7 Chapter 7 - A Final Warning

Ironically, the next month from that moment went by in a flash, as all Kazuya focused on was the release of the Crimson VR.

It was the night before the official release date, which would commence officially at midnight at Crimson Industries. It was 6 p.m. that evening when the whole front of the building was jam-packed with customers who had queued up for so long that some of them had set up tents around the area for camping.

Of course, Kazuya and Neji were among them, as they had arrived before 5 p.m. that day. It was a great queue ahead of them, but they were at least better than those who were behind them. It was now 7 p.m., and a huge crowd had accumulated behind them as well, possibly the same size as the one ahead of them.

At first, they wished they had come earlier, but now they wish they had come later. Looking at the overall crowd from a bird's eye view, it was safe to say that the company would sell up to a million units in the next 24 hours. One hour later, everyone was tired of standing, so they all sat down on the floor, though they were still in the queue, while some retired to their tents close by and set their alarms for close to midnight, when the product would be officially launched.

To pass the time, Neji and Kazuya played some competitive online games against each other, most of which were won by Neji, who was mostly superior to Kazuya competitively.

Both of them could see some news reporters going around interviewing random people and asking questions about the upcoming product they were so eager to get their hands on and why.

Thankfully, they never came to Neji and Kazuya, who naturally didn't like them. Some gamers, however, were eager to have their faces shown on TV, probably for the first time in their lives; who knows?

The duo had felt pressed for quite a while now but had been holding it in, as they didn't want to lose their place in the queue. But almost an hour later, Neji couldn't take it anymore. 

"Kazuya? "Is there a public bathroom around here?" Neji asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," replied Kazuya.

Neji turned to a young guy behind him, "You know we are the ones right ahead of you, right?" He asked, "We need to go." "Please keep our place for us, alright?"

The person seemed genuine, understanding their situation as he nodded his head and said, "Sure thing, take your time."

The two of them quickly went off, looking for the nearest public toilet where they could relieve themselves. It was at that period when they came to appreciate how large the Crimson Building was—it was enormous, with at least 50 storeys of beautiful elegance. Though it was a place of work, average people like the duo wished it were their home.

They met a security official nearby, asking if there was a public restroom for customers. Thankfully, the staff was gracious enough to lead them to the staff rest room on the last floor, and they were beyond grateful.

After they were done with that, they got out, heading back to their spot in the queue on the other side of the building. But along the way, they got politely stomped by a young man with a camera and a microphone.

"Please, I can tell you are here for the sale of the new VR." "May I have a word with you guys?" he asked politely, yet the duo ignored him entirely as they headed back to the front of the building.

"I promise, I'm not with any official press." "I'm just a player like you!" he said out loud, prompting Kazuya to stop and look back at him.

"Come on, Kazuya. "You don't believe this guy just because he said so, do you?" Neji asked.

But Kazuya was willing to give the young man a chance. Judging by looks, they were of the same age, and the device he held in his hand was a smartphone but was mistaken for a camera due to the strangely large lens on its back. The microphone didn't look good either, being a large Bluetooth mic with an outdated form factor.

By close examination, Kazuya could tell he was no professional, but just a young guy trying to do stuff on his own. So Kazuya cut him some slack, as he also had a few questions of his own.

"Before you ask any questions, Can you answer some of my own? Like: Are you also here to buy the product? "Or to just make fun of those who are here to buy theirs on time?" asked Kazuya.

"No, I'm not here to buy one; I don't need to," the young man replied.

Kazuya felt ticked by what he just said, feeling like the boy was prideful, but shrugged it off. "So why are you here, then?" he asked.

"It is because I am also passionate about gaming, and I try to make a living doing what I love." "But given what I have experienced with this machine and the fact that you both seem so excited to get your hands on one, I don't think it is a great idea to get one -- at least for now," the young man replied.

"Why are you talking like you have played with the machine before?" "What do you mean by that?" Kazuya asked.

"I am a tech reviewer and video editor, though I'm still new to the profession. Luckily, an executive from Crimson reached out to me, asking if I could do a test run of the machine on my YouTube channel. "So I tried it on for myself," the young man replied.

Now Kazuya and Neji were both excited to find out what happened next, not necessarily because they believed him but because they were curious to hear what he would say next.

"Then what happened?" Neji asked, folding his arms.

"Look, guys. I don't mean to ruin your excitement or anything. But given my experience with the machine and the game bundled with it, I don't think it would be worth your time. "I used it, and when I gave the company my feedback, they quickly took the machine from me, threatening to sue me should I tell about it to anyone before the official release date," the young man replied.

"So why are you telling us about it?" asked Neji.

"Because as a fellow player who was once enthusiastic about the game, I understand your excitement and enthusiasm." "But I tell you, it isn't worth it," the boy replied.

"Sorry, what is your name?" asked Kazuya.

"Goichi," he replied frankly.

"Alright, Goichi... You haven't told us anything so far. So if you don't mind,

"Please hear me out. I was once excited about the same thing you are excited for right now."

"Then tell us what your problem is!" Neji said out loud, almost getting the people's attention to where they were. His voice was so loud and intimidating that the same security staff that helped the duo find a place to relieve themselves had to come from behind, placing a hand on Neji's shoulder.

"Is there a problem here?" asked the guard.

"It is nothing," replied Kazuya. "Sorry for the racket."

"Yeah, in fact, we were just about to leave," Neji said, about to walk away, but Kazuya held his hand before looking back at the guard.

"It's nothing, really," he said to the guard.

"Alright, but whatever you three are doing here, get it over with quickly," he said to them.

"Sure thing, sir," Kazuya replied, before looking back at the young man, Goichi. Neji got tired of the beating around the bush and wanted the guy to get straight to the point. 

Kazuya, however, understood that the young man was just being cautious, knowing that he would be at risk of getting sued should the company executives discover that he had given out classified information on the game before its release. 

"Alright, Goichi, spill it," Neji said, folding his hands again.

Then Goichi went on to explain... 

"I believe you have heard the rumours of how the game uses the peak of your imagination to create a game based on your needs. Well, that is true, and it is highly enjoyable and could easily get addictive. But the main downside is that it preys on your deepest wants, your innermost desires, and then takes them away from you in an instant whenever it wishes to. Then to get those things back, it puts you through hellish trials and missions until you get entangled in its deceitful mechanics with no hope of escaping."

"So in other words, it's addictive?" asked Neji, not impressed by what he had just heard. "We get it; every good video game can get addictive if played without restraint." 

But Goichi went on to explain further... 

"No, you don't get it." Let me put it this way: Think about the deepest desire of your heart; think about something you have always dreamed of having in your life; something for which you would give your life to get back; think about something you lost and can never get back in this life; think about the deepest regrets you have had in your life...

Scarlett Online gives you the best of all these things on a silver platter and then takes them away from you in an instant. After doing that, they then put you through several hellish trials to get them back...

Scarlett Online is exploitative, and its creators are heartless and greedy. It is digital slavery at its finest...

Of course, I cannot convince you enough not to buy the game, but the least I can do is warn you about it. Unless you are ready to digitally lose everything precious that has already been lost to you in the real world, do not buy the machine to play the game bundled with it. "I beg you."