After the Weapon Hall class, I met Jeevan in the corridor.
"Hey Aditya, is your class over?" Jeevan asked.
"Yes," I nodded and asked, "By the way, where is Dev? You both went to the same class, right?"
"Oh, speaking of Dev, he is training his Lava ability," Jeevan replied. "You know what you told Dev to say? Well, he told that to his class teacher."
"At first, the teacher didn't believe him. But then Dev controlled the soil with his ability and shaped it into a knife."
"With a normal Earth ability, the knife would be made of soil, but since Dev's Earth ability had evolved into the Lava ability, the knife was made of lava."
"Seeing this, the class teacher immediately contacted his head. They talked for some time."
"After talking, they returned and upgraded Dev's rank straight from Level 1 to Level 5. Because of this, while Dev used to get 10 credit points at his old level, now that he is upgraded to Level 5,
he will get 50 credit points every day. Now he has reached our level rank. His power hasn't increased, but according to the college standards, he will be considered Level 5."
Hearing Jeevan's words, I said with surprise, "I didn't expect that the college would break and change its rules just because of a new ability."
"You don't know how rare it is to find and acquire a user with a new ability," Jeevan explained. "And the Lava ability has the power for both defense and attack. The Earth ability has power for defense,
and the Fire ability has power for attack. When both combine, they form the Lava power, which possesses both traits. That is why the college took this so seriously."
"But what is the connection between this and Dev training?" I asked.
"It's a very simple matter," Jeevan explained. "He doesn't have that much strength yet, but he will receive benefits far beyond his level, which won't be pleasing to many eyes.
Right now, no one knows about this, but one day they will definitely find out that a Level 1 boy was upgraded to Level 5.
Since his power isn't actually at that level yet, many students will get jealous and challenge Dev. We are here for him, of course, but he wants to face this alone. So, he is training. There is no harm in that."
"Alright, let's leave that matter aside. Today you are taking me to see the VR game; can you tell me something about it?" I asked.
"Oh, about that. I was actually going to tell you, but since you asked, I'll start explaining," Jeevan replied. "You can understand that a VR game means being taken into virtual reality. In this VR game, you can enter using a registered ID or a guest ID."
He paused for a moment and then continued, "After entering, you will find yourself in a large, normal room. Here, you can set your level. Based on the level you have, other players will invite you to fight, or you can invite someone to fight. Also, you can add people as friends."
Saying this, Jeevan finished his explanation. Hearing his words, I completely understood the concept of the VR game.
"And to play the VR game, you will need a VR machine. You can find those at some gaming shops in town. If you want, you can pay credit points to play for a few hours, or you can buy one," Jeevan added, introducing the logistics of the VR game.
"Jeevan, how much would a VR game machine cost?" I asked.
"Don't even think about buying one right now. Its price is 50,000 credit points, so it's better to go to the shop and play," Jeevan said.
I was already expecting the price to be very high, but hearing such a huge amount, I couldn't help but be astonished.
"Aditya, you don't need to worry. There are plenty of machines here in the college where you can pay the rental fee with credit points," Jeevan said with a smile.
I scratched my head, and just then, a thought occurred to me. "Jeevan, we can play VR games at the shops in town; what is the need to go to the college?"
"Students get a discount at the college. Look, we are both Level 5 students, so we will get a bigger discount, somewhere around 50 percent," Jeevan explained the reason.
"So that's how it is," I muttered to myself.
It was evening by the time we reached the college. Jeevan had some work to attend to, so he said goodbye and left, but not before telling me which way the VR game room was.
I started walking towards the room following the path Jeevan had described.
When I reached the VR game room, I saw that there were many VR machines there. These machines looked like headsets. Next to every VR machine was a chair where students would sit, put on the machine, and enter virtual reality.
I went up to a woman sitting at the counter who was managing everything there.
"Madam, can you tell me how much it costs to rent a VR machine for one hour?" I asked.
She raised her head, looked at me, and then glanced at my smartwatch, which displayed the text indicating I was Level 5.
She said, "It is 10 credit points for one hour, but since you are Level 5, it will be 5 credit points for an hour."
"Alright, I want to rent it for two hours."
I transferred 10 credit points from my smartwatch to the woman at the counter.
Once the woman at the counter received the credit points, she looked at me and said, "Credit points received. Do you see that VR machine over there with the number 45 written on it? That is your machine."
I reached the VR machine numbered 45.
The machine was a mix of red and black colors and looked like a helmet that could be worn on the head.
I sat on the chair, picked up the VR machine lying in front of me, and placed it on my head.
After fitting it properly, I slowly closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I was flying in the sky.
Before I could understand anything, a message appeared in front of me.
It was inside a blue panel with text clearly written on it:
[Welcome to Digital Fighter. Do you want to register or play as a guest?]
Oh, so the name of this VR game is Digital Fighter, I thought.
I decided to register, so I tapped on the register option.
Then, another message appeared on the panel:
[Please enter your details here]
[ Name: ******* ]
[ Level: *** ]
[ Password: ******* ]
[ Confirm Password: ******* ]
....
To be continued...