"But I don't know how to fight!" Kaelen cried, gripping the heavy rifle. It felt impossibly heavy, smelling of grease and gunpowder.

Holding his breath, Kaelen clicked the massive "Download Now" button.

The sensation wasn't painful. It felt like sticking his hand into a stream of warm, static-charged water. Before he could scream, a powerful vacuum gripped his wrist and pulled. The small, cramped apartment dissolved into a vortex of rushing pixels and data streams.

"This isn't right," Kaelen stammered, his voice coming out as a gutteral, animalistic growl. "I was just... I just downloaded this. This is a game!"

The tiny robot gestured toward the horizon where a massive, monstrous Worldeater was actively gnawing on a glowing root of the Great Tree. The ground shook with a violent tremor, sending a shockwave of neon dust into the air.

He looked down at his hands. They were no longer pale skin and bone. They were covered in thick, amber fur. Long, sharp claws tipped his fingers. A heavy, mechanical rifle was strapped to his back, and he could feel the twitch of a tail behind him. He had become his avatar. "You are late," a raspy, dual-toned voice echoed.