Awakening: A LitRPG/GameLit Series (World of Magic Book 1), page 1
AWAKENING
©2021 LEVI WERNER
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Contents
ALSO IN SERIES
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Thank you for reading Awakening
Groups
LitRPG
ALSO IN SERIES
WORLD OF MAGIC
AWAKENING
THE KINGDOM OF SAILS
1
Ding! Lox’s eyes snapped open and quickly found the flashing icon on the screen in front of him. “Open email,” he said, the icon of a mail envelope expanded to take up the whole screen showing him the new item in his inbox. The item was from New Universal Frontiers (NUF); he paused before opening it. He had sent his application to NUF two months ago. He had been waiting for this email with growing trepidation for the last two weeks as the usual period for receiving a response drew to a close. Opening the email, he read.
You have been accepted into the Second Chance Program through New Universal Frontiers. Please contact us when you are ready to begin your journey to the Worlds of Magic. Remember, all affairs that require your presence must be arranged before starting the process as you will never again have a physical form in this world!
Attached is a suggested checklist of legal and personal affairs that should be considered and resolved before beginning the journey.
Also, remember you can change your mind at any point up until you are inducted into the Worlds of Magic.
Best wishes,
NUF Second Chance Program.
“The future lies in our minds.” Brad Rutherford, CEO of New Universal Frontiers.
“I made it in!” Lox exclaimed with joy, startling his caretaker, Tyler. Lox was so excited he would have danced if he could still move more than his facial features. That realization quickly brought his high spirits back into check. About nine months ago, an accident at work had robbed him of all movement from his neck down and even the ability to use full dive virtual tech due to a blow to the back of his neck dealt by a crane.
The surgeons said that he would live, but there was no way for them to give him movement back without a surgery that had an over 90% failure rate, with failure meaning death. Now he was stuck in a wheelchair controlled by his thoughts. Fortunately, he was still able to speak, but that was his world now.
The owner of the company had done his best to compensate Lox, arranging for his assisted living for the foreseeable future and insisting on getting him the most advanced wheelchair available, and giving him a two-million-dollar settlement. While the money was excellent, there was little he could do with it.
The owner, William Trevion, knew it, so a few months ago, he had offered to write a letter of support for Lox to get into the Second Chance Program. Lox had been a mechanical engineer. William had been confident that that fact, along with his letter, would get Lox in. The program didn’t often get specialists applying to it.
The Second Chance Program was provided by New Universal Frontiers for those, like Lox, who had lost the ability to live a fulfilling life before sixty. It used the hyper-advanced NUF technology to fully immerse them into the virtual reality game Worlds of Magic. The only limitation was that you had to have some severe physical impairment, be under the age of 60, and be willing to never leave the game once in.
Even with those criteria, the company still received thousands of requests to be accepted into the program and only took one hundred new people every year.
I really can’t believe I got in! Lox mused to himself. If his circumstances were different, he would never be willing to spend the rest of his life inside of a virtual world. Unlike full-time gamers who had capsules that allowed them to spend months in at a time, Lox enjoyed the real world too much to give it up for a fake one.
It doesn’t seem fair; I worked so hard to get here just to have it all taken away by some idiot not paying attention.
Mr. Trevion’s son had been operating the crane. He had accidentally run it into Lox because he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing.
“Congrats!” Tyler beamed. “Worlds of Magic is the most amazing game to ever come out. I am kind of jealous of you. I only wish I could play.”
While sincere, Tyler's words struck a chord with Lox and caused him to spiral back down as he thought about all that he had lost.
“Yeah, I guess,” he sulked. “It sure beats being stuck in this body.”
“I am so sorry, Lox; I didn't mean any offense.”
“I know that, Tyler. I just have very mixed emotions about it. But I am trying to count the blessings I still have, and so I will try to make the most of it.” He fell silent, his emotions rebounding again. He felt sorry for Tyler. He knew that he hadn’t been one of his easiest patients to care for, with his emotions continually bouncing all over the place. But who could blame him? He was just out of college with a degree in mechanical engineering and had a bright future ahead of him.
“I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for me, Tyler. I know I have been difficult to be around, but you have helped me to pull through this.” He put his thoughts to word.
“Aye, it is no problem, man. You had a tough hand dealt to you this last year. Most people don’t handle it as well as you have; trust me, I would know.” Tyler chuckled.
Lox grunted, “If you say so. Anyways they sent me a checklist I should get to work on.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Not really, most of the stuff I have to do are things I have already dealt with or don’t apply to me.” Financially he had no debt. The money he had received had covered any obligations he had and left him with plenty of money in his bank account.
I guess I just need to call a few friends and my boss to let them know that I got in.
He mentally ran through the checklist they provided. Indeed, the only phone call that mattered was the one to his boss. He had few people he truly called friends. Those friends he did reach out to all promised to try and find him in-game.
“Call Trevion,” he said aloud.
Before long, he heard Trevion pick up. “Hello Mr. Stellacus,” Trevion’s gruff voice greeted him. “What can I do for you today?”
“I was just calling to let you know that I got accepted into the Second Chance Program.”
“That is great news!” he said excitedly. “When do you leave?”
“Just as soon as I finish tying up my affairs.”
“Can I do anything to help you get ready?” He knew Trevion still felt guilty over the accident, but he didn't want to take advantage of that guilt too much.
“Actually, I could use some advice on what to do with my house.”
A week later, he was ready to go. With Trevion’s help, he set it up so that his house would be managed by a high-quality rental company and sold by said company if the rent became unprofitable. They would also handle the aspects of moving his things out of the house and donati
His final bit of business was working with NUF, facilitating the transfer of all his assets to his parents. They were a hard-working couple in Montana and would have greater use for the money than he would ever have. New Universal Frontiers had arrangements with the government that allowed people in the Second Chance program to transfer money to their chosen beneficiaries with just a simple inheritance tax instead of dealing with a colossal gift tax.
Lox had called his parents to tell them about him sending his money to them. They weren’t super thrilled about what they saw as him giving up on the real world, but they had promised to come to visit him when they got a chance. He knew that while they might disagree about the whole philosophical debate around him living out his life in virtual space that they would still come to visit him.
They were just heading into harvest, though, and told him that it would at least be a few months before they could get the capsule to enter the game. It would be much longer for Lox as the game had a considerable time compression factor, meaning that for every day that passed in the real world, four days would pass in the game.
“Call New Universal Frontiers’ Denver office,” he said with the nervous feeling you get as you open the door to a new phase of your life.
“New Universal Frontiers, how may we help you?” a sweet voice greeted him.
“Hello, this is Lox Stellacus. I am ready to be picked up,” he said, feeling as if a heavy weight lifted off of him.
“Great to hear, specialists have been dispatched to your listed location. Have a safe trip.” And with a click, she was gone.
The hour it took for them to get there seemed to pass in an instant, and before he knew it, they were on their way to the airport. The car drove right out onto the tarmac to a parked airplane where a man wearing a tux greeted him as he exited the vehicle, with the help of the driver.
“Mr. Stellacus, my name is Charon Styx. While we are in flight, I will be helping make sure your transition into the Worlds of Magic goes as smoothly as possible.” He winked.
“Nice to meet you. I am excited to get started.” Lox smiled. There was a familiar feeling he got about that name, but the feeling quickly fled his mind as if gently pushed out before he could ask about the name.
“Great to hear. Let's get you on board.”
The flight was about 6 hours long; much of it passed by going over legal documents and such things. Lox digitally signed countless different forms throughout the trip. Everything from an NDA on something he might see in the lab to an arrangement about giving NUF the ability and clearance to transfer funds on his behalf from his Earth bank accounts into the game. Then just as their island headquarters came into view, Charon brought his attention to one last document.
“Alright, here is the point of no return, legally speaking. You still can physically back out before induction. But this is the last document stating that you understand all you have signed and also realized you can never leave the game once you enter it,” Charon said with finality.
Lox barely glanced over it and signed it. Looking at Charon, he sighed. “To be honest, I am struggling to even remember what the last two documents were even about.”
“We can go back over them again,” Charon said with the same cheery attitude he started with six hours ago.
“No! Don’t!” he exclaimed. “You do, and I swear I will find a way to stand up and jump out of the plane!”
He laughed. “I know it is a lot; why else do you think we do it on a plane where people can’t escape. But the worst is over now. From here forward, it should be smooth sailing, so to speak.”
Before long, the plane touched down. Getting off the plane, they were led towards the facility covering most of the island by a couple of attendants. Standing in the entrance, Lox saw a man; he was a tall man with a full head of silver hair and matching beard, both immaculately groomed. His face was angular but not overly sharp, and his grey hair and beard perfectly complemented his piercing blue eyes.
“Is that Brad Rutherford?” Lox asked Charon.
“Yes, that is. He likes to personally meet all participants of the Second Chance Program in the real world before the transition,” Charon responded.
“This must be Mr. Stellacus,” Brad said in a deep booming voice that perfectly matched the imposing figure he struck.
“Yes, sir,” Charon said. “I'll leave him with you. I must be off to pick up another candidate.”
“Very well.” Mr. Rutherford turned toward Lox.
As Charon turned to leave, Lox found his tongue again, “Thanks for the help.”
“It was my pleasure,” Charon said over his shoulder as he walked away.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rutherford.” Lox turned his chair back towards him.
“Please call me Brad.” He gestured for Lox to follow him. “I always like to walk new players to the lab so I can at least put a name to the faces of the people who have come to call my creation their home. Do you have any questions about this whole thing that I can answer?” His voice was such a deep rich baritone that it sucked Lox in, partially enchanting him.
“I am sure this is a question that most people ask you, but why can we never come out? That was never really explained.”
“You can’t come out because you most likely wouldn’t survive the process. Without going into super-detailed explanations, it is like this. For us to be able to help people like you, we have to insert thousands of tiny probes into your brain. These probes connect directly with the tissue, making removing you from the pod almost impossible.”
“I guess that is true. That was the only thing I really wondered about.” The idea of all those needles made his skin crawl.
“Really? Most people are full of questions.”
“Yeah, I answered the other questions I had myself through my own research."
“Most people hardly even look at the manuals, much less understand them. It is not often we get people who have the background to grasp what they mean.”
“Well, I am an engineer,” Lox said, chuckling along with Brad.
“Tis true, I guess I will have to trust you.” Brad laughed. “Do you have a plan for once you are in the game?”
“Yes, I do.” He had played the game some before his accident and had much enjoyed it. After applying for the program, Lox spent almost all of his months stuck in his chair, researching the game in-depth, making plans for how he was going to build his new life in the game.
Brad and Lox ended up chatting for several hours. They parted as friends, Brad promising to eventually come to find Lox in the game world to see how he was doing. He took Lox to the lab, where he would begin the process of induction. He left him there with a beautiful doctor named Persephone. She and her assistant helped to transfer Lox into a pod. Just before closing the lids, she said in a sweet and seductive voice, “This is your last chance to change your mind. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am,” he replied firmly.
The lid closed, and the world went black.
“Welcome to Worlds of Magic.”
The icon of a tiny solar system flashed in front of Lox’s eyes in a pitch-black world that he appeared to be floating in. Below the image was a bar filling up with a description of what was happening, flashing so quickly by he only got a few of the items listed.
“Pod boot up started.”
“Initializing connections 34,614/1,000,000.”
