My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible

"Another wonderful day of gaming! Lucid just keeps getting better!" Matt said with a bright smile on his face.

The group had just removed their smart glasses after their daily usage limit ran out. Each of them wore the same tired but happy smile. They felt like they had spent hours in another world, and in a way, they did.

Kristopher leaned back on the couch, stretching his arms. "The Hub was worth it," he said. "That update alone changed everything."

The others nodded.

They had spent most of the day exploring The Hub, walking through each district, checking shops, testing the teleport gates, and trying out the new systems. Even though the whole city was still empty—because there were only 1,000 Lucid users in the world—the emptiness didn't make it dull. It only made the space feel like a giant new playground waiting to be filled.

"Every part of it was huge," Harper said. "Like five different worlds in one. I don't even know which one I liked most."

"Sportverse Arena for me, obviously," Alex said with a grin.

Everyone chuckled.

"The funny part is that even with only 1,000 players, Lucid was the most used device in the world on average. Besides our group, almost all Lucid owners used their entire daily time limit before being kicked out. No one stopped early. Ever," Kristopher said.

This was an information he got from an article they read earlier, when Liam was still in his meeting.

"Ten thousand hours of gameplay every day," Lana said. "From just a thousand players. That's insane."

"It's easy to see why," Elise said. "You don't get tired. Your body doesn't move. You don't sweat. You don't even blink half the time. It's like reading a story but living inside it at the same time."

"And the games don't let you get bored," Kristy added. "They pull you in right away."

Lucid had started as a disruptive piece of technology. But after Liam's three updates—the platform, The Hub, and the sports expansion—it stopped being "just a device" and became something else. Something bigger. Something that changed daily life for the people using it.

"Dinner time. I'm starving," Matt said, as he stood up.

They all stood up and walked to the dining table. The maids moved around them, serving warm plates of food. The smell filled the room and their moods lifted even more.

"You know," Alex said as they ate, "Liam, I wanted to ask: have you thought about making an app version of the platform? For phones? It would be easier for people to use."

Liam swallowed a bite and nodded. "I thought about it."

"And?" Alex asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Liam said. "I want to keep the whole ecosystem closed. If I put the app on any app store, I lose control. They'll put limits on it. They'll take a cut. They'll track users. It won't be a pure system anymore."

"Makes sense," Harper said.

"And," Liam added, "I don't want the platform to become something anyone can run on any device. The point is to keep it unique. I don't want it tied to Applē or Android."

"That's fair," Matt said. "The platform feels… right on Lucid. Wouldn't feel the same on a phone."

"Yeah," Elise nodded. "Besides, Applē will reject it a hundred times."

They all laughed.

Liam continued eating. "And if I let people download it only from the website, Android users will be fine. But Applē users? Not so much."

"That's true," Alex said. "Their system is locked tight."

"Exactly," Liam nodded. "So I'd rather avoid the headache."

The group accepted the explanation easily, as they trusted his decisions.

As they ate, the conversation shifted to something lighter.

"So Elise," Stacy said with a teasing smile, "how was the comment section on our post?"

"Don't even remind me," Elise groaned.

The boys looked up immediately in curiosity.

"What happened?" Harper asked.

"Sooo many girls were jealous," Elise said. "Like, not even hiding it."

Kristy nodded. "They weren't even subtle. They were all like: 'Must be nice.' 'Wish it was me.' 'Lucky,' 'I'm so jealous,' and all kinds of stuff like that."

Lana groaned. "The envy was too obvious."

The boys burst out laughing instantly.

"Oh really?" Matt said. "Girls can't be happy for other girls?"

"That's not true," Kristy protested.

"Yes it is," Harper added with a grin. "You guys fight more silently than we ever could."

The girls glared at him.

"We do not—" Stacy began.

"Yes you do," Kristopher and Alex said at the same time, which made everyone laugh louder.

Even Liam chuckled quietly.

The teasing went on for a while, but it was light and fun. They were comfortable together, and the laughter filled the room until the plates were almost empty.

A few minutes later, the maids cleared the table and the group began to get up.

"Alright," Matt said while stretching, "I am going to crash on my bed like a rock."

"Same," Lana said.

"Same," Elise repeated.

One by one, they each said their goodnights and walked to their rooms.

***

Inside his room, Liam closed the door softly and sat on the edge of his bed. The city lights outside cast soft lines of gold across the floor.

He reached for his phone, opened the browser, and began checking every article related to Lucid. Out of curiosity, he wanted to see what people were saying.

He simply wanted to understand the world's reaction. How people behaved. What they noticed. What they didn't notice. Humans often revealed their true selves when talking about something that threatened change.

There were headlines from major outlets:

"The Hub — The Future of Digital Worlds?"

"Lucid: The Device That Should Have Never Been Allowed To Exist."

"Nova Technologies Drops Another Update. Industry in Shock."

"Gaming, Social Life, Shopping — All in One Virtual City?"

Some articles were skeptical, while some were impressed and some were afraid.

Some tried to guess how Lucid worked but none of them came close.

Liam scrolled through comments, forums, reactions, livestream clips, and user posts. He read everything. He wanted a full picture of how global minds were turning.

As he read, he smiled slightly.

People loved the update. They were stunned. They were impatient. They wanted access. They wanted Lucid to release in stores. They begged. They complained. They argued.

A few comments made him chuckle.

"Whoever runs Nova Technologies does not sleep."

"The Hub looks bigger than my whole city."

"This device scares me but I want it."

He checked the trending page again and more posts were popping up every second, with reaction videos and edited clips.

Lucid already has edit videos. Not bad, Liam chuckled.