I Became the Progenitor

In a dark room, one could see a thin slit of light coming from an eight-foot shadow that stood in the middle of the room.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn a shadow but an object so dark, it can be seen in the dark.

This object is a gaming capsule made by Chronos Corporation. The capsule allows a person to enter and experience the virtual universe of Lithium as though it was the real world. Almost every person on Earth in 2073 has one.

Through this capsule, people can work their jobs, chat with friends, and game. In the world of Lithium, it isn distinguishable from the real world. The in-game currency can be exchanged for hard currency.

When this machine was introduced, it took the world by storm. Countless news articles, interviews, Tweets, you name it, were flooded online. Those lucky few who had gotten to test it out were never the same. Being stuck in the human body has its limitations. But in Lithium, you could be and do anything you want to.

Hearing this, many big companies thought this would be a great opportunity to invest in this product. Soon, it was announced that Chronos Corp. would be mass-producing their virtual cabins at affordable prices.

If that wasn enough, they would even lease the cabins to those who can afford them at that moment. To begin with, it started in 2030. So, in 43 years, almost 7 billion people out of the 9 billion have multiple of them in their homes. This was an unprecedented time.

After 10 years of steady improvement, Chronos announced its plan to input something called the ”in-game currency exchange ” feature. Not missing a beat, gaming companies around the world also signed contracts with Chronos Corp. to start developing their games to fit inside the virtual world.

Thus, began the era of serious esports. Physical sports started to become irrelevant due to the fact you can also dunk like LeBron and swim faster than Michael Phelps.

Lots of games failed in the 20 years following that announcement.

Fast forward to 2063, Horizon Gaming announced their newest game titled, Progenitor Online.

The premise of the game was that vampires were extinct and the players started as weak ”humans ” who, over time, unlocked more and more of their ancestral bloodlines as their levels increased. They went to war with each other from different kingdoms to absorb others vampiric blood and become more pure-blooded.

But, everything wasn that simple. The NPCs also warred with the players. And the NPCs were much stronger than the players. This small fact meant that the players attention would be split more towards defending against NPCs.

Fast forward to present-day America in 2073, a man of middle age is inside a gaming capsule playing Progenitor Online.

When suddenly, his capsules hatch opens up, pouring out smoke as though he was hotboxing inside.

”Ahhh damn. My capsule overheated again? This damned leased sh*t is too useless. I want my money back ” the man mumbles to himself.

After getting his mind together, the man gets out and goes behind the capsule. Leaning down, he is seen fumbling with some cords. He even pulls out a fan for it to blow into the small vents at the bottom of the device.

RIIIINNNNG~ RIIIINNNNG

Hearing his phone ring, he answers it, but before he can set anything hes interrupted.

”Is this CheeziBalls69? ” the caller asks.

”Uhhh yeah? How did you even— ” the caller cuts him off.

”You just messed with the wrong Wang today!! You dare to destroy my newly built empire? Im not someone you can easily steal from. You won live to see the sunlight!! ” The line goes dead.

”Hahaha. This is great! I got to destroy the empire no one was able to destroy before my capsule overheated. With that empires resources, I can finally rank my empire to tier 10. ” The man says with joy written all over his face.

”I bet its the wack azz emperor who tried to challenge me to a duel and lost miserably. Who wouldve thought he couldn even take one swing of my sword. ”

BUZZZ~BUZZZ

Huh? Who the f*ck decided to message me at 5 am?

Without thinking any further, the man opens the text message and is shocked. If one looked closely, one could see a hint of hope in his eyes. Just to confirm that he was dreaming, he read the message again.

New Message from Unknown:

”Dear Mr. Klaus Michaels, we at Horizon Gaming and Chronos Corporation would like to congratulate you on becoming the first to achieve a Tier 10 empire. As the first person to achieve a Tier 10 empire, you will be rewarded 1,000,000 federation coins, one undroppable item for your in-game character, and 1% of the total shares of Horizon Gaming. ”

”To accept, send ”Yes ”. To deny, send ”No ”. If you selected yes, then please head to the Gaming District, and a representative of Chronos Corporation will be there to take you on a flight to New Found England for the signing of the shares. If you selected no, then please continue to play Progenitor Online and unlock new achievements. Remem