1 "The Knight"

The game that has changed the world. The creator Mikael Wolf invites you into the world of Who will be king, the world where you can make your dreams come true. A medieval world online, a world where everyone is competing to become the king. Anyone can compete, all you need to do is buy a ticket, put down your personal information and a 10-million-dollar prize could be yours! A thousand people will compete in this year's challenge to crown themselves king. The competition will last for the extent of a full year, and contestants will be competing 24 hours a day.

I looked up from the brochure and eyed the line trailing its way down the street from the Who will be king sign up office. There were all sorts of people in line waiting to sign up, I could see young teenagers standing side by side with senior citizens arguing franticly over different strategies to succeed in winning the game.

"You just need to become a successful merchant!"

One of the older men was saying.

"Work the market, buy low and sell high…"

Then one of the younger men cut in.

"No! you need to be a good fighter! Last year's king had been a knight!"

The game had been around for three years now and each year it had grown in both size and popularity. What had started as a small beta test with only a few people had grown exponentially and today the game had its own stream on national television, a massive number of followers on social media and what seemed to be an endless supply of people wanting to compete. The game had a lot in common with what used to be referred to as a massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), but this was so much more. The virtual reality gear required to play the game was so advanced that according to the developers the experience was indistinguishable from actual reality. The whole thing was also televised for those who could afford to subscribe to the streaming service, although piracy of the stream was rampant of course. Yet, since every person who competed also had to write a non-disclosure agreement, nobody that had not themselves competed knew what the experience felt like. Looking down on the brochure again I read:

By signing the "Who will be king competition license to play" agreement today you will also agree to be put into a medically induced coma for the duration of your stay in the world of WWBK. You will then be transferred into one of the WWBK controlled medical facilities and fitted with the required virtual reality body suit needed to access the game. You will be playing nonstop until the end of the year or until you are killed in the game and because of this your vital signs and bodily functions will have to be closely monitored and maintained.

"Well that's disturbing"

I thought.

"And slightly disgusting"

I added, picturing the maintenance work required to hold a thousand-people plugged into machines for a full year. I sighed, put the brochure into my pocket and began to head home. On my way home, I passed by closed stores with boarded up windows, streets that were covered with litter and several beggars sitting by the side of the road. The last few years had been tough on this city, and on the world in general. In the year 2050 the world's population had passed 10 billion people and many nations resources were simply not enough to sustain the rise in population. In the beginning the UN was used to mediate between nations to try and find a solution, a way to share the worlds resources through negotiations. However, it soon became clear that many of the wealthier nations simply did not want to share, and in 2054, war broke out. Many died in the armed conflict, more from starvation in the aftermath, and in the end, not much had really been achieved. What really changed was the form of government in many countries, democratic states turned back into despotic kingdoms run by corporate leaders or charismatic opportunists. They used the fear of the people to increase their power and influence and to further their own gains. Which is what happened here, "We will make it great again" they chanted. And as the nation grew more isolationist trying to protect its resources, the power of the government became more centralized, work became harder to find and necessities like clean food and water became rare to find and increasingly expensive. Today, in the year 2063 the population has again dropped to around 6 billion people, but we are both hungrier and a lot less free than we have been in a very long time. In a place such as that, is it so strange to seek your fortune in another world? Well at least my father didn't seem to think so.

"Hello, I'm home!"

I shouted as I came into the house, putting down the groceries on the kitchen table and looking around.

"Anybody home?"

I asked again as I began making my way into the living room. I lived alone with my father and our cat Chi Chi. My father had once been a professor at the university, but after the government began to cut down on funding for education it had been hard for him to find any work again. Now only a few private schools were still running, and the subjects were all geared towards "fields with practical appliance". My father had been a professor of history and, needless to say, the use for a teacher of history in a newly founded state, one that seemed to mostly want to forget about the past, was…limited. Nowadays, he mostly stayed at home watching the stream of WWBK or reading his books. I found work where I could, it wasn't easy sometimes but we always seemed to manage.

"MEOW!"

I looked down and saw Chi Chi looking up at me, an all-black bombay breed cat with yellow eyes blinking slowly at me, as she observed me.

"Did he forget to feed you again?"

I said as I bent down giving her a few affectionate strokes across her back. She seemed to agree, giving off a content purr while stroking herself against my leg. I went over to her food bowl and found it empty just as I had suspected. Filling it up with her favorite pellets, I then moved on towards the living room. In there, I found my father staring intently at the tv, watching the stream as usual. This time the in-game camera had chosen to position itself above a busy market square.

"Dad, you forgot to feed the cat again"

I said moving up behind him and placing my hand on his shoulder as he sat in his couch.

"Mmmrhm"

Was all he mumbled back in response. He still seemed extremely focused on what was happening on the screen.

"Dad!"

I tugged lightly at his shoulder trying to snap him out of it.

"Shhh, he is about to do it"

He only responded.

"Do what?"

I asked looking over at the screen.

"Kill him"

Was his only response.

I looked over to the screen, trying to find what it was he was talking about but all I could see was a busy market with men going about their daily business. Haggling and arguing at the food stalls.

"Kill who?"

I finally said after a few frustrating seconds, which I spent trying to identify who he meant in the massive square filled with people trading all sorts of merchandize.

"The man in the red tunic"

He replied.

"The third stall on the right, the one looking at apples."

I looked closer and finally found him. At the bottom of the screen a man was standing, looking over a stall appearing to casually be picking out apples.

"How do you know he is going to be killed?"

I asked, as we both now watched the man.

"He had a bounty placed on his head a few days ago"

My dad simply replied.

"He double-crossed another merchant selling him a wagon full of sand instead of grain the other day."

I raised an eyebrow at this and began to reply.

"Wait how long have yo…"

I didn't have time to finish my sentence before my dad suddenly jumped up from his couch shouting.

"THERE! The dark hood approaching!"

I barely had time to blink, between the moment when I myself spotted the man my father was pointing at, and the moment when the man purchasing apples had fallen to the ground. It was however, enough time for me to notice the flash of something shiny in the dark hooded man's hand. The man buying apples had reached back with his hand in pain, walked a few steps and then fallen down onto the pavement with men and women shouting and crowding near him as blood began to pool around his body. The man in the hood was now nowhere to be seen. He had most likely already disappeared within the crowd which was now forming. Suddenly a number popped up on the screen. The number was 988.

"Hey what does that mean?"

I asked my father as we watched city guards begin to approach the area where the man had been attacked. My dad looked over at me for the first time since I came home.

"Oh, that is the number of players left my son."

He said.

"That was a player?"

I asked in surprise.

"Of course"

My dad replied.

"As was probably his assassin"

He added with a grin.

"Welcome home by the way son, did you say something earlier?"

He asked, while looking a bit guilty over his previous enthusiasm.

"I get quite caught up in the game sometimes, it is quite addictive you know."

"Mhm, I can see why, it looks very real."

After a moment I continued.

"Do you think that person is ok?"

"Yes of course, a bit shaken up perhaps but physically he should be fine."

My dad shrugged as if we had just watched a tennis match being decided and not the murder of another person.

"He is probably waking up cursing himself as we speak"

He continued with a smirk and shaking his head.

"Those assassins are not to be trifled with."

He then added while looking over my shoulder.

"Did you feed the cat?"

I looked behind me and Chi Chi was again observing us with her big yellow eyes, blinking slowly.

The next day I was preparing to sign off from my shift at the restaurant where I was currently working as a dishwasher. When suddenly the manager of the restaurant came in and asked me to come by his office, before I left.

"Yes Mr.Andersen?"

I said as I entered the small office of the restaurant. A short man dressed in an ill-fitting suit was sitting at the desk, seemingly fixated at a small screen in front of him.

"Oh no not this one too..."

I sighed recognizing the look in his eyes as I stood there considering if the same approach of gently touching the shoulder as with my father would be a viable approach with my boss. But as I was contemplating my options Mr Andersen suddenly burst out of his chair with a loud shout screaming.

"NOO!"

He grabbed the screen with both of his hands, pleadingly almost as if trying to convince it to take back the images it had just been transmitting.

"Why...you bastard!"

He mumbled to himself. As he at this point still had not noticed my presence, I decided to knock on the door and present myself once more.

"Ahem, Mr Andersen?"

I said after knocking the frame of the door twice.

"Yes? Ah Mr. Jones is it?"

He replied, looking up at me as if he had no idea what I was doing there.

"You wanted to speak to me Sir?"

I said trying not to look at the screen he was still holding in his hands.

"Ah, yes that's correct."

He replied, regaining his posture, finally letting go of the screen and placing it down on his desk.

"Please take a seat Mr. Jones."

He gestured towards the chair in front of his desk.

"I understand you have been working with us for six months now. How do you feel about working here?"

As I sat down and was about to reply the screen started blinking, Mr. Andersen gave it a quick look. Appearing to get quite distressed by the machine poking at his attention.

"Well I…"

I began, only to be interrupted by my boss.

"Excuse me for one second."

He reached over to the screen again, tapping it quickly and checking the message that had just been sent to him. The expression on his face was grim, he did not speak for several minutes and he almost seemed to have forgotten that I was even there, again.

"Ahem…sir?"

I tried.

"Perhaps this is a bad time? I could come back…"

But before I could finish, he responded in a soft calm voice.

"Your fired."

"Excuse me?"

I leaned over thinking I might have heard wrong, after all, the man wasn't even looking at me.

"I said your fired now get out of my office!"

I was shocked, I had been worried on my way coming here but this came completely out of the blue. Meanwhile, it was like as if my boss had been transformed, his face was now red and his eyes were glowing with anger. I just stood there trying to understand what had gone wrong. Just a few moments ago he seemed pleased with me, seeming to want to discuss my future career at the restaurant, or something similar at least.

"But sir… I have been working well I don't see why…"

I was interrupted abruptly by an inaudible cry followed by a gurgled

"GEEWWWTT OUUTTTTTTT!!!!"

On my way home once again, I was passing by the sign-up office for the WWBK game and the lines were the same as usual, stretching down the block. I had managed to get my last pay check before leaving the restaurant and realized that the money would barely cover the next rent. I needed to do something else and soon! On a speaker they were announcing the next participants that had been selected to join the game. I was barely paying attention as I was walking past but somehow, I managed to pick up what sounded like my own name. Confused I looked over in the direction of the office which was across the street and then I heard it again.

"Mr. Jeremy Jones! Could you please come to the front of the line!"

Could it be another Jeremy? I asked myself as I began crossing the street. There must be some mistake I haven't signed up for anything like this.