System Administrator:

Once in Elysium, Idol was lucky to quickly get his bearings on how everything works here. Instead of thoughtlessly diverting girls for sex with the help of physical minutes, he began to study existing events. After months of wandering in virtual world, Idol came to the conclusion that about eighty percent of event lives are similar to each other. He was bored of watching the hosts collect a lot of subscribers without offering anything interesting in return.

The idea to carry out "public humiliations" came quite quickly. In one of the chatrooms, there was a quarrel in which the guy leaked personal photos of a girl who was pretty popular among the metaverse. While all this was going on, the chat room was in the top five rooms for that hour. Top five rooms around the world.

The idol quickly figured out how to turn this to his advantage. This is how the "Poisoned Dreams" event live appeared. It unraveled in a week. Just one week. There were more people who wanted to get even with the enemies than you can imagine. Rumors about the event spread at the speed of a sound, many came just to look at the humiliation.

How it happened: users send information and photos to Idol, invite the "merged character" to the location, and the toughest begins.He once laughed at the Raving in Hell event, because, according to him, real hell is not at all demonic surroundings, fire, orgies and frightening decorations, real hell is all that shit that people pour on each other, asserting themselves at the expense of this.By the way, Idol was close friends with Kali, the curator of the hellish and, concurrently, heavenly event. But she never commented on his "creativity". Idol was famous, and therefore many hung around him. At each event, he was welcomed - invitations to all top private locations, he could do whatewher wants, he is loved and respected."It's funny to look at these pathetic guys whose info was leaked. If I had been in their place, I would have simply died... Everyone has something to hide. The question is only in quality of hidden information. And compared to them, I'm doing very well," the smile never left his face.

Idol was a typical narcissist. Not the type of narcissist who will deny it and argue about that fact, he is even more complex - the one who recognizes his narcissism, exalts it, is proud of it and considers it a way of life. He had the obvious habits of a star.

But the more he played, the more he believed in his own status - the status of a person who is respected and appreciated, who is drawn to (and it doesn't matter that for the most part users are drawn to him for selfish purposes). Idol made himself a cult of personality, a brand whose hallmark was the humiliation of other users. As he himself put it, "sometimes criticism is useful." To criticize someone's creative activity, appearance, opinion, lifestyle, material wealth, family - just give people the opportunity to observe, and they flock to the "criticized" like a flock of hungry kites.

"As always, clear and to the point."

"Idol, you are so smart, I will send you physical minutes, thank you for what you're doing."

"Breaking my ex on the facts? I'll send you the minutes."

"Listen, there is a case, I have already thrown off the minutes and leaked the information. Criticize one scum on the stream."

Idol had only one single fear, overlapping all other experiences - he was afraid that someone would show his personal information. This fear was his nightmare, which would cause Idol to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night while frantically checking his private messages. Fear slowly grew into paranoia, and in the real world, when he went to work or went about some of his petty business, it always seemed to him that those around him and bystanders knew something. It was as if one of these strangers recognized him, despite the fact that his real face and avatar were drastically different. Only his eyes betrayed him. He never changed them.

Anxiety became obsessive, there was nowhere to run from it, except in Elysium. He was in his comfort zone there. In Elysium he was himself. At least that's how it seemed to him. Idol was more and more drawn into the virtual world, almost forgetting about his reality. Actually, over time, he transferred the metaverse patterns of behavior to his real life. He was proud and self-satisfied. A look full of contempt and grin. Now passers-by really looked at him somehow strangely, but only because such behavior was inappropriate where he worked.

Belief in his image has progressed. Reality faded into the background. Dissolved.
Idol became even more confident. His popularity grew, users came to the events more and more often. He kept a record of the users he "ridiculed" and showed it to the others visitors at the event. The results were impressive, but Elysium was slowly corrupting his mind.

Accustomed to his own importance in the virtual world, Idol appeared in one of the locations, which was an expensive boutique with precious jewelry. Watches, chains, rings, bracelets - all this sparkles with luxury so realistically that it becomes a little uncomfortable. With his usual efficiency and haughtiness, he surveys the room. It looks like an ordinary chatroom, of which there are many in Elysium. One of the girls presents in the room addresses him:

"Sorry, you better leave. Our policy does not allow..."

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Idol glares at her aggressively. She cautiously pulls away and nods to the other user. The man's avatar looks more like a security guard.

Idol looks at them with a grin, then sits down on the couch in front of the display cases of jewelry, legs propped up on the coffee table with magazines and candies.

"Just don't pretend like you don't know who I am..."

Users in the room look at each other strangely, not daring to say a word.

"No user can kick me out of the location, even if it is private. Everyone knows me. And everyone knows what will happen if you show me disrespect," the haughty smile never left his face, "You do not want your personal information to be the property of my event live? Or do you still want to, and therefore behave in this way?" an appraising look, somewhat penetrating.

Suddenly, the man walks straight towards him. He comes closer and grabs his shoulders, wringing his hands. Idol screams in unexpected pain. Did he really forgot to turn off physical access?

"Don't you really know who I am?" he shouts, fighting back.

Who am I?
Who am I?
Who am I really?

A moment - and he is already outside the boutique. Some guy looks at him in the same way, getting up from the asphalt. His avatar seems rather miserable - dirty clothes of the station cleaner, tangled hair, facial features are not harmonious, they're rather repulsive. He looks at Idol with undisguised annoyance and contempt. Only after a couple of seconds it dawns on him that this is his own reflection in the window of botique. He forgot that it wasn't Elysium. It was his reality.

Who am I?

Definitely not this loser in the reflection. This is not the real me.
But this happens to many other metaverse users. At some point, they play too much that the connection with reality is lost. Real life seems to them as a server with virtual locations, their true faces is an unfortunate avatar bug, what is happening is a fiction. It's hard to love your life when there's a better version of it in Elysium, even if there are a number of restrictions like physical minutes and a limit on them, yet such a life seems much better, more fabulous, like a dream. And you can control your dream, as the station cleaner did, who created his "Idol" and believed in his existence so sincerely that he completely forgot about himself.

This is one of the main tricks of "Elysium" - it gives you oblivion, plunges you into a very plausible dream, making you forget about everything that happened before it. But sooner or later there is a collision with reality, because you never know where and when it will overtake you. The collision is painful, not many survive it. And those who survived are running back.

Idol chose the second option. The reality frightened him so much that he didn't immediately believe in it. And when he realized what was happening, he decided for himself that he would not return back. The main thing is physical minutes. He is ready to do anything for them. He is ready to continue his activities, to conduct his event more productively, to discard paranoia and other things that bring him back to reality. There is no station cleaner who is forbidden to enter expensive places. No, and never have been. He is an illusion, and Idol is a reality. The most real and alive.

But Levi had already prepared everything. He doesn't care how Idol will take the fact that he dug up information on him. With his group of capable hackers, Levi did almost the impossible. Idol so carefully protected his personal data, but nothing helped. Levi did what he wanted in no time. It was his favorite revenge.

When he and the group disrupted the stream, users began to massively block Idol. He hysterically convinced them that the information released by Levi was a lie and a fake, but users usually do not understand this. The very fact that this "brand" was defamed by its real face caused dislike in people. Idol was broken.

"Reality fucked the dream," Levi stated with a satisfied smile, looking into the Idol's eyes, which were literally darkening with hatred growing in him.

His event live was a complete disaster. In a matter of days, he flew down the rating of top rooms and got lost in a hundred other locations, disappeared into oblivion. But Idol remained there. The room was his salvation, even if he was there all alone, alone with his thoughts and feelings. His disgrace didn't last long. First, he was massively persecuted, then massively forgotten.
It is not known which is worse, especially for a user who "feeds" on attention.

As Levi moved on with his personal list of "parasites" (that's what he called the list of users with whom he had conflicts), Idol thought about how he could save himself. All those who sent him physical minutes left his location. Without them, he won't last long in Elysium, if he wants tactile sensations, he will have to return to reality, and there death awaits him. In reality, it's impossible. He disconnects from the server twice a day - this is required by physiology. You need to eat, you need to sleep. He was fired from his job for not showing up there for over a month. At first, excuses like "illness" worked, but then they simply forgot about him, and another took his place. Idol has lost weight, surviving only on the supply of food that the state consistently gives out to the unemployed and disadvantaged once a month.
But one day something strange happened. One of the users saved him from suicide. He showed up at his location and found Idol in this numb state.

"Well, how are you?" he asks, sitting down beside Idol. He flinches slightly. He didn't expect to see anyone here. "What do you want?" Idol asks roughly.

"I want to support."

"Support? Whom? Levi and his bastards?" Idol chuckles sarcastically.

The unnamed user puts a paternal hand on his shoulder and smiles.

"Yeah, I didn't think that people could get so carried away and invent "similar" entertainment even in this seemingly heavenly space."

Idol looks at him in disbelief.

"Yes, it's strange to hear this from one of the users, isn't it? But I'm telling the truth, Idol. Think by yourself. You've been caught in a difficult situation, but received such a gift. A real Eden, where dreams become reality. And instead of enjoying it, you started inventing some dubious events, the purpose of which is to entertain users by humiliating each other."
Idol shrugged his shoulder in annoyance, shrugging off the stranger's hand.

"Listen, did you come here to read morals to me? What the hell are you talking about anyway? It's a metaverse. We have fun the way we want. What else is there to do if everything is possible? Running through virtual flower fields and spinning with a smile on your face? Is that what you call fun in a world where everything is possible?" his voice almost breaks into a scream.

"That's what I'm talking about. Everything is given to you, and you continue to resort to primitive ways to entertain yourself."

"Listen, back off me. I generally did it for the sake of physical minutes. I didn't care about other people's secrets or rumors. I just found a way to earn minutes so that, as you say, I could enjoy all the benefits of this paradise. Run through the flower field, feeling cool grass and strong wind under my feet. Not just being a virtual hologram," Idol replies despondently. He sighs and turns away again, and then adds:

"I need physical minutes. I don't know where to get them. I didn't have much left in my stock, and when the event was in the tops, I didn't even turn off access, I lived my life on fullest here. I didn't even think that this could happen..." Idol replies thoughtfully.

"So you never worried that the fate of those who suffer through your fault might one day overtake you?" the stranger asks.

"Well, I thought about it, and at one time I even had a strong paranoia about it. Even when I cleaned the stations, I caught people's eyes on me, and it seemed to me that they already knew. Once I ran straight from work to check my account and messages. Rushing like crazy, almost got hit by a car. It seemed to me that now I would go home, connect to the server and see the news, as if everyone knew who I really was. It is impossible to deal with the drain of information without thinking that the same thing could happen to you. The point is that you kind of understand that in theory it is possible, but you don't think that it will definitely happen to you. So it is with all the tough situations in life. You know about them, but you believe that it'll pass you by," Idol looks back at the stranger, waiting for some kind of reaction.

"Without physical minutes, being here, of course, makes no sense," he replies.

"I know it without you! Therefore, I think about solution. I can't go back to being a janitor..." Idol pauses, then laughs almost desperately at his own words: "How miserable it sounds... But I don't want reality. It's not mine. If before I somehow coped, now I just can't master it. Damn this pathetic coincidence. I want to kill Levi. Seriously. Call me crazy, but if he was in front of me now, not in the metaverse, but in reality, I would kill him without hesitation. And I wouldn't blink an eye. He destroyed everything..."

For a while, the stranger doesn't say anything, only stares silently at Idol, and then finally breaks the oppressive silence.

"You know... I have no idea what it's like to be so afraid of reality that you have to choose death, but I can help you. My reality is not so frightening, and therefore sometimes I can share physical minutes with others."
Idol looks at him with habitual disbelief.

"Under what condition? What do I need to do? Accumulate personal information on someone?"

"You don't have to do anything. Consider it as a gift."

"No, I don't believe you. Is it some kind of a prank from Levi? Tell me right now what do you need from me?"

"I need you to be alive, Jeremy," the stranger calmly replies.

Idol doesn't have time to answer - stranger has already left the server. A second later, Idol receives a notification:

"You have been credited with ten physical years in Elysium."