Chapter 12: Fish Scooping

With determination flooding his body, he reopened his eyes to see that he was no longer in his bedroom. However, it didn’t surprise him that he was now in a crowded night market. Instead, he felt a tinge of nostalgia. 

 

It had been such a long time since he’s been in a Halopad-created world. As he looked around at everything, he realized he missed the beauty it could create.

 

Come to think of it a Halopad was a lower-class virtual reality device, but it used holograms instead of VR goggles or pods. It projected images into a person’s head via the electrodes connected to it to provide a hypnotic experience. 

 

Although Halopads weren’t as high-tech and as immersive as virtual reality devices, they had a simple charm of their own. He especially loved it when he was a kid because it was like being inside an anime. 

 

Even now, as he looked around at the vibrant colors and crazy clothing, everyone was wearing a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. It was so much fun to people-watch in Halopad-created worlds. 

 

Suddenly, he felt a yank on his arm. Slightly startled, he turned to see who it was, only to see a grinning girl with bright pink hair looking up at him expectantly.

“What are you doing just standing there? We got to go check in before more people show up!” Ji-Hye exclaimed, her voice bubbly and infectious. 

 

Ari allowed himself to be pulled along as she led him through the crowded market, dodging NPCs as if it was nothing. Eventually, they stopped in front of one of the event booths, only to see it was full of people already waiting. 

 

Groaning, Ji-Hye placed her hand on the glowing orb next to the booth before nudging him to do the same. “Urg, I thought we came early enough that we wouldn’t have to wait so long.” 

 

“It’s not so bad,” Ari replied, checking his wrist only to see the number 72. “At least we’re only in the double digits. It could have been worse.” 

 

“I guess you’re right. Just think, if our numbers were in the seven digits. That be terrible,” she gasped dramatically.

 

Ari just laughed before pulling her to a waiting area until their numbers were called. He didn’t know if she could tell, but happiness was practically radiating from him. He was overjoyed that he could see his cousin again.

 

It felt like old times. Well, not for her, but definitely for him. After all, it had been at least ten years since she had enjoyed being in his company. But he had time to dwell on that, as their number was finally called. 

 

After the attendant scanned the number on their wrist, they could fully able to experience everything the night market offered. The NPCs would now interact with them so they could play games, eat the food, and basically do anything else they wanted in the area until the main event started. 

 

 Ji-Hye wasted no time in dragging him away from the booth. “Come on, let’s go check out the games! I want to win some items!”

 

“Just remember that if you don’t win the pod, you can’t use them,” Ari said jokingly while being pulled along. 

 

“I know that,” Ji-Hye replied. “But I can still sell them afterward and save the money towards a new pod.”

 

“Smart.” Ari knew his cousin was intelligent, but she always amazes him. He could only wonder if this was what she did in the previous timeline to buy her pod. He bet it was.

 

“So, any idea where we should start?” Ji-Hye asked, looking around at the many stalls and stands.

 

To be honest, Ari didn’t know where to start, either. All he knew from his previous timeline when he watched videos and read some articles on the forums was that most of the games were rigged.

 

Rigged meaning players had a lower chance of winning anything. Which made sense because if the game company played fair, they would be out of billions of dollars on items alone.   

 

But from what he remembered, the people who won more than a trivial item were the ones who played the archaic games that appear in period movies and ancient sitcoms. Classics like Goldfish Scooping, Dart Shooting, Pinball, Ring Tossing, etc.

You are reading story Oasis Online: The Toymaker at novel35.com

 

Although these games sounded easy, only 10% of the event’s participants played them. It was a good example of reverse psychology on the event planner’s part.

 

Because of a line on the VSoft event website that went: ‘Although the games will be hard, the rewards are plenty.’ People got it into their heads that tough games were easier to get prizes from than others.

 

The planners were smart they tricked almost everyone. But their brilliance really showed through that main event. Just the thought of what will go down made him want to give them a standing ovation. 

 

Lulling the players into a sense of comfort on easy mode before traumatizing them on hell mode. The company really said they were going to make the players work for their pod.

 

However, he was cognizant that nothing of value came without cost - everything worth having required effort. Even though free meant getting something without having to do anything. 

 

But that seems of no importance or relevance to this situation.

 

Sighing, Ari was about to suggest they try one of the pinball games when Ji-Hye grabbed his hand and pulled him toward a game booth. “Nevermind, I saw this one game earlier that looked really fun!” 

 

Ari was a little worried that she would take us to a booth with a modern game, but lucky for him, she did not. The booth she pulled him to was the one he had just been thinking about. 

 

“I have always wanted to try fish scooping,” Ji-Hye said, as she took a paper net from the NPC. “Doesn’t it remind you of that scene in Starlight, that movie we used to love when we were kids?”

 

Of course, he knew what movie she was talking about. How could he not? It’s not like she didn’t force him to watch it five times in a row in one sleepover. That movie was seared into his brain, but did he love it? Nope.

 

They made the movie for children, so it was straightforward and cliché. It was about two siblings that find an old abandoned stall and fiddled with it. Which sends them back in time to fix a problem that happened within their family, without becoming unborn.

 

Although the story was cute with wonderful life lessons, Ari felt it was lacking and could be better. But that was neither here nor there, cause as he looked up at the game’s sign, he knew that wasn’t the reason she wanted to play this game.

 

Well, the sign, and that she despised fish.    

 

“Are you sure that is the reason you want to play this game and not some other reason?” Ari slyly asked as he glanced at the sign and then back to her.

 

Dramatically clutching her chest, Ji-Hye huffed, “How dare you think I would only play this game- which holds sentimental value because of a prize.”

 

“I don’t know, maybe ‘cause the prize is skill books and you hate fish.” 

 

“You know me so well,” Ji-Hye laughed, giving up the façade. “What are you waiting for? Grab a net. If we don’t win a pod, we can make some good money selling these skills.”

 

However, before she could get her hopes up, the NPC running the booth crushed them quickly. “A reminder, sir, madam, you are only allowed to do 1 round of 3 turns every 30 minutes.”

 

 “No!” Ji-Hye yelled dishearteningly, knowing that she couldn’t just camp out at this booth until the main event started.

 

Luckily for Ari, he already had an inkling that the DEVs would have a trick up their sleeves, so this revelation did not bother him at all.

 

You can find story with these keywords: Oasis Online: The Toymaker, Read Oasis Online: The Toymaker, Oasis Online: The Toymaker novel, Oasis Online: The Toymaker book, Oasis Online: The Toymaker story, Oasis Online: The Toymaker full, Oasis Online: The Toymaker Latest Chapter