Chapter 3

Walking out of the tall apartment building, Vincent looked around him in confusion. He had no idea where to go from here. The streets were not as busy as he was used to so he felt comfortable just standing here.

He could see a few players but most of the people around him were NPCs all going about their day as normal people would. It made him wonder if this was a looping world or if like the policewoman who questioned him earlier, these were all conscious AI. . . or maybe just one central AI.

"What are you standing around for? Take a cab or check your map if you have no idea where you're going" he heard someone say beside him and turned to see the policewoman standing there.

"Hello again" he greeted staring at her in confusion. Even if the AIs were conscious wasn't this a little too conscious?

'Hopefully, we don't make Terminator a reality. Although maybe we'll need the population curb' he thought to himself.

"I'm Freya," she continued like his stare didn't bother her.

"Vincent" he replied.

"I know" She turned to him with a small smile on her lips and waved down a taxi. As it stopped she walked away and Vincent finally noticed a police car just a few feet away with her partner another female cop standing by the driver's door. If he hadn't seen male cops he would have been curious with lots of questions now. The stranger cop waved at him and he awkwardly waved back.

'Beep beep!!'

The taxi horn brought him a nice escape and he hurried in.

"Where?" the driver asked and Vincent could only stare at him in confusion.

"Uh- the bank" he answered after a moment of delay.

The car started and all of a sudden it fell silent. A minute passed and it felt like forever, this wasn't the exciting game he signed up for. He looked out the car window and noticed a large parking lot with automobiles of different kinds and sizes.

"Where is that?" he asked the driver.

"Check your map" the man replied grumpily and turned on the radio.

Vincent awkwardly relaxed in his chair and opened the map.

Much like Google Earth, he could see a map of the entire city like a tiny little dot. Willing it, he zoomed down to a singular blue indicator on the map which he assumed indicated his location.

Beside it was the parking lot marking, 'Public Parking Lot' and a small (i) by the side. Clicking on it an introduction text box displayed before him.

[Cars Owned: 6]

"So that's where they are?" he muttered to himself. Recalling he had a key with him he quickly called out to the driver.

"Stop the car"

"You need a license to drive" the driver warned and slowed down. Vincent's mouth opened agape but eventually, he just accepted it and let the taxi continue.

"What would it cost to book you for the whole day?" he asked all of a sudden.

Glancing at him from the rear mirror, the driver, a middle-aged man with a grey stubble replied.

"$10,000"

"That's a lot of money" Vincent grumbled.

"Fine, I'll book you for the whole day," he quickly added after considering that other players would soon be hustling to get around since no one could drive yet.

The driver directed his attention to the bar code on the back of the driver's seat which he scanned and paid the full amount.

Finally, he relaxed in his seat and stopped looking around. Only now could he pay attention to the news on the radio.

"In other news from GS City, in many apartments of the increasingly spawning players, authorities have discovered a robbery frenzy and are advising all players and originals alike to lock their doors when going out and even when inside. It has been observed that eighty percent of the players have violent tendencies believing somehow that by killing members of the police they would get a chance at increasing their strength. We have this warning from the GS City Police Department for everyone to be on alert in this period as the players adapt to the rules of our world and in the meantime, they promise to increase patrols and security around apartment buildings. Originals are advised to arm themselves when possible and to not hesitate to defend themselves."

"We now go ov-"

The news stopped as the car parked beside a tall building perhaps half the height of the apartment building he came out of earlier. Vincent got out of the taxi and noticed a few others parked in front of the building. He walked through the rotating glass doors into a really wide and fancy lobby, the tiles glittered black and silver and the walls shone a sharp cream-colored glow. Every surface was shiny and clean, he could see the cleaner going around to make sure it stayed so.

Around him were others entering and leaving each seemingly with a busy life. It made him wonder if what Leslie said about connections applied also to NPCs because if they lived truly as the players did then they were a force to be reckoned with. The news from the radio earlier was not quite clear but adding that to the fact that players had no levels then he saw no way to increase personal strength like in other games. While he stood there, a security guard approached him, although the young guard seemed lighthearted in his approach, Vincent did not fail to notice his left hand readily close to his gun as he walked.

"Sir, do you need help," the guard asked.

"Yes, please, could you guide me to Customer Service? I wish to update my account information" he replied smoothly.

The guard visibly relaxed and pointed him to a section of the bank where there were fewer people. Dangling from the ceiling were the words, 'Customer Service'.

"Thank you," Vincent said to the guard and walked towards the Customer Service counter.

"Good day Sir, how may I help you?" the bank clerk a younger man smartly dressed in a pale green shirt and tie asked with a professional smile playing on his lips.

"I'd like to update my account information" Vincent repeated to him.

The clerk was visibly surprised that he paused a moment but recovered quickly.

"Can I confirm that you have more than ten million in your account?" the clerk asked to which Vincent nodded.

"If you will, please come with me Sir" The clerk pushed a button on his cubicle and the front opened through which he walked out.

"I'll be taking you to the upper floor where you'll find your account manager who will take care of everything for you." the clerk explained urging Vincent to follow him.

They took the elevator to the ninth floor and when the doors opened there was a pause in Vincent's steps. This place. . . the lobby held no candle to it. Everything spoke of wealth and money, the statues and ornaments sitting on fancy stands. It was amazing. The clerk paused and waited for him to gain his bearings before leading him into one of the offices surrounded by an opaque glass wall.

Inside was a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties working away on her computer. She looked up at them and offered Vincent a wink when she noticed how he froze by the door.

"You are a player?" Vincent asked in surprise. He couldn't understand, how could a player have gotten a job so quickly and in what looked like a high position too.

"Thanks, Justin, I'll take this one myself," the woman said to the clerk who nodded and walked out of the office. She turned to Vincent and gestured for him to sit.

"To be here at this time of the game you must have been really lucky with the starter package" she started as she studied his bearings.

"I wasn't" Vincent replied not hiding it at all.

There was some confusion in her eyes but she didn't ask any further.

"So I assume you need an account manager?" she asked although she already knew the answer. It was an effort to get things moving.

Vincent observed the plaque on her table and his eyes glowed with shock.

(Clara Hall)

(Branch Manager)

"How?" he asked.

Sighing Clara seemed to only now realize that she would need to satisfy his curiosity first.

"I am a Beta Tester," she replied.

"That's not fair" Vincent muttered. It took him only an instant to understand what she meant. The Beta testers must have started the game a long time before anyone else, they would have gone far far ahead of the players.

"You don't understand yet how the game works, do you?" Clara sat back in her seat.

"This is not the real world regardless of how alike it may seem. In here you can be anyone and anything, there are no player levels so no one player or guild can dominate this game. We may have been here longer than you but that only means we understand the game better. The fact that you are sitting here with me in this room is evidence enough that you are a great many times wealthier than I am. So you tell me, who has the higher advantage?" she asked.

Vincent took a moment this time to process what she was trying to say.

"What about your player stats?" he asked.

"Well, there's no way to increase that either, unless you do some physical training for which I'll suggest you just join the military or a gym otherwise those remain normal or even decline. In here, the real adventure would be to go places you've never dared, do things you never thought about, and experience life in ways so different from reality that you get intoxicated by the knowledge of what you are capable of. Of course not all Beta testers are like me, I am simply satisfied with this powerful position but some have gone beyond in crime, and terrorism, even the current president is a Beta tester.

"But if you aspire for those positions, be sure you know what you are doing because all of this is as real as it gets. The NPCs for one are real, underestimate them and you will really suffer. Social order is real, prison time is real and when you die, you lose everything and start over. Exciting isn't it? Endless possibilities" Clara shrugged as she finished.

Vincent remained staring at her for a while and then he asked, "How do we go about this? Upgrading my account".

Seemingly relieved that she could get back to work, Clara flashed a professional smile at him. "Just give me your Citizen ID and it will be done in the blink of an eye. Friendly tip, be careful about who you give your ID if you lose it... go straight to the Police"

Vincent handed his ID over to her and she began typing away on her computer, after a moment she inserted it into a card reader and resumed typing.

[Congratulations, you have updated your account information. You can now hold up to a maximum of $100B.]

[System Prompt: You are currently the wealthiest player in the game (Liquid Assets), beware, dying will cause you to lose all your assets. Employ some guards to protect your progress]

As if on cue, Clara handed his card back to him.

"All done" she smiled.

"Are you interested in starting a business?" Clara asked all of a sudden as she handed him his card.

"What business?" Vincent asked back curiously.

"Well to be honest I think at this stage of the game when players will be in a frenzy to construct buildings and by land and houses, I think a Construction and Real Estate business will serve you well but... I was actually talking about a fashion shop. You see I have this friend, also a beta tester with a killer fashion sense, she draws really great designs but in the real world that has no value anymore, and in here... well it'll take a lot of money. So what do you think?"

"Do you have a contact card?" Vincent asked without giving her a reply, he still needed to understand the game better first.

"Of course" Clara replied and handed him a white card. On it was her name and phone number with nothing else.

"I'll let you know, I need to see more of the game first. I'm not even sure I'll keep playing it" he muttered the last one in a low tone. Clara heard him but she said nothing in reply.

Vincent thanked her and left the office while her eyes trailed him till he closed the door. Picking up her phone, she made a call.

"I found an . . . interesting player. Maybe someone who can finally bring real life to the game" she spoke into the phone after the call was answered.

There was silence from the other end which lasted a minute, and then the call was disconnected.