Chapter 437 - Doting Grandpa (II)

Xiong Zhi decided to tour Old Xiong to the seven main attractions in ArtWorld.

Even though the old man was old and traditional, he still found the carefully designed streets and exquisite parks in ArtWorld novel and amazing.

The machineries, architecture, and facilities were truly forward-looking, top-grade, and of the highest quality.

This kind of amus.e.m.e.nt park would definitely be on top of the world in the hundred years to come. Too bad, with his old body, he could not run around like those young ones.

During the tour, he saw some familiar faces.

"Hold on, is that Yin An who's screaming his lungs out at the top?" Old Xiong asked his butler, looking up at one of the rides.

Butler Zhou adjusted his glasses, looked closely, and confirmed.

"Master's eyesight did not turn bad after long years. That is indeed Yin An. By his side is Er Bin and Sang Chin."

Old Xiong: "..."

These men who are obviously not so young anymore really got some thick face to try that spinning wheel! Aren't they afraid that their heads would snap out of their body?!

"Do you also want to try, grandfather? I can tell my employees to lower the speed," Xiong Zhi asked by his side.

"Humph! Who wants to try that childish ride! When I was young, I tried all of it!"

Though that was a lie, he was not a bit jealous at all of those shameless men, no! Humph!

"Alright. Let's go on then."

After Xiong Zhi showed the old man the main attractions, she put her plan into action.

They arrived at the Virtual Reality Chronicle, which they called VRC for short. It was a futuristic-themed building.

Since it was the opening and they rode the private rail car, they were the first group of people to arrive at the Virtual Reality Chronicle.

Old Xiong became the first visitor of this attraction.

"What's in here?"

"It's a place where you can enjoy yourself just by sitting in one place. Of course, you can also walk, run, and do some movements whenever you like."

"Oh?"

"It's through Virtual Reality. VR games are on the rise, but ours are the most advanced ones out. We had a contract to upgrade the facilities and equipment in return of funding projects."

"Virtual Reality, huh. I remember our company investing in such a project before. It's good to see you are delving into it, it is bound to be a future seed player in the international market… We also put our hands in AI technology, remember that project I mentioned to you some time ago…"

While her grandfather took the chance to educate and guide her of some matters in the Xiong Empire, Xiong Zhi led Old Xiong to a very spacious room inside the building.

The wall of every room was in tinted glass on the outside, but inside, the wall was mirrored. The floor was lighting up on their every step.

Inside the room, there were several sets of sensory helmets with goggles, sensory gloves, and nerve detector seats that were connected to the circuits on the floor.

"This is the first version of VRC. We are still working on version II with a promising IT company specializing on this technology. Try this, grandfather. You'll see how amazing this VRC can be."

Old Xiong touched the helmet. It was heavy. Inside, he could see sensors.

These sensors, as Xiong Zhi explained, could catch the nerve signals in the brain and neck.

"For starters, try to sit here." Old Xiong followed his granddaughter's suggestion and sat down.

It was surprisingly soft, as if there was liquid inside.

The seat immediately moved and adjusted its position to comfortably nestle Old Xiong's body figure.

He was almost embedded inside "Guh, this thing, is this trying to swallow me?!"

Old Xiong was inwardly shocked and yelled angrily in surprise.

Butler Zhou moved to help the old man.

Xiong Zhi stopped him.

"Don't worry. It's not dangerous. This is how it works. It's analyzing your body weight and the structure of your bones. With this, VRC will adjust its game settings based on your body mass. Later, it will imitate the settings inside the game to simulate the sensory experience."

Xiong Zhi then put the helmet on his head and the gloves on his hands.

A pair of thin but tall fiber boots rose from under the seat and enclosed his feet inside.

"With this, you can see and feel the things and texture of everything in VRC. Of course, except taste. VRC is still working on that, it might take a long while. I hope you enjoy the game, grandfather. Don't worry, Butler Zhou will follow you soon in-game."

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Old Xiong's eyes were covered by the helmet, so he could not see anything.

"The system will tell you. There's a tutorial option in there too."

"Wait, hold on—"

[Initializing game… Player 000001 is entering ArtWorld: Virtual Reality Chronicle! Please create your name.]

A sweet voice sounded in Old Xiong's ears.

In front of him, a huge white screen appeared and written below a blank line were the words 'Create Your Name'.

"What is this, Zhi'er?! How do I do this?" Old Xiong panicked.

He was in a room with his granddaughter and butler earlier, but why was he alone inside this empty sky-blue room now!

"Zhi'er!"

"Calm down, grandfather. Try to move your fingers."

Old Xiong clam down. His granddaughter was still with him. So he moved his fingers and a key board appeared.

"Oh, I see a keyboard."

"Then try to type your name. Actually, the AI of VRC can recognize speech patterns, so you can just ask the AI. You can use any name you want. Ironman, Superman, Lao Tzu, Sun Wukong, anything. You can be anyone in there, grandfather."

Xiong Zhi's voice was like that of the devil persuading a man to succ.u.mb on his greed.

Old Xiong gulped.

Anything I want?

"If I put a name here, who would know?"

"No one. This is the creative section with the highest privacy function. Only you and the system will know."

Because people can also try to create and design their Virtual World, they had anticipated that many people with professions related to design, architecture, and creation would likely patronize this feature. All this needed personal privacy.

"...Alright."

Old Xiong did not use the speech function and instead typed.

He first typed 'Almighty Grandpa Xiong', but hesitated and finally changed it to 'Doting Grandpa'.

Slightly blushing, he said, "I'm done!"

"Alright. Then just follow what the system will be telling you. The sound isolation will start now, so you can't hear us later. Don't worry, Butler Zhou will follow you inside."

"Alright!" Old Xiong seemed happy in choosing his name.

The game started and a small enclosure rose from the ground to isolate the individual inside from outside influences. It would also block the noise from inside. This enclosure could also simulate the environmental settings in-game, such as temperature or wind strength and direction.

Xiong Zhi then looked at butler Zhou who was checking the equipment.

"Now, Butler Zhou, it's your turn."

"…Must I really try that?"

"Yes, grandfather will need you in-game."

Butler Zhou had no choice but to sit down and succ.u.mb to the game.

After making sure that the two was immersed in the virtual world, Xiong Zhi called an attendant to keep watch and then went to the control room.

She told her employees to make the two people in the VIP room stay inside for three hours.

After this incident, Xiong Zhi had no idea that after a year, the name 'Doting Grandpa' and 'Poor Middleman' would rock the entire virtual reality game in ArtWorld, topping the game rankings.

Though of course, she would not care about that so much as she would be busy with other matters.

As of now, she had a clear goal today.

Her phoenix eyes shone.

The aloof lady in an elegant dress fished out her phone and dialed.

"Zhi'er, where are you?"

His gentle husky voice brought out a small smile on her face.

Finally, they would have the time to enjoy ArtWorld with just the two of them like every other couple out on a date.

"I'm here in Virtual Reality Chronicle, in the futuristic area. I'll wait for you."

*****

Additional Scene: 

The butler- the one that Zhou Min ordered to get the snack- arrived at ArtWorld. After tracking down the head butler's position, he arrived at VRC.

Butler: Excuse me, I believed our head butler and Master was inside this booth. Can you tell me where they are?

Employee: Oh, please excuse me for a moment.

The employee called Xiong Zhi.

"Ma'am, there was a butler looking for the people in VIP one. "

Xiong Zhi who was a bit annoyed by the interruption: What for?

Butler: It's for snacks that head butler Zhou ordered us to get.

The employee delivered the reply to Xiong Zhi.

Xiong Zhi who was still in the bad mood: Just tell him to leave it there. And don't disturb the two, understood? If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."

"Oh, alright, Ma'am. I apologize for bothering you." The employee sweated. The voice on the other line was so cold. She thought she would get fired.

The employee faced the butler: Boss' said to leave it here. The two guests are still immersed in their play. I am sorry. We cannot allow you to go there and we could not let you interrupt the player during their game hours.

Butler: ...Head butler and Master were...playing?

Employee: Yes. They actually cleared level two dungeon now. 

The employee pointed at the big screen in the waiting area.

There was an announcement on the screen.

[Doting Grandpa's Party cleared the Dungeons! Congratulations! Current Status: Number 1 and Number 2 rank in ArtWorld]

Butler: ....How many people were playing here..?

Employee: The two guests are the first ones. Would you like to try? There are plenty of rooms to choose from.

Butler: ...just for thirty minutes. 

He was not slacking at all in his job, ah. He had to meet his superior and his Master in the game and report that he had already delivered the snacks.

But three hours later, the party of two became the party of three clearing the tenth dungeon.