Pangea Online

Since leaving the orphanage, Esil has spent the past year toiling in the data mines of Pangea while watching the wealthy elite traverse its game worlds. His luck changes when he discovers a legendary Developer's Chest with a Premium Worldpass inside. He enters a tournament to compete against some of the most skilled adventurers Pangea has to offer — and being a kid from the slums gives him an edge when he discovers a bug in the obscure data-mining class. But failure online threatens everything he holds dear.

In the aftermath of the Developer's Tournament, Esil has a new life full of opportunity — he's the first person to test full-immersion gameplay in a brand new, unexplored game world. As the line blurs between reality and the game world, the NPCs he meets feel more like friends than data. Tasked with defending a small town from dark forces, he must learn to protect its citizens from impending doom or risk losing them forever.

Esil is content with his quiet life beta testing new game worlds — until Dean, a teenager from the same orphanage where Esil grew up, begs for help entering a high-profile Pro-Am Tournament. When every other former champion refuses to take a chance on Dean, Esil must make a choice: step into the spotlight he grew to hate, or abandon Dean to a life in the mines.