Book excerpt: The poor suffer in slums. The rich flourish in megacities. And video games dominate the eSports landscape. In a far-off future, humanity’s poorest communities have been devasted by a plague. With treatment almost inaccessible for those who cannot pay, many are tasked with taking care of their loved ones until the end. For one young woman named Sophia Garza, her family’s future, and her ill mother’s potential salvation, lies in her ability to climb the ranks in a video gaming competition with an enormous cash prize. However, when a rolling blackout strikes the slums Sophia lives in, all seems lost—until a representative from Kingsman Online Games comes knocking at her door with the promise of a second chance. With absolutely nothing to lose, Sophia accepts the offer—without realizing she’s fallen into the megacorporation’s cruel trap. In a simulation where pain is real, and death in real life possible, what lengths will people go in order to survive? This special edition contains all three novels of the Kingsman Online trilogy.