Congratulations on conquering the continent!
A congratulatory message suddenly appeared.
(Ha ha ha, I finally got it).
I thought proudly as I lay on my bed, although those letters appearing on my cell phone were nothing more than a small message to others, but to me....
It was the only happiness in this crappy world.
(Although maybe I'm exaggerating...).
Let's summarize my life a bit....
-Orphan.
(Although the lady at the orphanage said my apparent biological parents are alive and seemed to have a lot of money... Damn bastards!)
-Unemployed.
(Not that I'm useless, there just aren't any jobs that suit my situation).
-Debts.
(College fees and what I borrowed from my good friend, fat Owen).
-Sentimental situation...
(My girlfriend left me for the captain of the track team...).
The worst thing is that I can understand her to a certain extent...
What would you prefer?
-The normal looking guy, orphan, with an uncertain future?
-A super rich guy, with flashy looks and his parents' inheritance.
No need to choose.
*Knock! *Knock!
(Huh, is the fat guy back yet? I thought it would take longer.)
I currently live in a shared apartment for college students (yes, those things exist), and my roommate was fat Owen, who oddly enough is quite wealthy.
(He says he lives like "a humble person" because his sister challenged him).
Although it is honestly not very humble.
"Hey, Ethan, open the door, I've got something for you!", from outside my room, I heard Owen in a slightly tired but cheerful voice.
(What would this guy want, a new clan war?).
How I met this guy and managed to befriend him is a bit curious.
A summary?
The guy saw me playing my favorite game, "War of the Worlds 7", which is a mobile strategy and territory building game. Apparently he loved this kind of games and even had a p2w (pay to win) account, but he was bad as hell, so he asked me for some advice.
Since that day, we have been playing together, with me giving him some pointers on the game.
Fortunately, he liked me and so our friendship began and, well, I later found out that this guy was quite wealthy.
(Interestingly, I became friends with this guy a few days after breaking up with my then girlfriend).
I owe this guy a lot.
"I'm coming!", I said as I lazily got up.
*steps.
*steps.
(Huh? Did he bring some friends?), I thought curiously, as I heard extra footsteps.
*Open door.
"Hmm, what's that, Owen?", I asked quizzically as I saw a VR pod in front of my room.
"This is yours, happy birthday!!!", said the fat man as he pointed to it and raised his chest proudly.
(My birthday, huh?)
Technically speaking, I wasn't born on this date, it was just the day the lady at the orphanage took me in, which is taken as the default birthday.
"Owen, thank you, but isn't it too expensive?", I tried to refuse, since I really owed this guy a lot, plus I had already seen the price of this kind of gadget.
(That thing is worth more than all my possessions put together... I can't accept it).
It's not just because it's too expensive, but because I really owe this guy a lot. After all, thanks to him I was able to pay for half of my college tuition.
"Still worried about that? Don't worry, for someone like me, those things are too trivial," partially guessing my thoughts, Owen just shook his head and downplayed the matter.
Then he pointed to his room and said to me:
"Look, there."
I walked over to his room and saw....
(What... that's his bed?) My mind was filled with questions as I saw this huge device where Owen's bed should be.
What was there was a pod twice the size of mine, much more luxurious and quite comfortable looking.
(Personalized?... No, wait, how much is that thing worth?)
"Isn't it amazing? I bought it exclusively for the new 'Tower of Conquerors Online' game and it came with a free silver capsule," Owen proudly exclaimed as I watched in awe of the thing.
To give you an idea, Virtual Reality, or VR, devices are divided into levels of realism (with each level the quality of the virtual reality increases):
Virtual Reality Headset (1 level): This is the typical device that anyone can acquire (with enough savings). Its quality is not very good and you don't have many sensations when interacting with virtual worlds.
Premium Helmet (level 1.5): Almost the same as the first one, but this one has a much higher audio and image quality.
Iron capsule (level 2): Capsules, devices designed to make you feel in your body in a more 'faithful' way the things VR has to offer. At this level, sensations such as touch, among others, are felt quite a bit, although it does not faithfully reproduce your senses.
Bronze capsule (level 2.5): The same as the iron capsule, but this one has a 10% level of realism in all sensations.
Silver Capsule (level 3): Here you start to feel like you are in another world, with an incredible 50% percentage of realism in all sensations, plus uncomfortable things like pain can be adjusted.
Gold Capsule (level 3.5): Here the percentage rises to a staggering 75%, a level that some consider 'ideal' for any VR fan.
Diamond Capsule (level 4): What should I say about this? A fucking expensive device, so expensive that the countries authorities ignored it, despite the fact that many of the owners have given a review where they said that this thing is incredibly addictive, with 90% realism.
And what my eyes see is a custom diamond capsule.
(Dude, how much money did you spend on this thing, shit... I doubt I'll ever be able to buy one of those in my lifetime).
"Hey guys, help me install that one too," ignoring my bewilderment, Owen instructed the workers who helped him install the diamond capsule to help install the silver capsule as well.
(...)
"Tower of Conquerors already comes pre-installed, so go create the account, and help me out, you know what I'm talking about, right? Well, see you later," Owen said before leaving with the workers and leaving the whole apartment in silence.
(...)
I stood for 10 minutes looking at the magnificent silver capsule in front of me, not knowing what to think.
(I guess he wants me to help him with the missions, right?)
Despite having P2W resources in a game, Owen wasn't a very... Applied person? He always had some odd problem he was urging me to solve.
(Instruction manual, power capsules... Premium ventilation? Silicone suit?)
Was this part of the custom package? Amazing...
(Anyway, let's calibrate this thing).
---
After verifying that everything was properly connected and ready to go, I wasted no time and got on the thing.
*Zum! (Capsule opening)
(Quite comfortable...)
It was quite well furnished despite its narrow shape.
*Chas! (Capsule closing)
Already inside, the capsule lit up with silver LED lights, until finally an engraved indication in front of my eyes lit up, urging me to close my eyes.
(Whew, all set, let's see how well this baby works.)
*Close my eyes
When I closed my eyes nothing special happened right away, but after 5 minutes....
*Slight movement
I could feel how the capsule seemed to move slowly, left to right, up and down.
Sometimes it gave the illusion of turns, sometimes it would just move in one direction, stop and immediately head in another direction.
(Wow, this already feels real)
After a while, I heard a mechanical voice.
「You can open your eyes」.
"Wow," I was speechless as I saw this completely blank world.
Checking my body, I could tell that I was still wearing that silicone suit, but... Did it feel different?
「We will calibrate your body, please walk slowly」.
I followed that voice's instructions and walked slowly.
*Walk.
(It's strange... but at the same time almost real).
Walking in an entirely white world was strange, but it didn't feel much different from reality.
「Initial calibration completed」.
「Please run and try to move your body quickly」.
I obeyed.
*Run.
*Run and turn.
(I'm not getting exhausted...).
No matter how much I ran or moved my body sharply, I didn't feel the tired feeling that should normally appear after a few minutes.
*Jump.
*Squat.
*Abdominal crunches.
*Gymnastics done wrong.
( Amazing... I can do everything here).
「Calibration finished」.
「Physical scan completed」.
「Do you want to make a face scan? 」
"Yes?", I answered a little hesitantly.
I didn't mind using my real face in this kind of game. Anyway, I'm neither famous nor handsome, so people will pass me by.
「Scanning in progress...」
「Scanning finished...」
「Remember that, in all recordings, photos or live broadcasts, your face will be automatically censored unless you indicate otherwise in the world settings」.
"That's good, now what's next?"
At that moment, in front of my eyes, a window the size of a large tablet appeared, on which this appeared:
[ Available worlds:
-Calibration, free.
-Tower of Conquerors Online! ]
In the first world, 'calibration, free', an image of a blank world appeared.
(I guess this is where I am).
And in the second one, an image of a rather imposing giant Tower with a star print appeared.
(That's the game, let's go).
*Click!
I tapped the game name, and another window popped up:
[ Enter your ID number].
This was normal, as it was a law they implemented globally according to VR regulations.
[Identification Confirmed, your data is completely private, please note that you should not give any personal data to any external person or application].
I thought that was all it was, but then a curious message appeared, albeit with a different source.
[An account has been detected from: These are not gods! Software
Would you like to link? ]
(Huh?, the same company of 'War of the Worlds 7', did they create this game?).
Kind of curious, I linked my account.
[ Account linked, checking progress...]
[ Type I civilization (completed), Aurora Continent (magic and technology), buildings...]
After that, started identifying all the valuable items I had in that game. I can't deny that I felt a bit proud, but at the same time empty.
(7 years in that game... I never once put money in and got most of the valuable artifacts).
And only until today I was able to conquer the most problematic continent in that game.
What's next?
Nothing technically, since after conquering that continent, others follow, but it's pretty much the same.
Considering that I have everything developed to the max, it would take me at least a month to conquer another continent, no matter which player or race occupies it.
[ Account valued correctly]
[ One-time offer!
Your account has been valued and meets all the requirements to be transferred!
-You can earn premium credits in 'Tower of Conquerors Online!' (depending on your account value), 2 premium items, one normal quality item, one normal talent and receive a random premium talent to commemorate your achievements.
*Note: You will lose all your current progress in the game 'War of the Worlds 7' and it cannot be recovered.]
(I don't see how much my account is worth, but I guess it's worth a lot, isn't it, after all, I have a lot of valuable stuff in there).
It's a tough decision. After all, this game has been with me for 7 years.
Although...
(According to what I heard, this game will have a large player base... if I become a powerful player and sell my services on the black market...).
There are many games where this kind of practice is common, from selling in-game items for real money, or just helping newbies level up.
(I can even become a thug or mercenary in this VR game).
Every second, more excuses came to my mind and they all told me that this was a necessary sacrifice, after all....
Any advantage goes in this kind of games.
"Accept," finally making a decision, I hit accept.
[ You have accepted the unique offer!!!, everything promised will be delivered once you complete the tutorial. ]
After that message, the world slowly began to darken.
"Let's go there!"