Before leaving the dojo, Liam stopped at the reception. He had to sign a contract for the training and his own training room.
Just as advertised on the internet he would have to pay five hundred credits a month.
Liam felt his money slipping through his fingers. Nevertheless, he found the dojo's price to be surprisingly fair.
But he understood as Sarah explained that he was only allowed to learn the deeper Winding Dragon Art if the master accepted him. It was not a matter of money.
Afterwards Liam felt somewhat awkward as he asked if it was ok to deliver a VR console to his training room. He didn't want to use it at home, letting Merida think that he wasted all his money.
Liam was surprised as Sarah looked at him with incredibly complicated emotions. Eventually she agreed with a sigh.
Since he just got to know her, Liam didn't ask further questions.
He said his goodbyes and returned home.
The next day Liam got up even earlier to buy a console.
But he was surprisingly met with difficulties. It turned out that the console was only sold in high-class shops, which refused to accept his black card.
One shop even threatened to call the army.
Liam had to search for quite a while until a rather shady shop was finally willing to serve him.
As a consequence, he came late to the dojo, getting scolded by the master and forced to complete some difficult routines.
Merida was even worried as he returned home with exhaustion written all over his face.
But Liam reassured her as he ate a joyful meal with Serena and the doctor.
Looking at Serena, Liam felt warmth in his heart. It was great to see the young girl smiling more often, waking up like a colorful flower after winter.
As Liam went to bed that day, he realized that he gradually got used to his new life, even finding many positive aspects.
Waking up, Liam stretched his body, all his muscles tingling. Today was finally the day.
C? Are you here?
[Player Liam?]
Can you tell me when the game launches?
[…]
[At twelve o'clock within your time zone.]
Thanks.
Liam kept this in mind as he stood up and ate breakfast.
Reaching the dojo, he told the master that he would prefer to train alone today.
The old man agreed, handing Liam a training plan. This was a normal procedure. After all, the master couldn't permanently tend to his students.
Felix and Silva also didn't visit the dojo every day.
Thus, Liam found his training room.
It was only a small room, its main feature that it was quiet. It had some props for training and a small window. A calming fragrance filled the room.
Liam involuntarily smiled, affected by the peaceful aura.
Training for a while the young man was soon interrupted when a knock came from his door.
"Delivery for Varsmith."
Liam's eyes lit up as he opened the door. A disinterested man put a large package into his arms, letting him sign before leaving.
But before Liam could carry the VR console into the room, another door opened.
A young man strolled out, looking at Liam in surprise before smiling.
"Oh, a new neighbor. Hi. I'm Ken."
Liam shook the outstretched hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Liam. I guess I call you senior brother in the future."
Ken blinked his eyes in confusion. Looking at Liam's white training clothes he suddenly let out a laughter before suppressing it immediately after.
"Mate, have you been tricked? I hear the old man does try it sometimes. Don't worry, you should be able to cancel next month."
"What? What do you mean by tricked?"
"They told you to become a student if you want to rent a room, didn't they?"
"What? No, I asked to become a student."
"You… oh. Well."
Liam felt some worry looking at Ken's face.
"Why? Is there something wrong with the dojo?"
"No, no. In fact, it's quite prestigious."
"Then what's going on?"
Ken pondered for a moment, glancing at the package in front of Liam.
"Isn't this a VR console?"
"Sure."
"Then, don't you know the rumor? The reason why martial arts declined."
"What rumor?"
"It's said that the Virtual World was a place where the Ancient Civilization trained their warriors. You could not only learn from the movements ingame, but the advancement in level will be fed back to your body.
You can literally strengthen yourself by playing a game. Who would still bother with learning martial arts?"
Liam was stunned. He couldn't quite believe Ken's words.
C? Is this true?
[…]
Unreliable…
"Is there some substance to this rumor? Can it really be this easy?"
"Well, I don't know. But since the console is still sold freely, there should be a catch.
Most people speculate that the upper limit isn't that high. Thus, the top masters don't feel threatened."
Liam furrowed his brows. He learned a bit about starlight masters form Silva and Felix, knowing that a 10-star master was the peak. Humanity only had a few of them.
He couldn't imagine their power, however.
But thinking about those top figures in the game it was hard to believe that humans could ever reach such a level.
At this moment Ken's voice snapped Liam out of his thoughts.
"Well, it was nice getting to know you. I have to go now. Maybe we can meet up sometime."
"Sure. Thanks for telling me so much."
"Don't mention it. Wanna give me your phone number?"
"Oh sorry. I don't have a phone."
Ken looked confused for a moment but quickly a polite smile formed on his face again.
"Ahh, I also often thought about getting rid of my phone. It's too stressful. I kind of envy you.
Well, I'm sure we will meet again if you are staying here from now on.
Bye!"
"Bye!"
Liam's smile fell as Ken disappeared. Although they had a friendly conversation, Liam didn't know what to feel about this neighbor of his.
He saw through Ken at a glance, having seen too many such people. Young upper-class citizens eager to make new connections. Purely utilitarian.
In his old life Liam was surrounded by such people, even his parents counting among them.
Although such people weren't necessarily bad, one shouldn't interpret too much in their politeness.
Liam shook his head, getting rid of his thoughts as he pushed the VR console into his room.
Opening the box with eager eyes, he was surprised by what he found.
Liam originally expected a cabin to lie down in. This changed when seeing the size of the box, making him think about a helmet.
But what really appeared was a metallic construct with a form similar to suspenders, a broad metallic bridge connecting them at the height of his neck.
Liam spent some time figuring out how to use the console before patiently waiting until it was twelve o'clock.
***
Meanwhile on some secret human planet.
There was a secret underground laboratory with a security so tight not even a speck of dust would get in undetected.
In a large room, a sphere floated in midair. It was built from various unknown metals, lights shining on its surface, emitting strange signals from time to time.
A walkway circled the sphere, filled with all kinds of sensors and computers running on confidential technology.
Above them was a room showing the sphere through a large window, a few people gathered within.
A stern middle-aged man with short dark hair, round glasses, and wearing luxurious clothes spoke up:
"Director Enurey, how long will it take? You have put us off multiple times. Even my father is getting impatient!"
Director Enurey was a middle-aged woman with a pale face. She rolled her eyes at this question.
"Don't always use your father's name. No one will believe that a dignified 10-star starlight master cares for our small research."
"This is not small research."
"I agree.", spoke a tall man in military uniform, his chest filled with medals.
"Tzz. Must be my lucky day if even General Raghoff agrees."
"Don't get used to it, Traunim. Never forget that we keep an eye on you and your private army.
The virtual world will be used to strengthen humanity and is not something you can monopolize!"
"Sure, sure. Don't forget that my father is also a hero of humanity.
But all this talk is useless anyways as long as the Director can't present any results."
"Gentleman, please. My team is working day and night. But the virtual world is the most advanced technology we ever unearthed.
We still need two… three years."
The man called Traunim shook his head with a displeased look on his face.
Just as he wanted to urge the director to hurry up, blaring alarms rang out in the laboratory.
"What?!"
"Has the laboratory been found?"
"Status report!"
The general immediately checked his confident channels but didn't find anything.
However, next to him the director's face paled as she stared at the screens in front of her, the displayed data playing crazy.
"No! How is this possible?!"
"Director?"
"What's going on?"
"The Virtual World! It's launching by itself!"