The game was submitted to the committee, but as it came from an unknown company, it only reached the lower ranks. In this day and age, all sorts of VR games are being produced and released, but not everything will earn the recognition of the public.
Take the recent top-rated games, for example. There were three top VR games on the market, and yet only one was acknowledged as the best. It was only because the governments of each country seemed to have reached a tacit agreement to promote it.
Bell, a man in his late twenties, was a member of the committee, although he was only in the bottom ranks. Each day, he would only be testing games that were assigned to them. Some might argue that his job was probably the easiest in this day and age. Perhaps it was, but Bell had long gone bored to test ridiculous and trash VR games.
If it wasn't full of bugs, then it wasn't interesting enough. In any case, what only came to their desk were those trash games or those made by unknown companies, and the ones with potential had long already reached the executives.
The committee had a relaxed policy; as long as it was playable and the game didn't have a significant risk for players, it could be approved. They were already too lazy to scrutinize these games, which would only be buried upon release anyway.
Having worked in a committee for almost three years, Bell didn't have expectations today either. Opening his computer, he immediately saw the recent game he would test.
"Oh, only one? "He raised a brow, somehow surprised. Although it wasn't always the case that they had a bunch of games to test, Bell was used to seeing more than three games on his list.
After all, one game didn't mean there was only one employee to test it. Usually they were on the team and would log in at the same time.
Despite his surprise, Bell didn't think too much. As he clicked on it, the information appeared on the screen.
"Huh? Nothing?" He furrowed his brows upon seeing that there wasn't much on the information sheet aside from the title of the game and company. "The Game of the Abyss? Developed by Abyssos Technology." Bell read the sole information.
What was this? There wasn't even a trailer or description. Seeing that he didn't have the information, he raised his head and looked at the others. Their office was like a gaming studio, and in one room there would be personal desks for each employee, while not far from them would be rows of gaming pods.
"Team leader!" Bell called his team leader; he was stretching next to his gaming pod, preparing to log in.
"Oh? What is it?" he stopped and looked at Bell. Their team was composed of five individuals, and everyone looked at him.
"Are we only testing this game uhm... game of the abyss?"
Surprisingly, his team leader and the others frowned and shook their heads. "No, that's not on our list," his team leader denied.
Bell scratched the back of his neck, perplexed. "Then, I'm going to test a different game." Although it was strange, everyone didn't think too much of it; perhaps the system gave Bell a different assignment this time.
Since he wasn't on the team this time, he watched his team enter their gaming pods and log in to their game. Bell also moved on from his job and proceeded to download the game and link it to his gaming pod.
Entering the pod and making sure the nutrient supply was enough, he logged in to the game.
What Bell didn't know was that an unknown gaze had already landed on him and was observing him.
Like most games, there would be a faint sensation in their brain after opening the game and logging in. However, for some reason, Bell seemed to feel a very vivid sensation. It was a strange feeling that he couldn't pinpoint, but before he could think too much of it, the lingering sensation had already faded as his senses returned.
Opening his eyes, he found himself in a place surrounded by darkness. Yet, as he raised his head and roamed his eyes, there seemed to be red lines, seemingly blood vessels, that stretched along the darkness. These 'blood vessels' were so eye-catching in the darkness that they grew like vines.
He frowned, not knowing what this place was. Bell almost cursed; he already assumed this was also one of those failed games, but the developer still submitted it. Before he could think further, he snapped out of his thoughts and froze.
Bell now 'saw' himself. Although, it was like he was there, and yet not. Was it a bug? Darn it. It was quite scary, as he could see his body floating seemingly asleep in the center. Furthermore, his body was too faint to even see clearly.
He didn't know if this game was a horror game after all.
[Welcome, Player]
Bell paused; a system interface appeared before his eyes. Finally, it appeared. Although, Bell was aware he only logged in not even a minute ago.
[You are currently in the process of transformation]
[Please choose your Race]
Soon, system notifications filled his vision. Bell instinctively focused and read the information about the race.
[ Wraith
Dark Elf
Hellfire Witch
Blood Sorcerer
Abyss Knight
Abyssal Cultist
Succubus/ Incubus
Necromancer ]
His attention was piqued, and he looked through these races. Although they were pretty much self-explanatory, he still clicked on some of them and read them. Some of these races were often only equivalent to the usual classes in classic MMORPG games.
Like, Wraith, which summed up its explanation, could easily discern its perfect nature of being an assassin; likewise, with the Dark Elf, they highlighted their strengths as the ranger.
Bell didn't think too much and chose the equivalent of his favorite class. He chose the Abyss Knight.
[You chose to be born as an Abyss Knight]
[Please set your name, Player]
"GamerBell." He wasn't too concerned with usernames and responded immediately.
As soon as he answered, he noticed that his surroundings seemed to be trembling, and the blood vessels seemed to be pumping more furiously, as he could even hear the loud heartbeat.
[Your body is ready to be born!]
[Congratulations, GamerBell. The Abyss welcomes you.]
Bell read this notification. Although he felt intrigued by the idea of being reborn, he couldn't help but frown at the last words of the system. It was as though... It sounded ominous?
He laughed at this thought, and as darkness consumed him again, Bell already felt his body. He had the urge to tear up the disturbance in front of him that was obstructing his vision, and so he did.
He tore the 'thing' in front of him. Bell found himself inside a kind of worm. He frowned and stood up. He confirmed that he was indeed inside a worm that was now split up after he tore it up from the inside.
Bell blinked and looked at it before he laughed out loud.
"Interesting! This game has some gimmicks, huh?"
He finally examined himself; he was wearing some basic clothing on his body. Bell sighed in relief. He thought the developer would up their idea of portraying players as having only been born and being naked.
Of course, the developers seemed not insane enough to do that.
Bell examined his surroundings now. He stood next to the worm-like thing that had spawned him and looked up. There were three red moons in the skies, and as he looked around, he found himself in an empty land.
[Welcome to the Abyssal Realm]
[You are in the Abyss Edge]
In fact, Bell couldn't even focus on this notification; there was one thing on his mind.
"Insane."