Opportunity
George Russel woke up groggily. After looking at his clock, he immediately became excited. Today was the day Opportunity was finally released! He hurriedly looked at the time. [8:00 am] It was almost time. Opportunity releases at exactly 10:00 am. He hastily brushed his teeth and combed his hair. His body was shaking.
Opportunity was not your average game. It was the first game to introduce AI and VR to the game. This game was highly anticipated. Over one billion headsets were preordered.
He had been waiting for over five years for this to release officially. He immediately started saving up after watching the promotional videos and leaked footage. He was not going to purchase a cheap VR headset like most people. Instead, he was looking to buy a VR pod for a hefty sum of $10,000. An important thing to note was that he had just graduated college. That means that his paycheck could only be so big. All these years of eating cup noodle day have paid off! Looking at the sleek and modern VR pod, he smiled. It was about time this thing is used.
After doing some research on the game and looking at the information published by the creators, he had a general idea of the game mechanics. This game was unlike any other. It uses AI to simulate real life. That means that if you receive damage in the game, you can feel it. Any dishes cooked by chefs will have the same smell as it is supposed to have in real life. It goes the same for all of the 5 senses.
NPCs, "Non-Playable Characters", are also different. All the NPCs contain an AI. That means that they are practically real people. If you are nice to them, they will probably be nice to you, and vice versa. This is not always true though. Some NPCs, called special NPCs, could have different reactions. Special NPCs include kings, lords, dragons, and more. This is just one part of the reason why this game is so revolutionary. The only way to tell the difference was to look at the marker above their heads. Players have white markers while NPCs had other colors.
Another important thing is that in-game money can be transferred to real money. The in-game money used copper coins, CP, silver coins, SP, and gold coins, GP. One silver coin was 100 copper coins, and one gold coin is 100 silver coins. A silver coin can be converted to one US dollar. That meant that if one was good enough in the game, they wouldn't even have to work!
Something else to think about was fame. If you are, for example, the first person to conquer a dungeon, your name could be broadcasted to the whole world. This compelled many young people looking for fame to join the game.
Not only that, but this game also appealed to those with disabilities. The game could simulate everything. After scanning your brain, it could generate a missing leg or simulate vision with artificial eyes. Of course, this was only in-game. This would not change in real life.
The mysterious Terra Corporation must have spent billions if not trillions of dollars in the creation of this game.
He opened the hatch and got comfortable inside. The hatch closed around him as everything faded to black.
A Timer appeared in his vision.
[1:00]
This was the time until the game officially releases to the whole world.
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[0:30]
George got curious thinking about it. How many people were seeing the same thing he's seeing right now? Billions. If not tens of billions.
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[0:10]
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[0:05]
[0:04]
[0:03]
[0:02]
[0:01]
[0:00]
[Brain Scan initiating]
[Brain Scan complete]
[Loading]
[Welcome to Opportunity]
[What do you want your name to be?]
George pondered and replied, Draco.
[Welcome Draco]
[Developer's Message: Hello everyone, we from Terra studios have worked on this project for quite some time. Our AI, ECHO, is here to help with any issues. To call, simply call, "Echo!", and she will be summoned. Thanks for playing and we hope you enjoy!]
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