Eddie Hunter is about at the end of his rope, so when he stumbles across an ad looking for people to farm in Long Term Immersion in the game Light Online, he can't believe his luck. Once hired he enters the game as soon as he can. Unbeknownst to him, though, the person that hired him is also doing illicit research on the pods that he and the other farmers are using. The research is rapidly discovered by the AIs that monitor the game and shut down, forcefully, by the company that runs Light Online. But the code that runs those pods has been altered, and until it's fixed Eddie and the others can't log out. Although the devs assure him that it won't take long to fix, Eddie's not so sure of that himself. Eddie entered the game to make money in real life, and as he tries to do that he finds himself getting entangled deeper and deeper in the game and with the people he meets there. But when he discovers a side of the game that the previous players had apparently never even considered, he knows he has to find a way to stay in the game.

As he looked at life...

...surrounded by the trappings of success...

Austin wondered, is there anything else?

He made it to the top. As CEO of an asteroid mining company, Austin has accomplished everything he ever wanted in business. Now, he needs more. To get away he turns to a fantasy video game.

Is virtual reality the answer?

Should he pick, elf, gnome, caster, or swordsman?

He just wants peace and quiet, play as a dwarf, build a house, do some smithing and character building. His idea of the perfect fantasy game. Then he learns their secret.

Deceit hides in the shadows.

And the truth is all around.

Austin will need to level up.

If he gets caught, it means death. He’ll need help along the way. How can he convince anyone they’re slaves in a bigger game and stay under the radar? If Earth was a simulation and the game was real...

Who can he trust?