Jim was short, that was Endrick's greatest impression of his friend.
A wide grin was on his face as he skipped forward along the street while flicking his long black hair backwards. "Hehe…, I'm gonna love Unity".
"Yeah, it's easily going to be the best game soon". Endrick replied.
Unlike his past self, his current body had short red hair that attracted a lot of attention as he skipped along the street with his best friend.
"You know, few players are as rich as us to buy the first edition tickets".
Jim kept blabbering on. "I can't wait to become good at the game, I'll troll the newbies so bad that they'll cry, it'd be so much fun, hihihi".
"I've already decided on my way, I'll choose the footballer profession".
"I heard it was so popular in the 21st century".
"Can you imagine that? A world where adult men spend their whole lives learning how to better kick a ball to make a living, what a weird era it was".
"…" Now, Endrick felt a little attacked by that.
The only reason why he didn't refute was because through the dead Endrick's memories, he understood Jim's personality and above all, he was still fascinated by the futuristic world that was before him.
It took all his willpower to prevent himself from exclaiming loudly.
At this moment, he was walking through a street that was constructed using a special exotic alloy with glass-like properties. Due to the housing policies, there was enough exotic trees growing everywhere, painting a picture like paradise.
The streetlights hovered in the air, absorbing solar energy.
The hovering streetlights and all the other futuristic elements only mildly amazed him, what really amazed him was the floating city above this current one.
Entire buildings, districts, and roads were constructed and through anti-gravity technology were made to levitate above the city below.
Every few meters, he saw humans walking their pets. But that was not all, one of Endrick's greatest shocks was when he saw the humanoids.
In an era 1000 years into the future, this should have been expected. After centuries of evolution and as humans made contact with aliens, some excited humans pioneered the way to committing sin with aliens.
This led to the humanoids, variants produced from a union between humans and aliens. There were different humanoids, but the ones that dominated the streets were the blue variants who were born by a human and a Haiknin.
Apart from their blue skin, they were taller than regular humans, their ears were shorter while in exchange, their nose were far longer.
Jim was also a humanoid, a hybrid born from a human and a Celves, the shortest sentient aliens that the humans had met over the years of galactic travels.
Apart from his extremely short stature that was even shorter than a dwarf, Jim looked no different from a human.
"We're here!"
Jim's loud voice distracted Endrick.
"Oh, we're here". He looked up.
{Unity Internet Café!}
{Welcome to Unity Internet Café! Your ticket ensures your entry!}
The bright colorful words in the air that were materialized through projection technology revealed that this was their destination.
The fairly huge building floated in the air.
Jim did not wait; he activated his anti-gravity device that was attached to his short attire as he instantly levitated into the skies.
'Oh this, I found it in his memories'.
Endrick willed it in his mind and it activated. To his surprise, it was not hard to fly, all he needed was to keep his body stable, it felt just like long ago as a kid when he just started learning how to ride a bicycle.
After a short trip, they arrived, they were 8 minutes early.
The internet café was already filled with humans and humanoids.
With Jim leading the way, they soon found game cabins at a corner of the internet café. They both sat on the cabins side by side, then they waited.
{7 minutes remaining}
Time suddenly seemed slow to them.
"Damnit, move faster!" Jim snapped; Endrick chuckled.
After what felt like forever, it finally came.
{00:11}
{10 second countdown!}
{9…, 8…, 7…, …, 1…!}
{Launching Virtual Reality!}
Bzzz!
Instantly, Endrick felt like his brain was pulled through a teleportation portal. When he regained his sight, he was in an anime-like world.
At this moment, he was trapped in clouds but his anime-like Avatar had similar features to his real body, clearly it was modelled after it.
"Welcome to Unity!"
He heard an old archaic voice speak to him.
Looking up, he saw an old man with white beard and white hair that instantly reminded him of someone, he shuddered. 'Not Sexwale please!'
"My name is Harmony, I will accompany and guide your Avatar through the game to quickly get a grasp over it and understand its perks".
"Before we start, choose your profession".
Instantly after, 3 options appeared before him in the clouds.
* Musician
* Basketball Player
* Football Player
"Football player". Endrick easily made his choice.
The old man smiled. "Congratulations on making your choice".
"Unity is divided into 3 distinct worlds associated with each of the 3 different professions. As a footballer, you will be transported to the world of footballers".
"But before being transported there, you need to pass the football basics".
"There are 4 football tests".
"The passing test, the juggling test, the dribbling test, and the shooting test".
The old man's smile widened. "These are the basic attributes of a footballer".
"If you pass them, you will prove your potential as a player who can grow to become a legend in the football community".
"…" Endrick's face was weird throughout as the old man said all these.
"So, do you have any questions?" He asked smilingly.
"No". Endrick smiled. "You can start anytime".
"Good".
With a flick of his wrist, the old man changed the environment from clouds as Endrick suddenly saw himself inside a perfect football pitch.
'Damn, they almost modeled a football pitch perfectly'.
Despite how perfect it was, as a man who came from an era of football and as a professional football player, he still saw inconsistencies.
The old man held a ball, then he pointed at it. "This is what is called a ball".
"…!"
"Your first test is the passing test, an NPC will appear that will be your teammate. You are expected to pass the ball back to him in a straight perfect line".
"Do this perfectly for 5 times and you pass the test".
The old man looked at him. "Do you think you can do this?"
Endrick smirked. "Give me the ball".
*****
My discord server link
https://discord.gg/4kauKusRZU