Humanity had reached the golden age of the virtual era, with a new perfected method to create and communicate in a safe, risk-free, and completely immersive virtual reality platform. The first-generation of the Dynamic REM Environment Assembly Machina or Dream.-VR, as it was dubbed, granted millions of people a life-changing encounter that captivated their hearts, minds, and senses.

Dream-VR was a product born from the masterful integration of several revolutionary brain-computer-interface (BCI) systems into a simple headset. When activated, the headset gently induced and sustained an astonishingly malleable state of emulated REM sleep. In this state, the Dream-VR is connected to its very own real-time network. Depending on the server simulation or “environment” selected, a person could interact with other people using the helmet. There were no restrictions to what a person could experience. 

The Dream-VR platform allowed content creators the freedom to build simulations with an unlimited range in size and complexity. The possibilities were endless, from inclusive scenes to global-scale environments tailored to the experience they wanted to emulate. By joining a session via the Dream Network, a Dream-VR user could interact with and experience these environments alongside anyone else connected. Unimaginable amounts of data traveled instantly, and Dream-VR environments showcased features like server population. There was no limit to the number of connected users in any environment at any given time, and no performance decrease, ever.

At first, a myriad of smaller structured environments appeared on the Dream Network, such as internet browsing hubs, live-stream party venues, and classrooms. Years later, software development companies jumped on the bandwagon and brought a more robust, extensive, and highly polished environment service to the masses. This wave of quality environments further accelerated the popularity of Dream-VR content.

Then, an announcement by a newly established indie game developer shook the Dream-VR community. The company planned to release the first global-scale RPG environment ever on the Dream Network. This world was introduced as Sovereign Spirit Online. 

No one could have expected the radical change and impact the game would have. Analysts would later point the finger at Sovereign Spirit Online (SSO) as the entity responsible for ushering in the golden age of the virtual era. Society had already been showing a progressional increase in the demand for virtual goods and services. In contrast, the consumer market dealing in overall physical products was on a steady decline. The world as people knew it had drastically changed, and to many people worldwide, the change happened overnight. 

The day SSO was scheduled to release, those who didn’t already own a Dream-VR headset flocked in droves to various stores that still had it in stock. It was expensive, but experiencing the fantastic new phenomena of a realistic virtual world was worth it.

Enter Sovereign Spirit Online, employing the newly introduced Martial Environment Game Engine, created especially for the world. The environment engine enabled SSO developers to emulate an authentic experience of realism within the environment with extreme accuracy. 

The most prominent gameplay feature of SSO was that contrary to classically unlocking or learning skills, powers, combat classes, or crafting professions, these things existed as living Spirits. To utilize these Spirits’ power and effects, players had to feed, nurture, and harmonize with them!

The depth of customization and the feats a person could achieve were limitless. The Martial Environment Engine’s implementation with Dream-VR made SSO feel, at times, no different from reality. Within a few short months of its release, the concurrent player count had already soared to over ten million. From there, the number kept gradually rising. But there was another factor that led to the enormous spike in the game’s popularity. SSO developers gave their players an ultimate goal that had everyone who played the game desperate to achieve.

The goal was to unify the Divine Continent and become the world’s absolute ruler, the Sovereign. 

Subjugating the world under one ruler could be achieved by any means. Whether it be on the battlefield through PvP, economic manipulation between nations, or even banding together SSO’s various NPC factions for conquest.

Naturally, many people competed to be the top player or have the strongest guild. Some of these guilds even grew so large that they established their own nations in-game, taxing other NPCs and players who lived and traveled through the guild’s lands. If a player could unify the world, they’d gain glory and riches. However, the most significant monetary reward and factor causing the masses to be so desperate was not even in-game. 

The absolute ruler of Sovereign Spirit Online would receive a portion of the profits from SSO’s development team, Surreal Studios. This reward was a promise from the developers, guaranteed by a legal contract that ensured the deal’s financial legality.

Surreal Studios derived the compensation from a slice of all the subscription fees, cash shop sales, and money-sink mechanics generated worldwide. Also, these benefits would be valid as long as the person remained in power!

Nine years after its debut, Sovereign Spirit Online still had yet to be conquered. Countless people tried, and eventually, the majority of players gave up on the endeavor. Instead, they content themselves with a carefree and casual playstyle, earning enough money in the realm of Dream-VR to live comfortably in reality.

Other individuals, such as Sun Zhou, actively sought out power. Ruthlessly trampling over any who stood between them and their ambition was par for the course. For Sun Zhou, his life was regrettably filled with the motivation to step further than anyone else. His drive and obsession led him to lose more than he had ever gained, and just now, he was on the verge of doing it all over again.