Chapter 3: Project 'AL'

Pulling up in front of a gargantuan building, an employee in a suit retrieved the wheelchair and hoisted me on it. Tilting my head upwards, I still failed to see the top of the building as it stood hidden behind the clouds.

Since I had accepted the invite, I simply had Will help me to Claus's car before we reached here, as he already assured me that they would take good care of me during my visit.

Wheeling past the lobby, I could see the receptionists doing their work as they smiled lightly while they met my eyes. The smell of rose lingered gently. 

The main atmosphere of the building felt welcoming as I was wheeled through several labs and experimenting rooms, witnessing the people as they worked on the awesome VR tech devices that would make most young VR geeks drool.

However, as soon as we entered a certain wide lobby, a large piece of machinery that was situated in the very middle of it immediately caught my eye. 

"The.. VDoc!"

This exquisite piece of technology was actually the ultimate medical device that was currently under research, which operated medical surgeries using virtual tech that supported almost 100% accuracy, making it one of the experimental machines that could actually perform a recovery surgery for my dysfunctional nerves, possibly curing my whole condition and allowing me to live like a normal human being!

This was possibly my ticket to survival! Could this 'project' possibly be giving me the opportunity to recover just for their Charity PR? 

Deep in thought, I absent-mindedly continued on with the tour, I've seen whatever I needed to see and if they could give me a chance to extend my life I would take it! 

Pushing me into a conference room, Claus gave me a pat on my shoulder before sitting down in front of me. 

"So, after giving you a tour of our facilities, let's get to the crux of the matter. I believe you've seen the VDoc and you should know that it can completely cure your nerve failure. With that being said..." 

"What's the catch? If it was a charity case, you would have been upfront about it at my place, you needn't show it to me in an attempt to tempt me," I said calmly while looking directly into his eyes, if I were to be negotiating, I cannot show weakness, not now while the solution to my problems is so close in front of me. 

"As expected, Mr Cloud, you catch up really quickly, I like working with smart people, But to answer your question, I have to first tell you a story." 

Claus said with a wry smile, before he cleared his throat and spoke again. 

"Not too long ago, A VR company had set up a single goal, to create an impeccable virtual world, one that would act like another reality to its users, an 'another life' so to speak.

Having created several VR games that won numerous accolades, that company was still shy of achieving its goal. Resigning to fate, believing that it might be the case that it's just an impossibility, they had almost given up. 

However, they still decided to give it one last try. That was how project AL came to be, being launched as the last attempt to crack this 'Impossibility' and create a place where we could totally live 'Another Life'...

That last ditch attempt surprisingly succeeded and that company, or more accurately, we were able to create the Ultimate VR game, a simulation indistinguishable to reality," 

Claus briefly stopped in the middle as breathed in before continuing, 

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"But here-in lay the problem, the simulation was simply too unstable, the only complete server was almost destroyed in an instant, almost causing years of research to go down the drain, which gave the game its name, 'The Lost Realm'."

"Of course, in the field of gaming, we opted for beta testing to understand what might be causing this instability, however, the results were less than desirable, causing deaths of the beta testers due to the difficulty of the game that got unpredictably raised by a few levels higher than intended. If only that was the only mishap then it would have been better, but... "

Claus took a cloth and wiped his sweat before continuing.

"Though it was only an in-game death, the shocking part was that their death in the game extended to reality, the testers were found dead in their capsules following their log-out of the game!

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the cause was the game's instability, the neural connection that the players had with the system was too tightly connected to allow access to the unstable server, which caused the game to directly 'fry' their nervous system, becoming an unsolvable dilemma that haunted the progress of project AL..."

Looking directly towards me, Claus' tone turned serious. 

"As such, we have started searching for Beta Testers who could actually survive in 'The Lost Realm' long enough without dying so we could finish our testing and establish a more stable linkage that wouldn't be deadly to the gamers, and we… want you to be one of these Beta Testers." 

After listening to the story, I furrowed by eyebrows as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my cheeks. 

"You want me? A terminal cripple to be one of your beta testers?" 

The whole thing seemed ridiculous much like a story out of a webnovel, But with an existence like Virtual Domain it wouldn't really seem like much of a stretch. 

"You're asking me to be a beta tester because you thought, 'Since he's terminal, he's going to die anyway' right?" 

I became increasingly agitated, a company with the resources to cure me wanted to use me as their guinea pig for something that could potentially end my life, the contradiction was a bit too much.

"That's not true Mr Cloud. You are blessed with remarkable intelligence, but unfortunately with that intelligence you were given a body that cannot function properly. However, in 'The lost realm' you would have your full body functions, you can learn how to move the way a normal body does. Of course, as long as you survive there, which shouldn't be completely impossible if your physical flaw is no longer a problem, we will dedicate our resources to heal using the VDoc, learning your motor skill in game while waiting to get healed is a win-win situation no?" 

Claus spoke calmly, it was obvious that negotiating and persuasion was his strong suit. I stood no chance in my current situation. I bit my lip as the thoughts ran through my mind.

The authenticity of Claus's words was questionable, but the choice was straightforward. Either die a death in a death game with a chance of being healed or rot in a hospital bed waiting for a sure death. 

"Now Mr Cloud, there is no need to look at me this way, I'm not forcing you to do anything, afterall the choice is yours. I would have given you more time to think about it if I could, but we are both running short on that and I will need an answer from you now. Remember, we miss 100% of the shots we don't take…"

I grit my teeth as my heart pounded faster and faster as I gave my decision, "I…"

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