1 Chapter 1 - My New Roommate

Chapter 1 - My New Roommate

'Skreut-'

My little green truck brakes ringed as I slowed to a stop. Yeah, the cars is a little old and has some flaws, but despite them, it's still running fine, at least for how much I paid for it anyway. Can you believe I got it for only 5,000$, and I've had it for close to 5 years now with next to no problems with it other than some oil changes here and there? I'd say I made my money's worth off this guy. However, it could probably do with another tuneup on the brakes.

'Perhaps if I make some money I will put that on the to-do list.' I think to myself as I stepped out of my truck and took in my surroundings.

The first thing I noticed is that it's a lot hotter here than I'm used to but nothing I can't handle. After all, I didn't work part-time as a line cook in a hot ass restaurant for nothing during high school.

I bent my seat over and grabbed my luggage from my truck that hadn't trusted to leave in the back. It was only a suitcase with my clothes and some of my more fragile gaming equipment. I figured it wouldn't be a problem to come back for the rest once I get the key to the house. Walking never hurt anybody...much. I shook that morbid thought off and made my over to where I will be living for the next four or so years.

As I slowly walked towards the door while inspecting the area I noticed almost immediately that this place doesn't seem to be in the best condition. The front lawn has yellowed due to lack of watering and the small flower garden appears to be wilting and likely would have died as well if it didn't have the sprinklers system that is currently going off keeping them alive.

Regardless that doesn't really detract from the place much for me, for as long as everything inside works, I don't mind how things look outside too much. It feels pretty bizarre to me just being here. I've never been this far from home, and now I'm almost two states over. I've never really liked traveling at least not in the real world as you can pretty much find pictures of everything in the world, so what's the point of visiting it?

It simply isn't something I care to do after all. I'm a gamer through and through. I don't see a reason to visit what I already know when I can explore the unknown in the game? I've been an avid gaming fan for as long as I can remember and have played a good amount of different Virtual Reality games.

Some were popular and others not so much. It helps that my parents also work for a gaming company, so they are very supportive of me playing VR games, but it can be pretty lonely at times since they always seem to be working overseas, but they do make an effort to keep in contact and regularly call me.

Unfortunately these past few years, the gaming scene has been rather stale, and even many famous players will attest to that. However, it's not because the games have gone bad or anything. It simply because of the quality of the current models of gaming helmets only offer a stimulating quality of 65%, and because of that, there are many cases of a new player getting sick due to being disoriented by the helmets. It is only motion sickness, however, so as long as you start small, you will be fine, and after a while, it gets better over extended use; however, even for a long time, players can't help but get a slight headache from playing long durations.

This flaw is what has caused players to be dissatisfied when playing the games for obvious reasons. After all, comfort is an essential factor when playing the game. So it's understandable that this is a cause for the entire world has been in a frenzy over the past year. After all it's not every day, that news about the latest gaming helmets claimed to offer 100% Stimulation rate.

There were a few problems with their claims. It was made by a company never before, so many people understandably didn't believe them at first. I remember being at the store buying groceries when they first released the news. I had happened to overhear a few young boys talking about it, but It had been kinda hard not to hear them as they were very loud. They had been looking at the news on their phone when they started yelling about it.

"Is this real?!" I heard one of the boys scream, catching my interest. I had at first he meant some kind of toy, but I was still curious at what he meant. The boy was a bit of a tubby side.

"This has gotta be a scam, right?!" The other boy shouted with him he was a lot taller than the other boy but just about as round. And they looked similar, probably brothers most likely I figured.

"No way, look! It says here it is even backed by the government!" The smaller boy says, pointing at his phone. I couldn't see it so I could only take his word for it.

"It could still be a scam bro! I mean, come on! Lots of people use the lie of being from the government to scam others. And besides, do you know how long it took for current models just to reach a 65% Stimulation rate? There's no way they manage to make one with 100% out of nowhere like this!

The young boy's expression turned to downcase, "Yeah, maybe you're right, look it even claiming to be made by a new company." The boy says, scrolling through his phone.

"It is kinda fishy that its a company know one ever heard of, but maybe they figured something out that is different from what current companies do?" The older boy says, changing his mind after all who wouldn't want to play a game with a 100% stimulation rate.

"Perhaps, but I suppose we have to wait for more news..."

I was shocked by what the boys were saying, and my heart started pounding in excitement, I then rushed home that day and immediately started looking for the article they were talking about online. Much to my glee, I had found it pretty fast, and it seems the article was rather popular. It went viral and was, in fact, all over the internet.

The new company was called Semi-Pixel. I looked into their history only to find nothing. This is their first-ever product and man what a way to start, even the guy who made it has remained anonymous. Leaving us no clues whatsoever to try and find out if this is real.

Most people had believed this to be a scam at first, but over time that changed, the big change started when the government announced their support of this product over live television. It's not just the American government either even other powerhouse's of the gaming industry like China and Japan, were supporting this product. After that broadcast, no one could say it was a scam without being a troll trying to start issues for no reason.

A month later after the news started to settle down and everyone was patiently waiting for them to announce the release date for these helmets but when they did they dropped us another surprise. They claimed that along with the helmets that they have named 'Chariot' They will be releasing a game that will be fully compatible with the new systems however it wasn't all good new as they informed us that older games wouldn't be playable on the Chariot's, much too many people's dismay. Although the new game they announce is stated to be an MMORPG so at least that's something to look forward to.

The following year the company gave no further information other than updates on when they planned to release the game and helmets. However, they had given people teasers showing short video clips of in-game content, like the one about an NPC village, as well as showing off a few monsters, but they were all short and didn't give much away, but they succeeded in increasing the people's interest.

With that being said, the game was released yesterday along with the first batch of Chariots, but as much as I would have loved to have played on launch. It had unfortunate badly timed for me as I had spent the last two days packing for my road trip. It's not like I packed a lot of stuff, but I wanted to make sure I had everything important when I arrived. Based on the picture online, the place was on the smaller side, but a small favorite doesn't really bother me as I like small spaces since it makes them that much easier to clean.

I was finally given the A-ok by the landlord to start moving in, which took much longer than I would have liked. I had been waiting on her to inform me for over four weeks. I had called her back to make sure everything was okay multiple times, but all she said was she was just doing the finishing touches. So, unfortunately, I couldn't play during the launch with everyone else as god only knows what could have taken her so long for her to let me move in.

It made it even worse than I had gotten a glimpse of the game before I left by watching a live stream of one of my favourite streamers who got sponsored to show off the game on release, Lucky guy but I was only able to watch for a few minutes before I left to hit the road, as I was hoping to try and avoid bad traffic. Thankfully traffic had been pretty good, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was because everyone watching the games release, but that's only a guess. Whatever the reason for it, I got here much faster than expected as I had been told it was a 12hour drive, but I got here in 8.

I walked up to the front door and knocked and only had to wait a few seconds before the landlord opened the door wide open.

"You sure took your time!" She says as she stared at me rudely, but I didn't let it bother me If there's one thing I can pride myself in, It's my self-control.

I quickly scanner with a quick look she appeared to be a rather old woman, but I found that out already over the phone. She had short grey hair and was a bit on the chubby side. She wore this strange-looking black and green sweater that looked like something for the wintertime, but I could feel a big chill in the house she must have turned the Ac up to insane levels. She was much shorter than me by a head, which is strange since I'm not really the tallest of guys. Personally, I consider myself to be about average height.

"Yeah sorry about that, I got here as fast as I could, I figured I had made good time though...," I said a bit awkwardly trying to pacify her as I didn't want to get on my landlord's bad side.

"Whatever! Just don't destroy the place." The woman says, handing me the key which I carefully took

"Your deposit Is good for this month as your roommate's footing the bill. However, I will be back next month. To check on the place."

"...Roommate? You never said there was somebody else living here as well."

"Is that going to be a problem, hmm…?" she says, scowling at me.

"No, no, I just didn't know that there was someone else here as well."

"Didn't you read the description online? I was renting this place out for two people."

I grimaced as I realized her description of it had been vague. I had assumed she meant that it 'could' be for two people, not that she was renting it to two people.

'I had wondered why the rent was so low, but why did this guy pay for mine as well?' I wondered.

"Yes, of course, I remember it, I suppose I had misread is all..." I admitted begrudgingly.

"Hmmm, yes... Well, I'm done here. Go meet your new roommate, I'll be back," She said as she walks out the door and rudely walks away, not even bothering to close it.

I was quite upset with this situation; however, I didn't want to piss off the landlord as I know that's the worst thing you can do.

I was now worried about what kind of guy my new roommate might be like as he could be some kind of a weirdo and then I would have to move again, what a pain that would be since most like there's know were to really go as many places here are just straight up overpriced. However, the guy did pay for my half this month, so maybe he's not all that bad.

I took a deep breath as I readied myself, hoping for the best, "Let's just get this over with," I whisper as I closed the door and walked into the living room and was blasted by ice-cold wind. I looked up seeing the vent, and then I immediately looked for the temperature controls it took about two minutes to find it next to the window and then took me about another 10 minutes to figure out how the damn thing worked. I was baffled that the room had been at 35 degrees, that insane. It will take a will for the place to heat back up.

'Maybe he's out?' I figured, I figured it might be to get out of this cold house. He will probably be back later. I had moved here because of my college classes that will be starting next week. I had hoped to move here sooner so I could familiarise myself with the area, but that didn't happen.

Meeting the landlord hadn't been the greatest experience, but at least I will only have to see her every now and then. I am currently a bit apprehensive about what kind of person my roommate will be. I consider myself a pretty tolerable person, but even I have limits. Depending on their personality, I might have to start looking for another place. I would have definitely preferred being alone as its the main reason I chose this place, but nothing ever goes as planned, I suppose.

I was taking a good look around now that the heating is sorted but it's exactly as I remember from the pictures. Big surprise there, I suppose.

There was a narrow hallway on the other side of the room with three closed doors. I made my way over and started opening them. The first one was a small bathroom with nothing strange about it as It had all the necessities. The next one was an empty room, which I assumed was mine. As I started to make my way to the last door, I heard the front door open behind me.

Letting go of the doors handle I decided to check the room out later. I heard the guy in the kitchen with some bags as I left the hallway. Likely he heard me too as he walked out into the living room to greet me.

"Oh, hey! You must be the new girl the landlord told me about sorry about that I had thought it was going to take you at least a few more hours to- oh!." she stopped mid-sentence upon seeing me.

'Oh no...' I think to myself. 'No, just forget about it. You can still make this work.' I quickly think to myself.

"Ya, the traffic had been pretty good, so I got here rather fast; I'm Arthur, by the way.

"Ah, yes, I'm Alice it's nice to meet you, Arthur. " She says after breaking out of her stupor.

"Yeah, I hadn't been told I was going to have a roommate... or that they were a girl."

She rolls her eyes, "Yes, how typical of that old bat trying to make people's lives difficult, I hadn't been told you were going to be a man, but she had told me you were coming." She says with a friendly smile.

Calming down a bit, I take a good look at her. She's a beautiful girl with brown hair and green eyes, and she was a bit on the shorter side, only about half a head taller than the landlord.

"So I take it your room is the one on the left?" I asked.

I saw her blush at that, "Ah...You didn't go in yet, did you?" She asked. I was a bit confused as to why she was acting like that, but I shrugged it off.

"No, I had been just about to check it when you got here."

"Ah, I see…"She sighs as if resigning herself to her fate.

"Let's just get this over with then. Since we're going to live together, I might as well let you see my room. Just don't tell anyone please?" She's as me almost pleadingly.

"Sure, I don't see why not. I'm great at keeping secrets," I say, which is true. I'm a pretty quiet guy by default, so keeping secrets is easy for me.

Following her to her room with some expectations, however, whatever it was I expected, it definitely wasn't this. It's not like I had expected anything too crazy, but the room was covered in posters of bunnies, cats, and puppies of all different kinds. Some were pets from other games I had tried in the past. Even her bed and dresser were pink and covered in stuffed animals.

"Umm..." I didn't really know what to say. Sure this is the typical idea guys get when you think of a girl's room, but I mean, how many girls actually have rooms like this?

As I had been scanning the room, my eyes eventually landed the object lying by her bedside. It was the new Chariot helmet that was released yesterday. I was a bit shocked to see her have one with how rare they currently are, but somehow unsurprisingly, it was pink.

Alice, who was grimacing at my reaction, caught where I was looking and quickly walked over to it picking it up. She looked excited to be able to move on to a different topic, "Ah, I see you spotted this. I was pretty lucky to get one from the first batch released to the public. It's quite impressive, right?" She says showing it off quite proud of having one of the first ones in the world as she should be.

Being able to get your hands on one means that she has some connections. What those could be, is anybody's guess, although some lucky individuals that camped the storefront on the day of release might have gotten their hands on one as well. However, she doesn't seem that type. However, I then peer at her room once more and then think again...

'Well, probably not anyway...' I tell myself as I try to think better of her.

"It's indeed impressive to get your hands on one. I've heard because of their unique and intricate designs there near impossible to mass-produce, so they only had 100,000 in the first batch. It's quite impressive getting your hands on one."

She beamed at my complete quite pleased to see I understood its value so well.

"Exactly! Hey, since you know so much about it, am I right to guess your also a gamer?" She says with curiosity.

"Yea I've been playing ever since I was young, although that's not too rare in this day and age almost everyone's a gamer in some way."

"True." She nods, "However, don't be too impatient. I've heard the second batch is going to be released next week. Maybe If you get your hands on one, I'll see you in the game sometime!" She says encouragingly.

"I already have one."

"I believe that the shop down at South Street will be-" She froze as he registered my words and looked quite shocked.

"You...already have one?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yea."

"I see… Well! I guess I'll see you around in the game then! Man I truly didn't expect you to have a helmet, I only managed to get mine because of my father!" she says as she returns to her usual bubbly self.

"Yea I only got mine because of my parents as well."

"So, what level are you?" Alice asks.

"I haven't started, I had been busy packing all yesterday and then I had to drive today."

"What?? We can't have that! Here let me help you move in. You still have more stuff to bring in right? I saw your truck when I got here."

I did not decline as I genuinely didn't want to waste any more time I have been holding off on playing for too long already. With Alice's help, it only took fifteen minutes to grab everything and move it into my room. I only made my bed and hooked up my game system. I figured I could unpack tomorrow. I had eaten on the road, so I wasn't hungry either.

Couldn't help but feel like I forgot something but I'm sure I will remember if it's important enough. Alice seems like a nice girl that I can get along with, so at least It doesn't seem like I'm going to need a new place. The Place wasn't huge so there might be some inconveniences, but it was at least big enough to house three people however it only had one bathroom which is something that may need sorting out however was good enough for my needs as I don't need much space to do my thing.

I took a deep breath to collect myself for a second, I've never been one much for talking much, but I needed to be friendly with my new roommate as it would be rude to ignore her.

In high school, I only ever had one good friend. I was fortunate to have him. He was always really smart with computers, so whenever anyone had a problem with them that they didn't understand they would go to him and While I suck at socialising he was great at it, he had lots of friends. Although he wasn't necessarily the popular kid, he had more friends than I ever did.

He was my best friend we always hung out. So being near him, I tended to be near his other friend as well, but we just never connected, but It's not like people were avoiding me or something many people attempt to make conversation with me, It's just that I never really had anything to say. Mostly because we had different interests, so they eventually stopped trying. I enjoy keeping to myself. Sometimes I even think a little too much, so when I finally felt like hanging out with someone, I never had anyone to ask as they had already distanced themselves from me.

I consider myself lucky even to have one good friend left, although we did end up going down different paths as he went to the military while I opted for college.

"Well, let's stop thinking such depressing things," I decided as I switch my focus on what I'll do in the game.

I looked at my helmet, inspecting as I pondered my options. It was a crimson helmet with white lining and was relatively slimmer than the old models. I don't know how much of a difference these helmets were going to have, but it should be quite something. I turn to look at the time on my phone, and It read 6:15 p.m., which means It should be 8.am when I wake up. I'll need to figure out what to eat and find out where the stores are, but that's for tomorrow. Today? I play Regulation Angelics.