It was the very next day that Markus found himself in New York. The Marvel movies didn't exactly do this city justice-at least from what Markus himself knew about it-but it was already quite difficult for him to know exactly where to go. This was his first time in such a big city and thus was extremely out of his element here.
Luckily for him, it wasn't too difficult for him to ask someone for directions to the headquarters of RI (Reality Interactive for short). Oddly enough, the headquarters was located in Times Square-where various news channels like GMA broadcast "New Years' Rockin' Eve" every 31st of December-and it hadn't taken too long before someone rolled up in a company car looking for Markus. This car was obviously from RI considering their company logo was a systemized Milky Way galaxy spiral with the 'RI' in front of the image.
Bringing the car to a stop next to Markus, the driver rolled down their window and asked if he was 'Mister Markus Reeves' to which the latter nodded. This response seemed to satisfy the driver as the door behind them was opened-seemingly by the driver remotely. Markus didn't need any further prompting as he entered the car and sat down with the door closing off to his left.
The drive wasn't too long considering New York traffic during the summer months and tourists flocking to see the sights of one of America's shining cities. Upon reaching a tall obsidian-black skyscraper, the driver said some generic company greeting about him being welcomed to Reality Interactive and how they hope he enjoys interacting with their reality.
Yeah, a bit cheesy, right?
Anyways, he was soon led out from the parking lot and into a futuristic corridor leading into a room with a sign that said "Testing Chamber - Main" in clear English. Markus was more impressed with the design choice and what he didn't know was that it took less than a day to set everything up using [Systemcraft] that carried over with the entire staff of Reality Interactive. Even when the Integration event happens, this place will remain safe-making it one of the few safe zones on Earth.
Soon enough, Markus had been ushered into the testing chamber and was left inside with only himself and a female businesswoman holding a clipboard in her right arm. Unfortunately for the weeb and otaku audiences, this wasn't a sexy business woman attire, but more of a stern modern type meant to empower females in the workplace-not that any of the males in Reality Interactive dared to give her lewd looks. Not only was she one of the few regressors from the previous loops, but she was among the few high-levelled women that even had a chance to Prestige!
<==+==>
Prestige is a known way in the Eternal System to reset the character/person's level and cultivation back to base (Bronze tier/F-Grade, level one with zero experience) while keeping allocated stat values and skill(s) with their relevant levels to acquire more power at the severe cost of increasing levelling and experience gain per time one reset. It is similar to games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne with their New Game Plus mechanic.
From [Prestige I] to [Prestige IX], the person/character gains a stackable 10% experience gain debuff up to 90% where their experience gained remains at a severe disadvantage (90%) for further Prestiges. It is currently unknown at exactly how many times one can Prestige since most people stop after nine.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
<==+==>
"So," the businesswoman began with a soft yet stern tone like a proper workplace worker. "You are Markus Reeves, yes?"
Markus nodded.
Upon seeing his silent nod after looking up from her clipboard to see his slightly disheveled appearance, she let out a soft sigh of disappointment. She was wondering why her wife even bothered to send him that email, but she knew it was an order from up high to have him as their only Alpha tester. Luckily, she didn't find any male attractive.
Keeping her firm businesswoman mask up, she led Markus over to a futuristic pod built into the walls of the chamber. With a simple touch of her right index finger, the pod opened and inside was a simple pod helmet alongside a full body genderless suit. Markus looked at it with intrigue since this kind of technology was often portrayed as "black technology" in Chinese webnovels and the such, but it was very new to him.
"This will be the pod you will use to help test the game Cruxborne Legends, alright?" the woman asked him to confirm rhetorically. After that, she continued. "Before you can enter the game, we need to create your account."
"Alright," Markus responded with a soft gleam in his eyes like he was excited to play this game before anyone else could. "So, how do we do that?"
The woman-who we will call Nuwa-redirected Markus' attention to the pod. "Enter into the pod and we will get you set up. First off, make sure all of your clothes are off your body and put the nanoweave suit on."
Markus did as instructed, but not before he requested a private place to change his clothes since he felt embarrassed in front of Nuwa. She guided him to the changing area within the chamber and as soon as he got the last piece of clothing off, he immediately went to put on the suit. To Markus, it felt so good against his skin like silky velvet, but sadly, the suit only went up to his neckline-keeping his head free presumably for the helmet.
Once he was fully suited up and ready to go, he left the area-unaware that his dirty clothes had been destroyed by nanobots. Not even his poor wallet was safe from destruction, but that wouldn't matter.
When he returned to the pod, Nuwa quickly helped hook him up into the pod. The only thing left after spending a minute attaching various connectors, an IV line, and a heart monitor was to place the headset onto his head. It seemed like he was going to be hooked up for long-term play like in those webnovels Markus read a while back and his guess was technically correct.
Just before he could log in and set up his account, Nuwa presented him with a form on her clipboard alongside a pen. It looked like a NDA and a liability form.
"Before we begin the Alpha testing, we at Reality Interactive require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a form that releases us of any legal issues that may occur while enjoying our products," Nuwa stated in a very business like manner.
Luckily for you, the readers, there is no NDA or legal forms for us to sign~
As if Markus mentally knew it would happen sooner or later, he sighed and signed the forms using his somewhat fluent cursive skills. With the final curve in his signature on the final form he signed, Markus was quickly enclosed into the pod and fell unconscious. Mere seconds after that, Nuwa saw the pod was flashing red.
When she saw that, she knew things had gone horribly wrong. She had immediately reported it to the higher ups and it was not long before the incident reached their desk.
The only thing they learned at this moment was that Markus Reeves was now unable to leave Valtir most likely until Integration Day.