The Ascension Game

Pizza, coffee, and a library full of unplayed games. That's the plan, or at least it was supposed to be. Instead, an average gamer finds himself seemingly transported into the world of his favorite game. While some might appreciate that, it's quickly apparent that he isn't in some sort of virtual reality experiment, all of his downloaded mods are active, and the world is likely set to its highest difficulty with permadeath enabled.

The first two bosses have been defeated, and Player has bought himself some time. Though, between spending time with his new lovers, figuring out how to make an airship function by exploiting the world's mechanics, and exploring caves with his pet mimic to find more resources to craft better gear with, he has plenty to do and little time to do it before more bosses appear. Then there is still the truth of the world itself and the enigmatic entities seemingly behind it that he has to uncover.

With the first biome fully cleared, a new companion, and a clear path to constructing an airship, all Player has to do is a bit of resource grinding before he can properly set off and explore the rest of the familiar world that he has been brought to. Of course, while he might have a clear plan to skip the next biomes in the progression order to go straight for even stronger items and equipment, the mysterious order of entities orchestrating everything behind the scenes may have more surprises in store for him.

Progress has been made, but has the progress been meaningful? Player has found himself in a world inspired by his favorite video game and, together with his new family, have been defeating all the threats they have faced thus far while enjoying each new day with one another. Yet, they cannot help but feel that they are missing the bigger picture. Stagnation is not an option. Whatever Player chooses, he has to keep moving forward to win whatever "game" the entities are using to test him.