Chapter 2 - Preparations With his hands in his pant pockets, Liam casually strolled into the Electronic shop at the corner of the street. "Brother, can you give me a Blood Battle game capsule?" "Huh?" The store clerk looked up, slightly startled as the customer talking to him didn't look like someone who could afford the high-end gaming capsule. Such a thing cost a fortune! In the last decade alone, games and gaming software had developed a lot and gaming capsules were now all the rage. These allowed users to log in for hours together without ever having to step out except for maybe to eat or drain their bodily fluids. But to buy Blood Battle…? The store clerk could tell that the young man in front of him was not that well to do. In fact, he looked like he hadn't eaten anything in a while. So he took pity on the seemingly naive youngster and advised. "Brother, are you sure that this is the one you want? Blood Battle game is actually not that popular." "Why don't you go with Violet Garden or Eden's Hold?" "I think you can earn more money with those games. I also have an account in them and I am also playing part-time to earn more money." The clerk chuckled awkwardly. He was not that much older than Liam and he was also in the bottom middle class. So he could empathize with him. Liam patiently listened to the man, but after hearing everything he only shook his head. "Thank you for your kindness. I think I am going to stick with the Blood battle gear for now." Seeing that he was already set in his decision, the clerk didn't bother anymore. After all, he would also get a nice commission if someone bought that insanely expensive gear. "Alright. Give me your address. I will set up the delivery. Half the payment now and half the payment on delivery." Liam calmly smiled and nodded. He took out a card that looked like it had only been used once or twice and swiped it on the machine finishing the payment. Ding! The machine beeped eating away a big chunk of his settlement money that he had been meticulously saving and protecting. Gaming capsules were extremely expensive, especially the Blood Battle capsule which was one of the most high-end ones available in the market currently. Their game might suck but their capsule was top-notch. Why did Liam still buy this one? That's because he knew something that the others still had no idea about. In about two days, every single VR game would be inexplicably hacked and erased into nothingness. It didn't matter whether it was Blood Battle or Violet Garden or Eden's Hold. Everything will magically disappear, to be replaced by the one and only game, 'Evolution Online' which could somehow be played with any gaming capsule irrespective of the gaming company that had made the capsule. Several computer experts, hackers from the darknet across the world would try to rectify the situation and crack the mystery but in the end, they would all only fail. No one would be able to get even a hint about this mysterious new game, Evolution Online that will inevitably take the world by a storm. However, this was only the beginning. The scary part came after the first major patch when reality suddenly merged with virtual reality. People who were able to split a rock apart inside the game would surprisingly find themselves being able to do the same in real life as well. Abilities, superpowers, magic, darkness… everything would spill over from the game to reality. However, despite what one might be inclined to think, this would not be a good thing. The world would delve into complete and utter chaos and plunge into an apocalyptic blood bath. Governments would be replaced by Guilds and Kingdoms and corporations would scramble behind them trying to salvage whatever value that their money still had. It would be the onset of a completely new era! Liam gripped his bank card tightly as memories of the terrifying future flashed past his mind. He still had no idea why or how he was able to somehow come back to the past, but now that he had… he was determined to grab every single advantage that he could get. This was why he had selected the best gear currently available even though it cost him five times what the other capsules cost. After giving all the remaining details required and quickly finishing the transaction, Liam stepped out of the shop. He didn't bother explaining his actions to the store clerk. The man had indeed been kind to him, but he had lost faith in humanity a long time ago. After dealing with the matter of game capsule, Liam then walked over to the nearby consumer store and pre-paid a chunk of money for electricity and higher bandwidth internet. He then headed to the grocery store and purchased a huge bulk of supplies and dry food items that didn't need refrigeration. After a few hours, he was finally done with all the preliminary preparations and started heading back home. Liam looked at his card that somehow felt lighter now and a small chuckle escaped his lips. He was betting everything he had on himself. Some might find it impulsive, but he knew that this was his only chance to survive and change his and his sister's fate!