New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

***Back to before game Launch, POV David Magnus***

"AARRGGHH!!" David screamed, waking up in a sweat.

"What a horrible nightmare!" He added, panting and gasping.

He got up from bed and walked to his bathroom to refresh himself. After washing his face with cold water, he walked to his small kitchen to make some coffee.

His mind kept flashing back to his nightmare, shivers crawling up his back. It had felt so real, all the pain and the fear.

David was an ordinary man, with no exciting goal in life. Standard goals of a standard life, for a standard man.

Get a good job, buy a big house, meet a lovely woman, and form a picture-perfect family.

He was currently between jobs, so it filled his days with the monotony of job search. Wake up, look for work on the internet, send applications, make phone calls, and hope for the best.

He had been fruitless for the last week, but he knew if he kept trying, he would eventually get one.

David was a professional welder by trade. He had taken welding jobs in many spheres of work in his life. Be it structural welding for high rises, sub-nautical welding on boat repairs, to many others.

Unfortunately for him, most postings for his trade were looking for workers with more experience, or complete rookies.

So finding a job had been harder than he expected for now. But he wouldn't stop trying until he was back in service.

After drinking his coffee and eating a light breakfast, David went for a walk. The fresh air from outside cleared his mind of that horrible nightmare.

On his walk, he passed in front of a video game store. In the store's window, there was a screen showing an ad for the next game coming out soon.

The release date was for the following week. As David was looking at the screen, the name of the game flashed in big blue letters.

A migraine assaulted his head. Flashes of his nightmare resurfaced, in which he kept seeing himself inside a world of fantasy. A world filled with monsters and creatures of myth.

But the dream in question was a nightmare because of a simple fact; he was a slave to other people.

He could see a collar on his neck. It was black and lined with red shining engravings.

The migraine and visions stopped shortly after, leaving him panting and clutching his chest. He was bent over, in the middle of the sidewalk, people looking at him strangely.

He turned his head around, noticing the stares, and made a run for it.

"Hey! Are you okay pal?!" Someone yelled as he ran for it.

David ran all the way back to his apartment, but on the way, he kept having flashes. The streets were in ruins, buildings half destroyed, and bodies laying in pools of blood.

The visions haunted him all the way into his apartment, where they finally relented.

Once he had closed the door behind him, he collapsed to the ground, breathing fast and heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

His heartbeat was like a horse on a racetrack. He felt like his head would burst at any minute from the pressure building up in it.

He knew something was wrong with him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

It took him over half an hour to calm down his breathing and beating heart. His head was still pounding, but the pain had lessened.

He forwent looking for a job that day and stayed home. He closed all his blinds and just laid down on his couch in the dark.

He tried sleeping it off many times, but as soon as closed his eyes, the visions assaulted his mind, repeatedly.

'What the fuck is happening to me?' He thought, many times.

He eventually fell asleep from exhaustion, but the nightmares troubled him through the night. His sleep was all but recuperating.

The next morning, when he woke up, he had a distinct air about him. His eyes were cold and indifferent.

He looked like a different person. His attitude was suddenly a seeping wave of icy anger, like he was out for vengeance.

He walked over to a mirror and looked at himself from different angles.

"Hmm." He hummed.

He pulled up his phone and looked at the time and date.

"I only have a few days to plan. It'll have to suffice." He said in a monotonous tone.

He walked to his computer with a steady gait. One that resembled a predator, stalking its prey.

He booted it up and opened up his browser. He keyed in Evo-Gaming.com/New-Eden.

Once the site had fully loaded, he tapped on the pre-purchase option. He ordered a VR helmet and game combo, entering his bank info and address.

Once he had confirmed all his info, the payment went through and it completed the purchase.

"Step one complete. Now to make adequate preparations." He said in a low voice.

He opened up another website, ordering a few things from it and pre-setting a recurring purchase plan.

He looked at his bank account, slowly draining away, and remedied that.

David had a car, but he barely used it these days, since he wasn't working. He drove it to a dealership and sold it off.

It was still pretty new, so he got a decent deal for it. The salesman tried selling him a new car, but he wasn't interested.

He walked back home, ignoring the surrounding people. Some people would see him walk towards them and directly change sides of the road.

He gave off a violent vibe right now, and most sensitive people could feel like small needles pricking their skin.

Once he was back home, he started moving some furniture around. He moved his computer to a corner of the room, moving everything away from it.

He pushed all his furniture out of the center of the room, leaving a sizeable space.

He looked at it with an empty stare.

"That should be enough, for now." He said to himself.

"Now we wait." He added, before eating a light lunch.

After eating, he browsed many forums and websites, trying to find an information trail on New Eden.

"I will be ready. I won't be a slave this time." He murmured, clenching his fist.