Twenty-Sided Eye

Joe's body is failing him. In order to make his last weeks of life more palatable, he goes into full digital immersion. This new process will allow him to play in a virtual environment with a fake, but healthy and strong virtual body. As soon as he steps into this new environment he meets his virtual assistant, an Evolving Intelligence (E.I.), who takes the form of someone close to him and goes by the name, Spooky. After explaining how the game will function, she gives him his first items. Before Joe and Spooky can begin playing the game, they are both summoned to a reality where magic is real. Due to the coincidental timing of this event, Joe believes this is all just part of the digital immersion. He is unaware that the summoning has healed his real body, making him now truly young and powerful. As he still believes that he's dying, he lives every moment to the fullest, unaware that he is now a near immortal. What will happen to his assistant, the E.I., once placed in this new reality? Will they survive their new environment or will the myriad of dangers swallow them up?

Spooky and Joe are in a gaming reality where it is quickly becoming clear that it is quite real. They are forced to fight monsters, dungeons, and betrayal, but their greatest enemy might be denial. Both Joe and Spooky are now nearly immortal, but how will Joe react when the facts of the situation can no longer be denied? He may never see his late wife in the afterlife. How will Spooky deal with the changes within herself? Neither she nor her co-Champion have the option to become mere mortals again. Watch as Joe and Spooky continue to grow their capital in people, skills, equipment, and magic.

Joe has the power. The question is, can he hold on to it? The malevolent kingdom of the night is now aware of his presence. A confrontation is guaranteed, just as Rook intended. Joe provides freedom to the oppressed and enslaved. They flock to his banner. His nine-to-five job is gone forever, for a ruler of a kingdom never sleeps. He believes this magical world is a game designed for fun, with no real consequences, but he couldn't be more wrong. His AI partner is starting to see this new reality for what it is. Will Joe, in his ignorance, continue to defeat every opponent? Or, in order to survive, must he be awakened? Someone's going to die the final death, there's no way around that. Only who?

The gloves are off, and the invasion has begun. Rook has turned his attention onto the newly-formed Kingdom of the Iron Dice. In his mind, Joe has become a nuisance that must be squashed. How will Joe's castle prevail when not one, but two armies march upon it? Joe and Zoya no longer have a shield of ignorance to hide behind. If they face Rook, it will be with the full knowledge of their own true mortal peril. They may be Champions, with near-immortality, but they are still just two micro-sentients facing a god-like being. The adventure continues as Joe and Zoya journey back to their kingdom in hopes of bringing order to a dungeon that has been falling into chaos. How will they prioritize which fire to put out? Or will everything they have built burn down to ashes? If Joe and Zoya don't build levels, strength, and abilities quickly, then the kingdom will fall.