flickered to life.
Without warning, the scenery around him morphed into a dense, otherworldly forest.
A woman appeared before him.
"Hello, Leo. I'm Vanessa, your handler. Welcome to The Realm of Sins," she said in a calm, almost hypnotic voice.
Leo smirked. "Sure, Vanessa. Fuck you."
Vanessa, the AI handler, replied without missing a beat, "There are many ways to fuck. Which do you prefer?"
Leo blinked, stunned. "Wait, is this game PG-rated?"
"This game is rated PG-13+," Vanessa replied.
Leo shook his head, chuckling.
"There's definitely a glitch. I wonder if I can hack into this fucking game, exploit it, and maybe ransom the developers for a reward," he mused.
He pulled out his phone, trying to access the wireless system with a program.
But as he reached for the program, a translucent screen appeared in the air in front of him as if it read his mind—a control panel for his hacking tool, somehow connected to the game's interface.
"Well, that's convenient," he thought, surprised to see his hacking tool integrated with the game's system.
He mentally typed commands, and to his amazement, the environment around him flickered. The once vivid forest began to break apart, revealing the raw programming code that built the world.
Even Vanessa transformed, her form unraveling into data streams before his eyes. Leo had found the virtual world's skeleton—a hacker's paradise.
But before he could relish his success, a tremor shook both the virtual realm and his real-world body.
Something was wrong with the system.
The environment distorted, the images warping uncontrollably. The AI-generated world began glitching, and a selection screen appeared with rotating boxes, prompting him to make a choice.
Before him, a series of boxes floated in mid-air, each one offering free game merchandise as part of the starter pack.
"Fuck I don't have time for this shit", Leo complained.
The selection was vast, with various relics and items designed to enhance the gaming experience. Yet, despite the impressive display, Leo wasn't the least bit interested in playing.
He wasn't here for the game; this was just a short trip, and he had no intention of wasting time making a choice.
"Ugh, fine, whatever," Leo groaned, selecting a box at random without caring much about the contents.
He glanced at the selection though.
"Black Cock – Empowering Lust."
A menacing black rooster materialized before him, its sharp beak snapping furiously in the air. Leo's eyes widened, shocked. "What the hell kind of game is this?" he muttered.
"Do you confirm your selection?"
"Yea, what the fuck. Yes." Leo was obviously irritated by the annoying forced entertainment system.
"Black Cock selected. Wise choice. Recalibrating your experience, installing add-on Lust Counter," Vanessa's distorted voice announced.
"Yeah, fuck you, Vanessa," Leo muttered, shaking his head at the absurdity.
"Yes, you will, if you can maintain an erection," Vanessa replied in a glitchy, unsettling tone, leaving him momentarily speechless.
"PG 13+!!!"
Then, just as suddenly as the chaos had begun, the world around him vanished into darkness.
-----
Leo awoke with a jolt, disoriented. Just moments ago, he had been riding the hyperloop, chatting with a cheeky and adult rated AI chatbot.
Now, he found himself in a small, ancient-looking hut. The walls were made of unevenly packed mud, mixed with who knows what unsanitary materials. The stench of manure hung heavy in the air.
His head spun as he tried to focus.
Out of nowhere, a translucent box appeared over a nearby object, like a virtual box marker in a game. A description floated under the box:
"Jug - Quality: O"
"Milk - Quality: Sour."
"Damnit," Leo muttered to himself, "I'm still stuck in this stupid program."
Instinctively, he reached up to remove his VR goggles but realized, with growing unease, that there were none. His fingers brushed against nothing but his head.
"What the hell?" Leo exclaimed, panic rising in his voice. "Am I actually inside the fucking game?"
He glanced around, slowly realizing that he wasn't in just any room—he was in a stable. Just a few feet away, a horse stood lazily swishing its tail. A box marker appeared again:
"Horse - Quality: Stinks."
"Fucking shit..." Leo muttered, exasperated in a foreign language. "Why is there a fucking horse in the house?"
As the strange language slipped from his tongue, Leo froze.
He had no memory of learning it, yet it flowed naturally. Before he could fully process that revelation, he noticed he wasn't alone. Several strangers were standing around him, watching curiously.
A young woman stepped forward.
"We always keep our horses inside," she said, her tone casual. "It keeps them safe from thieves or wolves."