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In the outskirts of New York, nestled within a secluded grove of birch trees, stood a vintage villa.
Squeak…
Two security guards wearing sunglasses pushed open the door, each carrying a neatly packaged square box adorned with Stark Industries’ manufacturing logo and a series of printed explanations in small English letters.
As they entered the foyer and removed their coats, one of them approached Kilian, who was seated in the room, and reported, “Boss, we finally got them! We managed to snatch two!”
“Why did it take you so long? It’s been almost half a day,” The expression on Kilian’s face was dark and unsettled as he coldly eyed the two men, his gaze instinctively shifting to the packaging of the products.
“Oh, don’t even mention it,” The lead guard sighed heavily, wiping the sweat from his brow and placing the boxes on the table, explaining with a hint of grievance, “Boss, you didn’t go to the central district of New York, especially towards Stark Industries. The main roads were jam-packed with pedestrians and vehicles, it was almost impassable. People were crazily queuing up for kilometers as if possessed, just to buy these holographic VR helmets.”
The other guard chimed in, concurring, “Yeah, boss, we managed to get these two gadgets, but we had to pay two thousand dollars extra to a scalper.”
“I heard that not only New York but also nearby cities and even other countries, have many people specifically rushing to New York just to experience this game called Cyberweb, touted as a cross-century platform.”
“The whole of New York City is buzzing. Now, whenever you go out, everyone is talking about Cyberweb and holographic VR.”
The two guards conversed animatedly, their words filled with intense curiosity and excitement. They gestured enthusiastically, becoming more and more animated in their discussion. When they noticed Kilian’s increasingly grim expression, they wisely fell silent.
“Get your head straight. I refuse to believe that a mere kid can create a cross-era technological product from scratch in just three or four days and put it into mass production and sales directly,” Kilian scolded them, pointing to one of the boxes and gesturing to one of the guards, “You, take it to the basement research room and have the staff dismantle and scan it.”
“Dismantle it?” The guard exclaimed, his tone filled with reluctance and regret.
“What, you want to play with it?” Kilian raised his head, his anger on the verge of erupting.
“Oh no, I’ll go right away!” the guard snapped to attention, scooping up one of the boxes and hurrying off to the basement.
Kilian’s expression softened slightly as he looked at the box on the table, lifting his chin and instructing the remaining guard, “Open it.”
“Yes, boss.”
The guard quickly retrieved a folding knife from his pocket and, with a few deft movements, tore open the packaging, revealing a black and gold helmet-shaped item inside.
The holographic VR helmet was made of aluminum and toughened glass, its sleek, arched design exuding a sense of futuristic technological fashion, emitting a cool glow under the lights.
Even the demanding Kilian couldn’t help but silently praise it at this moment. At least from the looks of it, there was a feeling that it was worth the price.
“How exactly does it work? Should I just put it on?” Kilian pondered.
The guard, holding the instruction manual, read aloud as he perused it, “Boss, it says here. Currently, Cyberweb only covers New York City. As long as the holographic VR helmet device is connected to power anywhere in New York and the command ‘start connection’ is spoken while wearing it, you can connect to Cyberweb.”
Kilian waved to a nearby blonde beauty, and immediately two beauties approached, helping him connect the holographic VR helmet to the power source.
After the standby light on the holographic VR helmet lit up, Kilian was about to put it on when the guard suddenly reminded urgently, “Boss. The first time you enter Cyberweb through the holographic VR helmet, there will be a scan and analysis of the user’s body. The user needs to pass the real-name authentication with their ID card number to register for a lifelong unique Cyberweb account.”
“You think I only have one identity?” Kilian snorted disdainfully, without hesitation, he put on the VR helmet with both hands, half-sitting and half-leaning back on the genuine leather chair.
“Start connection—”
After registering for a Cyberweb account with a fake identity and creating a custom character, Kilian’s consciousness was transferred to a mysterious and unknown location.
At first, there was silence, with only dazzling lights filling the field of vision. Gradually, a multitude of noisy sounds entered his ears, and soon he could vaguely see strange figures flashing past him.
Killian instinctively rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he stood dumbfounded in place.
Although his body was still lying in a chair in the villa’s hall in the real world, at this moment, he clearly found himself in another vast and boundless place.
Behind him stood a towering skyscraper emitting a giant beam of light, casting constantly blinking shadows. Subsequently, giants, orcs, aliens with strange shapes, exquisite movie elves, celebrity figures, and stunning beauties emerged, along with some cartoonish characters— all meticulously crafted avatars selected by players.
As Killian looked out, transparent pathways extended in all directions, leading to lush lawns, fountains, heavenly gardens, tropical grasslands, and a sky filled with sparkling stars and a hanging sea.
On the other side of the path were the pyramids of ancient civilizations, floating sky fortresses, futuristic cities, and cosmic fortresses, blending elements of fairy tales, myths, and anime into a dazzling array of scenes and objects that seemed to exist only in dreams.
“Excuse me, sir, you’re blocking the way.”
A one-eyed man accidentally bumped into Killian’s shoulder, then turned around and said excitedly before running towards a Bifrost pathway, “No pain, it’s just virtual space, but this is too real…”
Killian stood firmly in surprise, looking down at his hands. The character he had created was a robust man, resembling a bodyguard in the real world.
A voice behind him seemed to respond, coming closer, “Yes, it’s indeed too real, even though Stark Industries claims that the first-generation holographic VR headset only has a simulation degree of 70%.”
Killian turned around to see a punk-styled youth. The youth also looked at him, smiling familiarly, “Hello, I’m Z, of course, that’s just my game name. In the Cyber Network, nobody wants to talk about reality.”
“Killian,” Killian replied coldly.
Z laughed heartily, “Come on, Killian, my man. I’ve just logged into the Cyber Network myself, I’m a newbie. Do you want to team up and explore together?”
After a moment of thought, Killian nodded, “Sure.”
“Then follow me. I couldn’t resist looking around after just reading the manual. There are a few places I’m particularly eager to see.” Z reached out, clumsily pulling up a floating window and inviting Killian to join the team, then opened the navigation map option.
“What places?” Killian suddenly regretted not reading the manual before coming in; now he was a newcomer who didn’t even understand the specific operations.
“Haven’t you carefully read the detailed introduction of the Cyber Network on the official website?” Z waved his hands excitedly. “In addition to the social platform in this leisure area, the creator Caesar has specially created two gaming areas for the Cyber Network. One is a World War II battlefield for shooting and strategy enthusiasts, and the other is a virtual city modeled after New York— Gotham City.”
(End of Chapter)
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