Let It Begin [3]

After picking a spear and a dagger, I walked to building 4 with Kent while making small talk.

Well, he was the one doing all the talking. I was just listening to him going about how these are our younger years and I should go to clubs with him and all that crap.

Anyway, as I've told you all before, there are 5 buildings on the campus.

Building 1, Building 2, and Building 3 are assigned to First-years, Second-years, and Third-years for their classes respectively.

Building 4 and Building 5, on the other hand, have all the training equipment that the cadets would require to hone their strength.

That includes but is not limited to: Training Gyms, Weapon Vaults, Dojos or Training Halls, VR Capsules and stuff like that.

Yes, VR capsules.

I don't know if you all remember or not, but when I came to this world I mentioned how this world, after solving its energy crisis, has managed to create fully immersive VR worlds.

And by fully immersive, I mean actually fully immersive. In there, you can feel pain and pleasure and stuff. 

Yes, you horny fucks, I said pleasure.

Anyway, naturally, coming from a world where the most advanced invention in the field of technology was the smartphone, I was excited to see this fully immersive VR!

I remember I used to read about it in fantasy novels back in my world. In fact, at one point, the VR genre became a trend in online novel writing platforms.

So of course, I was excited to experience it firsthand. How many could say they have done that? None! Not back in my world, at least.

Anyway, after we made our way to the VR room, which was big enough to be called a floor, we stood in line where the rest of our classmates were standing.

Aside from our class, cadets of 1-C-8 were also present in the room. And may I add, the tension in the room was thick!

Over the days, most of the cadets from both classes have gotten into a conflict with at least one cadet of the opposite class.

It was clear both the classes present here didn't like each other.

A few minutes after Kent and I arrived up and joined the line, all the other cadets were done showing up as well.

But of course, for the queen's appearance, we had to wait for another half an hour.

"Is everyone here?"

Finally, Yelena arrived in the VR room and gracefully stood in front of the cadets neatly standing in two separate lines.

With her was a third-year cadet. From his blue and white uniform, it was easy to assess that he was a member of the Cadet Council.

He had spiky bright orange hair, peach skin and brown eyes. He was a fairly tall, lean-built young man who had a Japanese-styled katana tied on his waist.

He stood exactly two steps behind Yelena as she swept her gaze across the spacious room.

"I think everyone's here," from the back, someone replied.

"Good. Then shall we review all the rules again: the winner of this mock battle will receive a prize decided by me and a punishment for the loser.

"The conflict ends when one side is completely defeated or their commander is killed.

"Nero Dekrauf is the Lord Commander for 1-A-1 and Alberto Okoro for 1-C-8. Bear in mind that Commanders can't be changed during the war unless there's a good reason.

"The mock war will occur in the Virtual World with a destroyed city setting. Dying there means elimination from the event. 

"You can bring any artifacts you want in the virtual reality, either by storing them in your smart bracelet's dimensional storage or wearing it as an accessory artifact.

"And yes, I know that's not fair but in the real war, you will be faced with countless such advantages or disadvantages, so put up with that. 

"Also, you can't bring any kind of food or drinks with you to the game. Things like that wouldn't spawn with you even if you packed them in your smart bracelets.

"We will be closely monitoring everyone's vitals. You might feel real pain since nerve stimulation is at 80% but you won't die, I assure you. If we think your life is in danger, we will eject you.

"As for what's the punishment and reward, you'll know it after the war ends. Any questions?"

After explaining, Yelena asked if we had any doubts or queries but since none of us raised our hands, she nodded and continued.

"Alright, let's commence the simulated war. When your name is called, come and take a nanotech suit and proceed to a VR pod. Class 1-A-1, occupy the VR pods on the right, and Class 1-C-8, take the ones on the left."

The moment she said that, as if waiting for a cue, the orange-haired boy standing right behind Yelena stepped forward and proceeded to call out the cadets' names one by one.

"Cadet rank 116969, Lucas Morningstar, take a VR pod on the right."

It didn't take long before my name was called. I approached the orange-haired third-year, and he handed me a small metal ball.

"Place it on your chest before entering the pod," he said before calling out another name.

Beaming with excitement, I spun around and headed toward a VR pod. 

The room was spacious, resembling a large floor, with two rows of VR pods on either side, allowing ample room for movement between them.

A VR pod is exactly as it sounds - a capsule-like device with a shiny, white metallic exterior and a soft, red cushioned interior that can be molded to fit the user's body form.

When I got over to one of them, I saw it had a sophisticated helmet inside of it that the user had to wear to be able to slip into virtual reality.

We can bring any relic with us inside the virtual reality. To make that work, the academy's AI, Athena, will scan the stuff in our smart bracelet and convert it into data.

After that, Athena will upload that data into our virtual world and stimulate a perfect reality.

Yes, I know. Pretty impressive, right? 

Anyway, with no delay, I quickly pressed the small metal ball I was handed against my chest.

Tak—!

The metal ball made a low tak sound as it collided against the ruby in my chest.

In the next instant, multiple nanobots flooded from the metallic orb and flowed over my academy jersey, wrapping my entire body in a tight layer of nanometal. The result was a sleek black combat nanotech suit, conforming perfectly to my form.

Ah, did I fail to mention? Nanotechnology is real in this world. Ha! I know! So freaking cool!

"Listen carefully; these suits will not only defend you but also provide you with a weapon in a pinch. You can control the nanobots to shape themselves into a weapon as they are connected to your neural network. 

"However, it's only recommended as a final resort, as it compromises your own safety by lessening the number of nanobots in your suit.

"Also, before you get into the VR pods now, keep in mind, there's a time dilation effect. A day in virtual reality will be equivalent to an hour in the real world. Understood? Good. Now go ahead."

As soon as Yelena gave us the green flag, I jumped into the VR pod and wore the helmet while making myself comfortable.

Soon enough, darkness veiled my vision and I fell into a deep slumber.