The Star Dragon. Dragon Kings of the New World, #1

When the real world is threatened, it's up to the players in a virtual one to save it. Van Vanyushin doesn't see the point in ever leaving the beautiful digital world of the game he loves-and for good reason. In the industrial wasteland he calls home, it is often the only way people can experience life's simplest pleasures. But his allegiance to the game is tested when an ambitious CIA agent named Sang Ngo calls upon him to help as she goes undercover in the game to investigate Draco-the corporation responsible for creating the massively popular role-playing game Dragon Kings of the New World. Sang is a gifted hacker who feels nothing but contempt for those who waste their lives in what she sees as a false reality.but when people start dying in the game, she must find out why.
Van, a talented gamer, is her guide to navigate the world, level up their newbie characters fast and get into some of the most dangerous areas of the game. He dreams of becoming a pro gamer sponsored by Draco one day, but his partnership with Sang threatens to expose secrets from his past that could jeopardize those plans. Now, they will have to put aside their differences to discover whatever-or whoever-is killing players, but the truth they find is darker than either of them imagined..