Pill

Xiao Yun opened the door to his home with the keys his mother gave him just before he went for his walk.

"I'm home," he said.

His mother walked out of the living room and asked him.

"It's afternoon already, are you hungry?"

"I already ate outside."

"Okay… Hmm? That is…"

She pointed at the box being held under his armpit.

"Ah, this is---"

"Second Life Online?"

His mother interrupted him before he could finish.

"Eh?" He was a bit surprised that she knew about it.

"Your sister begged your father to buy one, and after many days of annoyance, he gave up."

"But this game is rated… oh, right..."

He remembers what he read online, that those not of age would beg their parents to buy one for them…

"Now that I think about it, you… you used to be a huge gamer and would play games wherever you went. Whether it was the bathroom or school, you would always have that little console with you. Other than your features and acting more mature, not much has changed since you joined the military, eh?" she joked.

Xiao Yun smiled at her words, yet when she saw his smile, it did not look like a happy one.

"One can only show how much they have improved through time," he said, meaning that she has not been with him long enough to judge.

His mother has a sharp mind, and she was able to tell what he was trying to say, but she did not reply and silently nodded instead. No matter how much he has changed since the last time she saw him, he was still her son, and that was all it mattered to her.

"Then go and have fun with your little game, I will be cleaning the house. Do you need me to call for you when the girls come back?"

"No, I will come down by myself," he said.

"Okay, have fun."

His mother left to clean, and he went back to his room to check out this game he had just bought without much thinking.

Before he joined the military and was still a nerd, his wish was to play a VRMMO similar to those he read in the novels and mangas. Now that he has the chance to relax and play it, why not give it a try?

While he may no longer be the same gaming nerd as back then, he was still interested in experiencing a virtual reality world.

Sitting on his bed that did not explode with dust, he smiled. They had kept his bed clean for all these years…

He looked at the box once again, and the large words 'Second Life Online' was printed on it along with a few pictures of sceneries within that world.

The box was unexpectedly small, with only the size of a 450x300x300 size box.

Opening it, the first thing that came into view was a helmet. It literally looked like a motorcycle helmet that was a bit advanced, like it was a futuristic motorcycle helmet.

Putting the helmet on the side, for now, he took out the rest of the things within the box, a little box, and a booklet.

"That's it?" he mumbled to himself.

A helmet, a little box, and a booklet that seemed like a guide. That was it? Where the hell is the game? This was worth a thousand dollars? No, how could something like this only worth a thousand? This is a device that will allow one to play a VRMMO that was super realistic and advance according to reviewers, yet it was only a thousand? No wonder why 500 million people were willing and able to afford it.

Taking a look at the booklet first, he began reading.

He puts down the booklet many minutes later and closed his eyes to ponder.

Getting injured will make one feel pain as if it was real life.

Unlike the games he used to play, there are no classes in Second Life Online and one can wield whatever weapon they want to and advance from there.

There are no such things as health points or mana points, and if you get injured fatally, you will bleed and die from blood lost just like real life, but there are skills and magic that uses the energy within one's body which can be considered 'Mana'.

You can only start the game as the human race, and once you begin playing, you can travel to places that are ruled by other different races and ask for a race change, swearing your allegiance to that race.

Your abilities in real life will reflect in the game, meaning those skilled in martial arts or have a stronger body will also affect the game, giving them an advantage over those who were born weaker. One can learn skills by learning from NPCs, obtain skills books from killing specific monsters, and learn them by yourself, meaning one can create their own skill!

And the weirdest thing was that while this game had the word 'Online' in the title, it did not actually require internet to play, which was one of its biggest selling points!

The booklet has much information written inside, but he skipped to the end where it leads him to the small box that came along with the purchase.

He never liked reading instructions and rather learn as he played.

Putting the booklet down, he held the box in his hand and inspected it for a bit before opening it.

Inside the box was a round object the size of a marble ball.

He inspected the marble ball that was colorless.

"This… looks like a candy?" he mumbled to himself.

"Am I supposed to eat this?"

He doubled checked the booklet, and he was right, he had to swallow it in order to play the game.

"What the fuck? You want me to swallow this unknown object just to play a game? Are you shitting me?" he cursed the developers in a low voice.

He sniffed the candy, then he inspected it some more, and he sniffed it again.

It was odorless, so he was unable to tell the ingredients made from this mysterious pill.

"500 Million people were willing to swallow something they have no idea about just to play a game? The people in this world is truly stupid…"

Then he looked at the candy once more.

"But then again… so am I," he chuckled before throwing the candy into his mouth and swallowing it.

Having 500 Million people swallow it without any incidents was enough to convince him that this candy will harmless. Even if it had poison hidden inside, it would not work on him.

After inspecting his body for many minutes, he nodded to himself. There was nothing wrong with his body after swallowing the candy.

Pushing the unsealed box and booklet away, he laid on the bed as if he was sleeping with the helmet around his head.

"Does this thing not run on batteries? Is the game already installed inside?"

"Technology has gotten pretty scary while I was gone, huh?" he mumbled before pressing the power button at the right side of the helmet.

The moment he pressed the button, the transparent screen which was also the helmet eye shield turned bright white, causing him to curse out.

"Fuck! Are you trying to blind someone?!"

*Zip*

Xiao Yun could feel his conscious leaving his body the next second, brining him to a world with nothing but darkness and a human-sized fairy hovering in front of him.

Not waiting for him to recover from his bewilderment, the fairy spoke.

"Welcome to Second Life Online! Please tell me your desired name that will be your in-game identity!"