Daniel Dantas was 26 years old, lived in Florianópolis, and was considered the best Brazilian player of New Avalon Online, the world’s most popular virtual reality game.

  He had been with the Dark Age team for five years, and thanks to his genius and leadership, they won the Brazilian Championship and were going to represent the country in the 8th World Championship.

  As usual, Daniel woke up early and arrived at the Dark Age Organization’s headquarters before sunrise. His first stop was the training room on the fourth floor.

  There he found the five players from the main team inside the immersion pods. Daniel went to the nearest available capsule, settled into the seat, put on the virtual reality headset, and gave the command that immersed his mind in the virtual world of New Avalon Online.

  Inside the game, he was in control of Dante, a knight in shining armor carrying a round shield in his left hand, while his right hand wielded the Amethyst Hammer, one of the most famous legendary weapons in the game.

  He trained for about six hours and only stopped because two messages flashed in his field of vision:

  Juliet: Hey! Sleeping beauty, it's time to wake up!!!

  Juliet: We're waiting for you…!

  Daniel logged out of the game to meet the girl behind the avatar named Juliet. Back in the real world, he removed the VR headset, took a deep breath, and observed the nine pods in the training room, all empty.

  "About time you returned to the land of the living,” Júlia announced, crossing her arms, her brown eyes staring at him. "We're waiting for you in the boss's office.”

  "But you're here...”

  "I'm here because they sent me to get you. I was this close to dragging you out of there by force.”

  Even though she was joking, he believed her words because the girl had a well-defined body from daily gym workouts and martial arts classes.

  He closed the pod lid, but as he bent down, Júlia slapped his butt and let out a mocking laugh. He tried to retaliate, but she jumped back, then raised her fists and challenged him, "You wanna fight?”

  "No... burp...” Daniel couldn't stop a burp from escaping. "Sorry...”

  "Good thing you didn't do that when we were together.”

  "Miss me?” He smiled provocatively.

  "As much as you'd like, a relationship where one party is egocentric could never work.”

  "And the other is a narcissist.”

  "Hey!” she protested, lightly punching his shoulder.

  The two laughed at each other. Júlia pulled Daniel by the sleeve of his black and gray uniform jacket and led him out of the training room.

  "Jú,” Daniel called her just before they reached the door. "Have I told you how beautiful you look in uniform?”

  "Like a thousand times!” She pushed him. "Let's go, captain. We have a world championship to win.”

  ***

  The Dark Age Organization headquarters was located on the seashores of the island of Florianópolis, capital of the southern state of Santa Catarina. From the president's office on the fifth floor, one could admire the vast blue sea that merged with the cloudless sky on the horizon.

  At first, Daniel and Júlia thought only the main team would be present, but for some reason, the company's partners and directors were also present, along with Ronaldo Emerich, the president of the Dark Age E-Sports Organization.

  No one said a word.

  As the captain of the main team, Daniel occupied the center of the sofa. To his left was Júlia, nervously tapping her right foot on the floor. Noticing Daniel staring at her, she bit her lower lip and held his hand.

  The president took a deep breath, adjusted his gray suit, the watch on his wrist, and announced, "It is with great regret that I inform you that... our organization is closing its doors.” He looked at the floor, then lamented, "I apologize to all of you.”

  "What?” Daniel said, standing up from the sofa, startling Júlia. "What the hell is this? Is this some sort of a bad joke?” His indignation was echoed by the other players, who also stood up.

  "No, it's not a joke...” confirmed Ronaldo Emerich. "The organization is under investigation. All the company's assets are being seized by the authorities.”

  No one spoke. Daniel looked at Júlia, who was covering her mouth with her right hand, about to cry, but instead, she responded without much hope, "What about the... World Championship?”

  "We've been disqualified...,” Emerich replied.

  Of the six players, two broke into tears. Despite also being emotionally shaken, Daniel clenched his fist and questioned the president, "If the company is really under investigation, what the hell did you do? In what mess did you get involved?”

  "Watch your tone, captain... I don't like your attitude.”

  "Answer!” Júlia intervened. "What happened?”

  The president scratched the back of his neck like someone who didn't know anything. And he spoke in a condescending tone, "It's too complex for you to understand...”

  Before they could protest against the president, the receptionist entered the president's office, walked quickly to Emerich’s side. She whispered in his ear, but her stuttering was heard by everyone present.

  "P-pre-president, th-the po-police.”

  Emerich shuddered, his carefree attitude vanished in an instant.

  "Tell them... tell them I'm coming. And try to buy me some time, please.”

  "Bu-bu-but.” The receptionist froze as she saw the police squad entering the president's office. There were six men wearing the police uniform.

  And the first officer to enter declared in a categorical tone, "President Ronaldo Emerich? We are from the federal police. We are here to take you in.” He displayed his badge and a copy of the judicial warrant.

  After handcuffing President Emerich, the federal police officer turned to the players. The operation leader informed them that they should prepare for a future hearing and also recommended that they contact their lawyers as soon as possible.

  The news brought even more distress to the players, but the officer quickly reassured them, saying that the hearing would address the company's closure, so none of them were involved in the case.

  ***

  After two weeks of waiting, the day of the hearing arrived. Inside the hearing room, the six players and their lawyers sat on one side of the table, while Emerich and his team occupied the other. The judge and the clerk sat at the head of the table.

  The hearing began with the judge summarizing the events, citing the crimes and infractions committed by the representatives of the Dark Age E-Sports Organization.

  Then the names of the involved parties were mentioned, establishing that the six professional players present had an employment relationship with the company, and most importantly, that they were innocent.

  The news brought relief to Daniel, as he had recently financed his new apartment.

  The judge picked up a dozen pages. Everyone grew anxious. Daniel felt a chill in his stomach as he saw a strange smile forming on the face of the former president Emerich.

  "Regarding the players' avatars,” the judge announced in a loud and clear voice.

  The six looked at each other.

  "It has come to my attention that, along with the standard employment contract, the Dark Age Sports Organization also agreed with the newly employed parties on a total transfer of avatar rights. This, in the eyes of the law, is understood as the full ownership of the accounts used by the players, under the condition that they were created and offered to the players by the company itself.”

  The judge paused before continuing,

  "In my hands are the contracts signed by the members of the main team. The signatures have been previously validated, therefore, they are legitimate. Starting with the team captain, Daniel de Oliveira Dantas, owner of the avatar Dante, knight class, level 99. The estimated auction value is R$500,000.00 for the starting bid.”

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  "What?” Daniel slammed the table. "What the hell is this?”

  "Daniel, calm down!” his lawyer intervened, terrified.

  It wasn't just Daniel who lost his cool. The other teammates also voiced their dissatisfaction.

  "Silence!” the judge shouted. "Next time any of you disrespect this hearing, I will penalize you for contempt. Everyone will have the right to speak, so I demand that you remain silent until I give you the floor.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel could see Emerich holding back laughter. And when he turned his gaze to Júlia, he felt a pain in his chest seeing her crying, hugging her lawyer.

  The hearing continued. The other avatars of the team were mentioned, evaluated, and announced for auction to settle the debts and liabilities of the bankrupt company.

  The process was horrible and painful. Daniel felt his strength fading with each passing minute. But he clung to his lawyer's words when he told him that he could contest this arbitrary decision.

  Finally, it was time for the players to be heard. Daniel would be the first. He took a deep breath, faced the judge, and presented his defense.

  "My life depends on my avatar. We can only have one avatar so, if Dante is taken from me, I will have to start from scratch. You don't know how long and difficult it is to reach the higher levels. It could take a year to evolve and collect the necessary equipment to return to the competitive scene, as the professional teams only hire high-level players. Please, I need my avatar,” Daniel said, almost in tears.

  On the other side of the table, Emerich smiled.

  The judge flipped through the papers on his desk, then asked a question, "Daniel, did you have any avatar before joining the Dark Age Organization?”

  "Yes, a knight. At the time, I was hired as a reserve after winning an amateur championship.”

  "Would this knight be Dante, the character in question?”

  "No. The team coach asked me to use an account created by them. All I did was rename the provided account to ‘Dante’. I deleted my old character to avoid being fined for having two accounts.”

  "So, it's correct to assume that Dante is a creation of the company?”

  "But your honor,” Daniel's lawyer intervened. "Even if the avatar is the company's property, it gained recognition thanks to Daniel's efforts.”

  "Sir, that's irrelevant. Hearing adjourned!” the judge announced, silencing everyone who stood up to protest.

  "This is unfair, it's ridiculous, you're robbing us!” Daniel shouted, echoed by his teammates.

  "Silence!” the judge ordered, with a piercing glare.

  "This hearing is a farce. This case is madness. Give me back my avatar!” Daniel threatened the judge by taking a step towards him.

  "Sir, control your client,” the judge demanded.

  The lawyer grabbed Daniel and pleaded, "For the love of... control yourself... He's not your enemy.”

  "You're right. The culprit is that bastard.” Daniel glared at Emerich.

  Seeing that he was being stared at, the former president of Dark Age said, "Kid... listen to your lawyer...”

  "You ruined me. I dedicated my life to your organization. I bled alongside my friends to win all those titles for you... I was going to take your dirty company's name to the world championship...”

  "I know, I know. I'm very grateful, but you know how it is, shit happens. So, move on, the game continues,” Emerich replied.

  "How can you be so calm? You corrupt piece of shit. You screwed me. I'm bankrupt because of you...”

  "That's great. Let it be a lesson. Never sign a contract without questioning every clause.”

  The lawyers managed to calm their clients until the room fell silent. But as everyone began to leave the room, Daniel jumped over the table, stood in front of President Emerich, and landed a clean right jab on his nose.

  ***

  Because of the punch, Daniel had to face an expensive lawsuit, even for a successful professional player. It didn't take long for the incident to go public. Daniel's reputation went from bad to worse. Media channels couldn't stop talking about the disappointment he had become, while influential figures across the country endorsed that narrative. It seemed like no one would bother to find out the truth.

  Daniel tried to remedy the situation by telling his side of the story, but everything he posted on social media was met with thousands of hateful comments. And the very few channels that gave him space to explain himself ended up suffering the same fate.

  No one wanted to hear his side of the story, so he took a break from everything and everyone.

  Three months had passed since the fateful event. All his contracts were terminated on the claim that Daniel had tarnished the companies’ image, resulting in the payment of a heavy penalty that drained his finances.

  To cover his everyday expenses, Daniel was forced to get a regular job. It seemed like his professional career was over.

  One day, he woke up to the sound of his phone. He brought the screen closer to his face and read the message.

  "You are not alone. We know the truth. Don't give up!"

  He reread the message, but assumed it was a prank, so he ignored it. The phone rang again. It was another message.

  "If you don't want to spend the rest of your life mourning a lost avatar, log into the game and create a new avatar."

  Daniel was confused, so he replied: "Who are you?"

  The response was: "We are friends, but our time is short now. We will contact you after you create a new avatar, but it MUST be a DRUID..."

  Daniel found that requirement strange. Why a druid avatar? How would that help him? He cleared his mind and took a deep breath. Slowly, a spark of excitement began to burn within him.

  He was imagining what it would be like to control a druid, the least popular class among professional players. He looked at the corner of the room, where the immersion pod was installed.

  Since he had nothing planned for that weekend, Daniel reread the message on his phone, and the temptation to log into the game grew.

  "A druid?” he reflected out loud. "An interesting class...” He was already in front of the pod. "Whatever your intentions are, my mysterious friend, you've convinced me.”

  He took a deep breath and entered the immersion pod. After sitting comfortably and putting on the virtual reality visor, he muttered the voice command, "Start: New Avalon Online.”

  The sensation of total immersion was like being sucked into a vortex. Daniel lost all sense of time and space for a few seconds as everything went black; by the time he realized it, he was already in the virtual world.

  Daniel found himself in a room with white walls. He looked at his own body and confirmed that it was an exact virtual representation of himself.

  Of course, I don't have an avatar anymore. Dante was officially taken from me, he thought.

  In front of him was an angelic creature with a pair of white wings, a halo hovering above its head, and a sheathed sword at its waist.

  "Welcome to New Avalon,” said the creature. "My name is Mikhaela. I am the celestial responsible for guiding you through the process of creating your new avatar. Do you have any class in mind?”

  "Yes, druid.” He went straight to the point.

  Mikhaela gestured with her hand. A holographic panel appeared in front of Daniel, showing the representation of a druid, a man wearing a long green cloak over a leather armor. He wielded a spear and cast a spell with his other hand.

  Below was the class description.

  The druid is a protector of nature capable of transforming into powerful creatures to devastate their opponents. Their magical repertoire derives from natural elements; they can cast anything from healing winds to lightning and earthquakes. The arsenal available to a druid is, in a way, limited, as they are not devoted to mastering advanced martial techniques.

  After analyzing the class, Daniel couldn't help but reflect on how it differed from the class he had dedicated years of his life to. He pondered whether it would be worth the effort to master a new class.

  No! He mentally scolded himself. If everything went wrong and the mysterious contact turned out to be a hoax, there would still be time to go back and try again. Daniel felt that he should seize this opportunity with all his strength, no matter how obscure it seemed.

  "Would you like to confirm the druid class for your new avatar?” Mikhaela asked.

  "Yes.”

  "Understood,” she said while approaching, then placed her hands over Daniel's shoulders and chanted, "Oh deities of nature, grant this adventurer an avatar worthy of his talents and bless him with the primordial wisdom of the druids."

  The white room was illuminated by a green light bright enough to blind Daniel. When the light faded away, he looked down and saw himself wearing a long moss-green cloak, with a vine rope tied around his waist.

  "Great, I've become a tree-hugging hippie," he reacted upon embodying a new character.

  "Noble adventurer, behold your beauty through this mirror."

  Daniel walked to the mirror and saw himself inside the skin of the druid.

  "Would you like to alter your appearance?"

  He was posing in front of the mirror when Mikhaela asked.

  "No. It's perfect like this. I love the black, rebellious hair; I look like an anti-hero." After a few minutes of admiring his own body, especially the musculature, he announced, "I'm ready."

  "We're almost done. Do you have a name for this new avatar?"

  He had been thinking about it since he arrived. "Ragnar."

  "Excellent. Adventurer, I believe the creation of your avatar is complete. Would you like to check your stats before departing?"

  "Of course."

  She snapped her fingers, causing a holographic screen to appear in front of him.

  Ragnar puffed out his chest and announced to the celestial creature, "I'm ready. Please, transport me to the world of New Avalon."

  "As you wish, noble adventurer. I wish you good luck on your journey."

  Mikhaela conjured a blue portal in front of the druid. He took a deep breath and stepped through.

  |

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