Chapter 02: Transported Into Emptiness
Sitting on his bed with his head lowered, Ray had on a deadpan expression while the two people in front of him were chastising him. The two, for better or worse, were his parents. His father Jason Starlight was a CEO of a virtual reality development company, Star Gear. With the increase of functionality in virtual reality, the world was now in a race to achieve a truly immersive virtual environment. Star Gate was one of the frontrunners in this competition, gaining Jason much popularity and riches. Coupled with his great looks with slick brown hair and chiselled face, he exuded charisma from his blue eyes that compelled people towards him, gaining respect from others.
His mother Marissa Starlight was one of the founders of a company that dealt with beauty products. Not besmirching her profession, her figure was an absolute weapon against men and her beauty was said to be unparalleled. Her lush black hair that fell to her shoulders, bright green eyes and luscious lips would make even women jealous of her. Ray never cared much for his mother’s business since he considered them to be unrelated to his life so all he knew was that the company was famous worldwide and she rarely was at home because of countless meetings overseas. Not that his that was ever at home either.
Today was a rare day that they were both home which greatly puzzled Ray. Unless there was something really important that happened, these tow wouldn’t be here at this time. Hearing them getting angry at him, there was a conflicted emotion in him. The two who never really pay any attention to him other than when he told him his exam results was now scolding him for something so insignificant in his eyes.
“Do you know how worried we were? When the university called, I thought that my heart would stop!” barely holding her tears from falling, his mother reprimanded him for suddenly going missing. When she got the call earlier, she immediately dropped everything and drove back home as fast as she can.
His father didn’t say much and only put in a few words between his mother’s, but the look on his face showed that he was greatly disappointed in him. Ray could only listen quietly and not interrupt them as he knew that he deserved it. He felt that he had been doing things wrongly and that he should use this as a chance to rethink how he should handle his life here onwards.
“Just what happened to you Ray? You’ve never acted like this before.” His mother asked him, worry apparent on her face.
Avoiding her gaze, he replied, “Nothing really. I was just, kinda stressed out a bit. It’s not worth mentioning.”
Hearing his reply, her mother’s face relaxed a little. She then suggested, “Do you think you need a little break? We can ask the university for a temporary leave. I know that you’re a smart child but if you don’t take care of your health, then what use would there be in learning all those things?”
This made Ray realize that despite their constant absence, his parents really did care for him. They just rarely showed it. Ray wanted to decline the offer but when he thought about the choker, he felt that this might be a good time to investigate it so he agreed with his mother, “Sure, maybe some rest for a week or to would alleviate my stress. I can calm my mental state during this time.”
His mother made a smile hearing him. Knowing her son, she was worried that he wouldn’t take this time to rest. She knew that because of them, he felt pressured and wanted to gain their recognition. He just didn’t realize that as long as he’s happy, she and her husband wouldn’t mind what he decide to do in the future.
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After a few more minutes of talking, the two left Ray’s room, giving him a chance to release a deep sigh. Everything that happened today was too much of a shock to him. He fell into a fit of madness because of stress and right after that, an alien object suddenly got stuck to him, displaying things that shouldn’t be. Then, his usually busy parents had time to care for him and even showed their worry for him for the first time. He needed to take a while to digest all of these things.
“For now, let’s check this choker.” He got up from his bed and walked towards a mirror hung on the wall. The flickering symbols were no longer there and all he could see was just a plain white choker. He thought back to all those screens that appeared and one instantly appeared again. He then willed it to disappear and it did.
“So the screens seem to appear by my will. Though the one just now only indicated my status.” He pondered if there were other functions to the choker when the strange voice appeared in his mind again with a new screen.
[Current available functions.]
Status
Training
Simulation
Showdown!
(3 years 8 months 23 days)
Looking at the screen, other than status, he only knows the meaning of the words for other choices. As for their purposes, he could only investigate one by one. “Training.” At the instant he said that, he suddenly blacked out.
When his eyes were open again, he was standing upon a vast whiteness seemingly without end. Nothing could be seen in this place other than the lone teenager with slightly long black hair. His usually calm blue eyes revealed apparent confusion as to what had happened. He inspected his body but saw that nothing was wrong and released a sigh.
“Training started. Please choose an ability to train.” The voice which usually appeared in Ray’s head now reverberated through the whole space. Ray pondered for a bit and remembered that a few screens appeared earlier mentioning that he gained ability. “Let’s see now… enhanced perception.”
The moment his sentence finished, he felt like there’s something fast moving towards him from behind. Quickly jumping to the side, he saw what seemed to be a wrecking ball flying past him. His eyes almost popped out seeing this and cold sweat started appearing on his back. He gulped a mouthful of saliva thinking what would have happened if he didn’t dodge in time.
“Wh-what the heck? I almo-“not being able to finish his sentence, the feeling came again but this time from above. He leapt forward without thinking but as if mocking his effort, another one of those balls appeared right in front of him and only then he felt that feeling of danger. Eyes closed, he said his last words, “Fuck me!”
The expected pain didn’t come and when he opened his eyes again, only emptiness was there. The huge balls were nowhere to be seen despite their large size. “Training completed. Holder’s current Enhanced Perception level is at the beginner’s stage.” An evaluation was given by the voice. Shaking his head, he felt scared of what would’ve happened if he weren’t in this place. Even though he was able to sense the danger, when too many came at once, it was hard for him to react accordingly.
From the pieces of information he had collected up from the moment he got the choker until now, this place to him was something made by the choker. As for the functions of the other choices in the earlier screen, he had already guessed their uses. Other than Status which showed his status and Training which brought him to this training room, Simulation is probably a place that could simulate an environment for him to use. He didn’t know the specifics but he felt that for now, he might not just want to use it. As for Showdown!, he remembered the voice saying that he joined something called a Galactic Showdown! Then there’s also that timer which likely represented the time until the showdown start. The Training and Simulation is definitely for people to prepare for the showdown.
Thinking deeply, Ray wondered just what had he gotten himself into. Because of a random action of his, he got a hold of this alien technology. Why did he conclude that it was alien? It’s because as far as human knowledge goes, this kind of technology was too high-tech for them. Not to mention that he kept having a feeling that this wasn’t reality and yet still real, unlike a dream. From what he had read in his father’s study, virtual reality, even as good as it was in the current era, was still impossible to be this realistic. His current sweating self and his five senses feeling no different from reality was proof enough. Does the detailed texture of his clothes even need to be mentioned?
“For now, let’s get out of this space.” Simply thinking of what he wanted, his figure then vanished from the white space.