Julius was a little nervous—but even more than that, he was excited.
He was about to be the first person in the world to experience Eclipse Conquest: Omega. Millions of gamers were dying to get even a glimpse of the game… but Julius had been chosen to enter it first.
He walked toward the high-tech chair, sat down, and got ready to put on the headset.
From the side, Sapphire called out gently,
"Take it easy, Julius."
Sebastian grinned and added,
"Seriously, man, I'm insanely jealous right now."
Julius lowered the headset onto his face. Darkness enveloped his vision instantly.
Then the president's voice came through clearly:
"Julius, on the right side of the chair, there's a small button. Use that to activate the headset."
Julius followed the instruction.
Suddenly, a soft cyan-colored screen appeared before his eyes. In bold white letters, it read:
"Booting Up..."
Below that, a smooth loading bar began to fill.
The text then shifted:
"The system has booted up successfully. Please choose your game and give the command 'Start'."
"Use the joystick on your left to select the game, then say 'Start,'" the president instructed.
Julius nodded slightly and moved the joystick.
The screen changed, revealing the game selection menu.
Right in the center: Eclipse Conquest: Omega.
Its thumbnail was stunning—a vibrant green planet surrounded by stars, space dust, and thousands of moons orbiting around it.
Julius selected the game and said firmly:
"Start."
Another message appeared:
"The game is starting..."
The loading bar resumed as everyone in the room watched in anticipation.
Above the testing chair, a massive screen was mounted—ready to broadcast everything Julius saw inside the game. The system was linked to a powerful interface operated by the company's top experts. The game was being streamed live globally, with only a 10-second delay.
Just then, one of the machines in the control system gave off a small spark.
An engineer noticed it… but brushed it off, thinking it was nothing serious.
Inside the headset, Julius saw only blackness—
—and then, a sudden burst of light.
His eyes instinctively shut, and when he opened them again, he found himself inside a spaceship.
He looked down.
He was wearing a full astronaut suit. The ship was barely the size of a car, but clearly designed with extremely advanced technology. The stars outside streaked past—he was traveling at millions of light-years per hour.
He was alone in the cockpit.
The control panel in front of him lit up with a message:
"You are just 75,000 light-years away from Planet Virelda."
Then, another prompt appeared:
"Do you want to use the warp portal?"
Julius didn't even notice the prompt at first. He was too mesmerized—admiring the detail, the realism, the sheer immersion. He hadn't expected it to feel this real, this alive.
Finally noticing the question, he looked at the two glowing options: Yes and No.
He selected Yes.
In front of the ship, the fabric of space seemed to twist—a massive warp portal ripped open. The spaceship surged forward and entered it.
A second later, Julius exited into a new part of space—and there it was:
Planet Virelda.
The same green planet from the game's thumbnail, only now it filled his entire vision.
It was colossal, far larger than the Milky Way galaxy itself.
The gravitational force was intense, but despite that, meteors and asteroids didn't touch it. The reason? Its thousands of moons, some even larger than stars, were protecting it like a shield.
Julius could feel the ship being pulled toward the planet, and he braced himself.
The cockpit screen blinked with a new message:
"Use the parachute in 2 minutes to survive the crash."
A timer started counting down.
The ship began descending rapidly, cutting through the planet's atmosphere.
Clouds blurred past. The ground below began to reveal itself—immense, endless forests stretched beyond the horizon, trees towering to impossible heights.
Suddenly, the top of the spaceship opened, and Julius was ejected outward.
Panic hit him—he had forgotten about the parachute.
He'd been too focused on admiring the beauty to remember the instructions.
Back in the control room, Sebastian burst out laughing.
"This guy's already screwing up and he just started," he said through gritted teeth.
Others watched silently, some amused, others in awe.
The entire world was watching.
With only seconds left, Julius finally pulled the parachute.
He slowed down and began descending gently toward the surface.
Below him, the planet was overwhelming.
Its mountains were so massive that Earth's entire size couldn't match even one of them.
This was what the players would be expected to conquer.
The trees were mostly green, but some glowed faint red, and the terrain was almost surreal—beautiful and terrifying at once. Julius spotted strange creatures flying gracefully in the distance, their wings gleaming under Virelda's twin suns.
Still in his spacesuit, he touched down on the forest floor.
Moments later, the suit automatically dissolved, disappearing into particles of light.
He took his first breath on the planet…
…and it was like breathing in heaven.
The air was so pure, so light, that his body relaxed instantly. He felt peace.
Real peace.
This world was more than just a game. It was a masterpiece.
Looking around, Julius realized just how small he was compared to the giant trees towering over him. He was an ant in a kingdom of titans.
Then, without warning, a cyan-colored interface appeared in front of his eyes:
"Please enter your name."
"A name, huh…" Julius muttered to himself.
Most gamers didn't use their real names anymore. Everyone preferred custom, mysterious usernames—it had become a tradition.
With a smirk, Julius typed in:
"Airu Koruto."