Rex has never really fit into this world. He always felt like the odd man out except when it came to video games, more specifically, he related to the back stories and literature he encountered while playing the games. While attending college, a computer science instructor named Professor Stone introduced Rex to a hidden pocket deep in the internet that contained a tantalizing opening sequence to a new game called Shadows Online. Not much is known about the game except to access it requires massive power and cutting edge computer hardware.

While watching the opening sequence on Professor Stone’s experimental computing system, Rex finds himself oddly drawn to the character of Thulen. Not only does the character look like a younger version of himself but he also begins to have flashes of memories from the young boy’s perspective. Professor Stone explains that in the real world Rex is safe while playing his video games, but there is nothing safe in the shadows! Rex is drawn into the simulation as the fantasy world beckons to him. A step, a surge of power, and Rex awakens as Thulen playing for his life in the game of Shadows Online.

Do you think you are safe?

My Opinions: 141 pages, $3.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited

Oddly, this story starts out in 2011.

A sucked into a game story where Rex is told he’s really from this game dimension. The game master tells him this dimension will work like a tabletop RPG, with dice rolls and everything. As he plays, he’ll get to decide his own powers and he’ll eventually come across the other player, who will seek to destroy him.