Morning. The gloomy clouds covered the sky, even the sun rises upon the horizon, it was still dark.
A small calendar was placed atop the table with modern furniture design.
1st day of December. The year 2122.
Inside a neat and minimalistic studio apartment, a young man comfortably seated in his black and white gaming chair.
He was in front of his desktop gaming computer wearing blue circumaural wireless headphones that had good sound quality.
He had black hair with spiked quiff haircut, monolid black eyes, and white complexion. His body was thin and rangy.
His name was 'Blizz', well it was written on the screen of his wide flatscreen monitor. He preferred to use this username on all of his accounts, either websites or games.
Blizz scrolled his mouse as he read a post on a well-known gaming forum, Beddit.
"Hmm... another virtual reality game will be released in 1 month." Blizz tapped his table while slouching on his chair.
On the screen, "Odyssey: The Halcyon Expanse - Recruiting Beta Testers!" was written with a huge and catchy font. Intended to attract readers.
Blizz read the contents of the post.
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Moogle Crown ー Beddit
[https:\\www.beddit.com\]
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ー〔 Halcyon Expanse 〕ー
An innovative and revolutionary virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game brought to you by the world's leading Zettabyte Technologies!
Game Features:
Sui Generis – allows all players to select their own class they desire!
Quasi-realism Technology – everything in the game, including crafting and combat mechanics seems real!
Advanced Artificial Intelligence – all game aboriginals have their own consciousness as if they were a real being!
Other Features:
Players from different regions of the world are separated into various realms as their starting point! Every realm has the various environment and random resources distribution.
Explore the vast world and discover the wonders of The Halcyon Expanse!
Leaderboards and rankings, dominate Halcyon for glory!
Special in-game time, the day and night last 48 hours!
And more upcoming updates on the official release date, 1st day of January 2123.
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System Requirements:
Zettabyte Technologies Zephyr
64 Tb/s Cybernet connection
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Package:
Zettabyte Technologies Zephyr
Odyssey: The Halcyon Expanse
150,000 Credits
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Apply Now! An only limited number of people can be a beta tester!
Here is the link to Zettabyte's official website:
https:\\www.zettabyte.com\Halcyon\Beta
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"Hmm... What?!" Blizz was surprised.
Not only about the price but also the image of the gaming hardware shown on the page. He had never seen anything like that before.
"Tsk. Well, there's nothing I can do about it." Blizz shrugged his shoulders.
He clicked his mouse on the link to sign-up for beta testing.
His browser redirected him to a new page that loaded instantly as he clicked the left mouse button.
A wall of text appeared on the screen. Blizz read it thoroughly, he never tried to skip.
The contents of the text were terms and conditions for anyone who decided to apply as a beta tester. There also incentives listed on the page.
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Moogle Crown ー Zettabyte Technologies
[ https:\\www.zettabyte.com\Halcyon\Beta]
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ー〔 Terms and Conditions 〕ー
● Beta Testers must not disclose any information related to the Beta version of the game. Otherwise, Zettabyte has the authority to ban a user permanently from the game and charge 500,000 Credits as a fine.
● Beta Testers should always send feedbacks and report about bugs, errors, NPC anomalies, etc. We will acknowledge that there are problems in the game and we will do our best to fix it immediately. Our Customer Service Department wholeheartedly responds to your feedback.
. . .
ー〔 Rewards 〕ー
● Beta Testers will receive a special achievement badge and random freebies, and an early advantage compared to new players on the release date.
. . .
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Click accept to register as a Beta Tester!
〔 Accept 〕
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"Zettabyte seems reasonable, as expected to a successful developer of virtual reality games. The rewards are also nice." Blizz nodded as he moved his mouse to select and clicked the 'Agree' button.
A registration form page loaded in a blink of an eye. Blizz filled up the form straight away.
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〖 Last Name 〗Ferrer
〖 First Name 〗Eirwyn
〖 Sex 〗Male
〖 Age 〗22
〖 Civil Status 〗Single
〖 Address 〗Room 10, Bachelor's Apartment, Cascade Boulevard, Northern Heights, Oakvale City...
. . .
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Eirwyn completed the form with his personal, contact, and his AniMONEY bank account information.
He clicked 'Submit' button, an AniMAIL was instantly sent to his Inbox. He opened it on another Moogle Crown browser tab.
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Moogle Crown ー AniMAIL
[ https:\\www.animail.com\user\Blitz\Inbox\]
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1 / December / 2122
ー〔 Odyssey: The Halcyon Expanse 〕ー
Thank you for registering as a beta tester and purchasing the game!
150,000 Credits was deducted to your AniMONEY bank account.
Your package will arrive within 2 days from the date of purchase.
Please contact us if you have feedback and/or complaints. We will surely respond immediately.
© 2122 Zettabyte Technologies ー Customer Service Department
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"I guess I'll wait for a bit. Time for a walk." Eirwyn stood up from his seat and turned off his computer.
He wore his black hoodie jacket, black high top sneakers and Anima on his left wrist.
Anima was an advanced technology similar to wearable computers from the past century. It was packed with many useful features and applications, such as AniMAIL for electronic mails, Moogle Crown browser, and AniMONEY for secure electronic banking.
Eirwyn went outside from his apartment and he walked down the stairs at the end of the corridor. Eirwyn rarely went outside his apartment, unless he was buying his daily necessities.
The weather was cold and the snow covered the entire Oakvale City. The trees aligned on the boulevard were deciduous Zelkova.
Only the roots, branches and trunks left. The leaves were already withered since autumn.
Eirwyn strolled along the snowy sidewalk.
"Damn, my savings were running out. I need to earn some credits to survive the month." Eirwyn talked to himself while he tucked both of his hands inside the hoodie's pockets.
The asphalt pavement was slightly wet as the snow thawed by the heat from passing vehicles on the boulevard.
Various shops and establishments we're already opened and began doing business.
After walking almost half an hour, Eirwyn arrived at the coffee shop he always patronized since he was a freshman.
The wooden signboard of the coffee shop hung on the top of the door. 'Sanctuary' was elegantly etched on it.
He opened the dark wooden door and the bell rang.
'Cring cling!'
"Good morning Eirwyn." The middle-aged barista smiled.
"Morning, Clyde." Eirwyn smiled back.
"The usual?" Clyde's expression was friendly as he wiped a cup with a clean white cloth.
"Yes. Brewed black coffee, no milk, and less sugar." Eirwyn told his order and sat down on a stool.
The café had a warm and cozy atmosphere. The interior design was classic and rustic.
Various abstract paintings from the 21st century hung on the walls.
Devil's ivy grew on hanging pots attached to the wooden posts around the café.
On the left side, there are a couple of broad wooden shelves made of dark hardwood had glass jars containing different kinds of coffee beans and various barista equipment are organized neatly.
Behind the long wooden counter, built-in cupboards with coffee cups, utensils, and barista tools placed on it.
On the right side, a dozen ancient sword replicas were displayed on the shelves attached to the wall.
"Clyde, I was wondering where did you get those swords?" Eirwyn asked as he pointed the shelves behind him with his thumb.
"Oh, do you remember I was on a vacation last week? Before I return here at Oakvale, I bought those replicas from the family of famous bladesmiths from the north, the Ferrer." Clyde poured the hot water from the kettle to the French coffee press with arabica coffee beans.
He waited for almost four minutes. Eirwyn didn't speak and he just watched Clyde.
Clyde applied pressure on the press to extract the coffee. He slowly filled the cup with freshly brewed coffee and put a meager amount of white sugar to the cup then he stirred it.
"Here. Brewed black coffee, no milk, and less sugar." Clyde placed it carefully on the counter, in front of Eirwyn.
"Thank you." Eirwyn placed his fingers on the handle and slowly picked it up.
He sipped the hot black liquid and placed the cup back to the saucer.
"Ah..." Eirwyn sighed from the soothing effect of the coffee.