“What exactly did they do in this program?” “Oh – yeah, I needed some extra money one summer in college, so I was in this experimental drug program.” I laughed nervously. You mean that one time I was a professional guinea pig for Big Pharma? You mean that thing I almost left off my résumé, but kept it in because I didn’t want my work history to look so thin? Hertzfelder,” the woman said to me, “I see you participated once in a medical research program.”

It had been five months ago, but it still hurt like it had happened… maybe not yesterday, but definitely last week. “As I was saying, I’m super conscientious, I’m always on time to work, and I’m always available for overtime.”Įspecially since my girlfriend of three years had broken up with me.Ī sharp pang pierced my heart. “That sounds… awesome.” Then I turned to the others. Still, I might need Bro-Man’s support, so I smiled weakly and nodded. Why the hell would I do it in a video game? But I could do that with an $8 six-pack in real life. I was doing it a lot lately to cope with my current life situation, or lack thereof. I wanted to ask him, What’s the point of being in the most visually gorgeous video game ever created – one where you feel like you’re really THERE, battling dragons, casting spells, raiding dungeons – if all you want to do is get wasted? Get this – you have a beer in the game? You get buzzed. “The basic is good, but you gotta try the full immersion. “I, uh… I want to, but I could only afford the basic system. I prayed my borderline poverty wasn’t going to sink my chances. “Ian, yo – have you tried the full immersion unit yet, my man?”Ĭrap. “I’ve been playing OtherWorld for years, even before you guys went to virtual reality. I, of course, was putting on the best dog and pony show I possibly could. A guy in glasses, a bro-tastic dude from Sales, and a woman from HR. Three mid-level managers were sitting across the table from me, looking at my résumé. Just this once, please let things go my way. I had been laid off from my previous job three months ago, my bank account was getting perilously low, and I was a month late on rent. I had made it to the final round of interviews for a Quality Control position, and I desperately needed this. Sci-fi - elite American military group uses bleeding edge tech to fight the wars of tomorrow.Īs I sat there in the headquarters of Westek Inc., I prayed to the videogame gods for a break.

LitRPG - a safecracker has to infiltrate the Russian mob, who are posing as a bunch of orcs in a virtual reality video game. Sign up here to be notified when the next book in the series is available!

Succubus by A.J. Markam