Real body?Realistic sensation?
Before the start of the game...
Sam entered the game capsule, ready to dive into yet another game. Being a popular streamer and game reviewer, he spends most of his time reviewing new games as numerous VR games are released daily.
"Okay, let's see what we got today?", Sam fired up and began browsing the VR store. As he was doing this, he suddenly received a notification.
{DING! The next-gen VR Game "VOID LAND ONLINE" is ready for publicity gameplay, you are invited. Do you want to register now?}
"VOID LAND ONLINE? Why didn't I see any advertisement for this? And next-gen VR? Why are you using old tag lines?"
{Registration ends in 20 seconds, the countdown starts now….}
"Oh, anyway let's try it out since there is no harm for me" Sam registered immediately as even if the game is not up to standard he would just roast the game to get viewers.
All the game asked for registration is his consent and capsule account number. After input, a success message arrived without pause.
{Registration successful, please ensure you are not disturbed for the next four hours, you can't quit halfway. The Game play starts in 10 minutes…}
With nothing to do he surfed for any content until suddenly he found himself in a white space.
{Please report your alias}
"Oh, the sound effect is quite good and the Milky Way theme isn't bad either" Sam commented.
'As for the name, it's always the same, "Samrex"'
[Alias selected]
[Please select the area to be deployed]
A giant map appeared before him, it is a map of an island.
'Wait, that's it? No character customization or class selection?'
Character customization is the norm in VR games, as most people don't like being randomly assigned a body.
"You didn't even ask for my gender!" Sam said, 'don't tell me they will assign me a girl body, it would be embarrassing'
[Detected no selection, random selection in 10…9…8…]
"Oh, wait, wait" Sam randomly pointed at a place; it is a house near the beach.
[Selection successful, you are deployed]
When Sam blinked, he is already in a different place. He could even hear waves hitting the shore.
"The transition…that's seamless, top-notch" Sam praised.
"oh yeah, I should turn on the stream..." but Sam found that all the add-on he had were nowhere to be found, to a streamer like him a streaming control, and a search engine is very important.
"Hey, shitty game designer where is my streaming portal?" Sam shouted angrily, this is wasting his trip here.
[Third Party streaming is not allowed]
"Then how can I stream"
[You are already streaming. Your channel can be accessed via the game's official website]
'Huh,' Sam paused.
'Isn't this touching the reverse scale of most companies?' there is a delicate balance between what a game company can and cannot. For one, the streaming should be handed over to third parties or else there would be severe consequences when the gaming company is targeted financially. But he quickly adjusted himself to start streaming.
"Uh, hello guys I'm SamRex, the overall login experience of this game is pretty lame. If you hadn't noted, there is no character c-customization…" he stumped when he found his character body, it's his original body.
"H-How…" he could not believe his eyes, mirroring the real-world body in the gaming world is a myth. There had been no one who accomplished it; the close that someone had come to is a game that used advanced scanner-type capsules to measure their features. But they are expensive as heck, and not affordable by everyone.
Even then the end product is not good. So all in all, this had been impractical even after decades of research into the subject.
Now here he is standing in some place virtual in a body similar to his own.
'Don't tell me…' he recalled what the registration said. 'Next-gen'
"As most of you can see viewers, I'm in a real-looking body, and it is exactly the same as my real one. Yes, you heard it right, see this birthmark, I had it since birth" he pointed to one on his shoulders.
"Now, let's see how the pain setting is" he moved to one of the challenges of mirroring the real-world body. Getting the pain the player feels and the pain that should be felt right and the timing is way more important. It can't be delayed yet not before the damage as well.
He pinched himself, "Ouch" as soon as he pinched he felt the familiar sensation of being pinched.
'This- isn't this too realllll!!!" Sam almost didn't believe this.
'Waa, could the otaku bros finally enjoy the pleasure of virtual sex?!' Sam exclaimed.
…
Meanwhile, in the epicenter of the city, people were watching Samrex's stream. There was also a link below to find the stream of the rest of the players.
They were in disbelief when they saw and heard what Samrex said. 'Real body?' 'Realistic sensation?'
"Bro, did you got bribed?"
"you are so fake?"
"Honey, did you notice the play speed is fast?"
"Yeah, right! I thought so as well"
"Don't tell me they are going all out and claiming they have mastered the time dilation technology?"
"Pfft, it proves how fake they are?"
"Come on guys, would someone spend a large amount on setting up a screen this large to fool us?"
"Maybe it is an eccentric person!"
The conversation went all over the streets. It was only when the instructions appeared that the topic changed.
"So it is a Battle Royale! I like those games"
"Me too"
"+1 here"
Then the game started and Sam could move. The streaming was done from a third-person perspective following Sam but with his HUD visible.
"Hey, check the countdown on the top; it's faster by two times"
"Now that you point out, I confirmed this is a recording"
"What if this is real!!!?"
"Then tell me where to buy this game"
Samrex oblivious to all this reached the loot in the house he is. There are two things, a Black leather vest and a crossbow loaded with a bolt, and two extra bolts nearby.
Sam equipped them, wondering aloud how he would feel holding a gun. That thought alone fired up, most males. Some are already searching the internet for where to buy the game. The smart guys visited the official site of the game and searched for the details. Unfortunately, there is nothing more than the 150 stream channel present on the site.
"Why can't I find any details on the site?"
"Even the creators' detail is not present"
"Maybe they are planning for a grand reveal at the end of this game"
"Yeah, it should be like this, or this is a live beta test?"
"Oh, doesn't that mean we have to wait longer to play this"
Sam made his way out of the house to see the beach; he could make out a blue transparent dome in the distance. He went and took a hand of the water and sipped it.
"Ptui, salty! That means the taste bud is also tuned to real-time…just how much technological advancement went into this game?"
Sam made to move when he heard a sound and saw a man running over, he had his legs covered in leather armor but his upper body bare. He held a small dagger and charged at him madly.
Sam panicked forgetting for a moment that this is a game and aimed the fire bolt and fired, because of the close proximity, even though his aim is hasty it hit the target in his heart.
The next second, he saw the target failing down, flying a short distance in the air. Sam ran over loading amateurishly another bolt, when he neared the person, the man hadn't died but still bleeding.
"I…I…" the man coughed out blood.
"The graphics are top-notch; I could see even minute details of his blood. Buddy since you are going to be eliminated anyways how about sharing how the pain feels, this will help the viewers gain an understanding"
But all he got in return was more gurgling sounds.
"Oh, I guess the wound and pain are preventing him from talking, how real"
'Real my ass, it's fucking hurts like hell' the man in the sand cursed. Sam aimed the bolt at the head and the man had a bad feeling. He hurriedly shook his head through pain.
*Twanggg*
The bolt went straight through the head, the scene was very gore.
Sam turned away uneasy, even though he knows it is a game, the sight was pretty…he almost vomited just now.
…