Back in 2050, VR already existed, but from the look of things, it had been advanced more than it was back then.
And true to it, when Luke finished explaining all the features of the present-day VR, a lot of upgrades had been done.
It now feels more like reality than just a game, like a second world or something.
VR now has many sectors within it: the gamer sector, training, business, academy, and so on. It's like a little universe of its own.
Arthur felt intrigued to explore it right away, but there are other things he needs to catch up on first before that.
After Luke helped him out with registering his retinal, voice, and fingerprint into the suit system, giving him unrestricted access within his suit, he left Arthur to his own devices, heading off to carry out his butler duties within the complex.
With Luke gone, Arthur dove into the world of information. The advanced AI made things easier for him.
In no time, he had caught up on major events that had occurred in the past hundred years after the invaders were defeated.
He learned about human reactions to the sudden unveiling of a unique race, thought only to exist in fairy tales, now living amongst them.
The conflict the humans had with this race, suspecting them to be invaders too, down to the struggle and battle for power before a peace alliance federation was formed.
This federation had the most powerful figure of each race to stand as a representative and ruler, and every major decision concerning Earth and its well-being must go through the federation, with the majority vote deciding the outcome.
There was also the relocation of major forces of each race to other habitable planets found due to technological advancement.
All thanks to the humans' versatility of abilities, allowing evolution to kickstart in a rocket-booster manner.
At present, Earth is known as the capital of the Milky Way galaxy, with settlements spread out on many habitable planets around the galaxy.
Inhabited by both humans and the other race, these planets also serve as Earth's many lines of defense, training resources, and other important resources needed for improving living conditions.
He continued searching for every single piece of information he needed, like a thirsty dried sponge, absorbing them without restraint.
Shortly, a familiar face appeared on the transparent energy-like screen floating in the air in front of Arthur.
A soft muffled sound rang within the room, and a small burst of energy escaped Arthur's body, nearly turning everything around him to ash. He had to restrain himself at the last minute.
If he hadn't, everything would have come crashing down, turning into fine powdered ash.
Though the face seen on the screen is more advanced now, Arthur can never forget this face in a million lifetimes.
It's the face of Morphis Plataea, his archenemy. To make matters worse, Morphis now holds the title of human race president, among many others.
In other words, he is the strongest human of the human race.
Veins were threatening to snap in Arthur's forehead, and his knuckles made cracking sounds due to the pressure exerted on them.
He couldn't believe that the one person he wants to seek retribution from is now the world's strongest human, while he himself is only a level one ability user.
Forget his rich battle experience and all his weapon proficiency; for one to be crowned the strongest human in the world isn't something anyone can achieve, and Morphis had held that title unchallenged for a long time.
Not to mention it's now over a hundred years since their last battle, and Arthur can still recall how powerful Morphis' ability was back then when they fought together.
And he was just a beginner's ability user then; there's no telling how strong Morphis must have become now.
The zeal and determination to get stronger increased in Arthur's heart, igniting a flame of ambition within him.
After his anger subsided, he placed a call to Luke, requesting his presence. When Luke entered the room, he had to step out, only to reenter the room as if to confirm he was in the right place.
He looked at Arthur, expecting an explanation, but only received a cold shoulder before heading into the game station at the other end of the room.
Indirectly telling him, it's his problem to fix and not his, and that last look Arthur gave him before shutting the VR capsule is one of
"Fixed this up before I get back," Luke felt like cussing at this moment.
He could only wonder what sort of monster his young miss had brought home with her.
Having no other option, he had to get a maid and other workers in the complex to fix up the room and replace the damaged things with new ones.
Arthur's consciousness arrived at the virtual space, a sort of gateway space where one avatar and a few other details are created.
Just as expected, there is an AI here acting as a gatekeeper; her warm attitude showed how advanced technology had become.
An AI can show an almost, if not accurate, emotional expression, making conversation warm and fun to engage in.
According to her explanation of one's character, it would be a permanent feature of the individual in any sector of the virtual world they want to visit.
There are options for secondary character creation, but the process of initiating that procedure outweighs the need for casually creating multiple characters.
All in all, if Arthur wishes to create a character, he should keep in mind what the character would be and its appearance.
Arthur took a while to deliberate on it before he began creating his avatar.
When he was done, the system automatically scanned his body attributes to integrate them into his character. Afterward, he was asked which of the nine races he would want his character to be.
He obviously chose humans, as that was his true race before his resurrection.
Now he doesn't even know what he is anymore. Once all the process was done, Arthur's character ended up as a level 10 ability user, something that shocked him greatly.
He hadn't chosen an ability during the character creation, as he really can't tell for sure what his ability is.
He picked the freeform section that allows the system to help the user identify his ability.
Yet his body attributes alone are already at level 10; he wonders how Elena would react if she finds out a random level one ability user is actually a level ten ability user.
One thing that is sure in this new age of ability users is that a person's body grows along with their ability as more mutation cells are awakened with the constant usage and improvement of the ability.
So if one has a level ten physical attribute, it means their ability is also a level ten ability.
There are other times when the physical attributes won't tally with the ability in an equilibrium level, but it still wouldn't stray far from each other.
For instance, someone with a physical strength ability would have a body naturally stronger than its level due to the ability enhancing it further, while some other abilities have the reverse as the case.
Still, Arthur was marvelled at this discovery.
Leaving that be for now, he decides to focus on what is on the ground, and that is to get stronger.
He can't be contented just because he is a level ten ability user; his enemies are way stronger than that.
He can't even begin to guess what level he would be at by now.
"Ability signature scan completed. Energy signature foreign yet similar to other recorded ability signatures.
The likes of necromancy, soul manipulation, death touch, life drain," it counted a few more abilities that had similar ability signatures to Arthur.
Having already tried out necromancy, so he decides to try out the few others to see the limit of his ability.
Picking the freestyle once again, he is launched into the vs training space, entering the gaming world properly.
The white space is gone in a jiff and is replaced with a greener open field; the soft breeze creasing his face almost makes him forget if he is still in the virtual world or back in the real world.
The sensory details are just so real, one would hardly tell the difference; sure this is anything but 2050.
Humanity has truly come a long way in just a hundred years. His thoughts are abruptly interrupted by the VR system's voice, notifying him that an opponent is randomly being searched for and will be paired with him in a short moment.