Vorden then turned to Quinn.
"The game is actually pretty popular with the other military bases." Vorden replied, confirming Quinn's suspicion that this was the game Leo was talking about. "So much so that the military has designed its own dedicated servers that only connect to the seven military bases. Although you can still connect to the outside world, as well."
Vorden looked down at the VR Pod.
"Before you enter the game, you can even input your Ability Level." Vorden continued. "That way, it'll match you against people around the same Level." Quinn then turned back to Quinn.
"Of course, you can always just lie about your Ability Level, but those kinds of people will never get better at fighting by just bullying those weaker than them all the time."
Quinn then walked up to the VR Pod, and started to inspect it.
It sounded amazing, and was exactly what Quinn needed.
This would allow him to practice against other students without them ever realizing that it was him.
Quinn then lifted up the price tag, and looked at it.
Seeing it, his eyes became pinpricks.
'Holy shit, I've never seen so many zeros in my ENTIRE LIFE!' Quinn thought.
There was no WAY Quinn could ever afford such a thing!
Seeing this reaction, Vorden started to laugh.
"Don't worry about it, you don't actually have to buy one!" He replied.
Hearing this, Quinn turned to Vorden.
"Really?" He asked, his voice full of hope.
"Yeah." Tsukuru replied, causing Quinn to look up at him on his Harpie's back. "Each of the military bases have a dedicated 'VR Room'full of them! It's like an in-school arcade!"
Tsukuru's smile then widened, and he looked back down to Quinn.
"That is…as long as you got the cash to rent it out!"
Hearing this, Quinn gulped.
"'Rent'?" He asked.
Quinn then felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw that Vorden had a hand rested on his shoulder.
"C'mon!" He said, jabbing his thumb back at the game store's entrance. "I'll show you!"
Ten minutes later, the group of guards standing in front of the gate suddenly saw something approaching them from the sky.
One of the guards squinted his eyes, the object coming into view.
It was a woman with long red hair with feathered wings coming out of her arms.
On her back was two boys, one a short boy with blonde hair, and another boy of average height with curly, black hair.
On the ground running after the flying woman, was a well-built boy with blonde hair.
The black-haired boy brought his hand up to his head, laying it flat to block out the setting sun, while using it as a set of makeshift binoculars.
"The view is amazing from up here!" Quinn exclaimed in an excited tone. "I can see the whole base!"
Meanwhile, on the ground, Vorden narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he ran after them.
He craned his head up to look at the flying Harpie and the two boys.
"Hey, how come I'm the only one who had to walk?!" He yelled up.
The Harpie glanced down at him.
"I can only carry so much weight, Sir Vorden!" She replied.
Hearing this made Vorden grit his teeth.
"So you're saying that I'm too heavy?!" He yelled back, somewhat insulted.
In response, Tsukuru glanced back down at him.
"You have too much muscle mass, Vorden!" Tsukuru yelled back, correcting Vorden. "You're built like a truck, don't take it personally!"
When they reached the gate, the Harpie descended to the ground, Vorden running up to meet up with them a second later.
As Vorden tried to catch his breath from the run from town back to the base, the Harpie kneeled down, allowing Tsukuru and Quinn to climb off.
When they were on the ground, the Harpie turned to Tsukuru.
"I do believe it's time for me to depart, my liege!" She replied.
Tsukuru looked up at her, and smiled.
"Alright." He replied. "Thank you for your assistance today!"
The Harpie nodded.
"Of course, my liege!" She replied happily. "It is my greatest honor to assist you! Until you require my services again!"
The Harpie then began to break apart into pixels.
Tsukuru and Quinn watched as the Harpie disintegrated, returning to Tsukuru's "Video Summon Arsenal", the place where Tsukuru's Summons were stored when not in use.
Tsukuru, Quinn, and Vorden all flashed their wristwatches.
Seeing them, the guards nodded, and opened the gate.
As they walked through the school, Vorden led them to a large room with a sign above the door labeled "VR Room".
The room was filled with rows after rows of the same VR Pod the group had seen in the store.
Off to the side, there was also a small shop and counter where students were able to buy snacks and refreshments.
Looking at it, Tsukuru momentarily thought about how it was like the "snack section" in the arcades and bowling alleys in the old world.
The room was currently packed with students.
Looking at the excitement in the student's eyes and faces, Quinn felt somewhat upset.
It felt like there was a world he never got to enjoy growing up due to him being poor.
The group of three went up to the front counter that was stationed next to the "snack section".
Vorden was about to move, but he saw Tsukuru walk past him instead.
"Three capsules, please." He replied.
The lady looked down at him.
"That'll be 10 credits per capsule, per hour." She replied.
Quinn and Vorden watched, as pixels began to appear in Tsukuru's hands, as he took his credit card out of his System's Inventory, their eyes widened.
'That's one way to make sure you never lose your card…' Vorden thought.
Tsukuru inserted the card into the scanner.
A beeping sound was heard.
Subconsciously looking down at his watch, he saw his credit balance drop from "20,770" to "20,740".
The lady handed Tsukuru three tags, labeled "23" through "25".
The three of them began walking around the room, until they came across three VR Pods grouped together.
They each had large numbers displayed on the front in big, bold ink.
"Here we are." Vorden said, turning back to the other two.
"Now, these pods are only capable of connecting to the military server, so you can't play against people in the outside world." He explained. "You'd need your own pod for that."
He then turned to Quinn.
"When you log into the game, you can play as a "guest" for now, and just search for the User ID 'VBCopy'." He explained, before then turning to Tsukuru. "Join my 'room' when you find it."
Both Quinn and Tsukuru nodded.
The three of them pressed the button on the front of the pod, causing the top to slide open, revealing a bed inside.
As Quinn got into the pod, he glanced over at Tsukuru, who was getting into the pod on his right.
"So since you can't use your Ability in the game, what Ability are you going to use?" He asked.
Tsukuru turned his head to look at Quinn.
"Personally, I've always been really interested in the Lightning Ability." Tsukuru replied, making Quinn's eyebrow raise in confusion.
"Why's that?" He asked.
Tsukuru shrugged in response.
"I've seen scores of characters in video games and anime who use electricity, and the power always seemed cool."
Quinn and Tsukuru didn't have much more time to talk, as the lids of the VR Pods began to slide back down.
Quinn and Vorden both felt their minds leaving their bodies, their minds being transported to another world.
However, Tsukuru didn't feel anything.
He glanced from side-to-side.
'Did something go wrong with the VR Pod?' He thought.
However, a moment later, a System message appeared in front of him.
[A Virtual-Reality Simulation Device has been detected.
The VR Pod is compatible with the System.
A new System Function has been unlocked.
The Battle Arena is now available.
Would you like to have your mind be transferred to the System's Battle Arena instead of the Power Fighters Mainframe?
[Yes] [No] ]
Seeing the message, Tsukuru's eyes widened in surprise.
''Battle Arena'?' He thought.
Confused, and a bit curious, if he was being honest, Tsukuru mentally thought the word 'yes'.
As soon as he did, Tsukuru felt his mind being transferred.