Chapter 165: Next offer, and another meeting
"No, not that. How the hell did the tablet break my skin?" Eldrian asked as he thought back. He had needed to press his finger on the page, on the screen. How had there been a needle?
"Oh, that's simple. Well, it's hard to explain... But it is simple." Joren replied, saying to Eldrian that this was one of the least interesting things going on in their labs.
"In any case it is not important, just know that all contracts require both a fingerprint and blood sample at the same time." Joren ended his short explanation, never having answered Eldrian's question.
"Now that you have signed the nondisclosure, we can continue with our talks. But first, let's get some more coffee." Joren said, calling the waiter again to get them both one more of what they had been drinking.
"What I need to talk about next does not have a simple aim. We want to figure out a couple of things, all of which connect with one another. For example the death you had experienced. We might be able to get data through time, but can you also explain what had happened?" Joren asked as he enjoyed the new coffee which soon arrived. Eldrian was surprised by the service, they had almost never waited longer than a minute for their orders to arrive.
"Sure," Eldrian did not hold back, feeling it would be best to talk to the makers of the game to figure out what was happening. He certainly did not want to find himself losing his character one day.
He did more than just explain his first time experiencing it. Also going so far as to explain his recent fights where he fell unconscious after each one. Wondering if they were connected.
"Interesting, I don't know if they are really connected. But once we start recording your in-game actions, we will be able to tell." Joren replied, after which they moved on to the next part. He had some theories, but for now, they were just that and he did not want to share too much speculation with Eldrian.
The next topic they talked about was the new headsets the company was making. "We would like your help in testing the headsets. One of the things we suspect is that you pull far more power when playing. This does not just connect to the headset, but also your body."
Joren then went on to explain what improvements they were trying to make to the headsets. Here he started explaining to Eldrian why there was a time limit. For the current headset, this was 16 hours, with 2 hours grace period.
The new headset they hoped to remove this limitation, allowing people to play 24 hours if they wished. The only requirement was to keep themselves fed and hydrated.
He did not go into great detail, but he did drop some crumbs for Eldrian. Such as that they could currently not allow longer usage due to the possibility of people gaining derealization disorder. That Eldrian actively using magic might be draining his real body, certainly, it would take far more brainpower than simply playing with the help of the system.
"So we would like to send you the new headset. It will first go through proper testing, so don't worry about that."
"Then what do I need to do?"
"Play, preferably get into a tough fight like the other two you talked about. Where you lose consciousness after. We would like for you to act as an extreme test, to see if the headset limits the amount of energy it drains from you."
Seeing Eldrian not agreeing immediately, Joren decided to push a little harder. "This is not part of the first contract and you can disagree. But if you accept, then you would receive the newest equipment each time. As well as another 500 dollars each month."
"Simply for playing with the new equipment?" Eldrian asked, again feeling like it was too good to be true.
"Yes, we would like you to get into a really hard fight within a few days of getting it. But we understand it is not always possible."
Eldrian did not agree right away, so Joren let him be. Giving him some more time to think it over. This agreement was less time concerning since they still had a couple of weeks before they planned to start testing the new headsets.
Joren also explained this to Eldrian, mentioning that they planned to only make ten million new headsets. Which was really not much, seeing as both old and new players would want to get the new headsets. The 8 hours extra might not sound like much, but for full-time gamers, it would be a big deal.
Eldrian knew what Joren was doing, even knowing, it still worked on him. He might not use the full 8 hours each day, but having it on weekends would be really nice. Especially if he could use it for training, his days normally too busy to allow so much training.
But what about resting?Eldrian wondered as he thought about the fatigue players gained.
Asking Joren this Eldrian received another interesting piece of news. "That is something we had added to hopefully guide players, but it did not really work well. The same goes for the HP system."
"The game developers side of the company are thinking of removing or remaking these. This should happen in the next few days."
"What?" Eldrian was shocked, this meant that a large part of the game they had learned would become invalid.Or would it?He wondered, thinking back to how he never really used the HP system. Players who did would sometimes find bugs where monsters did not die right as their HP reached 0.
...
"Is this to everyone's' satisfaction?" A High Elf in a light cyan robe asked as he looked at those gathered in the hall.
The former was all the emperors and generals from all the regions in the alliance. Over ten thousand people, all above Tier 8, all in great positions of power, of different nations, of different races.The latter was a massive hall, gilded with dark purple metals and mithril.
To represent the equality of the meeting they were all seated around a massive circular table, which had an array engraved to allow easy speech over the large area. The array functioned as both a microphone and speaker simultaneously for each person at the table. Able to prioritize the conversation between emperors, over that between supreme and high commanders.
"The plan is feasible, and by now we can see which kingdoms are strong enough to handle our help. Leaving those on the brink of extinction to themselves seems like the correct choice. But these Chosen are still a variable." A sturdy dwarf replied, he had a massive black beard and wore equally dark leather clothing. These clothes were not just for show, but like all those in here, it was of the highest magical grade formal armor.
Formal armor was not ceremonial armor, but rather armor made in the appearance of clothing. It was not as strong as combat armor, but far better than any type of clothing. It allowed all those in high ranks to be protected from assassination attempted. At least no assassin of equal strength would be able to kill them without a fight.
"Yes, the reports on these Chosen are really surprising. We do not know their limits, but so far all of them show a surprising attunement to magic. Reaching Tier 1 and 2 in months, where it normally takes years. They could be a really strong force." A human woman in light gray form-fitting formal armor replied.
"But they can't be regulated. Since they do not die, we cannot bind them. They do not have a nationality, nor a need to work with us. We cannot use force, we have no idea if we would be able to convince them to join us." This was spoken by a dryad woman, who wore no clothing.
None in the room found it strange to look at her naked form. Most dryads hated clothing, especially the stronger ones. For them, it felt like they were wearing the itchiest clothing, no matter how exquisite the clothing actually was. It would always feel like a peasant's clothes to them.
"Yet they seem to be fighting for us. Most reports say that they are more than willing to work for compensation. It may not be true loyalty, but it something." A human man in blood-red formal armor replied.
"Are you willing to teach them for something less than absolute loyalty? We know that humans can become devils, it has been proven to many times." A demi-human of the feline side replied. As often in anime, this feline human had little fur. At least in his normal state, when agitated their fur would increase greatly, covering their entire body. Now it only covered his cat-like ears, tail, and hands and feet.
"It is not like demi-humans can't turn! You just turn into demons!" Countered the man in red, easily provoked by the feline man.
"The famous fury of humans. Relax, we are only talking." Said a reptilian demi-human. Similar to the feline demi-human, her body was not covered in scales. She looked much more human, her tail and eyes the only thing proving her none-humanity.
Sighing, a dragon in the form of a human, interrupted the derailed conversation. "Seems you all forgot what the reports also stated. They can be bound by oaths to the gods. That is as good as it gets. It is even better than loyalty."
This caused everyone to quiet down. Causing them all to realize they just needed to make a good oath which equaled absolute loyalty.
"Seems like we have reached a conclusion. Let's set off then. We have delayed long enough, having been caught unprepared this time." As soon as the High Elf said this everyone stood up and headed to the teleportation arrays in the hall. From where they were all sent back to their empires, where they directly started mobilizing those under them.
They could not send armies to help the far-away kingdoms, months were needed to cover the distance. Instead, they teleported their high commanders to take over the battles. They also sent their royal guards to search and collect Chosen who were willing to swear an oath of loyalty for the promise of being taught how to fight. Unlimited skills, spells, and weapons promised in return.
"Oh, that's simple. Well, it's hard to explain... But it is simple." Joren replied, saying to Eldrian that this was one of the least interesting things going on in their labs.
"In any case it is not important, just know that all contracts require both a fingerprint and blood sample at the same time." Joren ended his short explanation, never having answered Eldrian's question.
"Now that you have signed the nondisclosure, we can continue with our talks. But first, let's get some more coffee." Joren said, calling the waiter again to get them both one more of what they had been drinking.
"What I need to talk about next does not have a simple aim. We want to figure out a couple of things, all of which connect with one another. For example the death you had experienced. We might be able to get data through time, but can you also explain what had happened?" Joren asked as he enjoyed the new coffee which soon arrived. Eldrian was surprised by the service, they had almost never waited longer than a minute for their orders to arrive.
"Sure," Eldrian did not hold back, feeling it would be best to talk to the makers of the game to figure out what was happening. He certainly did not want to find himself losing his character one day.
He did more than just explain his first time experiencing it. Also going so far as to explain his recent fights where he fell unconscious after each one. Wondering if they were connected.
"Interesting, I don't know if they are really connected. But once we start recording your in-game actions, we will be able to tell." Joren replied, after which they moved on to the next part. He had some theories, but for now, they were just that and he did not want to share too much speculation with Eldrian.
The next topic they talked about was the new headsets the company was making. "We would like your help in testing the headsets. One of the things we suspect is that you pull far more power when playing. This does not just connect to the headset, but also your body."
Joren then went on to explain what improvements they were trying to make to the headsets. Here he started explaining to Eldrian why there was a time limit. For the current headset, this was 16 hours, with 2 hours grace period.
The new headset they hoped to remove this limitation, allowing people to play 24 hours if they wished. The only requirement was to keep themselves fed and hydrated.
He did not go into great detail, but he did drop some crumbs for Eldrian. Such as that they could currently not allow longer usage due to the possibility of people gaining derealization disorder. That Eldrian actively using magic might be draining his real body, certainly, it would take far more brainpower than simply playing with the help of the system.
"So we would like to send you the new headset. It will first go through proper testing, so don't worry about that."
"Then what do I need to do?"
"Play, preferably get into a tough fight like the other two you talked about. Where you lose consciousness after. We would like for you to act as an extreme test, to see if the headset limits the amount of energy it drains from you."
Seeing Eldrian not agreeing immediately, Joren decided to push a little harder. "This is not part of the first contract and you can disagree. But if you accept, then you would receive the newest equipment each time. As well as another 500 dollars each month."
"Simply for playing with the new equipment?" Eldrian asked, again feeling like it was too good to be true.
"Yes, we would like you to get into a really hard fight within a few days of getting it. But we understand it is not always possible."
Eldrian did not agree right away, so Joren let him be. Giving him some more time to think it over. This agreement was less time concerning since they still had a couple of weeks before they planned to start testing the new headsets.
Joren also explained this to Eldrian, mentioning that they planned to only make ten million new headsets. Which was really not much, seeing as both old and new players would want to get the new headsets. The 8 hours extra might not sound like much, but for full-time gamers, it would be a big deal.
Eldrian knew what Joren was doing, even knowing, it still worked on him. He might not use the full 8 hours each day, but having it on weekends would be really nice. Especially if he could use it for training, his days normally too busy to allow so much training.
But what about resting?Eldrian wondered as he thought about the fatigue players gained.
Asking Joren this Eldrian received another interesting piece of news. "That is something we had added to hopefully guide players, but it did not really work well. The same goes for the HP system."
"The game developers side of the company are thinking of removing or remaking these. This should happen in the next few days."
"What?" Eldrian was shocked, this meant that a large part of the game they had learned would become invalid.Or would it?He wondered, thinking back to how he never really used the HP system. Players who did would sometimes find bugs where monsters did not die right as their HP reached 0.
...
"Is this to everyone's' satisfaction?" A High Elf in a light cyan robe asked as he looked at those gathered in the hall.
The former was all the emperors and generals from all the regions in the alliance. Over ten thousand people, all above Tier 8, all in great positions of power, of different nations, of different races.The latter was a massive hall, gilded with dark purple metals and mithril.
To represent the equality of the meeting they were all seated around a massive circular table, which had an array engraved to allow easy speech over the large area. The array functioned as both a microphone and speaker simultaneously for each person at the table. Able to prioritize the conversation between emperors, over that between supreme and high commanders.
"The plan is feasible, and by now we can see which kingdoms are strong enough to handle our help. Leaving those on the brink of extinction to themselves seems like the correct choice. But these Chosen are still a variable." A sturdy dwarf replied, he had a massive black beard and wore equally dark leather clothing. These clothes were not just for show, but like all those in here, it was of the highest magical grade formal armor.
Formal armor was not ceremonial armor, but rather armor made in the appearance of clothing. It was not as strong as combat armor, but far better than any type of clothing. It allowed all those in high ranks to be protected from assassination attempted. At least no assassin of equal strength would be able to kill them without a fight.
"Yes, the reports on these Chosen are really surprising. We do not know their limits, but so far all of them show a surprising attunement to magic. Reaching Tier 1 and 2 in months, where it normally takes years. They could be a really strong force." A human woman in light gray form-fitting formal armor replied.
"But they can't be regulated. Since they do not die, we cannot bind them. They do not have a nationality, nor a need to work with us. We cannot use force, we have no idea if we would be able to convince them to join us." This was spoken by a dryad woman, who wore no clothing.
None in the room found it strange to look at her naked form. Most dryads hated clothing, especially the stronger ones. For them, it felt like they were wearing the itchiest clothing, no matter how exquisite the clothing actually was. It would always feel like a peasant's clothes to them.
"Yet they seem to be fighting for us. Most reports say that they are more than willing to work for compensation. It may not be true loyalty, but it something." A human man in blood-red formal armor replied.
"Are you willing to teach them for something less than absolute loyalty? We know that humans can become devils, it has been proven to many times." A demi-human of the feline side replied. As often in anime, this feline human had little fur. At least in his normal state, when agitated their fur would increase greatly, covering their entire body. Now it only covered his cat-like ears, tail, and hands and feet.
"It is not like demi-humans can't turn! You just turn into demons!" Countered the man in red, easily provoked by the feline man.
"The famous fury of humans. Relax, we are only talking." Said a reptilian demi-human. Similar to the feline demi-human, her body was not covered in scales. She looked much more human, her tail and eyes the only thing proving her none-humanity.
Sighing, a dragon in the form of a human, interrupted the derailed conversation. "Seems you all forgot what the reports also stated. They can be bound by oaths to the gods. That is as good as it gets. It is even better than loyalty."
This caused everyone to quiet down. Causing them all to realize they just needed to make a good oath which equaled absolute loyalty.
"Seems like we have reached a conclusion. Let's set off then. We have delayed long enough, having been caught unprepared this time." As soon as the High Elf said this everyone stood up and headed to the teleportation arrays in the hall. From where they were all sent back to their empires, where they directly started mobilizing those under them.
They could not send armies to help the far-away kingdoms, months were needed to cover the distance. Instead, they teleported their high commanders to take over the battles. They also sent their royal guards to search and collect Chosen who were willing to swear an oath of loyalty for the promise of being taught how to fight. Unlimited skills, spells, and weapons promised in return.
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