A young man in his late twenties sat on a gaming chair, arms crossed on the table as the screen ahead flashed with only two words.
[ WarLine: initializing ]
The room was dark except for the light from the screen. He had been a great businessman with many achievements under his name.
But his life was ruined despite all his intelligence and cunning. He was naive which resulted in betrayal.
He was the founder of Xynine Corporation yet he now owned nothing of it because of his supposed friend's greed.
All that remained with him was a debt of one billion dollars. With some connections, he ran away to Asia under a new identity.
Now, he just had to enjoy life as a middle class man and forget his dream.
[ Initialization Completed ]
[ Warning! Please make sure the headgear is worn correctly ]
He picked up the headgear from a cardboard box below the table and put it on then leaned back comfortably on his chair.
[ Activate WarLine? ]
"Confirm" he spoke dryly without much expectations from the game. The entertainment sector was the only industry without Xynine domination.
This game was fairly popular, number one ranking in both difficulty and realism in VR games.
[ 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Zero! ]
His Vision faded first, followed by hearing, smell until all senses shut themselves.
Suddenly, he was floating in an empty black void and a blue screen floated in front of him.
[ Select A Server To Join:
Global Realism (Beta)
Global VS
Asia Hyper
Europe Maxim
America SW
Private (S.Code Required) ]
WarLine had launched publicly just a year after the third world war. A decade has passed since WW3 and militaries actually used this game for simulations and training. The Realism Mode to be specified but it requires a super computer to run even the smallest server in it.
"This one's a knock off most likely."
Just as his finger was about to select the Global VS server, a thought crept into his mind. He had never liked video games because they always felt fake.
"Could this be… different?"
He chose to at least try.
[ Warning! By Continuing You Agree to Realism Special Terms of Service And Policies ]
"Continue."
Everything faded again. What returned was no longer the same; It became fundamentally different.
The void appeared the same but it wasn't just visible, its presence was undisputable. Air tingled his skin as a soft breeze flew by.
It felt like he was in another world. He looked over his body; it was identical to his current real life self, even the clothes. He chuckled in amusement.
"It feels like I've been teleported here."
A smile formed on his lips.
[ Select Your Gear ]
A voice resounded as if the void had spoken and a million screens flashed and swirled around him, each depicting a different piece of military equipment from the third world war.
Everything from the war vehicles to the smallest optical equipment was available.
"The B7 Bomber! Is it here?!" He shouted out loud, fidgeting out of excitement.
[ Advanced Military Gear Is Not Available As Spawn Gear ]
"Then get me a tank!"
Seven screens flowed into position in front of him.
[ Scouting Light Tank ]
[ Airborne Light Tank ]
[ General Purpose Medium Tank ]
[ Amphibian Medium Tank ]
[ Heavy Frontal Assault Tank ]
[ Combined Artillery Tank ]
[ Special Ambush Tank ]
"Select the heavy frontal assault tank and also a enfield rail rifle, night vision and bullet proof vest."
[ Either Armed Vehicle Or Combat Equipment Can Be Selected. Only Uniforms Are Exempt From This Rule ]
"Huh? Well, in that case the tank is the obvious choice. And begin the game now!"
[ Skip Uniform? The default Uniform will be given ]
"Yep, Now Spawn!"
[ Select Spawn Point! Upon Skipping, Will Be Spawned In The Most Player Active Zone ]
A live 3D satellite map flickered into existence in front of him. It didn't show any player yet it was filled with life from flowing rivers, fields, forests, mountain ranges to deltas and mangroves. It had even the depths in the oceans, coral reefs, trenches, seas of life and the weather was live visible in hers from sandstorms in a desert to thundering gales. It showed not a battlefield or a war torn region but a magnificent continent of nature's beauty, full with a massive ocean, islands. Diversity at its peak.
HeHe was left speechless, breathless from the majestic continent. He regretted being hasty, unable to fully view this artistic masterpiece as his senses faded again.
He opened his eyes and found himself seated with large reinforced strips, forcefully fastened to the seat. His clothes had changed into a grey militaristic uniform.
He felt clean, fresh and energized as if he just had a nice warm bath and a good night's sleep which he'd actually been away from for quite some time.
He was inside a tank with the controls neatly laid in front of him; thought he had no knowledge or experience.
A sudden impact ran through the interior and he jolted up, bumping his head on the hatch.
"Holy shit!" He grimaced and covered his head with his hands then opened the hatch and peaked out.
Cold wind scattered his black hair as he saw the blue sky and a large field of grass swaying in the wind. No one in sight as far as he could see.
"Damn…" his heart was racing in wonder as a large explosion, just beside his tank, ruined the moment.
He hid inside and closed the hatch.
"This is war not vacation!" He took a deep breath and started searching the interior. Luckily, there was an instruction manual in there.
Another explosion boomed just behind and he understood there was no time to read. The radio beside him buzzed to life.
"Idiot tanker, listen here. I've fired two warning shots already. You don't stand a chance against me, give me your tank and I'll let you go otherwise you'll have to experience death from an artillery blast."
"FUCK YOU!!!" he barked at the radio.
"I didn't install WarLine to give up!"
This was his new life and his new dreams were right here. Glory was just a battle away. The enemy was most likely alone.
He had a Tank which should be able to endure some strikes and the enemy only had an artillery which would blow up in a single shot. Distance was his only obstacle.
He pressed the accelerator and turned on a screen and the radar which promptly displayed the enemy location; 2.3 km away. The tank turned slowly inaccurately and another explosion hit the outer armour.
The main screen showed the view from the frontal camera showing the hillside, the enemy was a combined artillery tank.
Another screen beeped showing the tank's condition; frontal armor red. He turned the tank, side armor towards the enemy in hopes of surviving another hit.
He readied the main gun, aimed as best as he could. Another shell hit his tank and watching his heavy armor break unnaturally fast, he realised that his enemy was using PyCrBo munitions.
These munitions had been developed by his company or when Xynine used to be his during WW3.
He fired his regular shell and hoped that it would land. But he was neither a marksman nor a veteran. All hopes of victory were broken as his shell missed by almost 100 meters.
Yet the enemy still blossomed into a fiery explosion all the same.
[ Seventh Dictator ← HeathRayStrike ]