Chapter 10: Controversy
When Milo woke up inside the capsule, he quickly tapped the button to open it. His body didn't feel sore, and at first, it was hard to differentiate if he actually got out of the game. When Milo looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time, he had realized it only been a few hours since he logged in. The sound of a running faucet came from the kitchen, so he went towards the sound. Leo had just finished filling a glass of water and was chugging it. As he was drinking, he noticed Milo and held up his hand, signaling him to wait a moment.
"Dude, it's been like two days. I had to refill your capsule with nutrients for you. Everyone was worried, but we figured you were in the middle of something important or enjoying the game." Leo quickly blurted out as he wiped his mouth free of water.
"Uh...what?" Milo said with a confused expression, "Two days? I just looked at the clock; it's only been a few hours.". Quickly, Milo opened his phone, and it was still the same day.
"Aahahaha, I'm fucking with you! Look at your ugly face!" Leo immediately laughed as he slapped his thigh before walking up to Milo, who was shaking his head.
Soon the sound of multiple capsules opening could be heard. Both Leo and Milo headed towards the gaming room and noticed everyone was hopping out of their capsules all at once.
"Damn, server maintenance..." Jason muttered as he instinctively brushed off his clothing.
Nick quickly agreed before complaining, "Well, the announcement didn't look too good. Something about applying some settings for the general public due to a large number of complaints."
Alex raised a brow questioning "What complaints?" before his younger brother Nathaniel who was on his phone, said, "Oi, check out the forums!".
Quickly everyone gathered around Nathaniel to look at the phone screen, or they opened up it up on their phones. It was a post regarding that the game had felt too real, and many people complained about the dark and gruesome nature of the game. Thousands of comments were already posted, and there seemed to be various opinions. Some of the posters quickly refuted the people who said that the game was too gruesome, arguing that it was a game filled with supernatural monsters, and it should have been expected that the game would be gory. While it seemed some said that because of the realism and hardcore nature of the game, it could create psychological trauma. The most notable was the blue post that represented the admin's opinions.
"The Atlas gaming cooperation would like to address the issue of the realism and nature of our game Althera. We understand that some people may be concerned about psychological trauma, and we will admit that it is a legitimate concern that we will address. When we developed Althera, our goal was to make it to where it felt as realistic as possible. We assure you that our game and capsule can not cause you any physical harm. For those who voiced their complaints that the game is too gory or extreme, we apologize, but this aspect will not change. In the world of Althera, we strictly follow the myths and legends of old. This doesn't mean we aren't willing to accommodate our players as we care deeply about our player base. Previously, we did not want to add things such as a user interface that displayed health and skills within your vision, but we're patching that in now as an option. This will allow and subliminally remind players that it's just a game. We urge players who feel uncomfortable to use the pain reduction setting if they feel like it's too much. For our hardcore players who wish to experience the game as realistically as possible, don't worry as the players who use the user interface and guided skill system will not have an advantage over you. Although they may have a user interface, the numbers are a rough estimate. While the guided skill system will be good at first, there is a limitation to it. If players can grasp the skills without system assistance...well, we don't want to ruin it, so we will let everyone figure that out for themselves. Thank you for playing Althera, and for those of you who do not like our decision, we're offering a full refund."
Both Henry and Abel seemed to finish reading before everyone else and fist-bumped each other while laughing.
"Ooooooo Atlas corporation just told the pansies to fuck off!" Henry blurted out.
"If you don't like it, then take your money back! Besides! You can see in the trailer and prologue that blood and gore are in the game." Abel said while nodding his head.
Milo was conflicted, he had experienced some gruesome things during his first session, and he could fully understand why some people had concerns. While the group chatted amongst themselves, Milo decided to speak up and share what happened to him in-game with the others. At first, everyone just nodded their heads, but by the time he finished his story, some of them looked skeptical as well.
"So...you're telling me...you were such a pansy you fainted...in-game?" Jason quickly teased as his sons laughed at their uncle.
Although Nick chuckled along with them, he realized some of the critical aspects and pointed them out. "So, in essence, fear plays a big part in how the game works. Not only, that unless it was some special event, but you could also even faint?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Solus
Solus For those of you reading my book who feel like you want to read about the game, I'm sorry to disappoint you. What I hate the most about most VR gaming books are the effects it has on the real world. With such innovative technology, everyone in the real world doesn't even bat an eye. How unrealistic is that?
Anywho! Do me a favor and leave a comment/review! Tell me what you think and how I can improve both in storytellings and grammar.
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