Chapter 12: The Virtual Reality Helmet
Although Li Nuo had agreed to An Ran'er's request, he regretted it afterward.
Even if she really found a way for a boy like him to join a girl group, what would happen after that?
He would have to record songs with them and perform on stage with them. When he appeared at a concert, everyone would discover that he had a male body but a female singing voice.
The truth was, there was another reason he had agreed.
He genuinely wanted to stand on a bigger stage and let more people hear his singing.
But right now, he felt that he was not mentally prepared for something like that, nor did he have the courage to do it.
Everything had happened too suddenly, catching him completely off guard.
All kinds of worries filled his mind, causing him to sleep poorly all night.
When he finally woke up the next day, it was already noon.
It was Sunday, and he had already made plans to visit Zhou Qikuan's house.
After a quick wash and a simple meal to fill his stomach, he headed out.
No matter how many times he visited Zhou Qikuan's home, Li Nuo always had the same thought. Being rich is really nice.
As soon as he arrived at the front gate, a middle-aged man dressed as a butler was already waiting to greet him.
"Are you Mr. Li?"
"Uh, yes."
"Young Master is busy at the moment. He informed me earlier that I should guide you here."
"Thank you."
"This way, please."
Even though this was simply a butler's job, Li Nuo still felt uncomfortable being treated so respectfully by someone old enough to be his father.
After walking for several minutes, they arrived at a building different from the one he had visited before.
Once he was brought there, the old butler quietly left.
As soon as Li Nuo entered, he saw all kinds of gaming equipment and consoles inside.
But what caught his attention the most was Zhou Qikuan, who was lying in a futuristic massage chair that looked like a space capsule.
On his head was a device that looked like a helmet.
His eyes were closed, making him look as if he were asleep.
Li Nuo did not wake him up. Instead, he sat nearby and quietly watched.
About ten minutes later, Zhou Qikuan finally woke up.
The moment he opened his eyes and saw Li Nuo, he asked,
"When did you get here?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"Alright."
Zhou Qikuan rubbed his forehead, looking slightly dizzy.
"The amazing thing you mentioned before... don't tell me it's this?"
Li Nuo pointed at the silver-white helmet in Zhou Qikuan's hand.
"Hehe, that's right."
"What's so special about it?"
Zhou Qikuan walked over to a table, picked up a drink, took a sip, and said,
"You know VR technology, right?"
"Yeah."
"This is even better. Basically, it sends your consciousness into a virtual world."
"Uh... isn't that just VR?"
"No. You know Sword Art Online, right? It's more like that."
"Seriously?"
Li Nuo rested his chin on his hand and looked suspiciously at the ordinary-looking silver helmet.
"It's not exactly the same. The technology still isn't perfect. It only supports single-player mode. Before entering, you have to insert a chip for the specific world you want. Once inside, you can only become a character that has already been created. It's still far behind SAO."
"Where did you get something like this?"
"Hehe, it's a prototype sent to my dad by a research team. They wanted him to invest in the project, but I got to try it first."
Seeing Li Nuo's doubtful expression, Zhou Qikuan grinned and tossed the helmet to him.
"If you don't believe me, try it yourself."
Li Nuo caught the helmet and examined it carefully.
There were several buttons with English labels on the right side.
On the left side was a card slot, with strange protrusions inside that looked a bit like tentacles.
"These are the chips."
Zhou Qikuan pointed at a black rectangular case on the table.
"They're basically like game cartridges."
Li Nuo walked over and looked inside the case.
Each chip had the name of a different world written below it.
Forest Escape
Pet Dog Bandy
…………
After looking through all of them, he picked up a chip called Idol Training Project.
"I'll try this one."
Zhou Qikuan looked surprised.
"So you like this type of game?"
Afraid that his real thoughts would be exposed, Li Nuo quickly laughed awkwardly.
"Uh, haha, no. I-I just picked one at random."
"Alright then. Have fun. I'll go play something else."
Without thinking much about it, Zhou Qikuan walked over to another game machine.
Li Nuo lay down in the same space-capsule massage chair that Zhou Qikuan had used earlier.
After inserting the chip into the helmet, he put it on and pressed the yellow Open button on the right side.
About a minute later, he felt his head become heavy and sleepy.
Then he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a pitch-black space.
Before he could fully react, three glowing human figures suddenly appeared in front of him.
At the same time, a system-like voice sounded in his mind.
"Welcome to the trial version of Idol Training Project. Please choose your character."
The sudden voice startled him.
However, he quickly calmed down and looked at the three figures before him.
They were three beautiful girls dressed in different outfits.
He carefully asked,
"Are there any male characters?"
The only reply was the same mechanical voice.
"Welcome to the trial version of Idol Training Project. Please choose your character."
With no other choice, Li Nuo selected the girl he thought looked the best out of the three.
After pressing confirm, everything went dark again.
About ten seconds later, he opened his eyes.
He now had twin ponytails and was wearing a Lolita-style outfit.
He was standing on a small concert stage in the middle of a city.
Below him, the crowd was loud and full of excitement.
The system voice spoke again.
"Please complete a small concert. Reward: +100 Popularity Points."
At first, the realistic scene frightened him.
But soon he noticed a flaw.
The people in the audience all moved and made sounds in repeating patterns.
Everything was mechanical and repetitive.
They were just data.
Once he realized that, he relaxed.
Very quickly, he finished the five songs required by the system.
The moment he completed them, the system voice returned.
"Congratulations. You have earned 100 Popularity Points. At 1,000 Popularity Points, a medium-sized concert stage will be unlocked. At 10,000 Popularity Points, a large concert stage will be unlocked."
After raising his popularity to 300 points, he suddenly felt dizzy.
A moment later, he lost consciousness again.
When he woke up, he had returned to reality.
As soon as he sat up, he felt dizzy and nauseous.
Only then did Zhou Qikuan walk over and say,
"Oh right, I forgot to mention something. This thing has an anti-addiction system. Once you've played for an hour, it automatically forces you to log out."
"So that's what happened."
Li Nuo rubbed his forehead.
"So? Pretty awesome, right?"
Zhou Qikuan took the helmet and spun it around on one finger.
"It's pretty good. The only problem is that there's not much freedom."
After leaving Zhou Qikuan's house and heading home, Li Nuo kept thinking about the feeling of standing on the stage inside the game.
He found himself missing it a lot. Then he quietly muttered to himself,
"It would be great if I had a helmet like that too."