"Holy crap, are you seeing this crowd?" Ethan was stunned.

  Wasn't today a weekday?

  Did everyone suddenly strike it rich and decide work was optional?

  Even Jake and his crew were taken aback by the scene at the Starlight Amusement Park entrance.

  Liam stared at the sea of faces outside and turned to Jake. "Boss, did you do some kind of promo? Why are there so many people?"

  Jake was equally puzzled. "Nope, unless that top-ten ranking on Yelp did the trick faster than I thought."

  Mike wiped the sweat from his brow. "We're gonna be slammed today."

  The others nodded in agreement, then eyed Jake with envy.

  "What are you all looking at me for?" Jake asked.

  Liam chuckled. "Come on, your virtual reality arcade was a ghost town. If we hadn't pitched in with the advertising yesterday, nobody would even know it exists"

  Ethan chimed in. "All these visitors are here for the haunted house, the Hyper Velocity Coaster, or the Drop Tower. Just count yourself lucky!"

  Jake paused to consider, "Alright, less talk, more action. Everyone back to your stations. We open in a few minutes!"

  The crew hustled to their positions. At Jake's signal, the park gates swung open, and a flood of visitors surged in.

  Ethan was buffeted about in the crowd, like a cork in the ocean, propelled forward by the press of bodies behind him.

  With Herculean effort, he finally fought his way inside and was about to catch his breath when he saw several people nearby sprinting towards the southeast corner of the park.

  Ethan stared, dumbfounded. From the look of these guys, you'd think they were being chased by zombies, not tourists!

  One of them, in his haste, tripped and went sprawling.

  The others turned back, looking concerned.

  But the fallen guy shouted, "Don't worry about me! Just grab a spot in the virtual reality arcade! Or you'll miss out."

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  The others hesitated for a moment before bolting off.

  Yesterday, they arrived late and all the machines were taken.

  They waited all afternoon to use the VR system.

  Ethan understood at once.

  It was like that sprint to the cafeteria when the school bell rang!

  Latecomers only get the leftovers.

  With renewed determination, Ethan joined the race.

  From afar, the stream of people heading for the virtual reality arcade resembled an army on the march, churning up dust and kicking up a cloud.

  Five minutes later, Ethan bent over, panting and clutching the railing in front of the virtual reality arcade.

  He felt like his lungs would explode, but he'd made it in time to snag one of the last machines.

  Inside, some eager gamers were already settling into the game pods.

  "Yesterday I tore it up in a Ferrari, today I'm crushing it in a Porsche!"

  "Dude, is this really virtual reality?"

  "It's my first time. I'm feeling a mix of nerves and excitement!"

  The gamers chatted enthusiastically.

  Ethan knew that he couldn't waste any time and jumped into an available game pod.

  He copied the guy next to him by putting on his headset.

  The pod doors rose up from either side, enclosing him.

  In that moment, Ethan was consumed with anticipation.

  Virtual reality gaming!

  He had been excited by this technology for years!

  If he could finally experience it, it would be a dream come true.

  As the doors sealed shut, Ethan felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. His consciousness started to fade.

  The twilight state was short-lived before his vision returned from the darkness.

  Almost in that moment the people around him were becoming self aware once again.

  "Where am I? Am I dreaming?" Ethan asked, looking at his new enviroment.

  All he could see was endless space.

  This was surely a dream world.

  "This is a life like dream."

  Ethan wasn't alone as the other tourists around him began to yell and praise the same idea.

  "Holy crap! Is this really the game? This is a game changer"

  "I was just here yesterday, but how real can it get?"

  "Words don't do this justice."

  Gaming!

  It really was a game!

  Ethan realized he was not asleep, but experiencing virtual reality!

  The sense of being aware within a unreal place was incredible.

  "We've really achieved our dreams."

  "And to experience this!"

  "Hats off to ButtonMasher and his reviews, that was an excellent idea."

  A tear dropped from Ethan's eyes.

  A mans tears don't flow freely.

  Only when the most deepest feelings in life has been found do tears shed.

  Today, that day had been achieved.

  "Hello everybody, each star is another world, a different gaming adventure. As this is still in the test phases, we have only opened the Green Hell racing game."

  "Approach the world if you wish to embark in the race!"

  Jake himself was using the command terminal to usher everybody to the game.

  As it was the day before, there was no rest for him today.

  Before long the lines were out the door, totaling in the hundreds.

  "What is going on, why the heck so many people!"

  "Seriously though, if it weren't for those YouTubers."

  "So, it turns out its because of those guys promoting this virtual world!"

  The group began arguing over who told all of these folks to come, with out a thought of there own desires to not have any people playing the game, lol.

  Back at the riverdale train station, two men stood around the station.