Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 31 - 19 Eternal Dimension

31: Chapter 19 Eternal Dimension

31 -19 Eternal Dimension

Upon reflection, Asa Katsuragi’s strategy was also an act of desperation.

If you opt for cybernetic implants, the most basic bundle of neural current conductors is a must, with the cheapest costing 1,000, and the more expensive ones reaching 50,000 or even 200,000.

They form the base for the performance of subsequent implants and are quite difficult to replace, so one normally has to invest in a good set from the start.

I myself took out a loan of 100,000 for mine, and if she accumulated debt, her life would never be easy.

Once the neural currents are properly configured, what comes next?

Hydraulic muscles, neural reaction assistance, adrenaline stimulators, optical scanning eyes, joint reinforcement, retractable arm blades, metabolic enhancers, pain-blocking devices, hearing amplification, electromagnetic blast protection…

human enhancements are endless, but they all come down to how much money you can spend.

What’s more ironic is that humans can’t keep up with machines.

Humans have to fill their bodies with implants just to barely match combat robots of the same price range.

That’s the very reason gangs buy so many mechanical fighters as well.

Asa Katsuragi will inevitably encounter development bottlenecks in the future.

What about me?

Xu Yang looked at the stitched scars on the back of his hand.

Should I continue to outfit myself with more implants?

These things also have side effects; the more internal implants one has, the more sensitive they become to electromagnetic pulses, not to mention that maintenance and replacements cost a hefty sum.

Those with a lot of implants are usually called modified humans, and they seldom die a natural death because implants are planned to become obsolete.

Long-lasting implants don’t align with corporate marketing strategies; they’re designed to have a limited lifespan, ensuring that customers must buy or upgrade new implants once the old ones are damaged.

That increases profits for corporations but creates endless health risks for individuals.

Therefore, Xu Yang approached further modifications to himself with extreme caution.

Enhancing the human body should be a good thing, but corporatism has turned it into a measure of quenching thirst with poison.

Just about everything else is the same when happiness is explicitly priced, its essence is dissolved, turning what should be pure joy into nothing more than brief respites amid unending toil.

Xu Yang took a sip of the coffee he had brewed, finding the taste exquisite, bitter yet with an aftertaste that was fragrant and subtly layered, refreshing and invigorating—not a cheap product. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

The leader of the Toshiaki Family Group sure knew how to enjoy life, a pity that his fortune had turned, leaving him dead in the corridor.

With the security system here, both myself and Farosa, including that temperamental Kanako, finally didn’t have to rely on others or live off the scraps of pity from the gangs.

This place is a good resting point, Xu Yang surveyed his surroundings, but it isn’t permanent.

We are currently trapped at the very bottom underground, and our primary goal is to survive long enough to make it to the surface, not to stay here fighting with Old Ratmen or getting involved in gang struggles.

He headed back to Suzuki Springs.

On the way, Xu Yang looked up and saw the huge ventilation system churning slowly.

In the darkness, the blades could be faintly seen moving at a sluggish pace, as if a clumsy giant was behind them, slowly turning them.

The surface also supplied some electricity, allowing it to run, albeit barely.

If we can’t leave Aizu City soon and get to the surface, we might suffocate down here at any moment.

Upon returning to Suzuki Springs, Xu Yang went around searching for Kanako and after quite a while, found them in the second-floor gaming room, immersed in a game.

They sat in the semi-transparent glass gaming pods with virtual helmets on their heads, which connected their minds to the virtual world using external devices.

This technology submerged their senses in simulated signals, elevating the gaming experience to new heights of realism.

Farosa definitely couldn’t handle such things; it must have been Kanako who helped her set it up.

“Hey—hey, got it!” Kanako was extremely excited, her voice coming from beneath the helmet, “Watch out, it’s coming your way!”

Farosa kept silent, and Xu Yang noticed real-time feedback lights on the side of the gaming pod, shimmering with colors.

Farosa’s side kept flashing red, seemingly related to taking damage in the game.

Then her side lit up with green and rainbow lights as though Farosa had accomplished some difficult maneuver.

“How are you so good at this?” Kanako shouted, “That’s it!

It’s dead!”

“If we smash its body, will it drop legendary materials?”

“It didn’t drop anything this time!”

“Then let’s find the next one, I haven’t had enough kills.”

“Eh, there’s an NPC coming, let’s take the quest.”

“Can we kill it?

That clothing he’s wearing looks great.”

Immersed in the game, Xu Yang sat down on the tatami, where handmade confections were placed on a low table.

He ate them while waiting for them to finish.

Farosa seemed uncomfortable wearing the virtual helmet and started fidgeting restlessly after another ten minutes of gameplay.

“How do I get out?” she asked, “I want to get out.”

“Ah, but we’re only halfway through, you still have two-thirds of your health left, just drink a potion for a full heal.”

“I don’t want to play anymore, I want to leave this place.”

“Just call out the menu to exit.”

“What?

How do I do that?”

“Raise your head to display it,, just tilt your neck back, and a menu will appear in the air.”

“No good, it flashed for a moment and then vanished.”

“Oh, it’s an old bug, let me see how to use the console to quit, I need to remember the command…”

“Hurry up, hurry up.” Farosa seemed very anxious.

Xu Yang used Digital Mind to connect to Farosa’s gaming pod and executed the shutdown program.

The limiter of the virtual helmet opened, rising upwards, and the numerous electrode patches and metal probes fell from Farosa’s head.

Her complexion was pale, and she was covered in sweat from overexcitement.

Kanako also turned off her own virtual game; her helmet opened, and she looked quite exhilarated.

“Farosa, you’re so good at this!” she said.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s your first time.”

“It’s…

it’s too real,” Farosa said weakly as Xu Yang walked over and helped her out of the gaming pod.

“That’s what makes it fun, how real it is,” Kanako said.

Kanako pulled the data card from the bottom of the gaming pod, and Xu Yang glanced at it.

It was the deluxe edition of “Eternal Dimension,” named so because the producers were determined to build a diverse virtual world for players to live and play in indefinitely.

The game was produced by Lighthouse Core’s subsidiary, O-Star Studio.

Xu Yang had also heard of this game; it was a hit in recent years.

The game world of Eternal Dimension was algorithmically generated; in theory, the map was infinitely large, and all tasks and plots were also written by AI.

Every day players could encounter various new adventures designed by AI, so they’d never feel unfamiliar or encounter repetitive content.

“This game is fun,” Xu Yang said.

He had never had a chance to play it, but it sounded interesting.

Inside, one could kill monsters, farm, eat and drink, ride horses, hunt, lead troops into battle, experience the changing of seasons, and all natural and physical properties were identical to the real world.

There was magic as well as firearms, and one could even jump to territories outside the main world—endless fun.

“Of course, it’s a pity I have too many games to play, or else I would focus solely on this one,” Kanako said.

“The entire map is shared; many early players have established their own countries, factions, and forces within it, as prosperous as in real life, with palace politics from various nations serialized on forums.

But the signal here is too weak to see other players or download new maps.”

“I think you can work and live inside,” Farosa took a deep breath, trying to calm her overly excited body and mind, “just like real life.”

“But with more direction,” Kanako said.

“Everything in the game is visualized; skills improve and level up as you train, and if you give gifts to NPCs, they will smile at you.

The approval ratings are right above their heads—it’s clear who’s good and who’s bad, and you always get rewards for your efforts.”

“But one can’t stay in the game forever; you still need to eat and drink,” Xu Yang said.

“It’s backed by high technology,” Kanako excitedly said, “It provides a new anti-death function.

When you sleep in the game, the helmet makes you truly fall asleep.

If you eat and drink in the game, the gaming pod will inject nutrient solution into our bodies.”

“What if you run out of nutrient solution?”

“You can use the in-game currency to have delivery companies send nutrient solution to your door using drones, which then can be loaded into the virtual pod.”

“Doesn’t that mean a whole bunch of people are living their lives in this game now?” Xu Yang marveled.

He had only heard rumors before but hadn’t realized how complex it was inside.

“Of course, there are already tens of millions of ‘Eternal Dimension’ inhabitants globally,” Kanako said.

“Perhaps this is the greatest weapon to dismantle corporatism,” Xu Yang said.

“Everyone would produce virtual data in the game, stop consuming, stop marrying, although things like marriage in the game can’t actually be real, right?”

“They can actually,” Kanako said.

“Supposedly it collects ‘that stuff,’ and then it’s shipped overseas to the other person.

In the virtual pod, one can go through a ten-month pregnancy, enter maternity care mode, and in the end, have a child that’s sent to a local foster care.”

If things kept going this way, wouldn’t it end up as a virtual world where all of humanity had tubes implanted in their brains?

After all, humans wouldn’t need to be awake anymore.

Maybe that was the ultimate goal of Lighthouse Core in authorizing the studio to develop this game.

Lighthouse Core was a cutting-edge giant corporation in the Western Hemisphere; they possessed the most advanced and mysterious technologies among all giant firms.

They didn’t have many employees, yet they were one of the most significant giants in the Corporate Alliance.

Farosa looked back at the gaming pod, still shaken.

“It’s truly amazing,” Farosa said, “The game…

is even more terrifying than the highest level of illusions from warlocks.

I felt different degrees of pain, ecstasy, and sorrow.

The grass under my feet and the breeze brushing my face felt so real, not the slightest hint of being fake.

Yet, I had no sense of being controlled; instead, I enjoyed myself.”

“You seemed to have a lot of fun killing in the game,” Xu Yang said.

“It would be great if I could use magic power in the game, but unfortunately, I can’t,” Farosa said with a peculiar smile.

“It seems that ‘games’ are ultimately made to serve humans, not witches.”

“If you enjoy playing, it means you’re under an illusion already, its name is ‘addiction.’ Fortunately, you can still tell right from wrong, and returned to this reality,” Xu Yang said.

“Playing games is a legitimate need,” Kanako said, “and she’s really good at it.”

“Me?

I’m really good?” Farosa curiously asked.

“Of course, your reaction speed is incredibly fast, and you…

did you memorize all the spells?

Your spell casting is so quick, I’ve practiced magic for 1400 hours in the game, but I don’t think I can memorize spells as fast as you,” Kanako said.

“It’s my first time playing,” Farosa said lightly, as if she was starting to understand the technology of this world better.

“That means you’re a gaming genius,” Xu Yang smiled, “and Kanako is just a gaming hermit.”

“Tsk…” Kanako pouted.

Xu Yang examined the gaming pod, thinking that if one were to use Digital Mind to modify server data, it would be like having an in-built cheat, becoming invincible from the start of the game and free to dominate at will.

“Put the game aside for now,” he said, “I have some great news to tell you both.”