"I'm sorry sir, we are currently out of VR headgears"
The female employee behind the counter apologized with a forced smile, just like Josh always did.
"Is there nothing you can do about that? I need it today!"
Josh protested to the receptionist, at the gaming store which was few blocks away from his apartment.
"You'll have to come back tomorrow sir"
The lady replied irritatedly, still with her forced smile.
"... By what time should I be here tomorrow?"
Josh asked with a defeated sigh.
This was the third gaming shop he had been to already, and they were all giving the same crappy excuse.
"As early as possible sir, or you'll have to join a tiring queue"
The lady replied.
"Do you also play? Olympia"
Josh asked the lady curiously.
"Of course, I do"
"What's your comment on game? If I may ask"
"The best of the best, trust me, you'll get addicted!"
The lady said with a bright smile.
"Can I really make a decent amount of money from it?"
"You can be a millionaire if you're smart enough! Guess what?"
"Uhhh... What?"
Josh asked curiously.
"Did you see the black Chevrolet sports car parked outside?"
The lady asked with a proud tone.
"Yeah, I did!... It's so cool!"
Josh exclaimed in surprise, as he had been drooling over the car when he saw it parked outside.
JIGGLE!
"It's my car! Which I bought with the money I made from Olympia! I'm also quitting this crappy job today, to focus on doing nothing but playing Olympia!"
The lady shook her car keys for Josh to see, while leaping lightly behind the counter in excitement.
Josh was instantly dumbfounded, not just because of the lady's revelation, but her bouncing assets before him as she leaped in excitement.
"W-wow! I'm so happy for you"
Josh quickly averted his gaze from her boobs, and replied awkwardly with a chuckle.
"Thank you! For being the first to congratulate me... I have something for you"
The lady said as she cornered out from the behind the counter, and grabbed Josh's wrist as she ran out of the store.
Josh could only let himself get dragged towards the black Chevrolet sports car parked outside, as he was curious about what kind of gift the lady wanted to gift him.
BEEP!
The car unlocked with a flash of it's headlights, as the lady tapped on the remote in her hand. She then let go of Josh's wrist as she opened the passengers seat door, and took out a neat bulging brown bag.
"Here! Have this"
The lady said as she handed Josh the brown bag.
"What's this....?"
Josh's eyes instantly widened as he opened the brown bag.
"You must be shocked, right? But see it as a favour from this big sis!"
The lady said with a wide smile.
But unknown to her that Josh wasn't just shocked at seeing the VR headgear, he was also shocked at seeing a small photograph of a pink haired beauty, glued to the headgear.
"I'm so... Wow! Thank you so much!... But there's a photograph glued to it"
Josh expressed his excitement, then asked curiously as he pulled out the VR headgear.
"Oh! That's my cousin. I bought this VR headgear for her, but then discovered a friend of hers gifted her a virtual pod. So, it yours now... It won't come off, I glued it tight"
The lady added the last part when she saw Josh trying hard to peel off the photograph.
"Ohh! I'll leave it then, thank you Ma'am!"
Josh made a slight bow to the lady.
"Don't call me that, I'm just twenty three! You can call me Elise"
The lady waved her hand in embarrassment.
"I'm Josh, it's nice meeting you Elise"
Jayden said with a slight bow.
"See you later then... Bye"
The lady concluded and hopped back to the store excitedly.
"Such a cheerful lady... With an armed robber for a cousin"
Josh muttered as he glared at the photograph of the pink haired beauty who had made him lose his job.
-
Josh bought a nice meal for himself at his fruitful encounter, and quickly headed home to plug the VR headgear to charge first, according to the manual.
He enjoyed the delicious meal he had bought himself as he browsed through Olympia's forum page, not because he wanted to learn about the game, as he already knew enough from watching the live streams of players during his break.
It wasn't long before the VR headgear indicated it had charged enough, and Josh quickly laid on his bed as he adorned the VR headgear on, and tapped on it's power button.
-
[Initializing brain synthesis... 0%]
[Initializing brain synthesis... 16%]
[Initializing brain synthesis... 49%]
[Initializing brain synthesis... 82%]
[Initializing brain synthesis... 100%]
.
[Choose a unique username!]
'Josh Walker'
Josh muttered from the boundless darkness he found himself in.
[Already in use!]
'Josh'
[Already in use!]
'Walker'
[Already in use!]
[Choose a unique username!]
'Something unique... This game was launched a year ago, and joining now would make me one of the pathetic rookies, so... Underleveled, I'll go with something that suits my case'
[You have chosen Underleveled to be your in-game username!]
[Welcome to the boundless world of Olympia! You shall now be assigned to a random human settlement!]
Josh's view instantly changed to that of a crowded town hall, with players and NPCs alike, running around with swords and spears, riding horse carriages and steam powered vehicles.
He was awed at the realism of everything, though he couldn't feel anything unlike the virtual pod users, but the sight was more than enough to give the game a five star.
There was no differentiation between the players and the NPCs, as they both acted the same way, with different attitudes. The NPCs were even programmed to have self awareness, feel emotions, and make self decisions.
The only information one could get from a fellow player or NPC was their username which was displayed above their heads. But even that could be hidden by putting on a hood or wearing a mask.
They could also create an alias which would display in place of their username above their head, for those who wanted to keep their identity hidden, or those with double identities.