Chapter 3: Chapter 1 - Nameless Memories & The Game
It was already 5:30 PM when we came home which means an hours walk after cutting through the park. Thankfully it's already in the middle of April so the remnants of the winter's wind cannot be felt at night anymore.
Within an hours walk I have explained to Mother what got me, Sakura, and Renka is hooked up on.
It seems even my mother have heard about it which is not surprising as the technology has already been around for a decade. Used in simulations, medical, military, robotics, etc...
Virtual Reality Technology.
Ever since it has been given an allowance for entertainment purposes 5 years ago, many gadgets and entertainment medias had suddenly boomed however the current excitement that many people were waiting for was the one that was announce a year ago.
From the originators of VR Technology, NeuroLink that they have introduced the very first full-dive virtual reality device: NeuroArk.
However even if there is a hardware already available, the you would software that could run on it therefore NeuroLink have partnered up with the best of the best in the area of game development: Storm Wind Games.
Having produced top grossing games or long running MMORPGs. With the best of both worlds having partnership to produced the very first Virtual Reality MMORPG:
Grand Seed Online.
Featuring a sandbox-style gaming that allows player more freedom in their choices however, it's main feature is it's unique leveling system.
The players are given a free reign in their selection of skills and abilities (called 'Seed') within the points(called 'Seed points') available to the user. There are stats and stat points and your character's level is calculated according the mastery of your Seeds.
Seed Points are given to players at the beginning of the game starting with 50 SP which is used to select the starting Seeds. Further SPs are gained by advancing the mastery the Seeds. Bonus SPs are gained upon mastery.
Upon mastery of a Seed, players are allowed to advance to the next level of mastery which also needs SP however sometimes, there are some Seeds that are compatible and is therefore allowed to be formed into a new form of Seed however this will be a rare occurrence and therefore, the players needs to discover it themselves.
However, base on this context clues I believe one of the goals of this game is the discovery of this 'composite' Seeds and therefore the composite of the 'composite Seeds' which might be called the 'Grand Seed'. Hahaha, just thinking about it makes my blood boil with excitement.
Mother seems to care very much with the game at first which is understandable with her age however it seems something was trigger inside her when she heard the term 'Sandbox-style'. Looks like even mother has a bit knowledge about games.
Of course, it's not just who was talking about it. Sakura and Renka is also joining in the discussion. Seeing enthusiasm in our eyes, even Mother can't forbid us from playing.
Her only reminder was for us to be responsible and to now allow a game to control our life which we ourselves will not tolerate.
All this enthusiasm about GSO is good and all however I still have not forgotten the root cause of all this drama.
These mysterious memories from a mystery guy. This old does not even have a name attached however from what I can gather, it seems he is obsessed with a game that he even became professional. What's more, he's even more obsessed with playing a very specific character.
---
After dinner and washing the dishes, I headed straight to my room. I have about an hour before the server opening which means an ample time to research a bit about my current dilemma.
Uber Watch and Hero Genzo.
Fortunately, with the internet this kind of information is very easy to find. It seems to be a competitive team-based shooter game but also plays like a multiplayer battle arena game which is also massively popular 30 years ago. The game consists of 88 heroes which is also divided in 4 roles.
Hero Genzo is an assault type with a toolkit that consists mainly mid to close quarters combat. According to the memories I've received, playing this hero needs a high amount of hand-eye coordination and constant awareness of friends and enemies much like a support player.
It seems this hero has experienced or rather it has suffered several 'nerfs' due to being constant exposure to the top ranking. This 'nerfs' made the character almost useless. Looks like the developers of this game are rather useless or it's also possible that the higher ups were the ones that were actually in control which is not impossible as the game also have several competitions which is termed 'leagues' which consists of different team of different sponsors.
Since it's not only Hero Genzo but some of the other heroes were not safe from the Nerf spree but Hero Genzo has one of those who have the highest revisions according to this change logs.
Looks like I was correct as according to the history which is listed 5 years before the service ended, several transactions and hidden game data has been exposed and among these data exists some poisonous information which led to the downfall of not only Uber Watch but also the game developer.
Some of the sponsors here were also caught in the scandal. If I am not hearing of them right now them that means they have also fallen at about the same time.
The corruption runs deep.
As for the all important identity of the mysterious old man, I was not able to get and hints of information about the guy. It's either his information was hidden deep or deleted or a more realistic speculation would be that he was simply not important.
I, however, am thankful right now as not only memories but also the experience was included within like I was the one who have the experience of a senior with 6 years of professional gaming career of a games that's based on skill, reflex, and senses.
I don't know what this guy have done with his life but his memories are seriously fragmented. The only clear ones I have received were game-related memories and what I would call the 'high-impact' memories which consists of the turning points in his life which is fortunately also game-related.
Including in it was a memory entering a state of total concentration which is called the 'Zone' state in some circles. This guy is a serious fanatic even learning to 'Zone'. The other was a more recent memory where he played Hero Genzo for more than a week but the more important thing was state he was in by the end of the memory. I think it's a state higher the 'Zone' which he called 'Nirvana' state in his mind.
However, I have no intention of emulating his method of acquiring 'Nirvana' state. 'Zone' might be doable as it can be practiced even in the game but 'Nirvana' is suicidal. I love my life.
If I however want to learn 'Nirvana' mode then it seems I already have an advantage. Not only do I have a the memories and the sensation but it seems it also has a passive effect that carried over along with the memories.
And that was slightly enhanced senses. This would mean that 'Zone' and 'Nirvana' would not be too hard to achieve. It would be more of a process of 'relearning' or 'retraining' than having to start from scratch. Muawahahahaha. Thanks old guy.
*Ring* *Ring*
"Hmmn? Hohoho, And why is someone calling at this time?" With the timing and circumstances there can only be two suspects, it's ether my sister Sakura or my best friend Renka. Of course ruling my sister is obvious therefore the one calling is Renka.
Of course it's also because there's only 6 people in my address book. That would be My Mother, Father, Sakura, Renka, the Class-Rep Regan, and my Homeroom Teacher Anina.
"Yo Renka! What's up?" Since there's only a few minutes until the opening I asked the question that's straight to the subject.
"Ah! Yes! Yes! Are you ready Hannie~? Is your big sis Sakura ready~?" And Renka being Renka, an excitable barrage of questions fired back to me. Of course every time I her that pet name, I still feel the chills. Every time she says it, I hear a very strange intonation that my brain is unable to process properly. Obviously I asked her for a different nickname but to no avail. It seems she's really fond of it.
It is now 8:45 PM and 15 minutes until the server opening. Obviously, I have already performed all the preparations. Even my sister has already made her own preparations. I even saw her earlier wearing a beauty-mask on her face while NeuroArk is already on her head.
To double check I also made confirmations on my preparations:
Air Conditioner: Slightly below room temperature. Check!
Doors and Windows: All Closed. Check!
Body Positioning: Comfortable. Check!
NeuroArk: Status All Green. Check!
It seems like all is going well.
"I'm all OK here Renka! How about you? Also, just to check, what capital will we meet?"
"My preparation are all done~! We'll meet in Edo, Yamato Central right?"
The world of GSO is based on this world the difference being that the world of GSO has four times the size of the world. This would mean that the land and the continent is the just four times the size.
The management however informed the players that aside from the obvious land that was the six continents. There were also two hidden continents that will be inaccessible at the start of the game for obvious reasons (one of the reasons is being hidden, obviously).
Edo: Yamato Central is one of the available capital city in-game. According to the game website, normally players were given a choice at the start of the game on what capital city they would wish to start however, the players would only be sent to the nearest settlement of their selected capital city since they could only enter at Level 10 after finishing the recommendation quest given by the leader of the settlement.
This means that players were given an 'adjustment period' before you actually start playing the game.
"Yeah, see you in-game later ok? Remember not to get lost!" Since this friend of mine is slightly air-headed, she needs to be reminded repeatedly.
"Yes~! Yes~! See you later Hannie~!" Since she called just to confirm some things we talked about earlier on the road, our conversation only lasted about three minutes. It seems that beyond that quiet and airy exterior of hers, even the excitement of playing the very first full-dive VR game would push her over the edge.
After seeing her cut the connection, I've also adjusted my posture. It would be bad to wake after playing the game with muscle cramps.
Since I expect to playing the game until sunrise which give me approximately 27 hours in-game time. As expected of full-dive technology, even the time inside the game accelerated to the factor of 3.
Since there's less than 10 minutes before the server opening, I relaxed my mind and body and operated NeuroArk to automatically run GSO at 9PM on the dot.
After waiting for a while...
9...
...
2...
1...
Suddenly, I felt the sensations being cut-off or rather, re-routed by the NeuroArk. My vision experienced a bout of darkness which were then suddenly assaulted by various shades of color, immediately there were sounds being produced in various intervals in different directions, and I felt like my whole body have been engulfed in warm water for a couple of seconds.
[SENSORY FUNCTIONS: ALL GREEN!]
[YOU ARE READY TO START THE GAME!]
[PROCEED?: Y/N]
It seems those sensations I felt were the necessary safety checks made by the hardware to test if the artificial signals that were sent to the brain were working as intended.
Since there were no problems, I manipulated my consciousness to click on [Y] button.
Immediately, the logo for NeuroArk, NeuroLink, and Storm Wind Games splashed across my eyes.
After that were the opening sequence of the game. Since I already watched this opening sequence repeatedly on the trailer I immediately requested to skip the title screen. Seeing the [Press to Start] in the middle bottom of the screen, I immediately manipulated my consciousness to press it.
Darkness descended and suddenly I felt the familiar sensations of my body returning. It seems my eyes were merely closed.
Opening my eyes, I noticed the total whiteness of the space. I was standing in the middle of what looked to be a 10 square meters of a room.
I immediately saw a large slab of white marble at the center of the room with a slightly transparent window screen floating above it. In the screen says [Character Creation].
Of course, in my excitement I immediately proceeded with the character creation process.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone