Birth of Second World: Online

.. ”…ky ”, ”..Ikky ”,… ”Hey Ikky, wake up! ”

Ikky slowly opened his eyes, disoriented from his surroundings. In front of him was standing a classmate Josh, one and only of his friends.

”W-Whats going on? ” he asked.

”What do you mean, whats going on?! A math teacher is coming, class is about to start. ” right after Josh finished speaking, the doors blew up.

”Everybody be quiet! Class is starting ” yelled the math teacher.

”Hey Ikky, did you sleep the whole Lunch break again? ” asked teach.

”No Sir, I definitely didn . ”

”Then explain to me the imprints on your face, I can read from your face better than from the book. ” The whole class started to laugh, while Ikky felt a bit embarrassed.

”Alright, quiet down kids. Class is starting. ” said the teacher and began his lesson.

At first, Ikky was trying to pay attention but soon lost all interest, watching outside from the window, as usual.

Math, how much just I hate math he thought.

Ikky was barely able to go through school years. All because of the damn math. Even though he was quite good with his grades and his IQ was somewhere above average, the math was a different story. Ikky could understand and remember all of the formulas, but applying numbers to them and making valid results from them was out of reach, simply an impossible task.

Time flew by and school ended.

”Hey Ikky, lets stop by the Game center before coming home, ” asked Josh.

”Ill skip, I didn bring enough money with me today, ” said Ikky with an excuse.

I prefer to go and move my body rather than spending hours in a gaming chair.

Even though Ikky had decent grades, except for Math, He was also rather good with sports, and playing some games was just a waste of time.

”Tsk, you never bring any money with you, ” complained his friend.

”let me see if I have enough for the two of us. ” Josh brought out his wallet, pretending to scan inside of it, knowing it was mostly empty, as always.

Not paying any attention to his friends action, Ikky turned his head to the front, watching the girl packing her stuff in the first row of tables.

”Still in love with Rina? ” said Josh with a frown after following his gaze.

”You have no chance, I heard her parents are already looking for a rich fellow to be her Fiance. Ensuring the companys future is more important for them, ” continued his friend while shaking his head.

”I was never in love with her, just feeling some admiration, thats all., ” opposed Ikky.

Josh always thought that Ikky was in love with Rina, but he never knew the truth. Ikky was never looking at the tall beautiful girl with smooth skin and long blackish blue hair, but instead at the indistinct short girl with black hair in a ponytail style. Her name was Yuri and she was Rinas childhood friend, so they always stuck together.

”Yes, admiration or attractiveness? ” teased Josh his friend, not believing a single word.

”Never mind, see you tomorrow, ” Josh said his farewell to Ikky and ran straight to the game center.

Sigh Ikky closed his eyes for a few seconds, then left the classroom.

***

”Im home, ” said Ikky after arriving at his house.

”Hey! ” came somewhere from the living room.

Ikky went there and saw his little sister lying on the sofa with her head upside down and eating some snacks.

”How was your day big bro? ” she asked.

”You will get fat if you eat too many snacks, ” teased Ikky his little sister.

”No, I won ! Mom, brother is calling me fat! ”

”Yes, yes,.. ” said mother from the kitchen with a smile on her face. Her kids always brings her happiness.

”I will go jogging, I will be back before dinner, ” said Ikky.

”Again? You should play with me! ” complained his little sister, but made no effort to move even an inch while lying on the sofa.

Ikky smiled at his little sister, which kept eating snacks and no longer paying any attention to him. Afterward, he went up to his room to change clothes and went outside to run a few kilometers.

Later that evening they all met at the table during family dinner.

”Grades still going smoothly? ” Asked Ikkys father.

”Yes dad, still having problems with math although, ” admitted Ikky.

”Then you should study more and run less, ” said his father with a strict face.

”How would our family look to neighbors if you would need to repeat a year? ” he continued.

”Don worry dad, I will do my best ” Ikky promised.

No longer interested in the previous talk, his father turned to his wife and spoke of his work issues as he needed somebody to listen to his complaints.

Shortly after dinner, Ikky helped his little sister with dashes, then went up to his room. After finishing his homework for tomorrow, he was finally able to let down and laid on his bed thinking of todays event and plans for tomorrow. Carefree of any worries, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, shortly closing, falling asleep.

***

The next day morning, Ikky arrived at his class, as usual. However, today the atmosphere around the class felt out of place.

Whats going on, why is everybody so loud and excited, don tell me I forgot about some test. worried Ikky while going to his desk, but the answer didn take long to arrive.

”Hey, Ikky! Did you hear the news?! I can believe its finally here, out of nowhere, can you believe it? On top of that, only in 2 days! Thats too soon, how am I even going to make it, ” his Josh friend kept talking without a sign of stopping.

”Hold on! Slow down a bit, I have no idea what you are talking about, ” said Ikky confused.

”The Ancient Era is releasing! On top of that this Sunday! ” Josh answered, still unable to calm down completely.

”Ancient Era? Whats that? ”

Josh looked at Ikky as if he was talking to somebody from a different planet.

”The Ancient Era, the VR game from Crystal company! ”

”Oh,.. ” Ikky answered disappointingly. So its just another game

”Oh?, OH?! I bet you just thought of its just a game, didn you? ” Josh asked annoyed by Ikkys reaction.

”Sorry, sorry..but you know me, Im not really into playing games, I prefer when I can move my body. ” Ikky apologized to his friend.

”Ts, ts.. that is where you are wrong my dear friend ” after hearing Ikky apology, Josh turned his mood by 180°.

”Listen up, do you see everybody being so excited? That is because Crystal company came up with revolutionary technology, ” Josh was explaining as if he was a true expert in that field.

”Ancient Era is a completely different game, it can not be compared to any other games,.. ” said Josh, but got interrupted.

”But there are many VR games, how is it even different? ” asked Ikky.

”Don interrupt me and you will know, ” frowned his friend.

”The new VR technology from Crystal company is able to transfer between 90 to 99% of personal information to the game. You will need to get tested at special centers, both physically and mentally, and your character stats will reflect your real-life condition, ”

Thats crazy, why would somebody do something so complex for the game prepared to ask and interrupt his friend once again, but Josh continued without stopping.

”developers also were able to create an environment connected to our brain waves, thus everything in the game will feel extremely real! They were able to match in-game senses and real-life senses, to an unbelievable perception! They even mentioned that the game will get better as more players join the game since the system will have more data to gather from, Its a true technological breakthrough, some people call it a second life, ” Josh said running out of breath.

”But still, its only a game, isn it? Even if your senses are realistic, there are many obstacles to overcome, calling it like real life seems a bit too much.., I know, that game graphics went really realistic in recent years, but still, and what about NPC? You will feel like talking to a recording or maybe even a wall. ” said Ikky not really sharing his friends excitement.

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

”Damn, class is starting, ” complained Josh, ”watch Crystals company introduction video on next break! ” running back to his desk.

Ikky saw an English teacher entering the classroom, knowing his grades in English subject he knew that missing one lesson won be anything bad, so he took out one earbud and put it into one of his ears, looking at the website for Crystal company introduction video on his phone.