Michael made it to the top in the immersive virtual game, The Clearing. Two years ago, however, he made a bad decision and lost not only his friends but also the chance to keep playing and be part of the global rankings. But when a unique boss appears, with The Clearing's admins promising to grant the victor any wish, both in-game and out, Michael decides to return. If he succeeds, he can force the company to address the mental degeneration that has afflicted his fellow players.
However, an "impossible" code collapse means his old character won't load, and he finds himself in the shoes of a level-one ranger. Without his old contacts, experience, or abilities. What's more, he soon discovers that the destruction of their guild's core may not have been his bad decision after all, but was caused by elements operating in the shadows of the globally popular game.
Will Michael figure out who is pulling the strings in the background, controlling the virtual world and, through it, the players themselves?
His five-year-old self would introduce him best: "Mummy, I can sing so nicely like you, can't I?" "Yes," she replied proudly back then. "So I must have got my cleverness from Daddy." To explain, he is a qualified data analyst (Daddy), but he has always been drawn to the arts, whether through singing or playing instruments (Mummy). After realising that storytelling and world-building combine both principles, writing became his life's passion. He longs to describe a vast world across many series and standalone books, so he has many challenges, creative crises, and subsequent improvements ahead of him, which you can be a part of. Among other things, he is a member of the group Strangers & Dragons, which is dedicated to playing Dungeons & Dragons, i.e., role-playing games in which stories come to life, as you can see for yourself on his YouTube channel.