2036
Artificial intelligence had become a part of daily life—managing traffic, automating homes, writing essays, and handling jobs faster than most humans could. It was no longer flashy tech—it was just how things worked now.
So when a mid-sized South Korean company called Playtoon Co. teased their new project, no one really expected anything groundbreaking.
The teaser was simple.
UPRAISED
A new kind of MMORPG experience.
No fanfare. No deep explanation. Just a name and a quiet promise.
A few months later, the game was officially revealed. Upraised would be the first fully immersive MMORPG powered by full-dive virtual reality. Using a capsule-like machine called the NeuroDive, players would connect their nervous system directly to the game. Not just movement—everything. Taste, smell, pain, temperature, balance. All of it. It was a level of immersion that no one had seen outside of science fiction.
NPCs were powered by adaptive AI. They didn't act like humans, but they understood player commands, reacted dynamically, and didn't need dialogue menus to interact. You could ask for directions, negotiate quests, or casually talk to a shopkeeper—without feeling like you were stuck in a loop of canned responses.
It was bold. Expensive. Risky.
And for many, it was exactly what they'd been waiting for.
For Lukas, it was more than that.
Lukas was a 24-year-old living in a small apartment in Manila. His parents stayed in the province, proud of their son for holding a steady job—but to Lukas, "steady" just meant stuck.
He worked 9 to 5 at Evelyn-7, a mid-tier convenience store chain. He wasn't unhappy, exactly—but every day felt the same. Clock in, scan items, smile, repeat. The job paid enough for rent and bills, but not much else.
He'd been a gamer since he was a kid. Consoles, mobile, PC—if it had a story, he played it. He kept up with most releases, even if he couldn't afford to play everything right away.
He also loved isekai anime and light novels. Stories of people starting over in other worlds, building something new from nothing—it wasn't hard to see why that hit home.
Sometimes, on his lunch breaks, Lukas would sit on the curb behind the store, earbuds in, watching clips from his favorite series. He'd imagine what it would be like to wake up in a world where he wasn't just another face in the crowd. Where he could matter. Where he could fight, build, explore—live.
So when he saw the full trailer for Upraised, something clicked.
It wasn't just the graphics or the AI or the idea of full-dive.
It was the feeling. The sense that, maybe, just maybe, this was the doorway he'd been looking for. A chance to live differently.
He didn't even hesitate.
He spent the next week researching NeuroDive capsules, reading reviews, watching unboxings. Then, using nearly all of his life savings, he ordered one. No returns. No guarantees.
Just hope.
He didn't tell anyone. Not his coworkers. Not his parents. They wouldn't understand. To them, it would just be a waste of money. A childish escape.
But to Lukas, it wasn't escape. It was entry.
He didn't know what kind of character he'd play. He didn't care.
All he knew was that when Upraised launched, he was going in.
Not as a cashier.
Not as a bystander.
But as someone finally stepping into a world that felt like his own.