The floating cuboid structure, to Victor’s surprise, was the source of the holographic projection. Even more astounding, it could connect to the internet on Earth — his homeland!
No wonder the fairy said that he could summon “players” into this world. With this kind of device, Victor no longer doubted the possibilities of accomplishing such absurdity. On top of that, it seemed that only three years had passed on Earth after he reincarnated into this world, and it was the year 2026.
“Master, you can check the mission here, in the Headmaster’s Journal tab.” Lizbeth skillfully manipulated the holographic screen and accessed a specific page.
—— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——
Mission: No Players, No Game
You must secure a batch of uninformed individuals to become “players” in your “game.” Whether it’s through the creation of an official website for a deceptive game or employing other methods, regardless of their legality, your goal is to secure a batch of unsuspecting participants.
Type: Main mission
Total Participants: 0/10
Reward: 100 academy points
“So, I need to deceive a bunch of people first, huh?” Victor pondered, rubbing his chin in contemplation. “Also, what exactly are these academy points? What are they used for?”
Lizbeth's eyes sparkled with excitement as she replied, “Academy points serve as a currency within the System. They grant you access to various offerings, such as meditation techniques, essential resources, and much more. Oh, and you can even acquire ‘arcane lootboxes’ through your points — an intriguing form of gacha that may hold great surprises.”
As soon as Victor heard the term “gacha,” a flicker of excitement danced in his eyes. In his previous life, he had been a devoted fan of gacha games, and the mere mention of it now ignited a spark of anticipation within him. Knowing that the System offered the possibility of a similar experience, he was more than eager to dive into this.
“Alright then, let’s get this started!” Victor cracked his knuckles, then swiftly opened the web browser through the holographic screen and typed on the holographic keyboard.
Upon gaining access to the internet, the first thing Victor searched for was not candidates for his game but instead he wanted to check on his family from his previous life. Though his father had passed away during his high school years, he still had his mother and elder sister. Even though he was still unsure whether they were truly his memories or not, the fact remained that they were his now and he felt an attachment to them.
However, as he delved into the depths of his search, he came across a sorrowful revelation. It appeared that not long after his family had learned of his passing, his mother had also departed, leaving his elder sister as his sole remaining relative. He knew because he saw photos of both funerals. To his surprise, he didn’t feel as overwhelmed with sadness as he had expected. Perhaps the experiences of living two lives had lessened his attachment to familial relationships, or maybe it had something to do with how Magus families treated their relatives.
He let out a resigned sigh. “It’s not like I can trouble my sister with this matter. I bet she wouldn’t believe me, either…” Victor shook his head. His elder sister already had a family of her own, so it would be wrong to bother her.
What about his distant relatives?
Considering three years had passed since his passing, no one would believe him and probably assume it was a scam. He hadn’t been particularly close with most of them anyway.
There was one distant cousin named Vincent, though, who Victor was close with and might have been intrigued by this project. The only problem was that Vincent had vanished two years before Simon passed away, leaving behind a trail that led to a particular glass-encased room on his campus.
What about his classmates?
The same problem as before.
His girlfriend?
What girlfriend?
His colleagues?
He barely worked in his company for a month…
Furthermore, Victor found that almost all of them had already deleted him. Even if that were not the case, he still would not send them a message. After all, they all probably thought he was dead, and receiving a message from a ghost would be terrifying.
Thus, through the process of elimination, there was only one remaining option for him to find players. Victor opened an app with a logo consisting of a chat bubble with a white gaming controller inside — Discord — and logged in to his account. Fortunately, his account had not expired or been kicked from the server he had frequented in the past.
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The Discord server, known as “Gamer’s Empire,” stood as a bustling hub for gaming enthusiasts. With over one thousand members and about two hundred active players, the server provided a space where both seasoned veterans and casual gamers could come together and make connections. At its peak, it even hosted a dedicated Minecraft realm!
In the past, Victor had spent countless hours engaging with the lively members of the server. They were not just names on a screen; they had become familiar companions and with stronger relationships than even his colleagues in the physical world. And most importantly, despite the shared adventures and discussions, Victor had never met with these netizens face-to-face. This fact made them the perfect leeks.
As for whether they would believe him or not, that would depend a lot on his acting skills. So, without further ado, he began a discussion:
CyberWarlock: “Hey @everyone! Gather ‘round, I've got some exciting news to share. But first, I want to ask, what would a fully immersive virtual reality game look like?”
Noobzilla: “Who’s pinging?! Don’t you see the server’s rules? If it’s not important, then don’t ping!”
PleaseBugMeNot (Administrator): “Cyber? 😲 I thought you were dead because of the pandemic… Haven’t seen you for years.”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “What’s all this buzz about?”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Well, if you ask me, I’d say a fully immersive VR game is like something straight out of an anime or a blockbuster movie, like Sword Art Online. I bet it’d be a similar experience to that.”
PleaseBugMeNot (Administrator): “You mean we’ll be trapped in a death game for years?”
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “Stupid! That’s not what Zero is trying to say. Let’s wait for Cyber to finish explaining.”
Except for the first busybody, Victor was surprised that the administrators and server owner were engaging in discussion he had initiated. These three gamers were among the closest to him on the server. It was heartwarming to see they were still active and remembered him.
CyberWarlock: “That’s what I was about to tell you guys. What if I told you guys that there will be a fully immersive virtual reality game that’s gonna take the gaming world by storm? A VR game where it’s hard to distinguish reality from fiction.”
SuperNovaX (Moderator): “You mean like where sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste all are the same as the real world?”
MikeIsHandsome1000x: “Impossible.”
Three years might have passed in the other world, but it seemed VR technology had not yet reached the stage where fully immersive games were a tangible reality. At most, it was likely in the process of adapting to advancements such as haptic technology.
CyberWarlock: “I mean, what if. If it does exist, would you like to try such a game?”
PleaseBugMeNot (Administrator): “Of course! Do you even need to ask? Especially… you know what I’m talking about. (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”
Locktekei: “But what gives?”
CyberWarlock: “Well, I wouldn’t be asking these questions if I didn’t have something to back it up.”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Are you implying that you’re developing some kind of a fully immersive virtual reality game?”
As the server owner, Zero was naturally intelligent and quick on the uptake. Victor knew this very well, especially after playing rounds and rounds of Valorant together. Zero always saved his skin by carrying the game with his brilliant tactics.
CyberWarlock: “Correct. That’s precisely the reason why I’ve been offline for such an extended period. As a matter of fact, the IT company I worked at has been working on developing a fully immersive virtual reality online game. After slaving away in my company for three years nonstop, I was recently promoted to the position of promotional team manager. Right now, we are looking for closed-alpha players to test the game and give us feedback.”
Since he needed an identity to bluff these gamers, he didn’t mind using his previous status as a programmer at an IT company. The Discord server immediately went abuzz with comments from people who were not buying his absurd story.
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “Wait a minute, @CyberWarlock. That sounds too good to be true. How can we trust that this isn’t just another scam? 😨”
Captain Derp: “+1.”
MikeIsHandsome1000x: “As I thought, it’s a scam. ( ￣＾￣)”
CyberWarlock: “I understand your skepticism, but I assure you that this isn’t a scam, and my words hold genuine weight since I’ve seen the development firsthand.”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Sorry, but it’s a bit hard to believe. It’s not every day that someone claims to be a part of such groundbreaking development. Can you share anything that proves that this game isn’t some exaggerated claim?”
PleaseBugMeNot (Administrator): “Yeah, we can’t just accept it at face value. At least link us the game’s website so that we can check it for ourselves!”
Victor’s head swiftly jerked back as he slapped his face. He had forgotten to make an official website for the game!
“Crap. These people are harder to fool than I expected…” He had thought that being their old online friend and returning after being gone for so long would be enough of a reason to convince them, but human intuition proved a wild card, stubbornly resistant to deceit. Plus, making a convincing website would require more time than he currently had at his disposal. Just hacking something together on WordPress real quick wouldn’t be enough to fool them.
Seemingly anticipating that this would happen, Lizbeth chimed in with a smug smile and hands on her hips. “I foresaw this turn of events, so while you were busy captivating those gamers, I took the liberty of crafting an official website.”
“How’s that possible?! It hasn’t been ten minutes!”
Drawing from his extensive experience in utilizing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with his proficiency in various front-end languages, Victor was well aware of the significant time investment required to craft a truly exceptional website with good UI and UX, even with the use of bootstraps. Even more so when developing an interactive website while incorporating languages like PHP…
“See for yourself.” Lizbeth’s smug expression grew even more pronounced as she showed him her screen.
Victor’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets upon seeing the official website that Lizbeth had created. The sheer attention to detail and the stunning visual design alone were enough to leave him in awe, but what truly blew his mind was the extraordinary content of the website. It listed the topography of the academy as well as details explaining it. To top it all off, it had all the immersive atmosphere and polished aesthetics found in multi-billion-dollar MMORPGs!
When did she get the chance to take photos of the surrounding area?
“Holy shit!”
“Naturally, I didn’t just concoct this out of thin air; I had prepped the template and gathered the materials well in advance,” Lizbeth admitted, shrugging casually.
Victor grinned as he returned his attention to the chat. With such a detailed website in hand, winning them over was going to be a cakewalk.