"Where am I?!" Wuji began to panic, his breathing laborious. Was he dead? After surviving all of that, he was eaten by the box monster? He looked around, staring at the encompassing darkness, indifferent to his anxiety.
"Oh, you're already here?" The voice made him jump like a frightened cat. He briskly turned around, his eyes focusing on a small, child-like figure. Although, he knew what it really was- a god. A god that sent him man-eating cubes.
"You! What the hell did you send me?" Wuji glared at the god. He demanded an explanation- and it had better be a good one.
"Hmm? Oh, I sent you a TRANSPORT- Transit Requiring A Natural Spirit Power Or Recent Substances," the god replied, shrugging casually.
"A what?"
"A living machine that conveniently teleports you here and there."
"... I guess it worked then, your machine did teleport me- to the realm of the dead! I'm dead aren't I?" Wuji bitterly glared at the god, an icy smile plastered on his face.
"Oh, I mean, you're not actually-"
"And you're the god who's going to lead me to Lady Meng and drink her soup- wait a minute...you are Lady Meng, aren't you?!"
The god convulsed, its face flushed red as it tried not to throw up.
"I- I'm not that old hag." it denied vehemently, its body shaking in fury.
"It's okay, I understand. Although I have to admit, I pictured Lady Meng being more-"
"YOU!" The god roared, its pride battered past its limits. Even a god could get angry. Cracks in space around them began to appear, the void beginning to seep in. Wuji's eyes bulged.
"Okay, okay you really aren't Lady Meng. Let's calm down now, it was just a joke." Wuji sheepishly smiled, the god's eyes twitching in frustration. Wuji felt quite satisfied; after all, he had to get his revenge for being eaten by a box. Of all the ways to die, this was not what he expected.
"Hmph, you- you'd better not make fun of me again," the god threatened, the cracks in space disappearing. Wuji couldn't help stifle a laugh as he stared at the sight of its small frame making threats; it was like a child throwing a rant.
"What?" The god glared at him.
"No-Nothing…" Wuji looked away from its penetrating, kaleidoscopic eyes.
The god sighed. It couldn't be like a mortal, dwelling on such mere incidents. Although, it hated Lady Meng because it was her who, who… Ah, never mind that.
"... First off, you're not dead." The god turned to Wuji, who sighed in relief, a victory cheer resounding in his heart.
"And second of all, didn't you read my instructions?" The god shook its head, tsking in disapproval.
"What instruction?! There was nothing on the-"
"-The sender tag."
"You mean this?" Wuji took out the crumpled paper from his pocket.
"Yes, look- behind it."
Wuji turned the note around. On the backside, it faintly said: "TRANSPORT- Feed it with very trace amounts of spirit energy for two hours, every day for one week. It should be ready before Transcendence is released. To activate, merely touch or poke its center. DO NOT POKE IF NOT FULL! Note: Can be fed with organic matter, but will cause certain effects."
"And how am I supposed to see that?" Wuji's eye began to twitch as he looked at the god, smiling with murderous intent.
"Well, I thought you would use your spirit power to-" the god didn't continue, noticing Wuji staring daggers at it.
"Any- anyway, it wasn't my fault."
Wuji was speechless.
"Right, just like before..."
"It really wasn't this time! It's not like I could just leave a message on top! What if someone saw it?" The god frowned, its arms crossed. It had never had such trouble with mortals before. This one was really a headache.
"... You had better give something in return for all the stress you gave me." Wuji relented, sighing. He wasn't really one to keep a grudge and he might as well get something out of almost dying.
"Well, at least it teleported you here didn't it?" The god chuckled playfully.
"And why did you bring me here?" Wuji asked, trying to control his urge to smack the god.
"To give you this."
The god turned around, snapping its fingers. Suddenly, a huge structure appeared from thin air. It took up the space of a skyscraper, its silver lining and neon lights making it stand out like a sore thumb. The only entrance was in the form of a goliath, multicolored door, reminiscent of the god's own kaleidoscopic eyes.
"I always keep my promises." The god winked. Wuji numbly stared at the towering silhouette.
"This is the ultra-rare VRS cabin and this version is the only one of its kind. Besides its use for the VRS, it has utility areas for living- anything that you could ever desire is inside. Because of its size, I couldn't really send it to you, so I created a pocket of space that is connected to your TRANSPORT. So see, you should be thanking me," the God proudly explained, its chest puffed out, expecting Wuji's zealous praise.
"…" Wuji rolled his eyes at the god's last comment.
"Fine then! I'll make your TRANSPORT unable to eat its owner, there, are you happy now? But, it will still be able to consume other things, that's the most I can do, otherwise, its functions would be extremely limited. Besides, I can't let it starve," the god grumbled. It gave up trying to impress this fickle mortal.
Wuji sighed in relief; at least it wouldn't eat him. And it did eat the landlady- that was a fortunate outcome. Although, there might be some repercussions regarding her death. After all, she was able to escape the authorities even with her infamous reputation and all the crimes she had committed- she must've had some very high connections. Wuji did not want to be assassinated while he was sleeping.
"It ate the landlady, how am I going to explain that?"
"Oh, I foresaw that problem when you came here after she died, I removed her existence from the world. I'm honestly appalled at how someone like that could exist. The horrors she's committed are … to say the least, atrocious, even to us gods." The god's face turned pale with a queasy hue of green.
"Looking into her past was terrible. There was this one time where she-"
"Stop! I really don't need to hear that… I have no desire to be haunted by the nightmares." Wuji shuddered, praying for the souls of the landlady's victims. He would never forget the deafening sound of that chainsaw.
"Hmph, fine. Anyway, you'll have to get used to living in this space. The cabin has the VRS system directly incorporated in it, so as long as you're inside, you can access the system at any time. The structure itself is neo-changing, made out of a sentient material that changes and restructures itself according to your experience in-game. This is to fully immerse your body with the VRS. Of course, we can't distribute this to the entire human population, the entire Earth's natural resources is not even worth a hundredth of this cabin."
Hearing this, Wuji's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why would the god give him something so valuable? He didn't trust the god fully- he had barely met it. He was sure that it had some ulterior motive, but it wasn't like he could do anything against it.
Ignoring Wuji's predicament, the god continued, "Within this space, time moves slower than the outside, but the cabin is formatted to the VRS universal time. I've left some food in the pantry, enough to last you for a while, but the cabin itself has a special system that feeds you the necessary nutrients for your body while you undergo VRS."
A sudden beeping noise made the god's ears perk up.
"I'll leave you to explore to your heart's content. I have to go!" The god began brimming with light; its body a candle's incandescence.
"The next time you send me anything- I'm going to send it to an incinerator and not bother what happens!"
The god winced. "OK, I'll send a note on top next time! Sheesh."
A note on top- didn't it say that was dangerous? Wuji groaned. Things would get more chaotic if he had people constantly trying to murder him for the "packages" that he would be getting.
As the god turned into motes of light, it muttered quietly.
"Don't disappoint me, my …"
With the god finally out of his sight, Wuji let out a deep breath but still remained vigilant. He stared at the VRS cabin, astounded by its sheer size. Maybe all that he'd gone through had been worth it. But then again, compared to dying, everything was worth jack sh*t. He'd have to be much more careful in this new world of gods, box-monsters and crazy landladies. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about that last part- hopefully.
Although his subconsciousness warned him not to go inside, Wuji couldn't ignore the temptation of the cabin- according to the god's description, it was basically a shut-in's dream home.
He walked up and knocked on the huge doors, his eyes unconsciously emitting green wisps. The door absorbed some of these wisps and began to slowly creak open. A bright light blinded him.
"Woah."
Awestruck, Wuji stared at the majestic room with glossy eyes. The interior was a massive hall lit up by golden candelabras and littered with beautiful, golden furniture. Ancient portraits and intricate designs decorated the walls. The tables and chairs were studded with polished gems. Straight ahead, there was a spiraling staircase matted with a red carpet, its edges furnished with gold. It looked like it would go on forever. Looking up, he saw diamond chandeliers hanging, the crystals shining like stars in the sky.
"[Welcome, Wang Wuji]" An emotionless voice made him flinch.
"[This is the VRS-cabin system. To your left is the pantry, to your right are the elevators. You may also go forward and take the stairs. Currently, you have access to 128 floors.]"
"Ok... Uh, System, how many floors are there?"
"[You do not have access to that information]"
"... Fine. Then what floors do you suggest for me to go to?"
"[Recommendations are the pool floor, the Spirit Zone floor and your living quarters. However, it is suggested that you first enter the pantry and consume higher-quality food. Your current body's state is very weak]"
"How weak, exactly?"
"[Trash]"
"..." The blunt response left Wuji's pride in tatters. He didn't think that he was in the best shape, but trash? Weren't the system's standards too high? Trying to forget about the system and its ruthlessness, he went to the left, towards the pantry. Some food would make him feel better.
"Oh. My. God."
Wuji couldn't believe his eyes- last for a while? More like last for eternity? Piles and piles of food surrounded him like mountains around a valley. Each food item was enveloped by a blue bubble-coating, which Wuji guessed to be some form of stasis to keep the food fresh. He went to a bubble containing a very familiar looking food.
"Food: Fried Chicken
Extra Information: "This Vitality-Nourishing Chicken was born in XXXXXX. Its egg received the first kiss of a hundred princesses. It was bathed in the light of a dying star. It received the greatest care and its daily meals were fit for an emperor. After hundreds of years, it was slaughtered to be eaten at the Divinity Feast, but the god __________ stole it, along with hundreds of other prepared dishes." Wuji was shocked senseless. Divinity Feast? Stolen? It sure sounded like something that scoundrel of a god would do. (Far away, a certain god sneezed…)
If this was the quality of food that the system expected him to consume, then it made sense why it would label him as [Trash]. Wuji felt like crying. F*ck, compared to this chicken, he really was trash!
What made him feel better was that he had the opportunity now to explore this entire treasure-trove. He swore to himself- he wouldn't stay trash for long!
Many hours later…
After stuffing himself full and exploring about half of the total floors he had access to, Wuji finally realized the infinite value of the cabin. He was truly grateful to the god- regardless of its motives, this cabin would be considered by many to be heaven. One of the greatest things he had achieved that day was in the Spirit Zone floor, where Wuji discovered that he could use his spirit power on anything there and not get a splitting headache. This meant he could practice his [Limitless Soul] and improve at a neck-breaking speed! Of course, he had dried up all of his spirit power- he had went a little overboard by trying to lift up the entire floor...
While he was recovering his power, Wuji had finally tried out the VRS system, which worked by saying "Enter VRS System" aloud, automatically bringing him into the interface. 'Diving' into the VRS system felt like the first meeting with the god, which had startled him at first. But after messing around with it for a while, he got used to the sensation- he rather liked it now, it was like his soul was flying out of his body. Hopefully that didn't mean that he wouldn't notice if he died...
The first game he had tried was titled "Universe Battle." Although the name was impressive, the graphics weren't. The planets looked a bit like cubes. Still, the sensation was indeed unreal- it was no wonder that everyone had moved on, even Wuji had to admit that the VRS' ability to immerse you into the game was five, ten, no- an infinite amount of times better than a computer. Of course, the cabin itself was a factor in the quality of his experience- it was likely that no one else would ever be able to experience the same full-on immersion.
Wuji's thoughts wandered as he lost track of time within the VRS-cabin. He couldn't help but wonder what Transcendence would be like. The game beyond all games.