NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: What a Nasty Coincidence.
A VR game, huh? Not going to lie, but I am pretty excited.
I read the manual,, which was for VR gear. Nothing about the game.
There should be a tutorial in the game...right?
It was recommended to drink some liquid before diving into the VR world. I drank my favorite mango juice.
Now time to gear up.
I wore the hand gloves,, which I have to patch on the back of my palm of both of my hands. And two patches on the thumb of both hands and toes of my legs. Three patches on my chest and this... dive gear on my head.
"There are too many security measures."
That means the game must be safe to play, right?
There is a switch on the drive gear. We need to press it to dive into the VR world.
I pressed the switch and felt my consciousness being suckeddirectly sounded
[Welcome To Len World Online]
I heard a voice-over. I couldn't tell where it came from, as if it directly sounded in my ears.
Everything around me was white. I could feel the ground,, but there was no ground. I looked upwards to see nothing; it was all white, like white space.
[Please Create Your Character]
A chart appeared in front of me.
"Let's read what it says."
'This customization options for a character and the default character appearance is the same as your appearance in real life.'
I don't want to customize my appearance. It felt weird, and who cares about appearance.
I swiped and swiped.
Next, next--wait! I think I skipped something. Oh! We can go back, done.
I swiped again.
[Please Select Your Character Type]
Character type? What does that mean?
Oh! It's about which type of character I want.
Let's see; there are too many types, same with weapon types.
"Hmm"
I think I will go with a sword user. I don't remember my training much since I didn't receive much sword-training, but I will manage it.
[Please insert your ID details and your real-life details with proof]
They are asking for ID details…
Isn't this way too personal? What's the need for ID details?
Well, whatever! I should finish this quickly. Elena must be waiting for me.
I swiped and, "Done, done, done."
I inserted all my details.
[Your Character Has Been Successfully Created]
"Now what?"
[Please Insert Your Character Name]
Oh, right! I haven't entered the character name yet.
Let's write D-A-S...wait, Elena told me not to use the real name. What should I do now? I can't break my name as Elena did. My name only has 3 characters.
"Hmm. What should I do now?"
How about writing it backward?
S-A-D...wait! It looks 'sad.' They will think that I am some depressed player or something.
Dammit, Elena! She didn't tell me anything about what I should write as my name.
After thinking for a while, I decided to go with A-D-A-S.
It looks good, right? Yeah, let's go with this one.
[Character Successfully Named]
[You will Now Be Teleported In The Game]
"You mean in the sky?" I muttered.
Seconds later, I found myself falling from the sky.
I opened my eyes,and the scenery was...
"Beautiful!"
It is amazing.
Elena was right. It's amazing. I can see forests. I can also see the sea, buildings, towers, the desert, and the sky. I can see everything.
Maybe this is the reason they make us fall from the sky? To see this fantastic scenery.
I looked downwards to see where I was going to land. There was a big leaf.
"So this is going to cushion my fall?"
I am falling at high speed now. I can even feel the air; it's like I am falling for real.
I closed my eyes; why? Because I am afraid of heights.
I am about to hit the leaf now. I can feel everything...everything--hmm! I didn't feel anything. Have I not landed yet?
I opened my eyes. I was hoping to see that beautiful world but...
Suddenly, there was a high pitched sound.
It was so loud. I covered my ears, but it didn't work. It was as if it was directly in my ears.
.. . .
. .
.
The sound stopped.
I opened my eyes again, to see the beautiful world, but...it was disappearing.
What is going on? A glitch?!
I can see the distortion in the matrix.
Again, there was the same high pitch sound. I covered my ears and closed my eyes.
.
. .
.. . .
The sound stopped again.
I was afraid to open my eyes this time. But I had to do it.
I slowly opened my eyes--
"Huh?"
When I opened my eyes, I found myself back in the white space again.
"I see," I glanced around and said, "There must be some kind of error.."
I will need to log in again now, and for that, I need to log out first.
I opened the menu to log out, but...
"Where is the logout option?"
There was no logout option...
What the hell is going on? I can't log out? Am I trapped here? VR games are not safe at all. But Elena has been playing this game for a while now. Something like that hasn't happened...something is not right...something is wrong.
What is this? Why do I feel so scared?
As I was lost in my thoughts, I heard...
"What are you doing here?"
I looked back to see who it was. It was a girl...or a lady. She had pitch-black eyes and lighted brown hair, with a voluptuous figure.
She looks older than me. Wait...she is just a projection. And...she looks like...like what? Have I seen her somewhere before?
"How is it possible? No one should be here…" She looked at me and said, "Hey, who are you?"
"I am Das; who are you?"
"Das…" She gazed at me, but I felt like she was looking at something else.
She turned her back at me and said, "So you are that--" She cleared her throat as she turned around and said, "So you can speak. Hmm, this is not some kind of bug.."
What was that? She looked so furious when she turned back and glared at me. Or was it just my imagination?
Sigh~
I am becoming like grandpa.
"Ahem!" She cleared her throat and said, "I am one of the 16 developers of the game.."
"Developer?"
Why is the developer here? Or...is this normal?
"So, how did you get in here?" She waved her hand in the air, and a menu appeared as she said, "No one should be able to log in during the maintenance break."
"..."
"Even if someone were playing a game before maintenance started, they would just get forced to log out. So what are you still doing here?"
"What are you talking about?",
There was it maintenance? I didn't know.
"As I said, the maintenance break is going on. So no one should be able to log in, and even if they do, they will just get forced to log out."
"Well, actually...this is my first day. And you are saying I am not trapped here?"
"Trapped? Kuku Kuku."
What a funny yet strange laugh.
So it seems I am not trapped here. I logged in during the maintenance break, and due to that, I can't log out.
"So please log me out," I said.
"Kukukuku 'log me out,' you say? You are a funny boy."
You are the one who is being funny here!
"Well then, I will log you--kukukuku...log you out."
"...."
She started doing something on her menu but stopped and looked at me, saying, "Hey funny boy, first tell me how you got in here?"
"I am not a funny boy! Call me Das."
"Sorry, my bad. Then Das, how did you get in here?"
"I don't know. I made a character, and then I was falling from the sky, and this happened."
"I see, it's strange… wait!" She exclaimed and said, "You said you are new. That means you bought this game recently, right? So what about the VR gear? Did you also buy it recently?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"And is that VR gear by chance Zek-VR version 4.0?"
"Yeah...so?"
"I see, that makes sense."
"What do you mean?"
"Zek-VR 4.0 was just released a few hours ago. And there are only 3 models in the whole world."
"Is that...so?"
"Yeah, and this game is not compatible with Zek-VR 4.0…" She bit her lips and said, "Yet."
"Oh!"
"And the maintenance is for that. However, you logged in with Zek-VR 4.0 during maintenance. What a nasty coincidence!"
"That's a relief. I thought I got trapped."
"Again with that trapped? There is no way someone will get trapped in a VR game, not again, not as long as 'that' person is watching over us."
That person? Who is she talking about? Well, I don't care about that. I just wanted to log out.
"Well then," She walked to me and said, "As compensation for the trouble, ask me anything, I will grant it to you."
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah, it's alright. The other 15 developers have one player they are backing up. And I don't have any players so that I will settle with you."
Is that okay? Isn't that considered cheating?
"Oh!" she exclaimed and said, "Of course, I can't give you any special powers or skills."
"..."
"I mean, that would be like cheating."
"Then what can you give me?"
"Anything, as long as it won't affect your status and performance."
"I see. Let me think."
"Sure. Take your time; I am bored anyway."
"Then...grant me authority."
"Authority? Do you want to become a developer?"
"No, I mean, I need permission."
"What kind of permission?"
"Give me the authority to 'Early Access.'"
If I have this, I can learn more about the game.
"Early access, like beta players...I see, sure."
"Are you sure?"
"Why not? It's not like it's going to affect your status or performance."
"Awesome!"
I was kidding. I never thought she would agree.
"Here, It's done." She waved her hand and said, "Permission granted."
[Received Authority of 'Early Access']
[Authority Granted 'No Restriction']
"No restriction?" I questioned.
"Take it as a gift. "
"...."
She is too nice. Something is shady.
"And take this too." She added.
She moved her hand in the air and pulled one of her hair.
A bright light started glowing, which blinded me.
"Here."
"What is...this?"
When I opened my eyes, I saw a pixie.
She has a small body. Not even more significant than my palm. And she has big green eyes, and short blonde hair.
She stared at me with her big eyes and said, [A-D-A-S]
She just said my player-name!
"You are new, right?" The developer closed her distance at me and said, "She will be your guide, your pixie. Not everyone in the game has her; only the 15 players that the developers are backing up have this."
That sounds lame bullshit. But this is only a game; No one can harm Elena or me here.
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Isn't this too much?"
Something is really fishy.
"You are an honest kid, huh? I like you."
"...."
"And don't worry, you may think you have the upper hand now. But remember this: 'Every blessing has its curse.'"
Every blessing has its curse. What does that mean?
Does she mean what I think she means?
"Now then, shall we test out if the authority works or not?"
"Huh?"
She flicked my forehead with her finger.
Soon after, I felt when I used dive gear, feeling like my consciousness was being sucked.
I opened my eyes to see that I was at the entry of some kind of dungeon.
[A-D-A-S]
I looked at my shoulder to see that fairy sitting on it, looking at me with her big eyes.
[Le-ts ex-plor-e the dun-geon A-D-A-S]
At least say my name correctly. It's Adas, not A-D-A-S.
I sighed and said, "Well, let's go."