Chapter 3 : Diving into the Game
Nash was able to purchase an AO gear of his own thanks to William's assistance.
Paying his hospital bills had drained his pockets and thus, he resorted to asking William for the extra cash he needed.
Realising that he had gone back in time, Nash also understood that him and this current William was not yet close when compared to the one in the future and so he knew he had to pay back the money.
The future William would have let it slide anyway.
None of that mattered now anyway, because he would make that money back many times over.
Apex Online!
Apex Online was truly the shit when it was released. It was the number one trending topic all over the internet.
The game lived up to its name as the apex of all things games.
Apex Online was the first full immersive virtual reality game and it was created with the joint cooperation of various big companies across several countries of the world.
A life changing event!
It was the first game where one would not need to use a pad or a joystick but have their hands free.
All the gamer needed to do was put on the gear that looked like a fancy shade over their face and that was it. Then, their consciousness would be drawn into another world to travel and enjoy their playing time.
What put Apex Online on top of several charts was how realistic it was. The first set of players could barely differentiate it from the real world if not for the memory of having used the AO gear to get in there.
However, Nash knew what no one else knew.
While they fawned over Apex Online, Nash knew that it was not just a game but a second world that humans could access through the AO gear.
Created by powerful corporations with an unimaginable sum of money pumped into the project, Apex Online drew several millions of players from all over the globe to sign up and play, hoping to tap into the unlimited opportunities it offered.
With William's assistance, Nash splurged on the gears, speedily getting a taxi back to his place.
With the AO gears now in his position, Nash grew impatient as he wanted to dive back into the game right where he was inside the taxi.
However, his drooling for Apex Online had to wait a bit longer until he got to his place.
******
"I'm back!" Nash announced his return with excitement as he opened the door to his dormitory room.
There was a loud noise in the room coming from his roommates and as soon as William noticed him, he hurried to Nash who was still by the door.
"I bought it," Nash said as he handed William one of the two gears he purchased.
Nash was happy to see William again, tears almost drawn to his eyes at this sight and opportunity of a second life.
"Thanks, Nash," William said, his eyes beaming with unreal eagerness as he stared at the gear like a man enchanted.
"Now I will teach you all how to play a game," William boasted further, making Nash and the two other people in the room laugh.
""You? Show us how to play? Hahaha! Very funny," one of the two other people said as he laughed and shook his head.
"If I remember correctly, Danny. Didn't Big Willy here just finish Infinite Conquest barely two weeks ago," the other added and kissed his teeth. "Tsk! We finished that game long ago."
They laughed at the retort by the two other roommates.
"Tch! Just wait and see then," William said as he went over to his bed to lie down.
William unboxed the gear and brought out the real thing, examining it critically since he didn't know how it worked.
From time to time, he would glance at his roommates.
William wanted to ask them for help with operating the gear but his pride wouldn't let him.
He knew they would laugh at him. That much was a given
He sighed and decided that the only way was to figure it out by himself as he pulled out his mobile phone to surf the internet on how to use an AO gear.
Nash noticed how William was struggling. He could see the internal battle he was having that made him not ask for help.
Nash could only shake his head and laugh. He knew William would eventually figure out how to use it and so he didn't not interrupt him.
As far as being a gaming expert was concerned, William was far from that. The only advantage he had was the fact that the Cunningham family was also rich.
Coming from an affluent family meant that William had money for better equipment but for the skill, the young man had a long way to go.
Same did not apply for their other two roommates, Daniel and Junior. Those two were already versatile and good with gaming, comparable to Nash.
Nash then proceeded to his own bed with his gear. He unboxed him and quickly put it on with an air of familiarity hovering around him.
It was easy to figure out since he already knew how it worked.
*Click*
With a soft click on the part of the gear that balanced on his ears, Nash turned it on.
*Beep*
With a beep, the gear activated as a single horizontal streak of light flashed before Nash's eyes.
[APEX ONLINE]
Hearing the beep, William turned and his face reddened with slight frustration at how quickly Nash was able to figure out how to use the gear.
He still had not figured it out yet but Nash was already playing. William sighed and this time around, he put in more aggressive efforts with surfing the internet for answers.
Nash entered the game and when the streak of light vanished, he was pulled into the character creation section.
[Please wait…]
[Initiating DNA extraction…]
[Initiating neural linking…]
Nash was already familiar with this stage of the game. He had no choice but to remain patient since it was unstoppable.
As the game's AI prompt sounded, Nash felt a sudden crippling pain that started from the back of his neck travelling all the way down to his lower back in a second. It was as if he had been pierced with a large needle.
"Ahh! Fuck!" he screamed.
[Extraction successful]
[Neural linking successful]
[Player's identity confirmed]
[AO Gear binding…]
[1%... 23%... 49%... 67%... 81%... 100%]
[Binding successful]
[WELCOME TO APEX ONLINE]
[Please choose a class]
"Assassin," Nash answered decisively without giving it too much thought.