Chapter Text
The sound of the doorbell rang out in the deceptively empty apartment.
“It’s here, it’s here, it’s heeere~!” an excited voice exclaimed from somewhere within the apartment. Running footsteps were soon followed by a crash and muffled cursing. A man with silvery gray eyes and black hair tied up in a high ponytail bunny hopped his way out a door, cradling a sore foot. After dropping the foot with a hiss of pain, he hobbled as quickly as he could to the front door and flung it open.
A man wearing the beige uniform of a delivery man tilted his cap respectfully at Wei Ying. Emblazoned on his hat and his breast pocket was the Sparks Amidst Snow peony in white with a gold “J” on top.
“Good morning, sir.” The man checked his electronic clipboard before looking up again. “We have a package for a Mr. Wei, courtesy of Jin Corps.”
“Me, me, me, that’s me!” Acting like an over-excited schoolboy, Wei Ying jumped up and down with one hand raised. The delivery man hid a smile behind his clipboard.
“Please sign here, Mr. Wei, to indicate that you have received your package.” The man held out his clipboard and Wei Ying scribbled something indecipherable on the tablet with the pen he was given. “Thank you for purchasing the newest edition of Jin Corps. VR Gaming Pod System. Please allow our technicians to come in and set everything up for you while we explain the guidelines for using the gaming pod.”
Wei Ying opened the door all the way to allow the technicians, all similarly dressed like the delivery man, to come in. His entire body vibrated with nervous energy as he led them into a room that resembled a study which had an empty space, big enough for the bed-sized gaming pod to be set up.
As the men got down to work setting up the new machine, a technician came over to Wei Ying and explained some of the main guidelines of using the VR technology. Dancing from one foot to the other, the gray-eyed man listened with half an ear to the instructions: warnings about adjusting the pain threshold ("The default setting is at 40% but you can change it to a maximum of 80% to a minimum of 10%."), about how long a time frame the game pod allowed users to play in ("The game pod will allow you to play for 12 real time hours, which will equal to a full day in virtual time."), and even about using nutritional solutions to enhance physical body health during further extended hours of play (“Please remember to refill your solution tank if you wish to play longer than 12 hours or the system will kick you out, regardless of what you’re doing!”). The man also warned Wei Ying of the dangers of playing too long affecting physical health, even with the usage of nutritional solutions, as well as a few other minor differences and comparisons with the older models of the gaming pod (“Sleeker, faster and an improved synchronization rate between the physical and virtual body!”).
Finally, just before lunch time, the technicians finished setting up the game pod. The delivery man from earlier approached Wei Ying with a smaller box, which he gave to him.
"Thank you for supporting Jin Corp. with your purchase! Inside this box is everything you need to know about your new game pod, as well as the much anticipated game "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation," which launches today. As a special courtesy, the game's virtual world has already been downloaded into the system and, as stated on the game's website, servers will open at 8pm sharp. Also, as a complimentary gift, a box of advanced nutritional solutions have been included with your purchase." He gestured to an open box on the ground and a peek inside showed the dull sparkle of liquid contained in glass tubes.
Wei Ying eagerly took the box from the delivery man, a sunny smile on his face. After a few respectful bows and thank yous, he escorted the people from Jin Corps. out the door. Silence once again reigned over the apartment.
With an undecidedly girlish squeal, Wei Ying ran back to his study, where the new machine sparkled silver and red in the overhead lights. Whipping out his cellphone, he quickly snapped a picture of it before mass texting it to several people. In a caption underneath the photo was the comment "It's here, it's here!~", punctuated with a lot of exclamation marks and emoticon hearts. It didn't take long before the sound of notification pings rang out from his phone.
****
[Nie Huaisang] - OMG, OMG, is that the new game pod from Jin Corps!? >n< So jealous right now!
[Shijie] - I see that you've finally got the game pod from Zixuan, A-Xian! I'll come by later, I made some of your favorite lotus + pork rib soup!
[Jiang Cheng] - Hmph, still playing games at your age, when are you going to start acting like an adult?
[Wen Ning] - Wow, Brother Wei, that looks really impressive!
[Wen Qing] - You're bothering my brother with your spam texts again, right? You are, aren't you!?
****
Wei Ying laughed at the texts, shooting off a few replies while he was at it (a smiley face and heart to his Shijie, an emoji with a tongue sticking out at Wen Qing, a few thumbs ups to Wen Ning and Huaisang and a "As if you're one to talk, I know from Shijie that you got a pod too!" to Jiang Cheng). Putting his phone down, he stood back to admire the sleek and shining game pod in the room, letting a sigh fall from his lips.
"Looks like that peacock is useful for once!" He lovingly caressed the beautiful exterior of the machine. "Thanks to him, I was able to get a discount on this new baby instead of losing an arm and leg over it!" He checked the time on his phone and tsked. "Still, I have a few more hours before the servers for "Grandmaster" go up. Guess I should get some food and finish a few commissions til then!" With a huff of satisfaction, the man left the room.
At 7:55 pm on the dot, Wei Ying was rushing over to the game pod and powering it up. Kicking over the box containing the pod manual and game instructions, he gave a cursory look at the phone-book-sized book before scoffing and tossing it to the ground with a loud thump. Checking over the machine to see if the nutritional fluid tanks were filled and everything was in order, he placed his identification card into the proper slot, officially registering himself permanently into the game pod system, and slid into the comfy interior. As he laid back and closed his eyes, Wei Ying could feel his consciousness fading as the machine began to connect him to the virtual world.
When Wei Ying opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in space. All around him, a myriad of stars and planets revolved, each of them a different virtual world. Looking down at himself, his virtual body seemed to be a mass of glowing light.
[A new player has entered the virtual system. Verifying identification...verification complete. System now scanning player's physical body...Scanning...Scan complete. Creating virtual avatar.]
There was a flash of light that made Wei Ying flinch. After blinking away the spots from his eyes, he looked down again and saw a virtual body identical to his physical one. In the virtual world, it was not possible to change physical features although smaller changes such as clothes and appearance enhancement was available. As he admired the familiar features, the system A.I. rang out again.
[Virtual avatar has been created. Player now has the option of enhancing or diminishing the beauty of their avatar. Would you like to modify your avatar? YES or NO]
Wei Ying made a sound of amusement, flicking back his unruly black hair. "As if I need a system to enhance my already beautiful features! No thanks!"
[The player has chosen not to modify their avatar] A pause before another message appeared. [The System has detected downloaded virtual content. Does the player wish to load this content? YES or NO]
The new system message suddenly blinked in front of Wei Ying's virtual body and he squinted faintly at it before grinning. With an almost flirtatious flourish, he chose YES without hesitation, and his surroundings began to blur all around him as his body was flung forward, speed increasing as a planet rapidly came into view. Another message popped up just as his vision went white.
[Wei Wuxian has logged in.]