Chapter 1. Returner (1)
2010 was the era of smartphones. They changed the lives of millions of people.
But technology continued advancing, and in the year 2030, the smartphone era came to an end.
It was now the new era of virtual reality!!
Pegasus Corporation's virtual reality connection device, Neuro gear or the Arkane capsule, gave way to the beginning of this era.
For just 10,000 Yuan, any household could dive into the world of virtual reality.
The smartphone era was nothing in comparison to the VR era. Virtual reality did not just absorb the technologies of the real world, as new content developed just for the virtual world.
Among them, virtual reality games were the most popular.
Game companies didn't hesitate to invest millions or even billions of dollars into developing this new technology.
As a result, they could release higher quality content than any other business in the world.
At the same time, it was the start of a war.
Due to their investments and preparedness, their games had similar quality, and none stood out as the best.
It was the beginning of a warring era.
Game companies experimented with new methods of raising their market shares, and many went bankrupt as a result.
The one that put an end to this warring era was the same company that has started it- Pegasus corporation.
It released the game that changed the whole virtual reality scene, the game that was initiated with the help of an A.I. program called 'Origin'.
The A.I. program named Origin created the virtual reality game called Ark.
Ark!!
With a typical fantasy setting, the game was not too different from the other games in the market. In fact, it was much tamer compared to games where the players battled with lightsabers or flew in the air with wings.
It was the scale of its world and its stability that made it unsurpassable by others.
Ark's secret lied behind the artificial intelligence program called Origin. Without it, Ark was just a normal virtual reality game.
Simply put, the game wasn't controlled by the company but an artificial intelligence program. Its initial development cost was huge, but the management cost was ground-breakingly small.
At a time when the price of VR game programmers was soaring to the sky, the method proved to be especially efficient.
A.I.s didn't need a salary.
Plus, it was easy to copy and mass-produce an A.I. Hiring a thousand professional programmers took at least six months, but obtaining a thousand copies of an A.I. took only about a month.
Countless A.I.s worked to control and manage the server with Origin at its center and as a result, Ark became a game that surpassed any other game in existence.
Of course, some top programmers were looking over the game and ensuring that the A.I.s are working properly. They work as game masters or GMs.
November 26, 2033, a year after the game made its debut, the player base was well over a hundred million. By its 2nd anniversary, the number rose to over a billion, worthy of the game's title as the greatest game to ever exist.
One billion was definitely not a small number.
To play Ark, one would have to buy a neuro gear or the arkane capsule. Pegasus corporation controlled 95% of the virtual reality devices.
The cheapest neuro gear was of 1500 dollars and creating a character in Ark needed 1000 dollars. The game was free for the first three months but the monthly fee was 700 dollars per month after that.
In Chinese currency, the cheapest neuro gear was 10,000 Yuan and creating a character cost nearly 7000 Yuan, with 5000 Yuan in monthly fees.
They were not the numbers that an ordinary working man can accumulate. It would take a month's salary just to buy the game.
But was it worth it? Yes, it was definitely worth it!!
If you calculate the average income of an Ark player, it would be about 10 thousand dollars.
A game with over 1 billion players and an average income of 10 thousand dollars. That's enough purchasing power to match a country's.
Businesses smelled the money just as easily.
Numerous companies and corporations became sponsors of Ark players that had fame and influence.
Famous rankers, especially the official top 100 rankers, were walking advertisements, and their bodies were worth at least hundreds of millions of Yuan.
Most importantly, Ark was fun.
Players with superhuman powers killing monsters with different skills and magic were more exciting than any movie, and the fact that a player could die at any time made the game more thrilling than any sports in the world.
The proliferation of virtual reality games had the biggest impact on sports and movie industries.
No matter how thrilling a sport is, no sportsman puts their life on the line, but in the game world, everyone fights with their life on the line. No matter how well-made a movie is, at the end of the day, a movie is a movie.
It has a set scenario, while gamers create their scenario. A game character is one's second life, and in this world, a movie can never beat real life.
In this era, one could gain the wealth and prestige of a professional soccer player or a Hollywood level celebrity just by gaming.
As a result, countless people sought to become this era's protagonist.
However. Becoming a famous gamer?
Only one out of every million can do that. Right now in Ark, there are only about 10,000 people who make over 10 million dollars.
Considering Ark's player base, that's less than the top 0.0001 percent. Only a very small minority of players could enjoy the life of wealth and fame.
Not to mention, VR games are completely different than PC games. You can't get better by just leveling up. It's about talent.
Even though it's an RPG game, you can't become a ranker with just levels and items. If you start playing with that mindset, you'll end up quitting within a month.
You just have to enjoy it!!
Ark is the world's most unfair game. If you compare yourself to others, you won't win over your inferiority complex.
Right, virtual reality games were more unfair than any other game.
Even in PC games, there are good players and bad players. In a VR world, where everyone has superhuman powers, the difference was even clearer.
That's not all.
In Ark, the best way to earn money was through live broadcasts.
There were broadcasting stations that will only focus on Ark related activities. These stations are licensed by the countries and Pegasus corporations to broadcast the content.
These broadcasting stations give money to famous rankers to show the footage of them conquering a famous dungeon or fighting a boss.
It was indomitable that this was the era of Ark and no one can stop it!!
"Lu Fei, do you play Ark?"
Lu Fei turned his head from the TV screen when he heard that. He saw a customer standing there.
"No, I'm not interested in VR games."
"Ah, I thought everyone was interested in it, especially teenagers like you."
"Well, I am not one of them."
"Is there a specific reason behind it?"
Lu Fei scratched his head when he heard that. It was not like he was totally uninterested in Ark.
He still had some sort of interest in it but it was only on the level of watching, he never thought of playing it as he never had the money to play it.
Lu Fei was from a poor household with both of his parents dead. His parents didn't leave him with anything but an enormous amount of debt.
He also had a sister to take care of. He just didn't have the leeway to play a VR game. He can barely meet ends with his part time job in the Forest cafe.
"What's your order?"
"It's an iced coffee."
Lu Fei swiftly changed the topic and wrote down the order on his memo.
"Anyway, if you ever started it, tell me, I'm quite the high level. I will help you as the game is hard for beginners."
The customer left after that.
Lu Fei was a 18 year old teenager who was in his third year of high school. His tall, slender and handsome face made him quite famous in the Forest cafe.
Quite a few high school girls and even college girls will come to the cafe just to see him. Forest cafe has a calm atmosphere, meaning that it has quite a few regulars who will come often.
Lu Fei was acquainted with most of them.
It was currently January 2035, it's been 27 months since Ark has opened its server to the world and its been the rage all around the world.
Countless high school and college students have dropped from their schools, just to play Ark and make a living out of it.
It was another matter that only a small majority of them can even earn. Ark was a relatively hard game that takes both talent and experience to succeed.
This 'experience' was not only in the game world but in the real world too. It is said that real life experience can affect one's in game performance.
There's also a rumour that all the famous rankers have learned martial arts or acrobatics.
"It's not made for me…"
Lu Fei let out a sigh and continued to work, letting all the thoughts regarding Ark out of his brain.
* * *
"Here's your payment for this month."
"Thank you."
Lu Fei received the payment from the middle aged lady in front of him. The middle aged lady was wearing a long sleeved black top that was sticking to her skin and was revealing all her curves.
In addition to that, she was wearing a red skirt that was showing her jade like long and slender legs.
Lu Fei was trying very hard to not look at her humongous breasts that seems to be sticking out of her black top.
"How's your personal life going?"
"It's going as usual. We are somehow living after paying the interest each month."
"I don't think the earnings from my cafe and other part time jobs are enough to pay back your debt."
'It's not.'
Lu Fei wanted to say that out loud but he refrained from doing it. The middle aged lady has already helped him a lot.
He can't ask for anymore help from her.
"It's enough for now."
"We both know that you won't be able to pay back your debts by only working part time jobs."
"I know that but I don't have any other choice but to do part time jobs."
Lu Fei really wanted to drop out of high school and work more jobs to pay back the debt, but his mother's last wish was for him to complete his high school education.
He had no choice but to attend high school.
"How about playing Ark?"
The middle aged lady suddenly said.
"I don't think I would be able to earn money from playing a game."
"It's not a simple game. I have heard people becoming millionaires from playing that game. Maybe, it can change your life around."
"I don't have money to buy a neuro gear."
"I can lend you money to buy one. Just return it when you have money."
Lu Fei didn't have an excuse left when he heard that. He actually didn't want to play Ark.
It was not about interest. There was a entirely different reason behind it. Lu Fei was actually someone who had lived in a fantasy world for 10 years.
He was a returner.
He has lived in the fantasy world for 10 years, experiencing life and death battles, and even the death of his comrades.
The world of Ark made him think about the fantasy world and the death of his comrades. He just couldn't cheer while seeing a sword slicing someone's neck.
That's why, he just left the Forest cafe by giving out an excuse.
"This kid…"
The middle aged lady sighed sitting alone in her office.