January 1st, 2072, the 6th model of Nexus’s full body VR technology – VIgard – launches. And unlike the five models before, finally, full human sensation could be achieved in the virtual world. Simultaneously, one could take control of a VR body and perfectly control it with their minds. In other words, it was a gamer’s wet dream. No gaming console had ever reached such a level of success before, and within six months the console reached 1 billion sales. And that was before the price cut. Within a year, 35% of humanity owned a VIgard, and the company’s board became like royalty.
There were only 2 problems with the VIgard. It was nearly impossible to program games for it. That hasn’t changed even to this day. While it hasn’t stopped some of the most determined gamers from trying to mod or create new worlds, none of them can even come close to matching the released games. The first of which was Typiskgard, a recreation of our planet in VR to the best of the abilities technology could provide. While it was astounding, and popular, it was nothing compared to what was released next.
January 1st, 2073, 1 full year after the release of the system and its companion game Typiskgard, Romgard released. Romgard, a space exploration game – which while unfortunately limited to only 1 solar system – still astounded those who wished to travel through space. The advanced science on display and the freedom of exploring several planets, terraforming them, space stations and space pirates, cemented Nexus as the company of the future. And now there’s Midgard, the most mysterious of the games, which has yet to even be launched. The 2nd problem was that every player would only receive three lives in both games currently out. And worse yet, the facial recognition software of the VIgard would prevent you from logging in on somebody else's account or purchasing a new system and using it yourself. PKing became a crime punishable in the real-world, and the economies of Romgard and Typiskgard were so strong that their currencies were considered more reliable than the American dollar.
Even in spite of these shortcomings, VIgard stands unmatched at the pinnacle of technology. The launch of Midgard will be the biggest, most important day of many gamers' lives, including my own.
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I mindlessly scroll through news on my laptop, ignoring my advanced programming professor. Every article is about Midgard. The developers have been exceptionally stingy with information, which is to be expected. Nexus is leagues ahead of any other tech company in every regard, including security, there hasn’t been a single leak. The only information available has been
Or, that’s what everybody else thinks. I smirk, glancing at the countdown on the top right of my screen. Only 45 more minutes until Midgard will be surprise released. But seriously, their security is top notch. Even with the tens of thousands of dollars I spent on equipment, my friend who works there, and a team of us working together, the only thing we could get out of it was when the game was going to be released. Why would they surprise release it? I close my eyes, getting lost in thought. Even outside of their security being top notch, they haven’t even shared much information about the game. In the two interviews Ki Atama had, he only dropped two pieces of information. That this was the last game he would make for the system, and that he didn’t think anybody would be able to beat the game. That’s so cryptic, why would that be the information he gives out? And why make a game if you don’t think anybody will be able to beat it? And why would he surprise release a game like that? If we assume he’s-
“Betsuki!” My eyes flash open, and I snap back to reality. “Help me…Please!” Sukine clasps her hands together while begging me. I snort, and push off my desk to roll closer to her station. She’s tried running a basic code on python, one of the most archaic coding platforms. It’s considered mandatory to have mastered it, most students grasp it around intermediate coding and then start tackling the advanced concepts of coding. But Sukine is an interesting case. “After one battle in my game, every stat gets maxed out? How! And where in the code did that even happen? Why doesn’t it tell me where!” She complains, slamming her head quietly against the desk.
I glance over her code game. She’s been working on it all semester, and she needs it to graduate with us this year. She’s an expert with Nexus’s software, she even has an internship lined up there…assuming she can graduate. But her foundations? “You didn’t properly separate your combat system from your leveling system,” I explain while adding a few additional lines, “Your leveling system defines the maximum as 999 for each stat. Since your combat system states that upon leveling up each attribute is increased not by a fixed amount, but to improve itself by a random integer between 1-5, it randomly picks one of the numbers and applies it instantly.”
“That’s what’s supposed to happen though, why does it add hundreds?!”
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“Because Python sucks,” I respond with a sympathetic smirk, finishing my edits to her code. “Since it applies it instantly, the code reruns, and that new value which has already been improved by leveling up is improved again instantly, dozens if not hundreds of times, until it maxes out.”
“Why do we have to learn Python, anyways?” Sukine pouts, leaning backwards in her chair in defeat. She’s gradually falling closer and closer to the floor, and only her eyes barely remain above desk-height.
“Sukine!” The professor catches us not paying attention, and calls her out. Fortunately, he doesn’t notice me, so I push myself and my chair back over to my computer. 30 more minutes until Midgard releases. That still feels like an eternity. I sigh, and lazily watch Sukine, who’s now been called up to the front of the class and has been asked to solve a coding problem on the board. It’s pretty complicated, dealing with how Nexus’s system interacts with the central nervous system of the human body and rewires inputs from the brain to the game. But, this is Nexus’s system, not Python. Before I can pull out my phone, she’s solved it.
“Betsu-Betsu~!” I look around with a blush on my face, making sure nobody can see the embarrassing text my sister sent me. I’m safe, so I open it up, “Betsu-Betsu~! Are you still coming home over the weekend? Tama misses you a ton! And…Mom and Dad don’t let me get away with slacking off at all since college applications are due soon, so I’d looove if you can come back and distract them lol”
I look back at the timer. I had mentioned the possibility of coming back over the weekend…But with Midgard coming out, I want to spend as much time as possible during the formation of the leaderboard online. It’s a little curt, but, “It’s a sink or swim world little sis. Do your best!”
Immediately, she responds, “YOU SUCK, YOU KNOW THAT?!?! YOU FUCKING FUCK, I HOPE YOU FIND A WAY TO CODE YOURSELF SOME BITCHES, YOU-” she continues to give me a string of very compelling compliments.
“Love you too?”
“Clearly, you don’t, but whatever I guess, love you back or something *^*”
I’m distracted from my sister by movement around me. Class is dismissed. My heart leaps, I jump from my seat. There was nothing else for me to do today other than get home and log in to my VIgard. I hastily shove my laptop and notebooks back into my backpack and rush for the doors. Sukine beats me out the door by a matter of milliseconds, and the two of us book it back to our suite. Our roommates should have everything set up for us, so the only things we had left to do were to log in and game out.
“You finished the python project?” I ask her, making sure she’ll have no distractions so she can fully focus on Midgard with us.
“More like you did, but yes, there aren’t any huge bugs and it should get me up to a C.”
“Up to?”
“More importantly, Haruno and Haruhi have the VIgards set up?” I nod, our dating suitemates might be insufferable sometimes, but they were reliable. And sent me photographic evidence earlier. “I’ve still gotta know, how did you find out about this?”
“...Me and Haruno unlocked it, I told you,” I lie to her, but it’s better than telling her we used her internship with Nexus to hack into their system.
“But if they really did send that information out to the top 100 players of Romgard, there’s no way somebody wouldn’t have leaked it, right?”
“We’re here,” I have no choice but to distract her. She’s too sharp for her own good, but we don’t have time to properly convince her. Midgard launches in five minutes, and we still need to climb four flights of stairs to our suite. We exchange a confident nod and head to the stairs.
We reach the top, breathing heavily and drenched with sweat. The elevator picked the worst week to undergo maintenance. “Sukine…Stand up, we’re so close. We only have…two minutes left.”
“You idiot,” she begins, reaching down to me and pulling my arm to no avail, “You’re the one…who needs to stand up…!”
“Sukine!! Betsuki! Hurry up!” Haruno opens our suite door and shouts at us. He rushes over, and helps Sukine carry me inside.
We don’t even exchange greetings with him or Haruhi. We shove ourselves into our VIgard pods. They’re not required, but recommended. We apply the rubber suction cups to our temples, lay down, and pull down the helmets. I remember the first time I entered VR, because every single time the same tingling excitement courses through my stomach. I exclaim, “VIgard, ON!!”
= = = = = =
[Welcome back, Betsuki.]
The system greets me, the white text being the only thing I can see in the sensory deprivation chamber known as the main menu of the VIgard.
[What world do you want to explore?]
Its voice is impossible to narrow down to a gender, but I can swear it sounds more like a little boy than an adult male. With a thought, the system brings me to the game select menu.
> Typiskgard
> Romgard
> Back
I stare at it unblinkingly. Pretty easy to do since you don’t have eyelids in the main menu. Only 42 seconds pass, which I know because of the stupid timer in the top right that’s counting down to Midgard’s release, but every second feels like a century. But finally, it appears.
> Midgard