In a distant future, humanity receives a greetings message from the Commonwealth of Sentient Races. The Commonwealth advises us as well as other "junior races" to undergo their standard diagnostics which would decide our place in the Galactic hierarchy as well as our specialization. Any race that fails the diagnostics will be deleted. Supervised by a number of alien curators, humanity has to hand-pick suitable candidates capable of representing our civilization at the trials.
Fast forward to the present day. Phil is a consummate gamer whoʼs been fired from a dozen workplaces. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that an augmented-reality interface has been uploaded to his brain, allowing him to see the world through the eyes of an RPG player, complete with stats, XP and skill points.
Phil can now track other peopleʼs attitude to him as Reputation numbers. Between this and his stats, what he sees doesnʼt make him happy. The interface reveals him as weak, lazy and unfit, his life skills virtually non-existent with the exception of high intellect numbers. To add insult to injury, on the day Phil receives this piece of futuristic alien wetware, his own wife dumps him, fed up with his selfish lifestyle.
Phil grabs at this last chance to turn his life around, overcoming a bunch of hardships on his way. His new life isnʼt easy - but thatʼs peanuts compared to the day when he finally has to face the Galactic Commonwealthʼs trial.
Description:
In a distant future, humanity receives a greetings message from the Commonwealth of Sentient Races. The Commonwealth advises us as well as other "junior races" to undergo their standard diagnostics which would decide our place in the Galactic hierarchy as well as our specialization. Any race that fails the diagnostics will be deleted. Supervised by a number of alien curators, humanity has to hand-pick suitable candidates capable of representing our civilization at the trials.
Fast forward to the present day. Phil is a consummate gamer whoʼs been fired from a dozen workplaces. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that an augmented-reality interface has been uploaded to his brain, allowing him to see the world through the eyes of an RPG player, complete with stats, XP and skill points.
Phil can now track other peopleʼs attitude to him as Reputation numbers. Between this and his stats, what he sees doesnʼt make him happy. The interface reveals him as weak, lazy and unfit, his life skills virtually non-existent with the exception of high intellect numbers. To add insult to injury, on the day Phil receives this piece of futuristic alien wetware, his own wife dumps him, fed up with his selfish lifestyle.
Phil grabs at this last chance to turn his life around, overcoming a bunch of hardships on his way. His new life isnʼt easy - but thatʼs peanuts compared to the day when he finally has to face the Galactic Commonwealthʼs trial.