( Year 2234.)
"All participants should remain in their gaming pods! I repeat, all participants should remain in their gaming pods." The voice of the announcer echoed inside the enclosed facility.
Inside the sterile white room, were scientific pods, carefully arranged in a straight line. Each pod was connected to an artificial unit that was designed to regulate the health conditions of the individuals currently lying inside the pods.
This artificial unit was called, Prototype SHS.
A few months back, the gaming word took a drastic change when news of the high level virtual reality simulation was announced.
Boasting of having the highest level of artificial intelligence, this simulation was not only able to turn every game into a whole new world for players to live in, but it also introduced neural integration, making it feel like you are one with the character you are playing as.
The planning stage of the project was so impressive, that the government invested a total of 890 million dollars in market price. If it was going to be successful, then they could easily manipulate into military warfare.
Finally, when the launching day for the simulation was near, fifteen soldiers were chosen as test subjects for the operation of the prototype SHS.
One of them happened to be a new recruit: Henry Bartholomew. He was well known to be lazy and a loner, but his skills as a smart minded person was exceptional.
Lying inside the Gaming Pod, Henry could hear the muffled voices of the scientist discussing outside.
One of them walked up to his pod, and uttered, "Once we close the pod, the Prototype SHS will link to your brain waves, if you feel any type of pain, do let us know, okay?"
Henry gave a half hearted nod.
"Okay, ready to go!"
The scientist closed the pod, all noises getting shut out.
Almost immediately, a hologram displayed in front of Henry, different covers for different types of games and simulation.
'The commander mentioned we'll have to pick a world to run the test in. I don't want anything too intense or annoying.'
His eyes scanned the options until on caught his attention:
(Kingdom building: The Virtual story.)
'Hmm, this seems like a pretty chill game, it's basically just about a prince. If that's the case, I can relax as much as I want without needing to do much of anything.'
_click!_
He tapped the screen.
(You have picked your simulation.)
(Your journey begins in, 5...4...3..2..)
**Booom!**
That was the last thing he saw, flames surrounding him as his gaming pod went flying and crashing.
Was it all going to end like this?
With a final, violet jot, Henry fell unconscious, the whirlpool of light, pulling him into another existence.
'Eh? You've...got to be kidding me...right?'
×××{}×××
_kaaaawwww!_
The sound of the bird echoed.
Henry's eyes snapped open.
'Oi! W...what happened?'
He took his time to read his environment, blinking to adjust to the light.
The bed in front of him was neatly spread, and the window widely opened, allowing him to see the long flag just outside his room he was in.
There was a red rug on the ground, and on the wall hung two double blades and a red coat.
'Hmmrrgh...'
He grunted, rubbing his eyes before looking towards the window again.
'Chill for a second, I remember my pod blew up before the ai could complete the countdown. Did I still manage to enter the simulation? If so, my pod should have been destroyed, how the hell would I go back?'
[Returning to the real world is currently impossible.]
Henry's eyes instantly picked up on the blue template displaying in front of him.
'Is this...the Shs prototype?'
[Congratulations for your successful transportation into a new world. May the luck of the goddess guide you.]
'Luck of the goddess... fuck this, i don't know why I'm so calm, I'm basically trapped here. What if I'm actually dead? I know this yet I can't bring myself to actually panic. Maybe because I know this is a simulation?'
Henry sighed, before standing up from the chair so he could walk closer to the window and see exactly what he was going to be dealing with.
'Not that I care much anyway. I'm sure it will-'
Just as he wanted to take a single step, he noticed the mirror hanging on the wall beside him.
Gulping down his saliva, he slowly turned his gaze towards it. His reflection stared back at him.
"Ain't...no way..."
The man in the mirror looked nothing like him.
He had a medium long hair that could almost cover both his eyes. His body was lacking in the muscles he once had, red majestic eyes and even lashes longer than they needed to be.
In conclusion, he was handsome.
Henry was nothing like that, he had spent about 15 years of his life in a military school, and just only got recruited into the base, his skin was harsh and he was far from being handsome.
So who the hell was the man in the mirror?!
"The commander said we were supposed to regain our looks even after entering the game. I remember hearing that, so is this a bug? Considering my pod blew up, that shouldn't be out of the question. It's fine, since I'm the prince, life shouldn't be-"
Henry's eyes widened even more. The realisation dawned on him when he remembered something.
The prince on the cover or the game had silver hair and was way older than the person in the mirror.
'Shs?'
[Shs is unnecessary, call me the Carrier.]
'Yeah sure, who did I get transported as?'
[You are Alaric Montclair, the second son of the Baron, Rashin Montclair. 18 years of age, your status:...]
[The Joke of the Barony.]
"The Joke of the Barony."
Henry uttered in unison with the system as his memories began to settle in.
Still holding on to the memories he had as Henry Bartholomew, new memories began to resurface in his head, the memories of the character he was playing as, Alaric Montclair.
"What sort of sick joke is this..." Alaric continued to stare at the mirror, "I was supposed to play the character of the King's son, not this loser who only parties and womanizes all the time. It was so bad, people started calling him a joke... There has to be a mistake somewhere."
Suddenly -
_bang! Bang!_
"Lord Alaric, are you awake?"
The voice of a woman echoed from the other side is the door.
Alaric's eyes widened in nervousness, sweat already forming on his face.
'This is the worst case scenario playing out... I'm going to interact with a human!'