Chapter 5 - Dodgeball Master
Chapter 5 – Dodgeball Master
Berry watched the Dodgeball for a few more minutes before he went home. When he got home, Berry took a shower and went to Bendy's room.
Bendy loved gaming similar to Bestie. Thus, Bendy had the FIVR Capsule in his room too. Berry wanted to try the VR Dodgeball game and needed to use the capsule.
Even so, Berry did not want to use Bestie's because it would lead to fights. Bestie hated it when someone touched his things especially the capsule. The VR Capsule was Bestie's most precious treasure.
Berry stood in front of the capsule. The capsule was oval and it could fit anyone into it because it had the technology to make sure any users were comfortable when gaming.
Not all VR capsules had this technology. The one Bestie and Bendy had was one of the better capsules. Berry's dad doted on his children and thus, he got them the most he could afford.
At the side of the capsule was a small screen that could be used to monitor the gamer's condition while gaming, choosing and buying games, and many other useful functions.
All games around the world were now digital. There were no more hardcopy games to make it easier for users to buy them online.
Berry stood in front of the screen and checked on Bendy's game library. Unfortunately, Bendy did not have the VR Dodgeball game. Berry needed to buy it. Since he wanted to learn about the game, Berry bought the game.
Using the screen on the VR Capsule, Berry used the shop feature and typed in 'Dodgeball' in the search box. Berry clicked enter and a dodgeball game called 'Dodgeball Master' appeared on the screen.
In Techian, sports VR games were controlled by the World Government. Football, Baseball, Basketball, and all other sports were under the World Government's control.
The reason was that they wanted them all to be the same. It was a sports game and derived from the real sport. The World Government did not want the sports players and fans to divide.
The VR games had become immensely popular that they rivaled real sports and had slowly pulled in real sports fans and players to the game. Thus, the World Government needed to do this. If the players and fans kept dividing, the real sports would dwindle and became history.
In the line with this effort, the World Government only allowed one company to handle one VR sports game. The rule of the original sports needed to be the same and the developer was allowed to add anything else they wanted to the game to make it interesting. A new mode of sports, superpower, and many others.
Thanks to the control done by the World Government, the sports scene was as strong as before and had actually become stronger. Combining and controlling VR and real sports had brought many benefits to the sports scene.
Thanks to this effort too, there were a lot of VR sports competitions and tournaments held at the world level similar to the football world cup.
For Dodgeball, there was only one VR game that could be found and that was the Dodgeball Master. The game was developed by Aitek Company, a massive gaming company where the headquarter was located at the Cip Continent.
Berry clicked on the Dodgeball Master game and bought it. After that, he waited for the game to be downloaded. The file size was massive and needed almost an hour to be downloaded even with the advance of the internet.
The game finished downloading and Berry wanted to try it but he stopped himself. He checked the time and a few hours later, Berry needed to head to his part-time job.
Berry had planned to visit the hospital too to see Bendy and told his parents about the news of him working at the Thunder Tiger Company. He needed to inform them that he was moving to the accommodation provided by the company too.
"I will play this later," Berry decided to play it later. He turned off the VR Capsule and took his backpack. Berry got out of home and headed to the hospital.
Later that night, Berry got home from his part-time job. He told his parents about the news and they were happy for him although a bit reluctant to let him live by himself. Berry had quitted from his part-time job too.
Berry got home and as usual, for the past few days, there was no one at home except Bestie who was glued to the game in his room. Berry cleaned himself and practiced his martial arts for a bit before he went to Bendy's room to test the Dodgeball Master game.
Berry switched on the capsule and set an alarm on when he wanted to stop on the screen. After that, the capsule machine was opened and Berry got inside. Once he lied inside the capsule, the AI of the VR Capsule adjusted the cushion to make Berry comfortable.
A helmet came out of the capsule and covered Berry's head. The VR Capsule closed its door and the VR Capsule started. Immediately after that, Berry's surroundings changed. Everything became dark and Berry stood silently in an empty black space.
[Welcome User. You are not Master Bendy or any other Users that had used this capsule. May I know your name and register you as one of the Users?] the AI spoke.
"I am Berry. Bendy's younger brother," Berry replied. The AI went silent for a few seconds.
[Based on the data read from the body scan, you are indeed related to Master Bendy. Registration complete. Welcome Master Berry] the AI spoke.
The VR Capsule could scan the body of the user. This was done to make sure the user did not overplay the game and affect their health. The function was used as security too to make sure the one using the capsule did not steal it.
[You have set up an alarm earlier and I will inform you when the time has come. After this, if you want to set up another alarm, you just need to inform me. There is no need to set it on the screen] the AI spoke politely.
"Okay," Berry replied.
[Which game do you want to play?] the AI asked.
"Dodgeball Master," Berry answered, and immediately an icon for the Dodgeball Master game appeared in front of Berry.
[Is this the game you want to play] the AI asked for confirmation.
"Yes," Berry replied.
[The game will start in 5 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1] the AI made the countdown and once it reached '1', Berry's surroundings started to change. Slowly and steadily, the black surrounding changed to light blue.
Berry's position from standing on the ground was now levitating inside a light blue orb. This was normal when someone started a new game. Berry knew about this and was not surprise or amazed by it.
A second later, a blue rectangular floating screen appeared in front of Berry with words, 'Welcome, New Player'
After that, the words changed and an AI voice spoke, [Please input your in-game name]
"Berry, B-E-R-R-Y," Berry replied and spelled his name.
[Apologies. The name was already taken. Please choose a different name]
"Hmm… Blueberry?" Berry asked.
[Apologies. Please choose a different name]
"Blackberry?"
[Apologies. Please choose a different name. All common names related to 'berry' was taken including bitter berry, sweet berry, any colored berry, and so on]
"… I didn't know that 'berry' is a popular name," Berry scratched his head. He found his name funny and his schoolmates always tease him about it. Even so, he loved his name.
"BerryBlock?" Berry just mentioned whatever came to mind.
[Apologies. Please choose a different name]
"How about Berryier?" Berry asked.
[Do you want to use Berryier as your in-game name?] the AI asked for confirmation.
"Phew~ Luckily this work," Berry felt relieved. He did not know what else he could use. He had almost asked for a randomized name. "Yes. I want Berryier as my in-game name," Berry replied.
[Caution, this account will be your only account for this game. If you want to start a new account, you will need to delete this account. Are you sure you want Berryier as your in-game name?] the AI asked again and Berry confirmed it.
No matter what game it was, one person could only have only one account. Not only that but only the owner of the account could use that account. Other people could not use other people's accounts. This was to prevent cheating, spam account, selling high-level account, and many more.
Once Berry confirmed his in-game name, a new screen appeared. [Scanning Player Berryier's body to determine the base stats]
The capsule started scanning Berry's body to determine his base stats inside the game. The body scanning was normal for sports games because the fitness of the player would determine the base stats.
If the player was healthy and fit, they would have high base stats in the game. If the player was unhealthy and did not exercise, the base stats would be low.
Furthermore, body scanning would happen every time the player entered the game. If the player exercises a lot for a week but then did not exercise for a month, the base stats would lower because he was not as fit as he was a month ago.
The base stats were important because it could not be raised in the game. The only way to gain it was through training and exercise in real life.
A few seconds later, Berry's stats were shown in front of him.
Name: Berryier
Rank: 1
Level: 1
Next Level: 0/10
HP: 10
Attack: 9
Defense: 7
Speed: 9
"Are my stats normal?" Berry asked. He had no idea about this because he never played a sports game.
[Player Berryier's base stats are one of the best in this game. Your body scanning indicated that you exercise a lot and thus, are given high base stats. The maximum base stats in the game are 10 and no players have the base stats of 10. All players will have 10 HP] the game AI replied.
"That means, the highest is 9 and I have two of them," Berry scratched his head. He never thought training in martial arts would be evaluated high in the Dodgeball game.
[Please choose your base ability] the AI spoke, and a list of many abilities appeared in front of Berry. Fire ability, Ice ability, Lightning ability, and many more.
Berry looked at the list and found the one he liked.
"I choose Barrier ability," Berry made his decision. He took the ability because his in-game name sounded similar to the ability. The AI acknowledged his choice, and another screen appeared.
[You will start the game in 3… 2… 1!]
The light shone brightly around Berry, and his surrounding started to change.