"Hidden strength?"
Xu Dan couldn't help but laugh. If facing a virtual saber-toothed tiger already counted as showing hidden strength, how would he ever present himself to the top bosses in the Marvel Universe in the future?
Besides, this was only a virtual battle. The characters were synthesized from data—not real beings. A real saber-toothed tiger would undoubtedly be even stronger.
"Wow, Dan… you look cooler now than before!" The Phoenix Woman, Grey, said softly.
As a mutant and an X-Men, she naturally appreciated men with strength more than ordinary humans. Her current boyfriend, Scott "Laser-Eyes," had decent power—strong enough for a team captain.
Speaking of him…
While Xu Dan and Grey were talking, Scott approached, his tactical eyepieces glowing faintly. Until now, he hadn't fully mastered his laser vision. Without the eyepieces, unleashing his power would be dangerous—even for himself.
From the lower half of his face, one could tell his emotions: his heart was galloping like a thousand wild horses. He loved Phoenix Woman deeply, yet she always looked at other men that way. It made him uneasy, but he decided to forgive her—at least for now.
"Hey, Mr. Xu Dan, did you really build this virtual training room?" Scott asked reluctantly.
Xu Dan glanced at him calmly. "Yes, it's only just been officially completed. I went inside to test it myself. The system is solid. If there's any problem, I'll take full responsibility. But now, I should be leaving."
Such words were more than courtesy. Everything Xu Dan produced had rarely gone wrong. Scott felt a measure of reassurance—the kind that comes from knowing an adversary isn't a threat.
"Wow… Mr. Xu Dan, this is incredible. I've always wanted to try the virtual training room. Why leave so soon? It's getting late; why not stay the night and leave tomorrow?" Scott asked politely.
Smart people knew this was a gentle way of sending off a guest. Xu Dan smiled, shook his head, and turned to Professor X.
"Professor, the virtual training room is functioning perfectly. I should be going now."
Professor X nodded with genuine admiration. "I see that, Dan. Excellent work. Now, I should give you your reward."
"Of course," Xu Dan replied with a gentle smile. Doing business with intelligent people was simple: every favor had its price.
Late at night, Xu Dan returned home. Riva wasn't at the villa; she was at her shared apartment. Despite her current salary being enough to buy property in New York, she had been too busy with work to consider it.
Although night had fallen, Xu Dan showed no sign of fatigue. After a refreshing shower, he went straight to the third floor of the villa—his private domain. Outsiders were never allowed here.
Passing iris verification, he stepped into his self-designed "paradise."
Every corner was filled with meticulously arranged equipment. Stepping upstairs felt like entering a high-tech world.
With access to the virtual technology of X Academy, Xu Dan couldn't wait to start his research. A virtual online game was the ultimate dream of a game developer: a fully immersive second world that even the players would feel honored to enter.
Yet, the virtual training room had revealed several challenges:
Connection method: The training room was not linked to human neurons, but used a special reaction plate in a square array to simulate the combat environment.
Scale and complexity: To create a full-fledged virtual holographic online game—like the ones in novels—was far more complex than a standard VR game. Even World of Warcraft, considered a vast world, would seem primitive by comparison. The project demanded enormous hardware support.
Interface equipment: To enter the virtual world fully, a specialized gaming helmet connected to human nerves would be required. Without it, players could not be immersed in the world Xu Dan created.
Each of these points was more difficult than the last. Xu Dan now had newfound respect for Kayaba Akihiko, the genius who had managed to complete a virtual game capable of locking players inside.
"Hmm…" Xu Dan muttered. Regarding the second point, he could take his time; the engineering scale and cost were massive. But for the helmet—the gateway into the virtual world—this was the critical piece. Even a simple prototype, like a small 3D-modeled house, could suffice initially. Realism and beauty could come later.
The key was letting a player enter the virtual world. Everything else could be solved with manpower and money. A problem solvable with money wasn't truly a problem.
"Hiss… but there are still some technical blind spots in making this helmet…"
Despite years of experience in the gaming industry, Xu Dan realized that virtual games were a completely different category. This was not about coding clever mechanics—it was about creating a living, immersive world that players could inhabit.