Lighting the Forge - Jay Krauss

He didn't log in to be a Hero, or go on a grand adventure. He logged in to survive.

On the brink of death, a burned-out late-thirty-something is offered one last chance at life through experimental early access to a full-dive VRMMO. The price is simple: he can't log out. When the system sends him into the world years before launch, he becomes something no developer planned for: a seemingly permanent inhabitant, living inside the game long before players arrive.

While future adventurers dream of fame and leaderboards, he chooses a quieter path. He claims land in the mountains, learns the patient craft of blacksmithing, mines deep veins of ore, and finally builds a life with his hands instead of slowly dying behind a desk.

For a long while, the world is his alone. He carves out the beginnings of a life for himself, begrudgingly makes a few friends, and finds a purpose.

Then players begin to appear. To the first of their number, he's just a strange NPC with skills that shouldn't exist yet. He doesn't correct them. He would very much like to just be left alone.

Unfortunately, the world has other plans.