!Ding!
[Setup Enhancement System Has Successfully Been Bound To Host]
[Awakening Reward Obtained]
[Would You Like To Open It?]
This message completely startled Wade due to its familiarity with the panels he's seen in games.
'Did I fall asleep in my capsule?' Wade thought as he anxiously pinched himself.
Indeed, he felt pain. Also, if he were in a dream, he realized he would be lucid and able to control it as he wished, so there was no way he was dreaming. He knew he was most definitely awake and in reality.
After contemplating life, Wade quickly remembered the panel. He read it multiple times before he looked towards his father.
"Dad, are you seeing this?" He pointed towards the panel.
His father was drenched in sweat, changing the light grey shirt into a darker shade. He was completely spaced out until Wade caught his attention. In a daze, he slowly looked towards where Wade was pointing.
Rich scanned the area but found nothing.
"See what? What are you pointing to? There is nothing there, boy." He was confused as to what Wade was pointing at.
"What do you mean? You don't see this?" Wade pointed towards the panel once more.
Looking more carefully this time, Rich still saw nothing.
He had a sudden thought; 'Oh no, maybe he has gone crazy.''
"Is everything alright? Why are you acting strange?" Rich asked in a panic.
'So he really can't see the panel. It must only be visible to me.' Wade pondered for a moment before concluding.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little weary from what just happened." Wade made sure to reply with a logical reason so as not to have his father question him.
After hearing his reply and making sure he was alright, Rich made his way towards the door, before stopping in the doorway.
"Let me get us some water, and then we will turn on the news to see what that was." Afterward, Rich walked out of the room, no longer in sight.
Before Wade could do anything, another message appeared from the panel.
[Would You Like To Open The Awakening Reward?]
It repeated the same question, this time with a timer.
[If Host Doesn't Respond, The Reward Will Be Automatically Opened]
[53 Seconds Remaining]
Wade looked at the dwindling number in suspicion.
'Why is this so similar to the games I've played? What is happening.' He couldn't get these questions out of his head.
[41 Seconds Remaining]
'What should I do? What will happen if I open it?'
[36 Seconds Remaining]
'It must be a trick! How could this be possible?'
[22 Seconds Remaining]
'Shit! If I open it, will I be viral on the internet as an idiot?'
[10 Seconds Remaining]
'Fuck it. Let's just open it.' He finally made a decision.
"Uh... what do I say? Open?... Sigh, just what the fuck am I doing? Have I gone crazy?" Wade's heart began to beat fast as he whispered into the air.
!Ding!
[Awakening Reward Claimed]
[Host Has Obtained 1 Setup Enhancement! Congratulations!]
After the confirmation message appeared, his room became enveloped in the familiar blue light.
Wade was completely blinded. He wasn't able to see anything.
He pulled his two hands upwards to block his eyes from the bright light. He thought he might go blind if he didn't do so.
Sounds of things moving and ringing erupted throughout his room.
With nothing to do but stand there, he closed his eyes and listened.
However, just as they closed, the light faded and another message appeared.
[Setup Successfully Enhanced]
[System Is Now Completely Harmonized With Host]
Realizing the light was gone, Wade opened his eyes.
Instantly, he was dumbfounded.
His room had completely changed. It was as if he was teleported.
The changes were quite significant. It was an entirely different room.
The desk that was previously in pieces was gone and replaced with a sturdy white marble one instead.
Mounted into the wall just above the desk were three monitors. They were large, the screens roughly twenty-seven inches. Blue light seeped from behind each monitor, illuminating them.
The PC was to the right of the monitors. It was large, even more so than the monitors. The inside of it was visible through the glass window; gleaming with RGB lighting. It had many intricate parts inside. Trying to identify each different piece would make one dizzy.
In front of the monitors, the keyboard and mouse were positioned. They also had RGB lighting and looked expensive. Beneath them, spread a large, black mouse pad that took up almost half the desk space.
Above the monitors, a large TV was mounted to the wall. It looked to be at least fifty inches and had blue light seeping from behind it.
A blue gaming chair was sitting right before the desk. The backpiece was long, with a small headrest at the top.
To the right of the desk—in the wall—was a black refrigerator. A glass door was replaced in front, letting you peer inside. Blue light also illuminated from behind it.
The window to the left of the desk had a black curtain that looked to be completely light-proof.
The walls and floor were also white marble. However, placed on the top and bottom of the walls were blue LED strips that wrapped around the whole room.
In the opposite right-hand corner was his bed. It had a nice white frame that was the perfect size. The blanket was black and looked to be cotton.
Above the bed, a black W symbol with RGB light was placed in the center of the wall.
To the left of the bed was a blue [VR Capsule]. Like everything else, it was also of high quality. Instead of buttons, there was a touch-screen interface on the front, where one could operate the machine as they wished.
In short; it was a complete makeover that could only belong to a professional content creator or gamer.
Wade never dared to dream he would ever have a setup so fancy. It was life-changing for a shut-in like him that spent nearly one hundred percent of his time inside of his room.
He was so excited, he wanted to test the capabilities immediately.
But before he had the chance to check everything, another prompt appeared.
[Panel Unlocked]
After the message disappeared, it was replaced with a new panel that hovered at eye level.
Setup Enhancement System
Version 0.1 (+)
Enhancements: 1 (+)
Rank: 1 (+)
Experience: 0
Points: 0
Examining the panel, he was amazed at how it so closely resembled the systems often seen in games.
To think that he was able to obtain one in real life, how bizarre. He was thankful yet reluctant because he still didn't know its purpose or the reason he had it.
He was boiling with excitement, beginning to walk towards his new computer.
However, after he took just one step, his father yelled for him.
"Wade, get in here! The news is about to announce what all of that was! Hurry!" Rich screamed from the living room.
Even though he wanted to test his new PC, Wade was just as curious to know what that phenomenon was. So, he quickly hurried out of his room.
"Coming!" Wade quickly rushed into the living room.
He sat down next to his father on the couch and waited for the news to start.
Looking over towards Wade, Rich noticed his dry mouth and tired complexion.
"Drink." He shoved the water he just poured towards Wade.
"Okay, thank you." Wade picked up the clear glass and gulped down the water in one go.
After finishing and placing the cup on the table, the long-awaited news finally began.
"Breaking news!" A pretty woman with blonde hair appeared on the screen.
"Hello, everyone. Wanda Adams here with a report on the event that just occurred." She continued.
"I'm sure you're all curious as to who was behind it, but I'm afraid that that information hasn't been revealed to us yet."
"What!? You bunch of filthy liars!" Rich screamed at the TV.
"All we know for now is that the world has somehow been altered into a game-like state. Fictional monsters have appeared from what we are calling rifts—spatial distortions that contain entire new lands inside.
'You mean dungeons?' Wade scoffed in disbelief inside of his head.
"With the appearance of these monsters, people have also received special powers that were previously considered fantasy." The news displayed pictures of blue rifts that had fictional monsters coming out, as well as people with fire coming out of their hands.
With this information, Rich calmed down and held his breath alongside Wade.
"The government is sending troops towards the outbreak sites as we speak and has evacuated everyone. Few casualties have been reported thus far. We know this may be hard to believe, but please cooperate with us as we figure this out together. More coming soon." A commercial break appeared.
"What the fuck!? Who's going to believe this!? Do they think we are a bunch of idiots!?" Rich's anger came back as stood up and threw a pillow from the couch at the TV.
"Calm down, dad. I don't think they would lie to us over something this major. Let's wait for more information." Wade kept a cool-head, trying to calm his father down.
After hearing Wade's logic, Rich agreed with his words and sat back down with a sigh.
Little did he know, underneath Wade's facade of pretending to be cool-headed, his mind was racing at incredible speeds.
'If what she said is true, then the moment for my success has finally arrived!' Wade's mind began to fan the possibilities of the future as a smile crept upon his face.