Dimension Wave Prologue

—Live another life in an alternate universe.
Phase II of Project Second Life is live!
Now accepting new partic.i.p.ants, but hurry—offer ends soon!

“Whaddya think?”

The characters and background art were so realistic, they almost had me fooled.
This feature took up seven pages in this gaming magazine, so it’s gotta be quite popular.

“I don’t know what to say…”

Two girls—actually, my older and younger sister—showed up out of nowhere with grins on their faces. They stuck this video game magazine in my face and hounded me over the article.
Honestly, I have no clue as to what they’re trying to do.
Well, I’d be lying if I said I had no interest in games. But the write-up seems to be about an MMORPG. I’m more of a fan of games like Harvest M○○n and Animal Cr○ssing. I like that comfy, casual pace.

“Ugh, you’re suuuch a b.u.mmer!”
“I know, right?!”
“…”

What’s with them? They’re so hyper.
Even if it’s me saying, I think we get along well.
We game together since both of my sisters are very into it.
Well, it’s probably because of my influence on them, considering that I’m the only guy of us three.

“So? So? Whaddya think?” my younger sister asks me in a cutesy voice.

Her excitement is almost annoying, but since she’s my sister, I hold my tongue and continue reading the magazine pushed up against my face.

Dimension Wave

Looks like it’s an online multiplayer.
Skimming through the pages, it looks like players get to work together with allies to fight off enemies. All their weapons, magic, and monsters are pretty typical too.
Oh, you can also go fis.h.i.+ng.
I like stuff like that. It’s nice and relaxing.
There are various races to choose from too.
Oh? The description seems kinda odd.
What’s this?

—Continuing with the well-acclaimed playstyle of the first phase, Phase II of the game will also not allow players to log out until the session has been completed. This further encourages players to fully experience a second life in the game. However, in-game time differs from real-life time.
Though each session will require years of in-game time to be completed, it will translate to 24 hours of real-life time. This means that even players who are in full-time employment will be able to enjoy all of the content. We are now accepting new applicants, so don’t hesitate to sign up! Please visit the address below for details.

So it says.
Oh, that’s right. I remember now. It was about a year ago when they caused a big stir.
It was the guy who planned to create a whole “second life” thing in a VRMMO world.

And as it says in the magazine, months and years in the game will only be just a few hours in the real world.
The game targets young professional. For the sake of giving them the chance to live a second life, players also can’t simply logout until the game is done.
Content is released monthly to pretty high praise, save for a vocal minority. Or so I’ve read on a gaming news website.
Even my buddies were raving about it after trying it out. Is it really that good though?

The problem is that people’s demeanors change after playing. I mean, if you spend seemingly years in the game, it’s bound to affect your personality.
There’s even this disgraceful b.a.s.t.a.r.d who not only got a girlfriend in the game but is still going out with her IRL.

f.u.c.kin’ normies!

… I should mention that cost of entry is rather high.
Not only do you need special equipment, but the game itself costs a lot. After all, the developers and retailers need to make money. In short, it’s not spare change for a student at the very least.

“So? How are you going to pay for it?”

Honestly, even if you begged Mom and Dad for it, they’ll tell you off…

“Heh heh!”

My older sister remains reasonably excited and brings out an envelope.
The Second Life Project is written as the sender’s address.

“No, you didn’t…”
“I sure did! Here’s the acceptance letter.”
“How did you get this? Who did you have to—”
“Remember that tournament I won a while ago? This was the prize!”

She spoiled the answer but also my joke.
The license was a prize for winning a tournament for this fighting game, which was made by another company of the same conglomerate. I’ve read that they’re making a lot of money lately.
My sister definitely signed up the tournament just so she could get her hands on the license.
It’s almost weird being related with these girls.

“Three people can sign up with one of these licenses, ya know!”

Here is my older sister who’s grinning from ear to ear and my younger sister who’s almost physically buzzing with excitement.

“Three people? That’s an odd number, eh?”

Isn’t it normally two or four?
I’ve heard stories of couples who played together and came out with a stronger bond than ever.
But I’ve heard that the game made things worse for some people too.
In any case, it looks like I’m invited too.
… wait, hold on.

“Hey, why don’t we put these up on an aucti—boof!”

Before I could finish my sentence, my right cheek encountered my younger sister’s fist.

“No way, you dummy!”
“No, hear me out. Selling just one of these would give us enough money for a family vaca—boof!”

This time, it was left cheek, older sister.

“I believe I can leave the whole taking care of Mom and Dad thing until after I become a productive member of society.”

They sure are loyal to their desires.
Well, it’s not the license is mine anyway, so I don’t really have the right to tell her what do with it.

“So, who’s player three?”
“Huh?” they simultaneously interjected.
“Hmm?”

The two girls stare at me as if I were speaking alien.

“Don’t you want to play too?”
“Uhh, not really?”

It does sound interesting, but I’m iffy about VR games.

“And plus, I get kinda woozy from VR setups.”

VR machines and these fully-immersive online games have been sweeping through the gaming industry.
Just before, the sci-fi subgenre of cyberpunk was very popular.
Fully-immersive online games made a big splash when they first came out as it was almost as if cyberpunk has become reality. A large portion of gamers were very positive about it too.

Firstly—and I think a lot of j.a.panese gamers can sympathize—is that a lot of these physically-stimulating virtual reality games rub people the wrong way.
For example, like how retro-styled games with pixel art are still really popular, people are used to gaming through a big TV screen. It’s hard to transition away from that concept.
Even though I was born into a world where beautiful 3D games were the norm, I’m sure there were people who rejected the transition from pixel art to low-poly graphics.

Well, if that’s the case, I shouldn’t be opposed to these fully-immersive games.

Secondly, the games are very affected by the player’s brainwaves.
It’s been recently proven that mental output and processing power vary greatly from person to person.
In other words, a person’s ability to judge and reason have been proven, which is why fully-immersive VR games—games that depend on those functions—are heavily dependent on the player’s abilities.

To sum it up, there were gamers who were dissatisfied with the apparent unequal starting lines started cropping up. And excluding the small portion of people who physically and mentally fared well, the sales number weren’t so hot.
Well, I guess it’s kinda like when touchscreens first hit the market. Those resistive ones weren’t so good and people didn’t love them. But as technology gets better, so will the performance of VR machines, and I’m sure it’ll then be a big hit.

Hmm, I swear I’ve heard someone tell me this before.

“Y’know, big bro, vat-type VR games have built-in brainwave normalizers so that anybody would be fine, right?”
“Oh, is that right? I guess that’s why they’re so expensive then.”

Vat-types could be described as high-performance VR machines.
They’re different than regular head-mounted display units hooked up to a computer. Vat-types connect the player by immersing them in a vat full of liquid in which humans can breathe. It’s really something straight out of a mad scientist’s lab.
And to speak frankly, the reason why vat-types are invitation-only being because this is tech from the near future—it must cost a whole lot of money to operate.

“Well, I get that even I can play, but don’t you two have anyone else you could invite?”
“It’s a ticket for three people! It’d be a lot more fun to go as siblings, don’t you think?”
“Yup, she’s right!”

It seems like the three of us are closer than I thought.
That makes me rather happy, to be honest.
And so, that’s why I’ll be partic.i.p.ating in Dimension Wave too.

The day has finally arrived.
The three of us go to the venue by train.

Even though my sisters rushed me out of the door, a lot of people had arrived already at the event site.
We brought a few things with us, including the license and a USB flash drive that was distributed to all the players.
Stored in the flash drive was the data of our created characters.
It takes quite a bit of time to customize a character, so they got us to do that ahead of time.

I made my macho mountain of muscles about three days ago.
Swole characters aren’t ordinarily popular, but I think they’re cool.

Humans, Lycanthropes, Elves, Jewels, and Spirits were available choices for your character’s race and I chose to make a Spirit.
Spirits don’t have levels, HP, or mana, so it makes them pretty special among MMOs. They had a bit of information on their official site, but I had to figure most of that out by myself.
Jewels seem interesting too, but I ultimately decided on a Spirit.

I like the unique races.

As for my sisters, the older one picked Human and the younger Lycanthrope.
I didn’t ask them, but they told me anyway.

“Oh, looks like they’re starting to let people in.”

Even before I had said that, those two were already restless and had begun heading inside.
And why am I at the end of the line anyway?
Eventually, I handed one of the three pa.s.ses to a staff member and got in return a key with a blue plastic number tag attached to it.
Then, we were split into two lanes—one for men, one for women.

“See you later.”
“See ya!”

I waved them a simple goodbye before heading into the men’s changing room.
It’s pretty big in here.
I opened the locker with my number on it and found a set of clothes inside.
Before the event, we were told to send in our measurements along with our authorization codes so that they can get it tailored to us.

I put my valuables inside, though that consists of only my phone and wallet, and put on the special clothes.
It looks like a plugsuit straight out of an anime or something. It’s really elastic.
The guys beside me are being awkwardly silent changing into their suits. But even without saying, I can tell they’re thinking of the same thing.
I think they used to submerge you in the nude, but after some criticism, they came out with these tailored plugsuits. They even contain emergency life-saving measures. That’s probably one of the reasons why it’s so expensive as well.
After changing, I double-checked to make sure my locker was locked and then hurried out the door.

“Whoa…”

The vats lined up row by row was really a spectacle seemingly taken out of a mad scientist’s lab.
They’re actually pretty big, even though it’s just for one person. It’s as big as my bed at home.

“Let’s see, let’s see.”

There’s a large sticker placed instructing which way to stick the USB flash drive in and how to shut the door. It’s so simple, anyone can get it right with a quick glance. I plug in my flash drive into the port, hopped in the vat, made sure the door was closed, then slowly lied down.
There’s still 10 minutes left until it starts. I take the time to think through what I’ll do in the game.

The two of them mentioned that they were picking a combat cla.s.s, but I had other plans.
I’d think I’d like to try the fis.h.i.+ng activity that was in the magazine the other day.
I know it might be a bit weird to just fish in an MMORPG, but the whole point of this game is to live a second life, right? I’ll live it leisurely. I haven’t thought much about what’s after though. I’m sure I’ll find a goal while I play.
Just as I was thinking about that, I suddenly remember that they had an event called Dimension Wave going on, just like the t.i.tle. I totally forgot about it up until now.
I still have to decide on whether or not to partic.i.p.ate, but I’m sure my sisters will.
I’d like to at least play support for them.

“Oh?”

Time snuck up on me while I was lost in thought. An announcement played as they started to pump the liquid in.
It’s green, I thought… but it was just the reflection of a light inside the vat.
On second inspection, it’s actually colorless.
The vat filled up in a flash. I’ve subconsciously held my breath, but I can naturally breathe in the liquid.
What a shock. I really can breathe. Honestly, I wasn’t actually sure until now.

—Reading data 0%・・・100%.
—Data import complete. Beginning brainwave normalizer load test.

I can see it. Rather, it’s being projected straight into my brain.
A scene prettier than reality appears before my eyes.
Lots of people are walking in the streets of this fantasy town.
The sound is coming through too. I hear everything from the male voice of the shopkeeper to the noise of shuffling feet and footsteps.
In normal VR systems, you get the tiniest hint of lag, even if it’s not much. But in here, not only is it running without so much a hitch, the fidelity is extremely high.
That’s specialized equipment for ya.

—Test complete. Game will begin after all processes complete.

It’s a weird feeling. The voice goes directly into your head without me needing to use my ears.
I was thinking that I’ve totally entered a sci-fi world, but tech in the real world is more advanced than I thought.
I guess you could call it being excited, but oddly, I couldn’t calm down and stop looking around everywhere. But right as I do so, everything disappeared.

“That can’t be good.”

I’m not just talking about vat-type machines, but when any piece of electronic suddenly goes black like if you yanked the plug out, it kinda makes me feel weird.
It’s like as if the world that I’ve been living it just suddenly disappeared.

And then—

—Best wishes to your new life!

: /ch000/ /next/

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