A fantastical world. A time of chaos.

Millions live in a state of peril, even if they don't know where the true peril comes from.

If you send the modern denizens of the internet to do the work of heroes, what will happen? Which will triumph, and how?

This question lay at the heart of a secretive experiment being run by the Research & Social Initiatives Department of Unity Game Labs, famously the developer of one of the world's top VRMMORPGs: "Unity Online". The mysterious experiment-turned-marketing ploy was proposed by Dr. Laura Fourier, an enigmatic scientist, who seems to treat the project as more than just a media and marketing project.

Enter Mark Kimbell, part-time streamer and full-time roleplaying enthusiast, who plays Unity Online by assuming the character of Prospero, a merciful mage-hero in a world otherwise filled with psychopathic 'heroes' behaving as tyrants and villains. Though he wasn't particularly popular or even particularly good at the game, he is hand-picked by Dr. Fourier to be among the ten content creators selected to participate in the experiment.

Armed only with his wisdom, wit, and charm, Prospero sets himself against the villainous threats he suspects the other players will be. Follow Prospero as he navigates intrigue and conflict and a world consumed by chaos, as the self-styled hero protagonist of the experimental world and its very real, very intelligent people, on his quest to unify the land beneath a banner that truly serves them.

Thanks so much for clicking!

This is my first effort at writing a GameLit novel, or really any kind of novel. Give it a read if you're curious, and please let me know how I did in the comments. Even leave a review if you like! I'm very motivated to learn and improve from your constructive feedback. And just because I know it'll be the first question on everyone's mind, this is not a LitRPG. The story neither centers around progression and metrics, but human interactions and dynamics. Rest assured though, there will be questing, scheming, fighting, and all other manner of fantasy story devices. There will not be any text boxes regarding experience and levels, so if that's what you're looking for please let me save you the time and frustration. This is literature about an RPG, with heavy emphasis on the 'RP' part.

You may note that all the content flags have been checked here. None of those will be the core focus or aesthetic of the story, but I wanted to err on the side of caution and leave myself room to dip toes into those sorts of depictions if they come up naturally in the course of this project, which is very much a running work-in-progress.

As a full-time workin' lad, I don't have a release schedule for this story just yet. But once I get to a place where I know how often I can release chapters, I'll formalize something and mention it here.

Okay that's it! Thanks for taking the time to read all this. I'll let you get back to it. Best wishes!

-P