"Liam!!!"
A scream so loud that everyone on the university campus could hear. That scream was from Liam's friend, Rufus.
"Spirit Realms Online is releasing today!! Apparently, the central shopping center already has the VR set in stock!!"
Liam didn't need to guess Rufus's excitement as his yelling gave it away to the entire campus.
"Man, we can't even afford it. What's the point of being so hyped about the game."
"Sheesh, a big mood-killer over here." Rufus scoffed. "Apparently, they're offering a thirty-minute demo!"
"Alright, alright. Let me look at my schedule"
Liam pulled out his phone and went into the calendar.
'Hmm, my shift starts at 9pm. It should be fine then.' Thought Liam. "Alright, let's go there."
"Hell yeah! You rock, dude."
Liam and his friend bantered a bit before finally catching the bus to the shopping center. On the way over, Liam could see numerous billboards and influencers advertising the grand opening of the game.
'This much attention just for a game…' Liam thought before correcting himself. 'Well, it's more like a scientific breakthrough.'
Liam slowly stroked the ring on his pinky as his eyes wandered into the distance.
"Liam! What are you staring at, dude? We're at the stop already!"
Rufus's voice pulled him out of his reverie as he hurriedly rose from the bus seat.
"My bad, I was thinking about something."
"Man, I can't wait to play that game. But why did they choose eastern settings for it? I would have loved being a mage more."
Liam halfheartedly nodded while looking at his phone.
"Well, it's probably because the game developers are from the Eastern Confederation. They probably wanted to include their culture."
"I suppose, but I hope they make a game about being mages next!" Rufus groaned loudly before continuing his rant. "OA games should honestly pick up their slack, I'm sick of playing the same game with a different name every year"
"One can only dream- "
Their bantering was stopped by the sight they saw in front of the gaming store.
"Dear god…"
"That's…"
Liam could not believe what he had just seen.
"That has to be at least a thousand people…"
An extremely long queue, obviously not a thousand, was waiting for what they can only assume is the demo VR set.
"Man, I think we just…"
Just as Liam was about to finish his sentence, Liam's hand tingled. The ring pulsed faintly before his mind was shaken by an extremely loud yelling.
[UNFILIAL GRANDSON!! YOU MUST GET THAT THING!!]
The voice had a youthful tone, but the most bizarre thing was that no one seemed to be able to hear the voice, except Liam of course.
'God, what happened to you?'
Liam quickly thought in his head.
[Spiritual energy!! I feel spiritual energy from that machine!]
'What? Are you serious?'
Liam knew what spiritual energy was, he had grown up hearing legends about the mystical force after all.
'Didn't you say that this planet would never have spiritual energy again?'
[Yeah, but I can feel a clear spiritual energy being emitted from that thing.]
Liam sighed as he looked at the price tag of the VR machine.
1,200 Coalition credits…
'I can't afford it. No way. I'm barely getting by with my part-time jobs'
[Don't lie to your grandpa, unfilial grandson. I know you have been saving up money.]
'Excuse me? Aren't you always sleeping in that ring? How did you even know about my savings?'
[This grandpa sees everything, and I mean everything. Just cough up the money and buy that thing.]
'No way, I'm saving that money for a car.'
[Tch tch. You are still a brat in the end.]
Liam could hear the disgruntled voice of the grandpa, but this was a hill that Liam was going to die standing on.
Seeing that Liam was about to walk away, the voice came back again.
[Think about it, Liam. Your spiritual energy sensitivity is already this high as a mortal, just imagine yourself once you are a cultivator!]
Liam could swear that he could almost see a figure of a grandpa rubbing his hands together like a sleazy salesman on the ring.
[When you become once a millennia genius, people will be dying for the opportunity to offer YOU a car. Not to mention, on this planet, there are no cultivators. You'd be like God amongst men!]
Hearing the sales talk, Liam couldn't help but go into his banking application to stare at the amount.
2,340 credits…
Just enough to buy the supposed spiritual energy machine…
"Thank you so much for your patronage, your ultimate deluxe VR gaming set will arrive at four o'clock today!" Liam and Rufus heard the sweet voice of a staff member ringing up his order. "Of course, the delivery is free, and it will be delivered directly to your address!"
"Man, what happened to can't afford it. Why'd you suddenly buy it."
Rufus asked while staring at Liam to fill out his address on the delivery form.
"I… I just thought it would be fine to splurge occasionally."
Liam lied through his teeth; after all, who would believe that cultivators existed in real life.
[Good grandson, now we shall turn you into a cultivator quickly!]
Liam could also hear the satisfied voice of the supposed grandpa.
"Anyways!" Rufus put his hands around Liam's shoulders and pulled him closer. "You'll let me play right? RIGHT?!"
"Sorry, I don't know broke people. Stay away from me before I call the security."
Liam bantered some more with Rufus before finally catching the bus to go home.
'Four o'clock…' Liam pulled out his phone to look at the time. 'Only two more hours. It should arrive soon after I get home then.'
[Are you excited to finally become a cultivator?]
Liam heard the voice ring out in his mind once again, but he didn't bother replying. But the small grin on his face could answer the grandpa's question.
"Liam!!!"
A scream so loud that everyone on the university campus could hear. That scream was from Liam's friend, Rufus.
"Spirit Realms Online is releasing today!! Apparently, the central shopping center already has the VR set in stock!!"
Liam didn't need to guess Rufus's excitement as his yelling gave it away to the entire campus.
"Man, we can't even afford it. What's the point of being so hyped about the game."
"Sheesh, a big mood-killer over here." Rufus scoffed. "Apparently, they're offering a thirty-minute demo!"
"Alright, alright. Let me look at my schedule"
Liam pulled out his phone and went into the calendar.
'Hmm, my shift starts at 9pm. It should be fine then.' Thought Liam. "Alright, let's go there."
"Hell yeah! You rock, dude."
Liam and his friend bantered a bit before finally catching the bus to the shopping center. On the way over, Liam could see numerous billboards and influencers advertising the grand opening of the game.
'This much attention just for a game…' Liam thought before correcting himself. 'Well, it's more like a scientific breakthrough.'
Liam slowly stroked the ring on his pinky as his eyes wandered into the distance.
"Liam! What are you staring at, dude? We're at the stop already!"
Rufus's voice pulled him out of his reverie as he hurriedly rose from the bus seat.
"My bad, I was thinking about something."
"Man, I can't wait to play that game. But why did they choose eastern settings for it? I would have loved being a mage more."
Liam halfheartedly nodded while looking at his phone.
"Well, it's probably because the game developers are from the Eastern Confederation. They probably wanted to include their culture."
"I suppose, but I hope they make a game about being mages next!" Rufus groaned loudly before continuing his rant. "OA games should honestly pick up their slack, I'm sick of playing the same game with a different name every year"
"One can only dream- "
Their bantering was stopped by the sight they saw in front of the gaming store.
"Dear god…"
"That's…"
Liam could not believe what he had just seen.
"That has to be at least a thousand people…"
An extremely long queue, obviously not a thousand, was waiting for what they can only assume is the demo VR set.
"Man, I think we just…"
Just as Liam was about to finish his sentence, Liam's hand tingled. The ring pulsed faintly before his mind was shaken by an extremely loud yelling.
[UNFILIAL GRANDSON!! YOU MUST GET THAT THING!!]
The voice had a youthful tone, but the most bizarre thing was that no one seemed to be able to hear the voice, except Liam of course.
'God, what happened to you?'
Liam quickly thought in his head.
[Spiritual energy!! I feel spiritual energy from that machine!]
'What? Are you serious?'
Liam knew what spiritual energy was, he had grown up hearing legends about the mystical force after all.
'Didn't you say that this planet would never have spiritual energy again?'
[Yeah, but I can feel a clear spiritual energy being emitted from that thing.]
Liam sighed as he looked at the price tag of the VR machine.
1,200 Coalition credits…
'I can't afford it. No way. I'm barely getting by with my part-time jobs'
[Don't lie to your grandpa, unfilial grandson. I know you have been saving up money.]
'Excuse me? Aren't you always sleeping in that ring? How did you even know about my savings?'
[This grandpa sees everything, and I mean everything. Just cough up the money and buy that thing.]
'No way, I'm saving that money for a car.'
[Tch tch. You are still a brat in the end.]
Liam could hear the disgruntled voice of the grandpa, but this was a hill that Liam was going to die standing on.
Seeing that Liam was about to walk away, the voice came back again.
[Think about it, Liam. Your spiritual energy sensitivity is already this high as a mortal, just imagine yourself once you are a cultivator!]
Liam could swear that he could almost see a figure of a grandpa rubbing his hands together like a sleazy salesman on the ring.
[When you become once a millennia genius, people will be dying for the opportunity to offer YOU a car. Not to mention, on this planet, there are no cultivators. You'd be like God amongst men!]
Hearing the sales talk, Liam couldn't help but go into his banking application to stare at the amount.
2,340 credits…
Just enough to buy the supposed spiritual energy machine…
"Thank you so much for your patronage, your ultimate deluxe VR gaming set will arrive at four o'clock today!" Liam and Rufus heard the sweet voice of a staff member ringing up his order. "Of course, the delivery is free, and it will be delivered directly to your address!"
"Man, what happened to can't afford it. Why'd you suddenly buy it."
Rufus asked while staring at Liam to fill out his address on the delivery form.
"I… I just thought it would be fine to splurge occasionally."
Liam lied through his teeth; after all, who would believe that cultivators existed in real life.
[Good grandson, now we shall turn you into a cultivator quickly!]
Liam could also hear the satisfied voice of the supposed grandpa.
"Anyways!" Rufus put his hands around Liam's shoulders and pulled him closer. "You'll let me play right? RIGHT?!"
"Sorry, I don't know broke people. Stay away from me before I call the security."
Liam bantered some more with Rufus before finally catching the bus to go home.
'Four o'clock…' Liam pulled out his phone to look at the time. 'Only two more hours. It should arrive soon after I get home then.'
[Are you excited to finally become a cultivator?]
Liam heard the voice ring out in his mind once again, but he didn't bother replying. But the small grin on his face could answer the grandpa's question.