Chapter 25: "Yang Jian"
"Although virtual reality technology has achieved a breakthrough, allowing people to enter a virtual world..."
"But the required technological level is too high, and it cannot be scaled down into small devices for the time being."
"The manufacturing cost of each virtual pod is extremely expensive. The price of a single virtual pod is at least tens of millions of Xia Country Yuan!" Guo Heng stated the price calmly.
"Tens of millions?" Jiang Tao sucked in a cold breath and exchanged a glance with Lin Qi.
Lin Qi was secretly astonished. Tens of millions of Xia Country Yuan; in both his past and present lives, from childhood to adulthood, he had never seen so much money.
"An ordinary family simply can't afford it. They can only come to a martial arts hall to use it."
"And the martial arts halls purchase the virtual pods and charge a certain fee to recover the cost."
"And the stronger the martial arts hall, the more virtual pods they can own. Ordinary martial arts halls simply can't buy them."
"And the Chi Qiong Martial Arts Hall, as the number one power in Xia Country, has a full one hundred virtual pods in our Tianhai City."
"And every year, new virtual pods are added."
Jiang Tao touched the metal cubic pillar and said in shock:
"One hundred pods, that must be at least a billion."
Hearing the long string of numbers, Lin Qi's heart had also become numb.
"In the entire Tianhai City, besides our Chi Qiong Martial Arts Hall, only the Black Radiance Martial Arts Hall and the Chongming Martial Arts Hall can compare with us."
"The three great top-tier martial arts halls of Xia Country are not far apart in strength," Guo Heng said, continuing as he stroked the cubic pillar:
"Oh right, you guys should come and experience it too."
"Scan the QR code on the console, download the app to register, and then pay to start using it."
Beep!
"The fee is 500 yuan per hour!"
Jiang Tao was the first to scan and register. When he saw the price, his expression changed.
Lin Qi looked at the rows of virtual pods, feeling the illusion that he had returned to the internet cafes of his previous life. Everything was so similar, except the price of the virtual pods was truly expensive.
"This is the price for now!"
"In the future, perhaps the technology will improve further. The virtual pods might evolve into virtual helmets, or glasses, and the price will also drop."
"You should hurry up and experience it," Guo Heng reminded.
The originally silver-white eggshell opened, revealing a seat that unfolded to a 125-degree angle inside. A blue metal helmet was installed at the head position, accompanied by one metal patch after another, reflecting the light.
"After you start, there will be an intelligent AI to guide new users. That's it for now. I'm going to start today's matchmaking."
After saying this, Guo Heng opened a nearby virtual pod with practiced ease and sat inside.
"Qi-ge, I'm going to experience it first."
Jiang Tao had already eagerly sat down in the virtual pod, and the pod door slowly closed.
Scanning the code, registering, paying, and opening the virtual pod were all done in one smooth motion.
After Lin Qi finished, he also sat inside the virtual pod. His body was half-lying down, his head extended into the helmet. It was cool inside the pod, and as the door closed, he was plunged into darkness.
He also subconsciously closed his eyes.
Boom!
As if some time had passed, his body suddenly trembled. His scalp tingled, goosebumps rose all over his body, and his consciousness began to immerse.
He abruptly opened his eyes.
He looked around. Everything in his vision had changed. He was in a fantastical starry sky, surrounded by twinkling starlight.
"Mr. Lin Qi, welcome to the Chi World!"
In front of Lin Qi, a beautiful woman appeared, wearing a red, tight-fitting combat suit, with her hair in a ponytail.
"I am the intelligent AI of the Chi World—Xiao Hong. I can help you understand all the functions of the Chi World."
"Intelligent AI—Xiao Hong?"
Lin Qi looked at the woman. Her every frown and smile felt incredibly real.
Looking at his own body, the clothes on him had been changed to a black, tight-fitting combat suit. He clenched his fist, and power surged, exactly the same as in reality.
He lifted his foot and stepped on the ground, only to feel a kind of rebound force that one would only feel when stepping on the earth.
"The Chi World is a virtual space researched and developed by the Chi Qiong Martial Arts Hall in collaboration with the top scientists of Xia Country."
"It will scan your physical body to achieve a simulation of over 90% of reality," the woman in red continued to introduce.
"In the Chi World, there are functions such as games, competitions, social networking... and more!"
"If you are not satisfied with the clothes on your body, you can change them."
"And right now, you are in your personal space. You can check information, add friends, or enter the combat function through the panel!"
"Can I check my own information?" Lin Qi inquired.
"Of course, no problem!"
The woman in red waved her hand, and a blue panel appeared in front of Lin Qi, quite similar to his own panel.
[Name: Lin Qi]
[Age: 17]
[Phone Number: ...]
[...]
It was all the information Lin Qi had filled in during registration. Below, there was also a change clothes function. He was very satisfied with his current outfit, so he didn't change it.
"Can I change my nickname?"
"Yes, you can!" Xiao Hong answered with a smile.
Lin Qi nodded. His habit was not to use his real name when using software, but always a nickname.
He then proceeded to change his real name, and he already had an idea for a nickname.
[Lin Qi]→[Yang Jian]
[Confirm nickname change? Yes/No]
Lin Qi clicked "Yes." It showed that the name change was successful and there was no duplicate name, so his online nickname was officially changed to "Yang Jian."
"Hello, can you give me a detailed introduction to the arena function?"
"No problem!" the woman in red explained with a smile.
"The arena is divided into a man-machine and a matchmaking mechanism."
"Every martial artist who enters the arena must pass the man-machine test before they can unlock the matchmaking mechanism and compete against other martial artists."
"Understood!"
Lin Qi nodded, feeling that it was like the games he had played in his previous life.
"Okay, Mr. Yang Jian. If you have any questions, you can summon me at any time for an answer."
"Okay!"
The woman in red vanished into nothingness. In the personal space, only Lin Qi was left.
He clicked on the arena function on his panel and selected [Man-machine Test].
Beep!
In the next second, the space transformed, as if an invisible pair of large hands had moved Lin Qi to another area.
Lin Qi's figure changed, and he appeared on a huge, circular arena, over a thousand square meters in size. The ground was hard and white.
It was surrounded by spectator seats, though they were all empty now.
"You have entered the man-machine test. As this is your first time starting the man-machine test..."
"You have ten minutes to warm up!"
"Please select a weapon!"
The panel switched, and all sorts of weapons appeared before him.
Lin Qi chose a long black spear. Its tip glinted with a cold light. This was a weapon that had been sharpened and could draw blood.
Hum~
Lin Qi reached out and flicked the long spear. The shaft of the spear trembled slightly, emitting a humming sound.
It was a refined steel long spear, hard in texture, and also had toughness. The price was not cheap.
Swish! Swish!~~
In an instant, Lin Qi began to brandish the long spear, executing the "Mountain-Shattering Spear Technique."
"Shattering Thrust, Spiraling Break, Soaring Leap, Horizontal Block~"
The long spear pierced the air, kicking up a whistling wind, completely like in reality.
"I don't get tired!"
After executing the spear technique several times in a row, Lin Qi was surprised to find that he didn't feel tired at all.
"Because it's virtual, it doesn't consume stamina?"
[Time is up. The test will now begin!]
Hooo~
An electronic female voice sounded from the air. The next moment, not far from Lin Qi, a tall man appeared, wearing a mask and a white combat suit.
He held a silver long spear, ready to attack at any moment.
[Man-machine Test: Kill the tester!]
[3, 2, 1...]
[Begin!]
The electronic female voice in the air announced the start of the test.
Swoosh~
In the next instant, the tester brandished his long spear and charged out with extremely fast steps.
"It's starting!"
"My first real battle!"
Lin Qi also brandished his long spear, stamped one foot on the ground, his leg generating force, and instantly charged out.
His first battle was on the verge of breaking out.
...
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(End of this chapter)