"...and done! Thank you for your corporation" the service guy smiled at Hendra who was hiding behind the sofa.
Hendra only answered by clearing his throat and nodding. Half of his face peeked at the service guy inside the study while the rest of his body was ready to run if something suddenly dangerous happened. He was like a cat who was wary when another cat entered its territory.
This morning he was awakened by the sound of a loud bell. With a face full of annoyance, Hendra peeked out of the door viewer and saw a man in a uniform with the 'Doodle' logo pressing the bell button repeatedly.
After confirming that he was not carrying any dangerous weapon, He opened the door halfway so his face could be seen and the service guy could stop ringing the bell.
The service guy looked very shocked to see His face, this of course annoyed Hendra further. The service guy quickly regained his professional demeanor and introduced himself, by showing his identity card and official documents from the Doodle branch office, the service guy asked to be allowed to install some additional equipment in Hendra's VR helmet to allow him to play Percha Island Online Beta version. Hendra didn't believe him and called Lisa to make sure. This of course ended in him having to bear the brunt of Lisa's anger because she had explained this to him in a previous meeting.
With a heart full of grievance Hendra allowed the service guy to enter. With a smile, the service guy walked over cheerfully and looked at Hendra from head to toe to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. And this made Hendra annoyed.
Same with the taxi driver, the service guy started asking Hendra about some unimportant things, which were outside his job description, such as Hendra's age, relationship status, favorite food, etc. Hendra felt like a rare animal whose lifestyle was being studied by an anthropologist. However, the service guy was more sensitive than the taxi driver. He stopped asking questions after hearing his curt answers and seeing his frowning face. Which looked similar to that of a wrinkled pig face then the service guy focused on his work.
Then for more than two hours, Hendra peeked at the service guy who was working on installing something in his VR helmet. Hendra wanted to ask what he was doing but he was afraid that this question would lead to a long conversation.
Finally, Hendra could only pray that the service guy didn't have any bad intentions toward him and didn't put anything weird into his VR helmet.
Hendra escorted the service guy towards the exit with hurried steps. He didn't want this trespasser to linger in his house for a moment longer. His reclusive instinct was always triggered by the presence of other people in his home.
The service guy glanced at Hendra repeatedly and looked as if he wanted to say something but Hendra's wrinkled face made him hesitate to start a conversation.
Arriving at the door, Hendra opened it wide then stood by the door with a not-so-friendly expression on his face. Hendra was very rude with the service guy who was just doing his job.
When the service guy was outside the door, he seemed to find the courage to start the conversation and said "I don't have any job after this so—"
"Okay have a good day!"
BAM!
Hendra slammed the door loudly and cut off the service guy's words. He knew that his behavior was very wrong but he could easily forgive himself.
Hendra took a deep breath and walked towards his study. He had forgotten his treatment towards the friendly service guy.
Hendra made sure nothing was added or stolen from his workspace. Then like someone who defuses a bomb, He inspected his VR helmet carefully.
This was the latest and greatest version launched by the biggest VR Device Company. With this helmet, their avatars now have facial expressions that match the players' in real life.
Starting from the rise of V-Tubers in the 21st century, engineers have designed a helmet specifically made for linking facial expressions. Combining motion capture technology with VR created a new VR helmet game technology.
So even though they have not been able to capture the sense of touch, smell, or taste, they have succeeded in connecting the human senses of sight and hearing with the fantasy world in the game.
After making sure that nothing dangerous was plugged into his VR helmet, Hendra started connecting it to his computer.
Hendra started fiddling with his computer and looked for the voice changer setting to make sure that the previous settings that were set for the tone of voice remained the same and had not been changed. Hendra used several apps to make his voice sound higher and reduced the hoarseness of it. By changing the intonation of his voice, Hendra ensured that he would sound like a high school girl who was heading toward adulthood.
Hendra didn't want to sound like a child who would be underestimated by the audience but he also didn't want Leona to sound like an adult. He wanted her voice to provoke a sense of wanting to be protected by her listeners. It was quite complicated to find the right pitch, but with ten years of experience as Leona, Hendra has memorized the sound of her voice by heart.
Leona was a character that he created since he was in high school. He did it for fun and because he was bored, Hendra created a V-tuber account and tried the real-motion capture and voice changer. He racked his brains to create a character who could be the girl of his dreams. He named her Leona because Hendra really liked lions and other species of cats.
Simple wasn't it?
However, Hendra never thought that Leona would not only be a dream girl for him but also for thousands of subscribers who became her loyal fans. At first, Hendra felt very uncomfortable being watched by thousands of people but after re-watching some of the videos he posted, Hendra realized that Leona was Leona. And he was Hendra and He will not be able to become Leona.
That's why Hendra was not ashamed to be Leona, for him it was like watching Leona's life, the girl of his dreams from a first person point of view.
Gradually, Leona's fans grew and she seemed to really live in this world. No one ever thought that the figure behind Leona the goddess in cat form was an old uncle with a pig-like face, even Hendra.
Leona's character was getting more and more famous and the number of viewers reached millions. Until finally, he got a contract from one of the biggest V-tuber agencies in his country. In order to make the girl of his dreams come true and live in this world, Hendra signed a contract with the agency.
Hendra looked at his computer screen that was on, he opened the downloaded file and started a game portal application. By entering the game code listed in the download file, Hendra sat in a special chair and waited for the game to finish installing.
Hendra put on his VR helmet, he could control his computer via the mouse toggle on his chair. He saw that the download process had reached 50% on the VR screen.
With today's internet speeds, downloading large files of thousands of gigabytes only took a few minutes. But unfortunately the development of technology in this era did not go hand in hand with the development of human morals which was slowly getting worse.
Hendra made sure that the game was installed correctly, then double-clicked the Percha Island Online icon on the screen.
A bar appeared in his computer window. Inside there was a box that must be filled in with the Percha Island Online Beta version code. Hendra reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper from his trouser pocket. The same pants that he wore when he came home to his flat and slept last night.
Yep Hendra didn't take a shower this morning. The presence of The service guy had disrupted his routine, he usually started his morning by getting out of bed, making it, and doing some light exercise for five minutes, then he would take a shower, prepare breakfast, eat it, make coffee, brew it and drink it while looking at the view from his balcony in his flat.
Two years ago, Hendra was sitting on his balcony with coffee in his right hand and a cigarette in his left. However, his condition worsened due to smoking too much and his activities mainly consisted of staying at home. As a result, Hendra was forced to go to the clinic and be reunited with a crowd of people.
Hendra decided to start working out and buy the lifting equipment. He reduces smoking and only does it after eating dinner. For Hendra, quiet and lonely life is now more valuable than the pleasures brought by a cigarette.
The Percha Island Online code had been filled in. Hendra clicked on the [Okay] icon with his cursor and the bar turned into a new bar with two adjacent squares. Hendra filled in his ID and Password then clicked the [Sign Up] button with his cursor.
A bar appeared and said:
[The ID you have entered will be locked with your VR device, if you want to create a new ID please buy a new VR device. This rule also applies to the Beta Versions]
Hendra's forehead wrinkled, does this mean that each player can only have one ID for each VR device, and if the character's ID is damaged then they have to buy a new VR device? Hendra did not know how much it would cost to install a new VR device. However, from the service guy, Hendra found out that this was still in testing and that the actual VR device will be out after the beta version.
Hendra ignored it and thought that this was just a Doodle trick to make more profit. As a beta tester, he was the one who would judge whether this game was worth playing even if he had to buy a new VR device.
Hendra clicked the [Okay] button with his chair. The bar turned blank and a countdown starting at 60 appeared.
Hendra leaned back in his chair and looked for a more comfortable position, he didn't know how long he would play this game for. Maybe this game would be so exciting that he would lose track of time. Therefore, his sitting position must be appropriate so that he does not wake up with body aches.
30...
29...
28...
27...
26...
25...
If the game was really bad then he would have a hard time making a promotional video later. Hendra hoped he didn't have to force Leona to lie to her fans and trick them into buying bad games.
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
Because after all even if the agency scolds him, Leona will not lie to her fans. Because Leona loves her fans.
5...
4...
3...
"Well, as a fan of Leona, am I also loved by Leona hehe" Hendra chuckled.
2...
1...
*Soul transfer start...
A green chip shaped like a fish scale inside the VR helmet glowed brightly.
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