Martial Destiny

"Damn today is hot as hell!" With these words, a young man gained the agreement of everyone else standing in line.

Including a young man named Julius, who was just a few people behind him in line.

'I don't even know why I'm here.' Honestly, Julius was never the type of person to wait hours in line for absolutely nothing.

He never liked any artist enough to give up hours just waiting in line.

And now, here he was, standing in line to buy a VR game, even though he hadn't played anything in years. However, the circumstances surrounding this particular game made it almost impossible not to be interested in it.

'Even after 10 years of virtual reality becoming widely accessible, an alternate world was still something completely unfeasible. Now, [The Gates] promises over 90% immersion accuracy.' That number was simply absurd and, by itself, would elevate players to a level never before seen.

But it wasn't just that. 'Governments all over the world are investing heavily in this game, and given its theme, many conspiracy theories have started to spread. Not that I believe in this nonsense, but I'm not completely blind. Clearly, something strange is going on.'

Even though he considered himself a skeptic and didn't believe in most conspiracy theories, Julius had to admit that he was following several profiles on Y, the largest social network today, that dealt directly with these issues.

And he even had to admit that several governments, even those in conflict, had set aside their enmity to make deals for the game's release.

If that wasn't enough to attract the attention of a large part of the population, religious leaders did the rest.

A game dealing directly with a demonic invasion couldn't escape backlash from religious leaderships worldwide.

'I'll just give it a try. If I don't like it, I'll move on with my life.' Considering he worked nearby and was covering for a friend, Julius waited until the end of his shift, which happened to be during lunchtime, and headed to the nearest distributor.

He was in the middle of the busiest shopping mall in the city.

'I just hope I don't run into anyone randomly around here.' He thought, stroking the beard on his chin.

In fact, one could say he looked disheveled at the moment. He was wearing his uniform from an electronics company, with dark hair and a beard longer than it should be, plus dark circles under his eyes from sleepless nights caused by insomnia.

'I'll just buy the device and go home to try to get some rest.' He thought, getting closer to the counter. Only three people were ahead of him in line.

...

"Welcome, would you like to register for [The Gates]?"

'You think I've been waiting in line for nothing!?' Julius thought of some rude ways to respond to the attendant but decided to keep them to himself. 'It must be my exhaustion, I'm usually not like this.'

"Yes!" He replied with a forced smile, trying his best to appear friendly. Working in customer service had given him his fair share of rude customers, so Julius understood that poor girl's pain better than anyone.

'How many customers must have cursed you mentally? I pity all the generations of your family.'

The poor attendant couldn't read Julius' mind, so she was just following the routine process.

"Here. Inside the bag, you'll find a special coin. Just so you know, this coin has no value outside the game, so don't try to sell it. Also, when you first enter the game, hold the coin in your hand." The attendant handed Julius a bag and a bracelet.

"The bracelet is to access [The Gates]. Be careful not to lose it, each replacement will cost 350 credits."

"Understood."

Julius put the bracelet on his wrist and left the store.

'It's already dark!?' As Julius left the store with the bag in his left hand and the new bracelet on his right wrist, he noticed that the weather was colder than usual that day, and the darkness of night had fallen earlier than normal.

Curious, he pulled out his phone and checked the time.

"15:30"

'So early? And it's already dark?' This was normal in winter, but at this time of year, it was unusual.

Surprised, Julius just used his phone to call a car through an app.

'What luck.' As soon as he requested a ride, a car was already available and accepted the ride immediately. This was quite unusual these days, as a growing number of crazies had been using this kind of service to satisfy their violent urges.

If Julius had stopped to think about it, he would have realized that crime was becoming alarmingly common in recent years.

Virtually every type of crime had been rising rapidly, becoming more widespread in society, and the scariest part was that this wave of crime began out of nowhere, in every country around the world.

"How cold," he thought while waiting for the car to arrive.

It didn't take long for the car to show up and take him home.

Neither he nor the driver said a word throughout the ride, and because of that, Julius gave him five stars on the app.

Julius' house was simple and functional, with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The living room had a worn-out sofa, a television, and a shelf with books and personal items. The kitchen was compact, equipped with the essentials, and the dining table was small but practical. The bathroom, simple and direct, only had the basics. His bedroom was messy, with an unmade bed and a wardrobe stuffed with clothes. In the corner, a desk with a computer and piles of papers showed his hectic everyday life. Despite its simplicity, the environment provided the comfort necessary for his lifestyle.

"Ahhh." Without hesitation, Julius collapsed onto the bed as soon as he got home. Fatigue had taken over him long ago, and he just wanted to sleep as much as he could.

During the trip, he had already taken the box out of the bag. Honestly, he was surprised by how detailed and well-crafted the wooden box was. In fact, even the fact that it was made of wood shocked him, as such things were ridiculously expensive in the modern world.

'It's probably just a synthetic material.' With the box in hand, he opened the top and took out the coin.

The coin was silver, round, with a square hole in the center. Around the edge of the coin, there was an inscription in strange writing. Even though the coin was quite beautiful, Julius didn't think much of it and just closed his eyes with the coin in his hand.

'Damn insomnia,' he thought as he sank peacefully into sleep.

"Would you like to access [The Gates]?" A robotic voice asked when Julius was nearly asleep.

Strangely, Julius didn't wake up more upon hearing the voice. In fact, his sleepiness increased, making him enter some sort of strange trance.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

And when he realized it, Julius found himself in a completely different place.