Summary

Sometimes,theworldisn’tnearlyassafeaseveryonethinks.Theuniverseisfarmorealive,moreintelligent,morecalculatingthananyoneactuallyknows,anditsbattleisn’toveryet.Adecadesincethewarended—mereblinksfromconflictexplodingoncemore—thecontinent’sheroesareabouttorealizetheywerealwaysdestinedtobetheuniverse’ssaviours,orperhaps,theuniverse’sdestroyers.✮✮✮Foralmostadecade,Emiliahasbeenrunning—fromherpast,fromthepersonsheoncewas,fromthewaranddestructionthatrippedhercountry,hersoul,herverycoreapart.Shehasagoodlife.Shehasfriendsandschoolandthenormalcythatshealwayscraved.Shedoesn’tmissheroldlife—notoften,anyways.She’slockedherabilitytomissaway,alongwithsomanyoftheskillsthatmadeheraso-calledwarhero.Emiliaalwaysknewthenormal,relaxinglifeshecarvedoutforherselfwouldn’tlast.So,whenaseriesofeventsbringoldfriendsandscarsbackintoherlife,whenthegovernmentsponsoredraids—ostensiblymeanttokeepBaalphoriancitizenspreparedforanotherwar—starttospinevenmoreoutofcontrolthantheyalreadywere,whensecretsabouttherealreasonbehindthewarandtheuniverseitselfstarttoechooutintotheworld,Emiliaknowsit'sjustamatteroftimebeforeshehastostoprunning.Awinding,slow-burnhorrorwithLitRPGelementsandromanticsubplots,[Can’tOptOut]featuresadiversecastofcharacters,allscarredandalteredbythewarthatravagedtheircontinentfortwodecades.Theyareheroes,andtheyarebroken.Theyloveandhateandmournforallthefriendstheylostduringthewar,forallthepeopletheycouldn’tsave.Afteradecadeofnearpeace—ofanewworldbeingforgedaroundthemandundertheirowninfluence—theythinkthewarisdone.Itisn’t—theuniverseanditsenemiesaren’tnearlyfinishedfighting.✮✮✮UpdatesSun-Thur.✮✮✮WhattoExpect:✮Alengthyslowburnwithimmersiveworldbuilding,highlyintrospectivecharacters,andagrowingsenseofexistential/cosmicdread

✮Awindingstorytoldthroughtheeyesofnumerouscharacters—butmostlythroughEmilia’s—spreadthroughouttimeandthecontinentitself,throughtherealandvirtualworld,whichmaybemoreinsidiousthanitsmillionsofusersknow

✮SeveralSystems,includingatechnology-assistedversion,acore/body-basedversion,areal-worldraid/war-simulationversion,severalVRsystems

✮Allthediversity~

✮Badgovernmentsandgoodfriendsfromthecontinentandallitsmyriadofcultures

✮Ago-with-the-flowMCwhohasallthebraincellsbutconstantlyonlyusestwo

✮Peopledealingbadlywithtraumathrough(legal)drugs,sex,and(bothlegalandillegal)bodymodifications

✮NoharemfortheMC,butsheisinaquicklycrumblingopenrelationship(don’tjumponthatship),andthereisaneventual,polyamorousendgame