Premium Gold Account

"…"

There was an unnerving silence in the area as everyone was looking at me while I was looking at the entrance guy with astonishment. And this silence was there for an entire minute but still there was no one who spoke up. The only noticeable change would be the sweat dripping from the entrance guy's forehead, after all, he would've never guessed that whatever 'premium' he was talking about was going to a gangster-styled man with a nailed bat.

Feeling his frustration, I sighed internally before waving my hand and replying, "Pass it on." I said as I try to enter the shop only to have the entrance guy blocking my way with a stiff smile.

"I'm really sorry sir but it isn't within our domain of authority to pass the premium golden account. Please come here to have your biometric verification, sir." He said with trepidation and truth be told, even though I understood this guy's awful job but stopping me and Forcing me to buy a premium account… I don't like it. And so, I point my bat at him and say in a terrifying voice, "Say again?"

"H-hiiiii!!"

The entrance guy cried in a flustered tone and I thought maybe I've finally bent this guy but then an adult female employee of the store walks out and interjects in.

"If it isn't Mr. Ave himself!"

"Eh?" everyone, including me, turn towards the new addition in a surprised tone.

"H-how do you know me?" I asked a little doubtfully.

The woman continued smiling and replied, "I'm the manager of this store here and also one of your wife, Indu's friend. I heard a lot about you from her."

'Yiiiiiii!' I gave a silent cry and immediately backed down a little. Nailed bat, it was firmly hidden behind my back.

"A-ah! H-hello, miss. It's my pleasure to meet you. C-can I have your name, please?" I ask hesitantly.

"Ah! My bad, Mr. Ave. I'm Shreya, likewise, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"H-hehe… anyway, I'll be taking my leave." I say promptly as I turn back but she immediately stops me with a single sentence, "Then I shall ask Indu to complete all the paperwork. Sir, you must be extremely busy so we are sorry to hold you down here. I'm sure Indu would be happy to complete all the transaction for you—"

"A-ah! N-no need for that. Since I'm already here why not go inside and see what this 'premium' is all about!!" I say immediately as I enter the shop with big strides and with a bright smile but inside, I'm sighing in relief. Phew! If my wife ever has to come here to sign some documents of gaming for me, I'm pretty sure she would've also hanged me from our garden tree. Meh! I would just politely decline her offer after making her talk heap loads of their products. It would serve as a warning not to mess with me or any other costumers like me.

With that confident thought I enter the shop and was, for a milli-second surprised by the sheer amount of gaming equipment's present there. From VR to AR to Gaming pods and actual light-sabers. There were also all kinds of high-end smartphones optimized for gaming being displayed on the transparent racks. For a moment, it felt like my hidden gaming addiction would rise but thinking of the devils in my house, I quickly shut it out.

"By the way, sir, are these guys your friends?" Shreya asks me as she points towards the three person who were intently looking at me right now. I shake my head internally at chinu's doggy eyes while Sammy was just 'kinda' checking me out while that bastard Eric looked as if he knew that I would take him with me 100%. Of course, I wouldn't.

"These two guys are my friends, but not this one. I don't know him."

"You bloody bastard!!!!" Eric looks at me with an aghast expression but I ignore him.

"May we go to the fourth-floor to discuss business?"

"Yea, why not." I replied nonchalantly and thus, we four follow the lady to the fourth floor. Of course, Eric followed me. It isn't that easy to get him off.

"Anyway, let me give you a simple summary of the game, The New World.

It is the most recent game launched by our mother company, The Unicorn Fantasy Corporation. It is a multi-planetary and multi-national game with an ultra-real VR experience with the state-of-art VR experience and immersion. It has been made with galactic-grade technology and has been personally licensed by the UN itself. In fact, the Unicorn Corporation is one of the few UN-associated companies. I'm sure you wouldn't be at all displeased with the VR experience or immersion of the game." She smiled confidently but I simply rolled my eyes.

Galactic-grade technology! Ha! Like those greedy politicians and fleet-commanders have so much time on their hands to make a game and for the common people more so. With all their secrecy and shush-shush, it wouldn't be uncommon for them to make us work like slaves for a hundred years before giving us a candy.

"If the game is so advanced, why don't you just send it to us via home delivery. It wouldn't hurt your executives to spare us a little from this heat, would it?" I ask teasingly.

"My apologies but it wasn't our idea to release it this soon. We were prepared to release the pods at night with prior information and advertisement, when the temperature would be much cooler but it seems like someone leaked the news prematurely." She looked at Sammy who tried to deny it but didn't. After all, he did leak it to his friends.

"As for delivering it to homes, since the game is a property of UN, there's no way we can handle the logistical challenges. There is also the fact that the game isn't cheap for average players."

Hick! It's not cheapppppppp!!!

Sweat trickle down my forehead as I ask with trepidation, "H-how much is it?"

"Oh! Since you're a premium gold member, it would be pretty cheap for you, sir." She smiled sweety, deftly dodging the topic.

Gulp!

As we talk, we come to the fourth and the final floor of the building. The floor, just like all the previous ones, is adorned with technological décor that would give any nerd, even me, an asmr. There were only two people in the whole floor aside from us five and both of them looked like some kind of mechanic as they tampered with the gaming pods.

The floor was solely for The New World with every gaming pod having its logo. The gaming pods too were a little sophisticated and looked like a hexagonal box with golden linings, signifying their golden status from their lower counterparts. There was a wide screen outside the box and many AI-controlled compressible cables with cameras that were automatically checking various peripherals of its machine.

Shreya took us the nearest pod and signaled towards it, "Let me introduce the latest gaming model of our company, Aries 991x Ultima-G Version with automated checking, troubleshooting and recovering capabilities. It also comes with long interval premium-grade high intensity nutrient syrup supply which can not only help the user to go long hours playing without the need of food, water or rest but also keep the body in tip-top condition. It not only keeps the user alive but also rejuvenates his or her body regularly with regular doses and checks."

"What does that mean?" asks chinu.

"Its simple. Previously, VR was only a virtual experience which only helped the brain visualize and experience unreal experiences. Not with this one, though. You might've heard that all the gaming pods of The New World have an ultra-real experience and that doesn't only mean that the VR experience is better than its contemporary. Instead, the VR technology enables the user's body to experience whatever it is experiencing in the virtual world with a reflection rate of nearly 90%.

In simpler terms, if you were to jog for 10 kms in the virtual world, your real body will also experience the same effect as if you have run 10 kms in real life. This is made possible with the help of various kinds of elixirs and special nutrient and military-grade hypnotism to help your body cope with your virtual experience. It is a recent discovery and was previously only exclusive to the various militaries around the solar system but now, it has been perfectly incorporated into this gaming pod."

"That's… some real shit…" I mutter a little amazed. "And what about this model?" I ask, a little curious for the first time.

She smiled mysteriously at me and replies, "That's for you to explore sir."

"But there are more features available like daily body checks, abnormal condition troubleshooting and 24/7 costumer care from the solar center itself." She exclaimed a little proudly.

"Also, if this model is purchased with the premium golden account, not only will you receive a 50% absolute discount but also a personal virtual pet which can also be synthesized into the real world with an advanced AI. There are also various features of the premium gold account which is for you to explore in your leisure." She smiled at me as if she knew that I was going to buy the unit without hesitation.

Ha! Who does she think I am!! I'm a proud citizen of the Federation, there's no way I'm going to buy something easily without a whole hour of negotiation.

"Along with that, with your premium gold account, you can buy 12 gold Aries 991x Gold Edition gaming pods which is just a minuscule bit lower in specs compared to your Ultima-Gold model along with a 30% discount rate."

"Well, its all good and dandy but what's the price of this unit anyway?" I ask, steeling myself but the next moment, I find myself falling down to the floor with my limbs all cold and lifeless.

"Ave!!!!"

…

"1 million credits!! Why don't you just cut my heart open!! This is complete and utter bullcrap! The best VR gaming pod from the federation is not more than 100,000 creds and you're charging me a million for some fancy décor! Do you think I don't know about 'free' rpg games! The title of 'free' is just a show to suck us in their interactive world and slowly drink our blood! Don't deceive me!!!" I almost gave the girl a lecture about rpg games but the entire time, she kept her professional smile like a loyal corporate employee and for a moment I felt sorry for her. But no!

I'm not going to buy this!

My reason for not buying is not monetary, of course, I have a few millions of creds in my account which I can use for any purpose I deem fit. The only problem, the account isn't mine alone. It's a family account and my wife have a fair amount of her own hard-earned money in that account. If I carelessly give away a million creds, I will be hanged from the garden tree!!! Again!

"Sir, the actual price of the unit is 2 million creds but we are giving a huge 50% discount on that too. Also, the actual price of the Premium Gold Account is nothing less than 100 million creds and there's only a handful of them in the whole earth, therefore their actual value is higher than what the market might say. I'm urging you not to miss this chance because after you reject this gold account, by the rules of UN, it won't be sold to a better bidder instead it would be deemed 'dead' and thrown away. It's a protective measure to prevent the rich and powerful from hoarding the gold accounts and tipping the balance of the game. I urge you to reconsider your choice again."

I looked shocked at her for a moment and asked the biggest question in my heart, "Is there really a need to go that far for a simple simulation game, miss?! The UN is acting like a child with this game, I think!"

She smiled wryly and replies, "When you start playing sir, you will definitely understand the true meaning of this game."

'Ha…' I sigh internally and was about to turn back when I face Eric looking at me with fierce eyes.

"W-what?!" I ask, a little shaken from his serious eyes. I haven't seen these eyes since the eve of our final examination of our college. "Bro, if you need money, I can lend it to you but you must take it!"

'Huh!'

"If I don't then what?!" I say inquiringly. "If you don't then you can forget about your peaceful life. I will follow you everywhere from your kitchen to your workplace, from bathroom to bedroom, I will even sleep with in between you and your wife and not only that, I will always pester you with unanswerable question and dirty jokes which will pollute the minds of your sweet girls! Not only that, I will even poke you around in your afternoon naps and would never let you have a peaceful nap. This is I, Ekansh aka Eric's curse." He says with all might and serious and takes everyone by surprise by his childish yet dangerous joke.

Even I, for a moment was shaken by the fact that there would be three devils instead of two, but then shook that image out of my mind. Eric is far more dangerous than those girls but nothing I can't handle!

"Hey Ave, instead of outright rejecting why don't you ask Indu about whether she would like it or not?!" suggested Sammy with a calm tone. I looked at him and even though his intent of having me buy that game was plastered all over his face, I trusted him. Yea, I'm biased towards him more than a few certain idiots and I ain't afraid to show that.

I waver for a moment before taking out my smartphone and dialing my wife's number with trembling fingers.

"Be quick, I'm in the party."

"Honey, would you mind if I buy a game?"

"Huh?! What game?"

"I-it's a new one. You might've heard of it. It's called The New World."

"Oh! That one, yea, I've heard of it. But isn't it a little pricey?"

"Y-yea, a little pricey."

"Why are you stammering?"

"O-o-oh i-it's just the network… hehe"

"…. Just tell me the deal. How much is it?"

"1 million."

"…"

"Are you serious?"

"Y-yea, I-I-I am."

"Sigh…. Fine, do whatever you want."

"T-thank you very—"

"Just lemme come home. Then I will deal you."

"…"

…