Bear was not sure if she's in the right mind to make costly decisions. Should I? Or should I not? That is the question.
It was a Friday night and she was supposed to have dinner with friends, but she was just too exhausted. She lied her way out of attending and hoped that it wasn’t too obvious of an excuse.
And now here she was. The last two hours were spent browsing potential ebook sales, how she ended up putting the new VR game and its bonus contents on her cart was a mystery.
Why do these things always happen to me? Bear groaned, she had forgotten that there was a Summer Sale going on. Sales and discounts had always been her weakness, and it showed if you looked at her pantry and wardrobe but especially if you go through her extensive games' library.
She promised herself that she was only going to buy games on the year-end sale but honestly, December was just so far away. Mouse hovering over the buy button, Bear was seriously second-guessing herself if this was going to be a wise purchase. On one hand, the game was wildly popular and was rarely on sale. On the other hand, even at a discounted price, the game was still expensive and that's not counting the additional contents of the game.
Oh well. Sacrifices had to be made, with an audible click Bear confirmed her purchases.
Giddy but still feeling slightly ashamed with her decision, she called Jane's number to share the news. Her best friend would probably say her i-told-you-so’s but who cared? At least they would be playing the same game at the same time for once.
Tha game file was pretty big, and even with her connection, it would still take about five hours to complete the download. After connecting her whole VR setup to the computer for faster installation, Bear decided that staring at the screen was not really helping.
Slightly irritated with Jane for not picking up her call, Bear left her game nook to fix dinner for herself.
The game was halfway through download completion when her best friend called back.
"Hey Bear, sorry I was in an emergency meeting when you called. What's up?" I heard some chattering on the background and a ding from what she was assuming to be an elevator. I looked like she was on her way home.
"I purchased a game. Tell me it's not a mistake."
"Is it AfterLife? It's on sale right now and I've been talking your ear off for a while about it."
"Yes! Is it good? I hope it's good, because if it’s not you’re to blame. I remember you raving about it last time we had lunch that I automatically put it in my cart. And also because it's discounted."
"Hey don’t blame me for your weakness. Anyway don’t worry it's very good. The hype is real and I think even if you'd bought it full price, you won't be disappointed."
"High praise coming from you." And it was. Jane's side gig back when they were in college was to review new and upcoming games as well as beta test them to ensure minimal bugs and fixes were made before they were launched. Bear was not sure, but she thought that her best friend would still beta test games once in a while if she liked their concept.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“By the way, is there an official wiki already about the game? I know it just came out a month ago, but that’s a long time in-game. Considering the information blackout before it went live, people must be eager to fill in the gaps.”
“The game developers did put up a site. That's where the official forums are but aside from that, they only used it for announcements. The wiki is crowdsourced and hosted on a different site, it’s a group effort and I pity the people who filter the submissions. The trolls are coming out full force, but it’ll die down once the players progress further into the game.”
“Anyway, I’ll mail you the link to the forum and wiki. Also did you buy all the bonus packs or just the base game?” Jane’s sudden 180 from ranting to teasing was not appreciated.
“Yeah, I bought all of it. There was an additional discount for the whole package, I couldn’t really pass it up!” Bear’s eyes’ automatically went to the currently downloading game. It was about a quarter through completion and she wasn’t ashamed of the extra and totally too expensive bonus packs.
Jane’s smirk was apparent even through the phone. “Well, why am I not surprised. Because of that you have to get an actual account on the official site since it's linked to your game account. You could probably do it after logging in but if you want to see what you purchased in-game, you need to claim it first on your account.”
There was still time left before she could log in she might as well claim her spoils first. She was curious about the bonus contents, she bought it because of the added discount but she hadn’t had time to actually read the contents of the packs.
“Okay. See you later in-game? I have to do some chores first, since I have a feeling I won't be doing anything productive for the next few days.” Her apartment was small but the space was just enough for her, and it only took a few misplaced cutlery and clothes to make the space from looking cute and cluttered to just plain messy.
“Maybe. I still have to finish a few things before I could log in. I’ll give you a heads up in about an hour or two. Anyway, my rides here. Hanging up now, bye Bear.”
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Reaching for the ceiling on her tiptoes, Bear did a whole body stretch. The game was done downloading an hour ago but she opted to finish all of her chores and to ready her gaming nook with some supplies before she decided to log in. She did remember to make an account and claim the packs but she was too excited, she just did a cursory review of the contents. Hopefully the bonus items are not game breakers, because if it is the game wouldn’t last very long.
She did another sweep of the apartment; checking locks, turning off lights, and a detour in the kitchen for additional snacks and drinks. Changing to her most comfortable PJs, she put on the individual patches under her clothes which was a bit tedious but really important. Bear once forgot to put on half of them one time and she had one of the most miserable gameplay ever. Her mind and virtual body felt so uncomfortable and unsynchronized that it put her off gaming for a while after.
Once done, she donned her new gloves. Resetting it only took a few commands and it automatically synced with the patches. Lastly, she got her well-loved VR helm and scampered on the nest she made on the bed. She looked like a discounted robocop but who cares, her gear worked and that was all that mattered.
Turning on the helm, she verified the installed game and went in her virtual space. This was it, she hoped she wouldn't be disappointed with the game.
“Good evening Ms. Saint, what can I do for you.” Her personal AI was a bit too formal for Bear’s taste but she hadn’t enough time to customize her settings yet.
“Good evening, Sky. Could you hold off any messages unless it's an emergency or a priority. Also if you receive anything from Jane please send it to me in-game. I already did the calibration so you wouldn’t have any difficulty alerting me.” Doing a few stretches and basic movements to synchronize with her virtual body, she waited for the AIs confirmation before starting the game.
“As you wish. Good luck and have a great day.”
“Thanks.” Psyching herself up, Bear browsed her library, selected AfterLife and pushed the start button.