Just as the school ended, Cao Huang picked up his little sister from school and went home. On the way home he bought groceries for the whole week. After that they decided to visit their Mother who was admitted in the Beijing Citizens Hospital.
Beijing Citizen Hospital, 4th floor, room no 27.
A women that looked to be in her late thirties or forties was lying on a hospital bed. She had aqua blue eyes and wavy black hair. Judging by her looks she must have been beautiful but the illness has sucked most of the vitality from her leaving her with withered looks. She was Cao Huang's and Cao Dan's mother Liu Meng.
She once belonged to a rich family but she married Cao Long against her family's will and was disowned by them. Now she was forced to live in poverty and had to do different jobs after her Husband was arrested. She who was once a spoiled princess of her family was now forced into such dire states. Due to ever increasing stress she developed heart problems and according to the doctors if the operation isn't done soon it would be really hard for her to live past this year.
The Operation itself costs 1.5 million credits which till now Cao Huang was unable to procure. None of his relatives came forward to offer their help except their Maternal Uncle who secretly transferred 500 Thousands credits for their mother's operation. He couldn't help more than this because his account was frozen by his mother's family. In addition to that he also needed 1 million extra credits to hire a good lawyer for to prove that his father was innocent.
Cao Huang and Cao Dan came close to their mother who sleeping peacefully.
"Mother you shouldn't worry. I will become extremely rich and get you operated in the best hospital in the world. I shall prove my father innocent and punish those who accused him. I will also settle all the grievances and take revenge on those who left you in this condition." He swore while tears were spilling from his eyes. Kissing their mother's forehead they finally left the hospital.
Next day was the Sunday, being a weekend and the day of release of <
At 5 P. M. the sameday
Cao Huang was preparing dinner and thinking about what to do.
Ding, Ding, Ding.
His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the door bell. He opened the door only to find that his best friend Tang Tang was here.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home as there are only 3 hours left before the << >> servers get online?" questioned Cao Huang.
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"I am here for the same reason. I got my Dad to buy me a gaming helmet and he actually agreed. In addition to the one bought by my Dad I also bought one with my savings. So I am here to gift one to you so that you can also play the game." answered Tang Tang while grinning widely.
"But....."
"There are no buts, If you consider me as a friend then you wouldn't want my savings to go waste so take this. Oh! I am going now. I shall wait for you in the game."
Cao Huang knew that no matter what he said, he won't be able to return the helmet so he quietly received the gift. "Thank you." he said seriously.
As Tang Tang left, he finished preparing the dinner and half an hour before the game servers went online he took out the gaming helmet and started to read the instructions. This game was the first of its kind where 8 hours in the reality were equal to 24 hours in the game so one hour in reality was equal to 3 hours in the game. It completely changes the perception of time meaning that a person can spend the triple of his life in the game. This is the main reason that people all over the world were so crazy after this game. It doesn't interfere with a person's sleep because the game can be played while sleeping. The statistics show that around 2 billion people have bought gaming helmets all over the world and the numbers are bound to increase. This means that bulk of the people will play the game at night when they are free from their work.
The only reason Cao Huang considered playing this game was to earn credits. A game of this magnitude is bound to be a money maker. 3 months after the launch the developers shall introduce a credit exchange system in the game where players can sell their in game currency for credits and vice versa. At that time the value of in-game currency and equipments would be exceptionally high. He was betting his future at that moment.
"It has been said that it is absolutely close to the reality even more than the VR games I played in the past so firstly I should compare it's graphics with the other games, I should first try playing another VR game on the helmet I received from the boss." He thought as he took out the cheap looking gaming helmet from the box. He carefully inspected the helmet for signs of breakage but wasn't able to find any. The only problem was that it was covered with dust and had slightly retro design. Overall it was in good shape.
"Here goes nothing." He bites the bullet and decides to use this gaming equipment, hopefully it won't malfunction at the critical moment.
He put a gaming cartridge of the previous game he played into the gaming helmet and lied down on the bed and shouted the magical words
"Initialize."
His vision blurred and was replaced with a black colour. The first thing that appeared before him was a message. The message was written in a language alien to him so he couldn't understand it.
"Maybe it is because of the gaming helmet. I shall try to change the language settings when I am in the done." He said to himself.
Even if the the message was in foreign language the gaming helmets were voice operated so he just had to voice his confirmation as he had experienced playing such games previously.
Just as he voiced his confirmation to the message which looked like a welcome note, he felt numb all over his body. It felt like he was being electrocuted. He didn't understand how this could have happened because the gaming helmets worked on their internal batteries so there was no chance of such a thing happening. The numbness soon turned into pain. Followed by this he felt a stabbing pain in his mind. He wanted turn off the helmet but nothing happened when he tried to. It felt like someone was piercing the back of his head using needles. The pain slowly turned so unbearably agonizing that he fainted. Before his consciousness completely drifted away he caught a glimpse of something floating before his eyes.