Aphrodite: The Immortality Machine

"The capsule pauses the body's functions and cleanses your body's waste. It uses state-of-the-art technology to recycle your spent nutrients using electricity. Basically, you would never grow hungry or thirsty as long as you weren't hungry or thirsty when you entered the machine.

"Well, there are also organs that the capsule cannot pause, like the heart and the brain. In theory, you can live for as long as possible as long as your body is in that paused state," Maia explained.

"Really? Won't the brain and heart still age?" Misho asked with a confused expression on his face.

For the fulldive VR to work, the brain had to be functioning. It would be impossible for the capsule to pause the brain's function. At that point, the capsule would just be a coma machine.

"You know that the heart can be easily replaced with substitutes, right?"

In this current era, humans have pretty much eradicated heart diseases. There were many possible treatments if you got a heart problem.

"Yes, that's true, but the brain is still the most important part of the body. If the brain degrades, you would still die," Misho replied.

"Hehehehe. Do you believe it that using the capsule makes the brain live longer?"

Maia smiled at him smugly.

"What? That's bogus!" Misho shouted in disbelief.

As a member of this society, he was not informed of such a thing. Wouldn't that be a momentous change to the human race? Everyone would be encouraged to play the game then.

"It's true. I don't know the specific details, but a research paper is made about it. Amazing, right?"

Maia puffed out her chest proudly.

"Yeah…"

Misho unintentionally stared at her chest in a daze. He was thinking about the countless possibilities that it would unlock.

"M-Misho? Where are you looking at?" Maia asked in embarrassment.

Although she couldn't see him looking at her chest directly, she could tell from where his eyes were looking at the hologram.

"Errr… I was thinking hard about what you said," Misho quickly replied awkwardly.

"Hmph. Anyways, the game is launching tomorrow noon," Maia said and changed the topic.

"Yeah. I heard about it."

"Good. I will see you then. Bye-bye!"

"Wai–!"

Before Misho could stop her, the hologram call ended.

"...Did I make her angry?"

Misho felt awkward. He really didn't mean to stare at her chest.

He stood up from the bed and checked the raffle forum post. To his surprise, he can't find it anymore. It was as if it was just his imagination.

"What the hell? Did they realize that it was a bad idea? Lol." Misho chuckled.

The day passed uneventfully.

…

Finally, the day of the launch came. Misho prepared himself. He ate an adequate amount of food and drank enough water.

He turned on Aphrodite at 11:45 AM.

[Good morning, QuarterPounder!] Aphrodite greeted in a cheery voice.

Misho's eyes couldn't help but lit up after he heard that sweet voice of hers. It was something he would never get tired of.

"Good morning too, Aphrodite. The launch is in a few minutes," Misho replied with a smile on his face.

He already decided that he would not lewd Aphrodite. She was a living AI, but that doesn't mean he should degrade himself to a robot-loving pervert. Not to mention, she only got a power port…

[Yes, QuarterPounder. I'm also excited to explore this new world!]

The excitement was evident in Aphrodite's voice. Misho couldn't help but be surprised about it.

"Don't you know about this world already?"

Since she was the AI for the capsule, it was safe to assume that she was already familiar with it.

[Actually, I know nothing about Aphrodos. The information will be available to me when you enter the game.]

The developers of the game employed such a tactic to prevent any leaks. At this stage, a leak would only delay the game. After all, they need to make the game fair for everyone.

"Wow. That's interesting."

Misho was impressed. The secrecy only made him more excited.

*Beep, beep*

Misho opened his phone and saw Herbert and Fragnard giving him a hologram call.

He accepted it, and the two of them appeared on top of his phone's screen.

"Are you ready, dude?" Fragnard asked.

"Of course! This game is so exciting!" Misho replied with a wide smile on his face.

"Good. You didn't waste our money," Herbert replied.

He was happy that Misho was happy to play the game. The money came from the two of them, which also meant that Misho was happy right now because of them.

"What are your player names?" Misho asked.

"Mine is BlackMuscles," Fragnard replied.

"Oh? That matches your appearance," Herbert said.

"I sent you a friend request," Misho said.

Fragnard looked at Misho's player name and snorted.

"Puf–! T-This is your name? Hahahahahaha!"

Fragnard couldn't contain his laughter when he saw the silly name. It shouldn't be funny, but it became very funny for him because of how silly it was.

"Hahahaha! This is a good one, Misho," Herbert said as he also laughed with Fragnard.

Misho felt awkward watching the two of them laugh. Yesterday Maia told him that it was a horrible name. It made him not know what to say at this moment.

"Hahahaha…" Misho laughed dryly.

"Ehem. Anyways, did you see my player name?" Herbert asked as he recovered from laughing.

Misho looked at his friends list and found 'RoundKoala' on it.

"What the heck? Hahahahaha!"

Misho's awkward mood flipped instantly. Herbert was a fatty. His player name was him basically roasting himself.

"What? Don't you know that women love to sleep on a fat man's stomach? I'm the best pillow out there! They can even hug me like a koala!" Herbert reasoned.

"Yeah, right," Fragnard remarked and shook his head.

"I know you want to dream, but please stop pouting lies. It's bad for your wellbeing," Misho replied, also shaking his head.

The two of them insulted Herbert in sync.

[Players, the launch is in 60 seconds.]

Aphrodite's sweet voice interrupted the three of them.