Saturday, just after noon.

I sat up, checked the time, and stared at the notification floating in my vision.

PROJECT BABEL IS NOW LIVE

Right. I had pre-downloaded it last week and nearly forgotten about it.

It had been a while since I last touched an MMO, but apparently not long enough.

I reached behind my neck, pulled the thick interface cable from my rig, and pressed the connector into the Neural-X port at the base of my skull. A sharp click confirmed the connection.

The locking joint rotated freely, allowing the cable to bend in any direction without tugging against the port or restricting my movement. Once the full-dive connection took over, I was not supposed to feel my real body anyway, but a badly positioned cable could still ruin the experience before that happened.

I lay back on my diving pillow. At first glance, it resembled an ordinary piece of memory foam, but the center had been carved into a shallow groove to cradle the connector. Hidden channels guided the cable away from my neck so it never pressed against my skin.

Simple, comfortable, and probably dangerous if used for too long.

With everything connected, I opened my system interface. A familiar transparent desktop appeared in my vision, hovering above me like a monitor only I could see. Dozens of icons filled the space—games, messages, applications, and everything else that had once required a physical screen.

I opened my game library.

PROJECT BABEL
The most anticipated VRMMO of 2050

Its logo appeared in front of me: a massive tower reaching toward the heavens. Beneath it was a single button.

START

The room around me slowly faded.

Project Babel was not like older games where character creation meant adjusting a few sliders and selecting from preset options. Your imagination was the character creator.

The system could generate almost anything you wanted: human, demi-human, a familiar fantasy race, or something completely original. As long as it could translate your movements and senses correctly, the design could become your body inside the virtual world.

Some players spent hours creating their perfect second identity. Others recreated themselves exactly.

I kept things simple: my own face, brown eyes, black hair tied back in a short bun, and the same athletic build, light mustache, and trimmed goatee. The only real improvement was adding a few centimeters to my height.

For clothes, I chose a plain white T-shirt, black sweatpants, and black sports shoes. Nothing flashy, but I could always replace it once I found actual gear.

After finalizing my appearance, only one thing remained.

Enter Player Name:

Cloud.

A loading circle appeared.

Connecting to server...

Synchronizing Neural-X interface...

WELCOME TO PROJECT BABEL

For a brief moment, darkness swallowed my vision.

Then sunlight returned in a sudden rush, sharp and overwhelming enough to make me squint.

The first thing I noticed was the sea.

Crystal-blue water stretched beyond the city’s outer walls, meeting the horizon beneath a cloudless sky. Far below, waves crashed gently against the cliffs, sending mist drifting upward through the warm coastal air.

The wind carried the clean scent of salt.

It felt impossibly real.

I stood in a wide plaza paved with pale limestone. Around me rose a coastal city built from layered white stone, its winding streets passing between terraced buildings, arched bridges, and rows of orange rooftops. Flower boxes hung from balconies, while narrow alleys disappeared into cool corridors of shadow.

It felt less like a game hub and more like a capital that had existed long before the players arrived.

Players filled every corner of the plaza. Some stood frozen in awe, while others tested their new bodies by running, jumping, or waving their arms around as though they had just discovered movement. A few had already started shouting about guild recruitment.

A translucent window appeared before me.

PROJECT BABEL

Welcome, Cloud.

Neural synchronization complete.

The interface faded, and I flexed my fingers.

There was no delay between thought and movement. I could feel my weight shifting through my feet, the warmth of the sunlight, the breeze against my skin, and the slight roughness of the limestone beneath my shoes.

The world responded as though this body had always belonged to me.

“This is crazy...”

The voice came from beside me.

A girl in her 20s stood a few steps away, staring across the city with the same amazement as everyone else. Long blonde hair moved gently in the ocean breeze, and her blue eyes remained fixed on the horizon beyond the walls.

She wore a white tank top beneath a loose blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, looking more prepared to explore the city than fight anything.

For a while, she did not move. She simply stood there taking in the white stone buildings, terracotta rooftops, distant cliffs, and waves rolling across the impossible sea.

“I knew full-dive technology was advanced,” she said quietly. “But this...”

She reached toward the fountain beside us and ran her fingers through the water. Small ripples spread across its surface.

“It actually feels like I’m here.”

“It basically tricks your brain into believing you are,” I said.

She looked over at me, and a notification appeared at the edge of my vision.

[Assessment XP +1].

I had not selected anything from a menu. Apparently, paying close attention to another player was enough for the system to recognize what I was doing.

“You sound like you’ve done this before.”

“A few times.”

“Only a few?”

“Okay, maybe more than a few.”

She smiled. “Thought so.”

“What gave it away?”

“Everyone else spawned in and looked around. You don’t seem that impressed.”

She was not wrong.

“First VRMMO?” I asked.

She nodded. “That obvious?”

“A little.” I looked around the plaza. “Honestly, I think you’re enjoying it more than half these people. Everyone else is already trying to figure out what they should do first.”

She turned back toward the ocean. “Isn’t enjoying the world kind of the point?”

Maybe I had played too many games.

That was when I noticed the white text above her.

Anja

“An-jah?”

She immediately turned back toward me. “It’s An-ya.”

I looked from her to the letters above her head. “There’s a J.”

“It’s Slavic.”

“So the J is silent?”

“No.”

“But you just said—”

“It isn’t silent. It’s pronounced differently.”

“That sounds like silent with extra steps.”

She crossed her arms. “No. That’s you being wrong with extra steps.”

I had no response to that.

“I’m Cloud.”

She glanced at the name above my head. “Cloud?”

“Yeah.”

“Like the sky?”

“Something like that.”

She smiled. “I like it.”

I had expected her to make fun of it, but she sounded sincere.

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

For a moment, neither of us said anything. Then, like almost everyone else in the plaza, we eventually looked up.

The tower stood at the heart of the city.

It was impossible to ignore. White stone rose in enormous rings of arches and terraces, climbing so high that the upper levels disappeared into the clouds.

Nearby players had already started speculating.

“Bro, that’s the dungeon.”

“Man, I love VR.”

“First clear when?”

“Endgame is definitely at the top.”

“Look at the size of that thing. Imagine how long it would take to climb.”

Anja stared upward.

“Planning your next vacation already?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

A bell rang before she could say anything else.

Its deep, clear note rolled across the entire city, and the plaza quieted almost immediately. A second bell followed, then a third.

By the time the final note faded, even the players shouting guild invitations had stopped talking.

The world froze.

Water hung motionless above the fountain. Loose petals stopped in midair over the stone path, and beyond the city walls, the waves halted just before breaking against the cliffs.

Everything became still except for the players.

The sky above the tower changed.

Light gathered inside the clouds, folding inward until it formed an enormous sphere wrapped in eight layered wings. They covered whatever waited inside, their feathers locked tightly together.

Then the wings opened.

A massive turquoise eye stared down over the city. Thin streams of gold spread outward from its pupil like cracks through glass.

The plaza erupted with excited shouts about an opening cinematic.

A voice rang out from above, bright, cheerful, and far too cute for something staring down at us from the sky.

“Welcome to Project Babel <3”

Several players immediately lost it.

“Bro, it’s an e-girl voice!”

“Ten out of ten game already. UwU.”

The eye continued, completely serious despite sounding like a festival announcer.

“Before you stands the Tower of Babel.”

Golden light climbed the tower in broad rings. Within the lower arches, different worlds appeared for a few seconds at a time.

Ancient ruins swallowed by jungle.

A desert city half-buried beneath shifting sand.

Scattered islands rising from a vast blue sea.

A colossal shadow moved across one of the openings before anyone could make out what it was.

“Beyond its gates lie worlds uncharted, treasures unclaimed, and dangers unknown.”

Players pointed toward the arches and shouted over one another, already arguing about which opening led to a dungeon, which one contained an open world, and whether the moving shadow had been a boss.

“The path begins here.”

The eye widened, and every golden line across the tower ignited at once.

“Ascend Babel.”

“Reach Eden.”

The plaza erupted into cheers.

“LET’S GOOOO!”

“Did everyone record that?”

“Bro, clip it!”

“Guild recruitment starts now!”

“Top floor by month one, easy.”

“Month one? Bro, day one.”

“I’m gonna be the king of pirates!”

The angel’s eye slowly closed. Its wings folded around it, and the golden light faded from the tower one ring at a time.

Then the figure vanished in a burst of light.

The sky returned to normal, the waves struck the cliffs, and the noise of the city rushed back all at once.

Players started forming parties on the spot. One guy climbed onto the edge of the fountain and shouted for anyone interested in a day-one tower rush. Another group had already raised a guild banner above the crowd, waving it as though they were marching into war instead of looking for members.

Near the main street, someone waved a thin, phone-like device above the crowd. Bright text scrolled across its glassy surface as he called out to passing players.

“Beginner guide! Best grinding spots! Hidden quests!”

Of course someone was already selling a guide.

The game had only been live for three hours.

Anja was still looking toward the place where the angel had disappeared.

“That was insane.”

“Pretty good,” I said.

She looked at me. “Pretty good?”

“What?”

“That’s your reaction?”

“I said it was good.”

“You said pretty good.”

“That’s still good.”

She laughed.

Around us, the plaza had transformed into launch-day MMO chaos. Players shouted over one another, recruited strangers, compared theories, and argued about where to go before anyone properly understood how the game worked.

A player ran past us yelling, “Tower group! Need two more!”

Anja watched him go, her eyes bright. “We should join them.”

“You want to enter a dungeon with a random group five minutes after spawning?”

“I mean...” She glanced toward the tower. “It’s literally right there.”

I opened my equipment screen.

A translucent mannequin appeared in front of me, wearing the same clothing I had spawned in with: shirt, pants, shoes, and absolutely no weapon.

After checking the nonexistent gear stats, I closed the window.

“No.”

Anja looked disappointed. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“So what are you doing first?”

I looked toward the main street leading away from the plaza. Shops were already filling with players, and the tower entrance was probably worse. I could picture twenty people standing around the same monster, waiting for it to respawn while everyone argued over who had attacked first.

I had no interest in joining them.

“Newbie land,” I said.

“What?”

“The tutorial grounds outside the city.”

“Ah.”

I looked down at our clothes. “There’s no way I’m entering a dungeon dressed like this.”

“You are no fun.”

“You’re welcome to go to the tower.” I raised an eyebrow. “Enjoy waiting an hour in line for your first kill.”

She looked toward it again, and for a moment, I thought she might actually leave.

Then she sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to this newbie land with you.”

“With me?”

She started walking toward the main street.

“What? I never asked—”

“Let’s go!”

Before I could finish, she was already weaving through the crowd as though the tutorial grounds had been her idea from the start.

There was only one problem.

She was walking in the wrong direction. The tutorial grounds were behind us.

Before we made it out of the plaza, a shout came from near the city wall.

A player had climbed onto the stone rim overlooking the ocean. He raised both arms toward the crowd like he was about to perform a stunt.

“Fall-damage test!”

Several nearby players turned to watch.

Anja frowned. “Is he seriously going to jump?”

“Looks like it.”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

The player grinned.

“For science!”

He tipped backward and disappeared over the wall.

Nothing happened for the first few seconds.

Then a loud splash echoed from far below.

“Oof.”

“That’s gotta hurt.”

“Bro’s gone.”

From where we stood, I could not see his body. The wall was too high, and the cliff dropped almost vertically into the water.

A few seconds later, a tombstone marker rose into view near the place where he had jumped.

By the time Anja and I pushed through the crowd, dozens of players had gathered around it.

PLAYER NAME: Swapboii69

CAUSE OF DEATH: Fall from great height

Beside the tombstone sat a rugged medieval travel pack reinforced with leather straps and buckles. When I stepped closer, a small window appeared above it.

CONTENTS:

Coin pouch
Basic cloth boots
Basic cloth shirt
Basic cloth pants

[LOOT ALL]

Before I could say anything, another player reached for the bag.

It disappeared.

A new line appeared across the tombstone.

A player has looted the corpse.

“Hey!” someone shouted behind us. “That’s mine!”

I turned.

The jumper had respawned near the plaza fountain, completely unharmed except for the fact that his pouch, clothes, and shoes were gone. He stood there in plain white boxers, staring down at himself.

Someone in the crowd started laughing. A second person joined in, and within moments almost everyone around the fountain had lost control.

The player who had taken the bag was already running.

“Later, sucker!”

The crowd erupted.

“Oh my god, you drop your inventory!”

“Full loot?”

“What about gold?”

“You can loot bodies?”

“Bro, give it back!”

The jumper chased the thief across the plaza in his underwear, still yelling as the other player disappeared into an alley.

I looked back at the tombstone.

So death meant respawning. That was the good part.

The bad part was that players dropped their carried items, equipped gear, and possibly their money. Someone could take all of it before they returned.

This had also happened inside the city, which was supposedly a safe zone.

That rule required further investigation.

Anja looked from the tombstone to the nearly naked player still shouting somewhere beyond the plaza. A wry smile crossed her face.

“Tutorial grounds don’t sound too bad now.”