"Haaa…"
With a metallic box of the best link gear one could find in this entire city, I entered our shabby studio house on the third floor of a rundown apartment.
-Click.
"I am back." Slowly closing the old wooden door behind me while making sure it didn't produce that eerie noise, I entered the house, took out my shoes in a side, and entered with gentle footsteps.
The old wooden floor sometimes makes noises if stepped on it incorrectly so, I had to be careful of it since it was already late night and I knew mum must be sleeping at the moment.
And I was right…
"Mum."
In this studio apartment with a small section of it divided by paper doors, mum was sleeping out in the hall even though it's usually cold out here.
There was a window on the other side, with broken glass, so the winds kept this place cool.
'And even after telling her again and again, she keeps sleeping out here so that I can be in that small section, the only place in this damn house that's comparatively warmer.'
She is stubborn. And once again, she has a fever.
"You don't listen to me, mum."
She was sleeping, her breaths were heavy, her body temperature visibly high, with the blanket she was using only covering half her body.
Her feet were outside, and just touching them was enough to show how difficult it must be for her to fight this simple illness.
'She never takes any kind of medicine and says natural herbs and rest is more than enough to train her immune system against little things like these.'
She only had a basic education till high school so it was difficult for her to get a decent job without any kind of support from her family, however, she still did various legal and proper works to get this place all on her own, and then, even after that person was gone, she took care of me on her own…
'Well, she says she used to have a close friend who had to go away before I was born, but I don't know anything about that.'
I have only seen her taking care of me on her own. Alone. With the same smile on her pretty face that she has when fighting against a bad fever like this one.
She is strong.
Very strong.
'And that gives me strength.'
Carefully picking her frail body along with the mattress and the small blanket, I took her to the side room, turned on the old heater for a while to increase the room temperature, and when the room was warm enough, I turned it off.
'The batteries this model uses are chargeable but the power needed to charge them isn't something I can get in this house.'
But this much should be enough for now.
"Good night, num."
"Night… sweety…"
With the different blanket that she usually leaves for me placed on her, along with a cool wet cloth on her forehead, I left the elder sleeping beauty behind and came out… and finally looked at the metallic box in the corner.
"Now then, shall we start?"
[MAK-12], one of the top portable (Link Gear) models created by [Hyperlink XII], the leading tech company of the current age.
"A new-gen tech with a market price of 12,990,999 Credits. Something I would never ever, ever have thought I would be holding with my own hands."
But fate plays weird tricks sometimes.
'It could have been a simple walk like every other day, but that girl ended up crashing with me, and I ended up listening to the conversation between the father-daughter duo.'
I never would have even thought I would get to meet the governor of this city in this way, and that instead of returning the 'token' that he got for his upset daughter, the same thing that she threw away in anger, would end up with me.
"But now, after all that has happened, just because I could not accept this thing as a gift from him… I am broke now. And in a neck-deep debt."
Like, I have been saving up some money to buy Link gear with whatever I get after doing all the work each day, each month. And it has been a few years since I convinced her to stop doing everything and just rest.
She has done enough for me until now. Much more than enough, truthfully.
"Let's pay her back, with this."
Governor gave me his personal number, a card, and this box after taking all the money I had left in my savings account.
I have to pay him the full price of this gear within one year or else, according to the contract we signed, I will have to work for him.
'This one meeting changed many things for me… but, I still consider this monetary debt to be better than being independent of anyone for anything.'
This is just a business transaction where both parties are getting something very precious. Though, I never know my own value is the same as this great piece of equipment.
'I am a simple person, have been, and want to stay a normal person. Just that I want her to be out of this slum-like rundown place.'
Someone as amazing as her, deserves a better place, a better environment, better food, and better water as well…
"Alright." Putting the metallic box before me, I sat down with the small blanket wrapped around me.
The night was cold today.
-Swiiiiiiish~.
The winds made it worse.
'But this is not the worst environment we have experienced.'
The base of the box was cubic while the upper part was kind of prismic.
It was shiny, however, aside from one single glowing button, all of its surface was normal and cool looking.
-Click.
I clicked the one button on the box which was pretty lightweight, and the entire prismic upper part of the box started shining with various colorful lights.
-Ooooooooong!
Then, as if dominoes were falling one after another, the triangular parts on the upper side of the box folded inside one another, revealing the inside of the box that contained three distinct compartments.
[Ding!]
A golden holographic display popped up right afterwards, hovering above the box, listing the guidelines, the way to use this device, as well as all the necessary details one needed to know before operating this Link gear.
"Hmmm…"
I liked reading anyway, so, since I had decided to skip my night work anyway, I took an hour and half to read every single thing written there.
And, the experience of moving the holographic display for the first time with a touch of my finger was quite satisfying.
'It was more satisfying to me since I got to experience this in reality before diving into any otherworld as well.'
And though they had used some tough vocabulary, everything was pretty easy to understand.
"So this is the epitome of modern nanotechnology, hun?"
A white crescent band that was pretty similar to a normal headband that young girls wear in the center compartment, six extra batteries each one enough to last at least a month of extended use, and in the last compartment, there was a special syringe containing nanochips that one will have to inject in their bodies.
"Here goes nothing then."
The mechanical syringe was pretty easy to use since I only had to place it around one of my nerves and press a button on it, and according to the instructions, I will have to wait for twelve minutes after that.
"Hmmm."
There are various currencies in this world, much like how it used to be in the past. However, now, everything operates on Credits, the main currency that's used by almost everyone in not only this world, but in the otherworlds as well.
"Is it time yet?"
And there certainly are tens and hundreds of other worlds and game companies that have quite big user bases, only one stands out among all of them.
And that singular virtual reality, has held the title of [Second reality] for a little more than a year now.
'It has been a hit since the moment it was launched nearly two years ago. It boasts a concurrent user base of over six hundred million simultaneous users, and is the best way for anyone like me who has no experience with other worlds to start their unique journey.'
[Nexus Origin]
The game that came out of nowhere and took over the entire world, the economy, and has even become the center of political power now.
It is where I will start what I have been longing for.
What I wanted to do for the longest.
And what will undoubtedly become a path to my betterment… but before that.
"Hasn't it been fifteen minutes already? What's taking it so long?"
The nanochips should have finished scanning by now and the Link gear should have lit up with a blue-
"Oh! Looks like it's done."
It took a little longer but the blue line on the headband like Link gear was finally up!
"Nice! Then now…"
First placing the Link gear on the back of my head, confirming its positioning, and checking the stillness, finally, fucking finally I double-tapped on the left side with my restless heart.
"Confirm identity registration."
Those mechanical voices rang in my head and in the very next moment, I felt my consciousness slowly fading away…
Just like suddenly falling asleep after being overly exhausted, I lost my vision, my focus and my connection with reality, and was transported to a special virtual space that belonged only to me…
A place much more attractive than what I had imagined it to be.