LIGHTNOVELONLINE 14 – What fun
"Now, I can see that each of you is pretty tense about me knowing about your friends' situation, but I can guarantee you, I know much more than you could ever hope to imagine, hell, I bet I could entertain the Devil himself with some of the things I remember," I told them thoughtfully, realizing that God with a capital G and his children likely exist in this weird mash-up of a universe, and who knows, perhaps Lucifer himself is partying in a certain club in Los Angeles.
Of course that would also mean that things like the Celestials, the Cosmic Entities such as the Phoenix, Death, and so many more dangerous things could be lurking around the corners of Earth and the wider universe.
But, I won't worry about those things, especially since I shouldn't ever encounter them, and even if they did come to Earth, the heroes here will stop them from getting too far.
And now that I think about it, with time, some of my eventual customers should reach the point to be able to take on even Superman or Thor from the things they purchase from the Credit Store.
Just imagine an army of Assaultrons fighting against the Chitari when they invaded New York in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would have gone a lot differently, and probably wouldn't have ended up with so much destruction and death, at least on Humanity's side.
As for the heroes before me, I realized as soon as I accidentally revealed my knowledge about Firestorm being a combination of two different people, that keeping up an act wouldn't work.
So, I am not going to keep trying to keep up the act, they are either going to be walking out the door as hesitant customers, or enemies. Hopefully, because Diana and Firestorm are with Batman, Batman won't act against me for now.
Don't get me wrong, I could just kill them, but frankly, that would just be boring and more than likely lead to the entire planet turning on me and trying to kick me out, besides, it would certainly be interesting if I somehow manage to get a few hero customers, and, if they go through with this, I should soon see the reaction of one of them playing Fallout, the currently only published game, which honestly made me feel a bit giddy and excited, especially when they realize that they will be 'normal.'
That's right if someone like Superman or Wonder Woman played the games, they'd be forced to play on equal ground with the other players, meaning, no enhanced strength, speed, endurance, or even life span, they'll be as close to human as they can be.
And if the heroes decided they wanted to be hostile, I certainly wouldn't mind testing some of my spells and throwing them out of my Cafe.
"So, are you willing to try the VR Games I offer in my cafe or not?"
And much to my surprise, Batman was the first to actually step up.
"These...VR Computers...explain."
"Well, these computers act as an intermediary for Customers to gain access to the Credit System and the VR Games. Currently, there is only one VR Game available for Customers at this time, through these computers, you will experience a world so real, that you won't be able to tell the difference from the one we reside in now. In regards to the world of Fallout, I highly recommend Batman from going in, that is if he doesn't want to break his beliefs," I warned and informed the heroes, knowing full well Batman would suffer immensely in the world of Fallout due to his 'no-kill' policy.
"Why?" Firestorm finally spoke.
"Hmm, Wonder Woman," I looked over to Wonder Woman and asked, "Did you participate in either of the World Wars?"
"I did?" Wonder Woman asked, wondering where I was going with this.
"Okay, imagine a world ravaged by Nukes, a world where a 'Great War' escalated to the point of mutual destruction and a small percentage of the overall world population surviving, now, add horrible government and Company projects, mutated and lethal monsters and creatures, and you can get a small glimpse of what the world of Fallout is like," I explained.
I didn't want to delve too far into the working of Fallout and spoil too much, but if Batman were to be the one to go in, he'd more than likely be even more aggressive after leaving and maybe might even attack me, so Wonder Woman who has fought in either or both of the world wars, would be much more suited to the environment of Fallout, especially since more than likely, life was required to be taken.
I noticed that Wonder Woman seemed to get a little paler, and Batman's eyes hardened while Firestorm showed a look of understanding and worry, which made sense if Martin was riding as co-pilot in there, he'd be able to understand more about Fallout than the others.
Though that raises a question, if Firestorm entered the game, would they still stay combined or would they be separated somehow?
Focusing back on the situation at hand, "If anyone were to try it first, I honestly can only recommend Wonder Woman of all of you, to be frank, she is also more than likely the only one among you who has killed."
"Killed?" Batman said with a snarl.
"First of all, relax. Yes, I said 'killed,' the world she is about to enter is one filled with strife and chaos, and if you want to know more, you will have to enter yourselves."
Instantly determination appeared on Diana's face and she stepped forward.
"No, Wonder Woman, we don't know if this is a trap," Batman started only to get interrupted by Wonder Woman, "No, I will march on, you," she looked back to me, "will there be any danger to me or my associates if I go in?"
Tilting my 'head', I state, "Physical? Not if they attack me or do something warranting it, mental? You'd be the only one that could have issues with it if you go in the game and can't handle the experience."
Why the hell are they going through with this? I figured they would have attacked me by now, especially Batman.
It didn't make any sense, at least in my view, to them, I am an unknown entity that claims to have been on Earth for an unknown amount of time and am running a shop that sells items that can only be described as worrying.
Logically, they should be even more concerned than they already were, especially Batman of all heroes.
Was there just something wrong with this universe that led to the heroes being more tame or was there something else going on?
Pushing back that thought for now, I once again focused back on the situation at hand, having spent only a moment thinking due to most of my mind still being in the mental realms and experiencing time at a much faster rate.
To Wonder Woman's credit, she did not even falter for a moment before she stepped forward once again with determination.
"How do I do this, creature?"
"First, you must create an account, just sit down at any computer and the account creation screen will automatically appear before you."
Once she did, she created an account under the username of, "Wonder Woman" and proceeded to the Games tab.
"Just one thing before you begin, I do require a fee of $50 US Dollars per hour session you intend to play and don't worry, the fee will be well worth it, and you'll certainly get the time you paid for."
I was surprised to see Batman pull out a $100 US Dollar bill from his utility belt and offer it to me after grunting in what I can only assume to be annoyance.
Staring at him and the bill, I questioned him, "Just how many different things do you have in that belt?"
That's another mystery regarding Batman, for some ungodly reason, he seems to have the perfect tools for any situation, the Plot armor this man has is absurd.
Taking the money, I looked over to Wonder Woman, and said, "Enjoy your time, you now have two hours or 200 Days in the game before your time expires."
"Wait, did you just say 200 Days?" Firestorm finally spoke.
"That's right, time is accelerated inside the game, so, in the world of Fallout, 100 Days will have passed inside while only an hour passed out here."
"How is such a thing possible?" Firestorm asked with clear confusion.
"Trade Secret, just know that the time is accelerated inside," I informed them.
"I'm going in," clicking on the green play button, Wonder Woman's body froze like a statue in her chair, and an invisible sheen covered her body.
Seeing this, the two heroes left in the room jumped and walked over to her body, when Batman tried touching her, his hand bounced off.
'That's interesting, is a barrier around her body?' I wondered.
"What's happening to her?" Batman quickly stomped toward me and growled.
"She is currently in the game, more than likely she's creating her character at the moment, as for her body, it is being protected," I state calmly.
Then I had an idea, could I make the three of us Spectators?
Putting one part of my mind to work on the feature, I asked the two heroes if they wanted to spectate the game with me.
"And if it's a trap?" Batman asked, paranoid as usual.
"First off, I am going with you, second off, If I wanted to harm any of you, you'd already be dead, third, I am curious to see your reactions, along with hers."