Sighing, I take a golden coin out of my wallet and look at the slot in front of me. “Have a break from your world, experience Euphoria,” the mechanical voice from the slot declares. “In Euphoria, be your true self!”
Euphoria, the VR game established by a technological genius, has taken over the world.
I put the coin in, wishing that the pitiful clink in my wallet wasn’t from the last two coins that I had. Reaching for the virtual reality goggles, I wrap them around my head and sit in the game seat.
How ironic that this game was called Euphoria.
It was an euphoric break from my factory job, but a miserable prison within my mind all the same, where it stayed and ate up my brain and my money.
But that’s the problem, once you get a taste of it. Once you get a taste of Euphoria, you can never stop.
“Welcome to Euphoria!”
In the game, I land facedown on the grass, then slowly pick myself up and spit the leftover stalks of the grass touched with gold out of my mouth. I’m in a space populated with trees and clouds turned red by the setting sun; given by what I’ve known from my past experience, if I walk south as far as I can see on my minimap tucked into my belt, I should be able to reach the lake before dark.
I know that this isn’t real, and that once my money runs out, I’ll be transported back into the real world, where I’ll have to go to my job in the cheese factory and watch that same piece of cheese come down the production line over and over again, with the stench hitting my nostrils. I could imagine it even now, when I closed my eyes.
Just then, a hand clamps around my throat and squeezes. My eyes go wide, and I try to turn around to catch my assailant, but it’s no use.
It’s not real, I reassure myself. It’s not real.
This is it, then. Can you even die in Euphoria? Why couldn’t I search this up sooner? I’m gasping for breath now, and I’m sure that if I could see myself, my face would have a blue tinge. No, this can’t be the end.
In a last ditch effort, I turn around and stab the assailant in the gut. Their hold on me slackens, then loosens all at once as they fall backward. I whirl around, gasping. They’ve lost too much blood, and though I try to deny it, I know they’re dead.
I cradle my head in my hands. I killed someone. And then a different part of me thinks, It’s not real. I killed someone, but it’s not real. Is it?
Suddenly, I’m transported back into the actual world. It’s not real, I think. It’s not real.
The pool of blood around my feet screams otherwise. And in it, there lies a limp body. It’s real. I killed someone.
Does it make me a monster? No, I want to say. But the red is ever-increasing around my feet.
A clinking of coins distracts me- the machine has refunded me my game token. “Would you like to go back? Please add another game token to continue.” Looking down, I gulp. What else is there left to do now?
I sit back and slide the token back in. With a clinking of coins, I am whisked away once again. In the edge of my mind, the robotic voice speaks once again.
“Welcome to Euphoria!”
Euphoria, the VR game established by a technological genius, has taken over the world.
I put the coin in, wishing that the pitiful clink in my wallet wasn’t from the last two coins that I had. Reaching for the virtual reality goggles, I wrap them around my head and sit in the game seat.
How ironic that this game was called Euphoria.
It was an euphoric break from my factory job, but a miserable prison within my mind all the same, where it stayed and ate up my brain and my money.
But that’s the problem, once you get a taste of it. Once you get a taste of Euphoria, you can never stop.
“Welcome to Euphoria!”
In the game, I land facedown on the grass, then slowly pick myself up and spit the leftover stalks of the grass touched with gold out of my mouth. I’m in a space populated with trees and clouds turned red by the setting sun; given by what I’ve known from my past experience, if I walk south as far as I can see on my minimap tucked into my belt, I should be able to reach the lake before dark.
I know that this isn’t real, and that once my money runs out, I’ll be transported back into the real world, where I’ll have to go to my job in the cheese factory and watch that same piece of cheese come down the production line over and over again, with the stench hitting my nostrils. I could imagine it even now, when I closed my eyes.
Just then, a hand clamps around my throat and squeezes. My eyes go wide, and I try to turn around to catch my assailant, but it’s no use.
It’s not real, I reassure myself. It’s not real.
This is it, then. Can you even die in Euphoria? Why couldn’t I search this up sooner? I’m gasping for breath now, and I’m sure that if I could see myself, my face would have a blue tinge. No, this can’t be the end.
In a last ditch effort, I turn around and stab the assailant in the gut. Their hold on me slackens, then loosens all at once as they fall backward. I whirl around, gasping. They’ve lost too much blood, and though I try to deny it, I know they’re dead.
I cradle my head in my hands. I killed someone. And then a different part of me thinks, It’s not real. I killed someone, but it’s not real. Is it?
Suddenly, I’m transported back into the actual world. It’s not real, I think. It’s not real.
The pool of blood around my feet screams otherwise. And in it, there lies a limp body. It’s real. I killed someone.
Does it make me a monster? No, I want to say. But the red is ever-increasing around my feet.
A clinking of coins distracts me- the machine has refunded me my game token. “Would you like to go back? Please add another game token to continue.” Looking down, I gulp. What else is there left to do now?
I sit back and slide the token back in. With a clinking of coins, I am whisked away once again. In the edge of my mind, the robotic voice speaks once again.
“Welcome to Euphoria!”
