About An Old Man's Journey:
After his tour of duty and an unremarkable post-Army business career, Charles spent his twilight years watching old movies and waiting for his grandkids to call. He'd lived a good life, been a decent man, but now that his wife was gone he was... Lonely.
Until his old friend Bert introduced him to Crossroads, the new VR sensation. In this virtual world he can move without pain, explore new lands, and most importantly - see his family again. For as long as he can hold their interest, in this fast-paced modern world of instant gratification and VR thrills.
The solution: Build a place his family wants to visit. Armed only with a magic stick with game-breaking powers that should be nerfed, Charles sets out on a journey to find a place to call his own. Along the way, he will be mistaken for an NPC quest giver, become the antagonist in epic questlines, and attempt to teach the next generation proper behavior - even if he has to beat it into them.
This is the story of one man's search for belonging in his second virtual life. A search for a place to belong, and what it takes to get there. It's also a hilarious romp through online fantasy cliches that will appeal to fans of Ready Player One, The Wandering Inn, and slice-of-life comedies.
Because at the end of a man's life: What's more important than family?
Excerpt:
My wife had the best sense of timing. She must have waited until the very moment I had a mouthful of coffee to tell me our oldest daughter had started dating.
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It took a good fifteen minutes to get all the women freed and back underway. It sure is disappointing to know I couldn’t get rid of the wolves. It must have been a quest reward, because every single one had magically poofed onto a full-grown direwolf as soon as they were freed. Still, they seemed happy enough to ride away, dragging the body of their slaver behind them tied to a rope.
When they asked for his body and permission, Charles had waved them away without a care. Immediately afterwards, though, he was given a blinking prompt he opened.
Congratulations! You have created your first military unit! The Dirty Valkyries is a mounted unit of freed dwarven crossbow women. Slayer quest. As they cross any dwarven settlements, they will grow in number until a full unit of three hundred is completed. This unit has been given the auto tasking of completing your Harem-Slayer quest. Would you like to change their tasking?
Charles read through the prompt as they walked, looking up when the surprisingly quick priest from the temple came out. The doors slammed open so fast, one banged against the outside wall. They had just reached it and were beginning to turn onto the southernmost trail that led south. The treeline was back from the wall by a good three yards, and the trail that turned out from the church was only a foot or two wide.
"Hail, good adventurers! I have been given a vision from a greater power and know where you seek to go! I have an urgent matter that can be—"
Charles didn’t wait for the man to finish before bopping him on the head with his stick. There’s already been enough delays. Charles stepped over the man as he groaned on the ground and kept walking South into deeper woods that came closer to them on the path. The others walked around the downed man and silently followed.
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