VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Ren ran, clutching the relic tight to his chest as he did so. Tears streamed down his cheeks and were flung off into the air with every hasted step. Tears of a coward.

A coward that could only run, whilst someone else fought for his ability to do so. It was the story of his life. He had always run, always left, always avoided anything that could be considered combative.

Even arguments he ran from, just letting everyone walk all over him so that it wouldn’t cause any issues. It was pathetic.

The Apocalypse changed none of that. Monsters roamed the earth, people betrayed humanity for their own gain and wielded mystical, otherworldly powers against each other. Yet here he was. Still a coward, and still running.

Whilst Ren was so absorbed in his self pitying thoughts, a dagger made of bright pink energy flew through the air towards him that he was too busy to notice. At least until it dug into his calf and tore through his Achilles tendon.

He noticed then.

With a scream of pain, Ren collapsed to the floor and skidded along the ground a few feet from his momentum.

"Aww, poor little baby. Crying already? But I’ve barely touched you. Don’t tell me you’re broken already... I wanted to have my fun with you~" A sweet sounding voice drifting through the air, whispering such twisted and wicked words followed by a condescending laugh like that of an evil witch.

The sound of heels clicking drew his attention to the daggers owner. A woman draped in an elegant dress that showed off her luxurious and bombshell body. Every curve on full display, her breasts nearly leaping out of it.

Expensive Jewellery hung around her neck and decorated her hands, including a ring with an engagement ring that had a deep purple gem that twinkled with evil power.

But none of her jewellery or decorations could compare to the grandiose crown that sat upon her head, delicately topping her beautiful head.

The new Queen of Earth brushed her famous, luscious locks of perfectly curled hair from her shoulders and pouted her pillowy lips as she looked down at Ren like he was a worm wriggling out of the dirt.

"Now... Who gave you permission to look upon your Queen!" She spat out, forming another dagger of pink energy. She grabbed Ren by his throat and lifted him like a rag doll, before quickly swiping the dagger across his eyes.

The energy blade carved through his flesh like butter, as blood mixed with the tears streaming down his cheeks.

The New Queen of Earth did not stop there. She was only starting her fun.

He had swallowed the relic, forcing it down his throat while he squirmed on the ground, in the hopes that she should spare him if she couldn’t find it. But she never bothered to ask about it in the first place.

She simply played with him, torturing him endlessly as if he was just a toy for her to play with. She giggled with delight at every scream, grinned with sadistic glee as she kicked him half to death and laughed madly as she cut him to ribbons.

When he was nothing but a broken heap of blood and bruises on the ground, just barely clinging to life as he breathed weakly, the Queen finally stopped her play.

"Ugh... You’re pathetic. I was going to convert you but honestly... what is even the point? If you can’t even last one day of play... then you’re better off dead."

Her pink dagger made one final swipe, gliding across his throat before she stood and turned on her heels. With not a drop of blood on her regal, perfect body, the Queen left Ren laying there, choking on his own blood, as she went off to find something better to play with.

She didn’t even make sure that he was dead in the end. Not that he would survive.

Ren’s final moments were spent in darkness and in pain. Unable to run, unable to scream and unable to beg. All of the tools of the coward were gone, leaving him with nothing. For his entire life he had done everything to keep himself safe and out of the way of danger or confrontation.

Yet this was how it ended for him. Alone, choking on his own blood. Too pathetic to fight. Too useless to last as a toy for that sadistic bitch. Too worthless to live.

In his final moments in the darkness, Ren prayed. He prayed to whoever would listen, for he knew there were some who were.

For the first time in his life, he did not beg. Instead he made a promise and a threat. Vowing that if he ever got another chance, that he would never be a coward again and that he would be the one surrounded by blood, death and destruction.

It was in that final moment, that the relic that sat comfortably in his stomach stirred slightly, reacting to his vow of vengeance, before everything finally faded and he slipped into Death’s embrace.

***

Ren gasped loudly as his eyes snapped open. He shot up in bed and immediately started to violently cough, clutching at his throat as he could still remember the blood trickling from it. Yet there was no blood and no cut.

He frowned deeply, looking around in confusion. He was not in the ruins of a supermarket, which he was sure had been his final resting place. Instead he was in his old bedroom, in his parents house.

His head was ringing from the alarm he had set in his cybernetics, and with a thought he dismissed it.

For a few moments he thought that everything he had experienced, the last two years of his life, had been nothing more than an elaborate dream. An intense, and extremely vivid dream.

But then he checked the news, and noticed a particular story. It was an article dedicated to the theories of the release date of the most anticipated game of the decade.

Dawn of Divinity, said to be the most revolutionary VR game in the world, and the most immersive one to date. According to the article, no one knew for sure. But Ren did.

He knew that it was set to release in just a few days time, because he remembered the date of the Beta test event. He also knew that it was more than just a game though. After all... It had ended the world. Or it had... but now he was here.

He could change everything. He could finally be something other than a worthless coward, and finally be useful.

Ren’s eyes grew cold and his brow settled into a deep scowl. First things first... He needed more time.

A few days were good, but adding a week would be better, and luckily he knew just the way to do that. He still remembered being part of the team that broke into that facility, and it would be much easier this time.

Smirking to himself, Ren leapt out of bed and quickly got to work.