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The virtual universe was really well made. Cedric almost couldn't tell that it's all virtual because the presence of concept laws here was just as rich as it was in reality.
Cedric stood inside the V-hub just looking at his surroundings. He was familiarizing himself with it like he usually does whenever he arrives at a foreign place.
The interior design of the V-hub he's in was humble and plain. The walls were made with cocrete and white marble tiles; it's clean, and the air inside smells like citrus. There were a bunch of paintings on the wall and matte velvet silks draped across the beams, giving it some semblance of a sophisticated look.
There were a lot of people going to and from inside. This was his first time seeing this many non-human creatures at once, and it felt a bit refreshing. It's this sight that made him realize that he truly was inside a completely different world, one that is greater than any other VR games he had tried back home.
He wasn't the only one standing there gawking at the surroundings. There were at least fifteen more people beside him who're doing the same. Some of them looked panicked and overwhelmed by this new world; others were the same but were trying their best to keep their cool.
Cedric easily guessed that this must be their first time arriving here as well. It's not that hard to notice with how they reacted after all. He could also see some creatures watching them with amusement as they stood there gawking at their surroundings.
All of this observation occurred to Cedric in an instant. Afterwards, he recovered from his initial shock and opened the system interface to look at the map provided in there. He pinned his destination and began walking out of the hub since there was nothing much to see here anymore.
He'd only ever come here if he needed to be transported somewhere else; other than that, this place is just another infrastructure to him.
The communal world, referring to worlds or planets transformed into living spaces for common citizens of the alliance members on the virtual universe, he chose greatly resembled Prime Earth.
Aside from having three moons for some reason, it looked relatively the same; it has clear blue skies, vast fields of vegetation and forests, tall mountains, white clouds, and had its own sun as well.
The air was crisp, clean, and cool. He could also sense the abundance of natural energies and spirituality in his surroundings, making this place a prime location for life evolvers to train.
As he walked towards his designated abode here, he passed through several places of interest; he saw malls, inns, hotels, food stalls, small shops, etc. From his observations so far, they use something called 'Alliance Cash/Coins/Credits (ACs)' as currency here, but there were also a few shops that deal with bartering/trading as well.
He could look for jobs too, not just for the sake of earning more ACs but to familiarize himself with the life of a citizen in the alliance. His advantages could only take him so far, after all. And just like the rest, Cedric also wants to upgrade his citizenship as soon as possible.
Right, speaking of citizenship, the rank goes like this: Common Citizen, Valued Citizen, High Citizen, Treasured Citizen, and finally, Cosmic Citizen.
The higher you climb this social ladder, the more difficult it is to upgrade it. Of course, the higher your social status, the more privilege you can get. It could be as common as an upgrade to your monthly AC allowance or as wild as diplomatic immunity.
Of course, there are other ways to gain more privileges and many more social titles available out there, but this was the most direct and commonly known way to do it.
More importantly, these titles aren't just limited to the virtual universe. Their effect also applies to the real world under the assumption that they were within the alliance.
Cedric postponed looking for a job right now. It's his first day anyway, and there were too many job postings to look at. This isn't the way he wanted to spend his first day here.
So instead, he explored the system functions that January told him about. The one that got his attention the most was the Combat Arena.
It's inevitable that there will be some friction between people. After all, nobody can expect everybody to get along.
Fighting in public is prohibited in any communal world, yet conflicts couldn't be avoided completely or solved through diplomacy all the time, so to remedy that, they've built a combat arena where people can release their aggressiveness in a controlled manner and prevent chaos from erupting.
The Combat Arena isn't just a place of people or creatures with too much pent-up aggression. It is also a place where they can see the difference between this race and the next. It's a place where new people can broaden their horizons and hone their combat capabilities. Plus, it's in the nature of a life evolver to seek heated battles.
It'd be a damn shame if the alliance couldn't provide something as simple as that.
Cedric himself was greatly interested; after all, this was his first time seeing many people from different races at once. He's curious about their skills, abilities, and advantages compared to a human like him. And if possible, he wants to face them in combat as well, since Lord knows that he's tired of the one-sided beating that he usually gets during his trials at the tower.
The best part is that he doesn't need to go to the physical location of the Combat Arena in the Virtual Universe unless he's participating or wants to watch the battles in person. He could just open the livestream from anywhere and watch how the battles go.
And that's how Cedric saw a fight between two unknown creatures to him for the first time.