Chapter 54: The Future is Now

  “Alright, hear me out,” Jonah said, holding up a slice of cake like it was an ancient relic. “What if we just bribe Horizon High to take it easy on us? If they knew about this cafe, they’d forfeit the tournament just to eat here.”

  “You think they’d give up their precious rivalry for cake? Doubt it," Scarlette scoffed.

  “They should,” Jonah said. “Priorities, people.”

  The table burst into laughter. Despite the looming tournament, the mood was surprisingly light. The five of us were seated at a corner cafe table in the school mall, just a floor below the arcade entrance.

  “Really appreciate you guys paying for the food, though,” I interjected, gesturing toward the last slice on my plate. While our group did receive a significant amount of credit for placing first in the sash competition for the camp, it was always nice to have someone else pay for your meal.

  “Just a little something for you and Scarlette before the big tournament!” Kaede winked. “Besides, you asked us to come here because of—” her voice dropped to a whisper “—the DreamPods, right?”

  Scarlette nodded. “If Cadel’s hunch is right, the lowest-seeded 16 students from yesterday should be showing up any minute now.”

  According to yesterday’s briefing, the students were supposed to gather in the auditorium at 6 PM. If everything went according to plan—and if my theory was correct—they’d soon be brought to the arcade for a live demonstration of the DreamPods. I glanced at my watch: 6:18 PM.

  Jonah popped another bite of frosting into his mouth. “What happens if your hunch is wrong? Do we just sit here awkwardly while nothing happens?”

  I shrugged. “Then we finish our cake and enjoy a quiet evening.”

  “If I die of boredom, please revive me,” Jonah whispered in Mira’s direction.

  “If I could bring someone back from the dead, I’d be a 6-Star at least,” quipped Mira. “I hope Cadel’s right though. I’m kinda interested to see the DreamPods in action.”

  “Psst, look,” Scarlette gestured, flicking her head in the direction of the arcade.

  We followed her gaze. A group of students were filing onto to the escalator leading up to the arcade, led by none other than the man himself, Dr Connor. His sharp suit and commanding presence were hard to miss.

  “There they are,” Scarlette murmured.

  The unusual scene had caught not just our attention but a number of curious onlookers as well. Students around the mall began whispering and pointing, their eyes fixed on the group trailing behind Dr Connor. The participants, however, walked awkwardly behind him.

  Jonah whistled softly. “Well, I’ll be damned. You were right.”

  “Let’s go,” I said. We made our way toward the escalator, joining a small but growing crowd of students wanting to catch a glimpse of the commotion upstairs.

  The entire arcade was currently fully barricaded with construction partitioning, but the professor seemed unfazed by the obstruction. Instead, he stepped towards the railing overlooking the mall foyer and pulled out a small, glowing cube.

  “Attention, everyone,” Dr Connor’s voice rang out, amplified across the entire mall. The chatter below quietened instantly as students all over paused to listen.

  “As some of you may have already heard from the rumours circulating around the school, we will be integrating DreamPod technology into our arcade. However, let me clarify: these will not be used during the actual tournament. Instead, they will serve as a tool to assess the 16 lowest-seeded students and finalise the participant list for the Intra-District Games.”

  The crowd murmured as a mix of intrigue and confusion spread.

  Dr Connor continued, “The DreamPods are state-of-the-art combat simulation devices, designed to create realistic scenarios tailored to the Abilities of their users. They’ve been certified for safety and offer a controlled environment for training and evaluation. Tonight’s surprise demonstration will allow us to test their performance in a competitive setting.”

  He gestured toward the group who looked even more self-conscious now. "These students behind me represent the bottom-seeded candidates for this year’s Games. They will be testing the DreamPods in a series of duels to prove their worth.”

  Jonah leaned in and whispered, “He’s really going for the whole dramatic reveal thing, huh?”

  The professor wasn’t done. He raised the cube again, and the partitions began to move, gradually sliding back to reveal the arcade. The room beyond was awash with a multitude of colours, filled with rows of vintage arcade equipment and modern VR setups. However, the main attraction of the room was the row of sleek, futuristic pods that gave off a faint bluish glow along the far wall.

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  A few holographic projectors dotted the ceiling, displaying animated advertisements for various games. A couple of staff members and security guards emerged from within the arcade, standing alert near what was likely a hidden back entrance.

  “Participants, step forward,” Dr Connor instructed.

  The selected students hesitated, exchanging uneasy looks before reluctantly obeying his orders.

  As the crowd in the mall overcame their shock at the surprise event, they started rushing towards the arcade. The guards rushed forward to keep things orderly.

  “Looks like the show’s starting,” Kaede whispered.

  “And we’ve got front-row seats,” Jonah added with a grin.

  There appeared to be exactly 16 of these pods in the arcade. A coincidence? Dr Connor stood off to the side, observing silently as staff members guided the students through the setup process.

  “Place your hands on the panel,” one staff member instructed, demonstrating on an unoccupied pod. “The system will scan your Ability and calibrate the simulation accordingly.”

  The first student, a girl with short brown hair, hesitated before pressing her hands against the glowing panel. The pod hummed to life, its interior lighting up with swirling patterns of light. It was lying near horizontally, with a slight angular tilt downwards. The girl cautiously stepped in as instructed.

  After a couple of safety checks, the staff member carefully secured a helmet-like device on her head, with wires trailing from its sides. The helmet fully enclosed her face, leaving her expression hidden as the pod’s glass lid slid shut. Its translucent, bluish surface of the lid offered a faint view of her silhouette.

  One by one, the remaining 15 students clambered into their respective pods. After a couple of minutes, everything looked like it was ready.

  “All participants, prepare for initialisation,” Dr Connor announced. “The rest of you, please step back and maintain a safe distance from the pods. The simulations will be broadcasted in real-time on the monitors above.”

  Overhead, large monitors blinked to life, revealing a series of vivid landscapes. Positioned right in front of one screen, I observed it was showing a dense forest, the viewpoint resembling that of a hovering drone. On the feed, the brown-haired girl appeared, standing tensely about fifty meters from a plump-looking boy. Both seemed unsure of what to do next as they faced each other.

  “Participants, your objective is simple. Your task is to incapacitate your opponent. Any injuries sustained within the DreamVerse will not translate to real life, so you are free to act without restraint. However, the DreamPod will still monitor your real-world vitals. In the unlikely event that they should they somehow enter critical thresholds, the system will immediately log you out of the DreamVerse and safely bring you back to consciousness. We also have a medical team on standby.”

  “Right now, there are 8 battles taking place in a wide variety of simulated environments and landscapes. You should be able to see your opponent in front of you. Should you wish to communicate anything to us, you may simply voice it out. All audio is picked up by the system and we will react accordingly.”

  He paused dramatically to let the tension spill over.

  “If there are no further questions, let the battles… begin.”

  On the screen in front of me, the girl immediately charged at her opponent, who on the other hand seemed frozen in place. As she ran, the ground around her rippled, and small rocks began to swirl in the air. With a swift motion, she sent them flying in his direction.

  The boy, seemingly caught off guard, dashed for cover behind a tree. He seemed confused, as if he had no idea what was happening around him. Was this what they call sensory overload?

  The girl didn’t hesitate. She continued her pursuit, rapidly closing the distance between them. Larger rocks were now being hurled at the boy, who was still scurrying away from her. Some of the rocks hit its mark, causing him to grimace in pain.

  Just when it looked like the battle would be totally one-sided, the boy seemed to compose himself. His legs started morphing. They grew in size, taking on the shape of a frog’s, and suddenly, he leapt forward with surprising agility. Each jump took him several meters in the air, closing the gap between them with ease.

  The girl’s eyes widened as she realised that the hunter was becoming the hunted. She quickly spun on her heel, running away from him while conjuring up a whirlwind of dust, sticks, and leaves to obscure his vision. The boy charged through it, but the dust cloud seemed to slow him down just enough for the girl to gain some distance.

  At that moment, a collective gasp rose from the crowd. Something had happened in one of the other matches.

  “Look!” Kaede exclaimed, pointing towards another monitor just a few meters away.

  On the screen, a boy stood victorious over his opponent, whose torso had been sliced clean in half. The pair of them seemed to be in what looked like a large, dimly lit cavern. The system had censored the injury, as the exposed insides glowed bright red instead of showing any blood or gore.

  “Congratulations to Asher Marez of Class 1P!” a robotic female voice announced from the arcade speakers. “You are moving on to the next round. Marcus Beckett of Class 1K, you are eliminated.”

  A low hiss of escaping air signalled that one of the DreamPods was opening. The boy named Marcus stepped out, staring confusedly at his midsection.

  “Damn, what happened there?” I asked.

  “I wasn’t really watching that fight so I don’t know, but it must’ve happened quickly,” Scarlette replied.

  “Yeah, I didn’t see it either,” Kaede added.

  I turned back to the ongoing battle. The girl was still pressing her advantage, throwing rocks that pummelled the boy into exhaustion. He had barely caught up with her, but he was now on his knees, struggling for breath.

  Without warning, a large rock slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious.

  “Congratulations to Sophia Timber of Class 1D!”

  The robotic voice continued to announce the results as students were ejected from their DreamPods one after another. Each elimination brought a new wave of reactions from the crowd.

  One student in particular caught Scarlette’s attention. It was another fire esper, but their control wasn’t nearly as refined as hers. She watched the flames flicker with a small smirk.

  “Hehe, amateur,” she muttered under her breath.

  Soon enough, the first round of battles concluded. There was a brief pause as the system recalibrated and prepared the matchups for the second round. A few staff members were sitting at a nearby table as they typed away furiously on their laptops, presumably recording the results of each battle.

  Before long though, the system seemed to have finalised its preparations. The second round of the activity was about to begin.

  Value of Zero. It’s something I’ve been toying with for a while, and I’m really happy with how it’s shaping up. With this new project, I also want to refine the worldbuilding and power system in ways I feel I could have done better in Broke But Broken. For that story, I intend to have Patreon chapters right from the start.

  Value of Zero as the first chapter is free!), so feel free to check those out :) Once again, thank you for reading and supporting my work!