Release date: March 31, 2019
Subgenre: LitRPG, Dystopian fiction
About Battle Royale Online:
It is 2053 and Earth is overpopulated. People desperately struggle for existence. Human life is extremely cheap nowadays.
As a way to deal with the dire effects and problems of the overpopulation, Battle Royale Online has been invented. It is a virtual reality video game where up to one thousand players kill one another off until there is only one survivor in the game. The gaming pods players use to connect to the game are unofficially called players’ coffins. There is a good reason for that: if one gets killed in the game, his or her pod gets deactivated, which results in the player’s death in real life. The sole winner of the game gets a huge amount of prize money.
Jason, a twenty-two-year-old guy, would never have decided to play Battle Royale Online had his mom not gotten in a car crash, which caused a brain tumor. She is in a comatose state and needs immediate surgical intervention. Jason doesn’t have enough money to pay for the surgery. Therefore, he decides to play Battle Royale Online.
Jennifer, his girlfriend, tries to reason with him. She tries to persuade him not to play the game because the odds of being the last player standing in this game are extremely slim. She also warns him that there may be cheaters and hackers in the game. Yet her pleas fall on deaf ears.
Later on, Jason finds out that Jennifer is going to play the game as well. Jason freaks out over her decision because there is no way they both can win the game. Even if they against all the odds defeat the other players, cheaters, and hackers, and make it to the final stage of the game, it won’t let them both leave the game alive. Jason has no idea what Jennifer was thinking when she decided to play the game as well. How the heck are they both going to win the game if there can be only one survivor?
As a way to deal with the dire effects and problems of the overpopulation, Battle Royale Online has been invented. It is a virtual reality video game where up to one thousand players kill one another off until there is only one survivor in the game. The gaming pods players use to connect to the game are unofficially called players’ coffins. There is a good reason for that: if one gets killed in the game, his or her pod gets deactivated, which results in the player’s death in real life. The sole winner of the game gets a huge amount of prize money.
Jason, a twenty-two-year-old guy, would never have decided to play Battle Royale Online had his mom not gotten in a car crash, which caused a brain tumor. She is in a comatose state and needs immediate surgical intervention. Jason doesn’t have enough money to pay for the surgery. Therefore, he decides to play Battle Royale Online.
Jennifer, his girlfriend, tries to reason with him. She tries to persuade him not to play the game because the odds of being the last player standing in this game are extremely slim. She also warns him that there may be cheaters and hackers in the game. Yet her pleas fall on deaf ears.
Later on, Jason finds out that Jennifer is going to play the game as well. Jason freaks out over her decision because there is no way they both can win the game. Even if they against all the odds defeat the other players, cheaters, and hackers, and make it to the final stage of the game, it won’t let them both leave the game alive. Jason has no idea what Jennifer was thinking when she decided to play the game as well. How the heck are they both going to win the game if there can be only one survivor?
Excerpt:
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Jennifer exclaimed, tears
welling up in her beautiful hazel eyes.
“I’m going to be just fine, Jen,” I replied as calmly as I could
manage.
“No, you are not,” my girlfriend cried out, desperately fighting
back the unwelcome tears.
“Listen, Jen,” I said trying to keep my cool, “I’ve got it all
under control and––”
“You have no idea what you’re gonna get yourself into,” she
interrupted me. “There are going to be one thousand people in the
game, but only one of them will survive.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I asked forcing myself to smile.
“The probability that you’ll be the last man standing is point one
percent,” Jen continued totally ignoring my remark. “In other
words, your chances of winning are extremely slim, Jason. No way
you can survive, don’t you see?”
“You’re a smart girl,” I replied, a sincere smile on my lips now.
“But you’re forgetting something.”
“What’s that?”
“I used to play virtual reality video games as a teenager,” I said.
“My father–– Before my father disappeared, he often gave me money
so I could use pay public pods to play virtual reality games. Since
he was very rich, I played a lot. So I’m an experienced player.”
Jennifer scoffed at my statement. “Do you really think you’re the
only person with gaming experience?”
“Virtual reality video games are very expensive so––”
Jennifer interrupted me again, “I bet there are going to be plenty
of experienced players in Battle Royale Online. It’s silly to think
you’ve got some sort of advantage over the others.”
I simply clammed up for a few moments, looking my girlfriend in the
eye. Then I said, “Jen, I have to do it. Whether you like it or
not, I have to. You know about my mom, don’t you? It’s nearly the
end of the month. If I don’t pay, they’ll shut off her life
support.”
“So you don’t have enough money? Why didn’t you tell me, Jason?
Geez. If you’re short of money, I can always help you out, don’t
you know that?”
“I’m not talking about the monthly payments, Jen. It’s almost five
months since the car crash. You know what it means, right?”
Jennifer looked confused. “Is it already? I totally forgot about
it. I was going to keep a record of it and accumulate some money
but––”
“Don’t sweat it, Jen,” I said softly. “You have enough problems of
your own in your life.”
“I know but––”
“Not that you would’ve been able to pay for the operation. It’s too
expensive. Between our salaries, we couldn’t have afforded the
operation even if we’ve been saving money for it for a year.”
Jennifer’s face hardened with displeasure a bit. “So this is why
you decided to get yourself killed in this stupid game, Battle
Royale Online, right?”
“Yes. I mean no. I mean I’m not going to die, Jen. I’m going to win
and get one million dollars. It’s more than enough to cover the
operation.”
“Just listen to yourself,” Jennifer said raising her voice. She had
a sweet disposition and hardly ever raised her voice. Maybe only
when she was really upset or angry. Not that I had ever seen her
angry. Not once.
As Jennifer leaned her head forward, a strand of raven hair fell
out from her ear and across her beautiful face. Frowning, she
tucked it back into place with her left hand.
“You’re being very silly, Jason,” she stated. “Experienced player
or not, you need a lot of luck to win Battle Royale Online. This
game’s like Russian roulette, considering.”
Amazon
About Victor Deckard:
Victor Deckard has become an avid reader in his childhood and
since then has a craving for writing fiction. He enjoys reading
keeping-you-on-the-edge-of-your-chair thrillers filled with action and
spiced up with sci-fi or fantasy themes. His all-time favorite authors
are Raymond Chandler, Philip K. Dick, and H.P. Lovecraft.
Victor Deckard’s first fiction story is called Outbreak. It is an action-packed urban-fantasy novella with some horror themes. Now he's working on his survival post-apocalyptic LitRPG series called Glitch.
Victor Deckard’s first fiction story is called Outbreak. It is an action-packed urban-fantasy novella with some horror themes. Now he's working on his survival post-apocalyptic LitRPG series called Glitch.
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