The next day, the trio from Happy Internet Cafe left early in the morning. Chen Guo and the rest see them off, and the boss of Happy made sure to pack them some food to eat for their journey.
The drive to city B was uneventful, and the trio used the five-hour drive to catch some more sleep. That way, they could hopefully pull out an all-nighter.
Meanwhile, at the Glory Alliance Headquarter, in a room on the 11th floor, the staff were getting busier on preparing the required equipment. A man who appears to be in his mid-forties was looking at the staffs with a serious expression on his face. Beside him, stood the current chairman of Glory Alliance.
"Mr. Li, these equipment are all fruits of your labor along with those from the R&D department. We're very grateful that you agreed to give us the license to develop your technology," the chairman said with a smile.
"I don't really care about that. I would've taken more than ten years if I were to develop them on my own. I cannot wait that long…" Li Wenyan answered.
"For your son?"
"En," Li Wenyan nods his head. "About that player that plays unspecialized six years ago, will he be here for the test?" Li Wenyan asked.
"We did send the invitation to his boss. Whether he comes or not, we are not sure."
The door to the room was opened and two teenagers entered. One was seated on a wheelchair while the other was pushing it from behind. At a glance, everyone can tell that they are twins.
"Zhihuan, Haoxuan, did I not tell you to rest more?" Li Wenyan quickly went to the twin's side.
"We're already rested, dad. We've slept really well last night so we woke up early," answered the one who was sitting on the wheelchair. "Since we didn't have anything to do, I asked Haoxuan to bring me over. Is this the place where we play the game?" Li Zhihuan asked as he looked around the room.
"Yes. This will be the place where you play for a period of time," Li Wenyan answered as he gently ruffled his son's head. "Haoxuan, go and bring your brother over there," he pointed at the couch around the corner of the room. "There are guide books about the new VR system, you can go and read it for a while."
"Okay!" Li Haoxuan answered as he then pushed the wheelchair towards the couch.
As Li Wenyan stared at the figure of his two sons, he can't help but feel saddened. Ten years ago, when the twins were still three, they got into an accident due to an earthquake. Their mother lost her life in that accident while trying to protect the two boys.
Thanks to that, Li Haoxuan suffered minor bruises but the same cannot be said for Li Zhihuan who had his legs trapped underneath their mother's body as well as the debris on top of her. Because of the weight, his bones were crushed. In the end, though the bones were healed, they were rendered useless because the nerves were damaged and he was forced to stay on the wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Li Wenyan at that time was busy with his work so when he heard of the accident, he felt guilty. He cried before his wife's cold body, and he cried, even more, when his son asked why he couldn't walk. Since that day, he quits his job and started to do his own research in order to let Li Zhihuan walk again.
A hand suddenly grabbed Li Wenyan shoulder, making him snap out of his dark reminiscence. "Mr. Li, they've finished setting up the equipments. I will call the other technician to have them set up the private server for the test. After that, you can have your two sons play the game first."
The chairman left the room and Li Wenyan quickly shook his head, willing the dark thought to leave his mind. He then went to his sons' side who seems to be chattering with each other.
"Dad says the retired players will be the one that will come to play the game with us later, right? Do you think Ye Xiu will come?!" Li Zhihuan asked his brother in an excited tone.
"Maybe. If he comes, we should ask for an autograph!" Li Haoxuan answered.
"En! By the way, have you decided which class you want to play?"
"I haven't yet… you?"
"I want to play cleric! That way, I can be your milk dad! I always have to depend on you in the real world, so in the game, I'll be the one to take care of you and make sure you don't die!" Li Zhihuan said with a big grin on his face.
"Okay! I will leave my health in your care!" Li Haoxuan replied with a smile of his own.
Li Wenyan can't help the smile forming on his face when he heard his sons' excited discussion. He felt that it was a pity that he had to interrupt them. "Zhihuan, Haoxuan, have you eaten breakfast yet? The tech will go set the server up for the game now, so it won't be long before the game is up and running. The chairman says that you two can start early."
"Okay! Then let's have breakfast together!"
Both twin speaks at the same time, as if their brain was in sync. Li Wenyan pats his sons' head before they left the room to go to the cafeteria on the 2nd floor together.
After breakfast, they returned to the room just in time to see the technician did a final check on the system. "Alright! All system are green. The server are up, now only waiting for the player to come in to do the test."
Li Zhihuan and Li Haoxuan became excited at the news. They looked up at their father expectantly and Li Wenyan just let out a chuckle. "Alright, let dad talk to them."
The twin watched as their father walked towards the staff and started to speak. A moment later, Li Wenyan called for his two sons and the two immediately came over. "You can play now. You brought your account card with you?" Li Wenyan asked his sons.
"Brought them!"
Once again, the twin answered at the same time and even took their cards out at the same time. This time, even the staff around them couldn't help but laugh.
"Right. If you two are ready, take a seat here. Don't worry, it is very comfortable," the staff said as he pointed at the two reclining chairs that was prepared for the players.
At this, Li Wenyan picked Li Zhihuan up and placed him on the chair while Li Haoxuan took a seat beside Li Zhihuan. After that, the staff helps them put on the equipment that they will be using to enter the game. The equipment came in the form of a helmet, though this is still a prototype.
The R&D department was hoping to create a more aesthetically pleasing design for the final product but that will be left to the future plan. For now, they only want to make it work.
"Alright, set your card up," the staff said and the twin put their card into the card reading device. Now, the game will start and try to relax when the game begins to load. Don't panic," the staff reminded them but the twin had already started to immerse themselves to the game.
Li Haoxuan stared at the menu in front of him. Unlike playing on the computer, this time it feels like he is standing in front of a big screen. On the menu, there are an input box and a login button below it.
"How do I input them again?"
[Username: How do I input them again?]
As Li Haoxuan thought of how to input his details, the box on the username section was filled with his exact thoughts. Understanding the concept, he thought of clearing them and the words disappeared. Then, he tried to properly input his login details.
[Username: Xuanlong]
[Password:**********]
[System: Confirming details…]
[System: Error. Username and password did not match]
"Huh?" Li Haoxuan was surprised when he encountered the error. "Did I put in the wrong password? But… how would I know if I put the wrong password in if I can't even see it in the first place?"
Li Haoxuan tried to put his password again but he once again, received the error message. He tried for the third time, the fourth, and it still wouldn't let him get into the game. In the end, Li Haoxuan exits the game and made a complain to the staff.
"Uncle, I can't log in. It says username and password did not match but I cannot see my password to even know if I put them wrongly or not…"
"Really? Your brother seems fine though. Let me check your equipment," the staff said as he connected the helmet into his laptop and began debugging the problem. He typed in a few strings of code and handed helped Li Haoxuan put the helmet back on. "You can try again."
"Alright," Li Haoxuan went back in game and returned to the dreaded menu screen. He put his username and when he put his password, this time he could see it. Making sure he didn't mistype anything, he finally tried to log in.
[System: Confirming details…]
The scene around him started to change, signaling that his log in was successful. Then, he was greeted by the default character for the game. On top of the character, there were options.
[System: Would you like to customize your character?]
[Answer: Y/N]
"Of course I have to customize…" Li Haoxuan said but just as he picked 'Y', another question popped up.
[System: Would you like for the system to scan for your appearance?]
[Answer: Y/N]
"What is this…? Yes?" Li Haoxuan answered after a slight hesitation.
[System: Scanning will start in ten seconds. Asking the player to relax and do not move their facial muscle. Scanning in progress…]
[System: Scanning complete.]
It didn't take long for the scan to complete and then, the character's face in front of Li Haoxuan changed into his own face. Li Haoxuan can't help but feel amazed. After accepting the change, Li Haoxuan can proceed with more customization.
In the end, he spent almost half an hour in the character creation mode. When he was finally done, the character before him disappeared.
[System: You will now enter the game. Location - Beginner's Village]
As soon as the system announced it, the surrounding area around Li Haoxuan began to change once more. This time, he found himself in the familiar village where every level 1 character will start.
"What took you so long?" a familiar voice sounded behind him, making Li Haoxuan turn. But because he was turning around so quickly, he was stricken by a bout of dizziness.
"Ugh…" Li Haoxuan grabbed his head and closed his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Li Zhihuan asked in a worried tone.
"I'm alright. Just a bit dizzy earlier," Li Haoxuan answered. "That aside, how are you feeling?! Can you… walk?"
At Li Haoxuan's question, Li Zhihuan just grinned at him. "Ah'Xuan, look!" Li Zhihuan started to walk around Li Haoxuan. "It took me a while to get used to it, but I can walk! Not just walk, I can run and jump in this world!"
"That's great! Wait…" Li Haoxuan narrowed his eyes in a scrutinizing manner at his brother. "Dear brother… You're level 3? Did we not agree to start together?"
"Uhh… I might've went out of the begginner's village to learn kill some monsters out of boredom…" Li Zhihuan answered, a guilty expression plastered on his face.
"How unfair!"
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. At least I didn't start with the quest yet! So let's go and hurry. I want to pick my class by today!" Li Zhihuan said in an excited tone.
"I still haven't figured out what I want to be…" Li Haoxuan said with a sigh.
"You've tried all the classes before… but you've never tried unspecialized."
"Hahaha, funny. Without the proper weapon, unspecialized is just a far away class that only a certain idol of yours can use," Li Haoxuan stuck his tongue out at Li Zhihuan.
"We can ask dad to make?"
"And how do we go around finding the materials?"
"Uhh…" Li Zhihuan was unable to answer. "Anyway! There's still some time until level 20! It won't be too late to choose them!"
This is mostly just a character introduction(?). I'll release another chapter later tonight, hopefully, I can make it. Will dive more into the game mechanic in the next chapter when the rest of the invited guests arrives!
How about dear reader take a guess who else is invited? There are ten people invited, and 3 are Ye Xiu's group. Guess who the remaining 7 are in the comment if you want!