Sutter was a middle-aged man from a middle-class family in Brussels, Europe.
Just hearing the place name made it clear that he was not from the real world, but from one of the major worlds extremely close to it.
Sutter was thirty-eight this year. He had never married, but he had a girlfriend and a child, who was being raised by his girlfriend.
He visited once a week.
That was called freedom.
He had nothing to do today.
On his way home, he saw a black bottle and suddenly felt like playing Diablo.
It was a very old game.
He still remembered how, back in college, an older guy from Asia had led all eight people in their dorm through their first run.
Those had truly been wonderful days.
They played to their hearts' content without thinking about anything in the future.
Unlike now, when even after playing for a while, he had to wonder what would happen in the future. Would he die of illness in his fifties? His sixties? His seventies? His eighties...
Forget it. He did not think he would live to eighty. After all, both his parents had died in their seventies. He did not have longevity genes.
And with no one keeping him in check, work was the only thing restraining his life.
He often stayed up late at night. Before even reaching forty, more than half his hair had turned white.
Whatever. He would live one day at a time.
Thinking that, he opened Diablo, launched a cheat tool, and altered a few things. Then he felt he had gone too far and ruined the fun, so he changed them back.
After playing for a while, he found it a little too punishing, so he modified it again. This time, he did not alter