The King's Mandate: Anomalous System

"Das." She asked.

"Hmm?" I turned to look at her.

"Do you love me?" She asked softly.

"Shut up." I replied.

Do I love her? 

Let's be honest. How can I like a girl who plays games all day? I will never fall for a gamer girl… or, so I thought when I started going out with her but now… I love her.

"Das." She said again.

"Hmm?" I said softly.

"Actually, I was playing a game the whole night yesterday." She said guiltily.

"..."

I know that already. 

Why are you saying it now?

"Hey Das, I know I promised that I would spend less time playing, but…" She took a deep breath and said, "I have been playing the same game for the last couple of weeks." She confessed solemnly.

"I see." I said.

"Please don't break up with me." She said softly.

"...."

Huh? Break up? 

"Listen, Elena...." I said slowly.

How do I clear up the misunderstanding? Wait, maybe if I say that I love her then...

"Elena, I...I...I won't break up with you for that reason, don't worry." I stuttered my way through.

Heh! I should start practicing. 

I would have never imagined I would fall into this state. 

How admirable I was six months ago, and how deplorable I am right now.

"Really?!" She exclaimed as she closed her distance to me.

I made some distance between us and said, "Yeah."

"Thanks, I really love you!" She said.

She hugged me tightly, snuggling close to my arm, a smile lighting up her face. How can she say I love you with such a straight face?!

"Das," She looked at me, biting her soft bottom lip. 

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you to do something?"

"Yeah, sure"

What will she ask? Go home together again? Go on a date? Maybe she wants some money? Or maybe she needs help with the study? As long as she wants, there's nothing I can't do.

"There is a VR game I am playing since a month, and I want you to play that VR game with me"

I take that back, there is something I can't do.

"VR game? You mean that virtual reality game where you put a helmet on your head and dive into the VR world?"

They have been getting more and more famous lately.

"It's not a helmet, it's called dive gear," She laughed. 

"Yeah… that," I raised my eyebrow and said, "Why do you want me to play that?" 

She knows very well how much I hate games.

They are a distraction, nothing else.

"It's awesome, it's like the real world, you can do anything you want there, it's even more amazing than the real world," She pulled on my hand, eyes gleaming with excitement. 

"Okay, okay, I get it, now stop jumping."

"So, will you play it?"

"Is it safe? I mean didn't something happen with the world's first VR game, they were trapped in the game or something?" I vaguely remembered reading about it.

I lost count of how many times I tried to search about it again, but nothing came up. It was like all the information about it was deleted.

There have been many riots because of the VR tragedy of thirty years ago. 

"Yeah, that was 30 years ago. It's okay now, there are lots of VR games in the market. It's totally safe now." She assured me. 

"Well, if you say so," I said dubiously. 

"By the way, Das." She matched my pace and said, "If by any chance I got trapped in a VR game, will you come to save me?"

"If you are trapped doesn't that mean no one can log in from outside?" I commented, in a deadpan manner. 

I got punched in the back. 

Did I say anything to make her angry?

I mean, I know what she wanted me to say, but I am a logical person.

"Tch!" She clicked her tongue and said, "You are not romantic at all" 

She was pouting, her pink lips pushed out in a cute 'O'. 

"Well, I mean, I can't come and save you but I will wait for you to wake up, even if it takes forever."

She suddenly hugged me, her sweet scent clinging to my body. 

Did I say something to make her happy? Though I replied logically this time too.

"So?" She pointed her gaze at me.

"Hmm?"

"Will you play it with me?"

"Well, if that's what you want then, sure," I reluctantly gave in. I couldn't say no to her how much ever I tried after all. 

"Thank you! I love you so much!" She beamed again. 

If that's what she wants me to do then I really don't mind playing the game. 

"So, what's the game's name?"

"Len World Online"

"Oh--!"

My headache as if someone had punched my brain. And why do I feel like I know this game?

I started searching for it on the internet. Damn, there are so many VR games.  contemporary romance

Let's see.. here it is; Len World Online. Hey, isn't that a bit...

"It's expensive" 

"Yeah it is, but this one is perfect"

"Is that so?"

"Definitely," She said with a serious look.

Only if she was this serious about studying.

I bought the game with express delivery.

"Now, time to buy VR Gear"

"The game doesn't give one?"

"Of course not. You need to buy it separately. VR gear and the game has nothing to do with each other"

They should sell combos instead, but I can see the reason why there isn't.

The VR gear companies compete with each other. If the game becomes exclusive for any VR gear, it can either become a hit or a flop.

I searched for VR gears. There are too many with different price ranges, not that money was a problem for me.

"Which one is better?" I nudged her and said, "Help me out"

"Here, this one is Zek VR-3.2, I have the same"

"Okay, then, I will buy the same--!" I announced.

"What happened?" Elena asked, as I had suddenly paused.

"They also seem to have an upgraded version, Zek VR-4.0" I said.

"What? Did they release the new one already? Weird, there wasn't any announcement about it." She said confused.

"Looks like it." I said.

"So, you're going to buy that one?" She asked.

"Well it's triple the price of the one you have but yeah, I will buy this one." I said.

done.co