David Grey is a dying salesman whose only hope for a cure involves 'ley bending' — channeling life force to transform himself from ordinary man to warrior via full-immersion in the otherworld of Lenscape. Living inside Lenscape permanently, he must level up, cultivate his power through the game's xianxia-flavored mechanics, complete quests, and hunt down murderous invaders who are devastating the virtual lands. But the deeper he goes, the less certain he is that Lenscape is a game at all.

David is a pragmatic, occasionally sarcastic ex-salesman who adapts quickly to Lenscape's rules while holding onto his real-world cynicism. Reviews note inconsistency in his character — he can be thoughtful but slips into objectifying women in ways some readers found off-putting. His core drive is pure survival, which gives the series urgent stakes.

Across two books, Battle Avatars escalates from survival gaming into genuine philosophical mystery: is Lenscape a game, a parallel world, or something to do with the afterlife and consciousness itself? David's cultivation mechanic deepens, the Scythe Warriors become a more serious threat, and the worldbuilding expands to encompass ideas about reality, soul, and what it means to 'live' in a digital space.