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nDeciding to play Redlands again, to take a second chance on a life in a different world, was one thing. Executing said decision was another.

nEven before the starting gate, there were some not so little roadblocks.

nFirst, his present body was weak.

nUsed to an active, highly-athletic life in Zushkenar, Eli couldn't help being disappointed.

nHe panted for breath, bent over, bracing against the handholds of the exercise machine, the wheezing of his labored breathing humiliatingly loud in the morning air.

nA passer-by on the jogging path of the outside park gym stopped to run in place when he saw Eli.

"Are you alright?

"

nEli lifted a hand from the machine without lifting his head to see the speaker and gave a silent thumbs-up.

nThe jogger chuckled.

"It's only painful at first. But you started already. From here, it's just one step at a time. Keep on!

"

nEli looked up, and breathed out a word painfully.

"Thanks.

"

nA familiar-looking middle-aged man grinned at him and jogged away. Wearing a singlet and stretchy pants, Eli could see the jogger's lithe and lean muscles rippling.

nTsk. Eli felt a resentful envy suddenly. His former body had been like that too.

nWait, wasn't that one of the people who lived in his building? Jogger neighbor, you don't mind if I use your body as motivation, right? We're good neighbors, after all.

n…that sounded wrong didn't it.

nWell, it wasn't as if he'd said it out loud.

nHe glared at the stalled one-hour beginner routine that was paused on the visual display visor that covered one eye. The virtual instructor mimicking the positions he needed to copy was paused in a comical pose.

nThere were still just thirty minutes into the routine, and his muscles felt like they were rebelling with pitchforks.

nHe paced his breathing, restarted the music, and started to move, the machine adding resistances and weights. He thought a two-hour routine would be easy, since in the first months after the Quake, he'd been able to walk between towns days apart without problem.

nApparently game stats made a difference after the transmigration.

nEli was determined to finish the routine.

nA VRMMORPG wasn't just a game; at the topmost levels it was a high-intensity extreme sport where the fitness of the player was one more advantage to in-game success. It was a social and competitive experience that increasing numbers of corporate leaders were turning to in order to promote cohesiveness and teamwork in their employees.

nIt wasn't just business people.

nHuman beings thrive in conflict; push themselves to attain greater and greater heights with competition.

nVirtual reality provided an almost unlimited sky for that particularly human drive.

nEspecially since in the last century, the sports and travel industries had changed.

nEnvironmental preservation concerns meant that certain extreme outdoor sports and tourism activities were banned because they damaged the sustainability of the natural world.

nBecause of the population booming to nine billion people, spectator sports had to change to accommodate the increase in creative ways as stadiums and sports centers were low on the infrastructure priorities. Popular travel spots had to limit visitors for the safety of both the people and the sites.

nVirtual reality gave the world an answer.

nVR gaming was now the arena for those humans who laughed on the edge of danger, who flung themselves at new horizons, for there was a new world where they could place their life on the line again and again; high stakes and high rewards, an exhilarating existence.

nVR worlds started to become more and more complex, with increasing effort and resources spent on aesthetics and atmosphere.

nRedlands, supported by the tech giant RSI, was not the most popular game in the beginning, but it was one of the most balanced and detailed worlds in the virtual sphere.

nIt was a work of art, one that commentators would soon describe as an obra maestro of the virtual industry.

nThe creator of Redlands was meticulous.

nOrven Norge was the son of a traditional woodcarver, enamored with old crafts, regretting the loss of ancient skills so much that he placed all the data and knowledge he could gather into a learning fantasy-based crafting game named Redlands Craftmasters where different races held different crafting skills.

nIt debuted in November of 2091.

nThis was the foundation for the incredible detail of the Redlands game, where realworld skills and knowledge were an edge that couldn't be bought.

nAnd when the game was acquired by RSI in 2093, the company retained Orven Norge and his vision, even as they added warcraft to the generally peaceful world of Craftmasters.

nThat was why every good Redlands player cleaved to the ancient wisdom of a healthy body supporting a healthy mind. Peak physical skills gave the character avatar added benefits in the game.

nThe art and multifaceted game mechanics was one reason for the game's popularity. The other was that it was possible to earn real money playing Redlands.

nOther VR games did have in-game currency to cash transactions, but RSI took a step further and announced that they had registered the in-game coinage, the golden drax, as a cryptocurrency and it passed the Interpol IAFFS tests designed to combat digital fraud.

nThat was something that no game had ever done before.

nIt conveyed RSI's almost arrogant assurance in the success and continued operation of Redlands.

nIt meant that the underlying mechanics of the game were detailed more extremely than anyone expected.

nIt meant that the artificial intelligences used to manage the game were the best in the world.

nIt meant tons of gold was tossed almost negligently into a niche fantasy game.

nThe combination of reckless corporate power and artistic stubbornness created a game world that at its peak had attracted over 1 billion active players.

nCompared to augmented reality games and the still thriving mobile console games, the number of Redlands players was indeed low. But the full gear for augmented reality games cost ten times less than a single neuro-virtual headset.

nAnd that was number two of Eli's problems.

nThe total balance of all his bank accounts, investments, and insurance accounts came to just 8136 in cash. That was enough to pay the basic rent and utilities for 8 months – if food and various small purchases were added, then it wouldn't last four months.

nMore relevantly, it was barely enough to cover the cost of buying a Redlands game account subscription for one year, and definitely not nearly enough to buy a decent NV headgear.

nEli staggered off the exercise machine and took in great gasps of the fresh air in the park. The open-air park gym was located not five minutes from the apartment building. He'd never used it before.

nHindsight, he cursed as he stood there with trembling limbs and dripping with sweat, was a rotting cackling hag.

nHe tapped the display to his schedule, which optimistically set his morning exercise plan to 'daily', and removed a few slots to leave alternate days highlighted.

nHe wasn't doing this again tomorrow.

nMaybe alternate the exercise with a sword-wielding class or some other weapon. Historical reenactment was always popular. Knowing weapons was a long-term investment that will pay off both in Redlands and Zushkenar.

nWasn't Zee's friend Jori a sword nut? He accessed the Internet to look for a studio nearby.

nHe paused.

nDid he really want to be a Swordbearer again?

nHe remembered the feel of knives digging into his flesh.

nEli's hand trembled and his heartbeat, already pumping madly, threatened to choke him. He clenched his fist and forcibly got himself under control.

nMaybe not a Swordbearer.

nHe closed off the search.

nIt wasn't like he had been a very good one anyway.

nMaybe something with more range? A mage class of some kind.

nHe started a stretching cooldown.

nWhat to choose?

nThe third problem was that, unfortunately, Eli really hadn't been a true player. He'd only been playing a week before the Quake struck. He'd barely cleared Lvl 10.

nThat meant he didn't have the advantage of in-depth game knowledge and experience. The last time, he hadn't even touched the forums apart from checking which player class was the easiest to level. It wasn't like he knew he'd travel back in time and need all that information!

nAs for why he was back in time in the first place…Eli didn't want to think too hard about it.

nThe facts were that he was here, back in time or in a dimension that approximated his Earth. There was only one choice: will you live or will you die?

nHe had chosen the path of life, the path that would lead him back to Zushkenar.

nAnd on that path, the many concerns boiled down to one consideration: money.

nWalking back to his building, Eli slumped as idea after idea was discarded in his mind.

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"This is a bit more difficult than I thought.

"

nAfter he showered, he wilted on the kitchen counter with a bowl of freeze-packaged beef noodle soup he'd found in the fridge and microwaved.

nThe news turned on.

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"…minor tremors in southern India, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar due to the magnitude 5.2 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The epicenter –

"

nEli turned off the news.

nHe remembered, abruptly. Not this specific piece of news. He remembered hearing about tremors and minor earthquakes for a year before the Quake struck.

nAs if the 'small' earthquakes were heralds for the biggest one, the one that killed the world.

n

"It doesn't change anything.

"

nHe wasn't here to save the world.

nDespite his optimism of yesterday, he wasn't even sure he could save himself.

nThe fate of the world was set.

nThrough the clear glass of the window, he looked up at the sky.

nThere were colonies in space. On Mars alone, there were one billion people. On the two space station cities hovering above Jupiter and the research station moons, maybe a tenth of that number in total.

nAll those colonies were rated to be self-sufficient, and a third space station was being built. If Earth was destroyed, humanity would still survive in this universe.

nHe reached for his phone, tapped open a browser. He searched the price of a ticket to Mars, then twitched at the number of zeroes that appeared.

nA round-trip ticket to Mars and back was sold at 100,000 ECRU. One way cost 40,000 ecru. The exchange rate...

nIt might as well have been a million.

nHe scrolled down the page, grimaced at what he saw.

nThe ticket price was not the only cost for a single jaunt into space.

nThere was a detailed breakdown of space-prep and after-travel care that came to about 15,000 ecru. That was ten times more than he had in his bank account right now, after nearly six months of being jobless.

nThat didn't even include living expenses for however long the stay on Mars or the space cities was going to be. Cost of living on any Martian biodome was sky high. Not even going to talk about the cost to live in the colonies on the moons of the outer planets. Or the space stations.

nHe groaned. Unless he could earn at least 250,000 ecru and a job in the space colonies, then immigrating was not for him. He couldn't even find an office job on Earth, dammit, what job would he be qualified for in space?

nHe knew how to tan ratskin leather, did that count?

nHe paused, then tapped a search on the browser, a frown on his face.

nStared at the resulting page for the Redlands game.

nRegular account: 175 ecru

/month or 1759.9 ecru

/year

nPremium account: 225 ecru

/month or 2259.9 ecru

/year

nHe could say this about those prices: compared to going to Mars, it was super-cheap.

nEli had already decided on seeing what he could do in Redlands, anyway. At least there, he knew some of what to expect after the Quake.

nThe game to Eli was about gathering resources for when Redlands was made real.

nBecause after the Quake, former players learned that they still held the positions of their game avatars, still had their possessions and properties, and the former NPCs they talked to knew them according to their actions in the game.

nLet others save themselves. Eli had enough to worry about. Worrying about others would only compromise his safety.

nHe needed to grow strong enough and rich enough in Redlands that people would not think of pushing him around after the inevitable transmigration.

nEli sat back in his chair blankly, soup spoon paused.

nWow, he wasn't that a good person, huh?

nHis lips curved up suddenly, self-deprecating.

nHe took out the handheld display and tapped to where the news stories on the quakes were archived, then started to type.

n>>these are concerning. prelude to a greater disaster? better invest in more spaceships and expand the colonies.<<

nHis fingers stopped.

nThat wasn't nearly enough. Eli tapped the counter, thinking. Then he closed the keyboard and opened a website, paid for one year of operation. The only program he added to the website apart from the standard package was a crawler, that searched and collated locations of earthquakes magnitude-7 or greater on a timeline, based on news reports and the sites that monitored the earth crust.

nHis jaw tightened as the crawler immediately placed six on the timeline, and he'd set the program to initiate from just the last month.

nHe ignored the particulars, published the site, and put his phone away. Unconsciously, his fingers started tapping on his thigh. He shook his head.

nHe was only assuaging his conscience, so as to leave this world without regrets.

nHe won't save the world.

nWhat exactly could he do that the governments of 200 nations and the technologies of their space colonies could not?

nHe laughed into his soup, suddenly.

nWas he, Eli the jobless loser, the great failure who botched over a hundred job interviews in a single year, who allowed himself to be enslaved for over a year, thinking of running against the deadline of the destruction of the world?

nNow, now, wasn't he thinking too much of himself?

nThe corners of his lips lifted higher.

nSo what? There was something in him that was anticipating the challenge, rising in curiosity. Haaaah, when was the last time he'd ever felt this interested in doing something?

nWhen his mother was alive, likely.

nThe loss had dulled after years trying to survive in the massive warzone that was Zushkenar, but here, back in the place that he had bought especially because it was near a hospital she could easily walk to and near his father's grave, the ache returned like it had never left.

nThe furnishing, the décor. His mom had carefully chosen each one when they both moved here. Five years ago in the summer, he'd been promoted. The apartment was on the outskirts of the slums, but it was better than being in the slums themselves, the street the apartment was in even had private security.

nThe last time he'd anticipated something so excitedly was when he presented her the apartment.

nHe shook his head from old memories.

nHe needed to think of the future now.

nHe had the advantage of a year and four months.

nThat time given to him, it was dearer than gold or magic.

nHe could do this.

nHe started to dig into the Redlands forums for research.

nBased on his life in Zushkenar, he started researching advantages: land, trade, social status, moneymakers, skills, and character creation.

nSurprisingly, there was too little lore. Even he knew advertisements had limited utility. Dedicated players needed to immerse themselves in the game, needed a hook, a story, a world.

nGazzy once said belief held worlds together.

nEli didn't think it would help this time. Historians said that humans had killed their gods long ago, didn't they? What gods were there now to pray to but empty husks?

nThe lore of Redlands wasn't his problem.. He ignored it for more useful information.

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