Virtual Reality

"Ren! You must be joking! You are not even allowed communication devices! Can't you see that the school is a jungle, they might even be conducting inhuman experiments with their students. Who then would you call for help? Use your head, think!" Cassandra snapped. 

It seems like she could not hold it back anymore. She looked like she wanted to nudge sense back into Ren's head.

Kalli's voice was more demure and lacked the frantic quality that Cassandra had, "She is right. Rica University has the highest death rate in the entire Alliance. The human rights commission has submitted an application several times for the school to be closed down. There is nothing they can offer you, you can't get from other schools or is there some other reason you must go there to give them your life?"

Zane laughed and when three pairs of eyes flashed towards him. He straightened his face and adopted a serious look.

Ren felt helpless and again he realized his genius in waiting for the last moment to tell Cassandra and Kalli. They might have carried him to a mental hospital otherwise.

" You guys... Rica is not bad. They are ranked 8th in providing results..."

"and number 1 in provided cavaliers for doctors." Cassandra added

Zane's shoulder shook so much as he tried his best to restrain his laughter. He had not surprised when Ren invited him to a virtual room for a discussion with the other two, unlike the girls, he was actually in the loop.

He had tried to dissuade Ren initially but stopped when he saw his mind is made up. You can plant a fruit tree but you cannot force the fruits to ripen.

Rica was not a terrible school by any chance. It had a high rank in the Alliance. The only problem was that their 4 years program was extremely intensive. Not only did it put the students in life-and-death situations. It did not allow contact with the outside world for the entire program.

However, the alumni were the reason, students still rushed into the school. The names of the few successful graduates caused many youngsters' heartbeat to speed up their tempo in a flash.

War Saint Odo Frank was Rica's largest alumni legend for several hundred years. He was the dream of many. They all thirsted to be the next Odo Frank!

Silence reigned a bit in the Virtual room then a light chuckle brought it.

"Don't worry so much. He will do this best. I think what you guys should be concerned with is if you can beat him when he is done with the problem. If you are not stronger than Ren, I am not allowing you into the party." His voice was light and teasing effectively wiping away the tense atmosphere.

Cassandra bit her lower lip and a glimmer of tears appeared in her eyes, displaying a "look at my cute face and pity me" feeling.

Kalli clenched her fist, her entire being determined and focused. She refused to be left behind. She would work hard and be worthy of her friends.

Ren was both amazed and grateful that is until those amused grey orbs glanced at him, "And Ren on your own part, It is best if you tell us your favourite place is...so we would know where to sprinkle your ashes in case."

Ren gnashed his teeth. He was suddenly glad he would not see this person for four years. He switched off the connection.

____

After the call, Zane was no longer smiling. His words could be said to be a reminder to himself.  If he ends up being mediocre, would they respect and listen to him the way they do now? With this thought in his mind, he did not leave the game cabin.

It was the year 4026 Pricipum. Virtual Reality is 100% immersive and extremely essential to the society. The root problem of dying in real life was extinguished in virtual reality games allowing them to thrive more than ever.

There are tens of thousands of games tailored to each respective class and the good ones were flooded for training. 'Bullet' was one such game. Simply put, it was a gunner's paradise.

Zane has spent months considering his future path. After so many calculations, he concluded that his only option was to future advance his sniper techniques. It will all come to nought when his peers start reaching higher levels but in the meantime...

Pulling the game option bar, he clicked on Bullet.

"Would Player Blank like to enter the game?"

"Yes!" A moment later, there was a rushing feeling and his mind left his body, sucked into the grey vortex before him.

Bullet was a single-player VRG. Its distinguishing feature was the different terrains and different monsters in its database for target practice.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a forest. The Rainforest terrain was one of the annoying terrains in Bullet. It was not only darker than the Drier indigenous forest, but it was also more clustered and thick with all kinds of vegetation.

Holding the Kar98 case, he scanned the nearest tree. Finding it bare, he began to climb. He could hear rustling and growls behind him but he was unhurried. He needed to in a higher ground first.

Distance, higher ground, and concealed area were just a few of what he needed. But there was nothing here, no rock, just trees. He surveyed the trees and jumped off. He needed to build his base and fast. 

Using a long hunting blade, he began to cut through the plants that would block his view

He could see it. It was a big oak tree of over 20 meters in height, it had sprawling, twisted branches and rough, rigged bark. The leaves were enough to hide him. It would do.

Pang!

He fired a shot to scare off any little animal on the tree as well as attract the attention of whatever beast that was his target practice before climbing the tree. He did not bother with the bugs. Every sniper with a healthy dose of common sense had a bug-repellant.

The rustling of leaves and growls has stopped. Apart from the chattering of birds, the forest was fairly silent. Zane continued to control his breathing and stay calm.

Twenty minutes in. No show! 

Zane continued to maintain his breathing pace. His record was 57 minutes. For 57 minutes, he could maintain this extremely calm, vigilant state. He needed to work harder and reach an hour before his birthday. It would be a nice present for him.

As Zane pondered on this, he heard a low sound not so far away from him.

He listened closely and immediately recognize the source of the sound. This would not be so easy.

His eyes peered over the lens and sure enough, it was a red-eared monkey. He began to move over to a suitable branch with a better vision.

Pang!

Zane shot before he bit his lips angrily. Wrong timing! He should have been more patient. 

The red-eared monkey was a level 30 monkey with black fur, red pupil and red ears. It shrieked and rushed towards Zane, murderous intent overflowing from its blood-red pupils.

Zane adjusted his mentality. Its loud shrieks were especially discomforting to Zane who has always been more sensitive to sounds than most.

Pang! 

-1600!

The shot hit the red-eared monkey on the arm and it dropped to the floor. The ground of the rainforest was covered with leaves and this provided a cushion for the monkey, hence there was no damage.

Zane did not relent. He had a chance now the monkey was still disoriented from the shot to its arm. He needed to get it right.

Pang!

-5400!

The bullet tore through the monkey's skull like a nail to wood. The body of the monkey soon dropped like a bag of rice. Apart from his initial mistake, this prey was pretty easy. He paused in his thoughts, narrowing his eyes.

"Pang!"

He shot the second red-eared monkey that wanted to ambush him. It blew up as blood flew into the air. The shot left a round hole in the head of the Red-eared monkey.

-7000! 

Instant kill. Zane smiled and he watched the forest around him readily.

-7000! 

He killed the third one as soon as it poked its head out of its hiding spot. 

He looked at the large tree that has produced three prey so far and smiled widely. Better send them to accompany their siblings. He threw a smoke bomb to smoke them out. 

The fog will make it also impossible for him to see, raising the game difficulty even higher. If he wanted to do this, then he needed to give it his all.

Countless red pupils moved out of the tree, scattering in various forests. Zane coughed, squinting his eyes slightly.

Pang! Pang! Pang!

He continued to finish off the Red-eared monkeys one after another.